Entries for Jonathan Sampson

2 More Browser Feature Requests... [2 More Browser Feature Requests...]

Jonathan Sampson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:29:24 GMT

I just had a couple ideas for browser plugins that would really make tons of people (including me) very happy.

Both are rather similar, but slightly different.

1) Bubbled Media Elements:
So I'm sitting here with Firefox opened and about 8 tabs opened along with it. One of the tabs is HanselMinutes, where I'm listening to his latest show. Somebody walks into my office, and I have to scan my screen for hanselminutes, find it, click the tab, find the player on the page, and then pause the player.

What if the player was instead vieweable in a collapsing panel at the bottom of the browser, along with important items from other pages? Shoot, it could even tell me which tab it's getting the media from, but allowing me immediate access without having to hunt down the parent tab in an instant.

2) Eagle-Eye Element Watching:
This is a slight RSS-ish Page-Element tracking idea. Includes a bottom panel as well, but this one keeps up updated on specific parts of websites that get updated frequently. "Show me the contents of div.latestMovie on channel9.msdn.com when the content is updated." At the bottom of the screen, I see a small preview that is updated every 10 minutes or so. This would allow ad-hoc subscriptions to just about anything there is online.

What do you guys think?

in reply to 2 More Browser Feature Requests...

Building My Own Media App [Building My Own Media App]

Jonathan Sampson — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:38:31 GMT

Hey guys,

I would like to start developing a small .net application that can output video identified as a webcam stream, and originating from a directory or list of files. That being said, I'm not sure where to begin. Is it natively possible to mimic a webcam with .net, or do I need to go and seek 3rd party projects to allow this?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

in reply to Building My Own Media App

C9 Theme, "Darker". [C9 Theme, "Darker".]

Jonathan Sampson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:06:57 GMT

I just logged into c9 today for the first time in a long time and saw the c9 theme thread - pretty cool stuff! I decided to try my hand at a theme - the changes aren't great, but it's different :) What do you guys think?

body { 
  background:#333333!important;
  padding:0!important; 
}
.menu {
  color:#666666!important;
}
  .menu li {
    border:0!important;
    text-transform:none!important;
  }
  .menu a {
    color:#CCCCCC!important;
  }
  .menu a:hover {
    color:#FFFFFF!important;
  }
#menu .menu li:hover ul.subMenu {
  background-color:transparent!important;
  background-image:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/submenubg.png")!important;
  border:0!important;
  font-size:12px!important;
  left:0!important;
  margin:0!important;
  padding:0!important;
}
  ul.subMenu {
    margin:0!important;
    padding:0!important;
    line-height:100%;
  }
  ul.subMenu li a {
    color:#f1f1f1!important;
    display:inline!important;
    line-height:125%!important;
    font-family:verdana!important;
    font-size:10px!important;
  }
  ul.subMenu li a:hover {
    color:#ffffff!important;
  }
#logos {
  float:left!important;
  height:120px!important;
  margin-left:7px!important;
  margin-top:3px!important;
  position:relative!important;
}
  #logos a#logo {
    background-image:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/logo.png")!important;
    position:absolute!important;
    height:140px!important;
    width:158px!important;
  }
#nineGuySays { display:none!important; }
.breadcrumb {
  color:#cc6600!important;
}
  .breadcrumb a {
    color:#cc6600!important;
  }
  .breadcrumb a:hover {
    color:#333333!important;
  }
.cbMain { 
  display:none!important;
}
#profileDetails #userInfoArea {
  color:#333333!important;
}
.entrySum .title h1 a, .case .title h1, .entrySum .posted a, #userInfoArea a, #main .username {
  color:#333333!important;
}
.entrySum .title h1 a:hover, .entrySum .posted a:hover, #userInfoArea a:hover {
  color:#000000!important;
  text-decoration:underline!important;
}
  .entrySum .posted {
    color:#000000!important;
  }
#background { 
  background-image:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/bg.jpg")!important;
}
#userNav { 
  margin-top:43px!important;
  width:114px!important;
  height:39px!important;
  background-image:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/userNavbg.png");
  text-align:center!important;
}
  #userNav div {
    padding-top:7px!important;
    color:#b96006!important;
  }
    #userNav a {
      color:#663300!important;
      font-weight:normal!important;
    }
    #userNav a:hover {
      color:#ffffff!important;
    }
#contentTop {
  /*background:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/content-top.png")!important;*/
}
#fullLayout, #wideLayout, #stdLayout {
  /*background-image:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/content-repeat.png")!important;*/
}
.box2 {
  border-color:#333333!important;
  background-image:url("http://www.sampsonresume.com/labs/c9theme/box2bg.png")!important;
}
  .box2 .header {
    background:none!important;
  }
    .header .info, .header .forumDetails, .header .pagerTitle {
      color:#ffffff!important;
    }

#ctl00_MainPlaceHolder_UserCSS {
  position:relative;
  width:965px;
  height:450px;
}

in reply to C9 Theme, "Darker".

1x1 .png background's and IE 7.0.6001.18000 [1x1 .png background's and IE 7.0.6001.18000]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:49:04 GMT

Here's an interesting discovery for you. I was building a small component that would popup product names when you mouse over their thumbnail. The popup was to have a semi-transparent background, so I went with a .png file. To cut down on bandwidth, I made it 1px by 1px.

I then noticed that it was getting screwed up in IE7.0.6001.18000, so I went and looked in every other browser known to man: all others did just fine. I then tested it in IE 7.0.5730.11 and it also worked just fine - something was up. It wasn't that it didn't show up, it was HOW it rendered it. There was a gradient type of transition from the top left, to the bottom right that went from near-opaque to completely transparent.

After searching Google, and finding nothing, I decided to examine other items that were using transparent png's as backgrounds. I had plenty that didn't show any problems. The difference between them, and this problem item, were the dimensions of the backgrounds. I increased the dimensions from 1x1 to 5x5, and whammo...that solved it.

Anybody have any clue what would cause this?

Left: 1x1 .png BG --- Right: 5x5 .png BG

in reply to 1x1 .png background's and IE 7.0.6001.18000

When New Technology Bursts into the Spotlight... [When New Technology Bursts into the Spotlight...]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:14:00 GMT

I've seen some attempts at holograms etc in the past, but it seems as though CNN has something I've not yet seen before. Did anybody else know that this product existed, or that any team private/public was working on this type of stuff? If so, what else am I missing, and when do I get my own hologram surface wall gas plasma monitor 4000?

in reply to When New Technology Bursts into the Spotlight...

Most Inexperienced President Yet? [Most Inexperienced President Yet?]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:57:26 GMT

Looks like America just woke up with one of the most inexperienced Presidents yet - kinda reminds me of those movies where a man finds an exciting woman, spends the night with her in a drunken orgy of excitement, only to wake up the next morning and see that they apparently stumbled into a Las Vegas chapel and got married...."WTF Did I do!?"

I still don't see what qualified Obama - anybody care to put my mind at ease? (This is a serious request, not trolling)

Or did somebody scare us into marrying her?

in reply to Most Inexperienced President Yet?

Successful Discussion?. [Successful Discussion?.]

Jonathan Sampson — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:21:43 GMT

What is the formula for a successful discussion? I mean, all of us are getting a little frustrated talking to eachother because we have different political/religious views. Come from different worlds practically, and have vastly different backgrounds. How are we suppose to successfully communicate with each other?

For example, there was a lot of controversy over whether or not a watermelon was "racist." One or two Niners suggested it was, and a couple niners (including myself) suggested that it couldn't be. I asked for an explanation as to why a watermelon is "racist" (meaning, it promotes one race as superior to another), but no explanation was given because in the mind of the affirming Niner, it was clearly racist and didn't merit explanation.

So in conversations like that, we find ourself in an endless loop of, "It's not racist. Yes it is, and you're racist for defending it. How am I racist!? Because you defend racist remarks. But why is it racist? Because it is!"

We're all engineers here, and think pretty well about operation flow and how things should be done to ensure successful results, so why is it we have such a difficult time communicating with other technical thinkers?

Oh, and I'm serious, anybody got a suggestion for a successful discussion formula? The world could really use it ;)

My opinion is this. We should all strive to adhere to logic, since it's demonstrated pretty conclusively over the years its own success when properly used. Secondly, we shouldn't slack in explaining our positions as thoroughly as needed when it's possible to do so. Third, pride and arrogance have got to take back-stage in conversations. Any thoughts?

in reply to Successful Discussion?.

The Website is Down... [The Website is Down...]

Jonathan Sampson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:35:19 GMT

There's a lot of political back-and-forth going on lately, so I thought I would post something that could remove us all from the arguing for just a moment and bring us together for laughter. For those who've not seen it, I present "The Website is Down".

in reply to The Website is Down...

My Windows 7 Suggestion... [My Windows 7 Suggestion...]

Jonathan Sampson — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:01:10 GMT

Everybody else got to share theirs, so here's mine.

CTRL+Click minimized apps to create app-groups in the taskbar.

Tab-groups then have new options in the context menu such as, "Show These Windows Only" or the opposite, "Hide These Windows". This would certainly eliminate the need for multiple desktop objects consuming memory, and I doubt this would be that much work to accomplish anyway.

Of course clicking the tab-item brings up a list-box above that shows each window item with its icon to the left, and title text to the right. From there you select which you want to open, or click the group-tab a second time to open all.

in reply to My Windows 7 Suggestion...

Debate 1, In the Books. [Debate 1, In the Books.]

Jonathan Sampson — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:16:18 GMT

Well, I must say that I didn't really enjoy the debate. The most entertaining part was guessing what the heck that little white thing was on Obama's bottom lip - anybody else get distracted by that thing?

As for the debate itself, I was sad to see so much Tu Quoque. Can't these guys speak to the issues, rather than dance around them?

in reply to Debate 1, In the Books.

Video - FF3 vs IE7 on C9 [Video - FF3 vs IE7 on C9]

Jonathan Sampson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:00:17 GMT

I went ahead and recorded my typical experience with c9 in IE7 and FF3. Music is Jonathan Coulton...brilliance :)
Hopefully now the channel9 team will understand just how bad it really is for some of us :)

For those who want to keep using FF, a solution is available.

in reply to Video - FF3 vs IE7 on C9

Annoyed by C9 in FF? Use the IETab Addon. [Annoyed by C9 in FF? Use the IETab Addon.]

Jonathan Sampson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:46:33 GMT

I was trying to watch some videos on youtube, while refreshing the forums here when I almost lost it :) I'm sick of waiting 30+ seconds for the content to update. I finally realized that I had IETab installed for testing webpages without having to switch between browsers. So now I've got one IETab dedicated to C9 in my FF browser. Works great.

Channel9 Team, you should advertise this plugin on your front page when the user-agent indicates it's firefox ;)

in reply to Annoyed by C9 in FF? Use the IETab Addon.

I would love to work at MS, but... [I would love to work at MS, but...]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:07:43 GMT

I've got no idea what I could do there. I've got 10+ years experience with Photoshop, but I don't consider myself a designer, and don't want to design graphics for a living. I've got 5 or so years of solid PHP programming on top of MySQL, but does Microsoft even care? I've got almost two years of C# development, but don't code in it actively so I'm incredibly pathetic at it I'm sure. I'm standards-abiding when it comes to XHTML and CSS, but again, does that matter? I'm proficient in Javascript, but don't they have their own browser-script anyway? I've got plenty of presentation skill, if you ask me ;)

Am I useless to Microsoft? Where on Earth would an infidel like myself fit in amongst the badges there in Redmond? Perhaps one of those fancy camera jobs where you just go around and talk about technology - I think I could do that.

Anyway, softies, you would know better than I if my experience would give me any placement in Redmond.

in reply to I would love to work at MS, but...

What is up with Channel9's Javascript? [What is up with Channel9's Javascript?]

Jonathan Sampson — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:28:30 GMT

It seems that after browsing/posting for 10 minutes or so, any subsequent posts take at least 30 seconds to a minute to complete, and during the wait my browser is conveniently locked-down and whited-out so I can't do anything at all. Perhaps this is an odd marketing scheme to get me out of firefox, and over to Chrome where I can continue to use other tabs while C9 munches on its own tab and not the entire browser itself?

in reply to What is up with Channel9's Javascript?

.NET Calendar for Small Networks? [.NET Calendar for Small Networks?]

Jonathan Sampson — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:15:45 GMT

I've got a friend who needs a calendar application to use in his small office. I was thinking of just putting a web-based calendar on his network, but figured he would be more at home if he had a desktop calendar that he, and his two co-workers could use.

They currently use Outlook for email, and wanted to use it to share a calendar, but apparently you need to be on an Exchange Server for that to be an option (bummer).

Anybody seen anything that would go nicely on a small network? Or is there a solution to the non-sharability of Outlook Calendars when not on an exchange server?

in reply to .NET Calendar for Small Networks?

What keeps you on Windows? [What keeps you on Windows?]

Jonathan Sampson — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:38:25 GMT

I setup Ubuntu 8.04 on my PC this last weekend, spent about 4 days on it, and now I'm spending the vast majority of my time on there. The only thing right now that keeps me on Windows is Photoshop (which may work in Wine given some slight modifications), and my games (Just purchased Crysis!).

I noticed that Ubuntu (even with Compiz Fusion) uses less than half the memory that Vista Ultimate uses, and this is great when you've only got 2gb total. Having 1gb of it taken by the OS isn't too pleasant.

I can't say that I'm cutting off Windows anytime soon (can't, obliged to use it for games/photoshop), but I can say that my next computer will likely not have Windows unless I absolutely need it.

I don't want to appear naive though, so I'm curious why most users here have no taken any Linux distro as their primary desktop. Same goes for Mac. Why has Windows persisted as your prefered desktop?

in reply to What keeps you on Windows?

Russian to outlaw Emo, Goth, and Hardcore? [Russian to outlaw Emo, Goth, and Hardcore?]

Jonathan Sampson — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:39:26 GMT

http://entertainment.in.msn.com/hollywood/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1592483

This is hilarious - Russia rightly points out the problem of suicide amongst those who chose the emo lifestyle, and in looking out for their society are contemplating a ban on this type of music altogether. Of course if emo can't listen to his music anymore, wouldn't that make him want to commit suicide? All of the emo kids would be dead within a week! Wait a second, you don't think maybe....nah, that's unthinkable.

in reply to Russian to outlaw Emo, Goth, and Hardcore?

Flash-based Voice Message Recording [Flash-based Voice Message Recording]

Jonathan Sampson — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:23:54 GMT

I'm looking for a preferably flash-based application that will allow people visiting your site to leave you voice messages. Like, they get 3 minutes of talk-time, and the message is stored as .mp3 on the server. Anybody know of anything like this?

in reply to Flash-based Voice Message Recording

Does this name sound familiar? [Does this name sound familiar?]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:01:07 GMT

To all of the computer-history buffs, and students out there, does this name sound familiar?

Gary Random

It's apparently not a pseudoname. The guys last name is allegedly "Random." He claims to have invented Random Access, and also helped invent the Internet. So far, all I can find about memory-accessing invenstors is Robert Dennard, who invented DRAM, building upon the word of Farber Schlig, and Agusta.

in reply to Does this name sound familiar?

Copy/Paste from Word to DB - NOOOO! [Copy/Paste from Word to DB - NOOOO!]

Jonathan Sampson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:55:33 GMT

Any of you guys ever have encoding problems with your text when you copy from a rich-text editor like Word, or Wordpad into something like MySQL? It jacks up certain characters, like ? ' , ... and --. What is the deal here? I'm not sure if this is encoding, or what, but I'm interested in figuring out why it does this. I typically have to go through each entry and manually delete the character (which appears italisized usually) and manually retype it again, so that it appears normal.

Any insight?

Jonathan Sampson

in reply to Copy/Paste from Word to DB - NOOOO!

Which video was it that had the fancy new building? [Which video was it that had the fancy new building?]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:24:57 GMT

Do you guys remember the video from a long time ago which featured a fancy new building at Microsoft that had little pods throughout it for meetings, and the offices were separated by sliding glass that doubled as dry-erase boards? Which video was that!?

Jonathan Sampson

in reply to Which video was it that had the fancy new building?

Emails when somebody responds... [Emails when somebody responds...]

Jonathan Sampson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:57:33 GMT

I love the new response format of messages now. I was curious though, do you guys plan on doing any type of alert to let niners know when somebody responded to them in a thread somewhere? Maybe a dialog on the front page, or an email, or anything?

Jonathan Sampson

in reply to Emails when somebody responds...

Advantages of specific time formats... [Advantages of specific time formats...]

Jonathan Sampson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:23:03 GMT

Working on a database and was just thinking what format I wanted to store my dates in. I don't need h:m:s, so I'm wondering if I should use the traditional YYYY-MM-DD, or a Unix Timestamp - do you guys know of any disadvantages or advantages that come with either one of those? Or perhaps I should store h:m:s, even though I don't immediately have a use for them - perhaps it's smarter to just keep them around just in case...

Jonathan Sampson

in reply to Advantages of specific time formats...

Vista SP1 on Ultimate Broke my Machine [Vista SP1 on Ultimate Broke my Machine]

Jonathan Sampson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:51:48 GMT

Just before bed last night, I got one of those fancy "You've got available updates" prompts. I opened it, viewed the updates, and low-and-behold there was SP1, waiting to be installed. So I continued it, and walked away. I checked on it for the next 20 minutes, and then figured I'd let it run while I napped.

This morning I came into the office to check c9, and other sites, and Vista is completely crashed. Corrupted kernal debugging dll, it tells me. "Insert your vista cd..." - what? I don't have my vista cd. The closest thing I have was the old power together cd from way-back-when, so I inserted that, and restarted. The computer failed to load from cd... So now I'm screwed, royaly, and Microsoft has ruined my day, week, month, and possibly year.

ALL of my work is on this machine. Thanks Bill.

(on a more reasonable note, I could just remove the harddrive and pull my data off if necessary, right?)

Jonathan Sampson
New Account
(Because c9 won't let me login with my old one - Yay for Microsoft)

in reply to Vista SP1 on Ultimate Broke my Machine