Posts
LeapMotion SEHException
If for some reason when you try and run your code and you get a PINVOKE exception (like the one below), then most likely you don’t have the LeapMotion binaries in your Debug (or Release) folders. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 System.TypeInitializationException was unhandled HResult=-2146233036 Message=The type initializer for 'Leap....
Requirements - are they that important?
WordPress 3.6 and IE10
I don’t know what WordPress thinks of IE 10 (running on Win 8), but when I upgraded to WordPress v3.6, and I login to the Dashboard, it does not like IE running in compatibility mode and shows me the following. It would think I am still running IE 6! Also whilst I don’t get this with the compatibility mode switched off, everything does not work correctly and one has to use either Firefox or Chrome....
Adding an user in Ubuntu - Why is it so difficult?
I installed the latest version of Ubuntu (13.04, Raring Tail) on a machine at home to check it out (it was running CentOS 6.4 before that). Setting it up was quite simple, but I am not sure if I like the too simple UI. I don’t want an uber-geek only-shell mode, but the CentOS I thought was the right balance. Anyways, when I first added a new user, there was no way I could set a password which was very weird - not a permanent or temporary one!...
Sleeves and LeapMotion
I have seen this a few times now so I know it is not a one off, but it seems that the sleeves of my shirt seem to throw off the Leap Motion sensor and it detects it as another hand - and ends up showing three hands. I thought it was my watch which might be causing some issue, but that was not it. It goes away when I am wearing a t-shirt, but the tracking is quite off when wearing a full sleeve shirt....
How to insult a developer?
VSTO download for Visual Studio 2012
I don’t know why it is simple to find, or even on the download section on MSDN, but trying to find the VSTO download specifically for Visual Studio 2012 is a real pain. It took me some time trying to find this and if you need to save some time then you can download it from here .
What is a Vodafone thinking with Site Timing?
This has to fall in the weird category. Vodafone’s Corporate Online site, where I need to login to see my company provided mobile bill has timings from 07:30 to 22:30 GMT - WHY??? Don’t they get it, this is online and the site can be up and running 24x7! This is not some technical support I am talking about where they have actual humans monitoring and answering - this is access to the billing system....
How not to handle exceptions!
Was trying to pay my Electricity bill online via a site called Bangalore One , which is the Governments, premier one-stop shop for Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services. I could not pay because it seems like some backend services they need for credit card payment is down. How do I know this? Because the site is revealing too much detail! See the exception details pasted below. This is a great example of what not to do!...
Google Logic
I came across this very interesting article in the guardian called “ Google logic: why Google does the things it does the way it does ”. This is a fascinating insight and a lot of it makes sense to me. What was also interesting to understand a little more on how the mindset is very different from the other corporates and technology leaders out there. Especially interesting the self-righteous view one perceives that Google has of themselves....
Broke my Microsoft Surface Pro device!
I am probably the only guy on the planet who broke his Surface Pro device! :oops: So much so that the screen shattered - so much for Gorilla glass and all that! I was starting out on a 4 week long trip and the Surface slipped and fell at the airport when taking it out for the X-Ray machine. It fell on one corner and the screen shattered. With small pieces of glass everywhere on it, it was not usable....
Dilbert and Leadership
Enough said! Dilbert and Leadership
Don't ask your boss!
My TechEd Presentation - Building cross-platform Modern Apps - the Design perspective
TechEd a couple of months ago was really fun and I am grateful to Microsoft folks for giving me an opportunity to be both part of the Keynote and also have a slot in the Architecture track. Sorry it has taken me a very long time to upload my TechEd talk “Building cross-platform Modern Apps: the Design perspective”. But as they say better late than never. 😏 You can download a copy of my presentation - Xamarin - Building cross-platform (pdf) ....
What are good Win 8 Metro Apps for WordPress authoring?
I would prefer a Windows 8 Metro app, and not a ’traditional’ app for WordPress. I host my own blog ( http://desigeek.com ) and need to update that. View Question on Quora
What are some fun things to do in Amsterdam with a 2.5 yr old?
We will be travelling with a Toddler (2.5 yrs) to Amsterdam and wanted to know what suggestions one has to keep her engaged, excited, and busy? View Question on Quora
Hello World
Yes, I am still alive. Between a baby and work, don’t have time for much else. I did want to say Hello World. Will try and be more regular here.
Writing a compiler using C#
I was cleaning out my old papers (finally!) and came across an old paper I had titled “ Compiler Writing Tools using C# ” which essentially shows how you can write a number of tools like lex and yacc but instead of C/C++ on Unix, you use C# and .NET. This paper covers the tokenizer, grammar , DFA , NFA , etc. I think conflicts and precedence is one area it would need a little more work....
Can Microsoft win against this?
After seeing this, I think I also want the “Apple 5”; supposedly this lady is true and has been waiting in line for 2 days. {Credit: wmpoweruser.com }
On Windows 8
Large collection of Free eBooks from MS
Microsoft folks have released a large collection of free eBooks including Visual Studio, WP, Win 8, Office 365, SQL, Azure, CRM, etc. You can get more details from the following two posts where not only you can browse the catalogue but also download them. First post with free books Second post with free books Happy Leeching!
Cloud thinking
I did a quick internal brown bag on Cloud computing yesterday. It is interesting to still get to meet folks who don’t have much ideas on Cloud and what the various types are, what they mean and their value. In any case, cloud is just full of hot air. ! 😄 I always found, most people can get it when they can relate to cloud usage as a consumer. And of course the CoIT and BYOD will just help accelerate that and bring the usage out in the front....
Redis on Windows 8 and VS 2012 RC?
I am trying to see if I can get Redis working on Windows 8 using Visual Studio 2012 RC bits – I have not had much success, but then I have not had much time to invest to try this out. I am wanting to give a demo tomorrow and would be good to see if I can get this working. Curious to know if anyone else has got this?...
Creating Word Maps / Word Clouds
I am giving a presentation next week on NoSQL and as part of that I wanted to create a Word Map, similar to the ones I have seen in the Guardian over the years. After searching a little, I came across the following two sites which do an excellent job of this. Both of them allow a number of options to customise the output and I think are very cool!...