k_nitin_r

Hi!@SaraInWastelandI develop software for a living. Although it started off to be quite fun, it is not. Well, actually it depends on the kind of environment within which you work that really matters - it decides whether your day is joy-filled or if it sucks the life out of you or drives you insane.@anwiiI believe the sig is about thinking out of the box and being different, creating a new style or technique.

Hi!I've been able to play Grant Theft Auto 1, Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.There are things I liked from all of them , though, understandably, the graphics from Grand Theft Auto 1 were really poor because it was built so long ago. However, other than Grand Theft Auto 3, the others were a bit frustrating in game play.In Grand Theft Auto 1, the fun factor was there but if I play it now, the graphics seem to get in the way of the fun. The game play was interesting at first, but then there's just no way to get rid of the wanted level and the cops always manage to catch up in the end.Grand Theft Auto 3 was the best in the series. The graphics were reasonably good and there was plenty to do in the game. This is perhaps the only game in the series that I managed to play right to the end on the first time that I started it. Game play was simply amazing compared to the other games in the series.Grand Theft Auto Vice City was fun to play, with the best enhancement over Grand Theft Auto 3 being the introduction of bikes. At a particular point in the game, I couldn't really figure out what was next so I couldn't finish the game. I didn't play it much as I got my hands on Grand Theft Auto San Andreas at about the same time.Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was pretty amazing with car modifications (especially the nitro boost), the stunts you could do (you can run your car over a ramp and up onto the metro tracks!!!), and the ability to outrun the cops and reduce your wanted level (unlike Grand Theft Auto 1 where capture was imminent). However, some parts of the game were pretty frustrating, such as the plane missions. I stopped playing about three times at the plane missions as I found them too difficult to complete. I read through a game guide to realise that many of the missions are optional. The gangster story line was pretty interesting too.Since we started this thread, I think hardware is no longer an issue as, except for Grand Theft Auto 4, pretty much all the other games in the series run rather well on current hardware (or even my hardware from three years ago, for that matter).

Hi!@onkarnath2001The WagonR is quite spacious and that pretty much makes up for the drawbacks. You might want to get a rear view parktronic sensors for a cheap solution to your problem, though you would want to get a rear view camera for parking in 'tight' spaces. Also, you can get the factory-fitted music player with a Sony Xplod or any other player that has an auxillary-in socket for plugging in your laptop or an MP3 player. Apart from good fuel economy compared to larger vehicles, you can also get a WagonR factory-fitted with a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) kit that lets you run on cheaper CNG instead of petrol. The WagonR does not have a diesel variant, which makes it a less attractive option for some buyers who are concerned about the safety of CNG.BTW, doesn't the WagonR have three rows of seating? I would imagine that it seats seven people. Or is it five people plus a stationwagon-style luggage space.

Hi!@rob86Apparently, in some parts of the Arab world, the bride does not have to consent to a wedding for it to be legal as long as the groom agrees to get married. I wonder how they would deal with the issue of consent or intent when the bride is a computer game character.@inverse_bloomI would imagine that the wedding isn't legal because they cannot demonstrate in a court of law that both parties, one of which does not even exist, were willfully wedded.@sheepdogIf a one-liner is worth 2 cents, you can call it your two cents worth :-P@Soviet RatheJust out of curiosity, what's the "WUT" in "LOLOWUT"?You could still go to Japan and then post about the stuff that you observe every day to earn lots and lots and lots of myCENTs.@kleongThe Japanese also seem to come up with the coolest of stuff. Unfortunately, most of it doesn't seem to make it to the rest of the world.

@kmaherHi Kevin!How are you doing? How's Canada at this time of the year? I'm vacationing in India and we are having rather good weather.I see you have made your first post on Xisto but have yet to sign up on Xisto. Click on the Support and Billing link on the left and sign up with the same username and password that you use here at Xisto. I know, I know, from a security perspective, creating multiple accounts with the same username and password are not the best of security practices, but you do need it for the system to correctly credit you for making the forum posts. Once you have a sufficient amount of credits (from posting to the forums), you will be able to order a web hosting package, domain names, and many more add-on features.Anyway, hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Hi Adward!I'm not exactly at home this Christmas. I'm vacationing in India and am enjoying the amazing weather that we have here. I've been spending time reading about philosophy (post-structuralism), surfing the Internet, sending out email to catch up with all of the people who I haven't emailed since I started my vacation, and planning to go about doing some open-source software development.I've noticed that people don't really appreciate receiving eCards and prefer to receive actual physical greeting cards instead. Over the years, there have been more and more people sending out greetings and wedding invitations over the Internet, but it simply doesn't have the personal touch that they should have. You can create greeting cards with a variety of stuff, including glitter, sea shells, or wrapping paper. You can even find greeting cards made up of stuff you would never imagine, such as noodles, rags, and hair clips.I believe coupons are not really a substitute for a present because it signifies a lack of thoughtfulness - "I didn't have the time to do any shopping for you, so I am handing you these coupons". I'm guessing you are talking about using coupons to buy presents for cheaper, which is a rather good suggestion since a lot of stores offer discounts and coupons for the festival season. If you can't think of anything to buy, you can always get a good book.Video games are great for kids, but only if they don't have more than a few of them. Kids with dozens and dozens of games don't really appreciate getting another computer/video/console game. However, radio controlled toys top the list any day.Merry Christmas to all.

Hi!@BCDPranav Mistry's innovation is rather close to seeing practical daily use. Nokia has a 2D bar code scanner software that enables you to use the phone's camera to capture a bar code off your computer screen so you never have to type in a URL using the phone's keypad - you can simply use software on your computer (which may become available as a browser add-on in future) to convert the URL into a 2D bar code, and can then take a picture of the screen using the phone's camera which is then processed by the phone to load the URL into the phone's web browser.Mistry's work can take the concept of using a cellular phone's camera for purposes other than video of photography to the next level and can lead to far greater possibilities in future.@harrison858Using new technology for computer gaming can be quite expensive - virtual reality headsets and wearable motion sensors have yet to see widespread use. Nintendo's Wii does take a step in the direction but the Wii platform isn't really a mainstream gaming platform such as the Microsoft XBox 360 or the Sony PlayStation 3.

Hi!@inverse_bloomI would recommend WordPress for pretty much any blogging-related websites because of the popularity and support you can get from other developers who constantly patch bugs as they arise. The new features that keep coming up, and the whole lot of plugins that are available for WordPress make it a rather good choice.I'm not sure WordPress meets your criteria for lightweight due to the features that it offers, but it certainly is secure and SEO friendly. WordPress can generate SEO friendly URLs, it has got all kinds of metadata from META tags to REL attributes on links to provide hints to search engine crawlers and indexers about the content of the website.Additionally, the recently-released version 2.9 of WordPress offers some interesting features, including the ability to perform basic editing of images right from within the WordPress dashboard. You can edit the source code of plugins and themes from the dashboard too - and that comes with syntax highlighting and a function reference of the WordPress API.I do sometimes wonder why a couple of plugins that are near-essential for every install did not make it into the core of WordPress and instead require me to install them each time I install WordPress, but I have had a rather good experience with WordPress so far.@BuffaloHelpOne of the other reasons you would want to move to the newer version is the availability of bug fixes, and possibly SEO optimizations in response to trends in web development. I would rather switch over to a different platform than maintain software for which there is no support. When faced with the task of supporting a WordPress-based blog, I inherited a codebase that contained an old and modified version of the WordPress core and in an attempt to migrate to a newer version, I turned as much functionality as possible into a set of add-ons with the slow and painstaking process of performing a diff on each of the files to look for modifications to the core. After moving from WordPress 2.6 to WordPress 2.7, I was away on holiday while another developer took over and - yes, you've guessed it - there were more modifications to the WordPress core files. As soon as I returned, I moved all of the code out of the core and into plugins and themes (moving the code into the theme was a bit of laziness on my part, but it's better than having the code within the core) and was able to successfully demonstrate an upgrade to WordPress 2.8. Now, I didn't get a chance to deploy the system running on WordPress 2.8.6 yet due to the feature requests that I had been getting, but when I was finally ready to go live, WordPress 2.9 arrives on the scene. Fortunately, I don't have any core modifications so all I need to do is find incompatibilities between my plugins and themes, and WordPress version 2.9 before completing the switch.

Hi! @contactskn I am guessing that you want to display news or do something similar with your software. You ought to take a look at RSS.NET, Atom.NET, or Wizz RSS News Reader - you might be able to reuse some of their source code, but you ought to look up the terms of the GNU GPL open source license (or whichever license applies to the source code that you intend to use within your own software). If you want the installer to download a file, you might be able to code the functionality you need into the installer. However, if you want to do this within a web browser, you would need to have a signed Java applet or an ActiveX control that can make the request to the server to download the file. This may not necessarily work on all systems due to security policies that are in place. When deploying software within an office network, you might have a Microsoft Windows 2000/2003/2008 domain that you can deploy software with by setting a group policy. I believe your installer would have to be a .MSI file for this to work; Microsoft also provides a tool to generate a .MSI file for you if all you have is the .EXE installer. @Quatrux The standard fopen() function also works on URLs, but I guess you are addressing the server-side of the problem with the readfile() function. @rvalkass Having the user place the downloaded file in a particular directory raises the question of whether the user actually has the technical knowledge to do follow the provided instructions. This is generally assumed by some software vendors who email a license file to buyers and require the user to place the license file in a particular directory. Other firms, such as Microsoft, simply require the entry of a product key and an activation key. Or better yet, using the software-as-a-service principle. the software can run entirely on a web server with the user accessing it via a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome (Remotely related comment: Check out Google's video of people answering the relatively simple question, "What is a browser" :-P). @BCD A simple solution for a simple problem - distribute the file with the installer instead of placing it on a server for the user to download. I believe the Keep-It-Simple-And-Sweet principle is the best way to develop software. If a web browser started up with an array of a few dozen buttons, it may not have had the success that it sees today.

At first, I thought this would have been something that happened within a sandbox game, such as Grand Theft Auto, in which the player's character is free to roam about the city and do whatever one would do in real life. This seems to be different though - the Japanese guy pretends his Nintendo DS contains his wife! I wonder how he would react if a newer version of Love Plus replaces the character that he is in love with... or even if that happens by means of an auto-update (I do not know if the Nintendo DS is anything like an iPhone, but iTunes displays a very tempting 'Update' button and users are forced to update without prior knowledge of what changes are being made, unless they keep reading up on the news). I think he would then declare his wife legally dead and bury the Nintendo DS at a graveyard. Or perhaps sue the makers of the game for murdering his wife?

Hi!@sheepdogI think skipping classes is not really much of a problem as long as you're able to keep up. If you're getting good grades, you are actually enabling the instructor to focus on those who are having a hard time getting the subject. I know of some instructor who actually let the bright students skip a couple of classes as a reward for doing well on tests or for already knowing what is being taught in class. @StrikeeI do sometimes think that it's easier to prepare for the exams when the material has already been covered in class, so you might want to try catching up on class for a term. If it works for you, it might actually make you less likely to skip class.

Hi!@StrikeeI'm a fan of Counter Strike: Source and although I admit that at first the gameplay is different and may be more frustrating for Counter Strike 1.6 players, I do think that the change makes the game more well-balanced. I still have the complaint that when firing a gun, you sometimes notice that the opponent gets away without even getting hit when you were absolutely positive that you had the gun pointed the right way and had the mouse button pressed. It's one of the two benefits that I have with Smokin' Gun, with the other benefit being that it's free. However, the graphics of Smokin' Gun are more comparable to Counter Strike 1.6 than with Counter Strike Source - it's a whole different generation of computer games.In either case, Counter Strike Source rocks, unless you have an older computer that needs replacement, in which case you probably would not be able to play most of the other newer games either.

Hi!I particularly like GMail because it's quick and responsive. They have a rather simple user interface and pre-load some of the data to be able to achieve a really good user experience. They also have GoogleTalk integration into GMail, including voice and video chat.I do often criticize Google for not providing a GoogleTalk chat client or a browser extension for Linux, but consider how much they have revolutionalized the way we do things everyday, I think they ought to get some leeway for it. I still insist on having a voice-capable GoogleTalk client for Linux that actually works.Google also has a philosophy of providing everything that users need for free and they fund their freeware through advertising. The concept sounded crazy at first, but apparently it was crazy enough that it caught on!

Hi!I think the basic hosting package provides enough space that it makes 17 megabytes seem rather small. Perhaps 170 megabytes would be more practical as a means to associate the number in Xisto with a hosting package.I believe the original poster did have an idea of creating a theme around the number "17".@deonildI like the way you make a rather amusing post about how little 17 megabytes is :-)

Hi!@max-promotionWelcome to Trap 17. I'm pretty sure you will love the free hosting provided here as an alternative to a paid hosting solution. Considering that what you get here is for free, you actually get a rather good deal that you probably will not find anywhere else on the web. All that Xisto asks in return is that you become a part of the Trap 17 community by participating in the forums, as a means of earning credit toward your hosting package. In addition, if you ever decide that you do not want to participate in the forums any more, you can always use your credit card or paypal account to make payments for your hosting package.I believe BuffaloHelp has covered all the rest of the information that you need, but I suggest that you pay particular attention to the terms and conditions (rules) of the forum as that could slow you down while you work toward making building up a sufficient number of posts to order a web hosting package.

Hi!As many of the other posters before me on this thread, I recommend Camtasia too! I'm not sure if you are looking for something like echo cancellation or noise reduction, but if you are, you can get some new hardware that does exactly that. I believe Polycom makes some of the best USB audio capture devices - they are the same guys who sell Skype attachments for your PC.If you are looking for a free screen recorder, try using Wink. I have not used it in quite a while, but I believe it offers rather decent quality. I wonder if anyone else on the forum has had experience with a free screen recorder.

Hi!I avoid using RapidShare because it keeps insisting that there is a download in progress from my IP address even before the download has begun. It might have something with my having a dynamic IP address that keeps changing each time I restart my ADSL router, or it might have something to do with the fact that I am behind a national proxy, but if pretty much all of the other sites on the Internet work, it is not unreasonable to expect RapidShare to work normally.I prefer to upload files that I share to my home computer that remains hooked up to the Internet and maintains an FTP and an HTTP interface to upload or download. For smaller files of under 6MB, I use email to share files with specific people or a web hosting provider instead to share files publicly. This usually consists of MS Word files, PDF documents, or images.Mininova now has a content distribution service that can use torrents to distribute files, so that is a rather good option too.

Hi!@armynavy123The concept of a warning is actually rather good, considering the alternative of an account lockout. I believe the moderators now send a gentle reminder before setting a warning level for the most part so that helps too.Getting accustomed to the formatting tools in the forum is kinda hard when you get started, considering how simple rich text editors like TinyMCE and FckEditor are, but I guess it's mostly because we're running on an older version of Invision Power Board (I've never used it, but I'm guessing the newer versions have a better editor).

Hi!@HoustonGuyI've still got an old 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS from the time I got into university for my Bachelor's degree. It's all-stock parts, including the floor mats that came with the vehicle! Apparently, the vehicle registration authority here does not renew vehicle registrations if any modifications have been made to the vehicle, including the installation of rear spoilers and custom steering wheels. However, we can install an additional knob to an existing steering wheel and accessorize the interiors.The 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS comes with a 3.0 liter V6 engine (unlike the 2009/2010 Toyota Avalon that has a 3.5 liter V6 engine instead).The 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS does not have parking sensors (neither rear nor front), comes with a rather modest CD player, and air dam. The 2009 Toyota Avalon has a set of parktronic sensors, and has a 6-CD changer while having more adjustments for the front seats. Although the 2009 Toyota Avalon is pretty good for what you get as a part of the package, the body of the vehicle matches that of a Toyota Camry for the most part - a Camry is the standard taxi cab vehicle in this part of the world so you wouldn't want to have something that even remotely resembles a taxi, would you?The Toyota Aurion was introduced here recently and seems to have similar specification to that of the Toyota Avalon, with minor changes to the body styling and a slightly weaker engine (though the engine does have the same liter-capacity).

Hi!@armynavy123Well, it's not CSS per-se that is difficult. It is coming up with the CSS that works across the whole array of different web browsers that are out there that turns into a killer of a job. Can you believe that a half of the Saudi web population still uses Microsoft Internet Explorer 6?Chrome frame probably makes things a whole lot easier, though it has come under a lot of criticism. We don't see anybody else doing anything about having to support Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, so if Google does make the first move why does that have to upset everybody?@nolanWith all of the fancy jQuery plugins that are available today, developing a visually appealing website with the effects that were previously limited only to Flash applications are now becoming a reality. Not that it was impossible to create using conventional Javascript alone, but it was extremely time consuming to code it all in Javascript without using third party libraries.

Hi!@anwiiThe speed of the car goes up to 80 kilometers per hour and not 80 miles per hour. The conversion of 80 kilometers per hour works out to roughly 50 miles per hour.I would be concerned about the wind resistance though since wood has more drag, especially when it hasn't been polished yet, which seems to be the case with this car.I'm surprised they actually added in a CD player for the car! It looks easy for somebody to steal though - they could have extended the wood around it to form a casing.

Hi!I am actually quite surprised that the teacher/instructor would come late to class or to the lab. It can be grounds for termination, if the students complained. Often, colleges and universities also have a policy that if the instructor is late by over fifteen minutes and there is no word of where the instructor is, the students can simply leave! Now, that's a rule in the students' favor! :-)

Hi Rajesh!How are you doin'?I have tried my hand at some game development, but then had to switch to something that could pay my bills. It has been a few years since I last did any development, but I could point you in the direction I was working toward.One of the challenges in developing for a 3D game is to create the models of the characters and objects within the game. You might want to look into 3D Studio Max or Maya - both are excellent in themselves and have applications outside the field of game development. Next, you would want to look up a couple of development libraries that can enable you to read the 3D models out of 3D Studio Max and Maya format files. Finally, you need to get the DirectX development kit for 3D graphics. If you are with an academic institution or a recent startup, you can probably contact Microsoft to obtain some training material. I was sent about four CDs and though I did not go over them, the few videos that I looked up were rather interesting.

Hi!@rob86Till you get a new computer, you might want to try playing some of the following games.1. OpenTTDBased on Transport Tycoon Deluxe, this open-source game puts you in control of a transportation firm in which you transport cargo and passengers to beat your competitors in profit and company value. OpenTTD feature network (local area network and Internet) game play, add-on maps and artificial intelligence engines, and other plugins. I play this all the time!2. TremulousThis is a classic Unreal Tournament style (or CounterStrike style) first person shooter featuring the battle between aliens and humans. Each side has unique battle units. Playing with the alien units takes a while to get accustomed to.3. ChromiumThis is an arcade-style shooter with pretty decent graphics. It gets rather addictive as you try to beat your high score.4. GlestGlest is a real-time strategy which has a similar gameplay to Age of Empires and WarCraft. The graphics are not very advanced but still fun enough to play.5. Smokin' GunsThis game is loads of fun and beats CounterStrike thanks to its gameplay. Unlike in CounterStrike, when you shoot at your enemy, your enemy takes damage. CounterStrike often behaves in a totally unexpected manner when you shoot at point blank and the opponent takes no damage at all! This is a must-have for all of the guys in anti-CounterStrike club. The graphics are not too advanced, but it remains as a fun and addictive game. I did play Smokin' Guns for a long long time but then I decided to switch to CounterStrike Source. CounterStrike Source is not as much fun in terms of gameplay but the advanced graphics engine (from Half Life 2) really gets my computer's number crunching engine working.All of the games that I have mentioned above are free, open-source, or both. I would strongly recommend trying out Smokin' Guns even if you do get your new computer. We could probably organize tournaments on Xisto if we have got enough interest in the game - it's free, it's fun, and it supports Internet gameplay.

Many businesses raise an invoice to request you to pay them. The invoicing process is usually a little earlier than require to ensure that the customer enjoys un-interrupted service and to avoid the risk of providing to a customer who has not paid or intends to discontinue the service by means of avoiding payment.In either case, since you have the funds in your Xisto account, the system automatically made the deduction so they would never have to bother you with having to pay - the invoices are always displayed as paid as you have sufficient funds to cover the invoice.Imagine the alternative, just to consider a hypothetical situation. If Xisto sent you an invoice on the due date and you did not have the funds on the day of the payment, you would lose the service. Having the invoice sent a few days early enables you to make arrangements for the funds - either post a couple of messages if you are pretty close to earning the required amount, or to use a credit card or other means of payment.