Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 - less good for hardcore coders

In my last position I worked extensively with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and generally found it to be a good system. Until receiently...

The short version:

When running in debug mode the system changes pointer values at runtime.

This mostly will go unnoticed because the debugging IDE reports the correct values and even does the correct maths. So if you try doing the following:

((size_t)(&FunctionOne)) - ((size_t)(&FunctionTwo))

If you look at the result in the debugging IDE you might get (real example):

((size_t)(0x011ee0e0)) - ((size_t)(&0x011ee050)) = 0x00000090

However, if you try an apply this in your running code you get instead:

((size_t)(0x011d132f)) - ((size_t)(0x011d137a)) = 0xffffffb5

Now, I get what its trying to do here (at least I think I might) its actually adding a call stub to the functions which probably adds a bunch of debug checks to try and help out a poor developer.

Whats majorly annoying is:

1. It does not translate the addresses consistantly! So (like in the above example) addresses which where previously ordered top to bottom are transposed to the opposite effective order.  
2. If you attempted to perform an in memory transfer of this functions data you would copy garbage (or at least not the function proper).
3. Maths carried out on pointers is completely meaningless (e.g. deriving the length by the difference between two pointers is not possible, though arguably this is bad practice anyway).
4. Confusing because the IDE reports the correct values, addresses and maths (e.g. results in IDE will not match results of performing exact same math in code).

DoggyDude96a

Left feeling very negatively towards Disney and Pixar

First off, I think these two companies are great. Producing some fabulous stuff.

What I am left spitting bricks over is their damn, up their own arse self advertising at the beginning of their DVD's.

Firstly, I've bought your damn movie, don't force me to watch promotions of your other movies! >.<

Secondly, and this is the biggest annoyance, I got the Toy Story collection as a Christmas present and on every damn DVD theres a spoiler for the third movie and on the second DVD its PART OF THE INTRO TO THE DVD!

Oh my god! F**king annoying.

So, my "Arse Company of the Day award" suprisingly goes to Pixar and Disney DVD division.

Microsoft Outsource to China

Why should I care? I would feel the same way, but, for Windows Update!

When I worked for an UK Internet Technology Company, whilst working there there where a great number of unsolicited connections comming from Chinese and South African IP addresses.

Investigation into this traffic proved the traffic to be Hacker Activity and specifically Brute Force attempts to gain access to one of the Companies SQL servers.

In my time I have rarely seen attacks comming from English or Ammerican IP addresses. Those countries are probably just too well regulated and locked down and people have much easier ways of making money (aquiring information?).

So basicly the solution was historically to block incomming connections from any unknown Chineese IP addresses (which makes perfect sense, all the companies I've worked for have been UK, Ammerica or NZ based and have little business ties to China).

Until I reciently discovered that Microsoft seem to have distributed Windows Update world wide. Now, your friendly regional updates are sourced (or might be sourced) from China Seems crazy? Its happend to me (I thought I had a virus... maybe I do?). It just seems to be that Windows Update wants to download its latest batch of updates from China.

Just incase there is someone out there why might be able to say "hey, yup.. its a virus" and maybe I'm misjudging Microsoft? Heres the IP address(s) in question:

213.199.149.103

213.199.149.104

Registered to : Beijing Urban Network Co.,Ltd


Being accessed when I run Windows Update for Windows Vista Ulitimate.

Hey maybe its just got f'ed up and can't recognise where my IP is and thinks I'm in China.. I'm open to possibilities?

Thats just Charming!

Oh my god!

Whoever wrote the later series of Charmed (4th Season onward) completely runined the character of Phobe :(.

The love whole story between a Demon and a Good Witch (Cole and Phoebe) is/was timeless (and should have ended in a win for the power of love.. should of). In the first, second and even third seasons it was explored so vividly and so well (with love conquering all against great odds). The up's and down's, the mistakes and the forgiveness.

Then, the Seer arrives and maniplulates the couple (which was not in of itself a bad direction for the plot). Love then proceeds to fly out the window and the whole series decends into a pointless re-living of earlier events (and in essence basic story concepts of Cole plotting subitly) and attempts to turn Cole back into the evil character he once was. Though at each stage its the actions of Pheobe that turns Cole more and more evil (whilst she is excused of her own evil and making cole feel he can be nothing but).

All the charm went out of Charmed!

Pheobe and Page's characters are made to appear to be total sluts going from one seemingly loveless bedding to the next (though some small amount of effection is always involved) and all the witches are painted as blameless and good no matter what they do whilst a Demon (who infact often behaves far better than any of the witches, is evil).

It left me feeling I should be getting in touch with my inner demon as the Demon sets a better example than the girls. Maybe its a bitter writer trying to say its better to be demonic than good O_o but this is hardly a moral to live by, nor one I would support.

Just to be clear, I don't think theres anything wrong with a strong female character, but its hardly strong sleeping with a range of men (who all want to sleep with the girl) and the character keeping moving on to the next. To many "males" of this world its their idea of the ideal girl i'm sure *rolls eyes*.

At least Pipers character remained strong and thats probably the only thing compeling me to keep watching (as I need something I can relate to / sympathise with). Piper stays true to love without ceasing to be faithful and loving to her partner.

The whole Cole-Pheobe love story was so complelling and filled with the best and sometimes the most challenging aspects of true love.

Only eventually to paint true love as pointless and evil in the later episodes.

"Pheobe has become the architypal loveless slut" would be a fair quote for the seasons past season 3.

Which is such a shame because Phoebes started out as a powerfull woman living by her own rules. Which didn't initially mean a lack of love. She started out as strong and independent, willfull and loving. I am not sure what she became but it wasn't the original Phoebe. Maybe its more realistic and thats why I don't like it... I guess that could be fair to say.

Recommendations to increase your personal privacy

I am very concerned with my pesonal privacy. What I decide to search for is my very own business and noone elses. Only these days everyone wants to make it their business.

This is largely something unavoidable. Though there are ways to prevent unintended breaches of privacy.

Google is a great search engine, but, it completely invades your privacy as much as the law will allow.

Whenever you use a modern browser with Google the site stores all the unique information about your browser (there can be valid reasons for doing this, there is no requirement to do so for a search service except to support user tracking for its ad's, and, hence, tracking of you as an individual). Sure its not tied to your name but I don't like it at all. Secondly, when using modern browsers, everything you type into the search box gets sent to google immidiately (to provide you with an as you type search, if your feeling generous to google). Again, this is crap, many a time I've accidently typed a private URL into their search box only to curse as it was already too late.

So, for a solution I recommend the following:

Add http://www.google.co.uk/ to your restricted websites. You will still be able to use the search facility but Google will now only receive information after you have accepted a prompt to transmit it and furthur no google related browser scripted components will run.

Google have made their own bed on this one and I fully recommend to everyone to do this!

Google became great by respecting the public and providing clean and simple search results. Now Google is big business and feels little need to respect the public beyond the minimum necessary to keep us using their service. Given that this is their attitude, I say your going to get the minimum necessary information from ME to use YOUR service.

The end.

Windows Security

Windows Security is pretty good. The UI for managing the security is sometimes very poor. Any Administrator who is trying to manage permissions on complex directory trees will know the sense of frustration I experience when being presented with a dialog like the following:

Which as you can see is completely useless to the administrator. This box is usually seen when using the option:

Whats required here is the option for the Administrator to provide sufficient system credentials to circumvent this "Access Denied" issue (or if it is behaviour by design, a full description on why these permissions are thought not to be changable).

The reason is probably that some permissions in the ACL are set not to be inheritable (e.g. not to propergate above this folder). The error message does not give the Administrator the clue that this is the issue.

Security permission control should be simple. Make is so Microsoft, please.

FaceBook fails users AGAIN (privacy failing)

I am so *£%#@ off right now. I already setup my privacy settings ONCE to disallow public access to my account BUT FaceBook has gone through a back door to enable that access.

How so? Well, whilst I setup my account settings to be all "Friends Only", APPARENTLY FaceBook author (feel like telling him to go *£%#off) feels the "general public" are my friend so allowed the world to see my name and a list of my friends (which has lead to an unhealthy amount of new spam which lead me to find out the source of this spam).


Heres a heads up for all facebook users, vital personal information (in this case your name and a list of people who are your friends) is being made publicly available by your FaceBook account. Yes.. I repeat publicly available.

Please PLEASE follow the following steps to prevent this before you too become another hit on Google (and therefore the primary target of spammers!).

Goto the "Account" drop down in the top left of your FaceBook page. Click "Privacy Settings" and you should be taken to the following page:

Click on the "Edit your Settings" button next to the "Application and Websites" at the bottom of the screen.

In the section "Public Search" click "Edit Settings".



Untick the box which contains the "Enable Public Search".