Thrifty Trend Software Blog

How to setup OpenCV with Visual Studio 2010 without recompiling source

2011-12-14T09:09:00.001-05:00

The tutorial documentation is a bit out-of-date. I thought I might share the process for anyone who might be interested:

OPENCV development environment setup

1. download and install opencv into c:\intel\opencv ; http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencvlibrary/
2. download and unzip TBB into c:\intel\tbb ; http://threadingbuildingblocks.org/file.php?fid=77
3. download and install Path-Editor ; http://www.redfernplace.com/software-projects/patheditor/
4. open computer properties->advanced settings->advanced->environment variables
5. set the following variables:
OPENCV_INST=C:\Intel\opencv
OPENCV_DIR=C:\Intel\opencv\build\x86\vc10
TBB_DIR=C:\Intel\tbb\tbb40_20111003oss (or other relevant version folder)
6. run path-editor, add the following:
%OPENCV_DIR%\bin
%TBB_DIR%\bin\ia32\vc10
7. Run Visual Studio 2010 and make new console c++ application with empty-project checked
8. From Menu, select View->Other Windows->Property Manager
9. Add new sheets to Debug and Release seperately for OpenCV
a. under c/c++ / General, set:
Additional Include Directories=$(OPENCV_INST)\build\include
b. under Linker / General, set:
Additinoal Library Directories=$(OPENCV_DIR)\lib
c. under Linker / Input, set:
Additinoal Dependencies:
opencv_core231d.lib
opencv_imgproc231d.lib
opencv_highgui231d.lib
opencv_ml231d.lib
opencv_video231d.lib
opencv_features2d231d.lib
opencv_calib3d231d.lib
opencv_objdetect231d.lib
opencv_contrib231d.lib
opencv_legacy231d.lib
opencv_flann231d.lib

for the release property sheet, delete the "d" letter at name of each such lib file
10. The newly created .prop files for the property sheets can be reused in future projects
11. Add one of the .cpp files from the opencv cpp samples directory to verify it compiles properly
a. consider the file: C:\Intel\opencv\samples\cpp\tutorial_code\introduction\windows_visual_studio_Opencv\Test.cpp

Cheers!

Missed your Black-Friday xbox deal? Check this out: 250gb with kinect and two games: $296, includes 3 months gold

2011-12-11T14:54:00.001-05:00

And I woke up at 4:30 to stand in line and get my $199 kinect 4gb bundle, one game only. Hmm.. Where's that receipt, I see a better deal....

That's $296 on Amazon, without pressure, lines, or click-quick-within-2-minutes-or-lost-it rush sale.

Now that I do have my own though, I must say - this thing is awesome, so much better than wii. We haven't even turned the wii on since buying the xBox...

Oops, tiny caveat, you have to buy it from an Amazon partner: best4sale, costs $291.95+$3.99 shipment. Hmm, is this new or open boxed? They would mention if not new, right?

Cheers!

German bond auction a disaster, new world debt markets freeze?!

2011-11-23T10:15:00.001-05:00

What could be worse than sub-prime mortgage global meltdown? Sovereign debt meltdown, in the country you least expected.
German 10-year bond auction a "disaster"

A "disastrous" sale of German benchmark bonds sparked fears on Wednesday the debt crisis was beginning to threaten even Berlin, with the Bundesbank forced to dig deep into its pockets to ensure the auction did not fail.

In one of the least successful debt sales by Europe's powerhouse economy since the launch of the single currency, the low returns offered -- just 2 percent annually over 10 years -- deterred investors made uneasy by the escalating cost of the crisis to Germany.

That meant the central bank had to pick up 39 percent of the 6 billion euros ($8 billion) of debt Germany had hoped to sell after commercial banks bought just 3.644 billion euros of the issue.

"It is a complete and utter disaster," said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities in London.

Black Friday event, all week on Amazon

2011-11-22T13:09:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you, but I'll skip pushing and shoving at 5am at local Meijer, Best Buy and Walmart. Consider checking every hour or so Amazon for great deals instead, every day.

Apple products on Amazon cost less than Apple store, no sales tax

2011-10-22T12:34:00.000-04:00

Yep, Mac Mini-s, iMac-s etc... not cheap, and for Windows fan - you'll have to deal with extra steps and costs, but if you are a fan and want to buy right now, I think Amazon's is your best choice.

iMac - $1,125.92

Mac Mini - $568.95
Meanwhile, I'm shopping around for a new PC. Which is how I came across this little fact regarding prices of Mac-s. It turns out that brand new Dells desktops were selling for $200 discount and an extra percentage discount with a coupon on the outlet store. Which means - the Dell desktop outlet inventory was swept clean.

Lesson learned, you see something you want in the right price and you should be able to afford - don't procrastinate. Good deals really don't last long.

Steve Jobs, RIP. Among most admired businessmen of our generation

2011-10-06T18:06:00.001-04:00

You can't argue with success, after success, after success. His genius was in producing items the consumers really wanted, and making them even cooler with each new release.

PS. Yes, his autobiography is on sale.

Interesting to review the following video, Steve Jobs giving a commencement speech at Stanford: "How to live before you die".

New Amazon Fire tablet only $199, cheaper kindle devices, most exciting tech news this year, undercut Apple and everyone else

2011-09-28T11:42:00.000-04:00

With Amazon's very own implementation of a web browser too...

I'm looking forward to a hands on review. Meanwhile, they are all available to order.

Check-out Wired's opinion: Playing with Fire: Amazon Launches a $200 Tablet, Slashes Kindle Prices

One year ago, almost to the day, Jeff Bezos gave me the reason why people should carry around a Kindle in the age of the iPad. No Angry Birds.

“The number one app for the iPad when I checked a couple of days ago was called Angry Birds—a game where you throw birds at pigs and they blow up,” Bezos told me in September 2010. “The number one thing on the Kindle is Stieg Larsson. It’s a different audience. We’re designing for people who want to read.”

Today at a New York City press event Amazon is releasing a $199 color 7-inch tablet device called Fire. It plays Angry Birds.

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In case you missed it: Market is a-crashing

2011-08-04T12:59:00.002-04:00

Yea... not good for anyone's savings. No safe haven, at all.

Recession Almost A Certainty, Says Advisor — Stocks Could Crash Soon

n the past few months, investors have gone from being generally bullish about the economy and stock market to increasingly concerned that we may be headed for another recession. For now, however, the consensus is still that we'll trudge along with slow growth but avoid an actual downturn.

One advisor who thinks that a recession is almost a certainty, however, is Lance Roberts, the Chief Economist at Streettalk Advisors, a $400 million advisory firm.

...

Don't miss out: Indie Bundle is back for a limited time

2011-07-27T16:16:00.000-04:00

You set the price, and get great games!

The Humble
Indie Bundle #3

Video: Chinese green plans for electric cars stuck in neutral shift

2011-07-26T12:27:00.000-04:00

There are those who keep pushing the idea that China today is a new capitalist super power, where everything is done right and everything is perfect. Here's evidence #14332 that taking a closer look changes the whole picture:

Apple to Amazon: All your profits are ours, Amazon: suck eggs

2011-07-25T22:32:00.001-04:00

The headline is pretty much a summery of what happened today in response to Apple's attempt to confiscate profits from companies selling on their app-store. Talk about an aggressive corporation using its monopoly, where's the regulator exactly? In bed with the evil corporation? Lobbied and paid for within a certain party?

Sidestepping Apple: From Amazon to Condé Nast, Companies Rethink App Strategies

For some reason, buying at Amazon a tablet that is not an iPad begins to make a hell of a lot more sense.

Asus Eee tablet, that's right!

Cool Infographic:State of the Internet

2011-07-25T18:32:00.000-04:00

A very animated and informative thing to pass your time with:

Created by: Online Schools

Apple hoards more cash than GDP of 126 countries, 76.2 Billion dollars

2011-07-21T13:48:00.001-04:00

Hey, guess which "green" company is making a ton of money on backs of cheap chinese labor while this nation is suffering from massive unemployment...

For Apple, a $76 Billion Dilemma

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL - News) has built up a $76.2 billion cash hoard. Now the question is what the company intends to do with the money pile.

On Tuesday, the Cupertino, Calif., company disclosed cash, including short-term and long-term marketable securities, for the quarter ended June 25 increased 15.8% since March to $76.2 billion. That's more than the gross domestic product of 126 countries, including nations such as Ecuador, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka and Costa Rica, according to data from the World Bank.

The gigantic sum on Wednesday prompted some investors to call for it to use some of the cash for dividend payouts. "If they can't find ways to use it to grow, they should be returning it to shareholders," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management, which owns Apple stock.

[More from WSJ.com: Apple's Lion Brings PCs Into Tablet Era]

Asked to comment, an Apple spokesman referred to a long-standing policy as outlined by Chief Executive Steve Jobs last October. "We strongly believe that one or more very strategic opportunities may come along that we can take that we're in a unique position to take advantage of because of our strong cash position," he said at the time.

The cash puts Apple at the head of a pack of large technology companies that have been stockpiling cash in recent years. Microsoft Corp., for example, has built up its cash levels to $60.9 billion, including equity and others investments as of March. Google Inc. has $39.1 billion and Cisco Systems Inc. $43.4 billion by a similar measure as of their latest reporting periods.

Many corporations have accumulated cash because of economic uncertainty over the last several years.

...

I believe in capitalism, but what exactly is Apple doing with all that cash?

Added FAQ page for EzBacktest

2011-07-13T12:01:00.001-04:00

Check it out: EzBacktest Frequently Asked Questions

As more questions arrive, I'll add them with answers.

Cheers!

LinkedIn traded at 1,144.83 P/E?!

2011-07-09T20:09:00.000-04:00

It's 1999 and there's no correction coming, go ahead and place your bets.

LinkedIn Corporation Class A Co (LNKD) - Yahoo Finance Graph Page

Blogger to be renamed to "Google Blogs"?

2011-07-06T15:54:00.000-04:00

Just hope they don't change the blogspot domain, because that'll be a killer to hundreds of thoughsands of functioning existing sites out there.

Google to retire Blogger & Picasa brands

Say goodbye to the Picasa and Blogger names: Google intends to retire several non-Google name brands and rename them as Google products, Mashable has learned.

The move is part of a larger effort to unify its brand for the public launch of Google+, the search giant's social initiative.

Blogger and Picasa aren't going away, of course -- they're two of Google's most popular products. Instead, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Google intends to rename Picasa "Google Photos" and Blogger will become "Google Blogs."

Several other Google brands are likely to be affected, though our sources made it clear that YouTube would not be rebranded. The technology giant shut down Google Video, its failed web video service, in May.

The move isn't without precedent; Google acquired JotSpot in 2006 and rebranded it as Google Sites in 2008. In 2007, Google acquired VOIP platform GrandCentral and relaunched it as Google Voice in 2009.

The future of TV: internet, internet, internet

2011-07-06T13:06:00.000-04:00

I know a few people who have cancelled Cable/Dish and were relying only on internet and netflix subscription for entertainment. What are the chances that actual TV channels will be internet only and be the default channels of future viewers?

Half of TVs to Have Internet Connectivity by 2015

About 47 percent of total flat-panel televisions shipped in four years will have Internet connectivity, as manufacturers bet on the expansion of Netflix and direct-to-consumer offerings from content producers like Time Warner’s HBO.

This figure, about 138 million units, is up from 25 percent of flat panels with WiFi capability shipped this year, according to a quarterly report by DisplaySearch, a unit of research firm NPD group. By the end of 2015, more than 500 million connected TVs will be shipped, according to DisplaySearch.

It may be no coincidence then that Netflix jumped to an all-time high on Tuesday, the same day as the release of this report. Investors also seemed to cheer the announcement from the leader in Internet streaming that it would be expanding into Latin America. The company had previous success with its first international move into Canada.

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China buys up natural resources world wide, goes after Canadian oil

2011-06-28T21:27:00.001-04:00

Looks like the global power is seeking more than just domestic needs.

China Has Its Eye On Canada's Oil

While the U.S. dithers with concerns about "dirty oil" from Alberta's rich tar sands, energy-hungry China makes Ottawa an offer it might not refuse. Memo to Washington: Pipelines can run west as well as south.

When President Obama pledged to wean us off foreign oil, we hoped he didn't mean our friendly ally to the north, Canada. Granted, it doesn't have beaches like Rio, where we're helping the Brazilians drill offshore, but we had hopes nonetheless.

Together, the U.S. and Canada have enough oil and natural gas locked up in shale formations, tar sands, Alaska, the Canadian Arctic and the Outer Continental Shelf to make OPEC pound sand. But we won't drill for ours and apparently, we don't want Canada's.

With more than 170 billion barrels, Alberta has the world's third-largest oil reserves, behind only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and ahead of Russia and Iran. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to nearly triple to 3.7 million by 2025. The only question is, will this crude be flowing south to U.S. refineries or west for export to China?

At issue is the Keystone XL pipeline, parts of which have already been built, that would bring Alberta oil to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. The pipeline also could transport oil extracted from shale formations in the Rocky Mountain West.

...

Windows 8: Confusion and Panic

2011-06-13T14:26:00.003-04:00

The following article on wired is controversial, because people misread it, and perhaps the author over stated the situation.

Microsoft announced Windows 8 will have a default OS layer that is based on HTML5 and JavaScript apps. It also stated that old API-s will be supported. Other chatter around the web is expressing panic that investments made into WPF and Silverlight will go to waste as Microsoft will shift focus. All relevant. But the article is discussing the situation as if existing API-s will no longer be relevant.

Why Microsoft Has Made Developers Horrified About Coding for Windows 8

Go ahead and read it all, including the comments and the linked blogs. The following is my opinion:

The real problem developers and software manufacturing companies have is that existing software can become less relevant as it will be apparent it runs on abandoned technologies. Key terms sometimes used to promote own product as edgy and top of the line will lose meaning when WPF becomes a bastard child. Investment into Silverlight as a web platform by web authors will sink even faster and developers who invest their time and money into education in these technologies will also feel they were duped by Microsoft and lost the investment.

Now here’s a point I’d like to make: I doubt the non x86 tablets will run older API-s, while the desktop windows 8 will surely do. So while we can now deliver WPF based applications to Windows 7 tablets such as ViewPad, that might not be the case in the near future; Investment and time lost.

And to be clear, I don’t have any insider info regarding what Microsoft does. I just assume they won’t release an OS for tablet that takes %75 of available hard drive like it does on the ViewPad, so the only logical step is to remove the legacy bloat.

Cheers!

Your home is worth 80% less than in 2001, in Gold

2011-06-10T17:16:00.000-04:00

"Just" 80%?

Follow this link for a "Chart of the Day" with the revealing piece of data.

Yikes.

ECB, Greece, China, Default, Bankrupt, mix and match the words to make your own headline

2011-06-10T15:23:00.000-04:00

Geez, peek at the following headlines:

* ECB Admits They're Broke

* Chinese Ratings Company Claims U.S. Is Already ‘Defaulting’

* Yields Sink As Euro Mess Feeds U.S. Slowdown

As the market seems like it's building a falling knife pattern, one has to publicly ask: Are the only safe holdings out there 0 and negative yielding treasury bonds WHILE talks of US default are looming?!

It's an odd / wierd world for finance these days.

Why developing for iOS sucks? Besides the 30% Apple collects off your income...

2011-06-10T15:02:00.001-04:00

A great article:

For Apple, Yesterday’s Banned Apps Are Tomorrow’s Great New Feature

It’s good to be king.

Apple deserves lots of credit for creating an entirely new market for mobile software in the iTunes app store, over which it justifiably reigns.

But the army of developers who have created over half a million Apple iOS apps to date perform another valuable function, in addition to making Apple’s hardware more attractive to users and contributing 30 percent of their revenue to the company’s bottom line: Sometimes, they act like a big, unpaid R&D lab for incubating features that Apple can eventually incorporate into its own products — even after banning those same products from its app store (or, rather, “App Store”)

...

Read it all.

Apples make great hardware, they always have. The iPad, even iPad 1 still is a much better product than all of its competitors. Its ability to play 3D games with ease simply mocks whatever others are doing with Intel chipsets and Windows OS as a tablet.

But they have always been so restrictive in allowing others to develop software for their products. You MUST use a mac, must sign contracts, must pay annual fees, they get to decide if your work you labored on will be available to the general public, they get to pull it out when they chose for no apparent reason except shady business practice on their behalf.

Apple is to blame, but so are their customers. The general public prefers paying for apps they get for free on other platforms. Prefer paying for content they get free on other platforms. The public made Apple king and they have taken advantage of this status.

Although I now own my very first Apple product, the iPad 1, I'm still not an adherent to the Apple cult.

Cheers!

Microsoft showcasing upcoming windows 8

2011-06-01T22:06:00.002-04:00

Knowing how bad windows 7 sucks for touch features, this developer only hopes to have the next version of windows not suck. Looks promising.

Wow.

Exit question: Will traditional software with "older" look become immediate throw away?

Drudge Big Red Headline: 'WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF A GREAT, GREAT DEPRESSION'

2011-06-01T12:54:00.001-04:00

Quoting the following story:
Wall Street Baffled by Slowing Economy, Low Yields: Trader

Wall Street is having a hard time figuring out what to do now that the U.S. economy appears to be sputtering and yields are so low, Peter Yastrow, market strategist for Yastrow Origer, told CNBC.

...

What we’ve got right now is almost near panic going on with money managers

...

"We’re on the verge of a great, great depression. The [Federal Reserve] knows it.

...

It's been my non-professional observation for the last two years that something very odd is going on with regards to the disconnect between the stock market and the non-stop "surprising" economic results reportage. Everyone has a "market about to completely crash" feeling, and then it just keeps on going on. Some say it's the QE schemes, which is the 'not so secret hand' anymore.

Final note: Anything said or written on CNBC is by people with agendas. Manipulators whose only interest is their own portfolio doing their best to herd the public for their own profit. It's hard and imprudent to make financial decisions based on rumor spreading liars on that channel.

Cheers

Are the feds going to print more money via QE3? Where's the money hole?

2011-06-01T12:30:00.000-04:00

Connecting the dots. From this story:
Printing More Money: Analyst Says to Prepare for 3rd Round of Quantitative Easing

QE1, QE2, and now, QE3? No, those aren’t British monarchs. Rather, they’re the numbers and letters that have become synonymous with the Federal Reserves practice of printing money and flooding the market with cash through the use of the bond market. By buying up bonds, the Fed has to “print money” to cover the sale. And when more money hits the market, so too does inflation.

The Fed has already gone through two rounds of quantitative easing, and now one analyst says we should get ready for a third round.

Simon Maughn, co-head of European equities at MF Global, told CNBC Wednesday that he sees the move on the horizon, and once again the U.S. will be a big buyer.

“The bond market is going in one direction which is up-falling yields which is telling you quite clearly the direction of economic travel is downwards. Downgrades. QE3 (a third round of quantitative easing) is coming,” he said. “The bond markets are all smarter than us, and that’s exactly what the bond markets are telling me.”

...

To the following still appropriate satire:

Cheers!