1. Rename patch.exe to patsh.exe.
2. Then create patch.bat in the same directory containing the following command:
   @patsh.exe %*

You will never notice a difference, and Windows 7 can go politely F*** itself.

The basic style is that you run on the balls of your feet instead of landing on your heels and rolling to your toes. Modern shoes prevent running on your toes, unless you are perhaps at a full sprint. Interestingly, the barefoot running style allegedly also helps prevent many common running related injuries. People who run barefoot generally have fewer problems with shin splints, ankle problems and knee problems.

Recently I started mulling over the concept again, and wondered what a shoe would look like that allowed you to run as though you were barefoot, but still gave you some protection. I played with the idea a bit, and then searched to see if anyone had made it yet. Turns out the awesome people at Vibram beat me to it with the Five Finger.

I haven't been able to jog in about a year, because of back problems that are aggravated by the impact of traditional jogging styles. Wearing these shoes, though, I have been able to run 10x as far and still no back pains. Best. Purchase. Ever.

IANAMD, but if you cannot run because of chronic pains in your ankles/knees/back then perhaps you should give them a shot.

[Updated: 10/13/2009]
After writing this article the SOCI team has resolved some of these issues, so some of these steps are no longer necessary.

Step 1: Setup SQLite

Step 1.1

Download the SQLite 3.6.18 source and library files.

• Source
• Libraries

Step 1.2:

Unarchive the SQLite archives into a directory, mine will be c:\usr\sqlite3

Step 1.3:

Create the sqlite3.lib file by using Visual Studio's lib command:

LIB /DEF:sqlite3.def

Step 2: Setup SOCI

Step 2.1:

Download the head of SOCI's git repository

Step 2.2:

Decompress the file into another directory, mine will be c:\usr\soci

Step 2.3:

Soci requires stdint.h but Visual Studio 2008 does not provide it, so simply download pstdint.h and rename it to stdint.h in the soci\src\core directory.

Step 2.4:

Open the directory soci\build and copy msvc80 to msvc90.

Now open the msvc90\dll directory.

Through Visual Studio 2008, open the soci_dll.sln file and allow it to convert it with the default parameters.

Step 2.5: Build SOCI's Core and SQLite3

SOCI's core project should build without errors, but the sqlite project will have several.

Step 2.6: Fixing Build Errors

Now SOCI's core project should build without errors, but the sqlite3 project will definitely fail. It will give two specific errors:

fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'sqlite3.h': No such file or directory

and

error C3163: '_vsnprintf': attributes inconsistent with previous declaration

Both are relatively easy to fix.

Step 2.6.1: Fixing SQLite3 include paths

In Visual Studio, navigate to View->Property Manager, then in the pane that shows up, expand the sqlite3 project, then expand "Debug | Win32" then "soci_dll" then double-click on the "soci" object. Select "User Macros" on the sheet you find there.

Find SQLITE3_INCLUDE_DIR and SQLITE_LIB_DIR and change them to the directory created earlier, "c:\usr\sqlite3"

Step 2.6.2: Fixing _vsnprintf

[Update 10/13/2009]
This step is no longer needed.

Expand the core project and look for soci-platform.h and find a line that says "HAVE_VSNPRINTF"

This is redefining something that VS2008 provides already and confuses the hell out of the compiler. Just comment it out, or change it to look like:

// Define if you have the vsnprintf variants.
#if _MSC_VER < 1500
#	define HAVE_VSNPRINTF 1
#	define vsnprintf _vsnprintf
#endif

Step 2.7 Building SOCI's sqlite3_test project

This project will be riddled with errors unless you have boost installed. I personally don't use it, so had to comment out large chunks of common-tests.h.  Specifically, comment out the area at the top where it includes the boost headers. Also comment out the contents of test26, test28 and test30.

Also add this line at the bottom of soci-platform.h:

#undef SOCI_USE_BOOST

Finished

Now you should have a working copy of SOCI 3.0.0 with SQLite3 support in Visual Studio 2008. Congratulations!

To these people, I would like to  suggest they do what so many other net-savvy people have done, specifically blogging. Blogging is essentially the same thing as sending out that armada of email, except that it is seen when and how the end user desires. If you haven't quite figured out the whole blog thing, or think that its too technical, rest assured its actually quite simple. In fact, websites like Wordpress, blogspot, and livejournal do all the work for you. And this tutorial explains how to get started on your new blogging adventure.

After you've created your new blog, don't immediately send out a barrage of 'Check out my new Intarweb!' emails.  First try to find your friends' blogs and comment on them, leaving a link to your own.  Its a little more polite.

Don't think you need to abandon your friendly emails though, these can still be quite pleasant when not sent in bulk. A few rules of thumb for writing a blog instead of an email:

1. Is your mailing list large enough that you need to use BCC?
2. Do you have to think about to whom you want to write the email?
3. Does it envolve sending an image or video?
4. Are there more people than just your recipients that might find the email interesting?

If you found this useful, then you might also do a quick google on RSS or go take a peek at Google Reader. Most blog platforms allow you to subscribe using RSS and use software like Google Reader to read all your blogs in one simple interface.

Cool though they may be, I don't see technology like this replacing current mainstays like the joystick and keyboard/mouse. More likely, they will fall into the "add on" category like the gaming keypads and 6 button mice. 

That said, it is truely a piece of interesting technology and I look forward to playing with them in the future.

Get the new version here:
FileWatcher 2009.03.04

1. There are over 500 channels listed, and I only have access to around 50. This is fine in itself, but there is no way to determine if I have access until I try to view the channel. There is no option to filter out the channels that are inaccessable
2. There is no way to search through the shows except manually. Scrolling through pages upon pages of listings just to find one thing to watch is extremely tedious, especially when trying to relax.
3. Once I finally found a show, I had to watch it from somewhere in the middle. Why is it starting halfway through? Wait, I need an additional, expensive piece of equipment to fix this? Bad business. Sell a broken product, and then sell another product which fixes the original flaws.
4. Commercials are far too long, I have to watch about 5 minutes of commercials for each 20 minutes of show. There is something wrong with this.
5. Overpriced. I'm paying ~$25 / month for this service with all these failings and I still have to watch commercials.

How can such a service compete with the likes of Hulu, youtube, megavideo and sidereel? I suppose it will die off as soon as people realize how broken it is.

The library comes with two samples. OgreDemo.cpp shows a simple example of reloading textures on the fly using the Ogre3D engine. SimpleDemo.cpp just watches a directory and outputs the file names when a file changes.

Some example code:

// Create the object
FW::FileWatcher* fileWatcher = new FW::FileWatcher();
 
// add a directory watch
FW::WatchID watchid = fileWatcher->addWatch("..\\media", new UpdateListener());
 
...
 
// somewhere in your update loop call update
fileWatcher->update();
 
// where UpdateListener is defined as such
class UpdateListener : public FW::FileWatchListener
{
public:
    UpdateListener() {}
    void handleFileAction(FW::WatchID watchid, const String& dir,
                                    const String& filename,
                                    FW::FileWatcher::Action action)
    {
        std::cout << "File (" << dir + \\ + filename << ") has event "
                        << action << std::endl;
    }
};

Download version 2009.02.17

With sound, networking, a solid widely used gamepad interface, and excellent graphics capabilities the XNA platform seems ideal for small games development. The only reservations still present are against the relative immaturity of the community (as opposed to Ogre's which is superb) and the lack of distribution mechanisms. The distribution problem is slated to be resolved with a rating system within the developer community, but this just comes back to the other problem.

There is, still, a significant amount of community generated content for learning and using XNA, but I worry about the platform if it does not attract a higher concentration of mature developers. We shall see.

This sounds like a huge time saver in the long run, but right now its turning into a significant time sink.  I figure if this functionality would be useful in my personal project, it would likely be valuable to others as well, so I'm going to try to integrate it into Ogre.  Should also prove a useful exercise in using Ogre as well.