Software humour: A guide to software revisions

1.0:
Also known as "one point uh-oh", or "barely out of beta". We had to release because the lab guys had reached a point of exhaustion and the marketing guys were in a cold sweat of terror.

1.1:
We fixed all the killer bugs ...

1.2:
Uh, we introduced a few new bugs fixing the killer bugs and so we had to fix them, too.

2.0:
We did the product we really wanted to do to begin with. Mind you, its really not what the customer needs yet, but were working on it.

2.1:
Well, not surprisingly, we broke some things in making major changes so we had to fix them. But we did a really good job of testing this time, so we don't think we introduced any new bugs while we were fixing these bugs.

2.2:
Uh, sorry, one slipped through. One lousy typo error and you wont believe how much trouble it caused!

2.3:
Some jerk found a deep-seated bug that's been there since 1.0 and wouldn't stop nagging until we fixed it!!

3.0:
Hey, we finally think we've got it right! Most of the customers are really happy with this.

3.1:
Of course, we did break a few little things.

4.0:
More features. Its doubled in size now, by the way, and you'll need to get more memory and a faster processor ...

Media Portal - turns your PC and TV into a very advanced home media center

Site location (link)

From the site:
MediaPortal turns your PC and TV into a very advanced home media center. Our software allows you to listen to your favorite music and radio stations; watch and store your videos and DVDs; view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder; and much, much more. MediaPortal is open source software. This means you can help develop MediaPortal or tweak it for your own needs with lots of innovative plugins from our great community.

MediaPortal is an Open Source application ideal for turning your PC in a very advanced Multi-Media Center / HTPC. MediaPortal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch your video's and DVD's, view, schedule and record live TV and much more.

Site: ideone.com - online compiler and debugging tool

website: http://ideone.com (link)

What is ideone?
Ideone is something more than a pastebin; it's an online compiler and debugging tool which allows
to compile and run code online in more than 40 programming languages.

How to use ideone?
Choose a programming language, paste your source code and input data into text boxes. Then check or uncheck run code (whether to execute your program) and private (whether not to list your paste in the recent pastes page) checkboxes, click the submit button and watch your snippet being executed.

PDFVUE is a FREE online document annotation and editing platform

How does it work?
Your uploaded document will be converted to a PDF, which can then be edited, annotated, saved, downloaded, securely sent or published.

What is the catch?
Downloaded documents will have a DocQ branded watermark

Unlike other offerings, DocQ allows you to share DocQ functionality with your customers so they can perform the needed tasks on the documents you send them at no additional cost! Whether you want your customers to fill a form, sign a document, or simply read a document they pay nothing!

Available at this site.

One of the goals in designing DocQ was to provide a single place where customers could manage, archive, and send their important documents. The approach was not to partner with other companies to fill the missing functionality (with potentially fewer security standards than DocQ), but to intelligently architect a comprehensive solution. By design, DocQ is built to support not only secure business transactions but to provide the supporting facilities needed to archive, collaborate, and publish business documents and contracts.

Comparison of apps that allow sharing of large files

When you have precious files, photos that have a lot of emotional value, and other similar information on your machine, making sure that you have copies of them is very important. Computers can get spoiled, hard disks can get corrupt, so you need to have an option of having a backup, ideally with the minimum effort. A lot of applications (both commercial and personal) are available that help in this process, and here is a comparison of some of them (link)

So why would you use an file-sharing app anyway? Actually for many reasons: for larger files, for privacy, multiple files, file format support, and more.
In this post, I compare 16 file-sharing services. I took three main issues under consideration when creating the comprehensive app list below: Free, Fast, and Useful . . .
Most of the services suggested require no registration. None of them will ask you to download anything to your computer, and all of them are easy to use, and worth using. It is actually great to see services, such as Yousendit, MailBigFile, and Rapidshare, that are still relevant and are good choices, but if I had to pick one it would be Mediafire.

Google Fast Flip - Newspaper reading

Learn more at this link.
Google Fast Flip is a web application that lets users discover and share news articles. It combines qualities of print and the Web, with the ability to "flip" through pages online as quickly as flipping through a magazine. It also enables users to follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their own custom magazines around searches.

How does it work?
We capture images of the articles on our partners' websites and then display them in an easy-to-read way. The stories are grouped by categories, such as Entertainment, Business, Opinion, Politics and Most Viewed. Readers can flip through stories quickly by simply pressing the left- and right-arrow keys until they find one that catches their interest. Clicking on the story takes them directly to the publisher's website.

How are the Topics selected? Can I choose my own?
The Topics are generated automatically by rising stories in the news. Users can also search for any subjects they want and basically create their own topics, almost like a custom magazine, on the fly.

How are stories recommended in the Recommended section?
The stories in this section are recommended by users of Google Fast Flip in direct and indirect ways. We take cues from how often they read stories, e-mail stories and register a public vote for stories by clicking on the "Like" button on each article.

Can I recommend stories that I like to other people?
Google Fast Flip allows readers to vote on an article to tell the world they liked it. Clicking on the "Like" button on a story page lodges a public vote for that story, which is one of the factors in whether Fast Flip includes stories the "Recommended" section. At the bottom of the home page, Fast Flip users who are signed in to their Google Account can see which stories friends in their Gmail contact list have "liked."

Photoforge - software for the iPhone / iPod

There is always a need for using software for the iPhone / iPod, and PhotoForge is one of them. Getting good software that works on such devices can be pretty challenging. Learn more at this link.

PhotoForge is a highly optimized editing and painting application designed for the iPhone and iPod touch. It can be used for image manipulation, retouching, effects, and color correction, as well as a painter’s tool. It is indispensable for creating original artwork, or editing photos on your mobile device.
PhotoForge is a superb photographer’s tool, providing digital darkroom capabilities that are second to none. It is also a tool for creating incredible works of art and illustrations. PhotoForge allows you to put together an image, combining filters, brushes, and effects. They may be hand-painted, or a composite of photographic images mixed with painting. The filters and effects can be layered to produce even more dynamic results.

32 bit code / Windows and 4 GB of memory

From time to time, you would have a lot of queries about using a 32 bit of Windows along with a machine that has more than 4 GB of memory. Typically, most retailers will inform you that there is no point in having a machine that has more than 4 GB of RAM, since you will not get the benefit due to restrictions with the memory management of the OS.
Learn a lot more about the usage of memory in these areas (link)

Though machines with 4GB are not yet the typical purchase for home or business use, they are readily available from major manufacturers and it won’t be long before they are the typical purchase. But there are problems. You don’t have to stand for long in a computer shop to hear a sales assistant talk of 4GB as some sort of limit for 32-bit operating systems, and it won’t be long before this sales patter develops into outright promotion of 64-bit Windows as the only way to get past this limit.
That 32-bit editions of Windows Vista are limited to 4GB is not because of any technical constraint on 32-bit operating systems. The 32-bit editions of Windows Vista all contain code for using physical memory above 4GB. Microsoft just doesn’t license you to use that code. Well, to say it that way is perhaps to put words in Microsoft’s mouth. I say the restriction to 4GB is a licensing issue because that’s how Microsoft’s programmers evidently have thought of it. The 4GB limit is retrieved from the registry by calling a function named ZwQueryLicenseValue, which is itself called from an internal procedure which Microsoft’s published symbol files name as MxMemoryLicense. If you remove this check for the licensed memory limit then a restriction to 4GB is demonstrably not enforced by other means.

Jing - a free tool for helping you

It is always useful to find tools that help out in your ongoing work. One such tool is called Jing (located at this site).

A few ways to use Jing:
Collaborate on a design project
Share a snapshot of a document
Narrate your vacation photos
Capture that pesky bug in action
Show Dad how to use iTunes
Comment verbally on students' homework
Post tidbits from your life on Twitter or Facebook

Jing remembers everything you capture on your computer and stores the images and videos as thumbnails in the History.
The Capture Hotkey is pretty handy. Not only does it save a couple of clicks, but it also makes it possible to capture things like drop down menus--like in the example below.
Jing is tied to TechSmith's Screencast.com. When you install Jing you must create a Screencast.com account associated with a valid email address (unless you already have a Screencast.com account). This becomes your "Default Account". If you have multiple Screencast.com accounts (such as for work or personal) you can associate whichever account you wish on a per-button basis.

EtherPad - Allow people to work together remotely

In today's world, where corporations move work where it is cheaper, leading to teams having to adjust to colleagues being far away, it makes cooperation, planning and scheduling more difficult. Part of this problem can be solved through the use of collaboration tools (lean more about EtherPad)
EtherPad is the only web-based word processor that allows people to work together in really real-time.
When multiple people edit the same document simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's screen. The result is a new and productive way to collaborate on text documents, useful for meeting notes, drafting sessions, education, team programming, and more.
Other custom in-browser text editors tend to be either slow or quirky, owing to the difficulty of using browsers' built-in text editing mechanisms while extending them in new ways. EtherPad uses a novel editing engine, developed and refined at AppJet over many months, that provides a solid user experience without compromising on responsiveness.

LibTIFF - TIFF Library and Utilities

This software provides support for the Tag Image File Format (TIFF), a widely used format for storing image data. The latest version of the TIFF specification is available on-line in several different formats.

Included in this software distribution is a library, libtiff, for reading and writing TIFF, a small collection of tools for doing simple manipulations of TIFF images, and documentation on the library and tools. Libtiff is a portable software, it was built and tested on various systems: UNIX flavors (Linux, BSD, Solaris, MacOS X), Windows, OpenVMS. It should be possible to port libtiff and additional tools on other OSes.

The library, along with associated tool programs, should handle most of your needs for reading and writing TIFF images on 32- and 64-bit machines. This software can also be used on older 16-bit systems though it may require some effort and you may need to leave out some of the compression support.

The software was originally authored and maintained by Sam Leffler. While he keeps a fatherly eye on the mailing list, he is no longer responsible for day to day maintenance.

Learn more at this link.

ansca mobile - develop on the iPad

Ansca Mobile is a new software company led by an award-winning team of former Adobe mobile engineers, who were responsible for the leadership and technical breakthroughs that helped Adobe Flash Lite reach nearly a billion devices.

Ansca is revolutionizing mobile software development by empowering developers of all backgrounds to create captivating mobile experiences. Ansca’s Corona enables designers, engineers, and non-traditional developers to quickly create and share applications designed for the Apple iPhone. Backed by a highly talented team, the company creates innovative products that allow developers to unlock their imagination.

Learn more at this page (link)

What is the Microsoft Silverlight Media Framework?

Microsoft's open source Silverlight Media Framework (SMF) enables developers to quickly deploy a robust, scalable, customizable media player for IIS Smooth Streaming delivery. The SMF builds on the core functionality of the Smooth Streaming Player Development Kit
Learn more at this link.

Player Elements
Play / pause
Rewind
Fast forward
Replay
Slow motion
Next chapter marker
Previous chapter marker
Timeline Scrubber
Current position / total position
Go to live
Bitrate meter
Volume
Full screen / restore

Advanced Features
Brand your player - Use Blend to re-invent how users experience your content!
Emphasize defining moments by embedding Markers in your Timeline.
Communicate and respond to bandwidth utilization by using the Bitrate element.
Integrate external data sources using the Data framework.
Deliver differentiated Live and On-Demand experiences.

SourceMate - tool for Flash builders

SourceMate is the new must-have companion tool for serious Flash Builder developers.

Features:
Refactoring
- Convert Local Variable to Field
- Extract Constant
- Extract Method
- Extract Interface
- Change Method Signature
- Disable All trace() Statements
Code Generation
- Override/Implement Methods
- Generate Getters/Setters
- Generate Constructor using Fields
- Generate toString()
- Generate ASDoc Comments
Metadata Integration
- Content Assist for Metadata Tags (can include custom/framework tags)
- Metadata Tag Validation
General Productivity
- Task markers for TODO,FIXME, and XXX comments
- MXML and Actionscript Code Snippets View
- Generate Ant Build.xml from Flex project settings
- ASDoc Generation Wizard

Available at this link for Beta.

Photo making collage - PhotoMix

What is PhotoMix ?
PhotoMix is a full-featured collage making software. It allows any user to create professionally looking collages with a couple of clicks - no experience in image editing required. Create a collage by compiling various pictures of any size and form, or work with one photo and give it a unique look by applying numerous actions. Collage can be exported as an editable project or single image, you can send it by email or print.
Learn more at this link.

Atlas - Cappuccino/Objective-J dev environment

Atlas helps you focus on what's unique about your application, whether you're targeting the Desktop, the Web, or both.

• Runs in a browser
• Includes a design surface
• Has some novel UI for hooking up databindings
• They also show off a handful of components that they wire up to do things like “read an RSS feed”.

Link and download.

Tech article: Learning Silverlight, and the problems associated with that

Silverlight is a technology being pushed by Microsoft to compete with the Flash technology owned by Adobe, and which forms a prominent presence on a larger number of websites. The competition to Flash is getting strong, since Microsoft is pushing Silverlight through many of its tools and websites, and is also putting marketing muscle behind this effort. However, it is a tough fight, and if you read this experience by a long time Flash developer, there is much that Microsoft needs to do to improve itself (link to article):

A recent new project at my job prompted me to learn and begin working with your Silverlight products and platform. Here are my notes, some suffering points, some compliments, and overall suggestions for how to improve your relatively new process for building RIAs.
In closing, I realize that much of my issues may be a result of my not being a seasoned Microsoft and/or C# developer. Perhaps those familiar with your workflow and tools can find their way in and out of these shotgun issues much easier. I consider this, but then realize, aren’t you going after developers just like me? Aren’t you looking to give me a broader choice of tools and platform when I need to deploy a rich application?

What is Behavior Driven Develpoment ?

Behavior Driven Management strives to ensure that all the people in the software chain, including developers, QE, analysts, and product management all speak the same language. There have been a number of efforts in this direction, taking it forward from TestDrivenDevelopment and AcceptanceTestDrivenPlanning. Read more at this link.

BDD relies on the use of a very specific (and small) vocabulary to minimise miscommunication and to ensure that everyone – the business, developers, testers, analysts and managers – are not only on the same page but using the same words. For people familiar with the concept of DomainDrivenDesign, you could consider BDD to be a UbiquitousLanguage for software development.
It must be stressed that BDD is a rephrasing of existing good practice, it is not a radically new departure. Its aim is to bring together existing, well-established techniques under a common banner and with a consistent and unambiguous terminology. BDD is very much focused on “Getting the words right” and this focus is intended to produce a vocabulary that is accurate, accessible, descriptive and consistent.
In fact “Getting the words right” was the starting point for the development of BDD, and is still very much at its core, but the power of getting the words right has led to some insights and extrapolations that have helped us to better understand our approach and to extend it.

Cucumber - A tool for testing

Cucumber is a tool that aids in testing, using something called Behavior Drive Development (link) . You can get details about Cucumber at this link. Some extracts from the site:

Cucumber lets software development teams describe how software should behave in plain text. The text is written in a business-readable domain-specific language and serves as documentation, automated tests and development-aid - all rolled into one format.
Cucumber works with Ruby, Java, .NET, Flex or web applications written in any language. It has been translated to over 30 spoken languages. Cucumber allows you to write feature documentation in Plain Text. It means you could sit with your Client or Business Analyst to write down the features to be build on your application.

You can get more documentation at this link.

Photoshop.com Mobile Android App

Photoshop.com is a Flex / Flash based online application where you can upload your photos (either directly on the site, or from Adobe Photoshop Elements). Sometime back, a version of the site that was meant for use on mobile phones was first released on the iPhone, and now it has been released for the Android version. Read more about it at this link.

Perfect your pictures with the Photoshop.com Mobile App on your Android phone. Simply drag your finger to crop, adjust color, apply effects—you name it.
- Crop, rotate, and color-correct with the touch of a finger.
- Add soft focus or change to black & white with a click.
- Go classic by adding a sepia tint.
- Intuitive Photo Browser for viewing local and online images.