Compact theme for Google Reader via GreaseMonkey script - More clear, more readable, hidden header, hidden top navigation bar, less unused white space - Perfect for small screen

Not everybody like the new (1/11/2011) Google Reader user interface.
I don't like it, especially because I use Google Reader on a netbook with a 10" screen of 1024x600 pixel.
The new theme have too much white, unused, space. Too much header. and few space for actual contents.
Just some hour after the release of the new interface there have been a big proliferation of "fix" for the new interface, especially on userscript.org (Greasemonkey script archive).
After testing them all, I've come up with my own version of these script.
My script is based on "Google Reader Back", I've just added some code to hide some more element (feed title, top navigation bar, top header with search button).

This layout fit perfectly the way I use Google Reader on my netbook.
Here is my script

Google Reader Compact For Small Screen  (http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/116957)

Here are the result, before:

and after, with my script installed

Fell free to use it or modify it.
A big thanks to Hoong Ern, the developer of Google Reader Back (http://userscripts.org/users/416220) upon which is based my script.
Comments and suggestion are welcome.

Extension to add Google +1 button (plus one) to Firefox and Chrome toolbar ((Tah:my2cents, web,sw))

I waited long time for these extension, it seem that time as come: finally you will be able to +1 any page :-)
Here are the extensions to add a Google +1 button to yur Firefox/Chrome toolbar.

Chrome extension: http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jgoepmocgafhnchmokaimcmlojpnlkhp

Firefox extension 1: http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/plus-one-any/  (I prefer this one, but it's a matter of tase :-)
Firefox extension 2: http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/plus-one-button/

The Firefox extension add the button to the end of the urlbar.

50$ discount code for DNA analysis at www.23andme.com

Here is a 50$ discount code for www.23andMe.com personal genetic service (DNA analysis).
This discount code expires in 7 days (August 9, 2011)

Discount code: 4DPGQP

Feel free to share the code :)

Set ComboBox dropdown height in Visual Basic 6 (VB6) ComboBox control

Here is a useful piece of code to set the ComboBox dropdown height for VB6 ComboBox control.

Private Declare Function MoveWindow Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, ByVal nWidth As Long, ByVal nHeight As Long, ByVal bRepaint As Long) As Long

Public Sub SetComboHeight(oComboBox As ComboBox, lNewHeight As Long)
    Dim oldscalemode As Integer
    ' This procedure does not work with frames: you cannot set the ScaleMode to vbPixels, because
    ' the frame does not have a ScaleMode Property.
    ' To get round this, you could set the parent control to be the form while you run this procedure.
    If TypeOf oComboBox.Parent Is Frame Then Exit Sub
    ' Change the ScaleMode on the parent to Pixels.
    oldscalemode = oComboBox.Parent.ScaleMode
    oComboBox.Parent.ScaleMode = vbPixels
    ' Resize the combo box window.
    MoveWindow oComboBox.hwnd, oComboBox.Left, oComboBox.Top, oComboBox.Width, lNewHeight, 1
    ' Replace the old ScaleMode
    oComboBox.Parent.ScaleMode = oldscalemode
End Sub

I've found this code on the web.
I would like to thanks to the original developer :-)

Reblog: +=1, -=1 not atomic operations at VB.net « George Birbilis @zoomicon

This is something that bit me sometime ago: seems +=1 and -=1 aren’t atomic operations at VB.net and other .NET languages (not sure for C++) although modern CPUs have INC and DEC instructions at least for integers (maybe IL – intermediate language [for .NET compilers' target "theoretical" machine spec] – doesn’t define such?)

You have to use the class System.Threading.Interlocked and specifically the Increment and Decrement methods it has...

via zoomicon.wordpress.com

Patterns for Parallel Programming (free downloadable pdf book by Microsoft) Understanding and Applying Parallel Patterns with the .NET Framework 4 - VB and C#

Here you can find a free downloadable PDF boook (118 pages) from microsoft, that talk about common pattern for parallel programming in .Net 4.0, VB and C#

Download link: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=19222

 

 

 

 

Firefox extension: ClickCutter AutoSearch: automatic search of highlighted text on your preferred search engine (google, wikipedia,...)

via addons.mozilla.org

This is a fantastic extension, a real time saver!

NVIDIA Kal-El Notebook running Windows 8 on ARM Tegra 3

via youtube.com

Browser benchmark: Firefox 5.0 vs. Chrome 13 vs. Internet Explorer 9 on V8 Benchmark Suite

Firefox 5.0 vs. Chrome 13 vs. Internet Explorer 9

V8 Benchmark Suite - version 6

Results (higher is better):

Chrome 13 beta  -  9669
Firefox 5.0          -  4385
IE 9                     -  2138

Conclusion
Chrome 13 beta win, but Firefox 5.0 isn't bad :-)

(test run on Win7 x64 SP1, CPU Intel i7 860@2.8GHz)

xkcd: Connoisseur

via xkcd.com

That's absolutely true :-)

Reblog: [H]ard|OCP - Microsoft Launches Kinect for Windows SDK Beta

Microsoft Launches Kinect for Windows SDK Beta

You know all those cool videos we post showing people doing neat stuff with the Kinect? Well, now you can make your own thanks to the new Kinect of Windows SDK beta.

via hardocp.com

Cool!

Reblog: What is the Best Way to Apply Thermal Compound? | Hardware Secrets

We already explained how the thermal compound (a.k.a. thermal grease or thermal paste) works and a “how-to-apply-it” in our How to Correctly Apply Thermal Grease tutorial. Now, we will try seven different ways of applying it, testing each way, and comparing the cooling performance. Let's see if what we always mention - that less thermal compound is better than more - is true.

Each different method is presented in three pictures, one of the thermal compound applied to the CPU before installing the cooler, one of the CPU after the test with the cooler removed, and one of the base of the cooler after the test.

via hardwaresecrets.com

A nice article with some real test about how to apply thermal compund.

Hey! It's IPv6 Day! Test your IPv6 connectivity!

Today, 8 june, is the IPv6 Day, where many major internet society will enable their service on IPv6 connectivity!
Test your IPv6 connectivity here http://ipv6eyechart.ripe.net/ (simple IPv6 test) and here http://test-ipv6.com/ (detailed IPv6 test).
Are you ready to browse the internet in IPv6 only connectivity?

My computer seem to be ready, but my ISP isn't....

I wish you you all a happy IPv6 Day! :-)

 

Reblog: .NET 4.0 and System.Threading.Tasks | CodeThinked

In the soon-to-be-released .NET 4.0 framework and Visual Studio 2010 we are going to get a plethora of new tools to help us write better multi-threaded applications. One of these tools is a new namespace within the System.Threading namespace which is called "Tasks". The Tasks in System.Threading.Tasks namespace are a method of fine grained parallelism, similar to creating and using threads, but they have a few key differences...

via codethinked.com

An interesting article about .Net 4.0 new Task class vs Thread and threading (multithread, threadpool, etc...)

Fabrice Bellard's In browser Javascript PC emulator that boot linux!

A PC emulator in Javascript

via bellard.org

That's incredible! It's an x86 PC emulator written in javascript that can boot linux in a browser window!

Reblog: Debugging Classic ASP ( VBScript ) in Visual Studio 2008 - CodeProject

This is a step by step guide on how to set up your project so you can debug a site written in classic ASP VBScript using Visual Studio 2008

via codeproject.com

I read on the net that it should work even on VS 2010

Reblog: Understanding RAM Timings | Hardware Secrets

via hardwaresecrets.com

Reblog: Forcing 32-bit Execution in .NET | Brant Burnett's Development Blog

Sometimes when developing .NET applications it becomes necessary to force an application to run in 32-bit mode, even on a 64-bit processor. One scenario that I’ve run into is when you’re using Crystal Reports embedded in the application. I’m not sure about newer versions, but for Crystal Reports XI R2 it won’t work in 64-bit mode.

In order to get something like that to work, you must force 32-bit execution on the executable. Forcing it on a DLL assembly in your application won’t help, then it won’t be able to load that DLL either. It needs to start in 32-bit mode from the beginning. If you can make the change in the development environment before compilation, just set the flags on the assembly there and everything will be great.

However, if you need to make the change to a compiled assembly it’s a little more difficult. To do so, use the corflags command-line utility. This program is included in the Windows SDK. To do so, simply run “corflags program.exe /32BIT+”.

If the assembly is strongly-named, then you must do a little more. First, you must add a /force flag, running “corflags program.exe /32BIT+ /Force”. Then, you must rehash and resign the assembly, using “sn -Ra program.exe key.snk”. In this case, key.snk is your key file for signing the assembly.

Hope this helps!

via btburnett.com

It helped :-)

Reblog: xkcd: Marie Curie

via xkcd.com

Free keyword optimization tools, and SEO tips

http://www.google.com/trends
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#
http://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&__o=te&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS
http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html#

http://seojr.com/8-most-important-seo-tips/

Reblog: Intel Announces first 22nm 3D Tri-Gate Transistors, Shipping in 2H 2011 - AnandTech

via anandtech.com

Reblog: Coding Horror: Working with the Chaos Monkey

Raise your hand if where you work, someone deployed a daemon or service that randomly kills servers and processes in your server farm.

Now raise your other hand if that person is still employed by your company.

Who in their right mind would willingly choose to work with a Chaos Monkey?

clich here to read the full post on codinghorror.com

interesting post about web service redundancy and correlated things

Reblog: Coding Horror

… I feel ethically and morally obligated to let you in on a dirty little secret I've discovered in the last two years of full time SSD ownership. Solid state hard drives fail. A lot. And not just any fail. I'm talking about catastrophic, oh-my-God-what-just-happened-to-all-my-data instant gigafail. It's not pretty.

via codinghorror.com

interesting post about SSD, and the fact that some of them seem to fail early

Google Apps Standard Edition max account number limit reduction to 10 Users, starting from 10 May 2011

According to an email received from the Google Apps Team, starting from 10 May 2011, Google is lowering the maximum limit of 50 users to 10 users in it's Free Google Apps Standard Edition.

The Google Apps Standard Edition account created before the May 10 2011 will retain the current limits of 50 maximum users.
If you are considering to switch to Google Apps Standard Edition, it could be a nice idea doing the switch before the 10 May 2011.

Online icons search engine

From MakeUseOf,
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-icon-search-engines-perfect-graphic-symbol/

here's a list of online icon search engine

http://www.iconlet.com/
http://findicons.com/
http://icons-search.com/
http://www.veryicon.com/
http://www.iconseeker.com/
http://www.easyiconfinder.com/
http://www.iconfinder.com/

The 10 Don'ts of Web Content Writing | Smashing Buzz

Click here to read the full article on smashingbuzz.com

It's an interesting article about content writing.

Inno Setup Extensions Knowledge Base

Inno Setup is an open source script-driven installation system created in Delphi by Jordan Russell.

Inno Setup at Wikipedia

The Inno Setup Extensions Knowledge Base (ISXKB) aims to support users of this installation system by providing a source of information, code snippets, guide lines, and ready-to-use solutions.

There are currently 150 articles in the ISXKB. You can search the ISXKB, browse through a list with all articles, or view them sorted by category. A list sorted by article popularity is also available as well as all special pages.

via vincenzo.net

WikiMatrix - Compare them all - www.wikimatrix.org

via wikimatrix.org

A very useful service for comparing more than 100 Wiki engine (online, local, hosted, free, open-source....)

Reblog: ExpandoObject class in C# 4.0 - DotNetJalps

ExpandoObject class in C# 4.0

As you know till now in c# everything was static and known at design time. But with the C# 4.0  language Microsoft have enabled new dynamic data type which is belongs to Dynamic Language Runtime on top of CLR(Common language Runtime). As you know that dynamic object will know their behaviour at run time. Here Microsoft has given one new class called ExpandoObject class. ExpandoObject class is a member of System.Dynamic namespace and is defined in the System.Core assembly. This class object members can be dynamically added and removed at runtime. This is class is a sealed class and implements number of interfaces like below.

public sealed class ExpandoObject :  IDynamicMetaObjectProvider,  IDictionary<string, object>,  ICollection<KeyValuePair<string, object>>,  IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, object>>,  IEnumerable,  INotifyPropertyChanged;

Now let’s take a simple example of console application. Where we will create a object of expandoobject class and manipulate that class at run time. Let’s create a simple code like below.

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text;  namespace ExpandoObject { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { dynamic users = new System.Dynamic.ExpandoObject(); users.UserName = "Jalpesh"; users.Password = "Password";  Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0}:{1}","UserName:",users.UserName)); Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0}:{1}","Password:",users.Password));  Console.ReadKey(); } } }

Here in the above code I have added a new memeber called UserName and Password for the new dynamic user type and then print their value. Now let’s run the application and see its output as below

That’s it. You can add valid type of member to ExpandoOjbect class. Isn’t interesting.. Hope you liked it.. Stay tuned for more..

via weblogs.asp.net

How to print only a selected portion of a web page with Google Chrome

Here is how to print only a selected portion of a web page with Google Chrome

1) Select the portion of the page that you want to print.
2) press CTRL+P to open the print dialog
3) check "Selection"
4) click Print

Flattr: a new interesting way to donate money for things you like

I've just discovered Flattr. It's a revolutionary social micropayment system that you can use to donate/pay money for the things you like.

http://flattr.com/

Here is the "how it works" video :-)

Reblog: How to make "Copy As HTML" Visual Studio 2008 addins work on VS2010

Eyal-Shilony

Hello,

To make it work on Visual Studio 2010, go to the installation folder of the addin, usually it will pick your MyDocument folder '.\MyDocument\Visual Studio 2008\Addins', copy the addin to the new Visual Studio folder '.\MyDocument\Visual Studio 2010\Addins'.

Here are the folders and files you need to copy.

\de-DE
\es-ES
\fr-FR
\he-IL
\it-IT
\ja-JP
\ko-KR
\zh-CHS
\zh-CHT
LavernockEnterprises.CopyAsHtml.2008.AddIn
LavernockEnterprises.CopyAsHtml.dll

After you done with it, you will need to edit this file 'LavernockEnterprises.CopyAsHtml.2008.AddIn' and add Visual Studio to the supported hosts.

Add the following above the existing entry.

<HostApplication>
<Name>Microsoft Visual Studio</Name>
<Version>10.0</Version>
</HostApplication>

via visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com

Here you can find the CopyAsHTML Addin
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/98fef791-eb65-4cdf-bf84-077b98c...

HowTo: Force calendar dropdown in .Net DateTimePicker control using VB.Net

Here is how to force to show-up, and activate, the dropdown calendar of the standard .Net DateTimePicker control, using VB.Net.
The sample code is tested on .Net 4.0, but should work on all .Net framework version.

Code Snippet

1. Dim dateTimePickerControl As DateTimePicker
2.  
3. Private Declare Auto Function SendMessage Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal msg As Integer, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As IntPtr
4.  
5. Public Sub DropDownCalendar()
6.     Const WM_LBUTTONDOWN As Int32 = &H201
7.     Const WM_LBUTTONUP As Int32 = &H202
8.  
9.     Dim x As Integer = Me.dateTimePickerControl.Width - 10
10.     Dim y As Integer = CInt(Me.dateTimePickerControl.Height / 2)
11.     Dim lParam As Integer = x + y * &H10000
12.  
13.     'click down, adn show the calendar
14.     SendMessage(Me.dateTimePickerControl.Handle, WM_LBUTTONDOWN, CType(1, IntPtr), CType(lParam, IntPtr))
15.  
16.     'click-up, and activate the calendar (without this the calendar is showed, but is not active, and doesen't works as expected)
17.     SendMessage(Me.dateTimePickerControl.Handle, WM_LBUTTONUP, CType(1, IntPtr), CType(lParam, IntPtr))
18. End Sub