The SourceCode/Coderz Inc

Win a Microsoft Visual Studio Team Suite Package Worth Over $10,000

2008-06-08T13:50:00.000+00:00

DonationCoder is running another whopper of a coding contest, with the help of Chris Hanscom (who runs veign.com).

The prize is a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio Team Suite with MSDN Premium subscription (almost every application from Microsoft!), worth over $10,000!

So what do you have to do to enter?

Code a new, never-released application, using one of the free versions of Microsoft Visual Studio Express.
Provide the source code for your application (but you do not need to release this publicly if you don’t want to).
The winning program must be freeware or donationware.
Code any kind of program you want.
Post a reply to this forum thread and email mouser stating your intention to enter, well in advance of the deadline.

When is that deadline?

July 1st, 2008

Oh, my! That’s not too far away, so go read about the full contest rules and information and get coding.

Good luck!

New site feature: Webchat!

2008-04-22T18:06:00.003+00:00

For those of you that have trouble configuring an irc client, or need to access the chat from a mobile phone or other device that doesn't have a chat client, or those of you that can't install an MX client at work...

We now have a nifty little webchat that will put you directly into our IRC channel.

No ActiveX needed!
No Java needed!
No problems getting through firewalls & routers!

So come say hello to us in our new webchat.

This webchat is brought to you by mibbit. If you have an IRC channel and would like a webchat for your site, give mibbit a try.

Fibonacci in LOLCode

2008-02-06T08:47:00.001+00:00

If you have no clue what LOLCode is, it's the hilarious esoteric programming language of all the cool lolcats.

Seems some coders with a sense of humor have just too much time on their hands, and what started out as a joke has been taken pretty far.

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
VISIBLE "HAI WORLD!"
I HAS A CODE ITZ "CRAZY"
VISIBLE CODE
I HAS A NUMBR
LOL NUMBR R 2
VISIBLE NUMBR TIEMZ 2
I HAS A FIB
I HAS A A ITZ 1
I HAS A B ITZ 0
VISIBLE "Fibonacci: "
GIMMEH FIB
IM IN YR
    VISIBLE B
    IZ FIB SMALR 1?
YARLY
GTFO
KTHX
    I HAS A TEMP ITZ A UP B
    LOL A R B
    LOL B R TEMP
    NERFZ FIB!!
KTHX
CAN HAS System?
VISIBLE CurrentDirectory ON Environment ON System
NJU Hashtable ON Collections ON System
I HAS A HT ITZ IT
I HAS A DT
LOL DT R DateTime ON System
VISIBLE Now ON DT
COL Add ON HT WIT "LolCode" AN "Rulezz!!"
VISIBLE COL get_Item ON HT WIT "LolCode"
COL Concat ON String ON System WIT "LolCode " AN "Rulezz!!"
VISIBLE IT
KTHXBYE

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheWeeklySourceCode11LOLCodeDLREdition.aspx

Delphi Contest: Create Fancy Applications for Fame & Glory

2008-02-06T08:22:00.001+00:00

Delphi.about.com is running a contest to pick a winner to be considered the fanciest Delphi application.

The prize is just fame & glory, to hold the title of 'Delphi Fancy-pants', to be the creator of the sweetest Delphi eye-candy..

The idea is pretty simple. Your Delphi application doesn't have to do anything useful, just look really amazing.

If you are like me, you like experimenting - creating pieces of Delphi code just to learn something new and create something interesting. If nothing else, to amaze your coworkers / family / yourself.
Sometimes the funny code I write actually does something smart - but most of the time - it's just to see if *this* can be done in Delphi.
Here's an idea that originated from this idea of mine: let's create a simple Delphi programming contest - the task is to code a fancy-do_nothing_smart application (a piece of code) in Delphi!
Let this one be for fame and glory - no material prizes will be given to any contestants - all of us will code for fame and glory - pure rivalry .

Nothing smart but fancy - and this is all what this contest is about: to create a "useless" application in delphi - one that is nice to see and one can learn something from it.
Hm .. ah .. ok. Rules are about to change! By looking at some of the "useless" applications I have created for delphi.about.com over the years ... it seems there are quite a few that are pure gems: Ruler is a must, Zoomer is just great. Ok, I'm not shy.
New rule: it is ok for the fancy Delphi application you submit to useful!

I am not sure when the deadline is, but full rules are available on the site:

http://delphi.about.com/od/humorandfun/a/fany_contest.htm

DonationCoder N.A.N.Y. 2008 Programming Challenge

2007-12-07T02:55:00.001+00:00

This is a challenge for anybody with any kind of coding skills, even at the beginner level.

The challenge is to release a new freeware/donationware application on or before January 1, 2008.

It was a lot of fun last year and it got quite a bit of publicity. It was covered by ShellCity.net, CybernetNews.com, and ghacks.net, along with many other sites & blogs.

So if you can code, you might want to take the challenge this year.

I have been a member of DonationCoder for quite some time now, and it has been a wonderful experience for me.

One of the great things about this site and the community behind it, is the feedback you get from users, which helps you to improve your software and make it the best it can be. It is a kind of co-operative endeavor, with the end users and the developers working together as a team. You don't have any idea how great of an experience it is until you experience it for yourself, either as a user or a developer.

This entire team approach of software development brings the developer and end user together in a way that most people never have seen or experienced before. The results are amazing.

When you are coding for an unknown mystery user, it is easy to assume what he will want and like and what he will use your software for, having no clue what he really wants, likes, or needs. The reality is that you end up coding for yourself, and hoping the end user has the same tastes as you. It is quite easy to become disconnected and out of touch, when you are just coding and posting your creations on your own personal site for others to download, with no real interaction with the people you are writing for.

And as software users, it is easy not to think of developers as approachable people that will listen to you and consider your comments & suggestions seriously. It is also too easy to think of software as not having a human element behind its creation. This can lead people to not really care where their software comes from or appreciate the amount of work that goes into making it. It's this not caring attitude that can be an element contributing to the issues with software piracy that exist today. It's a bit harder for a user to bring themselves to pirate software, when they are hit with the reality that the stuff they are using actually has a 'face'.

Now before you get the wrong impression of what this is all about, let me explain what it isn't. This isn't a situation where a coder creates, users make demands, coder submits to demands, working himself to death and becoming resentful...or all he gets as feedback is bug reports or complaints. It's not like that at all.

And it's not a matter of users getting everything they want, which results in a bloated application full of useless features, that does everything except make your bed for you.

This is ongoing honest discussions, with not just feature requests, but an explanation of why they want the features, discussions between the developer and the users about which would be the best features to add and/or remove, and discussions on how the best way to present them would be.

Many of these discussions are between the users themselves, where they have to make up their minds and come to an agreement of what they really want & need, as a group. And the developer helps with guiding them and keeping things realistic and explaining what is or isn't possible, or what is or isn't within the limits of their coding abilities.

When something is outside the coder's abilities, there are other developers on the site that can be helpful and provide resources to learn from, and share some of their knowledge & experience so that you can do things you thought were impossible, and learn a lot in the process.

And the users really do appreciate the developers that will listen to them and be honest with them, with many showing that appreciation with donations. But don't do this for the money, because you will never get rich from freeware or donationware. Do it instead for the experience and the fun it will be, and the greater sense of connection to the people you are coding for, and how it will help to keep you from losing touch with your userbase...or the realities of real world software use.

So think about something you can make and accept the challenge today. You have about 3 weeks to come up with something you can release. And if you are out of ideas, you can take a look at the Coding Snacks section of their forum and maybe fill a request for a small tool that someone needs.

http://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=11206.0

Free Course: Computer Programming I (using C)

2007-11-13T10:47:00.001+00:00

University of Washington CSE 142 - Computer Programming I

This is a complete basic introductory course (using C) for beginners that have no previous programming experience, that was offered at the University of Washington during the fall of 2000 (taught by Martin Dickey).

If you have never studied programming, this course was designed for you.

Access to slides, homework assignments & solutions, exams & solutions (everything except the lectures and quizzes):
http://www.online.cs.washington.edu/cse142/

Here are the lecture videos. It may seem as if they are listed out of order, but they are actually in the proper order in which they should be viewed. Whoever uploaded them numbered them wrong. The entire set of videos is Closed Captioned.

Lecture 1: Overview and Welcome
Lecture 2: Problems, Algorithms and Programs
Lecture 3: Variables, Values and Types
Lecture 4: Arithmetic Expressions
Lecture 5: Input and Output (I/O)
Lecture 23: Style
Lecture 6: Conditionals
Lecture 7: Functions
Lecture 8: Function Parameters
Lecture 9: Iteration
Lecture 10: Loop Development and Program Schemas
Lecture 11: Complex Conditionals
Lecture 12: Functions and Design
Lecture 27: Switch Statement
Lecture 24: Structuring Program Files
Lecture 13: Pointer Parameters
Lecture 14: Arrays
Lecture 15: Linear & Binary Search
Lecture 16: Sorting
Lecture 17: Multidimensional Arrays
Lecture 18: Structures
Lecture 19: Strings
Lecture 21: File Input/Output
Lecture 20: Nested Data Structures
Lecture 26: Recursion
Lecture 25: Recursive Binary Search
Lecture 22: Course Wrap-up and Review

If you want to download them for offline viewing, you can use this site with the URL's provided above.

The textbook they used in this course:
Problem Solving and Program Design in C (Hanly and Koffman)

Prime Number Shitting Bear

2007-10-15T00:27:00.001+00:00

WARNING: includes sound

http://alpha61.com/primenumbershittingbear/

Online HTML Editor

2007-10-11T18:19:00.001+00:00

Sometimes you have the need to create a quick page for a specific purpose. And it would seem a bit silly to purchase an expensive HTML editor for just the occasional page. And you really don't feel like downloading & installing an application that you won't get much use from.

That's where this nice little editor comes in. It's simple to use and packed with tons of nifty features that you would expect to find in a desktop application.

This is the best free online HTML editor I have found that wasn't associated with some sort of web hosting.

Features:

Page Properties:
Interface allows you specify page title, background color, foreground (text) color, upload a background image from your computer and apply a watermark to the image so that it doesn't scroll, and upload a background sound file.
Find & Replace:
Search your page for text, tags, and images and automatically replace all with something else.
Highlight
Use this tool to "highlight" (specify a background color for) selected text.
Hyperlinks
Click to easily convert text to a hyperlink and apply hyperlinks to images.
Insert Images
Browse to locate an image file on your computer and upload it to your page.
Table Wizard
Easily insert and customize your tables. Specify number of rows and columns, alignment, border size, cell padding, and cell spacing. Tables aid in the layout of your page.
Insert Bulleted Lists
Insert Numbered Lists
Insert Horizontal Lines
Form Wizard
Step-by-step wizard helps you to create and insert simple forms into your web page.
Insert Text Fields and Text Boxes
Easy Text Formatting
Format your text by selecting font face, size, color, bold, italic, and underlined via familiar word processor type buttons.
Paragraph Formatting
One click aligns all left, right, or center.
Button Wizard
Easily insert buttons anywhere on your page!
MORE

Whatever isn't covered by the features in this editor will most likely be covered by their other online tools, listed on the right side of their page.

So no more excuses...go make that web page you have been procrastinating about!

http://www.creatingonline.com/webmaster/html_generator.htm

Online Privacy Policy Generator

2007-10-11T17:43:00.001+00:00

Constructing a privacy policy for your website can be a complicated task, but it doesn't have to be any more.

With this generator it is as easy as checking off some boxes and filling in some blanks.

They give you the choice between generating an HTML page which you can just save, or emailing you an HTML or plain text copy.

http://www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.shtml

Software for Starving Students

2007-10-11T17:17:00.001+00:00

Software for Starving Students is a FREE downloadable collection of programs, put together with students in mind (but anybody can use it).

Everything is all on one a single disk. There are both Mac OSX and Windows versions available.

If you ever wanted an easy way to gather and install some the best free software available, this would be it.

Included applications:

OS X

Windows

http://softwarefor.org/

Background on the Current Sabre Situation

2007-09-07T00:11:00.001+00:00

I decided that after putting up with Sabre hosting a fake TSC room for over a year that I would study his insane logic for doing so. He thinks that someone gave him my room, when it wasn't theirs to give, and that he now somehow owns the rights to it.

I applied that same logic by having freon give me his "Big Tits" room. I have as much rights to his room as he has to mine, right? If he can host a fake of mine for over a year, I can host a fake of his, right? If it is acceptable for him to do so, then it is acceptable for anyone else to do so too, right?

And he also stated this in reference to his hosting a fake of my room:

<SABre'> Show me a copyright, trademark or other IP protection. Otherwise be very carefull about your wording.

My channel was founded on February 17, 2004. It's name, logo, the website, etc was copyrighted to its creator (me) the moment I made the very first website for my channel, the very next day on February 18, 2004.

It was founded as a place of education, with its members helping each other with their knowledge and experience with programming, networking, web design, operating systems, and any other aspects of technology in which they have knowledge of, or are seeking knowledge of.

It is not a file trading room. It is a help and information exchange room where the help takes place live, right on your screen, in your chat window right when you need it. We help people educate themselves. We help you with your homework. We cater to your educational needs in any way that we reasonably can.

We are not a WinMX development room, although some members have done some developing for WinMX. Other members have done other types of developing that have absolutely nothing to do with WinMX.

At one time Sabre was a TSC member but he caused a large amount of trouble in TSC in the past and was kicked by me for disrespecting other members.

When Frontcode closed their peer caches and Sabre decided he needed a room to act as his home base for WinMX related stuff, he knew he couldn't use his own Big Tits room for that. He said it just wouldn't work. So he came to my room. He knew the reputation it had and that is what he wanted for his own.

He stated to me his intentions to take over my room whether I liked it or not and use it for his own purposes and not what it was intended for when I founded it. I told him to get his own damn room and Hollow even hosted one for him. But that wasn't good enough for him, he wanted TSC.

Rather than to let that happen and my channel become something it wasn't meant to be, I asked multi to shut it down. It was for the protection of my room, its reputation, and its members. It broke my heart to have to do that. That room was my home and the members were family.

Any room that has carried the name of mine that did not do so with my full approval does not subscribe to the principles it was founded on and therefore is a fake.

Yes, it is true that Sabre asked me if he could host it for me back in the late spring of 2006. But he lied to me and the members of TSC. He said he wanted things like it used to be with everyone working on various projects and discussing programming stuff...with all the old members back and us all getting along, like it was before he started trouble. He seemed like he was genuinely sorry for all the trouble he caused, as if he finally realized the damage he had done and wanted to make things right.

I was a fool to trust him and believe him, but it didn't last for long. When he revealed his true intentions, that was the end of any trust I had in him.

What he really wanted was to host a room that would attract people with programming skills that would be willing to create a new WinMX replacement that he could take full credit for and release as his own, making those that worked hard on it just a footnote in the credits, as if all they did was pour him some coffee while he was the one that did all the work. (If he is all he claims to be, why doesn't he just code it himself?)

He was angry at the people that were involved with PIE because they didn't have the programming skills he wanted for the next phase of his plans. TSC was where he thought he could find people to do that.

But he didn't care about the members needs. And he didn't understand that TSC is more than just a chatroom...it's a family...and we do care about each other, very much. That is one of the things that makes the room work.

He didn't care that Sable had just started a cat breeding business and needed help with how to build a website for it. That wasn't WinMX related and wasn't going to get him the new software written for him.

He didn't care that Boki was going to need help with Java to get her degree. That wasn't WinMX related and wasn't going to get him the new software written for him.

Sabre didn't care what the members wanted and needed. Things were going to be done his way, you were going to do what he said, code in the language he wanted you to, and work only on projects that he approved of.

No more homework help, no more help with your personal programming projects, no more help with the latest assignment they handed you at work, no more help with setting up your OS, no more help with getting rid of spyware and viruses, no more help with troubleshooting Linux issues, no more help getting your wireless to work, no more help understanding math, no more help with anything that didn't fit into his master WinMX plan.

He just wanted to use the members of TSC and throw them all away when he was done. He didn't care about them at all. He only cared about himself.

That is NOT in the spirit of the real TSC and I would have no part of it. I revoked his permission to host the room and I walked away stating that the room would reopen only when I could host it myself. But he refused to close it, thinking all of a sudden that some former member who hosted it for me had given it to him and now he owns it. It just doesn't work like that.

I did state that I would bring the room back and it would be what it was intended to be when I could host it myself. And that is what I did. And my members responded by filling my userlist. This is what they wanted. They didn't want Sabre's fake TSC and proved it over & over again this past year by visiting my channel and leaving Sabre all alone in his fake with nothing but his ego & his bots for company.

All of WinMX knows about this. They don't understand why Sabre keeps it open day after day and sitting in there all by himself. They think he's crazy. They make jokes about him. They don't understand why he doesn't just close the fake TSC room he hosts. I think it's because they are right...he is crazy.

So I figured if I can't beat him, I'll join him and use his very own logic until he decides his logic is flawed enough to quit using it himself.

So welcome to the new TSC...everything it has ever been, was intended to be, but now with more breasts. :-P

Sabre Uses WinMX Users as Pawns in his Childish Power Games

2007-09-06T23:23:00.001+00:00

Today Sabre came into my channel to start trouble.

<ChaiRm@N 0f thE boRed> lol come to look at my tits again sabre
<SABre'> Nah, just looking at the list of assholes.
<ChaiRm@N 0f thE boRed> lol see your right up the top
<ChaiRm@N 0f thE boRed> good sspoting

Sabre made a threat that he would close the caches and send me all PIE users and that I had better be ready with a patch to get them connected.

Then Sable made a sarcastic joke about how she was going to take over WinMX, and Sabre's reply was as if he had just decided to let her have it. (of course we don't really believe Sabre would give up all that power and walk away, do we?)

<SABre'> So youi all got a patch and ready to run winmx?
<SABre'> Cause your about to get 200,000 banging on your door.....
<¤LVHC¤SabLe> i will take over winmx
<SABre'> Nope, just tired of the drama, you drama queens can have it.
<¤LVHC¤SabLe> see...
<¤LVHC¤SabLe> i just took over winmx

After that, Sabre (not Sable) posted a message to all PIE users, in the message window of their WinMX, that Sable has just taken over WinMX, which caused untold amounts of users to panic, thinking that the caches had been compromised and that Sable was the one that did it.

This was a very childish thing to do, in my opinion, and is just more proof that Sabre shouldn't be in any kind of control of any aspect of the network. He will abuse his power in any childish way he can and in the process poison the entire network.

Does he think his is the only cache on WinMX or that all WinMX caches are under his power tripping control?

He is using you, the users, as his pawns to play his childish games.

In my opinion, the PIE team should ask Sabre to step down before he abuses his power in some more childish ways and destroys everything for them. Unless of course they like the idea that he is discrediting them and making their patch users think that their cache has been compromised and that their patch is somehow not safe to use any more.

If this is the case, then they should just change their site to redirect to WMW's site and be done with it. Somehow I don't think that is what they really want....but that is almost what they are getting any way. But don't worry. WMW is ready and able to handle all 200,000 PIE users with their 9 caches that are not under the control of a mentally ill, power tripping man with the temper of a child.

PIE users are piling into WMW's channel, in droves, asking for help to remove the compromised PIE patch and replace it with theirs.

<Mr._Sin_hirche_dhu_tm> Why is there LVHCSable i just took over winmx on my screen?

<.:BËË®MÂÑ:.> not sure to the left of of ignore button, it says : LVCSabLe i just took over winmx
<.:BËË®MÂÑ:.> strange no 1 is connecting thru me while im on primary
¤l[W/¥\W]_QuickSilver_l¤ that is strange yes for pie patch

¤l[W/¥\W]_QuickSilver_l¤ poor sabre does he think the nine caches we operate cant handle his puny load ..lol
< Server KoRn > true
< Server KoRn > oh yes more winmx fix drama :P
< Server KoRn > LOVE IT
< Server KoRn > lol
<_Baby_Techie_Lovely_Lisa> lol
¤l[W/¥\W]_QuickSilver_l¤ lol
<_Baby_Techie_Lovely_Lisa> we are ready for them lol
< Server KoRn > it cracks me up

They are coming into Vladd's and wanting to know what is going on and about the compromised caches and if it is safe to be on WinMX any more.

It is Sabre that is making them run in fear. Neither Sable nor I have any control over the caches he runs. Neither Sable nor I can replace the notice on every PIE users message window like he can. This is all his childish actions as a reaction to his own logic being tested in the real world.

Sabre adds selective blocking of WinMX users to his peer cache

2007-09-05T20:21:00.001+00:00

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

I am unable to connect to the network after Sabre (using a proxy & different username) leaves my channel in a fit of anger over me using his own logic to justify hosting a clone of his Big Tits room, just like he has hosted a clone of mine (TSC) for the past year. (around 9:30 am)
Other users confirmed that they never lost the ability to connect to the network by using his cache.
Blocking of my IP at the peer cache level is suspected.
After replacing every instance of his IP in my HOSTS file with a WMW cache IP, I connected immediately.
Blocking is confirmed. (2:43 PM)

Sabre has proven both the ability and the willingness to selectively block users from the network, at the peer cache level, and he will use that ability to block any users that he doesn't like or doesn't agree with, and thereby violating their rights to free speech by removing them and their chatrooms from the network.

I wonder what the ACLU would think about this.

I wonder what the **AA's would think about this.

I wonder what the WinMX community would think about his ability and willingness to block them from THEIR network, as if the network belonged to Sabre and Sabre alone.

In my eyes, this only confirms my belief in the need for more caches run by more groups, and more patches to utilize them.

Too much power in the hands of too few, over a network that should be in the control of its real owners (the users) is not a good thing. It promotes and encourages those that have that power to behave badly, abusing that power, and act as if they are the sole owners of the network.

The network should not be run by a few insecure people with big egos (and mental problems) that do it for power and to make themselves feel more important.

We should not be keeping our eggs in too few baskets and trust those baskets to a few power tripping mentally ill individuals. It is not good for our network and in the long run will cause its complete collapse.

It is time for the WinMX users to take back their network and rid it of those that seek to take it away from them. It is time to put a new system in place to spread out the power among more users and groups that have the best interest of the users and the network in mind, and not themselves.

Wake up before it's too late!

Are you concerned about making a WinMX patch open source?

2007-09-04T04:24:00.001+00:00

To all those that think that making a patch open source will allow script kiddies to hijack applications or the network or people's pc's, I would like to point out this google search on dll injection.

Any script kiddie can do this search and read any instructions on how to accomplish this and plenty of sample code provided. KM probably did it himself while making his very first patch.

The methods of dll injection can be used for good or evil...as with any code, including code to create a simple text file to save program settings for your application.

It is basic programming skills to create a text file, with a particular name, in a particular folder on a hard drive. The HOSTS file is nothing more than a text file. If you can write code to make a file for saving your program's settings you can make a HOSTS file too. If you can write code to edit your program's settings file, you can edit a HOSTS file too.

Everything that would go into making a patch has already been done before in some form, and sample code for every aspect of it is already readily available. You could create a patch almost entirely by copying and pasting existing code that is already available to the public.

KM didn't invent the wheel when he made his patch. Nor was his the first to 'hijack' winmx to add features or functionality. Nor was WinMX the first application to ever be 'hijacked' with a dll.

This method of adding new features and functionality has been around for ages...it is even taught in schools. It is an important skill that most professional programmers need to know. In a corporate environment one often has to add specialized functionality to applications that are specific to that company's needs and are unavailable any other way.

There are plenty of plugins available for other applications without a built in plugin architecture that uses dll injection. How did they do it? Same way KM made his patch...same way the next patch will be made.

I do not see a reason for not making a patch open source... unless you are going to hide something nasty in it that you don't want your users to know about, because you intend on using their connection or pc for other evil purposes, and by making it open source they would easily find out about it and you would be exposed for the rat you truly are.

The only other reason to not make a patch open source is control. He who has the patch has the power to control those that want it if his is the only patch in town. Even if it is a crappy patch, he will have the power.

But once the code is released, he has no power. Anyone can then take that patch and improve it and make it better, solving any new problems that pop up on the network, and keep this network going forever.

Open source takes the power away from the coder who wants to be a god and gives it to the users, where in this case it rightfully belongs. Instead of one coder who thinks he is a god and can act like he owns winmx, you give that power to the users.

This network doesn't belong to one single entity any more. It stopped being one entity's 'property' when frontcode walked away. It is us, the users of winmx, every single one of us, that owns this network now. Anyone that tries to take control of the network by releasing a closed source patch is trying to take the network away from you.

Don't allow that to happen again. We have been there before, more than once. Do not be at the mercy of another Frontcode, KM, Sabre, or anyone else. Demand what rightfully belongs to you and hold on to it for dear life. Don't let anybody have the ability to shut down the network and leave you high & dry again.

Anybody that doesn't want an open source patch wants the network to die, wants the RIAA to win, and wants to take the network away from you because a closed source patch makes it much easier to accomplish that.

Someone from TSC was working on a patch to replace KM's and was threatened and told by Sabre that he better not make his patch open source or even release his patch to be used by others....that he better keep the patch for his own personal use and not to be used by the rest of the winmx community. Another member was threatened by Sabre too...he is working on a peer cache.

I wonder why he said that? Why is he threatening us and trying to stop us? Could it be that he thinks without a replacement to KM's patch that it makes him the god and new owner of winmx? That now the network belongs to him and only him?

Is this what you want? Do you want him to be your god? Do you want to be at his mercy? Do you want him to have power like that? Do you want him to have the ability to decide if winmx will continue or not? Do you want any single person or small group of people to have that kind of power?

I don't know about you, but this is not what I want and the sooner we have an open source patch and peer cache and eventually a replacement client with an improved protocol, the better better off we, the winmx community, will be.

Let's make the next patch OUR patch...OUR code...for OUR winmx and stop the madness that has plagued this network for the last 2 years and usher in the beginning of a new winmx era that will be free of the patch wars, accusations, and other crap of the past. A new winmx that works together as a team for the good of all of us...undivided...with a single purpose...to keep what is ours and make it grow.

That is why we are all still here right? Because winmx belongs to us? (I know it isn't the files...you can get the same files anywhere on any p2p.)

KB936357 = funky

2007-07-24T04:58:00.001+00:00

KB936357 is a Windows Update patch you have to watch out for and be careful.

It is microcode for the BIOS of certain affected systems.

Only systems with the following CPU's need this:

Mobile: Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor.
Desktop: Intel Core 2 Duo desktop processor, Intel Core 2 Quad desktop processor, and Intel Core 2 Extreme processor.
Server: Intel Xeon processors 3000, 3200, 5100, and 5300 series.

The problem with this patch is that it is installing itself on systems not affected and causing problems.

If you have your Windows Update settings set to automatically download and install patches, you might want to change this to downloading, but asking before installing.

When a new update downloads and you are asked, do not select the typical or express install. Choose the advanced option and check for this patch in the list.

If you don't have one of the affected CPU's, unselect this patch and do not install it.

You will have to do this every time, so keep the patch number handy so you'll remember the name of it.

I know of at least 1 person that ended up with this patch that didn't need it.

For one guy with an older P4 CPU, it messed up his router causing him to have a problem with it disconnecting every few hours.

Another guy...I haven't heard from him since he rebooted after an update tonight(he has an AMD64 CPU). I suspect he ended up with this patch and it may have caused problems, but I can't be sure at this time.

So please be careful with this one. Don't install it if you don't need it.

But if you do have one of the CPU's affected, please install it...you do need it, even if you are not currently having problems. There is a flaw in the listed processors that creates an exploitable vulnerability and your BIOS needs this patch to correctly deal with it and protect you.

The alternative to installing this patch on affected systems is to install a BIOS update from your motherboard manufacturer. Not all manufacturers have released a BIOS update to address the issue, and some require your system to have a floppy drive to install it. It is just easier to use the update from Microsoft for affected systems.

Full patch info from Microsoft

Details on the vulnerability with select Intel processors

CrossMX Release Delayed Indefinitely

2007-03-20T07:53:00.001+00:00

Due to a power accident in her street, BugHunter lost 2 PC's, almost all the electronic equipment in her house, and the wiring in her house was damaged.

It will be very costly for her to repair and replace what was lost and she doesn't know how long it will take.

She is currently without internet and is stuck using an old laptop (Pentium 90 with 16 Megs of ram).

She says she is still working on CrossMX, but with the speed of that laptop, this is going to take a long time.

Quoting BugHunter's email to me:

Shit happens..lol

Bug, our hearts go out to you. I am just glad you are ok. Take all the time you need and do what you have to do to get back on your feet. CrossMX can wait.

Scripting in Perl Using Voice Recognition in Vista

2007-02-07T10:39:00.001+00:00

This video is hilarious...especially when he loses his temper.

ABAP ebooks needed

2007-01-31T17:12:00.001+00:00

I received a request today for ebooks on ABAP.

If anybody knows where on the web I can find some, the help would be greatly appreciated.

Just leave a link to the site, with the title of the book, in a comment to this post.

Thanks.

CrossMX Update

2007-01-23T16:21:00.001+00:00

We have a screenshot of what it will look like and more details...

Features:

Full Winmx support

Ares chat support

Multiple network IRC support

Bit Torrent support

Cross-platform for Linux, BSD, Windows, Mac

From what I am seeing, this could become the client that when combined with Gaim, could serve all your cross-platform online chat needs...and many of your downloading needs too.

If you have any feature requests, things you think WinMX lacks, etc....leave your suggestions in the comments and BugHunter will try to add as many of the good ones as possible.

Keep in mind that things like Winamp support are platform specific (Windows) and will not work on other OS's, so don't ask for it.

Congratulations Boki!

2007-01-16T01:49:00.001+00:00

Boki made the announcement today that she is getting married!

And who is the lucky guy, you ask? (No, it's not Byte)

The Damned Gentleman Thug aka Thuggy is the lucky guy.

They have asked Dik to be best man, and he has accepted.

More details will be posted as they become available.

Congratulations Boki & Thuggy, from all your friends here at TSC. May you have many happy years together.

CrossMX is coming!

2007-01-16T01:12:00.001+00:00

The first full WinMX replacement application, that can chat, share files, host rooms, handle both primary and secondary connections, do everything WinMX can...and more...is almost here.

BugHunter has been hard at work developing CrossMX and she says it should be ready for early beta testing in about 3-5 days.

Not only will CrossMX be the first application able to do all of what WinMX can, it will also be the first cross-platform application ...for Windows, Linux, BSD, and Mac.

And it will also support IRC and Ares chat.

More details and a download link will be posted soon.

CodeIDE: the online IDE that works in your browser

2007-01-16T01:00:00.001+00:00

CodeIDE is an online IDE that works with BASIC, Pascal, C++, Perl, Javascript, HTML, and LISP.

Registered users can chat online and save programs on the service.

There is also a wiki to help you learn programming, and a forum for discussions.

http://www.codeide.com

Hello World

2007-01-15T03:50:00.001+00:00

Have you ever wondered what 'Hello World' would look like in various programming languages?

Delphi Example:

// Hello World in Delphi
Program Hello_World;
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
Begin
WriteLn('Hello World');
End.

Plenty more examples here:

The Hello World Collection

Is StumbleUpon the Search Engine of the Future?

2007-01-03T03:01:00.000+00:00

Let's face it...Google has serious flaws as a search engine. It is over-run with bogus pages of keyword lists, links to counterfeit sites, links to other inferior search pages, splogs, sites that try to hijack your browser and load your PC with spyware, and generally crappy unrelated results.

What you are looking for is burried in garbage. In order to find anything decent, related to what you are seeking, you have to set Google to show you 100 results per page instead of the default 10, and spend much more time scanning those results for what you are seeking.

What if there was a button on every page that let you vote whether the page was of quality or was crap?

And what if the quality pages moved up in rank as a result of your vote?

And what if the pages you labeled as crap fell in rank as a result of your vote?

And what if you could only vote for a page once, and only once? (you can always change your vote at some point in the future if the site became crap or became good)

And what if you came across a quality page that wasn't in your search engine's database and could add it yourself with just a click of a button?

And what if you could decide what keywords should be attached to pages?

What if StumbleUpon became a search engine?

It's not as far fetched as it might seem. At some point in the future, there will be enough SU members rating pages they come across and adding sites that they like to the database, that SU could actually make the jump from a simple amusement of random pages based on your interests, to a real search engine dishing out quality results based on rankings given by their userbase.

They could succeed where other search engines have failed.

I, for one, would love to see what would happen if SU did make the jump. It might be just the thing to replace Google as the top dog of search engines.

Best of the Web 2006

2006-12-28T06:48:00.000+00:00

Here is my list of my best website discoveries of 2006:

donationcoder.com

Seriously...that's it!

Nothing else matters. Nothing else can compare, in my mind.

Anybody that has been reading my blog knows I love that site and it has become my online home.

But I am just one person, and my opinions on what is best would only reflect my opinions. If you want a great list of what is best try this one:

DonationCoder.com's Best of the Year 2006 list.

It contains the best

software

websites

essays

debates

flash games

humor

gadgets

programming stuff

entrepreneur related articles

and more

all selected from their fantastic forum postings of the past year.

This isn't the usual single person who just comes along and gives their opinion of what they think is the best...you can find that on any other website.

What makes this list special is that this is a huge community of dedicated enthusiasts that has collectively scoured the internet for the best of everything. No single person could have come up with a list like this, and it sure would have taken them a lot longer than a year to put it together if they tried.

If you would like to become part of the team and possibly contribute to the Best of 2007 list, register on their forum and become part of the community. You won't regret it.

It is my best discovery of 2006.

http://www.donationcoder.com/2006/