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Windows Vs. Linux

Posted February 19th, 2008 by regx

I read an article today about perceived value in operating systems. Basically the article stated that end users perceive Windows to have greater value than Linux because of the price tag. While I agree that this is probably the case, I completely disagree with anyone who claims windows has more value than Linux.

 

Converting a uint from hex to argb in Flash

Posted February 9th, 2008 by regx

There are some functions in actionscript that take uint in the form of argb and hex. It took me a while to figure out why my fills where not visible!

 

For instance

fillRect(rect:Rectangle, color:uint):void
fills a rectangular area of pixels with a specified ARGB color.

and

 

beginFill(color:uint, alpha:Number = 1.0):void
Specifies a simple one-color fill that Flash Player uses for subsequent calls to other Graphics methods (such as lineTo() or drawCircle()) for the object.
 
The graphics.beginFill function will take a uint containing standard HTML hex colors such as 0xEEEEEE (grey) or 0xFFFFFF (white)
wheras the fillRect takes an ARGB value as a uint
0xFFEEEEEE ( grey with opaque alpha) or 0xFFFFFFFF ( white with opaque alpha).
 
Converting between the two is just a matter of adding or subtracting the alpha.
 
so a hex uint (grey) 0xEEEEEE + an argb  Alpha 0xFF000000  will give you the  proper ARGB value without any need for conversion or type castsing.
 
 I hope this helps someone out.

Microsoft Genuine Disadvantage

Posted August 9th, 2007 by regx

Microsoft Genuine Advantage seems more of a disadvantage to me!
It seems like every time I go to install windows updates, office updates or download from Microsoft, my computer wants to download and install the Microsoft genuine advantage active x control. It upset me enough the first time, but now it is annoying. It is partly because of these annoyances that I hardly use windows anymore.
In Debian I can just say apt-get dist-upgrade from a terminal and thats it. No annoyances!

I realize that free software has an advantage in this respect. No agreements to click on to install software, no
license codes, no "you paid money for this so let us watch what you are doing". It almost seems backwards. If I pay for something, I should be able to use it without restriction and have fewer annoyances, but order to confirm that I did indeed buy it, I am subjected to the annoyance of confirming I own the software. There has to be a better way!

Currently the free software feels much more like ownership than purchased software, and since it is open source, I guess it is more like ownership.

Can I get an Amen!

Drobo - Self Managed Disk Array

Posted August 5th, 2007 by regx

This is awesome! Manging data should have always been this simple.

http://www.drobo.com/

After reading user feedback and a lot of reviews, I think I will wait for version 2.0. This would be awesome if it was an NAS and had higher throughput. Hopefully 2.0 has external sata2, fire-wire or both.

But check out the demo video, storage really should be this simple!

Before you login, a word from our sponsers?

Posted July 14th, 2007 by regx
(from slashdot)

Will Microsoft Put The Colonel in the Kernel?

Posted by Zonk on Friday July 13, @09:11PM
from the is-that-anything-like-the-lime-in-the-coconut dept.
Microsoft
theodp writes "The kernel meets The Colonel in a just-published Microsoft patent application for an Advertising Services Architecture, which delivers targeted advertising as 'part of the OS.' Microsoft, who once teamed with law enforcement to protect consumers from unwanted advertising, goes on to boast that the invention can 'take steps to verify ad consumption,' be used to block ads from competitors, and even sneak a peek at 'user document files, user e-mail files, user music files, downloaded podcasts, computer settings, [and] computer status messages' to deliver more tightly targeted ads."

Comcast puts a Cast on Com

Posted May 20th, 2007 by regx

Comcast recently started blocking skypeout calls and other VOIP services. Of course when I call they deny it, but after monitoring my network and several hours of trouble shooting, the only thing left is comcast. I am running both skype and windows on my laptop, and skypeout works fine in either from the local starbucks. Once I get back on good ole comcast however my skypeout calls cut off after 7 seconds. Skype in calls still work fine. I geuss I will be leaving comcast in the very near future. Pitty, because their service has been pretty good and their network is fast.

Some good did come out of all this, while trouble shooting my network I discovered etherape which is a killer network monitor app for linux.

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