Nuffing.com

A while ago, I began a huge project to rip my DVDs and Blu-Rays, and make a media center on my computer. The digital copies would also serve as a backup, in case the original disk was damaged, stolen, or lost. The MakeUseOf lawyers, who had a collective seizure reading this article, have asked me to insert the following to cover my ass. In my view, if you legally bought the disk, it’s yours to do with, as you please. If you want, you can make as many digital copies as you want. I have been asked to refer to Exhibit…

Read the full article: Rip Your DVDs & Blu-Rays With Absolute Ease With MakeMKV [Cross-Platform]

via MakeUseOf
Rip Your DVDs & Blu-Rays With Absolute Ease With MakeMKV [Cross-Platform]

July 25, 2014

The Most Accurate Vader Costume Ever

Anovos has been outfitting geeks with replica costumes from popular sci-fi franchises for years, but at Comic-Con this year the company has what is easily the ultimate power in the cosplaying universe. Based on the design created for The Empire Strikes Back, this Darth Vader getup is the most accurate, and surprisingly comfortable, costume you’ll find anywhere.

Nearly every detail has been perfectly recreated by referencing the original props in the Lucasfilm archive, and countless photos taken on set while Empire was filming, right down to the mask’s slightly imperfect asymmetrical design. It’s of course also got working lights on the chest plate, detailed fiberglass armor, and even your choice of authentic leather accents and under suit.

The Most Accurate Vader Costume Ever

But what’s even more impressive is that Anovos knows how uncomfortable a costume like this can be, especially when worn while wandering around a convention, and has gone to great lengths to make this Vader suit extremely comfortable. The helmet and face mask use a clever magnetic system to easily align and stay perfectly in place, and they’ve even got a built-in ventilation system to ensure fresh cool air is flowing around your head inside—because nothing is sadder than a Sith that passes out at the first sign of a convention center that isn’t air conditioned.

Pricing it still to be revealed on this masterpiece, although you can safely assume it’s going to be astronomical given the incredibly attention to detail it represents. But if it guarantees you cosplay superiority, how can it not be completely worth it? [Anovos via Star Wars]

via Gizmodo
The Most Accurate Vader Costume Ever

July 25, 2014

Sig Sauer Headquarters And Factory Tour

P6240120 This past July I was fortunate enough to tour the Sig Sauer Headquarters and manufacturing facilities in New Hampshire. Now most of you will immediately think of Exeter and you would be partially correct. Sig moved into the new facility, shown above, one year and four months ago. The Exeter facility is still in use […]

Prepared Statement Samples

One of our most useful features is Top Queries, which allows users to examine various metrics for families of similar queries. Once a query family is selected, we can drill down into its query samples. Individual samples are shown on a scatterplot. Selecting individual samples will display its captured SQL, latency, errors, and more.
We collect query samples by decoding the MySQL protocol over TCP and extracting the query text. Not only that, we also capture errors, warnings, and more by inspecting traffic over the wire.
Until now, query samples excluded prepared statements. This is because prepared statements are not sent over the wire as strings of SQL text. Statement preparation and execution is quite different from regular query execution, but in the end we generate a good approximation of what the statement SQL would look like and display it on the samples page.
Regenerating the statement text happens in three steps. First, we grab the statement text from a COM_STMT_PREPARE command sent from a client to the MySQL server. The server then sends the client a COM_STMT_PREPARE response with a statement ID. When a statement is to be executed, the client sends a COM_STMT_EXECUTE command to the server with the statement ID and its associated parameters. The parameters sent by the client are sent in the binary protocol format. When our agent sees a COM_STMT_EXECUTE, it decodes the parameters and does a string replace in the original statement text to approximate the SQL query text.
Regenerating SQL from prepared statement executions is not perfect, but should be very good. We understand the argument types, escape strings and text when necessary, and represent parameters in hex when we have to. You’ll notice that the metric parameter is a quoted string, not a literal number. That’s because we actually send that parameter in ASCII format, as text. The protocol doesn’t lie!
Of course, we’re showing a sample of SQL that never executed as displayed, which is kind of disingenuous, isn’t it? But if you think about it for a moment, this is exactly what you get from sources like the slow query log, which also shows SQL that’s reconstructed from the prepared statement with parameters substituted in. The main difference is that the slow query log doesn’t tell you it’s showing you SQL that never actually executed, whereas here the Action column is execute which tells you it’s a prepared statement, not a simple query.
Astute readers will have noticed the EXPLAIN tab to the right of the SQL sample. That’s an upcoming feature. Stay tuned for more on that!
If you are interested in seeing how this can benefit your company, please click below for a demo or here for a free trial.
via Planet MySQL
Prepared Statement Samples

July 24, 2014

Building A 10/22 Tactical Trainer With 8541 Tactical

8541 One of my favorite Youtube channels, 8541 Tactical has started a series of videos that is showing the process of building a 10/22 as a precision rifle trainer. John McQuay is someone that I have always followed and respected as a precision shooter. I have followed his channel since its inception and have learned a […]

Hover Hound Compares Newegg Prices with Tiger Direct and Amazon

Computer hardware is expensive, so you always want to ensure you’re buying at the best price. The Hover Hound extension for Chrome and Firefox compares hardware prices at Newegg with Tiger Direct and Amazon with a hover of your mouse cursor.

Once you’ve installed the extension, just head to Newegg and start browsing. As you peruse all the goodies, you’ll notice a green "Hover Hound" button below the "Add to Cart" button. Just hover your mouse over that green button and you’ll see the prices for the same item at Amazon and Tiger Direct. If you click the button, it will send you to wherever the price is the lowest outside of Newegg. It displays whether there is shipping and handling, and tells you whether an item qualifies for Amazon Prime.

Hover Hound Compares Newegg Prices with Tiger Direct and Amazon

You can also hover over the green button and click the "View Price History" link to see when the prices were at their highest and lowest for each seller, and what the prices were. To download the Chrome extension or Firefox add-on, check the links below.

Hover Hound | Chrome Web Store

Hover Hound | Firefox Add-Ons via Ghacks

via Lifehacker
Hover Hound Compares Newegg Prices with Tiger Direct and Amazon

July 23, 2014

Have a Drone? Check This Map Before You Fly It

The popularity of drones is climbing quickly among companies, governments and citizens alike. But the rules surrounding where, when and why you can fly an unmanned aerial vehicle aren’t very clear. The FAA has tried to assert control and insist on licensing for all drone operators, while drone pilots and some legal experts claim drones […]