Entries for mVPstar

Playing an MP3 from a console app [Playing an MP3 from a console app]

mVPstar — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:20:06 GMT

Any suggestions?

I'm currently trying to use Winmm.dll but for some reason, nothing happens when I go to play my mp3. I can't really embed WMP, so I'm not sure what else to do.

in reply to Playing an MP3 from a console app

Anyone with a new Zune to spare [Anyone with a new Zune to spare]

mVPstar — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:52:20 GMT

...who would be willing to give it to me as a Birthday present? :-)

A B
1 18
2 1

newAge = A1 + B2

in reply to Anyone with a new Zune to spare

The best Ultimate Extra [The best Ultimate Extra]

mVPstar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:53:28 GMT

...a [sizable] discount for Windows 7.

For me this will make up for the lack of Ultimate extras so far.

Thoughts?

in reply to The best Ultimate Extra

Posts Unread|Read|All Unread [Posts Unread|Read|All Unread]

mVPstar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:30:11 GMT

Instead of showing 3 different statuses, can you only show an icon if a thread has new posts?
No icon to distinguish all read, from partially read, and no icon for read.

I noticed it made it easier to check for new threads when the post read icon hadn't loaded immediately.

in reply to Posts Unread|Read|All Unread

"I'm a PC" debuts ["I'm a PC" debuts]

mVPstar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:40:22 GMT

Here

I really like it. The subtle humor...no smugness.

The Mac v PC thing only lasted for 5 sec...the rest was all about the PC.

in reply to "I'm a PC" debuts

Woah...Huge Zune update [Woah...Huge Zune update]

mVPstar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:45:23 GMT

MS Press said:
Zune, Microsoft Corp.’s end-to-end music and entertainment service, again revolutionizes how customers discover and connect to the music they love, where and how they want it. Starting next week, every Zune portable media player will let consumers wirelessly download or stream millions of songs on the go from thousands of wireless hot spots around the country. Free, powerful software and firmware updates will give Zune owners the ability to discover, tag and purchase songs directly from the built-in FM radio, wirelessly access the Zune Marketplace store on the go, and tap into interactive, personalized music recommendations that add even more value to the Zune Pass subscription. Zune is also expanding its device lineup with new 16GB and 120GB capacities as well as shiny new blue-on-silver and sleek all-black color schemes. The new features will begin rolling out on Sept. 16, 2008.

Buy from FM said:
More than 61 percent of people say they discover new music by listening to the radio. (1) With that in mind, Zune is taking advantage of the wireless connection and the built-in FM tuner to deliver a new feature called Buy from FM, which lets customers tag and purchase songs they hear on FM radio stations (2) directly from the Zune device. When the customer is in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the song can be immediately downloaded to the Zune device. If Wi-Fi is not available, the device will have a queue of songs ready to download when connected to a home computer or in a hot spot. Buy from FM uses Radio Data System and RT+ data feeds within the FM broadcast frequencies that identify song and artist data and enable the Zune service to identify and deliver the track to the customer.

MS Press said:

Channels. Channels are an exciting new tool for music discovery. Customers can explore channels programmed by experts from the music industry such as the Billboard Top 100, The FADER magazine and KEXP radio, in addition to workout-themed channels tailored for high, medium and low impact, and top chart channels from all genres and subgenres. The powerful Zune software will even create custom channels for each user, based on favorite artists and genres. Channels are included with a monthly Zune Pass subscription and can be synced to the device for playback on the go. For non-Zune Pass subscribers, the Channels are available for a la carte purchase.

Personal Picks. Now the Zune software learns what kind of music users like and makes personal recommendations. When users log onto Zune Marketplace, they’ll find a new area called Picks where the Zune recommendation algorithm will suggest artists, albums and tracks based on the music they have been listening to, as well as channels they might like and listeners like them in the Zune Social.

The Zune Social online music community. Customers can connect with millions of like-minded fans and share music via the Zune Card, a real-time playlist of each user’s favorite and recently played tracks that can be accessed on the Web or within the Zune software, or synced to the Zune device. Zune Pass subscribers can play full tracks from Zune Cards synced to their device while on the go, and now the playlists will even automatically update with the most recently played tracks when Zune connects to a wireless hot spot. It’s like subscribing to a free feed of music from the sources people trust most — their friends.

Software update said:

Mixview. Customers can select an artist, album or Zune Card to activate a dynamic, visual mosaic of related music and listeners. With each click users can take the view in a new direction, creating a fun, graphical way to discover new music. Mixview works with users’ current collection of music, in addition to tracks and albums from across the Zune Marketplace.

Now Playing. The improved Now Playing view is more interactive and cinematic. Users can sit back and enjoy the combination of great artist imagery, colorful effects, bio information and data from the Zune online music community, all combined in a full-screen view. They can also click to dive deeper into the music behind the picture, providing another great way to interact with their collection.

Firmware update said:

Games on the go. Two free games, “Hexic” and “Texas Hold ’Em,” will keep users entertained on the go.

Audiobooks. All Zune devices will feature support for audiobooks this fall from industry leaders in the digital distribution of audiobook content.

Audible. Customers can visit audible.com to download and sync favorite books from the 50,000 titles available from over 600 publishers and content providers.

OverDrive. They can download content from sites powered by overdrive.com, including 7,500 libraries’ Web sites worldwide. (http://search.overdrive.com)

Heh, I think I pasted the majority of the article.

Buy from FM is such a brilliant idea. It's nice to see MS really trying to understand how people listen to music.

Redmond's been really busy apparently.

in reply to Woah...Huge Zune update

A Day of Microsoft [A Day of Microsoft]

mVPstar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:03:38 GMT

I just attended a campus MS recruiting event in which the alums talked about their experience.

A couple questions I had for you employees and interns of the borg:

1.) Do you guys really play ping pong all day?
2.) Are they really building a mall on the MS campus?
3.) Do you make use of the "deliver food to office" program?
4.) Do you make use of the "deliver groceries to home" program?
5.) Is there really a job title known as "Ninja"?

:)

in reply to A Day of Microsoft

Moving for life [Moving for life]

mVPstar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:04:55 GMT

Not to detract from everyone else's self promoting threads, but...

Today's my last day here in good old Massuhchusits. ;-)
Moving to Carnegie Mellon in T-1 days.

UPDATE: Photos below.

in reply to Moving for life

Kill the Riddle Thread [Kill the Riddle Thread]

mVPstar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:44:49 GMT

4 possible choices of weapons:

1.) Thread.Delete();
2.) Thread.Lock();
3.) Thread.KillGoogleBot();
4.) Thread.DisallowPostingFromUsers = UserType.NewPoster;

The first C9 Team member to make a move gets a cookie. :P

in reply to Kill the Riddle Thread

Using a conditional within a lambda..possible? [Using a conditional within a lambda..possible?]

mVPstar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:11:45 GMT

I'm still learning how to use lambda expresions. Is it possible to use the if keyword in a lambda expression?

So.. List.ForEach( r => if(condition == true) SecondList.Add(r) );

VS says the if keyword cannot exist in the expression. Is there another way to control the statement?

in reply to Using a conditional within a lambda..possible?

Collection disappearing when adding items into another collection via a for loop [Collection disappearing when adding items into another collection via a for loop]

mVPstar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:18:28 GMT

Alright...

I'm trying to iterate through a list, and for each item I'm iterating through another list. Based on certain conditions, I want to add the item to another collection. The problem is, whenever I add it, the initial collection empties out.

Here's a code snippet of what I'm doing:

for (int i = _tempMedia.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--) // Looping through initial collection

{

T mediaItem = _tempMedia[i];

    for(int j = mediaItem.MetaTags.Count - 1; j>=0; j--) //Looping through a List<string> in the current item of initial collection

    {

        string tag = mediaItem.MetaTags[j];

        if (_currentGallery.HasAlbum(tag))

        {

        _currentGallery.Albums[tag].Add(mediaItem); //Add item to second collection

        }
    }
}

Basically, after the item gets added the first time, collection _tempMedia empties out completely, thereby throwin an "Index out of range" error on the next iteration. I had foreach loops before but kept getting "Collection was modified; enumeration operation may not execute." errors. I replaced them with for loops after googling for a solution. Google says I should use the lock keyword, but I have no idea how to use it/if it'll actually work.

What should I do to retain the original collection so that I can iterate through all items and not just the first?

Thanks!

EDIT: SOLVED: http://channel9.msdn.com/forums/TechOff/418221-Collection-disappearing-when-adding-items-into-another-collection-via-a-for-loop/?CommentID=418327

in reply to Collection disappearing when adding items into another collection via a for loop

IE8 tabs suddenly load slowly? [IE8 tabs suddenly load slowly?]

mVPstar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:55:41 GMT

Strange...ever since yesterday afternoon, tabs in IE8 have started loading really slowly (unbelievably slow) for me. There is a 5-7 second delay after requesting a new tab be opened. The delay exists when I want to open a new window from a link, as well. I tried running without add-ons, but the problem still exists. Even deleted temp internet files...still there.

Online scan from Bit Defender picked up nothing.

Tracing the problem back to an event leaves me no clues: all I did yesterday was start my computer, visit a few websites (tabs were working fine at that point), used VWD, and then left my computer running for a good 4 hours (account locked) until I came back to it.

Any thoughts on why opening a new tab/new window would cause a delay now?

in reply to IE8 tabs suddenly load slowly?

How C9v4 works [How C9v4 works]

mVPstar — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:43:12 GMT

Can you post somewhere an outline (or even a cool diagram) of the new codebase (if you haven't already done it)?
Would be cool to see how different processes work (adding a post, rendering a thread, etc).

Pretty please with a cherry on top! :-D

in reply to How C9v4 works

Saving... not quite as visible [Saving... not quite as visible]

mVPstar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:28:51 GMT

This isn't much of a biggie, but you don't really notice the "Saving..." text immediately when you press the add button. Maybe place it closer to the Add/Cancel controls?

in reply to Saving... not quite as visible

Forums don't retain current page [Forums don't retain current page]

mVPstar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:27:58 GMT

Simple scenario, you go to page 2, enter into a thread, hit the back button, and then find you're back on page 1 and not on page 2.

#page [#] needs to be appended to the url when going to other pages

in reply to Forums don't retain current page

Profile E-mail, MSN, AIM [Profile E-mail, MSN, AIM]

mVPstar — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:19:50 GMT

I know you guys didn't want to store user data for privacy reasons, but still it would be nice to be able to set an e-mail/MSN/AIM in your profile.

Unless you want a bunch of people posting new threads asking about others' e-mail addresses (but even so, posts are still "stored" in the database).

in reply to Profile E-mail, MSN, AIM

Thread Status legend [Thread Status legend]

mVPstar — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:18:05 GMT

I know some people already complained about how hard it is to decipher the new "dot" icons that appear next to threads telling you whether you read the thread or not.

Maybe put a quick legend somewhere in the forums?

in reply to Thread Status legend

[WORKAROUND] Strange network problem Vista [[WORKAROUND] Strange network problem Vista]

mVPstar — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:34:56 GMT

Recently, my computer (running Vista Ultimate) does not discover my network (wired) sometimes when I start up my computer. I have to restart it a couple of times before it finally realizes it's connected to a network.

In my event log, the only error message that's listed when this happens is:
"Windows Firewall was unable to notify the user that it blocked an application from accepting incoming connections on the network." The "application" is lsass.exe according to event details.

Now, the only thing I remember doing before all this happened was installing Albany (which came with Live OneCare). Immediately after, I started experiencing this problem. Since then, I've removed OneCare and the problem persists.

Any ideas why I'm having this problem?

I'm right now convinced it's a firewall issue, like an app trying to use the network before the Firewall is loaded, and Vista locking down network resources, but I'm not sure.

EDIT: Didn't "solve" the problem, but worked around it by using System Restore to revert back to original settings pre-OneCare mess.

in reply to [WORKAROUND] Strange network problem Vista

PC upgrade time...thoughts? [PC upgrade time...thoughts?]

mVPstar — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:28:02 GMT

Alright, I actually have very little knowledge of PC hardware. I just go with whatever people tell me to buy (with of course some little research).

What are your suggestions on upgrades (if I wanted to spend less than $800)? I'm looking at upgrading mainly memory, CPU (if needed), and GFX.

These are my specs currently:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Asus A8N-SLI mobo
1GB Corsair PC3200
Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT (PCI-e)
2 HDs, (40GB 10k and 300GB 7.2k)

I'm wondering how important it is to upgrade the CPU because that would indicate a mobo change. I also don't know the benefits of DDR2. I will definitely bump up the memory to maybe 2GB.

Thoughts?

in reply to PC upgrade time...thoughts?

SP1 and still copy file confirm dialog bug exists? [SP1 and still copy file confirm dialog bug exists?]

mVPstar — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:18:37 GMT

Seriously... (circled, copy confirm dialog behind explorer window). :|

Can MS please release some sort of fix? The darn dialog almost always hides behind the "Copying..." window.
Especially in this scenario, it's annoying to bring the dialog to focus.

At least to MS' credit, it doesn't take ages anymore to start the copying process. +1

in reply to SP1 and still copy file confirm dialog bug exists?

Report as spam functional? [Report as spam functional?]

mVPstar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:18:16 GMT

Does the darn button do anything yet or is it still broken?

in reply to Report as spam functional?

[SOLVED] Second HD read only after Vista install [[SOLVED] Second HD read only after Vista install]

mVPstar — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:21:48 GMT

Hey niners,

I had just recently installed Vista Ultimate. After installing, I noticed that my second HD became a read only drive. I can see the drive and I can read files off of the drive, but I can't write anything to the drive. I gave the Users group Full control in terms of permissions, but the drive is still marked as read only.

Any suggestions (I'd like to stay away from formatting please.)?

in reply to [SOLVED] Second HD read only after Vista install

spoolsv.exe has generated errors [spoolsv.exe has generated errors]

mVPstar — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 03:58:03 GMT

Hey C9.

I ran into a little problem with my printer. I recently attempted to setup network printing (basically, I was trying to share the printer my computer was attached to). When I tried to print to that computer from another computer, the print wouldn't work and the good old "spoolsv.exe has generated errors and will be closed by windows" error came up. Ever since, it has been coming up and closing the spooler service whenever I try to print something.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled my printer drivers. I even followed this KB article.

Nothing worked.

Is there a way I can reinstall the print service and start with a fresh set of spooler system files?

What do you guys suggest?

EDIT: Forgot to mention I'm using Windows 2000 SP4.

in reply to spoolsv.exe has generated errors

No more high school for me... [No more high school for me...]

mVPstar — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:07:18 GMT

...'cause today, I got accepted to Carnegie Mellon University!

Woohoo!!! [H]

For you other students who applied to college/university, did you guys get in anywhere cool yet?

in reply to No more high school for me...

foreach infinite recursion...ArrayList with a null value? [foreach infinite recursion...ArrayList with a null value?]

mVPstar — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:49:16 GMT

Hey C9!

I have a foreach loop that looks kinda like this:

foreach(string x in roles)
{
//Do some processing
}

ArrayList roles is assigned to like such:

roles.AddRange((string[])Roles.GetRolesForUser(username));

(Basically, I'm using ASP.NET Roles and looping through them later on. I'm not using a regular array and a for loop because I don't want a fixed array)

My problem is,when I run the foreach loop, my Server goes funky, and VS claims that foreach loop is infinitely recursing.

When I step through that loop, I see the Arraylist roles having a definite Count of 6 items, each item being a valid string. I also notice that the foreach IS in fact running infinitely. One thing interesting is, x at one point is "null," and right after the null is processed, the foreach loop starts over again. So, I'm thinking that null is the culprit, although, I do not see null in the Arraylist in reflector.

What could be the problem?

in reply to foreach infinite recursion...ArrayList with a null value?