vizskywalker

It has to do more than just read all running processes, otherwise hiding a process would be impossible. If you remove a process from the process table, it becomes lost, which is very bad. Thus there must be some sort of flag or something which can be set and checked for each process as to whether or not it should be listed.~Viz

Correct me if I'm wrong, but non root users can run pgrep and ps, can't they? Those access the process table. And then they can use kill to modify that table. Besides, I'm not sure if these apps are modifying the process table, because I'm not sure information regarding which processes show up in TaskManager is really stored in the process table itself.~Viz

The way I design is by designing to fit my own resolution. Once I have my site designed, I show it to a random sample of my target audience and ask them how it looks. I use their criticism and information on resolutions and color depth and whatnot to try and make my design work as well as I can. Then I simply put in a disclaimer at the bottom with the recommended resolution, browser, and whatnot. I find this tends to work pretty well. You can't cater to everybody, so you might as well cater to yourself, but be willing to make some concessions.~Viz

Remember, though, that Google analytics only provides data about the screen resolution, not the window size. Web pages need to be geared towards window size, and window size is usually a bit smaller than the screen size do to menus, the status bar, toolbars, etc.~Viz

For my media server project, I need to release a COM object whenever my application exits. I've tried using finalizers to perform the Marshall.RelaseCOMObject(object o) function and then nulling the object, but it doesn't seem to work. This is in relation to my post on cleanly releasing the iTunes COM object. Any ideas or knowledgeable help would be appreciated.~Viz

4 - you can play mp3 files into html easily enough and play them in the browser, as long as you don't navigate away from that page.

I thought Firefox relied on an external mp3 decoder such as windows media player or iTunes or something to play mp3s and couldn't play them if there wasn't something on the system to decode them. In that case, getting the LiveCD to play the mp3 would be more difficult if you couldn't guarantee the presence of such media software on the machine already. Although, if it is for Windows, the default version of media player should be able to provide that functionality.
~Viz

Assuming someone adds the code to hide their process from task manager, what's the easiest way to identify the process and kill it. Because hiding the process is something I know many viruses do, and I would like to be able to track them down easily, if possible.~Viz

I'm sure there are many implementations of sometihng similar to BIGNUM or BigInt for PERL available somewhere on the internet for free. You may want to try searching for that.~Viz

It really does depend on your target audience. For standard audience, I usually wokr with 1024x768 as my assumed screen size, but try to go with a modular site design that uses relative widths and heights. For example, my laptop is running 1280x800, but since I have toolbars and docked other applications, my viewing size for websites approaches 800x600 if it isn't worse than that. But I'm okay with scrolling, and modular site design means I don't have to.As was already mentioned, 800x600 is a common standard for people who are hard of vision. So it is good to design on that standard if you are, say, making an informational page for how to find the cheapest place to buy expensive prescriptions of eyeglasses.Also, if you are catering to government types on one of their systems, many government standards still require webpages to be 640x480, such as some military sites. This applies to US government and is mostly only for internal stuff. I don't know much more about that, though.~Viz

If you see someone that uses IE and has alot of toolbars and crap, or seems computer illiterate, don't stick your disk in there.

Just because someone uses IE does not necessarily mean they are an inferior computer user. In fact, I have had more issue with Firefox plugins than I've ever had with IE plugins, and IE7 is avtually a good browser. I still use Firefox, but I disapprove of the whole IE is Microsoft thus not good software idea.
It is a good idea to remove the autorun feature from flash drives. I know of no pieces of software for flash drives, other than viruses, that require the autorun feature to work, and there never should be.

~Viz

So, I managed to stumble across the answer just now. The steps are:
1) Use Marshall to release the object
2) Null the reference
3) Run the Garbage Collector to ensure the reference is gone

The code is as follows:

Marshal.ReleaseComObject(object o);o = null;GC.Collect();

Now if only I could figure out a way to cause that code to run when the program stops running.

~Viz

It's important to remember, though, that there are a lot of sites that freely allow you to take their content and reuse it. I even have some content from some of these sites. However, because the webhosts don't provide unlimited bandwidth or the site's administrator isn't paying for that much bandwidth, hotlinking is still problematic. So hotlinking is always bad unless specified otherwise, even for content you are allowed to take.~Viz

I believe, although I could be wrong, that cpanel will not list that as a linking site. Because it is done via php, it is not exactly a link, in the usual sense. But I don't know enough about how cpanel determines what is linking to be able to state for sure.I was thinking along the same lines as vujsa for the hotlinking issue. This is still hotlinking, and you could modify the script to first check if there is a local version. However, for dynamically updating images, this still creates a problem. I thought of two ways to deal with this. The first is to use an HTTP request to get information about the image file, it's last modified date, creation date, etc. which uses up a lot less bandwidth than actually getting the image. If there is a new image up, grab it then show the local version. Otherwise, just show the local version. While still expensive to your bandwidth, it is far less expensive for the other server.Another way to deal with dynamic content is to look for when content is designated to expire (the same way caches deal with this issue) and regrab the content when it has expired. In this way, your site will be acting similarly to cache for the remote server.~Viz

These are good, although missing some languages I think that could be good. For example, whitespace, brainf**k and so on. Also, apparently Visual Basic is communist (In Soviet Russia, car drive you)!.~Viz

So, I'm working on a media server that interfaces with iTunes to play my music for me. I've run into a small nuisance, but not something critical. To work with iTunes, a C# application needs to instantiate an iTunes COM object. This actually forces iTunes to open. Now, if a person were to attempt to close iTunes, the C# application would receive an AboutToPromptUserToQuit event. If the iTunes COM object is not destroyed and dereferenced so that iTunes thinks it can cleanly exit without stranding any other application, the user will be prompted to confirm the quit. I have not found a way to handle the event properly to prevent this prompting. I have properly handled the event to do things such as output messages, but my attempts to destroy the object fail. I have tried setting the object to null, and hoped the Garbage Collector would clean it in time, but that didn't work. So then I tried forcing the garbage collector, but it still didn't work. Anyone have any ideas, or has anyone tried anything themselves that has worked?~Viz

bwa, having an Anti-virus program installed is everything you need (doesn't matter how you look at it, having no anti-virus solution up and running is suicide).

While I agree it is a bad idea not to have antivirus software, having antivirus software does not make you immune. I've both received from infected friends and worked directly with (installed myself, even created myself (I was doing a research project)) viruses that cannot be cleaned (or sometimes detected) by antivirus. I use Symantec Corporate and keep it up to date, but there are some viruses it finds, and fails to properly clean, and some it can't find. For those who are about to jump on me with the whole "Symantec sucks" shpiel, first of all, it doesn't, and second of all, in these cases I use AVG as a backup. I've noticed that AVG finds and cleans some stuff Symantec doesn't, and Symantec finds and cleans stuff AVG doesn't. I'm not sure which, if either, is truly better. All I know is that I'm better than either of them, when I need to be. Using antivirus software is not guaranteed protection, especially since there are some viruses that work "with" antivirus software, for instance, to help them gain fully priveleged access to system files they otherwise wouldn't be able to touch. So even if running antivirus, keep an eye out for when your system starts to act up.
~Viz

Those are some pretty useful codes. Personally, I find most status bar updating javascripts to be somewhat of a nuisance when they constantly update, but that doesn't make them any cooler. The mail form is also pretty good, and may help to prevent spambots from finding your email address if a naive spambot that only checks html pages stumbles across your site.~Viz

I don't know of any such class, but would be willing to help write one if I have time and you need or want some help. It does sound like a good idea.~Viz

I'm sure it will. It is interesting what you can do with css. Although, I actually just had a thought which renders part of my argument moot. I forgot that you can resize images using css, so you won't need several images to handle images of different sizes. And your point about people who disable javascript is a valid one. Although, I wonder how many people would prefer not to have a loading screen at all. It is an interesting technique, and I may try using it on my site, or extending it somehow.~Viz

It's an interesting technique, but, thinking from both a server side and client side perspective, I'm not sure it's a very useful one that would ever see high usage. It might, because I haven't looked at the comparative sizes of the javascript used for AJAX versus the gif image size, but since javascript is plain text, I imagine it would be smaller. Here's my short, quick (and possibly incorrect) analysis:Server Side:So, the animated gif needs to be stored on the server, this takes up extra space. Although it is not much extra space, imagine having several different versions of these images, or a complex image, both of which can more or less be done via css tricks and javascript tricks and AJAX without requiring the overhead of the image storage on the server. And since you need a specially sized image for each image the gif is going to serve as a loading screen for, instead of being able to dynamically perform the function with javascript, the overhead will begin to increase. Unless you make every image the same size. Also, bandwidth issues, the extra image must be sent which takes more bandwidth. Note that both of these issues rely on the assumed fact that the image is larger than the javascript file. Even if it isn't, there is always the possibility that the javascript file is being sent anyway, so it already has header information sent and a request made for it, whereas the image would need another one.Client Side:Same bandwidth issue as the server, possibly the same space issue if someone permanently caches everything, but then, it is their own fault. However, the extra load time for the gif, if it is a larger than the comparable javascript, load time goes up, which means the larger image takes even longer to load. A page with several of these images with the background loading gif of different sizes would be a large increase in bandwidth and load time over one dynamic file of javascript.Just some things to consider. I'm not saying this is bad, in fact, I am quite impressed by it. I'm just saying it may not be a very beneficial replacement for AJAX loading screens. However, its simplicity in setup and design does mean more people will be able to use it easily.~Viz

Can all objects be serialized in this manner? Such as, is there a way to take a non-serializeable object and somehow make it aerializeable byt putting it in a wrapper class? I ask because one of the objects I am looking to pass is the PlayList object that is part of the iTunes SDK COM.~Viz

So, I am working on an extended media server application for personal use, and I'm currently using TcpListener and TcpClient objects to establish a network connection. This works fine, except that it would be really useful to be able to pass objects back and forth between the two application (server and client). If I have to switch the type of connection I am using, that's fine, but I was wondering if anyone knew of any way to pass objects back and forth. One thought I had was somehow getting a byte[] buffer of all of the object's data, send that, and then translate it back into an object, but I have no idea a) if that's possible and how to do that. Any ideas are helpful.Thanks,~Viz

Cool. I didn't know you could use heredoc to define variables. I never assumed you couldn't, just never thought about it. Useful to know.~Viz

I don't think that is at all a bad thing for Apple to do. when you buy the iPhone to use as a phone, you need to sign a contract with one of the two companies allowed to provide phone service for the phone. Part of that contract, as is part of any contract, in fact, part of what is agreed upon when you buy any phone for a specific provider, is that you will not unlock the phone. By unlocking the phone, you void the warranty and any service agreement. Updates and repairs by Apple are part of the service agreement and warranty for the iPhone. If you perform an action that voids said agreements, especially one which is obviously not allowed, such as unlocking the phone, you shouldn't be provided with the services that come with the contract. Legal agreements are binding in two directions.~Viz

That should serve you fine for your setup. Unless you plan to do many power hungry things with the UPS (such as run your computer and monitor and refrigerator) you shouldn't go above the 700W that it can supply. And it will even out the power for you which will be better for your system.~Viz