what's going on at Trolltech?

quite a number of developers will know Trolltech, the company behind Qt, the cross-platform framework for creating desktop applications (orignally in C++, and more recently, in Java). Qt has a long history and forms the basis of KDE.

anyway, Qt has long been a favourite of C++ developers on *nix systems. Windows developers weren't so lucky. Trolltech released a non-commercial edition of Qt, which i first learned about when Qt was in version 2.3. anyway, i never really used Qt then (even now, i just want to get started with it) but i did keep up to date with it. some open-source developers (originally behind the port of KDE to Cygwin) began an unofficial opensource native Windows. they succeeded, but they had to shut down binary builds because people (who weren't thinking of the implications of what they were doing) kept posting questions about the open-source Qt to the official Trolltech support team. and with the release of Qt 4, the team started creating (again unofficial) patches to the Qt opensource edition to make it build with compilers other than MinGW, which was the only system supported by Trolltech officially.

recently, the project has been closed. there are no new files because as the team says: "This project was closed because the goal to provide Qt/GPL on windows (inclusive msvc support) was achieved". more information can be found here. i guess that's because in the latest version of opensource Qt - even though Trolltech claims that Visual Studio support and integration is only provided with the commercial versions of Qt - you can build Qt and Qt-based applications using commandline tools with other compilers, including Visual Studio. but be careful, any commercial application you create must be completely licensed uner the GPL. as the Trolls themselves say, your product must be licensed exclusively under the GPL.

what i'm wondering is: why the change of heart? and Trolltech seems to have been bought by Nokia. so what happens to developers after this? your guess is as good as mine.

Blogged with Flock

my battery used to last longer!

i've noticed recently that my computer's battery isn't lasting as long as it was. i'm not quite sure why, but i think because i've installed quite a number of network applications (web server, at least 2 database servers, etc), my firewall program might just be the reason my processor (AMD Turion 64) is constantly running at top speed, instead of stepping down. so i'll do a format soon and change firewall programs, and find out how far.

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Design problems

i have to maintain a list of phone numbers. i also need to maintain the owners' details. but here's a problem: i already have access to the phone number data, but i'll fill up the owners' data as i go along. so here's the problem: how do i do this? quite a number of people have more than one phone number, so the phone number(s) cannot be the primary key. at the end of the day, each person whose data is recorded will have one or more phone numbers, but i currently have phone numbers but no associated personal data. how do i design my database so that i can fill in personal details when they come in, but i won't repeat any information and have a sufficiently extensible database design that can adapt to changing requirements?

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Enjoy your student days

leaving school and working isn't all it's jacked up to be. so many people just want to get out of school and begin their lives, but they're missing a single important thing: they're already living their lives. life started the day you were born, and continues till the day you die. somehow, we tend to miss that patently obvious fact and decide instead to wait for something or other to 'begin' our lives: "when i leave school, i'll really start living", "when i get my dream job, i'll really start living", "when we get married, we'll really start living"...please. you're alive, aren't you? life's going on all around you. assume today's the last day you'll ever live. do what you would if that were true today. then go ahead and do it everyday. each day is meant to be enjoyed to the full and maximized to the last. life is far too short not to be enjoyed; it's far too short for you not to make impact and influence your world. grow every day. hug someone you love. try to leave everyone better than you met them, and don't worry if they choose not to get better. laugh. cry. be human. for crying out loud, when did we become elastic plastic? we have fake eyelashes, fake fur coats, and we've become fake people (the fake fur and eyelashes are kinda okay - the fake people are a big no-no). make a kid laugh. tell someone you love them. there are so many things you can do, it's amazing we waste time with things that really don't bring us any fulfilment. and that's the main thing i want to say: make sure each day leaves you fulfiled. abayo!

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the dangers of copy and paste

copy and paste is dangerous. here's why.

a pastor was at a conference where the speaker said: 'the best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife!' as the audience gasped, he continued: 'she was my mother!'. everyone clapped. the pastor decided to use the same thing back home. unfortunately he only remembered the first part, so he ended with: 'and i can't remember who she was!'

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mah first day at work

so i've been working. not quite what i'd imagined it to be. so far, it's been great. i was helping my boss with something, and i needed to use regular expressions somewhere down the line. here's the catch: i've never used regexes before. i was going to use Python to create a script to deal with the data, but then i switched to C++. for regex processing, i first employed the GRETA library, but for some reason, it didn't compile using Visual C++ 9.0, so i switched to Boost's regex. for a wonder, i didn't even need to download a pre-built jam executable - it compiled out of the box. Boost compiled, but since it was created before VC++ 9, it didn't recognize the compiler. it did build anyway, but i was getting puzzling errors about the regex library file missing. apparently, i didn't read what i should have - it assumed i build it with VC++ 8.0, and was looking for a library file with the version number embedded in the name - but my build didn't have a version number in the name. it basically amounted to showing the printer to the computer, but not actually plugging it in. ah well. at least i finally got it to work.

Blogged with Flock

my first day on the job so far...

i want to kill something. i want to rip flesh apart. i want to hit something and watch blood fly. why? i'm on the internet and using plain old Mozilla Firefox. i miss Flock! why should i login to Blogger just because i want to post on my blog? arrgh!

seriously, Flock has been cool...but i said this post was about work, not browsers. so, it's been good. so far. went somewhere with my boss and watched how business is done in Naija. ol' boy, e no easy o! met with an old friend i've not seen in over five years. maybe this is a month for old relationships...but i'll save that for later. anyway, i got to be called 'Sir' by someone older than me - which was quite embarrasing. i have to get used to it though - just not let it get to my head. if it does, maybe you'll do to me what Rooftop MCs have suggested: e la'gi mo! well, gotta go. see y'all later!

Back from school

got back home last night. whew! don't want to do that again. get home late, that is.

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Back in School

well, i made it back to school two days ago. seems in the last few months a number of my friends have hooked up with great girls. i say: "good riddance!" were they planning on hanging with me for the rest of their lives? guys! y'all are great, but...we really can't keep each other warm at night. and i really don't need to know some things. plus, i'm sure you want to have your own kids sometime...most of all, i'm definitely not happy, sorry, gay :D.

seriously, it's weird being back in school, even if it's only after a few weeks. guess it's not that bay's d with my guys around. Woody's around, for one. most of the guys in class have peeled out, so it's rather empty in the library. ah well. got to get some real work done.

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Switched!

at long last, i'm switching from Firefox to Flock, at least for the time being. and i'm liking it very much, so far. sorry, Firefox fanbois out there. the fact that i can use pretty much all my old extensions is a major plus, and i don't need themes.

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Annoyances

i'd like software developers to create their installs such that you can customize as much of the install as possible. take for instance Visual Studio 2008 Express. Even if you install VC++ 2008 Express on some other partition, the Windows SDK headers and libraries will end up on your primary partition - with no way to customize that behaviour. The same thing applies to XNA Game Studio 2.0 - it installs on your primary partition, even if you want to install it elsewhere (like i do!). i realize that system components (such as the .NET Framework) will be installed on the primary drive, but for everything else...as though that wasn't all, what are the strange looking things that got installed when i installed VC#? SQL Server Compact? huh? who wants to use that? i'll install SQL Server as and when i want, you...

stuff, and nonsense

thanks to Dade and some other folks, i'm getting to realize i've really slipped. i've got used to so many bad things i've been ignoring personal excellence. y'all, thanks!

another week gone by. and the year's a week old already. ah well. finally formatted my system, and trying to decide wheter or not to install both VC# 2005 and 2008 Express. i'm not sure i want to try out XNA programming just yet, but if i don't install now, i'll have to reinstall 2008 (it has sexier icons).

Softimage have released a new version of the XSI Mod Tool. For those who don't know what it is, it's a version of Softimage|XSI originally developed for modding games such as Half-Life 2. The latest version (6) also serves as a 3d authoring tool for XNA Game Studio Express. what i like about this version is that you can also use it for noncommercial 3D authoring because it can export to some well-known formats. i realize that this may be a bad move on Softimage's part, because they're effectively giving away XSI, but there are some restrictions on the polygon count that may be exported and so on. indie game developers and lazy modelers should get this.

Happy New Year!

seriously, it's 2008. praise God!

dude, do i still want to get married?

i've toyed about with the idea of getting married, but after this week...dude, taking care of kids is no joke. one reason i want to get married is to have kids. i mean, why not? kids are great - except all the time. this week, i was left at home thrice with my two-year-old nephew, and on the latest with hyperactive triplets about 10 years old. i was basically just chasing after them, and the "hey! i just cleaned this place up!" and "will this ever end?" feelings - among various others, including a sudden desire to strangle someone - came up quite often. still, i made it through - and i will never again (or at least i think i never will) take parenting for granted. if you just want to live your life and enjoy yourself without sacrifice, take my advice: don't bother with any serious relationship or kids. you'll be doing yourself a favour. i think i'm going to sleep it off.

hold the phone!

okay...that was weird. why have my older female relatives started asking if i have a girlfriend and all that related stuff? you know, greet them (or her) for me, and so on? hold the phone, all right? is there anything wrong with being a single black male? like, i'm still young (plus i have a gazillion things to do). besides, i don't think i can handle a relationship yet. Lord knows the last almost-was nearly destroyed me. i still have baggage from it (okay, so it's not that long ago - like that means anything). this isn't to imply that it's only my relatives that do this - they just happened to be the last straw, so to speak. i'd rather that nobody asked - but then it just wouldn't be human. people care about other people - even when it pisses off the other people. it's bad enough that some people can't even let me talk to a female without getting very interested. please, people! i am not interested in anyone at the moment, and i am not dating anyone - nor do i have any plans to do so soon. you need selflessness in a romantic relationship - a virtue i have found i am all-too-lacking in. honestly, i don't know how she put up with my nonsense. and no, you're not entitled to know what went on. so thanks, but don't matchmake, don't ask, just leave me the h*** alone. me and the crew have this covered, aight? don't worry - something is going down. but you gotta trust me that now's not the time. thanks. later, y'all!

The text on the TextEdit icon

Apple's MacOSX Leopard comes with a text editor, TextEdit. the icon is a picture of a ruled sheet of paper and a clutch pencil. what it says is something great, and i think everyone should see it: look here

The truth about Santa Claus: An Engineer's Perspective

sometimes you do get some good 'spam'. i subscribed for news from the developers of IBExpert, and they send me updates on the program and all what not. today, i checked my mail and get this beauty. i'm reproducing it below for everyone to enjoy.

The truth about Santa Claus: An Engineer’s Perspective

1. No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man- made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4. The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that 'flying reindeer' (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

In conclusion: If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.

back home

just got back home. it's great to be home, even if christmas is overrated - as usual. still, there's something to be said for being with family. nothing like family to make you wish you didn't have any. hehehe. anyway, gotta ride, so see y'all. merry christmas (i've been taken to task for saying 'happy holidays').

hey everyone. how's it hanging? i was wondering - what do you do if you have a program that does almost everything you want it to do - but it fails in one or two areas? install two (or more) of them? but then that would violate Occam's Razor. for instance, i use XnView for most of my (decidedly horrible) image management. the full version is a little hefty, but i love it. it supports lots of formats (mostly view), including audio/video files (it seems to have crashed when previewing a Flash Video (.flv) file just now, though) and PDF documents (you'll need Ghostscript installed, though). and it's free for non-commercial use. i love it - but it always crashes when i use it to browse a certain folder on my computer. that folder has 667 image files (and no, i didn't make that up - it really has that many images), a few of which didn't download properly (so only part of the file displays). i'm not sure if it's because of the number of files or the corrupt files, but since it crashes regularly, i had to move the files into subfolders so XnView handled fewer files per folder. that worked, but since i use those images rather often (and have to choose a few from them everytime), i moved them all back into the same folder again and use Windows Explorer's thumbnail view instead. i was on LifeHacker and found out about FastStone image viewer, and while it doesn't have as many perks as i'm used to from XnView - it doesn't crash when browsing that folder. i may not need to use that folder so often anymore, and i'm going to format my computer soon, so it doesn't matter now - but i'm going to reinstall Windows, and will need to choose an image browser. should i install both, or have to choose between them?

it's easier to choose when the difference between the programs is relatively minor. an an example, i blogged about Linotype FontExplorer X recently. it has a lovely iTunes-style interface and it's pretty good (i've not used it much, so be wary of my opinion) - but the one thing i miss from Proxima FontExpert is the ability to temporarily activate a font until the system reboots (it works on the Mac, but it seems the feature didn't - or hasn't - made it to the PC, at least not in the beta). it does the same thing as Bitstream Font Navigator (creates a shortcut to the installed font in your Windows fonts folder). i think it was also on LifeHacker i got a link to Veign CFont Pro. while its interface leaves much to be desired (aesthetically speaking - don't knock it if it works), it does what i want it to do - activate a font temporarily until reboot. so - i should just ignore FontExplorer X and use CFont Pro, right? wrong, because CFont Pro has so far not recognized any font not in the TrueType (.ttf) format. Postscript (.afm + .ini + .pfb + .pfm) and OpenType (.otf) fonts were ignored, a major minus. checking on the features page, it's supposed to support them - so i have no idea what's happening on my machine. maybe there are some missing system components. ah well. we don't live in a perfect world.

weird...innit?

who invented deadlines? can i kill him? pretty please? Microsoft has recently released XNA Game Studio 2.0 (and the price tag is a hefty $0. so if you're a C# developer and would like to create homebrews for Windows or the XBOX - please, help yourself). that's not too surprising - software gets released all the time, right? not that long before that, they also released Visual Studio 2008 (i got the Express edition, and Visual C++ 9.0 Express has some cool stuff out of the box - no need to download the Windows/Platform SDK to develop native Windows applications anymore. whoopee!). what's surprising is that XNA Game Studio 2.0 - get this - integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio 2005 products (specifically for C#), but not with Visual Studio 2008 products (look here for more details). If you're an XNA Game Studio user and want the new version, don't uninstall (or go reinstall) Visual Studio 2005 (if you want, install just VC# 2005 Express), or face the consequences. while there are workarounds, you really didn't sign up for hard work. that's why you became a programmer, wasn't it?