Big problems with FUJI FinePix F550EXR GPS reception!

I don't know if I should love or hate this camera. It is packed with lots of nice features but each feature has its own issue/bug.

The worst one is the GPS which sometimes refuses to work for days. I was in Gran Canary one week and I had beautiful weather. But only 5% of my pictures have GPS data. The camera will refuse to get GPS reception EVEN if I let GPS searching active when the camera is off. If it is a bit cloudy I don't even DARE to hope for a single picture with GPS signal in it. Since the only achievement of the GPS module is to drain a lot of battery, I turned it off definitively. It drive me crazy. This camera will go for sure back to Fuji!

Anybody else has similar issues with the GPS reception?

I just purchased a SandDisk Extreme SDHC - it sucks!

I just purchased this card and I test the read/write speed as soon as I got it. SanDisk advertise this 'Extreme' SDHC disk as 30MB/s, however the tools I used show only about 15MB/s.

Tested with: 

Disk Tools
http://www.soft.tahionic.com
The read speed is 15MB/s and the write speed is 14.7MB/s. 

Total Commander 7
www.Ghisler.com
The read speed is 20.5MB/s and the write speed is 11.5MB/s.

--------
Maybe I should send it back and say it is broken?
:)

How to upgrade Fuji FinePix F550EXR firmware to v1.10

The explanations on Fuji web site are extremely convoluted. What they wanted to say in 500 words (or more) is this:
1. copy the fucking firmware on an empty SD card
2. stick the card into the camera and
3. press the POWER button while DISP/BACK is already pressed.
That's it.

---------

PS: you can also use a USB cable to upload the firmware file to the card (if the card is already into the camera and you are lazy to take it out and plug it in your computer).

 ---------

Fujifilm has released the latest firmware updates the Finepix F550EXR. The firmware improves the power consumption on F550R and it fixes occasional LCD display issues while connecting the cameras to PCs via USB cables on both cameras.





____________________

Recommended download:

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

FijiFilm FinePix F550EXR digital camera - Hands on review

My FijiFilm FinePix F550EXR digital camera arrived today after a few days delay because of Amazon.de

The battery is not charged and I had to wait 2-3 hours. After playing with the camera for only few days and taking about 40 pictures the low battery dropped to 'low' then suddenly to the dreadful 'empty' but the camera didn't turned off automatically.



The software CD

While trying to install the software, the installer already failed on me. Nothing unusual. The same happen with the installer from my old Fuji camera. After some work I have manged to start the installer by running the application in 'Viewer' folder manually. But now that I managed to install it, I see that the new software is improved compared with the FinePix A610 version.

The relevant software is located in the following folders.

Folder 'SILKYPIX'

Program for working with the raw RAF files created by the F550EXR. The RAW Converter EX is a full-featured application that lets you manipulate the raw data before saving it as a TIFF or JPEG (more on this below.)  You can quickly convert a raw file to TIFF using RAW Converter LE. You can extract the 1280x960 JPEG preview image from the raw file or you can convert the 13MB raw
file into a space-saving compressed 9MB format with the RAW FILE COMPRESSOR.

Folder 'VIEWER'

FUJIFILM My Fine Pix Studio. Software to manage your photo collection and to share your files with others (on Fuji web site).

The amount of relevant software is about 150MB (including PDF manual)

-----------------------


Positive:

Absolutely spectacular number of features (Auto EXR, panorama, GPS, soft background, multiple face recognition, navigate to photo locations, POIs, etc, etc, etc) !!!
The design of the camera is damn nice. Camera is slim. The LCD screen is large.
Super-mega compact.
15x zoom.


Excellent image quality in sunny days - the images taken in normal shooting conditions (semi-cloudy to sunny) are really bright and crisp.
Very good LCD image.
Low price.


Some minor negative aspects:

The camera has its own proprietary battery so I cannot use my batteries (a have quite a large amount of high quality rechargeable batteries).
I will have to carry the charger with you whenever you go in a trip. This is really really really bad if you want to travel light.
The CD contains software based on DotNet and QuickTime. I hate them both because it installs extra garbage in my computer.
The software provided is big (takes ages to start) and extremely simplistic (I would say even 'rudimentary') and pretty much non-intuitive.
The USB cable is only 50cm long.
The battery is a bit loose in the charger.
The image quality could have been better.
Convoluted menu. Some useless features are in the first menu, while others, more important are in the 2nd and 3rd menu.
Mini-USB connector difficult to access.
The lenses external protection is easily pushed away so you can easily touch the lenses (accidentally of course).
After upgrading to the new firmware version Fuji offered I have discovered 2 bugs in the software.


Negative: 


Battery is the weak point of this camera. Fuji should have been provided a spare battery! I will definitively have to buy a second Fuji NP50 battery when I go in a nature trip (no power grid available) I want to take lots of pictures or to use the flash. Don't think to leave in holidays with this camera without a spare battery (or two or three).
There is not enough space to firmly grip the camera. I always put my singers above the flash, then when I turn on the camera the flash cannot raise.
There is no printed manual inside the box! Nasty, considering that the PDF is 130 pages long!
Noisy images in poor lit environment EVEN if they advertise otherwise.
The manual is extremely poor. I really need to dig on forums for additional explanations.
Heavy pink reflexes on lenses. My old camera had the same problem, but I hoped they improved this in F550.
Noisy microphone
The camera can be easily started accidentally. I accidentally started the camera twice while it was in my pocket. Not good for lenses! (Edit: now I have a scratch on lenses also - and remember this is a bran new camera).



Conclusion:

There are few aspects that makes the camera less than perfect. The annoying thing is that those aspects (such as a proper user manual and a spare battery) could have been easily corrected by Fuji. I still recommend the camera.

"How to use FastMM 4" explained in exactly 150 words

FastMM does wonders because it catches ALL memory leaks in your program and in most cases also detects memory corruption and access on objects that have been already freed.

In the DPR file of your projects do this:

program MyProject;
uses
FastMM4,             <--------- FastMM ALWAYS on the first line
Forms,
FormMain in 'FormMain.pas' {frmMain};


Then user FastMM4Options.exe (do a Google search for it) to switch between the debug mode and the release mode. You can do it also manually/without FastMM4Options but it takes more time. FastMM4Options is better. Even better, you can generate two configurations files (one for debug and one for release) with FastMM4Options and use a BAT script to instantly switch between them.
When you are Debug mode, your compiled Delphi program will need access to FastMM_FullDebugMode.dll which is delivered with FastMM.



To use it, just switch to debug mode, build and run your program. When you close it, FastMM will generate a report where it lists all memory leaks (if any) and the trace back to them. In Project's Options you need to have Stack Frames activated and Map File set on 'Details'.


NOTE: Use FASTMM only with Delphi 7! The newer versions of Delphi have integrated FastMM already.

---

Related article: How difficult is to write a solid software protection (licensing) scheme?

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

Overtaking applications

There is a nice registry hack that allows you to execute a specific application when you try to execute actually a different application. For example if you try to run notepad.exe, the calc.exe will be launched instead.

Details:
The key you create in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options must have the name of the application you want to take over. For example you can create a new key called notepad.exe and then create a new string with the name Debugger and value C:\WINDOWS\system32\calc.exe.
Now if you try to run notepad, the calculator will be launched instead.

www.osix.net/modules/article/?id=781 

Most interesting Delphi articles and libraries

Collection of links:

Delphi doesn't like multi-core CPUs (or the contrary)

Fastest CRC calculation
PDF Engine

Memory limitations for Delphi 7

Application developed under Delphi 7 are 32 bit, and they can only access a limited amount of RAM. 

This Microsoft document says that the limit is 2GB.

So I have made some tests and indeed I could not allocate more than 2GB of RAM. However, The document also says that 32bit applications could access up to 3GB of RAM if the following conditions are met:

• The OS uses the /3GB switch
• The application has the IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE flag set.

Here is the official documentation for /3GB switch.

There is a possible draw back when using the /3GB flag: the OS is squeezed in to 1GB of RAM, instead of 2GB. In some situations this might not be enough. However, I thin this is unlikely. 1GB should be enough for OS.

---

Related article: How difficult is to write a solid software protection (licensing) scheme?

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

vWorker (ex RentACoder) - Let them win

I had recently a problem with a vWorker coder. He was supposed to fix a PHP script. When the deadlines come, he posted my file back and asked for his money. All he has done was to force some checkboxes to true (which was wrong anyway). His work amounted to less 40 extra characters added to my original file! I told him that he was wrong and he didn't actually fix the script. He instantly put the project in arbitration and now I understand why: the vWorker.com coders know that arbitration is a long and painful process in which the employers lose lot of time and money instead of using those resources for something useful. The arbitration can take weeks even if the failure is as obvious as a beam light looked from 1 meter distance.

So, the conclusion is: if your project is a failure and it is under $150-$200, don’t argue with the coder. It is better to give him the money they want and 10 points, instead of entering the arbitration. Believe me, it is cheaper this way.

Probably this is why 95% of coders on Rent A Coder/vWorker have a grade between 9 and 10 (10 is maximum). (To put it in other words, the grade of a coder has NOTHING to do with their skills and their trustfulness).

Edit: Even if I am not a PHP programmer, I fixed the code by my self. So, this project would have been better without vWorker.com

How much a software developer makes?

What they charge?

Are you new to online software selling? How much do you think you will make when you sell a copy of your software that worth $100?
$99? Wrong!
$95? Wrong!
$90? Wrong!
$80? Wrong!
$50? Wrong!
$40? Still wrong!

Let's take example of a $100 order placed via PO by your customer. In this case Plimus will charge $3 from customer and another $15 from vendor for a thing they call 'manual processing fee'.

 Also, every time a customer purchases something from you and pays via WireTransfer (very popular in EU), the bank on Plimus' side will charge a fee for wire transfer (up to $30) even if the customer is from EU where the wire transfer fee is $0. The fee will be deducted from the amount the customer sent. This means that when amount arrives to you, it will be short with about $30.

Customer places PO order ($100)

Customer makes payment via WireTransfer ($100+ $3 Plimus PO fee)

      Bank (customer side) send money without fee ($103)

      Bank (Plimus side) receives money and charges a fee ($103-$30)

            Plimus receives money ($73)
            Plimus holds PO fee ($73-3= $70) 

            Plimus charges standard commission (-5$ = $65) 
            Plimus charges PO fee ($65-15= $50)

            Plimus sends money to vendor via WireTransfer and charges for transfer ($50-$18)

Vendor receives money ($38)
Vendor pays income tax to government($38- 30$= $26.6)

Well, this is a worst case scenario, where the customer pays via PO. You can hope for better customers.

Related post: http://thesunstroke.blogspot.com/2010/10/plimus-taking-extra-charges-for.html
-------------------------

Plimus commissions as January 2011

Transaction Amount Range (In US Dollars)	Commission Rate
$0 - $4.99	75 cents
$5 - $8.99	15%
$9 - $49.99	10%
$50 - $59.99	9%
$60 - $79.99	8%
$80 - $99.99	7%
$100 - $139.99	6%
$140 - $279.99	5%
$280 and above	4.5%

Manage account order in Thunderbird

This is doable. In your user profile folder find the prefs.js file.
In this file change the order of your accounts like this:
user_pref("mail.microsoft.accounts", "account4,account1,account3,account2");

You can also use a Firefox extension called 'Folderpane Tools'.

Once you successfully installed the extension you will be able to define the new sorting orde.
To configure Folderpane Tools:

1. In Mozilla Thunderbird, open Add-ons from the Tools menu.
2. Locate the Folderpane Tools extension and click on it.
3. Press the Preferences button

Then, you just rearrange your accounts to your taste (and select the default start up folder you want to use).

Firefox refuses to remember the URLs typed (fixed)

I had problems in the last month with Firefox which refused to remember the URLs I typed in the address bar.

There is a fuzzy Mozilla article that says to fix bookmarks problems. However it applies also to the problem described above. The article says that deleting the 'places.sqlite' will solve the problem but you will loose some data (like addresses/bookmarsk/browsing history).
So, I backed up my profile and deleted that file to see what happens. To my great surprise, it fixed the bug and my addresses were not lost. Just delete the 'places.sqlite' (backup first!). That's it.


------------------------------------
Hint: If you are a Win 7 user, your places.sqlite file is located here:

c:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ARandomNumberHere.default\places.sqlite

Those sundried-brain old school PHP programmers

Those sundried-brain old school PHP programmers

It is a shame that in these modern days some people are still coding in Notepad. Many of them as still far away from advanced concepts such as IDE. RAD? Well, they never heard of it. Framework? What’s that? (or, as one of them said “why use a framework…  I can do all that code by had”).

Some days ago I had to share a PHP project with some other coders. It looks like some of them have problems to understand what RadPhp is and keep telling me that the package of source code files I send to them is incomplete - and of course then they were asking for the "missing" files. RadPhp is a RAD, a IDE and a framework. The files that they THINK I forgot to distribute were part of this framework. There are 6285 of PHP/JS (and other) files in this framework. I believe at that moment that it was pointless to email them all those files since they already have them on their hard drive. But it looks like that even if I told them that the project was made in RadPhp AND it requires RadPhp, they decided to do the development in their old Notepad (nothing like a good old plain text editor, right boys? He-he). No matter as magnificent Notepad is, it cannot replace those 6285 files framework. So obviously my script was kept crying for the “missing” files. I hope I can convice those guys that the script will not work until they install the framework. What? “Framework”? I used that nasty word again? Sorry. I promise I will not do it again.

---------------

For all other PHP people that already know what a framework is, I deeply really apologize for this lemon-acid rant. For rest of them: Guys take a fucking dictionary and look for IDE,RAD and framework, or just download the damn thing and you will understand!

Toshiba sound driver thakes a lot of CPU

More horror stories about Toshiba's crappy drivers.
I just find out that turning on the year-candy features in Toshiba (x505) sound driver (especially the Dolby stuff) will eat one on my CPU's cores!
The high CPU utilization cannot be viewed directly from Task Manager since it is generated by a driver. Instead can be seen from Sysinternals Process Explorer under the DPCs.

Delphi - Testing application speed

Each test ran 4-5 times. The application priority was set to High in Task Manager.

-------------

Start point:

No optimization: 2.28 sec

-------------

Test 1:

With FastMM4 enabled:  2.23 sec

With FastMM4 enabled and RtlVclOptimize: 2.18 sec

With FastMM4 enabled and VCLFixPack: 2.10 sec 

With FastMM4 enabled and FastCode: 2.09 sec

All (FastMM4 and RtlVclOptimize and VCLFixPackand and FastCode): 2.12 sec

-------------

Test 1:

FastMM set on Release: 2.17 sec
FastMM set on Debug (aggressive): 4.80 sec


Unfortunately, the results are not very consistent. 

Delphi compiler crash because of faulty DPR code

Recently I wanted to test some things and I wanted to comment some of the units used in my project, in the DRP file. Unfortunately, I forgot to close the comment (close bracket}) so I commented too much code in that DPR. As soon as I compiled the project I got an access violation in module dcc70.dll.

After a while I figured out the problem and closed the comment. Yes, instead of showing there is a problem in the code, the compiler just AVed. Delphi compiler is very happy since I fixed the comment.

I seems this also can appear when you have invalid code in the top of the unit (in the INTERFACE section) or when you have strange programming errors (also typos) in code. 

Other people reported problems with code like this: 

procedure aa;
var
  sn:string;
  xx:double;
  err:integer;
begin
    system.Val(sn,xx,err); // this caused the AV problem !!!

end; 

or 

const
  SeparatorIndices: array(1..7) of integer = (6, 13, 39, 65, 72, 75, 76);

instead of the correct code:

const
  SeparatorIndices: array[1..7] of integer = (6, 13, 39, 65, 72, 75, 76);

The solution is to comment pieces of code until the compiler starts to work again, then un-comment and see where the problem is.

Strange Delphi behavior/No icon in compiled program

Today my Delphi went ape. At a moment I recompiled and run a program. FastMM started to report all kind of strange memory leaks but it was unable to locate the source of the error (unknown address). After a while I tried disabling FastMM and recompiling the program. The program was recompiled but it had no icon.

Solution:

After a long trial and error session I have found that rebuilding my VCLs solved the issue.

 It seems that even if my VCLs are set to "rebuild as needed' Delphi recompiles their DCUs but not also the afferent BPL/DCP files.

Running Win 7 on a EEE PC

I wondered if an EEEPC can run Windows 7 smoothly so after upgrading the HDD and the RAM I tried it out. Well, it does.

The first thing I had to disable was that damn Window indexing service (called Window Search under Win 7) via services.msc in order to make the computer run faster. As the computer is running from a SSD disk the next thing to disable was the scheduled defrag tasks. 

The Windows Experience Index rating is:

• CPU - 2.3
• RAM -  4.5
• Video card -3
• Drive - 6.8

With FRESH WINDOWS the

• CPU loading while idle is: 1%
• Memory utilization (immediately after Win start up): 450MB
• Boot time: 10 sec

I also disconnected the battery while using the laptop on AC in order to prevent its unnecessary aging.

Upgrading EEEPC 1000 to 2GB RAM, 250 GB SSD and Win 7

I just upgraded  my EEE PC 1000HE to 2GB of RAM (800MHz). It also received a 250GB SSD A-DATA hard drive. The last touch was a brand new and shiny Windows 7 32 bits. Here is how to install Win 7 without a DVD-Rom unit.

How to install Windows 7 - Step by step graphical guide

Place the DVD/Flash stick Into Your Computer & Restart The Computer. Make Sure Your Bios Boot Settings Are Set To Boot From DVD ROM Drive or Flash stick. Once you boot from your DVD you will see this screen:

At this point the Win 7 Setup is running. It will guide you through the process:

Done

del

Install Windows 7 without a DVD (easy way)

1. Download and install "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool" from Microsoft's web site.  The program has only 2MB. 
Hint: instead of the above mentioned tool you can also use this one.

2.  Get the Windows 7 ISO file

3. Start "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool". It will ask you where is the ISO file. Show it and let it write it on your USB stick. The stick needs to be at least 2.5 GB. All files on it will be deleted. It will take about 3-5 minutes to copy the ISO file on your stick. When done, just take the stick and put it in the computer where Win7 needs to be installed..

4. Boot from your USB stick and start installing Win7. 
Hint: To boot from your USB Flash, usually you need to restart the computer and press the Escape, Delete, Home or F2 (F2 works with Assus EEEPC) key immediately after restart. If it doesn't work, do a Google search to see how you can change boot order for your computer (brand). 

5. Install Windows 7 

-------------------------


There are other ways to write the Win 7 ISO to a stick without using "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool" tool, but it is more complicated: 
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
http://www.blogsdna.com/2016/how-to-install-windows-7-from-usb-drive-without-windows-7-iso-dvd.htm

Memory management under Window OS

The 4GB limit

In the default Windows configuration, 2 GB of this virtual address space is designated for private use of every process, and the other 2 GB is shared between all processes and the operating system. Typically, applications such as Notepad, Microsoft Office Word, and Adobe Acrobat Reader use only a fraction of the 2 GB of private address space. 

The only way to increase the size of the virtual address space for a process beyond 4 GB is to use 64 bit hardware with a 64 bit version of the operating system and application built for the 64 bit instruction set.

The nub of it is, that no matter how much physical RAM is in the computer, the amount of memory available in the process’ private part of the virtual address space in 32 bit Windows implementations is limited to:

• 2 GB - without the /3GB switch - this is the normal, default maximum private virtual address space

or

• 3GB with the /3GB switch (also called Application Memory Tuning) AND the application modification mentioned in http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx 

or

• any physical RAM not used by the OS and other applications by designing the application to use the AWE (Address Windowing Extensions) API. 

How to enable the 3GB support in an application:

“No APIs are required to support application memory tuning. However, it would be ineffective to automatically provide every application with a 3-GB address space. Executables that can use the 3-GB address space are required to have the bit IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE set in their image header. If you are the developer of the executable, you can specify a linker flag (/LARGEADDRESSAWARE).

To set this bit, you must use Microsoft Visual Studio Version 6.0 or later and the Editbin.exe utility, which has the ability to modify the image header (/LARGEADDRESSAWARE) flag. For more information on setting this flag, see the Microsoft Visual Studio documentation.”

Memory, Committed Bytes:

This is a measure of the demand for virtual memory. It shows how many bytes have been allocated by processes and to which the operating system has committed a RAM page frame or a page slot in the pagefile (or both).

Process, Working Set, _Total:

The amount of virtual memory in "active" use. It shows how much RAM is required so that the actively used virtual memory for all processes is in RAM.

Paging File, %pagefile in use:

How much of the pagefile is actually being used. This is the counter you should use to determine whether the pagefile is an appropriate size. If this counter reaches 100, the pagefile is completely full and operations stop working. Set the pagefile large enough so that no more than 50 to 75 percent of it is used. If a large part of the pagefile is in use, having more than one pagefile on different physical disks may improve performance. 

Memory, Pages Output/Sec:

This shows how many virtual memory pages were written to the pagefile to free RAM page frames for other purposes each second. This is the best counter to monitor if you suspect that paging is your performance bottleneck. Even if the Committed Bytes value is greater than the installed RAM, a Pages Output/sec value that is low or zero most of the time indicates that there is not a significant performance problem that is caused by not enough RAM.

Rent A Coder renamed to VWorker (but still untrustworthy as before)

Even if lots of people complains about Rent A Coder (RentAcoder.com), today I wanted to try it to have some tasks done easily and quickly. So I posted a very high price for a task that can be done in few hours in order to attract many bidders (also called workers). I have also asked for minimum 25% guaranty in order to get only high quality bidders.

The job was very easy so I got many bids for an estimated time of 1 to 5 hours to finish the job.  People were complaining about the workers in poor Arabic counties and India. So, I hired a guy called “RZ Software and Design” to do the job.  Fancy name… right? Later it proved to be just another kid somewhere in the Bangladesh jungle. Also I choose "RZ Software and Design" because he had good reputation - or seemed to have good reputation at that time. He guaranteed to finish the project by the next day. I decided for him also because I wanted to give the worker a realistic time in order to have the job done properly (together with the motivation coming from the high budget offered).

So the day passed and nothing was posted online. No work, no messages, nothing. The worker was completely silent. Finally I decided to contact him over YM. To my great surprise he said that he has some kind of 3 days middle-of-the-week religious holiday and he intend to do the job in 4-5 days. He had no intention to let me know that he was going to delay that long! Instead of giving me the final project he gave me the finger.

Now, I understand why people complained about RAC. I got screwed right from my first project. The main fault here is RentACoder. The rating assigned to each worker is so unrealistic. And there is nothing you can do when one of its coders screw you so bad. RAC allow them to withdraw without giving them a bad grade/review. So the workers receive points when they to a good job but not then they cancel a job. Obviously this is why they ratings are always so high and their behavior so bad. The 20% guaranty I have asked for was also useless in my case.

I hope there is another way to find trusted workers on Rent A Coder web site. Otherwise, I will have to agree with what other are saying about RAC: untrustworthy.

Probably Rent A Coder renamed itself to VWorker.com in order to wash some of the bad reputation it generated, but obviously changing the name is not enough.

"Tpopupmenu not found" error in Delphi while loading a DPK file.

I got recently a nasty “tpopupmenu not found” error while trying to load an old DPK file. I finally figure out that the error was in the DOF file associated with the project. I just deleted the “c:\program files\borland\delphi7\Bin\dclact70.bpl=Borland ActionBar Components” line from [Excluded Packages] section and it worked.

How to add high-resolution icons to a Delphi 7 application?

This seems to be a tough question for Delphi community. However, recently, after some trials I figured out is not that difficult. So, here is my 1, 2, 3 solution:


1. Prepare the images you want to have them as high res icons. Save each image in a separated “.ICO” file. Use RGB+Alpha color depth. You can use Axialis IconWorkshop Pro 6.5 for this. It is a bit stubborn but it does the job.

2. Open your application RES file in Melander’s ResourceEditor. Go to ‘Icon->MAINICON’. You will see the default Delphi 7 icon there. Right click and say ‘Load variant…’. Navigate and locate your icon files. Load them one by one. Save the RES file back.

3. Open Delphi and compile the project. Done.

Easy right?

-----------------------------------

Resource Hacker 3.5.2 is also a decent resource file viewer. It shows a lot of errors though, when it encounters some ‘home made’ RES files, like the one describe above.

---

Related article: How difficult is to write a solid software protection (licensing) scheme?

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

Microsoft is spying on you

Since Windows Vista and Windows 7 Microsoft started to embrace the "big brother" attitude even harder.

There are a lot of secret software installed by Microsoft on your computer through their magic "Windows Update".


Here is some evidence:

Windows Update updating without permission!
http://cubicspot.blogspot.com/2007/08/windows-update-updating-without.html

True Spyware In Microsoft Windows 7
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=670&pgno=1
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=670


Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Roadmap Rev. 1.3 (more spyware news)
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=662&pgno=0


Yet Another Anti-Piracy Update For Windows 7? (Yes more spyware)
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=698&pgno=0


Microsoft Silently Rolls Out Anti-Hack Update For Windows 7
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=666&pgno=0


The "Black Hole" update - DO NOT INSTALL KB976902
http://cubicspot.blogspot.com/2010/10/kb976902-black-hole-update.html

Plimus taking extra charges for transfers from EU

I am really pissed off because Plimus bank applies extra fees to my customers but they will not admit it. I have several cases in which the customer demonstrated (receipt send from bank) that he sent the full amount but only a part of that an amount reaches me.

Just few days ago, I received another email:

I have been trying to buy 2 licenses ($998). Since our institute in EU requires an invoice (a quote is not sufficient) for payment, I have contacted and tried to make the order through Plimus using purchase order. The problem arises in the transfer fees. Our institute will only pay the amount stipulated on the invoice and only pay this sum via a bank transfer. The bank we use waive transfer fees but those charged by the receiving bank are unknown (as they are not on the invoice) and thus the amount received by your company is less than the value of your product.

The Plimus support team cannot/will not make an invoice which include transfer fees and therefore the purchase is blocked. As you are the company using and authorizing Plimus's work, could you please try to think of a solution so I can make the purchase (for instance adding extra charges to an invoice)? In short, I only require an invoice with a sum that once transferred will give me the final keys (licenses) to your program. Needless to say that if no solution can be found then I will have to annul the purchase.

UPDATE: 

I have found even more information about the nasty things Plimus is doing and extra currency conversion fees: http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz.5.591223.21
http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz.5.589508.16
http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz.5.623987.12


This means that Plimus is not charging 15% as they are pretending on their web site but way much more! 

Note:
Those that are no familiar with Plimus, should be informed about other more or less obvious fees that Plimus applies: (up to) $30  fee for wire transfer and $3 manual processing of PO orders. The customer has to pay for it not the vendor but it affects the vendor as basically increases the price with up to $33. There is also a tax for Californian customers.

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Related: http://thesunstroke.blogspot.com/2011/01/software-resellers-how-much-they-really.html

Switch from IDE to AHCI

It looks it is possible to switch from IDE to AHCI after Windows was installed in IDE mode.
All you have to do is to change the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\msahci\Start key from 3 to 0.
 The details are here: http://ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?69682-Change-from-IDE-to-AHCI-after-Installation

Increase in performance due to AHCI is minor (few percents) while the problems created by this new technology are gigantic (compared with IDE) especially if you use Windows XP!
 Think twice if you want to invest the time to activate AHCI.

How to install Win XP on a computer that already has Win 7?

1. Note: If you already have an empty partition to install XP on it, use it and jump to step 2.
Shrink the existing partition (use Computer Management-> Disk Management) to make room for the second partition. For Windows XP you need minimum 4GB. In the space that you just freed, create the new partition. Format this partition as NTFS.

2. Install Win XP. You will see that your computer will boot automatically to Win XP and you cannot access Win 7. Don’t worry.

3. Insert the Windows 7 Installation CD and restart your PC. Boot from CD.  It will show you a first menu. Select "System Recovery", and then select "Startup Repair". Reboot again and log on to Windows 7. Windows 7 will automatically recognize the Win XP installation/partition. Done.

You have both operations systems now.

Paragon Partition Manager v11 - Free key

Paragon decided to give a free (lite) version of Partition Manager.

Here is the activation key:

PRODUCT KEY:   PSG-161-FRE-PL-9735770
SERIAL NUMBER: 06747-5B5D1-BBFB5-A23B6


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Recommended download:

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

Scareware and other unnecessary software programs

Scareware

Scareware comprises several classes of scam software with malicious payloads, or of limited or no benefit, that are sold to consumers via certain unethical marketing practices. The selling approach uses social engineering to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat, generally directed at an unsuspecting user.

Some forms of spyware and adware also use scareware tactics.

Scareware and Fake Antivirus

A tactic frequently used by criminals involves convincing users that a virus has infected their computer, then suggesting that they download (and pay for) fake antivirus software to remove it.

Usually the virus is entirely fictional and the software is non-functional or malware itself.

According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), the number of scareware packages in circulation rose from 2,850 to 9,287 in the second half of 2008. In the first half of 2009, the APWG identified a 583% increase in scareware programs.

The "scareware" label can also apply to any application or virus (not necessarily sold as above) which pranks users with intent to cause anxiety or panic.

Software that is not good for you

There are also many "companies" that are selling you software which was supposed to fix your registry and magically boost your computer speed. This is usually garbage software which pretends to find and fix errors in your computer but actually it does nothing (good) for you.

Examples:

www.optimize-your-pc.com
www.fix-pc-errors.com
http://registrywizard.com/faq.php
http://www.solvepcerrors.com

We all know DotNet sucks

We all know DotNet sucks. But how bad it sucks?
James S. Gibbons put this to the test. And the results are impressive. DotNet is 'coding horrors' came to life.

I cannot image the person that really chooses to use in interpreted language like DotNet.

Details

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Related article: How difficult is to write a solid software protection (licensing) scheme?

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

Plimus versus Avangate

I got tired with Plimus and theirs nonexistent support so I decided to look for something better. Here are the results of a short survey of mine (the topics below are the most important for me):

Avangate

  

What happens in the case of chargebacks?

If a customer makes a chargeback, Avangate offers the necessary assistance to solve the incident with the issuing bank free of charge.  Avangate will return the perceived commission in all cases except the case where the chargeback is done due to a customer complaint about the purchased product.

What happens if a client returns the products or requests a refund?

In such cases stipulated by law, the client may return the purchased products and solicit the refund. In these situations, Avangate will assure the transaction reversal, returning the money to the customer, retaining only the commission perceived for the initial payment transaction.  All refunds are done only after prior approval from software author.

How do you deal with VAT?

Avangate acts as a reseller for your products. According to EU regulations, independent of seller location, all customers located within the EU are required to pay VAT unless they have a valid VAT ID, in which case they are exempt from VAT. The typical VAT rate is 19%, but this may vary from 15% to 25%, depending on the buyer location and Avangate location. All customers outside the EU are exempt from VAT.

Do you have additional taxes for customers?

No

Do you accept payments in a foreign currency?

Yes. 36 currencies

Pricing                   

Standard Pack:  4.9% + 1.95 EUR/2.5 USD   or  8% (minimum charge is 1.95 EUR or 2.5 USD)

Business Pack:  Secret/Not disclosed  (it must be bad since they keep it secret)

Plimus

How do you deal with VAT?

As of July 1st 2003 we collect VAT from EU consumers who do not have a valid VAT ID for electronically delivered products. We collect this VAT and pay it to the authorities; you do not need to do anything special for this to happen.

Do you have additional taxes for customers?

Yes. We have sales taxes for California customers.

What happens in the case of chargebacks?

Plimus deletes the details of the order. The vendor cannot see the name of the customer and has no clue why the charge back appeared or why the bank accepted the charge back.

Plimus fines the vendor with $25 for each chargeback if the charge back ratio is higher than 0.1%!

What happens if a client returns the products or requests a refund?

Plimus lets the vendor deal with the customer. If the vendor does not solve the issue in 2 weeks it takes over and refunds the order "in order to prevent an imminent chargeback".

Do you accept payments in a foreign currency?

Yes. Over 70 currency types.

WireTrasfer fee!!!!!!!!!

The bank on Plimus' side will charge a fee for wire transfer (up to $30) even if the customer is from EU where the wire transfer fee is 0. The fee will be deducted from the amount the customer sent for the product it purchased. This means that when amount arrives to you it will be short with about $30.

_______________

All started from here:

http://foliovision.com/2010/01/21/paypal-google-checkout-digital-river

http://successfulsoftware.net/2009/10/12/a-survey-of-ecommerce-providers-for-software-vendors/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-greenspan/why-i-sued-google-and-won_b_172403.html




____________________

Recommended download:

 

BioniX Wallpaper Changer

Search engine for Delphi developers

Delphi Developer Search Engine

This page provides a Google search engine specifically focused on Delphi related content. The engine includes over 60 different Delphi related websites and may provide more accurate results than a standard Google search.

Click here

How fast is your compiler?

Is your compiler like this: 

or like this:

?

Putting the computer in energy-saving mode is evil?

On Toshiba support forum a kid name Bob sustains that two Toshiba tech guys sais to him that is dangerous to keep your computer in stand-by/hibernate mode. So he would like to start his computer faster but without using the stand-by/hibernate mode:
> The holy grail for me would be to use sleep mode 100% but I'm worried that would be too much extra wear and tear on the machine (energy consumption is not a factor). Opinions please.

So, here is my answer to that kid:
Bob is time for you to learn some stuff about computers. Go buy a good book instead of listening to Toshiba support tech.
First of all if you really care about your computer you should care about ENERGY CONSUPTION! Decrease the energy consumption to half and you will expand the life of your computer with few years! How? Simple. Keep your processor to 100% utilization and it will start to overheat so badly that your mainboard will turn brownish. Probably I should post some pictures from my old Toshiba laptop (though this is true for all laptops) to see how the heat affected the main board. The next to fail is the coolers because they will start to work at maximum speed in order to remove the heat from your laptop. Also, don't care about power saving and keep your hard drive always on and if possible, working (transferring data). The heat literally kills the hard drive! The tubes that are illuminating the screen have also a limited life. Keep the laptop on overnight and I guaranty that you will get a "nice" milky/dark image in only one year.
If you have a powerful graphic card just don't use the utility provided and keep it at maximum power all the time (even if you don't play games) and if will suck A LOT of power which of course will generate even more heat.
All these power sucking devices will drain a lot of power from your power adapter which will also start to overheat and when you are mobile they will empty your battery in 50 minutes instead of 2-3 hours. The more discharge/charge cycles you put on your battery the sooner it will die.

So, all this was the receipt for killing your laptop by not carrying about power consumption. Now, if you make your computer to live long (and prosper) all you have to do is to choose a power saving profile in control panel. Just few clicks and you have hundreds of dollars on energy and hundreds of dollar on hardware (you won't have to buy a new laptop next year).

Toshiba, Energy Star program, Microsoft are struggling to make computers to consume less energy for a reason. IF you think you are better than them you should write a book on how bad is to have a eco-friendly computer.

If two Toshiba guys said that conserving power (by keeping the computer in standby/hibernate) is bad (which I doubt) it was just a mistake. Some other people here are saying the other way. Actually my Toshiba laptop has a green button which puts the laptop in eco-friendly mode where the hibernate and stand-by modes are active. In hibernate mode the computer is 100% switched off. In stand-by mode only the RAM is receiving power. However, the RAM does not wear and tear and the power consumption is so small that almost doesn't count.

Toshiba Qosmio – Fire hazard

One month ago, my OS froze and I had to forcefully turn off my laptop by pressing the power button for 4 seconds. The laptop cut the power off but after few seconds it rebooted and started to load the BIOS, then Windows. So, I pressed the power button (and keep it pressed for few seconds) again and again. It only rebooted. I just let the laptop to fully load Windows and then turn it off, this time using the 'Turn off computer' software button in Windows.

I was not really bothered by this, so I totally ignored. However, few days ago, in the plain, at landing my OS froze again so again I pushed the power button and put the laptop in my backpack. Some 30 minutes later I heard noise from my back pack. The laptop was running and it was hot like hell. The entire case, including the screen (the lid) was terribly hot and the coolers were screaming while trying to cool the laptop - which was obviously impossible in the well enclosed compartment of the backpack.

So, today I have managed to reproduce the issue. It seems to be a bug in BIOS (Power Management) - a dangerous one. The only way to turn off the laptop is to press the Pause key immediately after you press the Power button. This will make the laptop not to load the OS. Disconnect the power cord (if connected). Flip over the laptop and remove the battery.

Lesson learned:

• After turning off the laptop, wait next to it and see if it is really off.
• Don't let your backpack with the laptop inside overnight
• Don't let the laptop connected to AC overnight (in case of accident, it will not run more than 2 hours)
• Make sure your house insurance covers you for fire hazard.

This should not be treated lightly. I had a Toshiba laptop before (a Satellite) and I remember that my model was also a fire hazard. Something with the power adapter connector. I think they I think they recalled some power adapters.

Make your Firefox faster, safer and stable with few mouse clicks

When did you looked last time in your 'Plugins' section of your Firefox browser?

Did you know that you have lots of garbage there? Many companies such us Microsoft, Yahoo and Google stealthily  install plugins that you don't want and without your permission. Some of them are of GREAT danger for your security. See these 6! articles about a Microsoft plugin:

• http://annoyances.org/exec/show/article08-600
• Sneaky Microsoft plug-in puts Firefox users at risk
• Mozilla advice disabling the plugin
• Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension
• Extra info on the attack surface for the IE security bulletin

Java installs also an EXTREMELY dangerous plugin, so dangerous that Firefox decided to automatically disable it!!!!!!!! See this:

•  Java Development Toolkit issues with Firefox

Even if you have the upgraded version of that plugin, better disable it especially if you are not a Java developer!


Let's start

Click 'Tools -> Add-ons' and see how many crapware is there? Have you ever install all that crap? No? Then is time to clean it. 

I have done some research to see what is needed and what is safe to disable:

Disable:

• Yahoo Application State Plugin - it may crash the browser if you have Adblock Plus installed
• Microsoft DRM Plugin - both of them
• Windows presentation foundation plugin
• Google Talk Plugin - if you don't use Google Talk in your browser
• Google Talk Video Accelerator Plugin
• Google Update  Plugin 
• Java development toolkit plugin - Extremely high risk!

Some plugins are adding huge overhead to your browser. After disable them my Firefox loads in only 2 seconds!

The ONLY plugins that are useful are:

• Mozilla default Plug-in  -  This is safe
• Shockwave Flash plug-in  -  This may be unsafe; it has a nasty bug-related history also. Unfortunately we need that dreadful Flash plugin to see SOME websites.
• Windows media player  -  Needed for some websites that have video content - Very unsafe
• Java Platform - Needed rarely for some websites - Unsafe