Moblog

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In case you're looking for a birthday present [for me]:



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At the moment, I am preparing for 'my most important exam', which happened to bring me to the website of Markus Völter, one of the current experts in Model Driven Software Development and Product Line Engineering. In his list of recent publications, I found a nice (German) article about the Jetbrains Meta Programming System. I've heard of MPS before, but his introduction is nicely written and understandble. Basically, MPS is a nice editor and composer for Domain Specific Languages. What makes it interesting is that apparently you can combine your own DSL with other languages, for example to easily extend a base language like Java with your own concepts. The DSL code is then transparently translated into the base language.
Also, you can use it the other way round, and extend your own DSL with concepts from existing languages, for example Java expressions. Continue reading "JetBrains Meta Programming System"

I'm still hunting for a good "all-inclusive" solution for backup, online storage and versioning. Lately, more and more services pop up (there's an incomplete list buried in my wiki), but TeamDrive stands out because you can use it with any WebDAV storage. I like Syncplicity for its ease of use ("zero configuration"), but I just don't feel well knowing that my files are out there, unencrypted, on some strangers' server.
Now that they've added HTTPS and Vista x64 support, I really need to try it. Also, it is the only tool in this area that doesn't require administrative privileges and runs from a USB stick ("portable"). Linux and Mac versions should be out soon.

Also, you might want to look at the somewhat similar PowerFolder (no versioning, no WebDAV support).

I own a Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 webcam, which is nothing special, but absolutely okay for its price. The only thing that bothered me is that the driver is not available as a standalone download: You need to download a 50MB installer, which then downloads another 150MB: DirectX, the .NET framework and other components required for the (useless) software. Without network connection, you cannot install the driver. Also, (of course) you're forced to install the software, too.

So, I extracted the driver files from the setup. The ZIP file includes drivers for the NX-6000, the VX-1000, VX-3000 and VX-6000. They're working fine without the software.

• LifeCam drivers for Windows XP 32bit (extracted from LifeCam 2.04 installer, 8 MB)
• LifeCam drivers for Windows Vista/Windows 7 64bit (from LifeCam 3.00 installer, 3 MB)

Update: Added standalone drivers for 64bit.

Update: Drivers confirmed to work for Windows 7. After installation, an installer will open and try to download the software, but you can cancel the dialog.