Understanding how to root your Android phone

Posted by jasper22 at 21:49 | Saturday, February 26, 2011

The easy title for this would be, simply, “how to root your Android phone.” But I’m not going to go over specific root instructions. For starters, each handset is going to have a different set of instructions. Also, plenty can go wrong in the process. I’ll try to lead you down the right path, though, so that you can get the best possible instructions for rooting. But first, there are a couple of things you have to understand.

Basically, there are two types of root. The first involves unlocking your bootloader and then running a superboot. Honestly, I don’t quite understand the technical side of the process myself. Not that it’s necessary. You just need to be able to hook up your Android to a Mac or PC, download certain files, and run certain processes in the Terminal utility. For instance, when I unlocked the bootloader on my Nexus One, I followed these instructions. Again, this isn’t going to be the same for everyone, so you’re going to need to do a little googling. Just search for “unlock bootloader [your phone model]“. You could, alternatively, just search for “root [your phone model]“.

Android Market makes eBooks purchases available – music and movies too?

Posted by jasper22 at 21:46 |

Looks like the Android Market has made eBook purchases available on the Market today and you’re able to go ahead and buy from an impressive collection of eBooks, still a little shy on the library when compared to Amazon’s Kindle, or Kobo however.

That being said, it’s still a nice addition to the Android Market since they turned it into a web interface for apps streaming to your device(s). A couple of questions of course arise when you start to think of the materials online in the market when comparing to the content on Apple’s iTunes. When will we see music and movies hitting the Android Market? That answer seems to be stuck with the record companies right now for distribution rights, likely the same for movies. That is usually the biggest hurdle for any legitimate streaming/downloadable content web store.

Read more: Talk Android

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Turn your Android device into a second monitor with iDisplay

Posted by jasper22 at 21:40 |

This may or may not be the best use of your Android’s display ever conceived. That being said, it would look OK if you were using your laptop, and needed a second screen onto your newly purchased Motorola Xoom perhaps, taking advantage of its 10inch screen. This would be annoying for me to use on my smartphone, as a 4 inch screen just wouldn’t cut it.

The app is called iDisplay, and it’s been around for some time for Apple products, but it’s now available in the Android Market and will only cost you $4.99. It uses an app that needs to be installed on either your PC or Mac (sorry, don’t see any Linux support just yet), where you would enter the IP address of your computer onto your Android device so it can grab the streamed display.

Read more: Talk Android

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GameSpy announces GameSpy Open for developers across all platforms

Posted by jasper22 at 21:39 |

GameSpy has just announced today that they will be making available all their tools and APIs for developers to use across all gaming platforms including Android. If you have played Dungeon Defenders then you may have seen the GameSpy logo at the start up of the game. Dungeon Defenders is the first Android title to use GameSpy Open.

With the announcement of GameSpy Open for developers to use in their game, we should start seeing a bunch of games starting to integrate GameSpy services into the mix. Just like OpenFeint and Scoreloop, GameSpy brings high scoreboards, leader boards, social sharing, and the ability for in-game purchases. However unlike OpenFeint and Scoreloop, GameSpy brings cloud storage capabilities that developers can use in their games for features like Save Games, screenshots and gameplay video storage. Developers will also be able to implement buddy lists and matchmaking abilities into their games.

Lost your phone? Remote install an app and locate it

Posted by jasper22 at 21:21 |

Plan B from Lookout labs is a ‘find my phone’ app that you download “AFTER” you lose your phone.
Thanks to the new Android market, all you have to do is:

Login to the Android Market,
Find Plan B and
Install it.

Plan B will start locating your phone using cell towers and GPS. It will email you the location every 10 mins.

It works best if you have the GPS enabled already as the app can’t do that by itself.

CMD that app to speak up (or shut up)! App level volume control via the NirCmd command line utility

Posted by jasper22 at 21:16 |

But what about changing the volume level of specific application from command-line and without any user interface ?

The new version of NirCmd (v2.50) allows you to easily set, change, or mute/unmute the volume of every application on Windows 7/2008/Vista.

There are 3 new commands - setappvolume for setting absolute volume lever, changeappvolume for increasing/decreasing the volume level, and muteappvolume which allows you to mute/unmute the volume.

For example, if you want to set the volume of Internet Explorer to 40%, execute this command:
NirCmd.exe setappvolume iexplore.exe 0.4

Saturday Mono Update

Posted by jasper22 at 21:16 |

Following a long established tradition of doing a quick Mono update after we do a major release, we released Mono 2.10.1 to the world.

There are four big features in this release that we backported from our master branch in addition to some 25 fresh bug fixes:

Support for running OrchardCMS on Linux. We also wrote a PostgreSQL backend for it. You can find the patches in this discussion.
The Parallel Framework's Default task scheduler has been switched to use our new and improved internal threadpool that we introduced with Mono 2.10. Previously it used its own (and amazing) scheduler, but did not share the same properties as .NET as there were by default two active threadpools, now there is only one.
Plenty of updates to the WCF stack.
OSX is a fast growing OS for Mono, this release brings performance counters for OSX as well as adding debugging symbols to all of our libraries if you install the CSDK package from our download page.

Read more: Personal blog of Miguel de Icaza

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Escape the iOS SDK: Building iPhone (and Android) apps via Flash

Posted by jasper22 at 15:02 |

Once upon a time, the path to the Apple App Store was very simple for Adobe Flash developers: Put aside your childish ways and devote yourself to the pure complexity of Objective-C. Your fancy tools and rendering libraries are nice for beginners, but only those who master pointers and malloc were welcome to feast at the table of iOS. Everyone else had the door slammed on their fingers.

The reason was simple: Apple refused to accept code with libraries or interpreters and, like schoolmarms everywhere, insisted that everyone write their own code. Perhaps Apple was afraid of viruses, downloaded code, or competition from cross-platform tools.

[ Peter Wayner explains how to escape the App Store by writing HTML-based mobile apps. | Stay up to speed on programming issues and trends with InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter. ]

That was then. Now Apple has relented a bit and is no longer completely shutting out runtime platforms like Adobe's Flash for the development of iOS apps tailored to the iPhone and iPad. This is good news for the people who've mastered a set of tools that continues to produce some of the best-looking content on the Web.

"Basically Adobe vector and raster rendering are years in the making and they've perfected this technology," says Paulius Uza, CEO of InRuntime, creator of the game Alchemist. His company often prototypes ideas with other technologies such as OpenGL, but he maintains that "the Flash version always looks prettier."

Now Flash developers like Uza have several paths to the iPhone and iPad from Adobe, as well as a sharp competitor built by people who used to work for Adobe. All of them open up opportunities for those who are accustomed to working in the Flash ecosystem to use their talent and old code to create new apps.

When Isolated Storage Isn’t Enough

Posted by jasper22 at 09:23 | Thursday, February 24, 2011

When you wish to persist state across usages of your application, Isolated Storage allows you to write to the disk and stash away key-value pairs. For state, this is usually sufficient, but if what you wish to persist is data, especially relational data, then Isolated Storage is a bit limiting.

To meet this need for a more robust data storage scheme, a number of libraries have been developed that work on top of isolated storage. This posting is the first in a series that will examine these options; beginning with the Sterling Database.

The home page for the Sterling Database states that the goal of Sterling is to be non-intrusive, lightweight, flexible and portable. The list of features is extensive and there is very good documentation, though it isn’t always obvious (or it wasn’t to me) how to get your first database up and running.

To begin, download Sterling from Codeplex. There are two ways to install, just the dll’s or the entire source code. If you use the source code, just include the project into your solution and put a reference in your main project to the Sterling project.

How to create a mini browser application for Windows Phone 7

Posted by jasper22 at 15:31 | Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I have experienced a lot of fun writing Windows Phone 7 applications in Visual Basic. Web browser is one of the applications that are commonly used on phones these days. In this blog, I want to share some sample source code that will help you to create a mini browser application for Windows phone 7. I will tell now demonstrate how easy it is to develop a mini browser application for Windows Phone 7, using Visual Basic for Windows Phone Developer Tools.

The mini browser application can be created in 3 simple steps:

Create a sample application and add controls and an event handler
Build and debug the application
Rebuild in release mode before publishing

Before you create a mini browser application, you need to install the following applications:

Visual Studio 2010 Professional, Premium, or Ultimate. If you do not have any of the releases, you can download any of the following trial versions as per your preference: Professional, Premium, or Ultimate.
Windows Phone Developer Tools RTW
Visual Basic for Windows Phone Developer Tools - RTW

To create a mini browser application, follow the 3 simple steps mentioned earlier:

Step 1 - Create a sample application and add controls and an event handler

Create a sample application

Create a new project and browse the “Select “Silverlight for Windows Phone” node.
Select the “Windows Phone Application” template.
Enter a name for the browser.

Final Android 3.0 Platform and Updated SDK Tools

Posted by jasper22 at 14:09 |

The full SDK for Android 3.0 or Honeycomb, the branch of Android aimed specifically at tablets, is now available to developers.

The APIs are final, and the developers are now free to create apps targeting Honeycomb and publish them on the Android Market.

The SDK comes just in time as one of the first Android 3.0-sporting tablets, the Motorola Xoom, is about to hit the stores tomorrow. It may not have Flash just yet, but at least users will be able to enjoy some new, Android 3.0-specific apps on their shiny new tablet.

OpenTK

Posted by jasper22 at 22:22 | Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Open Toolkit is an advanced, low-level C# library that wraps OpenGL, OpenCL and OpenAL. It is suitable for games, scientific applications and any other project that requires 3d graphics, audio or compute functionality.

Feature Highlights
Rich, type-safe bindings
Support for the latest versions of OpenGL, OpenGL|ES, OpenAL and OpenCL with automatic extension loading, error checking and inline documentation.

Flexible GUI options
Cross-platform GLControl (Windows.Forms), GLWidget (GTK#) and WPFControl classes. Native, high-performance GameWindow designed specifically for games.

Fully managed, CLS-compliant code
Supports 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. No need for unmanaged libraries - compile once, run everywhere!

Useful APIs
3D math toolkit supplies Vector, Matrix, Quaternion and Bezier structs. Input API provides Keyboard, Mouse and Joystick interfaces. Display API for multiple monitors. OpenTK.Compatibility supports Tao framework applications.

Permissive MIT/X11 License
Which means you are free to use, modify and redistribute the source code. Suitable for open- and closed-source projects alike.

F# on (Ubuntu) Linux with Mono and Monodevelop

Posted by jasper22 at 18:52 |

This week, I’m attending the Java Posse Roundup to learn about the interesting things happening on the JVM, meet smart people, and hopefully write some Scala and Clojure code. One of the more surprising emails that I got after registering for the conference came from Dick Wall who asked if I could take an afternoon during the conference to hack some F# with him. Dick prefers to run Ubuntu, and I have wanted to revisit F# on Ubuntu ever since I played around with it a few months back, so I set about installing F# and getting it to run with Monodevelop in Ubuntu.

Below is the process that I used to get everything working on my machine. I don’t claim that this is the best way to do things or that it will even work for anyone else. However, I didn’t find much up to date documentation on the web about running F# on Ubuntu, so hopefully this useful to others. I’ll do my best to keep this up to date, so feel free to post comments on your experiences.

Background
Unlike most installs on Ubuntu, mono is tricky. For various reasons, the mono packages in the Ubuntu repositories are significantly out of date, so you will have to build from source to get even semi-recent updates. I decided that I did not want to overwrite the mono installation that ships with Ubuntu, so these instructions will set you up with a parallel mono installation in /opt/mono.

Prevent Tampering of Encrypting Data Using add_authenticator Argument of EncryptByKey

Posted by jasper22 at 10:32 |

This article is one of several articles discussing some of the best practices for encrypting data. This article demonstrates how the @add_authenticator argument of the ENCRYPTBYKEY function can help prevent tampering with encrypted data.
Imagine the following scenario: The DBA is encrypting the salary column for all employees in such a way that people with authorization to access the table, but no access to the encryption key can see and manipulate the table, but cannot access the salary in plaintext. Mallory is one such employee, who has SELECT, INSERT & UPDATE on the table as required for her daily job, but no access to the encryption keys protecting the salary column.
CREATE TABLE employees( employee_id int identity primary key, name nvarchar(256), salary_crypt varbinary(8000));

CREATE CERTIFICATE cert_demo WITH SUBJECT = 'Encryption demo';
go

CREATE SYMMETRIC KEY key_employee WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256
ENCRYPTION BY CERTIFICATE cert_demo;
go

OPEN SYMMETRIC KEY key_employee DECRYPTION BY CERTIFICATE cert_demo;
go

INSERT INTO employees VALUES ( N'Alice',
ENCRYPTBYKEY( key_guid('key_employee'),
CONVERT(varbinary(100), 50000.00)));
INSERT INTO employees VALUES ( N'Bob',
ENCRYPTBYKEY( key_guid('key_employee'),
CONVERT(varbinary(100), 1000.00)));

INSERT INTO employees VALUES ( N'Mallory',
ENCRYPTBYKEY( key_guid('key_employee'),
CONVERT(varbinary(100), 1000.00)));
go

--1 Alice 5000
--2 Bob 1000
--3 Mallory 1000

SELECT employee_id, name, CONVERT(decimal,
DECRYPTBYKEY(salary_crypt)) AS salary FROM employees;
go

CLOSE SYMMETRIC KEY key_employee;
Go

CLOSE SYMMETRIC KEY key_employee;
go

CREATE USER [mallory] WITHOUT LOGIN;
go

GRANT UPDATE ON employees TO [mallory];
go

GRANT SELECT ON employees TO [mallory];
go

In this scenario, Mallory may not be able to recover the plaintext from anybody else in the company, but she may still be able to modify her own salary. She may not be able to see the salary for Alice, her manager, but she can easily guess that Alice’s salary is higher than her own. What would Mallory do? Simply copy Alice’s salary into her own row.

EXECUTE AS USER = 'mallory';
go

SILVERLIGHT + WCF: DEBUGGING ИЛИ КАК ПОНЯТЬ ОШИБКУ СЕРВИСА

Posted by jasper22 at 10:28 |

ИТАК, ХОТЕЛКА
Хочу понимать присланные сервером сообщения об ошибках.

ВКЛЮЧЕНИЕ ОТЛАДКИ
Вариант 1:

Visual Studio имеет кучу настроек, не обошла команда разработчиков и такую важную тему как отладка (debugging). В настройках проекта сайта (host для silverlight-приложения) легко заметить закладку Web, в которой в самом низу можно найти раздел Debuggers.

Можно включить и выключить отладку Silverlight. Но стоит заметить, что Вы не сможете одновременно использовать отладку Silverlight и Host (сайт), на котором запускается silverlight-приложение, если Silverlight-приложение не браузере, а вне его (Out-Of-Browser OOB). В случаи OOB, одновременно можно отлаживать либо сайт (например, WCF-сервисы), либо Silverlight-приложение.

Вариант 2:

Можно запустить отладку использую полезную функцию Visual Studio, которая называется Attach to process (Ctrl+Alt+P). То есть подключится непосредственно к процессу (к браузеру) в котором исполняется silverlight-приложение:

Чтобы определить к какому экземпляру подключится можно посмотреть на тип: Type =Silverlight 86.

КОНФИГУРАЦИЯ WCF-СЕРВИСА
В web.config надо тоже внести некоторые изменения. Они не большие но очень важные. Чтобы ваш сервис смог с вами "общаться" в файле конфигурации должна быть включена соответствующая настройка:

Этот параметр, как можно понять из названия, разрешает отправку информации о полученных исключениях в результат запроса.

И, НАКОНЕЦ, ЕЩЕ ОДНА НАСТРОЙКА

Чтобы Вы смогли получать сообщения на стороне silverlight-приложения, надо "сказать" приложению и в частности сервису, что все запросы к нему идут через http протокол. То есть, сделать так, чтобы сервис думал что его опрашивает web-сайт, а не silverlight. Для этого надо сделать следующее:

1) на странице, которая обращается к сервису (например, MainPage.xaml.cs) добавить пространства имен:

using System.Net;
using System.Net.Browser;

2) в конструкторе этой самой страницы (например, MainPage.xaml.cs) написать код:

WebRequest.RegisterPrefix("http://", WebRequestCreator.ClientHttp);

Read more: МУСОРКА - НАЙДИ ЛУЧШЕЕ!

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ASP.NET AJAX Videos & Tutorials (155)

Posted by jasper22 at 10:27 |

ASP.NET AJAX Videos

Introduction to ASP.NET Ajax History
Use Script Combining to Improve Performance
Get Started with ASP.NET AJAX
Implement Dynamic Partial-Page Updates with ASP.NET AJAX
Make Client-Side Network Callbacks with ASP.NET AJAX
Add ASP.NET AJAX Features to an Existing App
ASP.NET AJAX Enable an Existing Web Service
Use the ASP.NET AJAX Client Library Controls
Use an ASP.NET AJAX ScriptManagerProxy
Use the RoundedCorners Extender
Use the ASP.NET AJAX Timer Control
Implement the Predictive Fetch Pattern for AJAX
Implement the AJAX Paging Pattern
Implement the Incremental Page Display Pattern
Incremental Page Display Pattern (GET and POST)
Use the UpdateProgress Control
Use the ASP.NET AJAX History Control
Implement the AJAX After Processing Pattern
Update Multiple Regions of a Page with ASP.NET AJAX
Choose Between Methods of AJAX Page Updates
Use Other JavaScript UI Libraries with ASP.NET AJAX
Use the ASP.NET AJAX Profile Services
Debug ASP.NET AJAX Applications Using Visual Studio 2005
Customize Error Handling for the UpdatePanel
Use ASP.NET AJAX Client Templates
Build a Custom ASP.NET AJAX Server Control
(more...)

ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit Videos

Get Started with the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit
CascadingDropDown Control Extender
TextBoxWatermark Control Extender
Popup Control Extender
ModalPopup Extender Control
AlwaysVisible Control Extender
Accordion Control
Collapsable Panel Extender
Draggable Panel Extender
DynamicPopulate Extender
FilteredTextbox Extender
HoverMenu Extender
ToggleButton Extender
DropShadow Extender
PasswordStrength Extender
Animation Extender Control
ConfirmButton Extender
Slider Control
AutoComplete Control
Configure the Calendar Control
DropDown Control
MaskedEdit Controls
MutuallyExclusive Checkbox Extender
NoBot Control
ListSearch Extender

(more...)

New Silverlight Video Tutorial: Send async messages across UserControls or even applications

Posted by jasper22 at 10:25 |

Hello All!

In this 11 minute video I show you how to use the LocalMessageSender and LocalMessageReceiver to send asynchronous message across two UserControls but it will also work with two Silverlight applications on the same HTML or even in two separate browsers (heck even with a OOB app and a browser app)! You can even send XML and use it to send complex object types.

So, buckle up and learn how to use the LocalMessageSender/Receiver to make your Silverlight applications and/or UserControls to communicate!

Enjoy! Victor Gaudioso

Video:
http://www.windowspresentationfoundation.com/Tutorials/TalkingSLApps/

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Using the TriggerAction control

Posted by jasper22 at 10:25 |

Bxf and CSLA .NET both include a TriggerAction control. This control helps support the MVVM design pattern in WPF, Silverlight, and WP7 applications.

(Bxf is completely independent from CSLA – I donated TriggerAction from CSLA to the Bxf project a while back though, so this type is available from either framework)

The specific problem addressed by TriggerAction is the need to invoke a verb (method/command) on your viewmodel object in response to any arbitrary UI event. One common UI event is something like a button click event, though you can often use commanding in that case. But there are numerous other UI events from many controls other than buttons, and you might want to have one of those UI events cause the viewmodel to perform an action.

TriggerAction basically wires arbitrary UI events to methods on the current DataContext (usually the viewmodel object).

<bxf:TriggerAction TargetControl="{Binding ElementName=MyControl}"
TriggerEvent="MouseOver"
DataContext="{Binding Source={StaticResource vm}}"
MethodName="MyAction" />

TriggerAction listens for the trigger event from the TargetControl. When it handles that event, it invokes the specified method (MethodName) on its current DataContext object. There’s nothing more to it.

To get TriggerAction working you need two things: source and target.

Source:

TargetControl must be set
TriggerEvent may be set (default is “Click”)

Target:

DataContext must be set (or inherited from the container)
MethodName must be set

Parameter (optional):

MethodParameter may be set (to a value or binding expression)
RebindParameterDynamically may be set to true (to force rebinding of MethodParameter to work around issues with certain control properties such as ListBox.SelectedItems)
The most common causes of failure when using TriggerAction are that the TargetControl isn’t set right, or the DataContext isn’t set right, and of those two the most common is that the DataContext isn’t what you think it is (that happens to me all the time).

Must Have Windows Phone 7 Toolkits

Posted by jasper22 at 10:24 |

Windows Phone 7 has been getting a good bit of press in last couple weeks (to say the least). Given the recent announcements, there's a good chance more people will be looking to do some WP7 dev.

Once you get the bare bones essentials from the App Hub, where do you do next? Toolkits! Must... get... toolkits!

Rudi Grobler in the Cloud delivers; Windows Phone 7 MUST HAVE Toolkits

"If you do ANY serious Windows Phone 7 development, here are a couple of toolkits you MUST HAVE:

..."

Here's a pictorial of all the toolkits Rudi mentions (but be sure to click through to his post as he provides more details for each)

Python 3.2

Posted by jasper22 at 10:22 |

Python 3.2 was released on February 20th, 2011.

Python 3.2 is a continuation of the efforts to improve and stabilize the Python 3.x line. Since the final release of Python 2.7, the 2.x line will only receive bugfixes, and new features are developed for 3.x only.

Since PEP 3003, the Moratorium on Language Changes, is in effect, there are no changes in Python's syntax and only few changes to built-in types in Python 3.2. Development efforts concentrated on the standard library and support for porting code to Python 3. Highlights are:

numerous improvements to the unittest module
PEP 3147, support for .pyc repository directories
PEP 3149, support for version tagged dynamic libraries
PEP 3148, a new futures library for concurrent programming
PEP 384, a stable ABI for extension modules
PEP 391, dictionary-based logging configuration
an overhauled GIL implementation that reduces contention
an extended email package that handles bytes messages
a much improved ssl module with support for SSL contexts and certificate hostname matching
a sysconfig module to access configuration information
additions to the shutil module, among them archive file support
many enhancements to configparser, among them mapping protocol support
improvements to pdb, the Python debugger
countless fixes regarding bytes/string issues; among them full support for a bytes environment (filenames, environment variables)
many consistency and behavior fixes for numeric operations

Free Training SQL Server Training DVD’s (or online) from Quest (reg-ware) - 12 Sessions, Two DVD’s, Zero cost…

Posted by jasper22 at 10:20 |

These insight-packed DVDs contain all the sessions, slide decks, and chat logs from our SQL Server training events originally presented on March 3 and July 21 of 2010.

Order a copy or view the session online today!

Disc One - March Event: SQL Server Training on DMVs
This event was originally presented live on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
Duration: Eight sessions, 45-70 minutes each

Join Kevin Kline, Brent Ozar and Ari Weil as they present tips and tricks to help you monitor your SQL Server environment with ease. You’ll learn how to use Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) to simplify troubleshooting and significantly enhance SQL Server performance.

Disc Two - July Event: Performance Monitor and Wait Events
This event was originally presented live on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.
Duration: Four sessions, 45 - 150 minutes each

Join Kevin Kline, Buck Woody (Microsoft), Brent Ozar and Ari Weil as they reveal shortcuts that take the pain out of learning to performance tune a SQL Server database. You’ll discover the best practices to easily set up, configure, and diagnose unknown servers; save time with SQL Server wait stats; and understand PerfMon’s many counters.

Cost: FREE - Please fill out the requested information below to receive your free DVD set by mail or VIEW THEM ONLINE NOW.

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Проверяем наличие подписчиков у событий при помощи Reflection

Posted by jasper22 at 10:19 |

Передо мной встала задача, нужно было бы собрать все события объекта и подписаться на них (подписать определенный метод), только в том случае, если на это событие не подписан кто-то еще. Я могу даже больше сказать, делал я это для классов-оберток, которые генерирует Visual Studio на Add Reference Service…. Используем мы их по стандартному, как и все, наверное. Используем в коде не сами классы-обертки, которые генерирует Visual Studio, а используем свои реализации, которые нам предоставляют возможность тестировать наши модели, подставляя Mock и Stub объекты вместо самих реализаций. Давайте лучше покажу на примере.
Заголовок для этой заметки достаточно сложно было придумать. Проверка наличия подписчиков – это все-таки малая сердцевина того, что я тут описываю, но я думаю это просто самая интересная часть. В целом, я тут описываю вариант обработки результатов от методов сервисов в Silverlight приложении.
Пускай на сервере есть самый обычный WCF Service, в котором есть всего один метод:
public class MyService : IMyService
{
public bool DoWork(string str)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
В Silverlight проекте мы сделаем Reference на этот сервис. Visual Studio сгенерирует нам класс обертку. Напишем небольшой базовый метод для всех клиентских классов-оберток для сервисов:
public abstract class ServiceBase<TClient> where TClient : class, new()
{
protected ServiceBase()
{
Client = new TClient();
}

public TClient Client { get; set; }

protected void ProcessResult<T>(AsyncCompletedEventArgs eventArgs, T result)
{
Action<AsyncResult<T>> action = eventArgs.UserState as Action<AsyncResult<T>>;

if (action == null)
throw new NotSupportedException("Unexpected type in UserState.");

action(new AsyncResult<T>() { Result = result });
}

protected void ProcessResult(AsyncCompletedEventArgs eventArgs)
{
Action<AsyncResult> actionVoidResponce = eventArgs.UserState as Action<AsyncResult>;

if (actionVoidResponce == null)
throw new NotSupportedException("Unexpected type in UserState.");

actionVoidResponce(new AsyncResult());
}

protected void ProcessError<T>(AsyncCompletedEventArgs eventArgs)
{
Action<AsyncResult<T>> action = eventArgs.UserState as Action<AsyncResult<T>>;

if (action == null)
throw new NotSupportedException("Unexpected type in UserState.");

action(new AsyncResult<T>() { Exception = eventArgs.Error });
}

GENDARME 2.10 RELEASED!

Posted by jasper22 at 10:18 |

Win32 and ZIPped binaries packages are available on github while Linux packages (mono-tools) are available from Mono and, eventually, from the opensuse build service.

This is the last release to based on .NET 3.5. Newer releases will require a .NET 4.0 runtime (MS.NET or the latest Mono). Of course Gendarme will still be able to analyze 1.0 code if you need to.

A huge thanks to all contributors, especially Google Code In students and bug reporters :-)

Configuring Git on Windows

Posted by jasper22 at 10:17 |

Create an account in codaset.com
Create a project in there

Download and install following three programs in the given order

1. http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/detail?name=Git-1.7.3.1-preview20101002.exe&can=2&q=
2. http://sourceforge.net/projects/kdiff3/files/kdiff3/0.9.95/KDiff3Setup_0.9.95-2.exe/download
3. http://gitextensions.googlecode.com/files/GitExtensions205Setup.msi

After finishing installations, Open git bash program and type the following command there (skip pass phrasing by entering). This process will generate a key.

ssh-keygen -C “username@email.com” -t rsa

(give an email address instead of “username@email.com”)

The key will be stored in a .ssh folder somewhere, usually in your user folder c:\\Documents and Settings\\Username\\.ssh on XP or c:\\Users\\Username\\.ssh on Windows7

Microsoft .NET Framework 4

Posted by jasper22 at 10:15 |

The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 redistributable package installs the .NET Framework runtime and associated files that are required to run and develop applications to target the .NET Framework 4.

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Registering for Android Intents – Being a crappy browser

Posted by jasper22 at 09:56 |

One of the most powerful concepts of Android Development is that you can send asynchronously messages to other activities and services via Intents. The standard case is that you specify the intent you want to call and then Android starts the corresponding activity.

You can also register yourself to existing events. For example if you writing an browser application you can register yourself in “AndroidManifest.mf” via the following intent filter as a browser.

If you install this application and open an URL in another application you should get a popup asking which application should be opened. As now two application have registered for the same intent the user have to choose which one should be used.

Android 3D Carousel

Posted by jasper22 at 09:53 |

Introduction

For a while I was looking for 3D carousel control for Android platform. The only one I found was UltimateFaves at [1]. But as it turned out it uses OpenGL. And it’s not open source. I thought if it is possible to avoid a use of OpenGL. Continuing my investigations I stamped on Coverflow Widget at [2]. And it uses standard Android 2D libraries. So the idea was the same – to use Gallery class for the carousel. The Coverflow Widget just rotates images and I wanted to rotate all group of them. Well, at least it implies the use of simple trig methods. More complicated stuff goes with the Gallery class. If you’d look through the article about Coverflow Widget at [3] you’d see a bunch of problems, such as unavailability of default scope variables in AbsSpinner and AdapterView classes. So I went the same way and rewrote some classes. And the Scroller class will be replaced by the Rotator class wich looks like Scroller but it rotates the group of images.

The Preparations

At first we should decide what parameters will define a behavior of our Carousel. For example a min quantity of items in the carousel. It will not look nice if it has only one or two items, won’t it? As for performance issue we have to define max quantity of items. Also we will need max theta angle for the carousel, what items will be in there, current selected item and if items will be reflected. So let’s define them in attrs.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

<declare-styleable name="Carousel">
<attr name="android:gravity" />
<attr name="android:animationDuration" />
<attr name="UseReflection" format="boolean"/>
<attr name="Items" format="integer"/>
<attr name="SelectedItem" format="integer"/>
<attr name="maxTheta" format="float"/>
<attr name="minQuantity" format="integer"/>
<attr name="maxQuantity" format="integer"/>
</declare-styleable>

</resources>

The Carousel Item Class

To simplify some stuff with carousel I’ve created CarouselImageView

public class CarouselImageView extends ImageView implements Comparable<carouselimageview>

{

private int index;
private float currentAngle;
private float x;
private float y;
private float z;
private boolean drawn;
public CarouselImageView(Context context) {

this(context, null, 0);
}
public CarouselImageView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {

this(context, attrs, 0);
}
public CarouselImageView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {

super(context, attrs, defStyle);
}
public int compareTo(CarouselImageView another) {

return (int)(another.z – this.z);
}

Gmail and Google Docs Add a Dozen New Document Types You Can View Online

Posted by jasper22 at 14:37 | Monday, February 21, 2011

What do you do when you get a Photoshop file, a PowerPoint 2007 presentation, or an Adobe PostScript document and you lack the proper app to open it? Grimace, usually—until you realize that Gmail, via Google Docs, can now open a dozen new files that you might lack (or decidedly don't want) the proper app for.
Full size
For those trying to do more work in just their browser, or anyone needing to look at image files or newer Microsoft Office documents, this particular set of file types is a Godsend. Hit the "View" link in Gmail, or upload them to Google Docs, and you can view any of the following:

Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)
Apple Pages (.PAGES)
Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
TrueType (.TTF)
XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Install Windows Phone 7 Launcher on Android

Posted by jasper22 at 11:28 |

WP7 Android Launcher is a free replacement Windows Phone 7 style launcher for Android that turns the home screen of your Android phone to the Windows Phone 7 Metro layout with tiles, similar to our recently featured Windows Phone 7 launcher for iPhone. If you envy the Metro layout of Windows Phone 7 devices and want your Android phone to have the same look when it comes to the launcher, read on for our complete coverage.

While there have been a few similar projects of bringing the Windows Phone 7 Metro layout to Android, XDA-Developers forum member moky2008 wasn’t happy with either of them so he decided to create one of his own and we found it pretty decent. It basically gives you both the Metro style home screen with tiles as well as the alphabetically organized app list.

We decided to take this launcher for a ride on our Google Nexus S. Here is our full review including a complete feature tour with screenshots.

סטארטאפ 101: יש לי רעיון ואני הולך לגייס מיליון דולר מסקויה

Posted by jasper22 at 11:27 |

סדרת הפוסטים "סטארטאפ 101" מאגדת סיפורים ותובנות שונות שלנו כמו גם של יזמים, משקיעים ומובילי דעה בקהילת הסטארטאפים והיזמים בישראל. כל מה שיפורסם במסגרת סדרת הפוסטים "סטארטאפ 101" נכתב בצורה סובייקטיבית, מנקודת מבט אישית של הכותב ומהניסיון שהוא ו\או אנחנו צברנו. אתם יכולים להסכים עם הדברים ואתם בהחלט יכולים שלא (ואפילו נשמח לשמוע אתכם בתגובות).

גם לכם יש רעיון לסטארטאפ? חושבים שיש לכם את הדבר הגדול הבא? בואו להכיר יזמים חדשים ולייצר סטארטאפים בסוף שבוע באירוע Startup-Weekend שיערך השבוע, מיום רביעי ה-23 עד יום שישי, ה-25 בפברואר.

אחד מהנושאים שיזמים שאינם מכירים את תעשיית ההון-סיכון והסטארטאפים (ורוב ה-First Timers – יזמים בפעם הראשונה – בדרך כלל לא מגיעים מהתעשייה) הוא חוקי המשחק של העולם הזה. כל מטייל מנוסה יגיד לכם, שעל-מנת להפיק את המירב מהטיול, חשוב לעשות מחקר, ולבדוק את השטח שבו אתם הולכים לטייל. צריך להכיר את הנקודות תצפית הכי טובות, את האטרקציות המעניינות ביותר וכמובן גם היכן נמצאות הנקודות המסוכנות.

ההבדל המשמעותי בין לתכנן טיול לבין לתכנן את הסטארטאפ הבא שלכם יהיה בדרך כלל שטיול מסתיים אחרי כמה שעות, ימים, שבועות ואולי חודשים. הדרך של הסטארטאפ שלכם, בתקווה לפחות, תהיה ארוכה הרבה יותר.

אז אם כבר הבנתם שאתם הולכים לבלות חלק מאוד משמעותי מהזמן הקרוב שלכם בסטארטאפ הבא שלכם, כדאי שתלמדו קצת את העולם שאליו אתם נכנסים.

"יש לי רעיון ואני הולך לגייס מיליון דולר מסקויה"

אני מודה ומתוודה שגרסה קצת מעוותת של המשפט הזה יצאה לפני כמה שנים גם מהפה שלי, אך אם היה לי שקל על כל פעם ששמעתי את המשפט הזה רק בחצי שנה האחרונה אז הייתי היום אדם עשיר. טוב נו, אז אולי לא עשיר אבל לפחות הייתי יכול לממן איזה ארוחה טובה בשניצליה כאן למטה.

אם הסטארטאפ שלכם נמצא בתחום התוכנה, רוב הסיכויים שבשלבים הראשונים של הסטארטאפ שלכם, אתם לא באמת זקוקים למימון כספי, לפחות לא משמעותי. את ההרצאה שמסבירה מדוע לא צריך מיליון דולר ו-5 מפתחים כדי לפתח אפליקצית אייפון נדחה לפעם אחרת (אבל אם אנחנו כבר בנושא, אמליץ לכם בחום לקרוא קצת על מתודלוגיית ה-Lean Startup, של אריק ראייס).

נניח שהגעתם למסקנה שאתם רוצים להתחיל לעבוד על הסטארטאפ החדש שלכם. כדי לשרוד את מספר החודשים הדרושים לכם כדי להגיע למצב שבו יש לכם משהו מוחשי ביד ואתם יכולים להתקדם לשלב הבא (עליו נדבר בהמשך) אתם זקוקים קודם כל לכמות מסוימת של זמן, שלא תמיד ניתנת להשגה בהתחשב בעובדה שאתם עובדים במשרה מלאה. אז נניח שהצלחתם לעשות את הצעד הפסיכולוגי הקשה ולהתפטר מהעבודה (או לפחות לחשוב מה אתם עושים אחרי שהתפטרתם), אתם עדיין זקוקים ל-X אלפי או עשרות אלפי שקלים, בעיקר לצורך המחייה השוטפת שלכם בחודשים הקרובים. מה עושים עכשיו?

How to Get AirVideo Features in Android for Free

Posted by jasper22 at 11:23 |

AirVideo makes it possible for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch users to stream any video format on their devices. If you’re an Android user, then you are in luck, because you can get AirVideo’s features for free with VLC-Share.

In today’s tutorial, we will start off by giving you an instruction on how to install VLC-Share, followed by configuring firewall and port forwarding, and we complete the tutorial with a walk through of VLC-Share features.

Wallpaper available from our Naruto Customization set.

Installing VLC-Share
To start off, grab a copy of VLC-Share and install the required packages

sudo apt-get install apache2 libapache2-mod-php5 php5 zend-framework zend-framework-bin vlc php5-sqlite php5-cli vlc

Install the FFMPEG, and the extra codecs for VLC.

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg; sudo apt-get install libavcodec-extra-52 libavcodec-unstripped-52

Enable the apache’s mod_rewrite

sudo a2enmod rewrite

ארנק לאומי - גם באנדרואיד!

Posted by jasper22 at 10:53 |

החשבון שלך בלאומי זמין יותר מתמיד!

לאומי דיגיטל שמח לבשר כי אפליקציית "ארנק לאומי" זמינה כעת גם למגוון של מכשירי Android.

להלן המכשירים החדשים הנתמכים בשירות:

HTC

Magic
Legend
Hero 5

Motorola

Milestone 2
i7500 Galaxy

Samsung

GT i5700 Galaxy Spica
GT i9000 Galaxy S

לרשימת כלל המכשירים הנתמכים בשירות

כיצד מורידים ומתקינים את "ארנק לאומי" במכשיר האנדרואיד?

חפש את "ארנק לאומי" ב-Android Market או סרוק את הברקוד משמאל באמצעות סורק הברקוד במכשירך.

Xbox Kinect working on Android OS thanks to developers’ handy work

Posted by jasper22 at 10:45 |

This probably wasn’t anything like the uses Microsoft had in mind when they launched the Kinect, but like everything coded, you simply just need someone to tell a determined developer that it can’t (or shouldn’t) be done. In the video below, you’ll see the Xbox Kinect functioning in an Android OS environment, which looks like the 500 FX development platform. The developer is using openFrameworks, which really isn’t doing anything right now other than running the Kinect camera, but at least its working. This of course can open the door to some far more awesome development using Android apps and the Kinect hardware.

Read more: Talk Android

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Official Google Reader For Android Gets An Update, v 0.9.2 Adds Widget Support

Posted by jasper22 at 10:45 |

The official Google Reader application for Android has received an update, adding widget support to the ever popular RSS application. The update now brings the app to version 0.9.2 and adds two new home screen widgets. We think the screen shot of the update below says it all. So, hit the break and check it out. Check out the application on our apps database as well and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below. One thing we did find interesting and worth noting is in the new permissions. For some unknown reason, the app would like access to your contacts list.

Read more: Talk Android

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Status Update: accessing Facebook with MonoTouch

Posted by jasper22 at 10:44 |

Haven't blogged for a while, but hopefully that's about to change... and to kick off more regular posts here is a simple example of accessing the Facebook OpenGraph API using MonoTouch.

The core of the example is @redth's MonoTouch.Facebook.Authorization ViewController which uses the Facebook OAuth webpage hosted in a UIWebView to authenticate and grab the access_token you need for subsequent requests.

The app looks like this when it runs (and yes, when you Save your status update, it appears directly on your Facebook Profile):

Read more: ConceptDev (Craig Dunn's blog)

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Samsung OpenSource release center

Posted by jasper22 at 10:43 |

Samsung Electronics offers Open Source Codes from various open source communities through this website. You can download source codes and feel free to post your message to us.

Posted via email from Jasper-net

Galaxy S Sim Unlock Without Code

Posted by jasper22 at 10:38 |

For those of you who are beholden to one carrier and locked to your Samsung Galaxy S device, fear not as XDA forum member helroz has written an app to unlock your device for you!
Galaxy S unlock is free and can unlock other variants of the popular line of Samsung Android devices.

Samsung releases Vibrant source code for Android 2.2

Posted by jasper22 at 10:38 |

Samsung seems to be in a giving mode today; not only did they provide developers with the Froyo source code for the Epic 4G, they’ve also provided it for the Samsung Vibrant as well.

Remember, this is not an update that you can flash immediately to your Vibrant to have Froyo. This is more for developers looking to enhance their device or use their own vanilla Android versions.

Read more: Talk Android

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Smart Taskbar (sidebar) Android Download app. Sidebar for super fast app launching

Posted by jasper22 at 10:36 |

This is the updated version of Smart Taskbar (sidebar) Android app v1.0.3 which allow you to Launch any application instantly. Slide your finger or click icon anytime in any App to bring up a mini sidebar for super fast app launching also works as app organizer, task switcher, task killer, and shortcut manager.

If you want to use your phone one handed with complete touch experience, you find Android system takes too many steps to complete one simple job, or you need a faster way to get things organized, get Smart Taskbar to make your life easier.

Widgetsoid, The Bat Belt For Your Android Phone

Posted by jasper22 at 10:35 |

Widgetsoid provides you with a plethora of options for your Android smartphone. You can choose from quite a number of widgets which will allow you to enable/disable/toggle a number of functions and provides you with detailed information about your device such as memory available, sd card info, amount of ROM or RAM being utilized along with a number of status’ for functions like WiFi, Bluetooth and more. You can “tweak” a number of things like colors, sizes and backgrounds. The developer, Jaumard, has a couple of versions for those who might still be running 1.6 devices and those who are sporting devices with 2.0 and higher. If you’re ready to give it a go, then head on over to our apps database for more info and to download the app. The app is free and there is a donation version of each, should you feel generous enough to reward the developer for his excellent work. Don’t forget to let us know what you think of Widgetsoid in the comments below.

Read more: Talk Android

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Honeycomb running on Nexus One from Android 3.0 SDK. Download alpha v0.1

Posted by jasper22 at 10:34 |

Just yesterday we reported Honeycomb running on HTC Desire HD, Evo and Droid Incredible. Ported from Android 3.0 SDk (Download). Now here we go with Google’s Nexus One which just got Honeycomb treatment. Xda member bypass23 successfully made a Honeycomb ROM for Nexus One from Android 3.0 SDK. As he said:

I’m not gonna list what’s working or what’s not but I tried to keep the SDK as untouched as I could for this release… It’s almost a PURE SDK port so it can be used as a base for DEVs who wants to try to fix a specific issue since there is a million ATM and that was to be expected !

bypass23 made some additions to make the ROM more usable even as a base :
- Rooted
- Added busybox (if you don’t have a color enabled shell – use dir instead of ls)
- Added Filemanager from CM7
- QuickBoot for reboot options
- Terminal emulator
See more images below in the gallery. If you are interested to try it on your Nexus One or to contribute getting more things to work for the Nexus One head over to Xda Forum. More info and guide can be found there as well. Stay tuned with us at Facebook and Twitter to keep yourself updated on latest Honeycomb ROM. Thanks to Tristan for sending this.

Android Source (Java version)

Posted by jasper22 at 22:22 | Sunday, February 20, 2011

Full (?) source code to Android

Live Wallpaper

Posted by jasper22 at 22:01 |

A feature of Android 2.1 (nexus) is Live Wallpapers. This tutorial shows how to make them. A Live Wallpaper is a subclass of WallpaperService and an Engine inner class. Optionally an Activity (for settings) can be added to the package.

In the manifest.xml file, add these elements inside the application tag

And don't forget to set the ApiLevel to 7.

The xml resource specified in the meta-data of the service must point to the Activitiy.
<wallpaper
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:settingsActivity="mylwpexample.MyLWPActivity"/>

The user can start the activity by selecting the settings button in the preview screen or directly in the wallpaper settings on the home screen.
To have the wallpaper change without restarting after changing the settings, the engine can implement the SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener interface to receive such changes.
Next, create the WallpaperService subclass called MyLWPService.
It must have an inner class which subclasses Engine in WallpaperService and an onCreateEngine method to return it.

public class MyLWPService extends WallpaperService {
@Override
public Engine onCreateEngine() {
return new MyLWPEngine();
}

class MyLWPEngine extends Engine {
...
}

}

To get to the canvas, use the getSurfaceHolder method in WallPaperService and call lockCanvas from the holder.
Call the holder's unlockCanvasAndPost method when done drawing.

Google Calendar APIs and Tools

Posted by jasper22 at 21:49 |

API Overview Guide
Google Calendar is a collaborative, web-based application designed to manage all of life's important events in one place. The Google Calendar APIs and Tools provide a framework for developers to programatically interface with and extend Google Calendar.
The Calendar Data API lets you perform most of the operations a normal Google Calendar user can on the Google Calendar website. CalDAV provides access to most Calendar data in an industry-standard format suitable for use in traditional calendar applications. The Gadget APIs allow developers to directly extend the Google Calendar web interface, while the Publishing Tools allow developers to extend their own websites with pieces of pre-built functionality from Google Calendar.

(+including .NET tutorial)

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Android Gingerbread 2.3 Vs Froyo 2.2

Posted by jasper22 at 19:04 |

If you check out any news relating to mobile phones, there’s Android! Well, if you aren’t aware of what Android is, then it is a mobile operating system that is based on a modified version of Linux kernel. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) is the latest version of Android. This post will point out some interesting differences between the latest Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and the previous version 2.2 (Froyo).

Android Gingerbread 2.3 Vs Froyo 2.2
Gingerbread has an improved user interface. There are new themes, the keyboard is redesigned, better application management, new copy and paste functionality, etc.

Veracode Research Team Gives 5 Predictions for 2011

Posted by jasper22 at 18:44 |

As we close out an security eventful 2010, the Veracode research team though it would be a good idea to think about what we are likely to see happen in 2011. Here are 5 predictions we believe will have a very good chance of coming true.

1. Sandboxing goes mainstream with adoption by Firefox and Internet Explorer
Sandboxing can prevent the exploitation of coding errors by preventing code running inside the sandbox from interacting with the operating system. Software companies with apps that are designed to render data and interpret script code downloaded from the Internet start to adopt sandboxing.

2. Microsoft follows Google and Mozilla and starts paying a bug bounty
Following Google’s and Mozilla’s lead, more companies offer to pay researchers for reporting bugs to them. Microsoft, which stated years ago that they wouldn’t ever pay for bugs, caves to industry pressure as they are hit with more uncoordinated disclosures than their peers.

3. A mobile app causes a major enterprise security breach
Rapid growth of mobile apps continues on enterprise-connected mobile devices. Inevitably, attackers leverage this juicy new attack vector to penetrate corporate perimeters and gain access to sensitive data. It also turns out that the malicious application that enabled the attack was downloaded through a well-known and trusted app store.

4. Government and corporations stock up on anti-leak security products to defend against insider attacks, but high profile leaks continue
The insider threat problem is so huge that a single security product category such as DLP coupled with new policies on removable media fails to make a dent on leaks. The comprehensive security programs focused on internal applications and internal networks take years to implement. New organizations copy the Wikileaks model to give more outlets for leaked information.

Java 6 Update 24 Plugs 21 Security Holes

Posted by jasper22 at 18:29 |

A new version of Java fixes at least 21 security flaws in the widely-distributed software bundle. Updates are available for Windows, Linux and Solaris users.

If you’re curious about the security updates included in Java 6 Update 24, see the release notes from Oracle. As I have shown in many stories on this blog, outdated Java installations can give bad guys and malware a foothold on your system, so if you use Java, please keep it updated. If you have Java installed but can’t remember why, you might consider simply uninstalling it altogether (you can always reinstall it later). I only keep Java installed on one system of mine, and I disable the Java plugin from within Mozilla Firefox (Tools, Add-ons, Plugins).

Data encryption with DPAPI

Posted by jasper22 at 17:10 |

Windows Data Protection

DPAPI - Data Protection Application Programming Interface; most probably the smallest API available under Win32. It contains just two functions.

Beginning with Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced the DPAPI. It wasn't well known or documented until Windows XP came out.

The DPAPI is a pretty well thought-out mechanism to allow any application to do simple and yet powerful encryption for its data. It has good recovery methods - in case the password gets lost, fully supports enterprise or home use and is based on the Cryptographic Services available under Win32.

So, what does it actually do?? Simple - it encrypts or decrypts a block of data.

And it does it without asking much for settings, cryptographic keys, algorithms and other hocus-pocus. Sounds like a ideal function for securing sensitive data? Definitely. There are some options that you can set but it goes even without them.

Here are some highlights:

user bound encryption (using users credentials)
machine bound encryption (using the machines credentials)
application supplied pass phrase
optional user supplied password
transparent mode (no user-interface at all)
optional security auditing
operating on standards - PKCS#5v2, RFC-2404, RSA etc.
MSDN contains a very well written article explaining the guts of DPAPI and is for sure worth reading if you are into security.

While DPAPI isn't generally difficult to use it has some pitfalls which you can avoid with the CProtectedData class

The class makes all necessary conversions if needed (DPAPI takes only UNICODE strings) and handles filling the data structures, allocating/freeing memory and so on. But at the end its just a wrapper class.

It provides one function in many flavors to perform the encryption and another one for decryption. Sanity checks on parameters are performed.

User interface

As you can see on the pictures, the CryptoAPI provides some dialog boxes with information and options to the user. It allows the user to modify encryption strength, choose a custom password and view information about the data to be encrypted.

Its important to remember when the user is allowed to choose a password, he most probably will forget it. In this case there is no way to retrieve this lost password and the data is not recoverable.

App Inventor

Posted by jasper22 at 17:04 |

App Inventor lets you develop applications for Android phones using a web browser and either a connected phone or emulator. The App Inventor servers store your work and help you keep track of your projects.

You build apps by working with:

The App Inventor Designer, where you select the components for your app.
The App Inventor Blocks Editor, where you assemble program blocks that specify how the components should behave. You assemble programs visually, fitting pieces together like pieces of a puzzle.

Your app appears on the phone step-by-step as you add pieces to it, so you can test your work as you build. When you're done, you can package your app and produce a stand-alone application to install.

If you don't have an Android phone, you can build your apps using the Android emulator, software that runs on your computer and behaves just like the phone.

The App Inventor development environment is supported for Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and Windows operating systems, and several popular Android phone models. Applications created with App Inventor can be installed on any Android phone. (See system requirements.)

Android App Developers GUI Kits, Icons, Fonts and Tools

Posted by jasper22 at 16:56 |

Hot on the heels of our previous GUI article, iPhone and iPad Development GUI Kits, today we focus on Android development. The idea is the same: To help streamline your app design and development, with a fairly comprehensive collection of Android GUI kits, icons, fonts, .psds and tools, that will allow you to focus on developing rather than having to design everything from scratch.
In comparison to Apples iPhone, the Android interaction design guidelines are far from being extensive nor are they as regimental. Androids guidelines are comprehensive and clear enough, yet they do allow a little room for some original design creativity – which is good. Of course, there is a reason why there are design guidelines, and they should not be abused (nice to be original though), the guidelines will help you to create a polished and uniformed experience for the user. (You can read more about the Android design guidelines below).

Android GUI Guidelines
Android GUI Tools
Android Wireframe Templates
Android Full Gui Kits
Android GUI Icon-Sets

New Interview Questions for Senior Software Engineers

Posted by jasper22 at 15:13 |

UPDATE: I think we all agree (or at least we should) that if you go into an interview tomorrow and you look across the table and the interviewer has simply printed out this list and is reading from it, that you should excuse yourself and run. This isn't a "guide to how to interview" nor is this meant to me a "best practices for engineers" list. It's simply a collective brain-dump of stuff that someone who's been in the business of developing software for money for 10 or so years should have some passing familiarity with. Of course, it's assumed that the interviewer is able to detect BS. This isn't, and shouldn't be, a trivia contest. If you're going to get a job (or you're looking for hire someone for a job) it's ultimately more important to understand if someone can Solve Problems and if Their Head is Screwed on Straight. Take it with a grain of salt, friends, remember, you found it on the Internet. - @shanselman

Here's what I have so far.

What is something substantive that you've done to improve as a developer in your career?
Would you call yourself a craftsman (craftsperson) and what does that word mean to you?
Implement a <basic data structure> using <some language> on <paper|whiteboard|notepad>.
What is SOLID?
Why is the Single Responsibility Principle important?
What is Inversion of Control? How does that relate to dependency injection?
How does a 3 tier application differ from a 2 tier one?
Why are interfaces important?
What is the Repository pattern? The Factory Pattern? Why are patterns important?
What are some examples of anti-patterns?
Who are the Gang of Four? Why should you care?
How do the MVP, MVC, and MVVM patterns relate? When are they appropriate?
Explain the concept of Separation of Concerns and it's pros and cons.
Name three primary attributes of object-oriented design. Describe what they mean and why they're important.
Describe a pattern that is NOT the Factory Pattern? How is it used and when?
You have just been put in charge of a legacy code project with maintainability problems. What kind of things would you look to improve to get the project on a stable footing?
Show me a portfolio of all the applications you worked on, and tell me how you contributed to design them.
What are some alternate ways to store data other than a relational database? Why would you do that, and what are the trade-offs?
Explain the concept of convention over configuration, and talk about an example of convention over configuration you have seen in the wild.
Explain the differences between stateless and stateful systems, and impacts of state on parallelism.
Discuss the differences between Mocks and Stubs/Fakes and where you might use them (answers aren't that important here, just the discussion that would ensue).
Discuss the concept of YAGNI and explain something you did recently that adhered to this practice.
Explain what is meant by a sandbox, why you would use one, and identify examples of sandboxes in the wild.
(more...)

Read more: Scott Hanselman Computer's Zen

Posted via email from Jasper-net

Porting that Android App to Windows Phone 7 ?

Posted by jasper22 at 15:12 |

For Dave Glover of Microsoft Australia, Here are my favorite WP7 videos. Check out these two videos. Challenge to readers! Do this with your Android dev tools this fast!

Moonlight 4 Preview 1 is out

Posted by jasper22 at 15:10 |

Yesterday we released Moonlight 4, Preview 1.

This release of Moonlight completes the Moonlight 3 feature set and includes many features from Silverlight 4. Check out our release notes for the list of things that are currently missing from our Silverlight 4 support.

Rendering

Moonlight rendering system uses a painter's algorithm coupled with culling to reduce the amount of rasterization that needs to take place.

Posted via email from Jasper-net

Antarctica theme for Windows 7

Posted by jasper22 at 15:09 |

“Life at the bottom of the world: Penguins frolic in this free Windows 7 theme featuring images of Antarctica and the South Atlantic's natural beauty.”

Read more: I'm PC
Read more: Antarctica theme for Windows 7

Posted via email from Jasper-net

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