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Showing posts from December, 2016

It's that time again (code signing certificates)

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As I said in a previous, post code signing annoys me these years like as networks did many years ago. I've just had to renew my Comodo code signing certificate, and as usual K-Software (a Comodo reseller) made it as painless as possible.  The process has not changed, but the graphical interface of Firefox has. So for my own future self and for others in my position now here's how it is done. Once you have ordered the certificate from K-Software, and they have worked their magic in the case of any hiccups with Comodo, your'll get an email from Comodo, something like this: Click on the link in the email and  the next thing you'll see is a web page on the Comodo site which asks you to enter your collection code. If all has worked well the collection code will appear in the web page automatically: Click on the Collect Certificate button and the next screen you see should be like this: The phrase about backing up the private key is a bit misleading if

Xamarin: Finally compiled a C# program and ran it on an emulator

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After about 20 hours of downloading Xamarin and Android SDKs ( see here ) I finally got VS2015 (apparently) able to compile C# code into an Android program. Remember that the native language of Android is Java, so Xamarin cleverly converts from C# to Java. Anyway the download and install carried on apparently without errors and with a condesceding message from the programmer in the dialog box: "Don't worry we've got this. Why not do some tutorials while you wait?" I hate it when programmers talk to the public in that "I'm friendly but I know better than you" tone. Or even like this . Or this .  Despite my cynicism the download and install completed without error. So I could start the tutorial (again). I followed the tutorial. There were a few mis-steps, but I noticed immediately that I felt at home, I knew my way around VS2015, while Android Studio was a new beast. As I saw the fragments of C# my annoyance at the huge Xamarin download began to

How does Xamarin compare to Android Studio? (Something went wrong.)

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Well, for a start, I found the Xamarin versions and options and downloads totally confusing. After a lot of work and a lot of hours uselessly downloading I've understood (maybe I'm wrong) that Xamarin Studio only really exists for the Mac (free). You can use Visual Studio (preferably 2015) with a Xamarin add on to create Xamarin programs. What is called Xamarin Studio for Windows is really "Mono", an open source program. It is hard to find out if it is still maintained and usable. As I say I may be wrong and it took me a long time to garner even this little information. I'm interested in Xamarin for two reasons I know C# so I don't have to learn Java, which I would have do with Android Studio. I know the VS2015 IDE, so I would not have to get used to the Android Studio way of doing things. But what, I hear you say, about targetting Apple products, which is supposed to be the great advantage of using Xamarin? Here are the reasons I don't care

Running the Android Studio emulator

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Ha! I'm beginning to grok this thing (a Robert Heinlein would have said). When you click on the green run button in Android Studio... ...you need to have run the emulator at least once in that session to get it to appear in the list of available devices. Otherwise you just get a blank list. So if you intend to run your program in the emulator click on AVD manager: On my machine the Tools menu is only built up over the first minute that Studio is run. So initially it only contains Tasks & Contexts and Save File as Template , which is disconcerting. You just have to be patient till al the menu items are loaded. Then hopefully you'll see a list of virtual devices which you have previously set up. Once the emulator is running you can get your app running by pushing the main green button in Android Studio... It did run but I got a scary message that I was trying to use 1500MB in a 512MB emulation. Ah. What now? Mr google and stackoverflow came to the res

Why I tried Android Studio first, and how I got on.

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As I mentioned in my previous post , I have a 3 neuron brain, and I require clarity and simplicity to get anywhere in my thought processes. Android and Android Studio seemed to me a good choice because everything was already set up. I just had to write the program, let Studio create the APK, and count the groats from the Android app store, or play shop or game supermarket or whatever it is called. I was also attracted by the tutorials, there seemed to be a good place, developer.android.com, where I could follow step by step lessons in creating apps. It seemed to me that there was a one stop shop for writing, debugging, delivering and monetizing mobile apps. It was that in the end which decided me. Xamarin lost because of the huge download, and JavaScript + HTML + Cordova lost because the tutorials I found seemed less appetising. Depending on how Android Studio goes I may come back to either or both of these. So I downloaded and installed Android Studio, it took several hours, bu

Can I learn to program mobile devices?

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Not sure how long this will last, but I'm doing these entries because I've heard that the best way to learn is to trying to teach what you are trying to learn. That seems to be have been true when I wrote my book " Candelas Lumens and Lux ". I've learned so much from other blog posts maybe I should join the contributing community. Publicly committing to something makes it more likely that the thing will get done. I was faffing around wondering which platform to use for a few ideas I have for mobile apps. I've already done one WEB app, which has had rather limited success (Ok, zero sales). It is a web site which allows you to create European Energy Labels. I did it because I know about the labels, and I wanted to learn C#/WEB apps and I hoped I'd be able to sell the service...     Despite the commercial failure of EuEnergyLabels.com I did learn about WEB apps and I did learn C# (which must rate as one of the very best computer languages ever i

If the self is an illusion...

If the self is an illusion (as some Buddhists and some pyschologists and some scientists say), then...er...who or what ...er... is "illuded"?   The definition of illusion is " a thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses. " So something/one percieves or interprets. I've no doubt  "selves" change and die, but at the moment, now, who or what is having the illusion that the self exists? (And for all those who say the self is an illusion I'd ask them to go and do some painful dental work without an anasthetic, and find out who or what feels the pain.) But my main question remains who or what is illuded?