poltr1: (Default)
(Originally posted to my Facebook wall.)

How difficult are C# and .NET to learn? I see lots of job opportunities that ask for those skill sets. But since I never worked with them, I wouldn't qualify for those jobs.

As I understand it, C# is Microsoft's "answer" to Java. Years ago, Microsoft had a language called Visual J++. Rather than have a "pure" version of Java, they put their usual "innovation" spin on it. A judge told them they couldn't do this, that it was too close to the original Java language. So, add some more syntax changes and viola! A new language. Us techie types know there isn't much difference between the two, but to HR people and hiring managers, they're apples and oranges.

.NET is, I think, some type of library of callable routines. Years ago (1999-2000), I worked with Visual C++ and MFC. Even after six months, I was still referencing the MFC manual. That told me, "You still don't know the code." I think .NET is an extension and/evolution of MFC, but I wouldn't know.

If I had good reference materials for C# and .NET, along with existing code to look at, I could write decent code with them. But again, I run into the old "no experience, no job" wall.

I never cared much for Microsoft's software engineering practices. Or lack thereof. As far as I know, they still don't have a roadmap to CMMI Level 5 compliance. I suppose they're content with producing "average software for the average user". (Yeah, my bias is showing. I much prefer the open-source bazaar to the proprietary cathedral.)
poltr1: (Bitstrips)
A few years ago, I purchased a copy of Honestech's VHS to DVD program. The software -- I can't remember if I had version 3.0 or 5.0 -- came with a "dongle" device into which I could plug three RCA jacks (for audio and video) and plug the other end into a USB port of my computer. The program served as the capture device and created MPEG files of the video. I used it to digitize about 100 video tapes I had while I was out of work 3-4 years ago.

Since then, I upgraded my desktop computer to Windows 7. I thought I would have to re-install the program, since it had previously run under XP (and it's a good practice to do so). But I couldn't find the CD or the license key. The path of least resistance was to purchase another copy of the kit. And so I bought the Vidbox Video Conversion Suite, which included an updated copy of the Honestech software and a converter box. (Vidbox and Honestech appear to be two product lines from the same company -- Honestech for PC; Vidbox for Mac.)

Read more... )
poltr1: (Marcus scowling)
Back in November, I picked up a Zonet KVM3332 KVM switch at Fry's. It has ports for two systems, USB ports for the keyboard and mouse, and audio inputs. I mostly use it to switch the video input to my monitor.

Since I've bought and installed it, I've been hearing a constant hum and some occasional whistling. It's audio noise that the KVM is generating. And it's getting annoying. I looked online and can't find any explanation for it. Zonet's web site says the unit is discontinued, and nothing about the noise.

(When I bought it, it was an opened box. Maybe this is why the previous owner returned it. Ah well -- you get what you pay for.)

And now that I discovered the hot key to switch input sources -- tap the left Ctrl key twice -- it can be darn convenient when I have the laptop docked and am doing work on both systems.

Is there any way to get rid of these noises? (Besides swapping out the KVM, of course.)
poltr1: (Default)
It's been a busy week for me, which is good. My friend Scott had two computer projects for me to work on.

The first project was to resurrect his old Compaq Presario 1200 laptop computer. It wouldn't power on. I downloaded the maintance manual, took apart the laptop, replaced the CMOS battery (which was under the modem card), and.......nothing.

The second project was to get rid of a nasty computer virus on his desktop computer. It even masqueraded as a virus scanning program that didn't report the originating company, but prompted you to buy a full version from them. (It was called XP Antispyware 2012. Details here.) Not previously knowing this, I downloaded the latest version of the AVG Rescue CD, burned it to a CD-R, and ran it. I then found that the administrator password had been reset, so I resorted to the trusty System Rescue CD to clear the password. And to add insult to injury, .exe files wouldn't run because the association between .exe files and the command(s) to run them had been hosed as well. I found a Microsoft FixIt program to correct this, but because the fix was itself an .exe file, it wouldn't run. (Duh!) I found a list of registry fixes at www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm, and downloaded and ran the one for .exe files. Success! When I left earlier this evening, MalwareBytes was running a scan.

Scott wants to re-install a firewall program to prevent this from ever happening again. He head been using ZoneAlarm 2006, but the software sabotaged itself by corrupting a necessary file. I advised him to set a restore point before installing, in case he needs to roll back. In case that doesn't work, what good and robust firewall programs for Windows XP are out there?
poltr1: (Mad Scientist)
(Yes, there are such things. But they are fewer in number than Windows annoyances.)

After installing Ubuntu Linux from the distro CD-R, there are still some things that need to be done. Part of it is due to the omission of proprietary drivers and such. Computer neophytes aren't going to know how to do these tweaks, or want to do them. They want things to work out-of-the-box. And because of that, I can't recommend Ubuntu to those people at this time. Sometimes, with running Ubuntu, you need to DIY (do it yourself).

And starting in 11.04 (Natty Narwhal), the standard GUI has been switched from Gnome to Unity. I hated Unity at first, because it was different from Gnome. But as I use it more, it's not that much different from Gnome. But there are still some things with Unity that I'd like to tweak. This I'll save for a later post.

Some how-tos for the things I had to tweak. Linux command-line wizardry follows. )
poltr1: (polyfusion)
This past weekend, I spent some time downloading and installing my "must-have" software on the new laptop.

Without further ado, here's my software baseline for additional free and open-source software for Windows XP SP3, in no particular order.

Click to view the baseline and links to them. )

I don't think I'm missing anything, but I might have.

What's on your must-have software list that I don't have?
poltr1: (Mad Scientist)
In the past couple of weeks, I've been tasked with writing unit tests for the code I developed. My project lead is big on unit testing, and wants the code to be tested thoroughly with many varied test cases.

What is unit testing? Wikipedia defines it thusly: "unit testing is a method by which individual units of source code are tested to determine if they are fit for use." What it means for my client is to identify test cases, determine what the anticipated results are, run the code, and check the results to see if they match the anticipated results.

This was something I never learned in college, This would have been covered in a software engineering class. There was one on the books, but we didn't have an instructor to teach that course. (Yeah, I can go on ab out the politics of my CS department, but I'll save that for another time.)

So I'm struggling with this. I can look at the data, and I can't tell if it looks right or not. I've asked for help, but the attitude I seem to get from both my project lead and tech lead is "We expect you to know these things." And so I write the tests, not know if if what I'm looking for is the right answer or not.
poltr1: (Default)
Six months ago, I thought about buying another laptop to replace what I currently have. And I found what I was looking for on overstock.com: a refurbished Dell Latutude D620 laptop with 1 Gb of memory and an 80 Gb hard drive. I watched and waited as the price fell from $350 to $250 over the past few months.

Last week, I had the money to purchase the laptop and the matching docking station/port replicator. And so I did. It arrived today.

Meanwhile, life had other plans for me and my budget. And the bottom line is that I'll have to send the laptop back. Thankfully, overstock.com has a good return policy. I can ship it back, unopened, and I should get most of my money back.

Just as well. I probably wouldn't use the new laptop for another few months.
poltr1: (polyfusion)
Yesterday, the replacement motherboard for my Dell Latitude CPx J650GT came in. This afternoon, I borrowed a friend's dining room table to perform the work, since I didn't have a clear spot available at home to work.

I had an online copy of the service manual, and someone's online notes on disassembling this laptop model. The operation went smoothly -- all but one of the screws came out easily. As I took out the screws, I placed them in an empty egg carton so that I could keep them segregated and sorted. The hardest part was popping the CPU card and putting it into the new motherboard. I re-assembled everything in reverse order. Then I booted up the system....and realized I forgot to plug in the display. So the keyboard came off again, connected the display, and put the keyboard back on. I booted again.....and everything worked. I also checked the amount of memory, and all 512 Mb were recognized.

I ran both Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux, and both OSes ran well, without any glitches. I also ran a Memtest86+ test, and it passed with flying colors.

I am now looking forward using this laptop for years to come.
poltr1: (polyfusion)
One of the things I've wanted to do with my computer is to use it to digitize my record and tape collection, and convert them to audio CDs.

Last week, I picked up the Honestech Audio Recorder 2.0 at Big Lots. It's a package which contains adapter cables and software to perform audio capture and editing. Overall, the package is inexpensive and easy to use. It doesn't have any special settings to remove tape hiss or record scratches, though. And I had a hard time figuring out how to break up the audio stream into tracks.

So far, I've digitized two albums that I had previously recorded to cassette tape. One was a tape of the Caroleers' "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", a Christmas album I've had since I was in kindergarten. The other was a tape of Billy Joel's first solo album, "Cold Spring Harbor", that I obtained from a friend in high school. This 1971 release has notoriety because it was mastered at a speed slightly slower than normal, resulting in Billy's voice sounding higher than natural. The album was re-released in 1983, but the orchestral tracks were removed.

One thing I've discovered is that the source has to be high-quality to have a CD-quality result. Cold Spring Harbor was recorded on one side of a TDK D C-90 tape nearly 30 years ago, and whatever high range it had has been lost. As a result, the final product sounds a bit muddy. I'd very much like to get my own copy of the original 1971 album and re-digitize it, if I can find a copy. I think I saw a copy on EBay for $40.
poltr1: (polyfusion)
I'm cruising download.com, looking for new software utilities I can download for use on my system. So far, I downloaded the new version of AVG (note: AVG 7.x will no longer be able to get update files as of Wednesday! Or so they claim), WinZip, VLC Media Player, FLV Player, YouTube Downloader, Media Player Classic, Codec Pack 1, and IrfanView. I think most of these are listed in their list of top 25 downloads.

I also got Firefox, Thunderbird, Adobe Reader, Apple QuickTime Player, Note Tab Light, OpenOffice, WinMerge, Semagic, Rhapsody's player (I like being able to listen to up to 25 songs a month for free), and Winamp.

Is there anything else on this site -- or any other site -- that I should consider downloading? What are your favorites? I know I asked this before recently, but new and updated programs come out daily.
poltr1: (Default)
Between doing a system restore and attempting to remove both Norton SystemWorks and Norton Internet Security -- both removals failed -- I was able to restore my ability to surf the web, download email, and read LJ from my desktop computer.

I still should try to remove and reinstall the Norton products, as pervasive as they are. [Updated 20-Sep 12:40 EDT] Thankfully Symantec has a Norton Removal tool available for download on their website. I'll try that tonight.

When did Symantec jump the shark? Their Norton Utilities for DOS were some of the best around.
poltr1: (Default)
Some of the apps I was running at the time of the crash are now toast and need to be reinstalled. Office 97 (taskbar), Norton SystemWorks (an alleged problem with the license), Yahoo! Instant Messenger. Oh, I can dial out and connect, but then I get DNS errors, saying it can't find the server. So no more email and LJ from my desktop for a while.

At least I didn't lose any data, as far as I know.
poltr1: (Default)
On Saturday, I tried to install Adobe Reader 7.0 on orac (my desktop). The install was successful. However, I then tried to read a Zip disk. I got some error, and the system spontaneously rebooted. After the reboot, I couldn't run anything. I'd click on an icon, it would work for a few seconds, and the hourglass would disappear. I couldn't even run System Restore. I had to reinstall Windows XP after swapping my CD and DVD drives so I could boot with the Windows XP CD-ROM. (For some reason, my DVD writer can't read data or music CDs.)

I think I'm going to do a backup of C: the first chance I get. And download new software for the Zip drive.
poltr1: (polyfusion)
This list, like the last one, is incomplete. I'm open to suggestions. Specifically, I'm looking for shareware utilities that would be of great benefit to the average computer user.

WinZip file compression/extraction utility
TextPad text editor
poltr1: (Default)
I'm building a list of 10 free utilities no computer should be without. Here's what I have so far:
Adobe Reader
Adobe Flash Player
NoteTab Light text editor
WinMerge file difference/comparison tool

Mozilla Firefox web browser
Mozilla Thunderbird email client
OpenOffice office suite


What other free utilities should I add? Include links.

(Note: I'm not including non-free shareware here. As much as I think WinZip is an essential utility, it's not a free utility. There will be a separate list for shareware.)
poltr1: (Fanbladehead)
On Monday night, I was doing a backup of my laptop's hard drive using an external hard drive. (Damn, those things are handy!) Then, in the middle of the process, the power cord to the USB card got pulled, and the backup stopped.

After several rescue attempts, including reinstalling the driver, I've come to the conclusion that the USB connection of the hard drive is kaput.

Now when I try to connect the drive, I get a Blue Screen Of Death. I'm thinking I may have to reinstall the Add Hardware Wizard, or all of Windows 98. What's the command to "heal" Windows 98 and reinstall only the corrupted files?

BTW, I checked the external drive on another computer, using the external hard drive's FireWire connection, and the contents are OK.

So now I have several options, some of which involving spending money.
1) Use another external hard drive to perform this and future backups.
2) Buy another hard drive enclosure.
3) Buy another hard drive enclosure, identical to the one that went kablooey.
4) Buy a FireWire PC card so I can continue to use the drive.

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