Screen Capture Tools

Yesterday, I dived again to search for the Screen Capture Tools available on internet. Out of many websites viewed, I found this one better consisting best five screen capture tools including Snipping Tool, FastTone Capture, Jing, Skitch, SnagIt, along with their features.

I am using Snipping Tool for day to day work because of its quick and glitch free working. Since it provides extreme basic editing options, so sometimes, I have to go back to SnagIt (which was my long time companion earlier) for advanced options.

Now after going through this article on the website, I would like to try FastTone Capture and Jing as I am fascinated for the features of quick sharing of screen shots. Lets see, how better these tools are.

Read features of all five tools here:  
http://lifehacker.com/5218155/five-best-screen-capture-tools

Signing Off - A CIPHER from IPER

Java Share: JAVA Glimpse's

Java Share: JAVA Glimpse's: Since 1995, Java has changed our world . . . and our expectations.. Today, with technology such a part of our daily lives, we take it for granted that we can be connected and access applications and content anywhere, anytime. Because of Java, we expect digital devices to be smarter, more functional, and way more entertaining.

My friend Jaya has managed to create a nice blog on this. Visit her blog for full post.
http://javaexperiment.blogspot.in/

Dealing with Zoom Level of browser and IP Address configuration

I searched for solutions of some common problems we face while working on Internet, thought to share; as many of us must be facing the same problems :-

1. Zoom level of webpages - While opening a webpage, every time if you have to hit [Ctrl +] to increase the zoom level of the webpage, you can try to set global zoom (set page zoom for all webpages):

For Chrome browser-

http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=96810

For Firefox-

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=2057879

2. Switching for IP adress - Whenever we moves to different network (e.g. from our home to college wifi), we have to change particular IP address, gateway address, subnet mask, dns etc. And we have to remember TCP/IP settings.

IP Switcher is the solution for you. It switches between preconfigured network settings with a single click.

Link-

http://www.eusing.com/ipswitch/free_ip_switcher.htm

Signing Off - A CIPHER from IPER

Open Up the Open ERP #3

At the top right side of the screen, the first option is SUPPORT. On clicking on it, opens a small window which welcomes to LiveChat. I experienced it once, first you have to fill in all the details required and click on “Start chat”.

Soon a support operator would be helping you by means of online chat.

When you quit the chat, It would ask you the simple 3-4 questions feedback about your chat support experience. For me, it was a good experience for me.

•  Beside the SUPPORT option, there is a link for FEEDBACK, on clicking on it would open a small window showing the list of most popular topics as per the user votes. On opening any topic would open a separate web page on a new tab. Here is the topic and comments by the users on it. 
• Besides the FEEDBACK option, there is small home icon to which most of us are familiar. It directs us the Home Page of Open ERP, the same tiled dash board.
• After the HOME Page link, there comes the REQUEST icon which directs us to the Messages sent/received in the same manner as are the emails. Only difference is that these messages are internal, that is to/from the users of OpenERP within the same organization. The messages in the list can be sorted out by putting on/off the filters like CURRENT and WAITING and you can search the messages and group them as per you convenience. The number encircled with a small black circle on the message icon show the number of messages.

• Beside the REQUEST option, is the EDIT PREFERANCE option which allow us to set our PREFERENCES like Language, Timezone, Email & Signature under the “Preference” Tab. Under the same tab you can check/uncheck the Menu Tips option to make Menu action tips always displayed or not.
• At any point of time, to know about any menu item available you can just hover the mouse cursor over the “?” available after that menu item.
• Apart from the “Preference” tab is one more tab “Current Activity” where you set you company, change it, if assigned for more than one companies. The names would be available in the drag drop list. You can also select the Interface type as Simplified or Extended. Also there are options to select Sales Team, Departments and Project. Most important thing is that you can change your password from here clicking on Change Password button. And don’t forget to click on Save button before closing this window.
   

• The ABOUT option shows us the information about OpenERP like for me it shows OpenERP Web as I am working online on OpenERP, The version which is 6.0.3 currently and something About OpenERP.
• Clicking on the HELP button opens online OpenERP Book on the new tab.
• The last option on the top bar is the LOGOUT button, should be clicked before closing the OpenERP. 

 .............Signing Off - A CIPHER from IPER

Open Up the Open ERP #2

Without going to the details about the installation or creating account, First part of learning I start with 1 month demo version activated.

After login to the Open ERP:

• First thing I observed was the Open ERP Home Page, which is more like a dashboard containing tiled graphical links referring to different departments of your organization. The same links are available as buttons on the red ribbon/bar. On my screen these are- SALES, PURCHASES, WAREHOUSE, MANUFACTURING, PROJECT, ACCOUNTING, HUMAN RESOURCE, KNOWLEDGE, TOOLS and ADMINISTRATION.

•  The top left corner of the screen shows the Open ERP logo and besides that is your organization’s name and below it the user name who logged into the Open ERP.

I should admit that the color combinations and graphics used for the Open ERP interface are very nice. Different shades of Red, Black & White colors make it clear, arranged, and of course attractive.

• At the right hand side on the home page which I like to mention as the tiled dash board, is very cool feature which I didn’t expect. It’s the “Widgets”. To know its working, 
• I clicked on “More” button --> Under the drag drop menu, there are many cool widgets available like OpenERP Tweets, Facebook, Google Maps, Currency Converter, Events, Notes etc. 
• I selected OpenERP Tweets --> clicked “Add” button. 
• Now the page refreshed and now I have the tweets by different users about OpenERP at the right side of the screen. 
• More similar options can be chosen from the list like facebook and can enjoy these stuffs while working on OpenERP.

Signing Off - A CIPHER from IPER

Open Up the Open ERP #1

Most comprehensive way to learn operating any system is to go through with the step by step tutorial or training. Though not much comprehensive tutorials available for Open ERP on internet, I am fortunate to learn Open ERP by actually working on it.

As Albert Einstein rightly said “Knowledge is experience; everything else is information”, Here, I will share my day to day experiences related to Open ERP.

 

Something about Open ERP:- 

• PRODUCT:- Open Source ERP Software

• FEATURES:- Power and comprehensive cover of an ERP system with the simplicity and flexibility wanted by the users.

• FOCUSSED USERS:- Small and Medium Enterprises.

• HOW:- For SMEs, cost reduction is the first priority. Open ERP reduce development costs by reusing open source software libraries, eliminating intermediaries (distributors), cutting out selling cost by free publication of the software. 

Signing Off - A CIPHER from IPER

Linus' Law

Interestingly, today's tech term is kind of theory but worth sharing with you. It is something called as Linus' Law. Now let's discuss what exactly it is and why it is important.

According to Eric S. Raymond, "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow." This one liner is the crux of this law but confusing for many. Then the formal definition says "Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix will be obvious to someone."


The rule pertaining to coding world was formulated and named by Eric S. Raymond in his essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar".

More tech terms on next posts. Stay tuned.

Visual Studio Shortcuts

Hey friends! While coding on visual studio, I've landed to few shortcuts which proved really effective and time savvy for me. I thought to compile the same for the benefits of larger audience. Feel free to share with others as well.
 

• CTRL + k + f , CRTL + k + d: Format the code in the window into indented. CRTL + k + d format whole document while CTRL + k + f format only selected text. For VS 2008, it is CTRL+ E+ F and CTRL +E+D.

• SHIFT + Del: This one will cut the entire row from the document and paste it to the clipboard. Even no need to select the row, just put the marker there and click SHIFT + Del.

• CTRL + k + c , CTRL + k + u: These two are for commenting selected text (the "c" options) and un-commenting selected text (the "u" option).

• CTRL - , CTRL SHIFT: Moves the editing cursor to the last/next position. If you edit something somewhere else and you wanna go back to that last method you were editing. CTRL - will save you so much time!

• Alt + Enter: Is also a general Windows shortcut for accessing properties of files, drives, shortcuts, etc. It is a nice keystroke to keep in mind.

(You can also open properties window just by pressing F4. I like it more than Alt+Enter.)

• SHIFT + ALT + ENTER (Full Screen mode): It helps you to get rid of all the properties, toolbar and other [obstructives] windows that don’t let you see the code. Hit it a second time and the windows are back.

• CTRL + M + M: Expanding / Collapsing code blocks, e.g. regions/methods.

• CTRL+J: Intellisense

• CTRL + SPACE: While coding lets VS finish for you or open intellisense

• CTRL + TAB: Flips forward and backwards, between the last two accessed files.

• CTRL + SHIFT + H: Does very smart job for find and replace. Further, first do Ctrl+F for find and then just press F3 for next match. Easy!

And finally,

·CTRL + SHIFT + B: Build solution

ADO

Here's another post under the label 'Tech terms'. As always, these posts are tagged with label 'Tech terms' to be searched conveniently.

Today's term to understand is ADO:

•  Microsoft's ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) is a set of Component Object Model (COM) objects for accessing data sources

• A part of MDAC(Microsoft Data Access Components), it provides a layer between programming languages and OLE DB (a means of accessing data stores, whether they be databases or otherwise, in a uniform manner)

• ADO allows a developer to write programs that access data without knowing how the database is implemented. You must be aware of your database for connection only. No knowledge of SQL is required to access a database when using ADO, although one can use ADO to execute arbitrary SQL commands. The disadvantage of this (i.e. using SQL directly) is that it introduces a dependency upon the type of database used.

• It is positioned as a successor to Microsoft's earlier object layers for accessing data sources, including RDO (Remote Data Objects) and DAO (Data Access Objects). ADO was introduced by Microsoft in October 1996.

JET DB

With this post, I'm going to start a series to understand different tech terms. These posts are tagged with label 'Tech terms' to be search conveniently.


So let's begin with today's term which is Microsoft's JET DB:

• It stands for Microsoft Jet Database Engine

• JET stands for Joint Engine Technology

• Over the years, Jet has become almost synonymous with Microsoft Access

• The Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products were built.

• first version: 1992

• With version 2007 onwards, Access includes a new engine based on Jet, called the Microsoft Access Engine (ACE Engine). The ACE engine is fully backward-compatible with previous versions of the Jet engine, so it reads and writes (.mdb) files from earlier Access versions. The new engine introduces a new default file format, (.accdb),

• Microsoft has no plans to natively support Jet under 64-bit versions of Windows.

• The Jet Database Engine will remain 32-bit for the foreseeable future.