Entries for cravikiran

Mobile Markets [Mobile Markets]

cravikiran — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 22:00:05 GMT

I was thinking about doing mobile development but its difficult to find information on the mobile markets (reports by orgs. like Canalys cost thousands and not really useful for an indie like me).

From what I've been able to gather, current market share stands at something like 60% Symbian, and 20% Windows and the rest to others (a large part of which is Linux).

I can't find any good numbers/info on the managed platforms for mobile devices: J2ME & .NET CF. I think Symbian and Linux devices support J2ME? But I can't figure out which of the J2ME Configs & Profiles and optional packages (like MMAPI) are supported in the market.

Anyone know general numbers for these things?

For the .NET CF: From what I understand, the CF itself is just redistributable to the devices? So, people can easily get CF 2.0 on their devices, right? Is there a particular version of Windows Mobile that is required for CF 2.0?

in reply to Mobile Markets

Bigelow Aerospace [Bigelow Aerospace]

cravikiran — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 19:59:38 GMT

This was on digg a few days ago (thats how I know about it)...

Has anyone else seen Bigelow Aerospace - they launched an orbiting inflatable spacecraft a few days ago (on top of a Russian ICBM).

The site has some photos and videos: http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/index.html

Interesting that this didn't get much media coverage - I didn't hear a thing about it on any of the TV stations (though on their site it looks like it got a bit of coverage).

What's amazing is that by looking at the site, you almost get a sense that they're pretty laid back - interesting comparing their attitude to NASA's. But they look to be doing pretty good - with a second launch scheduled in fall of 2006.

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Argh... Vista beta 2/IE 7 [Argh... Vista beta 2/IE 7]

cravikiran — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 01:16:29 GMT

[Edit June 12, 2006 6:39 PM] Workaround: A workaround to this issue (besides System Restore) is to reset all internet settings by going to Control Panel --> Internet Options (search "internet") --> Advanced Tab --> Reset Internet Explorer Settings... worked for me. Solution originally posted by Lougan here:

Surprisingly, the UI remains responsive:

But, checking in task manager, IE is continuously eating all the CPU it can get:

Also surprisingly, it is able to open local html pages fine:

One thing to notice in all the above is the messed up toolbar back and forward buttons. Not sure why those are like that and whether it is related to the other problem of not being able to open any non-local pages.

One other side-note - I wanted to try to change everything to open with Firefox but couldnt figure out how exactly to do it.

I can change it to Firefox for .htm, .html and file extensions. However, I don't know how to just change it for protocols - nothing happens when I try to change those. I should note that I did want to report this using the problem reporting tool. But when I try to get to it from the feedback icon, the problem is it tries to open the link to the tool using IE (which doesn't work).

Any ideas on what's wrong? Like I said before, restarting the computer doesnt work. The only thing that works is to use System Restore to a point before it starts happening. But that only lasts for a little while before it starts happening again. Weirdest problem.

in reply to Argh... Vista beta 2/IE 7

Vista beta 2 (5384.4) issues [Vista beta 2 (5384.4) issues]

cravikiran — Thu, 25 May 2006 07:00:39 GMT

So, glass always worked on my laptop and it works on 5384.4 also. I know in the previous build (5365), it would sometimes switch from glass on to glass off when it claimed some program required it. In 5384.4 though, it doesnt prompt at all, and switches between glass on and off very often. I can't tell what exactly is causing it - so far just using the regular windows apps - IE, explorer, etc. Is it performance of something? Anyone else having this issue, and any way to make it stop switching and just keep it on?

in reply to Vista beta 2 (5384.4) issues

URGE on WMP 11 in Vista 5365? [URGE on WMP 11 in Vista 5365?]

cravikiran — Wed, 17 May 2006 23:34:23 GMT

Anyone try to get URGE working in WMP 11 for build 5365? I can't seem to get it to work... it downloads the 2 components (whatever they are) and fails (just quits) when trying to install it. When I open the URGE store again, it restarts at the setup and starts downloading again. When it does succeed and starts showing the front-end - I can't access anything (I signed up for the 14-day trial). Whenever I try to sign in, it errors out saying my Windows media DRM is corrupted. Anyone else run into this and (more importantly :-D) figure out how to solve this? I am able to use it on XP and I am liking what I see. Just want to get it working on Vista.

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Toshiba Tech. Support Frustrations [Toshiba Tech. Support Frustrations]

cravikiran — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 02:26:46 GMT

Ravi Chodavarapu wrote:

Its been about 3+ months that I've had my Toshiba L25-S119 laptop. About a week ago, I noticed it was no longer charging itself. The battery on the thing lasts only about an hour so I urgently backed up the most immediate documents on a USB stick and shut it off. After trying various outlets, removing the battery, etc., I figured out it was most likely the AC adaptor. So I called up Toshiba tech support. The first two times I got a busy signal. A busy signal! On the 1-800 number for the Toshiba support line! Had they put down a bad number all over their website? After swallowing the sinking feeling, I got lucky and got ahold of the menu on the third try.

At this point, I have to admit I was pleased with how quickly I got to an actual person. I described the problem and what I thought was the most likely cause. The person was quick in agreeing it was something actually wrong with the physical pieces. The first thing she wanted me to do was take it to one of their service centers. I asked if they could just send me a replacement adaptor instead. She said something like: It'll take about 2 weeks to do that anyway and you might as well have it checked out at a service center. OK, recap: They gave me a piece that went to hell in less than 4 months, and they are not going to make any haste whatsoever in getting me a replacement part.

So, I call up the service center guy and before dropping it off, I ask how long he thinks the whole process will take - he starts off by telling me its probably something wrong with my laptop's motherboard (??) and he'll probably need to replace that and so probably like 2 weeks. WTF?? A couple of days later, my roommate takes me to drop the laptop. While at the service place, the guy tests the laptop with another AC adaptor, and surprise, it works. So, he says he'll order an AC adaptor but I have to give him the non-functional one. I got no use for it so why not? I ask if I have to come back to pick it up once its ready? Yes, of course I do. Can I have Toshiba send me the adaptor directly to me? Sure, but you have to mail the old adaptor to them yourself if you want that done. Wow, thanks man, you are really making me feel like this is my fault - and if I want it fixed, I have to do the damn work! So, I let him do the shipping and agree to pick it up once its available. The next day he calls to tell me the AC adaptor is backordered and so it will take 2 weeks minimum.

Ok, recap: I bought a brand new laptop less than 4 months ago. It's become completely useless within that time. Toshiba luckily will help me fix the problem but they will take their own sweet time to do it. Any time and productivity lost while they take their sweet time (oh please god don't let it be more than 2 weeks) is really my own damn fault anyway.

Just describing my experience. I guess if anyone wants to respond, my question is: anyone have better experience with Toshiba?

in reply to Toshiba Tech. Support Frustrations

Bored? [Bored?]

cravikiran — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 11:21:22 GMT

Completely useless thread but if you are bored like I am currently - join in watching some videos on Google Video. Two I found intriguing (not funny, but really cool/fascinating, etc.) were:

Russian Climbing - Insane

Ghostrider Z3 M Coupe Chase - Preview - I am not really sure what's going on here but it just seems like reckless disregard for the safety of any drivers, including the ones involved - unless I am missing that this was somehow staged (highly unlikely). Still though, really impressive.

in reply to Bored?

C++ member function templates [C++ member function templates]

cravikiran — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 00:10:18 GMT

Hi,

I have a class with a templatized member function:

class Serializer

    // ...



    template <class T> void serialize(const T& value);

};

Now, I want to specialize for a particular type. It seems that there are a few ways to do this (maybe this is wrong?). One is to create a regular overload like so:

void serialize(const SerializableObject*& value);

Supposedly this will get preference when matching over specific template instantiations but it doesn't seem to be the case (it results in a non-existant template instatiation for SerializableObject* to be created anyway and since I don't have an explicit instantiation for that, it results in unresolved linker errors).

So, I thought I would go with the explicit instantiation approach. Now, perhaps I am getting syntax wrong here but when I put this line in the header file with the class declaration, I get an internal compiler error in VC7.1:

template<> void serialize<SerializableObject*>(const SerializableObject*& value);

produces

fatal error C1001: INTERNAL COMPILER ERROR

        (compiler file 'msc1.cpp', line 2701)

Without declaring in the header, I don't think I can do any explicity instantiation in the C++ file either.

Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug in VC (and is there a workaround if it is)?

Thanks,
Ravi Chodavarapu

in reply to C++ member function templates

MSN Messenger Development? [MSN Messenger Development?]

cravikiran — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 10:34:58 GMT

Hi,

I was interested in developing some plugins for MSN Messenger but besides there not being a formal SDK, any official documentation whatsoever is outdated or nonexistant. I've looked at [link] where there is some documents from a while back. Meanwhile, there is this unofficial forum [here] that seems somewhat helpful even though they're doing a lot of easily-breakable code (manual win32 api calls and such). Also, there is the dotMSN library [here] built on the (undocumented?) backend service.

Any chance of getting some word from MS on these projects and any hopes of an official SDK?

Regards,
Ravi

in reply to MSN Messenger Development?

SharePoint developers? [SharePoint developers?]

cravikiran — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 05:18:04 GMT

If there are any SharePoint developers here, starting out with some custom SharePoint WebParts development here and need some help. It seems in a lot of samples in the docs and on the web, people use the Webs property of the SPWeb class to retrieve sub sites but I get an exception:

"This property is not available. To retrieve this property, you must first obtain a SPWebCollection from the GetSubwebsForCurrentUser method. You then need to initialize the SPWebCollection by accessing it with the integer indexer."

While I was able to do this at a basic level... it seems almost silly when the same exception occurs in the following code:


foreach (SPSite subSite in siteCollection)

{

    SPWeb subWeb = subSite.RootWeb;

    

    // Exception when attempt to access 

    // subWeb.Name, or other property...
 }

Am I really supposed to call that method and use an indexer before being able to access SPWeb's properties every time (especially silly in something as above)? Or am I doing something wrong? I hope I'm doing something wrong...

in reply to SharePoint developers?

Avalon: Styles in external files? [Avalon: Styles in external files?]

cravikiran — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:39:00 GMT

Ok, after playing around, this was one of the first things that I wanted to do: define Styles in external files and then include them (statically) in other XAML files. But, I can't find a way to do it. I tried separating the definition of Application into two XAML files - one having a Application.Resources with styles and the other being the actual App stuff (I was planning on expanding into more XAML files later). Doesn't work even though they get converted into partial classes - the way it is done seems to create problems and doesn't seem to be possible this way. Or am I doing something wrong? Can loading external styles be done?

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Rendering HTML in Avalon? [Rendering HTML in Avalon?]

cravikiran — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 14:35:08 GMT

Hey,

So playing around a bit with Avalon I got to wanting a way to render HTML in Avalon. So for example, you can get your TextBlock to render some HTML content. Is there some way to get this done? I am thinking probably not but hopefully at some point it will be a reality? Anyway, I was thinking of doing a XSLT to convert XHTML to XAML (for ex, stuff like <b> tags to <Bold> and so forth) and then dynamically creating object trees using Parser.LoadXml. By chance, any existing components do this, or something like this planned?

in reply to Rendering HTML in Avalon?

WinFX SDK and VS 2005 Beta 2 [WinFX SDK and VS 2005 Beta 2]

cravikiran — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 05:38:52 GMT

Ok, so, after everything was working pretty good with VS 2005 Beta 2 and WinFX Beta 1 RC, I went ahead and decided to go and update to Beta 1 released with Vista Beta 1. Now, I uninstalled the RC runtime and SDK pieces and then (without uninstalling VS 2005 Beta 2) went ahead and installed the Beta 1 runtime and SDK. Now the problem is that VS 2005 Beta 2 doesnt have any of the WinFX stuff in it like its supposed to. I know this happened with the RC and uninstalling VS 2005, reinstalling it and then putting RC stuff back solved that. But, that takes a long time ... is there a way to get the VS 2005 stuff to be installed? I can include references to the WinFX stuff but what I want/need most are the schemas for Avalon.

in reply to WinFX SDK and VS 2005 Beta 2

Vista Beta 1 on MSDNAA [Vista Beta 1 on MSDNAA]

cravikiran — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 02:29:03 GMT

So I hear rumors being thrown around that some schools have Vista Beta 1 on MSDNAA. Don't see it on ours. Just rumors or is it true and can I expect to see it on MSDNAA?

in reply to Vista Beta 1 on MSDNAA

Visual Styles in Avalon? [Visual Styles in Avalon?]

cravikiran — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 09:47:07 GMT

Ok, so I just installed the Beta 1 RC that was lying on my computer for a while. XAML and the Avalon metaphors - Pages, Panels, etc... are all pretty cool. But one thing is really bugging me. So the controls in Avalon are now drawn using vector graphics. While I would expect them to look like the current XP look and feel, they all look like the old Win 95 styled controls. No gradient and snazzy looking buttons but the old flat gray ones. What's up? Am I missing something? With Win Forms 2.0 I would think of changing the renderer but with Avalon.. I suppose I set the Style property for my Window or Page to some DynamicResource? Anyone else having this issue (if it is an issue) and any ways to make it look like XP?

in reply to Visual Styles in Avalon?

Return key in Textbox or Combobox... can't be done? [Return key in Textbox or Combobox... can't be done?]

cravikiran — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 03:56:09 GMT

Ok, this is either a bug or I'm doing something wrong. This is in VS 2005. I'm trying to do a simple thing... detect when the user presses enter in a text box or combo box thats in a toolstrip ... so a ToolStripTextBox and ToolStripComboBox. I've tried listening to KeyPress and KeyDown events but I get everything (including Control, Right, Left, NumLock, so on...) except the Return and Enter keys. I've set AcceptsReturn = true for the ToolStripTextBox but no luck. I know there is the AcceptButton and CancelButton you can set on Forms and supposedly anywhere an enter key is pressed, that gets triggered but this is a UserControl where the ToolStrip is located.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated,
Thanks,
Ravi

in reply to Return key in Textbox or Combobox... can't be done?

Free Online File Sharing? [Free Online File Sharing?]

cravikiran — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 01:49:11 GMT

There's things like Flickr and ImageShack for images. But is there something like this for generic files? Mind you I don't mean this for music and movies, etc... just for quick development files and stuff like that - XML Schemas and so forth.

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Visual Studio 2005 Compatibility Mode? [Visual Studio 2005 Compatibility Mode?]

cravikiran — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 02:25:50 GMT

I may be missing something obvious but I just started with the VS 2005 Beta 2 and was wondering if there's some way to run it in a compatibilty mode of sorts for framework version 1.1? For example, when adding references, I want to be able to select the 1.1 version of System.Web, etc. Also, the generated assembly should run completely on framework 1.1. I need this especially for Windows Forms. While the new controls are awesome, I want to have a 1.1 runtime application at this time. May seem counter-intuitive but I want one tool (with all the extra 2005 features of course) which can be used for both 1.1 and 2.0 apps. Any way to do this?

in reply to Visual Studio 2005 Compatibility Mode?

WS-SecureConversation and UsernameToken [WS-SecureConversation and UsernameToken]

cravikiran — Sun, 22 May 2005 08:39:36 GMT

Hello,

I've tried searching for online material and looking through some code samples but am still in doubt as to the easiest way to do the following: I want to initiate a SecureConversation using a UsernameToken, and do it in a secure manner. Now, sending UsernameTokens securely seems to be a hot topic but none of the examples I've looked at seem to be any good.

Two methtods seem like good solutions but they really aren't that great (in terms of elegance) and I really think there is an easier way. The first is to send the UsernameToken over an SSL connection, and after getting back a SecurityContextToken, communicate over a regular connection (of course, it'd be pretty silly to not just do everything over SSL once you start). The second method is to generate an entropy value, encrypt it using a Server's X.509 cert, and after a SecureConversation is initiated, then pass a UsernameToken (but this would do something like hand-shaking after the hand-shaking part of SecureConversation is already done).

I may be just be missing something... Can someone provide some help (if you can, code examples would be very much appreciated)?

Thanks,
Ravi

in reply to WS-SecureConversation and UsernameToken

Future of Web Applications [Future of Web Applications]

cravikiran — Sat, 14 May 2005 13:49:27 GMT

Hey,

This has been brought up at various times under varied names, but, what do you see as being the dominant future web application technology? Will the browser-based web clients using AJAX (Google maps, etc.), ASP.NET, PHP, etc. remain popular (at least within a few years) because of their ability to support a wide variety of platforms? Will smart clients built on top of web services really take off? How successful do you think alternatives to MS .NET (for ex., Mono, Java) will be in bringing the "promise" of smart clients to non-Windows platforms? Does Flash have a future in this? Perhaps you think smart clients are inevitable (probably are)? What do you think will be the unifying architecture? .NET/Indigo styled back-end (for communication) w/ some GUI front-end?

Interested in getting opinions on this... Recently, I have developed a couple of web-based applications because of the need for cross-platformness - but really, some of them would have been better smart clients (I suppose I could have tried out Mono or went with Java).

Ravi

in reply to Future of Web Applications

WS-Eventing Implementation... [WS-Eventing Implementation...]

cravikiran — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 07:10:02 GMT

Hi,

I am in need of some kind of eventing mechanism for my web service in the works. WS-Eventing suits pretty well. I am planning to use the Plumbwork Orange implementation (since my web service is being done using .NET). I am curious as to how the MS implementation of (the front-end of) ws-eventing will look. Will it be done using delegates and callbacks, supported underneath by ws-eventing messages? I apologize if the answer to this is already somewhere within the WinFX CTP - haven't gotten a chance to take a look at that yet.

Thanks,
Ravi Chodavarapu

in reply to WS-Eventing Implementation...