Change Default VLC Player Playback Speed

Tools -> Preferences -> Show Settings [All] -> Input/Codecs -> Playback Control [Playback Speed] -> Change and Save

batch file for looping through a directory

for /f %%a IN ('dir /b /s B:\1\*.*') do (

 echo "%%a"

)

Begone Kindle Touch Ads

Kindle 5.1.2

1. Jailbreak
data.stgz into the root of the Kindle

2. Eject Kindle, unplug from computer
Menu / Settings / Menu / Restart

3. confirmation - as Jailbreak book present in books - delete it

4.  update_simple_usbnet_1.1_install.bin into the root of the Kindle:
settings / menu / update your kindle

5. un; in search bar (to enable usb networking)

6. Putty to the kindle

7. mntroot rw

8. 
# cd /var/local 
# ls adunits

9.  
# stop framework 
# mv adunits adunits.bkp 
# touch adunits 
# chmod 000 adunits 
# start framework
exit
restart kindle

stop and start services from the command line

Stop and start using the name that is showed in the Services Control Panel applet by using quotes, i.e.
net stop "<service>"
net start "<service>"
 eg 
Net stop "apple mobile device"
Net start "apple mobile device"


or Alternatively

net stop <service name>
net start <service name>
A full list of the exact services is found in the registry (run regedit.exe) under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services key.

swap the " & @ keys on keyboard

In XP it is control panel, regional and language options then on languages tab click options and then the settings tab you can set the input language you want there.

click the keyboards and languages tab, then click change keyboards, then add and select English, United Kingdom. Once you have done that select the US keyboard and click remove. If it gives you an error message don't worry it will remove it later. Make sure that English, UK is in the default drop down and then click apply

Convert Wordpress Blog to a feed

/feed will do in most cases
Feeds are an integral part of Wordpress and cannot be removed easily

Changing Thumbnail Size in Windows XP - registry file

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]

"ThumbnailSize"=dword:00000100

Virtual Host in apache

Virtual Host in apache

Configures a DNS server to allow URL's of the form http://www.example.com and http://example.com - both URL's will get to the same web server.
you will have a definition in your httpd.conf file something like this:

<VirtualHost 10.10.0.23>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@example.com
    DocumentRoot /path/to/web/root
    ServerName www.example.com
    ServerAlias example.com
    # if logging per host - use a single file
        ErrorLog logs/error.log
    CustomLog logs/access.log common
</VirtualHost>

What 2D GUI Foundation Do You Use?

What 2D GUI Foundation Do You Use?

Investing your time into Qt is the best investment. Stick to C++ and Python. Both work.
Qt is heavy, but it's heavy for a reason - it includes a very nice set of tried-and-true widgets, with all the nice features and weird corner cases thought of already. It's also fairly speedy, and even more so if you use QGraphicsView, which can be optionally accelerated via OpenGL for even more speed.
Qt also has nice support for custom widgets. You can subclass any widget, or QWidget, and make anything you want. You can even integrate your custom widgets with Qt Designer, either by promoting a placeholder widget, or writing a Designer plugin so your widget is WYSIWYG.
QT is easy to learn, easy to code for, provides *tons* of functionality, and it performs great. In fact it performs well enough for very heavy 3D animation software to rely on it. (Maya has now been rewritten to use QT, and it is a big improvement.) Y
If you don't mind dirtying your C++ with a less-than-modern design and ugly preprocessor hijinks, Qt can be a pretty solid framework. Works well on many platforms and is full of features. Has a lot of portable non-UI things too, but I haven't used much of it.
Since version 4.x, Qt library has been modularized into different components (e.g. GUI, Network, XML, etc) and thus it is not bloated as some people are suggesting. A Qt GUI DLL is nothing bigger than WxWidgets one for example.
The catch is that Qt is a entire framework (something similar to Java Class Library or .NET framework) for building applications. So for example, if you were to use GTK or OpenGL for graphics, you'd have to use another library for threading and another library for network, XML, etc. Qt has components for all of those things.
There is an LGPL ide Qt-Creator [nokia.com] that has an integrated form designer.

Also, I've had great results with PyQt and with PySide. PySide is the new, "official" binding for QT on Python. They have examples in their demo folder of custom canvas based applications, and they work great and are easy to follow. You can have your own similar program, written from scratch in Python, up and running in 10 minutes.

Avoid Perl-QT though. Not that it does not work, but it makes your brain go numb because you end up writing in pidgin-C++ intersperced with Perl

Tk is also good, but obsolete by today's standards. Its one and only remaining use is writing UIs for Perl where you cannot use web ones.

OpenGL only is pretty tough to use. It takes a lot of knowledge. (GLUT can help to get you started.)

Alternative
1) I'd use Java AWT or OpenGL. They're both cross-platform, and what you learn will can be easily leveraged elsewhere, since they're widely adopted technologies. (No matter what you pick, you're going to have some learning curve.)
2) Out of everything I've tried (pretty much everything usable from C, C++, and C#), WPF is the best UI framework around. It is extremely flexible and can be very intimidating if you try to learn all the details too quickly, but the basics of it are easy. You should be able to pop out a good design pretty quickly. It's a shame that Mono has no plans to implement it, because everything else feels primitive in comparison.
3) Java's Swing + Java2D is *fully hardware accelerated* (ever since Java 1.6.0_u10 some time ago), multi-platform, with good multi-thread support (not for rendering, you don't need that, but for the rest of the program), very customizable, and looks fantastic with the Nimbus look&feel (a standard part of Java). Swing is used a lot on the enterprise desktop (and a few shrink wrapped products too - I know I've purchased some as they were best-of-breed tools). Many of the Java Swing ttools are free and there are a lot of them (eg. Matisse in Netbeans makes creating GUIs a snap). Java2D had extensive contributions from Adobe who happen to know a thing or two about presentation. Plus, drawing in Java2D also allows printing relatively simply.
4) Adobe Air - Easy UI interaction framework, very powerful drawing APIs, runs on windows/linux/mac/android.

Netmeeting works in Windows 7

Netmeeting works in Windows 7

Here's how, assuming that you are connecting to a private network.

* Install XP virtual machine and run it
* In the title bar, Tools->Settings->Networking
      o Change the adapter from NAT to your installed hardware network adapter
* Setup VPN in the XP VM, run it, and connect to your private network
* Enable the windows firewall in the XP VM (optional but recommended)
* Start->run->conf
      o Configure netmeeting


yes Netmeeting does work in Win 7 but I can't use the Sharing function (it was grey out and can't be selected). Other user who can continue to share their apps/desktop.
1) "Restore down" (i.e. un-maximize) the VM window to get access to the tools menu 2) Select "Disable integration Features" from the "tools" menu 3) (Re)maximize the VM window 4) (Re)launch Netmeeting only after previous steps were complete 5) (Re)join any call you were in where you wanted to share an app or your desktop 6) Share like you did before W7

Five Best Web Hosting Companies

Five Best Web Hosting Companies

Dreamhost
Dreamhost is one of the web's most popular hosts, offering both standard shared plans starting as low as $8.95/month and dedicated server plans for customers with larger bandwidth and availability needs. The company has a reputation for regular perks and added features for its customers, including one-click installs for blogging and gallery software that make getting your own site up and running fast and easy. Dreamhost isn't afraid to offer you valuable features either: unlimited email accounts, support for Google apps, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited databases, and more. Customer support is available when you need it, and the company has a great money-back uptime guarantee. You can check out all of Dreamhost's plans here.

Hostgator
Hostgator rolls out the red carpet for its new customers with unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, tons of easy to install site templates, and an uptime guarantee, all starting at $3.96/mo for their most affordable plans. Even their low-end plans feature unlimited email, 1-click installs, and a $100 Google Adwords credit for all of your customer-building needs. Choose the plan that works for you, and the longer you sign up for the bigger discount you get on your monthly hosting bill. You can check out all of Hostgator's plans here.

Bluehost
Bluehost starts its shared hosting plans at $4.95/mo, and for your money you get unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, unlimited file transfer, unlimited email, a free domain registration, and more. Even their basic plans offer unlimited hosted domains, domain parking, e-commerce features, and more, including one-click Wordpress installs, databases, and more. You can check out all of Bluehost's features here.

Linode
You can host your web site or photo gallery with Linode, but unlike other traditional hosting companies that offer shared hosting solutions, Linode offers Virtual Private Server hosting (VPS) where you spin up a virtual server with the memory, disk space, and file transfer that you need for whatever application you're building or web site you're hosting. Some users even use their Linode servers as remote desktop replacements, others use it as private, cloud-based application servers, and others use them to host their webapps, developed applications, and blogs. You get full SSH and root access on your servers, guaranteed resources, and your choice of linux distro on the servers you purchase. Prices vary depending on the type of server you're looking for and the resources you want it to have, but start at $19.95/mo. You can check out all Linode's offerings here.

A Small Orange
A Small Orange hosting reminds me a bit of what some of our other contenders were like earlier in their lives—homegrown hosting companies with a serious focus on customer service rather than size and scale. With A Small Orange, you can get a variety of plans with different bandwidth and disk space options that also feature unlimited databases, unlimited email addresses, unlimited subdomains, and more for as low as $35/yr ($2.91/mo). Few of their plans offer the same kind of unlimited disk and bandwidth options you'll see from the big guys, but A Small Orange makes up for it with plans to suit every budget and every need, detailed stats, bit-by-bit upgrades for people who have needs that fall between plans, and more. Plus, A Small Orange is committed to real, quality customer support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can see all of A Small Orange's plans here.

Honorable mentions  include:
Rackspace, which handles both personal and enterprise hosting and platform services (backed by "fanatical support!") and
Nearly Free Speech, a contender in our last look at personal web hosts, who offers exceptional hosting plans for as low as $0.25 and promises to only make you pay for what you use.

Five Best Domain Name Registrars

To register that domain name, which domain name registrar do you choose? Who has the best mix of price, features, customer service, and reliability?

1. Hover
Hover may not have the cheapest registration prices on the market, but they make up for it with abundant discount codes around the web, stellar customer support—support that when you call them up, a real person answers when it rings, and hands-off domain migration from other hosts. If you're switching to Hover, they offer a transfer "valet" service, where they'll do all of the work for you and let you know when everything's done. Their control panel and management tools also earned your praise for being clean and easy to use. You can see all of Hover's plans and pricing here.

2. Namecheap
Namecheap took the top spot the last time we asked, and for good reason. As their name implies, they're some of the most affordable in the business, but domain names are the only thing cheap about them: Namecheap offers stellar customer support, free services like URL forwarding and email, and if you do have more money to burn, you can get advanced services like Dynamic DNS and SSL certificates at bargain prices. You can see all of Namecheap's features here, and their plans and pricing here.

3. Gandi
Gandi has been registering domain names perhaps the longest of the five here, and is famous for their no bullshit approach to domain name registration and renewal. They're not going to sell you a bunch of services you don't need or want, and they're committed to being honest, open, and up front with their customers, not to mention doing what they say. That reputation—and their history—has earned them a huge following. Well, that and the fact that every domain registration gets 2 free hosted pages for your site, a free Gandiblog, a 1-year SSL cert for free, email services, and more. You can see all of Gandi's features and pricing here.

4. Dreamhost
Dreamhost was your narrow pick for best hosting company, but many of you pointed out that they're also great domain registrars (it helps that most of their hosting plans come with a free registration) as well. Those of you who nominated Dreamhost pointed out that it's helpful to have your hosting and your registrations in one place, and praised Dreamhost's speedy customer service, and comprehensive dashboard and management tools. You can read more about Dreamhost's domain registration services here, with more details at their wiki here and here.

5. Name.com
Name.com isn't the cheapest, but they do have aggressive pricing plans, ansd fast and personable customer support. Name.com also offers "Domain Nabber" services to snag expired domains that may be relevant to your business or site, so if you want the .net to go with your .com, Name.com will give you the opportunity to snag it before anyone else does. They also offer domain suggestions to you when you register, in case the one you want is taken or unavailable. You can read more about Name.com's pricing and available TLDs here.