Daily Cup of Tech

This is the funniest thing I have seen in ages!

And if you liked the video, you’ll love the game!

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/08/29/bill-gates-vs-steve-jobs/trackback/

Marketers are always looking for new and exciting ways to get their message across. Here is a demo of what can be done with computer controlled streams of water.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/08/29/printing-with-a-waterfall/trackback/

Windows has had a search option for a very long time. The problem that I have with it is two-fold:

1. It is slow
2. The indexer is a real
3. resource hog

So, a long time ago, I learned how to index all of the files on my computer that provides me with accurate results in a fraction of the time. And, the index is completely portable so I can keep a copy of the index on my USB drive so that I can tell my wife exactly where that file is on my computer at home that I need at work.

How exactly is this done? Read on.

Create the Index

The index is really nothing more than a text file listing every single file that is on your computer’s hard drive. To create the index, simple go to a command prompt and type the following:

dir c:\ /s /b>>fileindex.txt

Wait for a couple of seconds and it will be done. If you want to add more hard drives to the index, simply retype the command and change the c: drive letter in the command to the other drive letter you want to index.

Search the Index

The next step is to search the file index for a file you are looking for. Let’s say you are looking for a file with the word “accounting” in it. You would use the following command to get a list of all the files with the work “accounting” in them:

find "accounting" fileindex.txt

You will instantly get the results. No waiting!

Updating the Index

Since it is so quick and easy to build the index, to update the index all you need to do is delete the fileindex.txt file and recreate the index just like you did earlier.

Suggestions

What you may want to do to simplify the process is create a couple of batch files to simplify the process. For example, you could create a batch file called MakeIndex.bat that would delete the fileindex.txt file and then rebuild it with information from all of your hard drives. This file may look something like this:

@echo off
del fileindex.txt
dir c:\ /s /b>>fileindex.txt
dir d:\ /s /b>>fileindex.txt

You could also create a file called WhereIs.bat that will find your files easier for you. It might look something like this:
@echo off
find %1 fileindex.txt

Now, all you would have to type is:

WhereIs "accounting"

This will give you the same results!

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/08/28/diy-file-index/trackback/

There are several situations where it would be to your benefit to listen to a WAV file rather than read a text file.

• When you are driving home.
• Someone who is visually impaired.
• You do not want the contents of a text file edited.

So, I started looking into how difficult it would be to create such a program. As it turns out, not very difficult.

I used AutoIT to create a simple executable that lets you either double click on the program and select a text file or drop a text file right on it. It will then automatically create a WAV file with the same name in the same folder as your original file.

You can download the MakeWAV application for free.

Also, if you are interested, here is the source code that you can copy and compile to make your own application. It’s open source so have fun!

#NoTrayIcon

Opt("MustDeclareVars", 1)
Dim $strTXTFile ;Name of the text file to convert to a WAV
Dim $strWAVFile ;Name of the WAV file to create
Dim $strTextData ;Text information to convert to a

WAV file

If $CmdLine[0] > 0 Then
$strTXTFile = $CmdLine[1]
Else
$strTXTFile = FileOpenDialog("Select Text File...", @MyDocumentsDir, "All (*.*)|Text files (*.txt;*.csv;*.log;*.msg;*.asc)", 1)
EndIf

If Not FileExists($strTXTFile) Then Exit

$strWAVFile = StringLeft($strTXTFile, StringLen($strTXTFile) - 3) & "wav"
$strTextData = FileRead($strTXTFile)
SplashTextOn("", "Creating WAV file. Please be patient.", 275, 20, -1, -1, 1)
_MakeWAV($strTextData, $strWAVFile)

Func _MakeWAV($strSentence, $strFileName)
Dim $oVoice ;SAPI voice object
Dim $oFilestream ;SAPI file stream object
$oVoice = ObjCreate("SAPI.SpVoice")
$oFilestream = ObjCreate("SAPI.SpFileStream")
$oFilestream.Open($strFileName, 3, False)
$oVoice.AudioOutputStream = $oFilestream
$oVoice.Speak($strSentence)
$oFilestream.Close
$oFilestream = 0
$oVoice = 0
EndFunc ;==>_MakeWAV

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/08/27/convert-text-into-wav-files/trackback/

Initially, the Internet was designed to be used as a text only tool. These were the days when telnet was king. Man, have things ever changed!

Today, everything is trying to look pretty. CSS, graphics, flash have all changed how we see the web. The one thing that has not changed is how we search the web. We still rely on the basic old concept of words.

But a company called TouchGraph is out to change that. They have created a search tool that lets you see how different websites are related in a visual format.

How TouchGraph works is actually pretty difficult to explain. Think of planets revolving around a star. Each “star” is a central web page with related website “planets” circling around the “star”.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Check out how TouchGraph displays a search for “Daily Cup of Tech“. Simply click here.

I have come to rely on this tool for a number of things, especially when I am looking for inspiration while blogging. It simply presents me with options that I don’t get with regular search engines.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2008/08/26/google-visually-and-blog-better/trackback/