Month: February 2010

Getting MOOS linking

I started a brand new project in CDT where I was using MOOS and I could not get my simple program to link. While everything looked fine on the surface I just could not get the IDE to link to the MOOS libraries. I know the OS and MOOS itself was not a problem as I had other projects in the same workspace which did link correctly. The only difference between those and this was that I setup this project from scratch, whilst the others I had not. It took me a while to figure it out, but in the end I had to resort to explicitly add the locations for the libs in the C++ project properties in CDT as shown in the screenshot below.

To get this this, you right click on the Project name in Project Explorer in CDT. In the C++ Linker section then explicitly add the two paths shown in the screenshot. I of course had MOOS installed in the default location (binaries are in /usr/local/bin and libraries in /usr/local/lib). So even if you have added paths to CDT and still getting linking issues, I suggest you add it explicitly to the C++ properties.

C++ Project properties

Host files on Ubuntu

If you are newish to Linux (like me) from Windows, then some of the simple things which come quite naturally to you on Windows is a little embarrassing and challenging.

For example, I got a new WHS and wanted to mount the music drive and wanted to create a new host file entry to point to the new WHS. Now on Windows this is quite simple and can be found in YOUR-OS-DRIVE\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. But on Linux you will find this in \etc\hosts. If you want to edit it you will need to type something like this a shell:

sudo gedit /etc/hosts

sudo is required as you need admin privileges to modify the file. gedit is the graphical editor; you can replace that with another editor of your choice.

Interesting Find #20

The next post in the interesting find series.

  1. Top 25 ‘most dangerous’ programming errors for 2009 – interesting read as always. 🙂
  2. The 100 essential websites – from the Guardian.
  3. Please Rob Me.com – the dark side of geocoding.
  4. SSD Optimisation guide – a must read if anyone is thinking of buying a SSD drive.
  5. 37Signals – simple web based apps (instead of bloatware) covering things like managing projects, tracking contacts, organizing your business, etc. (Not free in case you were wondering).
  6. Never reboot Linux – even when updating the Kernel. When can Windows have this?
  7. SSD Tweak Utility – if you still want to tweak more things after reading the SSD optimisation guide above.
  8. FsUnit – Test F# with F# – I think the name says it all.
  9. devZing – No hassle open source project management hosting (from $10 / month); though I wonder why you can’t use google for this.
  10. Jollat – a cool GUI for you AWS (Amazon Web Services) which allows you to manage S3 and EC2 on Amazon – runs on Windows, Linux and Mac.
  11. Podcasts from MS – the name says it all.
  12. Digging for Sensitive information – how to get details on someone you know.
  13. Panopticlick — How unique, and trackable, is your browser? My browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 641,692 tested so far which is quite scary!
  14. SideShow for Windows Mobile Developer Preview – only works with Win7.
  15. Large Query performance stats from SQL 2K to 2K8 – quite interesting and covers both x32 and x64.
  16. PresentationFx – provides free PowerPoint templates and artwork.
  17. Making a cool Vista Screensaver – this should also work on Win7 (not tried this btw).

Ten commandments of Programming

I came across the Ten commandments of Programming while looking at a question on StackOverflow and I can’t believe I have not seen these before. I think every developer, lead, architect, dba, pm, whoever should print this out! 😎

  1. Understand and accept that you will make mistakes. The point is to find them early, before they make it into production. Fortunately, except for the few of us developing rocket guidance software at JPL, mistakes are rarely fatal in our industry, so we can, and should, learn, laugh, and move on.
  2. You are not your code. Remember that the entire point of a review is to find problems, and problems will be found. Don’t take it personally when one is uncovered.
  3. No matter how much “karate” you know, someone else will always know more. Such an individual can teach you some new moves if you ask. Seek and accept input from others, especially when you think it’s not needed.
  4. Don’t rewrite code without consultation. There’s a fine line between “fixing code” and “rewriting code.” Know the difference, and pursue stylistic changes within the framework of a code review, not as a lone enforcer.
  5. Treat people who know less than you with respect, deference, and patience. Nontechnical people who deal with developers on a regular basis almost universally hold the opinion that we are prima donnas at best and crybabies at worst. Don’t reinforce this stereotype with anger and impatience.
  6. The only constant in the world is change. Be open to it and accept it with a smile. Look at each change to your requirements, platform, or tool as a new challenge, not as some serious inconvenience to be fought.
  7. The only true authority stems from knowledge, not from position. Knowledge engenders authority, and authority engenders respect—so if you want respect in an egoless environment, cultivate knowledge.
  8. Fight for what you believe, but gracefully accept defeat. Understand that sometimes your ideas will be overruled. Even if you do turn out to be right, don’t take revenge or say, “I told you so” more than a few times at most, and don’t make your dearly departed idea a martyr or rallying cry.
  9. Don’t be “the guy in the room.” Don’t be the guy coding in the dark office emerging only to buy cola. The guy in the room is out of touch, out of sight, and out of control and has no place in an open, collaborative environment.
  10. Critique code instead of people—be kind to the coder, not to the code.As much as possible, make all of your comments positive and oriented to improving the code. Relate comments to local standards, program specs, increased performance, etc.

Facebook and Security again

Facebook and my views of it in the context of Privacy and Security are well known. This conversation with one of their (anonymous) employees detailing a few internal processes and tools is actually quite scary.

Now, I don’t know if this is true and how much of this is true; but if I was working for Facebook then all of this is quite logical and makes sense. And, technically all the things talked about is very feasible and not too challenging (of course am over simplifying here).

I do have to admit that the perf and scalability challenges are quite interesting and would love to sink my teeth in it – I guess I need to look at PHP first. 🙂

Windows Phone 7

So you would have heard what all the buzz (not Google!) is about. Check out the feature video for Windows Phone 7. I have a Zune HD and the UI is very similar and I cannot wait for it!

After a lot of disappointment with WinMo’s and becoming the joke in my friend/nerd/geek/co-worker circle for still have a WinMo phone, would love to see everyone’s faces when I get this. 🙂

Update: I also like the new Office GUI – how cool is that?

Bing Maps adding Flickr images, live video, stars

Bing Maps adding Flickr images, live video and stars – very cool.

Update: The official TED video below is quite cool and in addition to the one above, also adds more interesting features such as video – check it out.

Interesting Find #19

Wow it has been a while since I posted an Interesting find and instead of the usual list I though I will keep this especially for timers. Timers Galore!

So I was looking for a simple countdown timer that I can run on my laptop to keep tracking of a few things and I found a few very interesting things.

If you prefer to download an app and run it from your desktop (Windows) then check out Timer from Orzeszek. There are a few other interesting dev projects there such as transferring large files over http.

If Windows is not your flavour of the day, or you don’t want to (or can’t) install an application and want to use a timer in a browser you can of course use something like online stop watch, but I suggest you check out e.ggtimer.com which is way cooler.

If you are like me and when running meetings or presenting tend to get too excited and run over, then maybe NextUp is the thing for you.

And if coffee is your not cup of tea (groan! :)) then check out Steep.It which is claims to be the simplest internet tea timer ever – telling you how long to steep your tea to get your perfect cuppa.

And if you are old school and prefer .ini files (whoa! programs still use that?) then check out eggtimer.