I have read the guidelines on how to be prepared for conference calls but no matter how good I prepare I have the following problem.
I usually encounter unexpected questions towards the end of the call and I am out of words to speak. Instead of handling the situation, I am using filler words to...
@YannisRizos You have a point in upvotes must cost some reputation. Though I don't' accept it plainly, you are right in your point that all votes cannot be counted equal for reputation. This calls for some serious discussion (even if nothing pans out of it).
@WorldEngineer Good sense of humor. But I just thought inside the context. Hope I should get a bit smarter
This picture is of 2 LNK files, one has a hotkey assigned, the other is the same file with no hotkey assigned. what would be the lamest way for a non-programmer like me, to go through whole directory or whole system, finding the ones with something other than 00s at that location?
I need a utility to diff two binary files. The files are large (6-50 GB).
Note: It needs to be specifically pointed out here: most diff programs work by mapping the file into their virtual address space. On 32-bit Windows, this limits the sizes of files that can be compared to under 1 GB each...
@Ubermensch if it doesnt have a GUI, chances are I dont already use it.
It is in windows 7, and i am specifically looking for Any *.pif *.url or *.ink file that has something there, because that (probably) means the shortcut item has a Global shortcut key that gets used by the system.
Regarding iterating through files, if you are sure about the position of the shortcut in the file (in this case, it looks its always in a same position), you can write a script (probably in python) to read the binary file, locate the spot and just iterate over the files
There was a VBS I found, that is old, for XP (i think). I was attempting to change it so it works in 7 when i came to the realisation, That what it looks for does not even exists anymore? It is all Greek to me, but I think I had it, but no results from the files.
is there anything in a normal windows system Cmd prompt style, that would look in a specific hex/binary/decimal?? location. I did pull off a text search one time in my life :-) but not without it having been written already. some find this text in there cmd.
Else you can use frhed.sourceforge.net/en And you can search by location and it does have a nice GUI. If the number of files is too much(100+) , you need to write a script. Else you may do the job manually
@Ubermensch Yes i would need some sort of scripting. all the files would have many differences, I am only looking for the one chunk of data. My Pic shows the same file only to understand the location of the item I was seeking, and what changes. The search would have to somehow look in that few bits of data, to see if there is "something" there or just 00.
Simple tokens and Dlims (that i dont even understand) would be out ? because it isnt a simple text or sheet of info with text alignments?
some sort of magic go to location 3060 (or whatever) read 4 thingies , report if it was 00 or not, next file. Then to complicated it again, by having to do that on all files in folders and sub folders.
Hi @karthik your question, while interesting, it doesn't uniquely applies to programmers in general. In fact it's a question that applies to almost every profession, so it's off topic for Programmers. Check the diagram in our FAQ, questions should be in the blue area.
@Psycogeek Being a non-programmer, it would be better for you to manually search the files using frhed and update it in a spreadsheet if the number of files < 100 and its a one-time job. If there are too many files and if the job is repetitive, go for a script. Post a question in stack overflow and you may do it within a day
@YannisRizos Hey!
@YannisRizos Out for lunch. Would be back in an hour
@Ubermensch ok, thanks. there are a few Qs at SU about finding it, they are unanswered, as is a large ammount of the webs Qs about the same. I will try and find the simplest way to attempt a binary find thing.
@Karthik Well, for starters you need to be on topic. Which mostly means that your question should be one that can only be answered by software developers
If you can imagine any other professional giving a good answer to your question, then it's probably not a good question for Programmers
@YannisRizos I though it was usual for software developers giving demo of what they have developed.
@YannisRizos I see. I think I will definitely keep this in perspective when I do ask next time.
@YannisRizos From what I understand, the question should not be too technical as it belongs in StackOverflow and to general like the last one which can be answered by people other than software developers.
@Karthik Let's see, you have demo in your title, but your question is concentrated on "I usually encounter unexpected questions towards the end of the call and I am out of words to speak. Instead of handling the situation, I am using filler words to think of giving a proper reply creating an awkward situation."
@YannisRizos I read a lot of question by people whos questions are accepted by the community here. So overtime I see that they have some accept rate to their name on the question they post. E.g 85% accept rate.
Accept rate only shows when a user has a lot of questions, and it doesn't mean much, it's just a warning to encourage people to mark answers as accepted
And don't worry about your questions getting closed, my first questions were closed as well :) It is hard to ask a good question here, but at the same time that's how we keep the quality high. As you get more familiar with the site, it will be a lot easier...
@YannisRizos Definitely. I have asked a few questions and requested their deletion but after you explained me about the accept rate I think I should not have done that.
@YannisRizos Do closed questions get moved to the site they belong ?
@YannisRizos I did not know the importance of chat until two days ago. Mark introducted me to chat by giving an invite at meta. Clarification and discussion are simplified here.
@Karthik I know I was here :) I'm a very new moderator, still learning the job, and I was watching your conversation with Mark as a lesson in moderation
@Karthik No. In general, you should not add anything in the question that is not relevant to the question itself. But you can add a comment to the question saying that you want it moved to the Workplace once it graduates. Now, there is no guarantee that this will actually happen. When the Workplace becomes a full site we will have to ask the community there if they want the question, before migrating it.
Because the site is not a full site yet, we can't really say if at that point when a community forms they will want your question or not. If it was a full site right now, they would want it, but we can't know what will happen in a few months.
I wanted to thank you for the few exchanges we had a wee while ago. I have come round to your point of view, and see that you were quite right in your stance on closing questions.
@DavidWallace :) Now I have to re-evaluate everything, since my vote is binding and mistakes cost a bit more (although everything is reversible). But in general our highish rate of closures seems to benefit the site, we are constantly between the top sites on the network on new users, and we are doing great in almost every other stat.
More often than not I'm not sure. So I just wait for 4-5 close votes and / or flags. If they don't come and I'm still feeling that the question should be closed, I leave a comment to the question and ask for clarifications.
And of course consult with the other mods
Actually the election participation was so low, that I have no idea what the community feels.
There are probably two distinct groups. Those that feel that SE should work like a discussion forum, and should be very lenient and open. And those that want a high quality collection of questions and answers.
I think you may be unpopular with the first group and popular with the second. Because you are probably the most extreme serial-question-closer. What I don't know is the relative sizes of the two groups. However, the sizes of the two groups is kind of irrelevant, because the site has a mandate to operate in a certain way.
I don't have access to close vote stats, but I think I'm fairly close to the top of that list :)
As for the size of the groups, well, the only way to tell is Meta. To me it seems that those who prefer a more forum-y type of site are heavily downvoted on Meta, so I'd say the group is fairly small, albeit vocal
But even if the group was a majority, we can't exactly go against Stack Exchange's vision for the site. We can shape the community up to a point, content is community driven, but the site itself is privately owned.
One thing that keeps coming up is the number of questions that are closed solely by moderator action on this site. We've already been over some of the issues, but I'm going to take this opportunity to write up a guide here on meta blatantly rip off a guide to closing from Ninefingers' post on Cry...
I've heard there's a way to get questions reopened by doing something called a heroic edit.
What is it, how can I do it properly, and how does it help?
Ok, Flavius asked this question: How will SOPA, PIPA and ACTA affect Graphic Designers?
I think there's a good question in there, but not the way it's currently worded. Designers should be cognizant of legal restrictions, and should be diligent to make sure they are complying with the various ...