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here it is

MSDN FIRST

Many, many people, when starting out with DirectX or other Microsoft technologies, go and look for a simple book on the topic.

Many newbies do not know about MSDN. Or, if they do know about MSDN, they don’t know just HOW GOOD and complete it is, simply because they’ve never tried to use it before.

The MSDN documentation CAN BE a bit annoying, simply because its so damn huge.

It is very well organized though, and if you browse through the tree hierarchy on the left (once you’ve got a good starting point!), then its very useful indeed.

The search tool doesn’t always find you the article you’re looking for though, so sometimes trying different search strings can help. Just because a bunch of weird irrelevant stuff turns up in an MSDN search, doesn’t mean that MSDN doesn’t have what you’re looking for!

IN FACT, MOST OF THE BOOKS out there on DirectX SIMPLY ADAPT OR EXPAND ON THE MSDN DOCUMENTATION. A LOT of the time, the book just provides you a subset of what MSDN provides, while not making the material all that much clearer. SOME of the books on DirectX out there are like drinking from a murky pond, while the clearer (not 100% clear, though) lake is right next to it.

As I mentioned, it can be a TAD annoying to have to LOOK FOR the appropriate MSDN article.

So here’s a pageful of links:

MAIN LINK TO DirectX SDK DOCUMENTATION, (NOVEMBER 2007) C++

The rest of these links you can find by simply following the above DirectX links, but I’m including them here for convenience.

MSDN docs on DirectInput

MSDN docs on DirectSound

More interesting stuff from MS. . .

Microsoft XNA presentations – has stuff from Gamefest, SIGGRAPH, and GDC (near the bottom of the page)

The value of exposure

Exposure is really just being able to say “I’ve heard of that.” Exposure to ideas, exposure to available technologies, exposure to culture are all extremely important.

I think its being “exposed” that really makes a person seem mature, intelligent, and experienced. Staying exposed all the time is quite hard, so I suppose you have to be mature, intelligent and experienced to be exposed.

Some people will hide their sources of exposure. They do this so that they can maintain their lead by keeping others NOT on the same page as they are. They can then update others and in that process, they remain superior.

Isn’t exposure really experience? I don’t know.

Just a thought.

best CPU detector ever

what kind of cpu do i have?

have you wondered about the details of your cpu?

use cpu-z to find out

Let me also add

How do I measure the temperature of my CPU?

CoreTemp!

Interesting stuff – hardware

open source hardware!

The definitive “tom’s hardware” website (check out their CPU/GPU comparison charts)

I like looking at this NVIDIA GPU’s comparison chart on wikipedia

Similar list for ATI GPU’s

newegg.com for all your hardware browsing and bargain finding needs

article on nvidia’s 7900, also talks about how NVIDIA doesn’t manufacture their own stuff, instead companies like BFG, XFX, PNY and eVGA do it.

With whom do you discuss your sexual experiences?

This is sort of like a survey question, sparked by a curious discussion.

I don’t expect very many people to actually answer it — but it would be interesting if people did.

But it came to me, so I thought I’d post it nonetheless.

1. Best friend, same sex
2. Best friend, opposite sex
3. Any friend, same sex
4. Any friend, opposite sex
5. Mother
6. Father
7. Sibling (brother)
8. Sibling (sister)
9. Anyone really (No restrictions)

OpenGL++

No, its not a joke!

Open Inventor

Numerical recipies in C is available for FREE!!

I didn’t know that

Google trends stuff

Ha ha ha. Check out the Google trends for “jobs.”

Drops during the Christmas season, then goes back up to normal level.

Look at the Google trends for “winners” (the store):

People search for bargain styles right after the holiday break, going into spring, when their old styles aren’t good enough anymore, but they haven’t the money to spend on anything really good.

ah very cool cg stuff

some very cool cg stuff

wild assortment of artistic cg tutorials

CG References & Tutorials

remind me

remind me to read the blog of the scribbling woman

the teaching company

wow! this company provides (expensive) lectures you can buy.

they seem to use the same guys over and over again (for music anyway), but its interesting though.

Great quotes

This list is being expanded

• “At all times, action is the best camoflage for idiocy.” – from this comments page

New technology for security

Interesting article:

Machines that can determine a person’s intent based on a few factors.

Summative paragraph from article below.

Current research focuses on three key areas. The first is recognition of gestures and so-called “microfacial expressions” — a poker player might call them “tells” — that flash across a person’s face in about one third of a second. Some researchers say micro expressions can betray a person when he is trying to deceive.

The second area is analysis of variations in speech, such as pitch and loudness, for indicators of untruthfulness.

The third is measurement of physiological characteristics such as blood pressure, pulse, skin moisture and respiration that have been associated with polygraphs, or lie detectors.

Tuesdays with Morrie

I’m currently reading Tuesdays with Morrie. I think its fantastic.

Massive wisdom. For those who don’t know, the book is a series of conversations that Mitch Albom has with his friend and mentor Morrie Schwartz as Morrie is suffering a fatal disease.

Here are some quotes from the book that I particularly liked:

Know you’re going to die, and be prepared for it at any time.

Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent

If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children.

Albom also says that America has become a “Persian Bazaar of self-help”. ha ha ha.

A few more quotes: p 127:

Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

You notice there’s nothing in there about a salary.

pg 127:

Mitch, if you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down at you anyhow. And if you’re trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.

pg 149:

Is there some kind of rule to know if a marriage is going to work?

Morrie smiled. “Things are not that simple, Mitch.”
I know.
“Still,” he said, “there are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don’t respect the other person, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don’t know how to compromise, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don’t have a common set of values in life, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike.

And the biggest one of those values, Mitch?

Your belief in the importance of your marriage.

People are only mean when they’re threatened,” he said later that day, “and that’s what our culture does. That’s what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.

__more cool stuff

man. The net is just . . .

EXCELLENT list of Open source software and other really cool stuff

interesting article about Terman

sweet php math formula printer

just another reason to use Smarty

matrix cookbook