KludgeHack

Log Into Windows Using Facial Recognition Software
26 July 2007 in Software & Windows | Comments (0)

How cool is this? The BananaScreen software lets you login to your computer using facial recognition software.

All you need to use the software is a PC and a webcam. BanananScreen will lock your computer when you move away from it, and, when you return, BananaScreen unlocks the PC in less time than it would take you to enter a password. To use BananaScreen, there are 3 easy steps: download the software, create your face model, then login! Currently, BananaScreen works on Windows 2000 and XP. Vista support is not guaranteed at the moment, but daring users are reporting that it works for them. The site claims that a Mac version will also be available soon.

Its not entirely foolproof (still in beta) so I wouldn’t trust high secured workstations with this authentication method.

(Via makeusof)

WPF with DirectX 10
26 July 2007 in Microsoft & Programming | Comments (0)

Guillaume Randon posted on his Microsoft blog (french blog) a code sample of how to use DirectX 10 within a WPF application by the means of HwndHost and C++/CLI.

You can download his sample code, here.

TwitterMSN
25 July 2007 in Random tidbits & Windows | Comments (1)

Twitter, the all so famous web service that started a revolution by allowing users to answer and share their responses to the simple question: “What are you doing?” can now be used inside the MSN Messenger.

The new 3rd party service, called TwitterMSN, integrates Twitter into your Windows Live Messenger application.

The TwitterMSN service allows you to update your Twitter account from your MSN account. To use the service, you just have to add msn@twittermsn.com to your Window Live Messenger friends list. Additionally, this third party service also lets you receive the friends’ updates, automatically converts URLs to TinyURL, sends tweets even when Twitter is down, and allows you to extend past Twitter’s built-in 140 character limit.

Sick of Being Nagged to restart every 5 Minutes after an Update?
25 July 2007 in Microsoft & Personal Experience | Comments (2)

So many time after the first time Microsoft used this technique to make users restart the computer after updating Windows, it really bothers me that they haven’t changed this.

In Windows XP you didn’t really had a change but to postpone the dialog 10 minutes. Windows Vista “innovated” somehow by allowing the user to select from a time interval of 10 minutes to 4 hours to be warned again.

Unfortunately, even in Windows Vista, after any critical update, the system needs to be restarted. That necessity is easily understandable, as there’s important files to be replaced/updated. But certainly, showing a window every 10 minutes asking to restart is very annoying.

I did a quick search online, and found this easy solution to get rid of the dialog:

1. Open the windows Run dialog
2. Type in “gpedit.msc” and press OK (this opens the “Group Policy” management console)
3. Open “Local Computer Policy”
4. Open “Computer Configuration”
5. Open “Administrative Templates”
6. Open “Windows Components”
7. Open “Windows Update”
8. Double click on “Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations”
9. Select “Disabled”
10. Click “OK”
11. Close the Group Policy management console.

After this, you shouldn’t be bother again.

Either way, I don’t think there’s a reason to sue microsoft over this.

Need some help starting your Game Development?
24 July 2007 in Programming & Tech | Comments (0)

DigiPen has an 8-part webcast series on creating a video game to help aid in just doing that.  Their game doesn’t use XNA but uses DirectX 9.0.  Their series covers sound effects, sprites, sprite behaviors, basic overview, and collision detection.

You don’t need a programming background to follow the videos, which a smart 7^th grader could digest.

The content is associated with DigiPen’s Game Development Webcast Series “Video Game Development: Learn to Write C# the Fun Way”. Webcasts, PDF documents and sample code available.