iOS Build number

Okay, an interesting thing about iOS 9.3 first beta. When you get the build number, it appends a /0 char at the end of the string. Made a quick fix for this, here is the code to get clean build number:

ASUS Orion PRO ROG headset review

Long time, no post. That's a bad thing but jump right in the middle of a new post by a review of the ASUS Orion PRO headset.

I looked for a headset with decent sound quality and comfortable wear for a reasonable price. I guess most people have these points on their priority list. I already have a Sennheiser HD515 which has a really good sound quality but not too durable and also it doesn't have a mic so I kept this for music purposes. Also since our daughter born the overall noise in our apartment increased big time. So an open type headphone is less practical.

The ASUS headset comes with the Spitfire USB powered small headphone amp with three buttons: FPS, SURROUND and AMP. It has a fixed USB cable and two 3.5" jack ports for the headphone and mic. All included cables are great quality, looks durable and sleeved. They included a cable holder kinda thingy but this isn't holding too tight so after some light usage it usually pops open.

Good looking stuff

Mic pulled out

The headphone is full plastic, the ear pods made of a leather like material (probably some plastic) but it is soft and I have no issue keeping that on my head for longer periods. The noise isolation (passive) is good for home usage. I can hear talking, phone ringing, baby crying around me but much less disturbing than with a simple open headphone.

Cable holding thingy

Sound quality is really subjective. I feel the Sennheiser HD515 better with wider sound range. I did not tried the ASUS without the USB amplifier thing and after several months I feel the best sound quality for both music/gaming is keeping the FPS and AMP option on.

Small controller to mute the mic and adjust headphone volume

Overall I think it is a good gaming headset. The price for it + the USB amp is OK but if you already have a good sound card and you don't need the USB amp then I'd recommend to find a better quality gear for the same price. Mainly for music, movie purposes it is definitely a not recommended due the sound quality. For this price range it is easy to find a better headphone.

Java vulnerabilities

Since the big news about Java vulnerabilities, it seems we get almost daily updates to Java client. It seems Oracle trying hard to save their crap. Java is good but when websites using it (like banks for their online access) is bad. And since most companies disabled Java in their browsers or operating systems it is more and more difficult to use especially for novice users who just want to click & bank. I hope companies realizes the issue and start moving forward from Java to something better back end and pure HTML/CSS/JS on user end.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026990/oracle-rushes-out-another-java-update-fixing-50-vulnerabilities.html

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7

Just installed it. Funny because it asked for a restart. A web brwoser. It seems Microsoft still integrating their browser a bit too deep into the operating system.

I'm a Chrome user but due to web dev, I have to keep IE and other browsers for testing purposes. 

This update also caused some issue in Desktop Gadgets. We using "DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient()" to render UI in the gadget and it seems this isn't working properly now. Thanks MS, time to debug :P

The browser looks like IE9, so far. I hope they did not make any other problems because IE browsers getting better and better since IE7 or IE8...  I remember that IE6/7 caused some sleepless nights to tweak the HTML/CSS for web pages.

Update: I've found the answer for the problem. If you ran into the same problem then here is the info about the change: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/hh801215(v=vs.85).aspx

Walking Dead, really?

I know I know, long time, no new post... So, here is one. Just another Walking Dead season is over and I started to think about it. There will be spoiler below, so do not read below if you did not see the season finale episode yet. So the first episodes of this series was pretty nice and good and I started to like it, but then there was a long-long-long part when they stuck in that farm. I'll think about this farm now.
As a fan of strategic games, one thing bugged me when they settled in the farm for the first time... It was pretty much clear that protecting such a place is difficult without making some changes. As the story continued they basically didn't do anything about this. I was sure about they will suck there, big time. According to the last version, I was right. They were basically no protection at all, so the walkers ran them in no time.
According to the story line there were there for a few weeks/months I guess so they had enough time to make major changes without just fighting with each other. So in the bad bad future if we may stuck in such a farm with zombies around, think guys, think.

yikes

I found a nice satellite map on Google with the farm, it is a pretty nice place but a bit difficult to protect from zombies, lol. So on the very first day I'd chop the trees in the area, as I marked on the map with red. With this amount of wood and with wire fence it is possible to start building a strong fence around the place. I guess a lot of resource available for free in the towns around, so with a truck it is possible to gather all tools and wires and other stuffs required in a few days. So I imagine a fence around the cleaned area, marked in light blue and one more fence as additional safety with dark blue. The purple spots are possible location of watchtowers. Of course it is still possible to get crowded with walkers but this double fence system will give a lot more time than waking up in the bed with a walker eating our legs, right? :)  So the system needs a way to exit, and this is the yellow drawing. It is a small underground tunnel from below the house to a location outside the blue fence, with a hidden trap door or something, locked from the inside to keep walkers and other people outside. Of course it is good to keep weapons, ammo and cans of food, fresh water in the case the area is too dangerous to stay. This yellow location also needs a few cars filled up with gas with enough seats for everybody inside the house.

red = area needs cleanup, no trees, bushes..etc

dark blue = outer fence

light blue = inner fence

purple spots = watchtowers

yellow = escape tunnel

With such a setup I think people have much more options to survive and to keep the place safer. Also I really like the idea at the end, the woman with sword. Sword is good, much usable in close combat and it is virtually silent. So swords for everyone.

Lights of Budapest

Happy New Year to everyone!

I just wanted to drop a few photos I just made before the christmas lights will be removed from the city. So this is how Budapest looks like during this period of each year.

Andrassy street, Budapest, Hungary

Andrassy street, Budapest, Hungary

Andrassy street, Budapest, Hungary

Oktogon, Budapest, Hungary

Andrassy street, Budapest, Hungary

Merry Christmas & How it's made

Merry Christmas to everyone! I've created a photo today for this opportunity and thought it would be interesting to share a little tutorial about how to use a simple photographic effect to achieve this result.

The name of the effect is the bokeh. You need to setup the scene in the following way:

As you can see the drawing above, you need a relatively long distance between the camera and the lights (little bulbs, LEDs, whatever) and you have to place the glass close to the camera. You need to setup some soft light to lit the glass. I've used a softbox with a studio flash, but I just needed the model light, not the flash. 

As for the camera, you will need a fast lens, at least f2.8 to have good results and of course a tripod is needed.

Set the focus on the glass and watch the lights on the background and position if necessary. Play a bit with the softbox light intensity to find the right balance on the scene, you will need a bit brighter fill light to avoid the background spots to burn in. Thats all. Easy effect, and no need any graphics work, photoshop..etc. This is a pure photographic trick. Enjoy.