Posts by this author

Dec 14, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Why do dialog editors start assigning control IDs with 100?

When you use a dialog editor and insert new controls, they typically are assigned control IDs starting at around 100. Why? Because the small numbers are already taken. /* * Dialog Box Command IDs */ #define IDOK 1 #define IDCANCEL 2 #define IDABORT 3 #define IDRETRY 4 #define IDIGNORE ...

History
Dec 14, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Scientists come one step closer to the perfect poppy-seed bagel

It's easy to distribute points evenly across a flat surface, but doing so over a curved surface is a much more complicated problem. Even spheres are hard. NPR's Scott Simon interviews mathematician Ed Saff who with colleague Doug Hardin has developed a new method of attacking this complex problem. Press release from Vanderbilt University. You ...

Non-Computer
Dec 13, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Tintin goes to the neurologist

The Canadian Medical Association Journal traditionally runs an offbeat research paper in their Christmas edition, for which there is apparently huge competition. This year, Tintin goes to the neurologist. The feedback is fun to read too. (External news coverage here and here.) My first exposure to Tintin was—of course—in Sweden. ...

Non-Computer
Dec 10, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

For all your chicken sequencing needs

The International Chicken Sequencing Consortium announced that it has completed the sequencing of chicken DNA. I repeat: There is an organization called "The International Chicken Sequencing Consortium". (For some reason I want to think these people get together and decide, "Okay, Ginger goes first, then Bunty, then Babs...")

Non-Computer
Dec 10, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Dragging a shell object, part 5: Making somebody else do the heavy lifting

Creating that drag image was a bit of work. Fortunately, the listview control is willing to do some of the work for you. Throw away the OnLButtonDown function (and the HANDLE_MESSAGE that goes with it). Instead, we'll make the listview do all our presentation for us. BOOL OnCreate(HWND hwnd, LPCREATESTRUCT lpcs) { g_hwndChild = CreateWindow(...

Code
Dec 9, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Time to dust off your conspiracy theories

When I started studying Swedish, my web searches happened to alight upon Francis Strand's blog thanks to its wonderful title, "How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons", and I've been following his musings on life on Stockholm ever since. Wednesday morning, an apartment just a block away from his own exploded under curious circumstances. ...

Non-Computer
Dec 9, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Dragging a shell object, part 4: Adding a prettier drag icon

You may have noticed that the drag feedback is rather sad-looking. Just a box, maybe with a plus sign or an arrow; you don't even know what it is you're dragging. Let's fix that. We'll drag the icon of the file around. We'll need to add the drag image to the data object. void OnLButtonDown(HWND hwnd, BOOL fDoubleClick, int x, int y, UINT keyF...

Code
Dec 8, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

Dragging a shell object, part 3: Detecting an optimized move

We were considering how to detect that the drag/drop operation resulted in a conceptual Move even if the DROPEFFECT_MOVE was optimized away. If the drop target is the shell, you can query the data object for CFSTR_PERFORMEDDROPEFFECT to see what the performed effect was. void OnLButtonDown(HWND hwnd, BOOL fDoubleClick, int x...

Code
Dec 8, 2004
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

It is not illegal to use James Bond style tactics for winning at the roulette wheel

In an operation straight out of a James Bond movie, a trio of gamblers used a laser range-finder hidden in a mobile phone to predict the likeliest landing spot of a roulette ball, reducing the odds from 37-1 to 6-1. Scotland Yard concluded that they did nothing illegal and were allowed to keep their winnings. I wonder how long it'll be befor...

Non-Computer