Recent Posts

8676

DC Gamer Club / Re: RIFT - MMORPG Beta Invite

« Last post by wraith808 on January 25, 2011, 02:58 PM »

They're sending out a lot of these now...

8677

Developer's Corner / Re: GarageGames: $99 Game Engines (with Source!)

« Last post by wraith808 on January 25, 2011, 02:57 PM »

^ Looks interesting... I might try both   Thanks for the links!

8678

General Software Discussion / Re: Outlining software recommendations?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 25, 2011, 02:56 PM »

Writing Outliner for MS Word is 29.00 today only on Bits du Jour.  I haven't used it, but I'm leaning towards getting it.  I don't know if it will satisfy your needs, but I figured it might be worth a look for you too.

8679

Found Deals and Discounts / Writing Outliner for MS Word

« Last post by wraith808 on January 25, 2011, 12:33 PM »

Writing Outliner for MS Word is 29.00 today only at bits du jour.

It looks like a great piece of software... but I'd heard nothing about it before now.  Has anyone here had any experiences?  If I don't hear anything, I'll probably get it, but I just figured I'd ask here first.

8680

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 25, 2011, 12:29 PM »

Sorry, 1st and 2nd level would bring you up to the end of Americian highschool. They are the levels everyone usually has an automatic right to. 3rd level is University education.

By 1st and 2nd, I guess I should have said primary and secondary education.

On the subject if IP, I do actually agree that students should retain ownership of ideas they come up with themselves while on campus. But I firmly believe something is fishy in this case. If it were just a random idea students came up with in class I fail to see how the university even got wind of it. I mean did the professor run telling tales to the Uni administrators? This story, as reported, sounds too suspicious to me.

-Eóin (January 25, 2011, 07:19 AM)

Ah... that being the case, then I still sort of disagree.  I think that undergraduate students *are* more on the level of lower levels of education.  A bit different, but not wholly.  Especially given the nature of private schools in lower education.  post-graduate work is a different issue.  Undergraduate students do have more investment in making sure that the quality of their education is up to standards, but professors still retain some measure of responsibility in this process.  For post-graduate work, I'd say this level of accountability is lessened, if not removed entirely.  But at that point, for most students it is more of a partnership in education than a true student-teacher relationship, IMO; though elements of that still remain, they are definitely lessened.

8681

General Software Discussion / Re: Simple Commandline to send Keystrokes

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 09:29 PM »

Ath, I think we're not upx'ing them anymore because they're more likely to show up AV-positive if they are, so you might want to re-upload non-upx'd version.

See notification here.

8682

General Software Discussion / Re: How to create a shortcut for the "wireless network connection" in Windows XP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 09:26 PM »

Okay, scratch that last part, apparently I'm F'ing retarded ... I missed the use GUID for your NIC part.

GUID is in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\

Under that is numbered Keys containing the entry ServiceName; its value is the GUID needed.

Let me see what I can do...

-Stoic Joker (January 24, 2011, 06:59 PM)

Thanks for picking that up SJ... I would, if I wasn't swamped with 2 projects, because it looks interesting!

8683

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 09:22 PM »

Wraith, you are of course correct when talking about 1st and 2nd level education.

But 3rd level, university education was always held in a different light. And given the attitudes I see from students, any change to how university's operate, to bring them more in line with the earlier levels, would destroy the educational standards and make degrees worthless as a means for employers to judge merit.

Indeed that has already begun to happen. Many employers now only see postgraduate research qualifications as some which distinguishes an applicant.

-Eóin (January 24, 2011, 06:13 PM)

I don't know if I completely understand 1st/2nd/3rd... do you mean undergraduate, master's, doctorate level?  Or is it something else (for the international education level ignorant )

8684

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: Major feature instead of new up for NANY?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 09:20 PM »

Would it really change any of the end-of-the-year NANY stuff?  People would still participate in the final push for NANY apps, etc.

-mouser (January 24, 2011, 09:19 PM)

I think it would.  I think that NANY should be left alone, and maybe something else created- DoCo's anniversary seems like a good one, IMO.

8685

General Software Discussion / Re: How to create a shortcut for the "wireless network connection" in Windows XP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 06:04 PM »

Yeah  that doesn't help.  Thanks, though!  I wish I were a programmer...

-superboyac (January 24, 2011, 05:39 PM)

Not for you. LOL.  For someone that wants to program it for you.

8686

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 06:04 PM »

If not, and the professor had no obligation to the student other than to present the coursework in the best manner that he thought, then there would be no student evaluations at the end of the semester/quarter, etc., and that evaluation would have no effect on professors (well, non-tenured, anyway).  And if so, then those opinions would have more weight than they do... even with tenured professors.

-wraith808 (January 24, 2011, 05:31 PM)

Well carrying out an evaluation would probably be considered part of the courses content. And of course the final exam to obtain the qualification is a matter between the student and the university, though the professor would likely be obligated to provide the exam, and correct them.

But should a professor be fired if all his class fail? Not at all. The college should probably investigate to ensure the professor did indeed teach the material, But if the students didn't learn it then tough on them.

-Eóin (January 24, 2011, 05:42 PM)

Being a teacher is more than giving rote quotations of subject matter.  Teaching is a skill, and not all have it.  Should student failure be blamed on the teacher?  If the student was 'taught' then no.  But it is very much the teacher's case if the teacher does not teach.  My wife had a class recently, and the teacher taught her very little; in fact, she was late in everything, from class to grading.  My wife succeeded only because of what she learned outside of the class, spurred by her want of knowledge and her need to do well.  Was this success a product of the teacher's teaching techniques?  I think the obvious answer is no.  If she had failed using the teacher's teaching material, whose fault would it have been?  I would say the teacher's.

8687

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 05:31 PM »

...they are paying for the privilege...

-Eóin (January 24, 2011, 05:22 PM)

In the same way that customers pay for the privilege to use products/services from businesses... Like Apple... Or Sony...

We're never going to agree on this one.

-Renegade (January 24, 2011, 05:28 PM)

I think it's somewhere in the middle.  If not, and the professor had no obligation to the student other than to present the coursework in the best manner that he thought, then there would be no student evaluations at the end of the semester/quarter, etc., and that evaluation would have no effect on professors (well, non-tenured, anyway).  And if so, then those opinions would have more weight than they do... even with tenured professors.

8688

General Software Discussion / Re: How to create a shortcut for the "wireless network connection" in Windows XP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 05:14 PM »

Not sure if this helps...

Spoiler

from http://bit.ly/f7xeF0 (very long link to a google groups topic)

Stephan, et al,

The attached sample code uses the Shell APIs and will pop up the network
adapter Wireless Networks properties or Wireless Connections diaplog
depending on the value of ci.lpVerb (szShowWirelessProperties
"wzcproperties" or szShowWirelessConnect 0x0018), see code fragment below.  
These values may change at any time and this sample is provided "as is".  
ConnectionGUID will have to be changed to the GUID for your adapter.  This
is the same GUID as the NetCfgInstanceId for the adapter.

Bryan S. Burgin
[email protected]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Code: C++ [Select]

1. // ShellExecuteSample.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console
2. application.
3. //
4.  
5. #include "stdafx.h"
6. #include <windows.h>
7. #include <tchar.h>
8. #include <shellapi.h>
9. #include <iostream.h>
10. #include <objbase.h>
11. #include <shlobj.h>
12. #include <wtypes.h>
13.  
14. // {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
15. const GUID CLSID_NetworkConnections = { 0x7007ACC7, 0x3202, 0x11D1, { 0xAA,
16. 0xD2, 0x00, 0x80, 0x5F, 0xC1, 0x27, 0x0E } };
17.  
18. // Change this connection GUID to the GUID of the Wireless Network Device.
19. LPWSTR ConnectionGUID = L"::{C07F7206-6DF1-4537-9890-D71C981BF952}";
20.  
21. // The '18' below may appear like a magic number, but it's really not. If
22. you were to
23. // call IContextMenu->QueryContextMenu, and look for the Cmd ID of 'Show
24. Available Wireless Networks'
25. // you'll see it to be 18. The value is constant.
26. LPCSTR szShowWirelessConnect    = (LPCSTR)0x0018;
27. LPCSTR szShowWirelessProperties = "wzcproperties";
28.  
29. int main(int argc, char* argv[])
30. {
31.     CoInitialize(NULL);
32.  
33.     IShellFolder *pShellFolder;
34.     HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_NetworkConnections, NULL,
35. CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
36.                                   IID_IShellFolder, reinterpret_cast<LPVOID
37. *>(&pShellFolder) );
38.  
39.     if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
40.     {
41.         LPITEMIDLIST pidl;
42.         hr = pShellFolder->ParseDisplayName(NULL, NULL, ConnectionGUID,
43. NULL, &pidl, NULL);
44.         if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
45.         {
46.             LPCITEMIDLIST apidl[] = { pidl };
47.             IContextMenu* pContextMenu;
48.             hr = pShellFolder->GetUIObjectOf(NULL, 1, apidl,
49. IID_IContextMenu, NULL, reinterpret_cast<LPVOID *>(&pContextMenu));
50.             if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
51.             {
52.                 CMINVOKECOMMANDINFO ci;
53.                 ZeroMemory(&ci, sizeof(CMINVOKECOMMANDINFO));
54.  
55.                 // Change this line to show either szShowWirelessProperties
56. or szShowWirelessConnect
57.                 // ci.lpVerb = szShowWirelessProperties;
58.                 ci.lpVerb = szShowWirelessConnect;
59.  
60.                 hr = pContextMenu->InvokeCommand(&ci);
61.                 if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
62.                 {
63.                     cout << "Done - spinning message loop\n";
64.  
65.                     // Spin a windows message loop in order to give the
66. dialog chance to process commands.
67.                     // Of course to do it here is totally wrong - this
68. should be as part of a parent window's windowproc
69.                    // otherwise this app will never terminate. However,
70. this is just for illustration.
71.                    BOOL bRet;
72.                    MSG msg;
73.                    while( (bRet = GetMessage( &msg, NULL, 0, 0 )) != 0)
74.                    {
75.                        if (bRet == -1)
76.                        {
77.                            // handle the error and possibly exit
78.                        }
79.                        else
80.                        {
81.                            TranslateMessage(&msg);
82.                            DispatchMessage(&msg);
83.                        }
84.                    }
85.                }
86.                pContextMenu->Release();
87.            }
88.        }
89.        pShellFolder->Release();
90.  
91.        // Free the PIDL using the shell's allocator
92.         IMalloc* pShellMalloc;
93.         hr = SHGetMalloc(&pShellMalloc);
94.         if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
95.         {
96.             pShellMalloc->Free(pidl);
97.         }
98.     }
99.  
100.     if (FAILED(hr))
101.     {
102.         cout << "Could not open wireless dialog due to error " << hr;
103.     }
104.     else
105.     {
106.         cout << "Success";
107.     }
108.     CoUninitialize();
109.  
110.         return 0;

Note: there were some hard breaks in the C&P, so the highlighting is wrong in places

8689

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 05:09 PM »

Reminds me of Real Genius...

8690

Living Room / Re: why is it so difficult to pick out a new computer?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 11:05 AM »

^ Watch that markup trap, though.   If at a later time he gets more tech-savvy, and sees the difference, he might not understand the value of the mark-up, and it might degrade the relationship.

... ask me how I know  ...

8691

Living Room / Re: why is it so difficult to pick out a new computer?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 24, 2011, 09:59 AM »

@techidave - I used to do this for clients, and got out of it, because the price of standard PCs is now quite a bit less.  I've even contemplated not building my family's computers other than mine, because unless you're concerned with performance, it's just not worth it.  There's also the added bit of getting support with your computer- helpful when I'm supplying my mom, since she can go to them first

8692

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: NetLaunch

« Last post by wraith808 on January 22, 2011, 03:11 PM »

^ You might want to edit those to take out your computer name... I usually do when I post things on a board.

8693

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: Itching to code apps

« Last post by wraith808 on January 22, 2011, 12:43 PM »

Maybe not even make it specific to NANY, but to borrow your term, make it an 'Idea Bank'.

8694

Developer's Corner / Re: C# GDI+ Problem with byte[] and Bitmap - Memory Issues

« Last post by wraith808 on January 21, 2011, 10:50 AM »

Random and not very (but still somewhat) relevant: don't use .NET if you are developing an application with XP as a supported OS. You'll regret it and regret it and regret it even more.

There's so many bugs in the .NET implementation for XP (or whatever system components it uses) that you spend crappy oodles of time figuring out why the hell you get random-as-hell crashes with totally useless stacktraces and shit.

I bet that at some point, Vista and the likes will head into the same general direction after W8 comes out.

-worstje (January 21, 2011, 05:39 AM)

I haven't had that experience... my primary job is developing in .NET for XP... unless you mean .NET4/WPF... I'm doing WinForms for all of my projects (currently developing custom MVVM architecture for WinForms using parts of Prism/Unity)

8695

Developer's Corner / Re: GarageGames: $99 Game Engines (with Source!)

« Last post by wraith808 on January 21, 2011, 07:16 AM »

I might get it in any case... especially given the blurb on the bottom of the page, and the fact that they're re-evaluating direction, which might mean good things, and the fact that they didn't use the same language as they did with iTorque3D...  especially as they give the source!

8696

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: $20 Amazon Gift Card for $10 (USA Only, Jan 19 only)

« Last post by wraith808 on January 20, 2011, 10:46 PM »

Same here!

8697

Developer's Corner / Re: GarageGames: $99 Game Engines (with Source!)

« Last post by wraith808 on January 20, 2011, 10:46 PM »

You got a reply... something about building your own script bridge, whatever that is.  And you're not the only one on the fence...

8698

Developer's Corner / Re: GarageGames: $99 Game Engines (with Source!)

« Last post by wraith808 on January 20, 2011, 08:54 PM »

Wow. Very interesting. And dirt cheap! I'm very tempted just to buy a license to play with~!

All the money I make from the gaming industry is from other people's games. Never done any game stuff for myself before.

-Renegade (January 20, 2011, 08:43 PM)

I'm thinking about it too  If I didn't already have a hobby project, I probably would now... but I'll wait until I have time to play with it.  But it's very interesting- especially looking at the games made with it.  Thanks!  

It should be noted that the $99 price point is only temporary, but how long the "sale" lasts and what the price will be afterward are still unknown.

@Everyone, the "limited time" language is sort of up to you. We want to see how the community reacts to such a low price. We would like it to stay around for a while since we think that the price ( or some number near it) is really beneficial for our community. We're in this together

-http://www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/20775/6#comment-171468

-Deozaan (January 20, 2011, 08:52 PM)

Thanks for posting this clarification.  So now I *really* have to think about it.

8699

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: $20 Amazon Gift Card for $10 (USA Only, Jan 19 only)

« Last post by wraith808 on January 20, 2011, 07:57 PM »

Did she try to go to the site to check?  That would be the most straightforward way of finding out... they keep track of your purchases.

8700

Living Room / Re: If somebody offers you swapping your PC for a mac cold turkey: would you do it?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 20, 2011, 02:33 PM »

I'd do it, as long as the hard drive is quite large, and the hardware is better than my PC.

Then I'd make the mac partition as small as possible, install bootcamp, then install Windows, and make the OSX into OSX'd.