It’s easy to think of responsive design primarily as using media queries and flexible CSS-based layouts to allow a site to display correctly on any device. But this definition misses an important point: Users of different devices often have different priorities. For example, mobile device users may want the actual content to be more concise…
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With advances in screen technology (as pioneered by Apple’s Retina display), some devices may actually be able to offer additional resolution within a pixel. To take advantage of the ability to display sharper images, you can use HTML 5.1’s srcset attribute to specify different images for the same layout. For example, following code displays a…
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Sometimes you have to take what you can get. If a panel isn’t as large as you’d like it to be, you often have to just deal with it. One of the great improvements to Photoshop CC 2014 is the ability to resize the color picker in the Color panel, giving you a larger, more…
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Using the Custom Shape tool is a great way to quickly generate simple shapes and images. However, before you draw a shape, set the proper tool options. There are three different ways the tool can behave. First, select the Custom Shape tool from the Tools panel. Then on the tool options bar, select one of…
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One common way of passing information between systems is to use scheduled jobs to copy files between locations. If those locations are on Windows servers in the same network but different domains, a Windows batch file may be the simplest way to do the job. The key is to set up a locked-down account with…
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Online storage can be a great way back up files so that disasters that affect your building don’t wipe out your data. However, just because your data are backed up online doesn’t mean they’re safe. As an example of how unreliable online storage can be, in October 2014, Bitcasa subscribers received a generic, spam-filter-triggering email…
DetailsBusiness intelligence (BI) in SharePoint 2013 provides comprehensive BI tools that integrate across Microsoft Office applications and other Microsoft technologies. These BI tools are: Excel 2013, Excel Services in SharePoint 2013, PerformancePoint Services in SharePoint Server 2013, Visio Services in SharePoint, SharePoint 2013, and Microsoft SQL Server. Excel BI Excel BI provides the capabilities to…
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To start a process in Visual Basic .NET, you use the Start() method of the System.Diagnostics.Process class, like so: System.Diagnostics. _ Process.Start(“someapp”) However, when you start a process in this manner, it′s up to the user to shut it down when she′s done. If you′d like to control the life of the spawned process, declare…
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While the CallByName() function, which allows you to call a function or subroutine using the subroutine or function name stored as a string value, still works in VB. NET, you do have another option. You can use the Invoke() method of the MethodInfo class. This class is a member of the System.Reflection namespace and it…
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It’s easy to find SQL queries or transactions that are slowing your system. While Oracle 10g provides its Top SQL feature for this purpose, you can find bottlenecks by using queries if you aren’t on 10g or prefer the precision and control you get from issuing SQL commands. Get your answer from V$SQL Simply query…
DetailsSQL Training and Web Development The world is going increasingly mobile. According to ZDNet contributor Matt Baxter-Reynolds, the mobile Web is dying, and native apps have taken over as the preferred means of Web connection for countless Internet users. In addition, according to Robert Half Technology’s 2014 IT Salary Guide, web developers will be one of the most in-demand…
DetailsThe Power of Microsoft SQL Server 2014 As your business grows, so do the demands you place on the databases that help run your organization. Whether for inventory, online sales transactions, or customer management, a slow-performing or unavailable database can create bottlenecks in the way your employees do their jobs—and cause your customers to take…
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The Next Wave of SQL Server After January 5, 2014, Microsoft’s 10774, 10775, 10776, 10777 and 10778 SQL Server courses will be retired and replaced with the version-neutral 20461 through 20467 courses. Microsoft’s 20461 through 20467 courses are designed for students who are interested in learning SQL Server 2012 or SQL Server 2014. They cover the new features in SQL Server 2014,…
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Big Data and Business Intelligence are a hot topic right now in IT and business circles. However, it can be a difficult subject to grasp based on what you might read from different technology vendors and business analysts. This is because, depending on how you use the term, Big Data can mean different things to…
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One recent trend in data centers is the concept of being able to provision virtual machines on any available resource, with the actual hardware implementation being transparent to the user. This approach can increase efficiency by maximizing the use of blades and other resources, as well as by centralizing management of all resources on the…
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