Codeedoc - Programming Blog

Nintendo Launches Online Distribution Channel WiiWare

Nintendo has launched a new channel for games distribution—WiiWare. Games are downloaded over the internet by redeeming WiiPoints, which can be purchased at the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets…the benefit to this system being that kids can buy the points over the counter with cash rather than relying on an adult with a credit card (although there are parental controls). The intention is to give smaller games developers a channel to sell their wares other than the expensive retail distribution methods: “WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing, using an analogy that doesn’t really fit but gets the idea across. WiiWare is being described as Nintendo’s answer to Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) Xbox Live Arcade and Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation Store, although it has launched with 8 games in Europe and 6 in the US (Newsfactor has descriptions and prices for the games)…New games, at various Wii Point values, will be added to WiiWare on Mondays.

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A Look At Computerized Home Security

We live in an era of computers and information technology and there is a direct relationship between information technology and home security. Computers allow us to automate many different aspects of out business activities and personal life. Personal computers and other technological systems can also help in various home security activities and can increase the amount of protection that you can create for your house. In addition to all of the benefits above, a computerized system will save you a lot of time since most of the security related tasks will be done automatically.

There are many security tasks where a personal computer can be used. One of the more popular uses of a computer is with the video security equipment. The traditional way to install video security equipment is to connect video cameras to the TV and VCR. The TV screen simply displays the picture that the camera is transmitting and VCR records everything that is shown on the TV screen. But if we introduce the personal computer into the picture, you can eliminate both the TV and VCR and develop a system that is even more secure. A computer monitor can be used for direct viewing. Wireless video cameras will transfer the video stream directly to the computer. With proper software the computer can digitally record either all the video information sent to it or it can activate the recording only when the software detects any movement (recording is started only when there is a change in the video picture).

There are many other benefits of this type of the security system. For example, if one of the cameras fails or breaks down, the PC will detect this and will notify you about this issue right away. If a wireless connection fails, the computer will try to reestablish the connection with the camera and will notify the owner if it did not succeed. All of the data (video stream) is stored digitally in a more compact form. It becomes very easy to examine the recorded video stream. Same benefits apply to the audio systems connected to the computer. Audio stream, in addition to video stream, can also be stored and analyzed by the computer. Both audio and video surveillance systems can be combined in one system using a PC.

There are many other types of security equipment that you can connect to your computer. For example, your alarm system and motion detection system can be connected to the computer. The software can then send you or someone else an alarm signal or perform some other programmed activity. All the incoming information is stored and can be retrieved at a later time. Other types of equipment can also be connected. Some of the systems are even sold in one big combined computerized security package.

You should spend enough time on selecting the proper home security software package when creating the computerized home security system. Quality software will definitely make your security systems work better. You should look for the software from trusted companies that were in business for a long time and that earned customers’ trust. This type of software will be more expensive but will provide you with a higher degree of protection. Proper software configuration is also very important. If you are not familiar with security and information technology, you should have a professional install and configure your computerized security system. You should try to find software that takes care of all security needs.

It is also useful to mention the home automation software and hardware system. This type of system is especially useful when you are not at home or are on a long vacation. The automation system will do such activities as turning your lights and TV on and off at preset times. This will create an illusion that you are at home and will prevent the possible theft attempts. There are many other activities that this type of system can perform. Another example is turning on and off the sprinkling system. And all of this can be programmed from your personal computer in a few easy steps and without having much to learn. The software makes your work and life much easier. It also makes your home more secure and safe.

Posted in Security | No Comments »

Macbook Air Hacked in Under 2 Minutes

One of the things that Apple has always prided itself over and promoted in no uncertain terms, has been the so-called ‘robust security’ offered by its OSX operating system. However this supposition of Apple’s took a huge beating on Thursday when a team of researchers from Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) managed to hack a MacBook Air in just two minutes using a previously unknown security vulnerability in Apple’s own safari browser.

The people who did the ‘hack’ were ISE security researchers - Charlie Miller, Jake Honoroff, and Mark Daniel – who were participating in the “PWN to OWN” competition at the CanSecWest security conference, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In this competition there were 3 laptops, with different OS’s offered for being hacked into. These included an Apple Macbook Air running OS X 10.5.2, a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ37CN running Ubuntu 7.10 and a Fujitsu U810 running Vista Ultimate SP1. Anyone who could successfully hack or exploit these machines would win a $10,000 price from famous security company Tipping Point.

The first to go was of course the Macbook, followed by Windows Vista. Ubuntu stood strong despite repeated attempts.

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Extract ZIP Files In PHP

<?php
/**
 * Unzip the source_file in the destination dir
 *
 * @param   string      The path to the ZIP-file.
 * @param   string      The path where the zipfile should be unpacked, if false
 * the directory of the zip-file is used
 * @param   boolean     Indicates if the files will be unpacked in a directory
 * with the name f the zip-file (true) or not (false) (only if the destination
 * directory is set to false!)
 * @param   boolean     Overwrite existing files (true) or not (false)
 *
 * @return  boolean     Succesful or not
 */

 Read the rest of this entry »

						
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PHP: List Files In A Directory By Extension.

The following function lists all the files in the specified directory ( and subdirectories ), which have specified extension. If extension is not specified, it lists all files.

function listFiles ($directory,$extension = null)
{
    $results = array();
    $handler = opendir($directory);
    while ($file = readdir($handler)) {
        // check if $file isn’t this directory or its parent.
        if ($file != ‘.’ && $file != ‘..’)
            if (is_dir($directory.$file))
                $results = $this->listFiles($directory.$file,$extension);
            else
            {
                if ($extension==null)
                    $results[] = $file;
                else
                {
                    if (preg_match(“/\.”.$extension.“$/”,strtolower($file)))
                        $results[] = $file;
                }
            }
    }
    closedir($handler);
    return $results;
}

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Joint Bid For Yahoo - MSN+YAHOO+MySpace

This just gets better and better by the second: now Microsoft and News Corp are in talks about combining forces to bid for Yahoo, in an unlikely meeting of minds. This would create a behemoth out of MSN, Yahoo and MySpace, and be even more difficult to pass the anti-trust muster, reports NYT.

As NYT states: “If News Corporation throws its weight behind Microsoft’s offer, that could allow Microsoft to raise its bid, putting even more pressure on Yahoo and its shareholders. At the same time, the alignment of Microsoft and News Corporation would remove a possible alternative for Yahoo, leaving it with fewer opportunities to escape Microsoft’s grasp.”

Yahoo’s board is expected to meet this week to discuss its options.

Posted in Investments, Microsoft | No Comments »

Adobe Media Player Debuts For Online And Offline Viewing

A year after Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) announced the third part of its Flash Triple Play, the company has released Adobe Media Player 1.0—the standalone desktop player meant for online and offline use. With Flash as a major browser and mobile presence, Adobe is now trying to claim desktop space mixed with a revenue model for itself and content publishers. The online-offline capabilities—it’s the first time users can download Flash outside the browser (with Adobe’s permission)—make AMP a potential stand out if the technology delivers, major video producers buy in and users accept advertising or branding as a “price” for portable video.

Launch participants include CBS (NYSE: CBS) (with full episodes of CSI:NY), MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA), Universal Music Group, PBS, CondéNet, and Scripps (NYSE: SSP) Networks. The mix of content includes full episodes, clips and music videos. Revenue possibilities include targeted marketing, dynamic advertising and player customization.

The player, which works on Windows and Mac, can be downloaded here. Features include:

– playback in in 1080p, 720p or 480i video with advanced audio.
– Subscriptions to TV shows and other video both via catalog (Adobe describes it as a cross between TV Guide and a DVR) and other RSS feeds. But downloads can only take place if the player is active.
– Content publishers can get “anonymous measurement of content usage data, such as when and how often a video has been viewed.” AMP also will support protected streaming, advertising protection and video DRM.

Posted in Media | No Comments »

Zend and MySql- Inserts 0 instead of null.

I’ve been working with the Zend Framework a bit and in working with MySQL through PDO_MYSQL. I’ve run into a few problems trying to use parameters of queries.

I’ve narrowed the issue down to PDO itself and not the Zend Framework.

$dbh = new PDO(”mysql:host=localhost;dbname=db”,”user”,”pw”);
$query = “insert into silo_test_data (record_id, fieldname, value) values (3,’stufftest’, :value )”;
$handle = $dbh->prepare($query);
$handle->execute(array(”:value” => ‘crap’));
$dbh = null;

The value gets inserted into the database as an empty string, or sometimes some low-value bytes.
By setting PDO to emulate prepared statements, everything seems to work okay.

$dbh->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES, true);

The problem is, the Zend framework encapsulates the actual db connection and connects lazily. So, for now I’m running a query and then set the parameter on the encapsulated connection object.

$db_connect = array( ‘host’ => $config->db->hostname,
‘username’ => $config->db->username,
‘password’ => $config->db->password,
‘dbname’ => $config->db->database );
$db = Zend_Db::factory(’PDO_MYSQL’, $db_connect);
$db->query(’select 1′);//HACK HACK HACK HACK to initiate connection. Can’t I make this a plugin? or extend the class?
$db->getConnection()->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES, true);
Zend::register(’db’,$db);

Posted in MYSQL, Zend Framework | 1 Comment »

Yahoo - Strategic Investment In Vlingo

Vlingo, a provider of voice-based mobile services, has raised a $20 million second round led by Yahoo, along with participation from past backers Charles River Ventures and Sigma Partners. Last August, the Cambridge, MA-based start-up raised $6.5 million, for a total raise of $26.5 million.

The investment from Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) is strategic, as the internet company will use Vlingo’s services to voice-enable OneSearch, a feature being unveiled at CTIA. It’s pretty straightforward: rather than having to type a search query, users can speak it. Technically, Vlingo’s service is useful anytime an application requires a text entry box, though search is the most clear application of this.

The company says it will use the funding to improve its product and to expand internationally. As mentioned when we previously wrote about Vlingo, dealing with differing accents has been a challenge that the company hopes to address.

Posted in Investments | No Comments »

Java - Convert Text to UTF-8 or Unicode

Converting text to UTF-8 and unicode in Java is very easy, you can use the following block of code:

try
{
        // Converting from Unicode to UTF-8
        String string = “abc\u5639\u563b”;
        byte[] utf8 = string.getBytes(“UTF-8″);

        // Converting from UTF-8 to Unicode
        string = new String(utf8, “UTF-8″);
}
catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e)
{
       System.out.println(e.getMessage());
}

Posted in Java | No Comments »