How to make a OS X Finder Icon Overlay

Since OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard. Apple stopped API level Icon overlay support. But that does not stop you from create one, in fact on the "cloud apps" such as DropBox, Google Drive have implemented Finder Icon Overlay in their client apps by injecting code into Finder.

Here is a real funny one:

Tracking the Internet into the 21st Century with Vint Cerf

Live cash back --- A game changer?

Microsoft Live Search cash back definitely has caught a lot of eyeballs. There are lots of discussions on the Internet, mostly, about how Microsoft is trying to buy in customers to use live search. However, look a little further behind the scene, we will see this is not just about another type of "rebate".
Google didn't invent search, they invented pay-per-click advertisement. This game changing invention has brought them billions and billions of dollars and will continue to be their cash cow for a while. While pay-per-click advertisement has significantly reduced the advertisement risk because you don't have to pay for a badly placed key work because people simply won't click them, it does not grantee that people who clicked the ad will eventually buy the product. this kind of risk can be eliminated by a new type of advertisement : pay-per-action.
Many websites have tried this idea before, some of them are actually very successful, http://rebate.com/ is an example. For most of them, the number one problem is still, search. Customers need to find their product first. So the first step of game is still search. Microsoft live search still need to improve search to get the chance to change the game. At this point, however, seems Google is still leading the game at a firm No.1 position.

pc/tc for gdb

It would be nice if we can have the equivalent of windbg's pc and tc command in gdb, well, here is how:

def pc

set $continue_flag = 1

ni

while($continue_flag)

set $opcode = *(unsigned char *)$pc

x/i $pc

if ((unsigned int)$opcode == 0xe8)

set $continue_flag = 0

else

ni

end

end

end


def tc

si

set $continue_flag = 1

while($continue_flag)

set $opcode = *(unsigned char *)$pc

x/i $pc

if ((unsigned int)$opcode == 0xe8)

set $continue_flag = 0

else

si

end

end

end

Three Beautiful Quicksorts

Looking for "strace" for windows?

This one is windows' equivalent of linux's strace:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx