Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with visual

What did I lose when I upgraded to Win7?

Drasher — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:32:13 -0800

[Various Filters] I am stuck. I am using MS Visual Studio 2008 to create a software package. I saved all the source code and what (I thought) I needed so I could format the machine and install the Win7 Update as a fresh OS. After reinstalling the VS2008 compilers, now the project will not compile. The project is a VB.NET front-end GUI and a VC++ DLL back-end which talks to a PIC24FJ256GB110 micro over USB.
The compiler starts spewing error messages as the except.h header file is drawn in. (This file is created by Microsoft and included by some other file, I do not know what file actually includes it.)
The first specific error is: "C2065 '_In_': undeclared identifier."
I suspect that the problem is some kind of compiler setting or directive that is not carried over in the project file. I tried creating a new project from scratch and working the source files into the new project, but the error persists.
I have posted questions on the MS news servers and on stackoverflow.com and have not received helpful answers.

infinite zoom visual source code editor?

flexiverse — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:24:12 -0800

I saw a video from microsoft research which showed a new editor with like "infinite zoom" when viewing all source code files, like flash vector files - really cool. But i can't seem to find this video again! Does anybody know what it's called? Or a link?

Bizarre visual phenomenon

Acey — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:54:37 -0800

Occasionally, I experience a strange visual phenomenon that resembles a vortex of some sort... ... I distinctly remember experiencing it aged 14, and it repeatly resurfaces. It is very real, and to me suggests an illusion of depth, like a bubbly vortex or portal in the centre of my vision, moving in on itself and lasting for several minutes. I can't be the first to experience this apparently harmless apparition. So what is it?

How do I easily convert an ASP.Net 2.0 website to plain html?

therubettes — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:37:45 -0800

Is it possible to use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition to create a simple website and to then easily convert the site to plain html? I have to put together a simple website, about 20 pages of static content. I would like to use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition as it has lots of neat functionality that will allow me to build and amend the site quickly e.g. sitemap, masterpages, navigation controls etc.

How would I then go about automating the process of exporting the site to a static version (by this I mean plain HTML) i.e. one that will function on my webhost?

To clarify I will not be using any of the fancy .net functionality or controls. So no logins, calenders, datagrids, database etc. The thing wont even have a radiobutton!

Oh and if you think this is a dumb idea please tell me.

Make a MLC226IP control two projectors

sbutler — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:50:56 -0800

AVFilter: at work we're replacing some of our aging AV equipment, and we can't figure out how to hook up our projectors to the new controller panel. We bought an Extron MediaLink MLC226IP controller to replace our old controller. On the back it has an RS232 connection to control a projector. Perfect!

Problem: one of the labs has two projectors in it! Both projectors should always act in sync (turn on/off at the same time, select the same input, etc). How can I control both projectors when I only have one RS232 connection on the controller?

Ideally, there's something out there that will just mirror the controller commands to the second projector. I don't think we even need to worry about the projector responses because I'm not sure the controller is smart enough anyway. We'll just program an ON button, an OFF button, and a couple input buttons.

Audio-Video-Computing wish list

Echidna882003 — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:56:10 -0800

I'm moving and starting over just about from scratch. I'd like people's input on what I should do about setting up nifty integrated audio/visual/computing stuff in my new place. Here are some details:
1) I'm renting, so things like mounting speakers inside walls, drilling a bunch of holes for cables, etc. is probably out.
2) I will have a decent LCD HDTV.
3) I own a 80 hour dual tuner TiVo, I like it okay.
4) I own a PS3 (w/ remote), so I have a pretty good BluRay player.
5) I have my nice T60p laptop (with XP) and a decent dell desktop (with Ubuntu.)
6) cable internet and TV from Comcast (sigh.)
7. I'm fairly technically competent, I just haven't kept up in this area.

So what would you do? Media server? What kind of stereo components are essential or just nice to have? Universal remote of some kind? A safe way to make and watch "backups" of DVDs (wink)? Software recommendations? Internet radio? Clever integration?

Which awesome website do you folks love that deals with this kinda stuff?

Thanks folks!

(sorry if this topic has been covered before, but I'm a very special person who deserves a lot of individual attention, plus I'm very lazy!)

Stumped by VBA-ising an array formula in Excel

Mokusatsu — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:20:18 -0800

How to do a VBA version of the following array formula in Excel? The following array formula (entered with ctrl,shift,enter) will produce the string 'Bank statement'!H842, which is the name of a cell I would like to be able to manipulate via VBA: {="'Bank statement'!H"&MATCH(C1&D$39,'Bank statement'!A:A&'Bank statement'!C:C,0)} It creates a string out of the values in the cells C1 and D$39 and looks those up in an array made out of the A and C columns of the sheet 'Bank statement'.

Its function is to find the row of a payment from a certain payer on a certain day, and then return the address of the cell in column H of that row.

i.e. it will find the payment from Joe Bloggs on the 15/3/2008 for example, and return the address of the cell in column H on the row that payment appears.

This formula will put the address of that cell, which I'd like to use as a range variable in VBA.

I'm completely stumped by trying to make it work though. I've tried for a day or two to do it, asked every Excel VBA related usenet and Yahoo group and not gotten a solution. I'm more confident in MeFi though. :)

A macro I can run from a button click will suffice for now, but if I could have my every wish granted I'd also like to be able to make a pivot table hyperlink-clickable, so I could click on any entry in that pivot table (pivot table consists of payments arranged by date and payer) and navigate to that payment.

How to best communicate the data about which I will later AskMefi?

vanoakenfold — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:11:37 -0800

Question-Asking-Filter: What would be the best way to ASK a question on AskMeFi that I want to ask? Pre-question question-answers within. So I'm sort-of asking it now, but I want to pose it again using the answer(s) this question reaps. So anyway.

I've got more than a hanfdul of wooden cubes stuck face-to-face together in oddball configurations that, together, form a mystery number of x-by-x-by-x cubes, that I made many years ago and have since forgotten the solutions. How should I present the spectrum of the piece configurations, in a text-based setting like Ask-Mefi?

(a) Is there a freeware PC/web-based program I could use to build a visual representation of them, take screenshots and post for MeFites to mentally assemble?

Would the question be too much to ask, considering I don't know how many x-by-x-by-x cubes the pieces actually form total?

(b) should I instead type out a series of..
XXX // XOX // XXX
XOX // OOX // XOX
XOX // XXX // XXX
..whereas O is the wood and X is absence of wood, for each piece?

I'm truthfully not even certain all of the available pieces are even present, given that I don't know their solution(s), but they were all found in a sealed baggie so I might presume they were the complete set(s).

Things I do know: some of the pieces are shorter in overall cube-length than the entire assmbled-cube's max width. I did make a 4x4x4 cube and a 5x5x5 cube at some point. I am the originator of the puzzle and the solution has not ever been posted on the web by me or anyone else to my knowledge (although the gnomes who often scamper about and hide my keys in random places may have at some point posted the solution). There are 25 pieces, with a maximum piece-length of no more than 5 cubes across.

The question though -- how I could I best communicate the configurations of these pieces, and perhaps secondarily, would anyone even bother answering it, and perhaps tertiarily, would providing a non-MeFi-based incentive for answering it encourage someone to answer it?

visual studio

amsterdam63 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:02:54 -0800

The command window (in XP) flashes for just a second and then goes away when executing "Hello, World!" program written in Visual C++ express edition. I started with Win32 project, then Console Application, put in source code and built the solution (F7), and everything seemed to be going swimmingly, then of course, I tried to execute it using F5 (and by going to project folder in explorer and Debug-->start debugging. Pretty sure this isn't relevant, but here's the source code:

// Ex1.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
//

#include "stdafx.h"
#include

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
std::cout << "Hello, World!\n";
return 0;
}

I would like to study images as both a computer scientist and an anthropologist. What do I study next?

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:32:07 -0800

I would like to study images as both a computer scientist and an anthropologist. What do I study next? So I'm wrapping up a masters in computer graphics. My undergrad minor was linguistic anthropology.

So: I'd like to study visual anthropology from two very different and complementary perspectives.

So this is what I'd like to do :

Pick some region of the world. Look at the images this region of the world has produced. Start asking questions across a range of features: the history of these images: cultural, economic, political.

I would also like to cluster properties in these images computationally. Find new trends, new grupings, new common threads.

A anthropological/sociological reading of these images, complemented and aided by pattern recognition and machine learning.

The thing is, what do I study next? A PhD? One more Masters?

Which are the schools that have such programs? Who is doing interesting things in this manner?

Help me learn everything I need to know about visual processing (and improving it).

mintchip — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:12:03 -0800

Help me learn everything I need to know about visual processing (and improving it). I would like to learn more about visual processing and how one can improve it. For example:

1. What region of the brain controls visual processing, and what activities/exercises have been shown to stimulate this region?
2. What activities have been found (or would be likely) to be helpful in improving visual procesing?
3. What if someone has deficits in this from birth as opposed to someone who has acquired visual processing deficits (for example, from a car accident). Would they present differently?
4. Are there any supplements that may be useful, either in improving visual processing or protecting this from further impairment?
5. What are some resources or links that would help me learn more about visual processing problems?
6. Is there anything in addition to simple practice that athletes do to improve their visual processing speed and accuracy (for example, a baseball player who needs to improve his reaction time and accuracy) when up at bat.
7. Anything else I need to know.

Thanks!

You have been looking at that painting a bit too long and it's making me feel like a nube

brandnew — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:32:24 -0800

Appreciating the visual arts: what should I be looking at? What should I be thinking about? OK, I love art. I had done several years of art technique in drawing, painting, and ceramics throughout middle school and high school, and a little bit more in college. I have taken (a while ago), classes on art history, so I vaguely remember the different art periods, and the meaning of art from a period perspective. I can appreciate the social aspects and movements that drive art. I understand a wee little bit on art theory - form and color, in particular, but not much.

Here's the problem: When I'm at a gallery or a museum, a lot of times I just don't understand what I'm supposed to be looking at. ISo, fall back to the aesthetics. I also try to role-play the artist - try to understand why they had made one decision over another. Finally, I try to appreciate the art technique.

But, to be totally and ignorantly honest, 75% of what I see, I don't understand. This is especially true in contemporary galleries, where I'm looking at art from this period. I end up passing up most of the art on the wall, because it's not immediately interesting or appealing. Especially photography - oftentimes, I'm puzzled and asking myself "why".

I really want to understand what I'm supposed to be looking at. But, I want to better appreciate art. I don't want to feel out of the know.

What are all of those other people (you) looking at when they look at a painting or sculpture? They seem to be standing there for a very long time.

Are there blogs or books that I can read to help decrease my art ignorance?

Color generated 3D effects on screen,just me?

spacefire — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:01:06 -0800

Why does red text on black background appears 'closer to me' than green text on black background, when the two text elements are next to each-other? Other combinations yield all kinds of different 'distances'. Just curious, what causes this effect? I wear glasses or contacts and am astigmatic in the left eye.

If I can see it, then I can do it

reenum — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:04:09 -0800

CookingFilter: I need cookbooks or websites that have step by step visuals of recipes. After my AskMe about cooking last week, I've determined that I need cookbooks or websites that have visuals. I seem to do a lot better when I can see the steps I need to be taking, or at least some photos of how the prep should go.

I've already seen VisualRecipes.com, and am looking for more cookbooks or websites in a similar vein.

Thanks, everyone!

Visually exploring and representing survey data.

proj — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:45:08 -0800

Best ways to visually explore a large survey data set? My advisor has advised me to explore my data set visually before diving in statistically. It is a large (N = 180,000+) survey data set comprised of individuals in over 80 countries. Most of the responses are categorical or dichotomous in nature, taking the form "agree/disagree" or "yes/no/maybe." Some of them are Likert-style scales (1-5, Disagree-Agree). Many of the demographic variables are also categorical (for example, rather than asking income, "income level" is asked) but I do have a few continuous variables such as age. My dependent variable of interest is a scale composed of four survey items indexed to 100 (although the actual number of discrete values taken on the scale is rather low owing to the nature of the questions comprising the scale).

What would be some interesting ways to visually explore this data? Obviously, scatterplots (even with jittering) are not the way to go because of the highly redundant and categorical nature of the data. I have a few boxplots that I've generated (usually separating by gender or region). I am open to abstract suggestions or concrete suggestions using R or Stata.

How can I pimp my PowerPoint?

colecovizion — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:17:42 -0800

How can I pimp my PowerPoint? I've been around PowerPoint since 1.0. I've been pleased with Powerpoint 2007, but I'm always looking for more ways to add more visual polish. And, by polish, I mean Apple Keynote quality polish (which I use at home but cannot use at work). From my search, all I've found is tacky templates and low res, jagged, inflexible proprietary add-on programs.

What resources/programs are out there that can help me add visual polish to the following areas?

* Shape creation/manipulation. Especially 3d. The closest I've gotten is "Perspector." However, it doesn't give me the ability to do gradients and soft shadows. Powerplugs is appalling.
* Charts (bar, pie) and flow charts (omnigraffle-esqe)
* Diagrams
* Animations
* Text manipulation (a word-art on steroids? 3d would be great!)

I looking for the following attributes:
* Anti-aliasing
* Flexibility to customize colors/soft shadows/transparency/lighting. Gradients are a must
* Ability to customize shapes, curves, bevel, etc.
* High resolution (vector if possible)
* Compatibility with Powerpoint

I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. Usually, to achieve the look I want I have to do some heavy Photoshopping. I'd rather not go to all this trouble to achieve a clean, elegant, look.

Any Powerpoint vets out there that can give me a few advanced tips? Thanks! :)

Visual Alarm

edmz — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:57:18 -0800

I need to design/buy a visual alarm for use with a PC. I'm writing a small software application that will be installed in about 200 places. The main task of this application is to monitor a database. When there is an important change in the database, the person closest to the PC needs to interact with the software.

I need a visual alarm because of 2 things I cannot change: the places were these computers are installed must be completely silent and the people working near the PC usually are at least 10 feet away and looking the other way. This means that I cannot use speakers nor headphones to notify the users that they need to check the computer.

Currently, I can only think of building a bright led that I can control via USB. This LED will be placed (using a long cable) where everyone could see it. My software could make the LED blink whenever I wanted to.

I can write the software to control this USB controlled LED and, maybe, I could find someone to design this USB led.

But, before doing that, I just need any ideas or comments you might have about my problem and idea to solve it.

Whatever the solution it must not be expensive (less than 20USD per unit) since we need to buy build at least 200 of them.

Thanks!

What audio visual equipment is required for a modern office ?

matholio — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:25:49 -0800

Help needed, designing an AV facility for the future. The organisation I work for, together with a local univercity, are constructing a new five floor building.

Part of the fit-out involves AV equipment for a large lecture auditorium, board rooms, and smaller meetings rooms.

I've been asked (as IT Manager) to represent our interests on the AV committee.

I'm a little out of touch regarding AV developments, what equipment should I ask for ?

I will consult our staff members (end-users), but I'd like to hear about any awsome/awful equipment to take into consideration.

This is an opportunity to provide great facilities, and I want to embrace that, at the same time I know complex systems need more support.

I'm just as interested in the operational aspects of modern AV. For instance, will we require a dedicated AV resource ?

Thanks

Matt

New adventures in hi-fi

nightengine — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:38:41 -0800

How do I get started down an audio/visual career path? I am currently a technical writer with a background in both English and engineering. I have also been freelancing as a video editor for the last eight years, working with both Avid and Final Cut Pro. The freelance work is fulfilling but doesn't pay, since most local filmmakers defer payment until non-existent profits materialize. I'd like to use my admittedly varied background in service to a career involving multimedia (primarily video) work. But I'm not sure what I should be looking for. I think I'd be happy working in a company's marketing department or in events planning, but beyond those broad categories, what job title am I seeking? Where should I be looking for these jobs? My current employer has an A/V department, but it's small and prospects for growth are slim. Returning to school to specialize is probably not an option, but I'm willing to be low man on the totem pole again to learn what I need.

ATL / COM / Automation / ActiveX VC++ 2005 Advice?

blahtsk — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:39:03 -0800

ATL, COM, Automation in VC++ 2005 - Help me make sense of it all! I'm creating an Outlook 2003 / 2007 Add-In in VC++ using VS 2005. I've been referencing these two excellent Code Project articles, but I want to go a little deeper...

Though I'm a seasoned developer, I've been away from C++ and COM / Automation for a while. I need a book / website that I guess I would describe as intermediate-level; more than an "Introduction to VC++" but less than "ATL Internals" (which is a great book but is just a little over my head).

I want to know things like:

-- When I use an #import statement, what is raw_interfaces_only doing? Do I need it for my plugin (it's used in the example code in the articles I mentioned above)? Why?

-- How can I avoid calls like HRESULT hr = Session->get_Folders( &Folders );
And instead just call Folders = Session->Folders;
More like a normal VC++ app.

-- What if I'm trying to #import a file that's not on the user's computer? I.e. can I detect if they have Outlook 2003 installed vs. Outlook 2007 and #import accordingly?

-- When do I use a CComPtr and when do I use a CComQIPtr??? Can I get by without using them at all?

-- In what ways can VS 2005 help me to generate code for my add-in? Do I really have to modify the sink map and COM map by hand to add event sinks?

BTW no I don't want to use VB and no, I don't want to use C# or the CLI.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice. :D

Graphing complicated data

b33j — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:00:24 -0800

I need help graphically representing some data. So I’ve got this data. Each item is three digits long. The first digit refers to um say hair colour (1 brown, 2 blonde, 3 black 4 white 5 red), the second digit to hair length (say nearest inch) and the third as to whether the hair is curly (1)or not. (0). So a short sample of my data set might be like this: 121, 220, 310, 320, 120, 111, 430, 501.

I can quite easily separate the numbers from each other (text to columns excel) if necessary. Excel & Illustrator are my tools. I do not have a budget to change that. I have high school maths skills. My audience will be middle school teachers. (Obviously the data set isn’t really hair styles).

How do I graph this? How do I show visually that most of my sample don’t have curly hair, but the shorter the hair the more likely it is to be curly? What are good terms to search for graphing techniques that will narrow down my results?

I do know about this website http://infosthetics.com/ but what am I looking for, exactly? I did think of colour coding the digits and sorting by most common, but the problem is the digits in each of the columns has a different meaning. Brown <> 1 inch <> curly.

Making Visual Teaching easier on XP (OSX equivalents needed

filmgeek — Tue, 29 May 2007 13:30:04 -0800

As a followup to this question (2 years ago)... I need in WinXP to have three features (and I'll take any of the three, preferably all). 1) Bordered Cursor (round ring, called Pinpoint for OSX). Bonus for a visual change when you click (and right click) 2) Key overlay like KeyCastr for OSX, showing the audience control/alt keys as you type them in an overlay. 3) Dynamic Zoom (yes, I know it's open gl based, I have only open GL cards) to push in. MacOS Universal Prefs.

Picturing the mid-20th century

zadcat — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:31:38 -0800

Helping make a historical documentary, I'm looking for photo archives of various scenes in England in the 20th century. The story line follows a working class woman from school (1910s-1920s) through working as a clerk in a shoe shop (1930s) and marriage and homemaking mid 1930s through the 1950s.

She lived in the Midlands mostly, not in London.

We need images of interiors of classrooms, shops and houses, and related objects, that we can use freely. 1930s shoe advertising would be good too.

We're not actually in England, so we need online archives because we can't just pop around to addresses in the UK.

Graphical data representation

b33j — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:15:29 -0800

Help me work out how to represent data in an innovative way. I am an RA to an academic in the field of Education, and we’re looking at representing some data in a different way. For example, this style - what’s it called, and who invented it?

Is there a better guide to a variety of diagrams or ways of displaying data in a graphical way than Wikipedia?

Apart from Edward Tufte, who would be the leaders in the field of displaying data? Is there a name for this field? I find myself lacking in the terms to even ask this question.

I found this here:

Visual Learning
Cool software visual design

I’m also familiar with Excel and the graphs found there, and I’m wanting to move in a different direction.

Hard to gauge speeds at night. Inattention, illusion, or visual deficit?

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 06:12:02 -0800

Is there any sort of recognised optical illusion or visual deficit that can make it hard to realize that a vehicle is stationary? A friend of mine is a lawyer. S/he is looking for a lead that may save someone from going to jail.

My friend's client was driving his truck in the right lane of an elevated road at night. A car had stopped in the lane ahead because the driver's passenger felt sick. There was no stopping lane, nothing was to the right of the car but a guardrail. Three other cars had stopped behind the first car. My friend's client struck the last car, killing the people inside.

I've noticed that it can be hard to gauge speeds at night. In this case the road was lit but there were no visible trees or houses. The driver will have seen the road surface, the guard rail at the side of the road, the poles supporting the street lights, cars travelling in each direction and the stationary cars. Is there any reasonable explanation other than inattention for him not realizing that the cars were stationary? He doesn't recall the moments before the crash.

If it makes any difference, I'm not the lawyer or the client, and I don't know the client.