Category: Code

The [64-bit Windows-7 Drivers] for my [M-AUDIO Audiophile 192] released last month.

I hadn’t used my midi keyboard in a while. I needed the [Yamaha UX16] driver. The driver connects a MIDI device to the USB port.

Unfortunately, I found today that when using ADO.Net in Silverlight 3, some policies weren’t being used preventing cross domain data services from working. There are two policies that can enable cross domain usage. [ClientAccessPolicy.XML and CrossDomainPolicy.XML] each can enable cross domain features, but these are not used by Silverlight 3. There’s a [big workaround] but it’s not what I’m looking for. I’ll catalog this failure with [SL3 not supporting LINQ joins].

Luckily [Silverlight 4] will have “enhanced” support for cross domains and ADO.net.

Last week I was working on a unit placement feature in a level editor. I made a nice painting feature for doodads. Doodads are random stuff that appear a level that don’t do anything other than display a graphic. Doodads are stuff like bushes, or trees, or rocks. The feature paints the ground anywhere you place a doodad. For example, if you place a tree, leaves would be painted on the ground around the tree. This week, I’m working on fences, roads, and railroads. For the last year, I have mainly been using C# and [Unity3d].

Each time Unity compiles C# source code, an assembly with a guid name is generated. This makes deserialization with a binary formatter difficult. Luckily a [deserialization binder] can be used to make the assembly signature match the serialized data.

I started doing some strange C# LINQ coding today. The syntax compared to the usual C# that I’m used to is unusual.

var record = from a in Service.tbl_a
   join b in Service.tbl_b on record.field equals b.tbl_a.field
   where record.boolField
   orderby record.field
   select record;

It’s good to periodically review the [MSDN Subscription Use Rights].

“MSDN Subscription Software Use Rights

MSDN subscriptions are licensed on a per-user basis. One person can use the software to design, develop, test, or demonstrate his or her programs on any number of devices. Each person who uses the software this way needs a license…”

The monitors at the top of my desk are really high. I have an idea on how to angle the screen downward cheaply. I just need to build a monitor stand with 3 small pieces of wood to get the desired angle.

I recently used a brand of Selenium to script a web based game. [Molybdenum] uses an XML based recordings and runs them as tests. In my case, I played a web based game and recorded some common actions. Like buying hammers and putting money in the vault. I put a [Loop] around my script and now every 10 minutes the game is automatically running my script. Molydbenum runs as a Firefox add-on and is super handy.

The latest Firefox update asks to update Flash which by default tries to sneak McAfee on to your computer.

These camera settings are useful for 2.5D painting. I had written a script to set these and need to find it or rewrite it.

I was paying $60 a month to keep my LAN phone and I didn’t want to cancel because I would lose my home phone number. [3JAM] let me port my local phone number and forward calls from my home phone to [SKYPE] for just $5 a month. With Skype for just $2.95 a month you can make unlimited and local and long-distance calls. 3JAM let’s you connect to one Skype account. If you want forwarding to more than one Skype account, for $2,95 a month you can get a Skype virtual number and have 3JAM call forward to the virtual number when calls go to your home phone number.

I was just playing around with fur material settings.

[This] Luxology forum post is so good it motivated me to make a second attempt at modeling the sports shoe.

Part 1: (of course as I post this I see an N-gon)

Removed that N-gon

I got a bluetooth mouse from Amazon. It’s a Logitech mouse V470. I couldn’t tie the middle mouse button to a middle click given the software. I sent this rant to Logitech support.

——

I can’t believe that this product was shipped. You have a 3 button mouse. There’s really no excuse that you didn’t check that all 3 buttons work.

The software only allows the middle mouse button to be tied to zoom functionality.

I want to tie the middle mouse button to the middle click. This isn’t rocket science.

Please post a software update to this trivial problem.

Peeved customer,

~Tim Graupmann

—–

Reference #
090626-001959

—-

And of course right after I send the mail, I figured out how to assign the key. Doh! Bad interface design.

I couldn’t update Thunderbird because my Logitech Quickcam software was running. Weird. Somehow Logitech had locked the file: [mozMapi32.dll].

I installed Vista SP2 and that was a bad idea. I can no longer connect to my network via the [Netgear WN121T adapter]. I get an error [The system cannot find the file specified]. Be sure to install that Netgear (optional) network Windows Update or you may find yourself stuck.

This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. ([Code 31])

Click ‘Check for solutions’ to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available.

It turns out Vista SP2 failed to install. [122602]

Service Pack did not install. Reverting changes. Do not turn off your computer.

I’ll try installing the SP2 from Safe Mode. No luck.

Service Pack did not install. Reverting changes. Do not turn off your computer.

Good thing they have a SP2 readiness tool:

=================================
Checking System Update Readiness.
Binary Version 6.0.6001.22375
Package Version 5.0
2009-06-24 10:20

Checking Deployment Packages

Checking Package Manifests and catalogs.

Checking package watchlist.

Checking component watchlist.

Checking packages.

Checking component store
Summary:
Seconds executed: 2429
 No errors detected

[Synergy] is a great open source tool that ties your keyboard and mouse input together across multiple computers as though it was the same computer. Synergy runs a client and server and sends network traffic over TCP which connects Windows and Mac input together. You can even share clipboards. [Engadget] has a detailed article on how to setup your configuration.

The anticipated [Modo 401] shipped today! I’m sifting through the docs looking for anything on [volumetric lighting].

I used to go to Photoshop contest every day and post something. I forgot how [cool and weird] my entries were.

Last night’s Windows Update required a reboot. There must’ve been a Netgear something in the updates because my network was disabled. I had to reinstall my [network drivers] to get back on the network. Pooh! I think I’ll risk installing Vista SP2, or should I???

By default, Remote Desktop is disabled on Vista Home Premium. [This hack] will enable the feature. Without the hack, there’s no way with the GUIs available to enable the feature. It’s actually better to have Vista Home Premium with the hack versus Vista Ultimate because Home Premium (hacked) allows multiple user log ins.

A couple days ago one leg that feeds power to our house went out. So yesterday, PUD came out to fix it and accidentally killed my Comcast Internet with a backhoe. So now I’m using dial-up AOL until Sunday when Comcast might come out to fix the Internet cables. Originally, the problem traces back to the water pipeline guys who nicked the power and my Internet cables the first time.

Now that I’m on dial-up, I want to share the Internet connection with our computers. In the past I used [Squid] as a network proxy. [ACME] provides windows binaries in the [related downloads] section. Squid seems to be better than [Internet Connection Sharing] because each time AOL connects it recreates the network connections. So this means you lose your Internet sharing settings. In this respect Squid is better. However, Squid by default only supports http, https, and ftp.

[developer.mozilla.org] – build your own Firefox add-on

[ted.mielczarek.org] – Firefox extension wizard

[developer.mozilla.org] – setup your development environment

[xulplanet.com] – firefox add-ons have access to the XULDocument

[developer.mozilla.org] – how to modify the DOM with XUL

[XULPlanet] – XULPlanet Forums

[developer.mozilla.org] – tips on accessing document.body from your firefox plugin

[irc://irc.mozilla.org#extdev] – Firefox extension channel

[developer.mozilla.org] – embedded dialog API

[developer.mozilla.org] – regular expressions

Notes:
(xp) Extensions should be placed in C:/Documents and Settings/username/Application Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/quyeu39o.default/extensions

[Burnout Paradise City] has one of the worst user interface designs for the PC that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not obvious how to quit the game either. You have to hit ESC and then F1 a few times to get to any recognizable options.