Engineering Mobile application projects (part 1)

iOS/Android project management

Mobile applications project management and methodologies differs from other traditional software projects. Mobile projects development has gained its full momentum and is in all rage in this present day and age. I have seen that tips/guide in management specifically in mobile projects are (rather) lacking or not thorough enough and thus, i decided to write my own. Here is a little background on myself: I have 3+ years in developing enterprise and public apps and have exposure in the full development lifecycle of mobile projects. There is no magic one solution-fit-all though, because every projects have their intricacies.

Google Maps v2 Integration on Android

Integrate Google Maps API into a new Android Project

This post will show you how to integrate the Google Maps v2 in a new Android Project. I’ve learnt that without proper guidance, it can be quite daunting to do. I had to dig in several posts to be able to get it to work properly and more importantly, understand every concept and steps. You should have some basic Android knowledge to be able to create it; i’ll try to be as detailed as possible to explain the integration.

First of all, create a new Project in Eclipse. I named my Project “GoogleMapsAndroidV2” and package name “com.example.googlemapsandroidv2“. Note your package name somewhere, you will need it afterwards.

Automate Python code execution with predefined I/O

Need to not prompt for input in program execution and store output in a variable.

If you need a program that can arbitrarily execute a piece of Python code, and get the result, then this post is made for you. Much like in a programming contest. It’s not complicated if you need this kind of functionality on a Web Server that run and breath Python- it was the Django framework for my case.

As it turns out, you can actually run a piece of code embedded inside a String much like in javascript. And thats pretty damn cool, Sir. Here’s how to do it… if you want to understand the parameters, well you don’t say! Look elsewhere :-).

code = compile(newCode, '<string>', 'exec')

newCode is a string (can be single line or multiline string- those inside ”’ statement ”’ that span multiple line). Yes, Python can compile code! I bet you didn’t know that :P. Be careful

Hacking WEP (on an Orange Livebox)

Hack WEP using Backtrack 5 and gerix

So, you forgot your WEP key and you can’t recover it or you simply wanna hack into your neighbor’s WiFi :P. In short the situation is – your terminal can detect the “secured” WiFi network but it can’t connect to it because you need the key. WEP (and WPA too) has already been hacked long ago, yet people still use it! There already exists tons of ways on how to do it, just google it. I am just going to explain the way i did, which i found to be the simplest one yet. All you need is to download BackTrack 5. You can install it on your PC, but it is simpler to just create a bootable Live USB using UNetbootin. I assume you booted Backtrack 5 (from USB or otherwise) successfully at this point.

Primer on program disassembly and intel x86 assembler

An intro to disassembling C program and using a debugger (in Linux)

First of all, I assume you have some basic knowledge of the C Programming language, Linux (or any UNIX based OS) and using a shell. Knowing how to code in C is most of the time enough to make you a decent programmer. You don’t usually need to understand all the inner workings of the CPU to make the program run. Ignorance is bliss. But if you are like me- who want to get a bigger picture of what is happening inside your machine, then reading this post will help you get a better idea. If you want crack or exploit programs, then these are the basic set of skills you need to master.

You need to realize that C code is meant to be compiled. The code can’t actually do anything until it’s compiled into an executable binary file. Thinking of C-source as a program is a common misconception that is exploited by hackers every day. The binary a.out’s instructions are written in machine language, an elementary language the CPU can understand.

Weight loss by low-carb diet

Lose weight! Increase energy! Feel great!

So you have decided to shed those extra pounds, congratulations. Me too. Let’s be clear: I’m neither a doctor nor a PhD. I am a careful data cruncher and analyser- I recently read lot of scientific publications, ebooks, etc. I blame my geekish nature for that lol. I am going to briefly describe the most fool-proof way of losing weight. You probably don’t know where and how to start losing weight? You read stuffs on the web but they inadvertently confuses you even more. This is a problem known as information overload. You can’t correlate them and sometimes they contradict themselves. For e.g., you were always told that you should drink unlimited amount of water and this claim is backed up by every dietitian, doctors, scientist… but a recent study revealed that drinking too much water is not good for health. Confused? So am I! You will soon see that in order to lose weight efficiently you should rather decrease your carbohydrates intake rather than fat. Confused? Don’t worry, you will soon be enlightened.

My Top 10 Grunge songs

Pearl Jam – Ten : my favorite grunge album!

Hello dear readers! 🙂 Well it has been quite a long ride since my last post, i really had nothing to do today so i thought why not blog a bit. I have written nothing on music yet, its prime time to do it!

Well i love to listen to rock music and all its subgenres (it ranges from death metal to soft rock). One genre i listen the most nowadays is the good old grunge!

It is a [very] tough job to list only the 10 best… but here we go:

Pwning friends on Live Messenger :)

Tne fini chek to resulta? lol…

Having some fun. Chek out the chat logs i posted below. Told ’em that results was already out and the level changed from 1 to 2. If you have passed of course 😛 I edited the HTML Source code of my page and put 2 instead of 1 and forwarded the screenshot to them for “proof”. A well engineered pwn!

The Start-Run Command in Windows

Run Forrest, run!

The Run command line in Windows is used primarily for opening things. It is so much quicker to open things this way instead of going though a myriad of interfaces and menus to open what you want. The run command line is very rarely used which is a pity, as it is often the quickest way to launch programs or to open folders and documents. You should remember which commands are available to you but you don’t have to know everything of course, just the essentials. With frequent usage you will remember them easily. In this post i’m show you how to open applications, folders and adding your own application you want to start from your custom made Run command.

Your personal Lotto quick pick

Wanna improve your chances on winning a few million rupees?

The Mauritian Lotto was first introduced on the 07th of November 2009 by lottotech. The first jackpot was Rs 12 Million. The first winner of the lotto was Guillyano Zamir, who won the Rs 30 Million Jackpot. I am going to post the source code of a program i made that generate an arbitrary number of Lotto simulations. While writing this blog post, i researched a bit on Lotto and found some very interesting stuff.

Lotto lets you pick a certain number of choices from a card. In Mauritius you get to pick 6 numbers from a card having 40 numbers. Then, the Lotto managers pick 6 numbers at random. If your choice exactly matches theirs, you win a few million rupees or so. What is the probability of having a winning pick? Mathematics says the following about it: (40 × 39 × 38 × 37 × 36 × 35) / (6!) = 3,838,380.