Link error LNK2005

Was getting this error with some legacy code when converted to VS 2008:

nafxcw.lib(afxmem.obj) : error LNK2005: “void * __cdecl operator new(unsigned int)” (??2@YAPAXI@Z) already defined in LIBCMTD.lib(new.obj)

This article provided a solution.  More  discussion on this issue here.

Overview of C Run-Time and associated options

Based on Visual C++ 6.0:

Solution One: Force Linker to Link Libraries in Correct Order

This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect

"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect"

Was getting this message when testing an application recently converted to VS 2008 from VS 6.0.  Depends showed that MSVCRT80.DLL was a missing dependency.

Here are a few threads on the subject:

On  MSDN Forums

Nikola's Weblog

The  programs was pretty small so I felt the easiest workaround was to link statically to the C runtime library.  I did this by making sure I selected Multi-threaded (/MT) rather than Multi-threaded DLL (/MD) in the C/C++…Code Generation…Runtime Library option.

Women Quotes

The vital, successful people I have met all had one common characteristic. They had a plan.  – Marilyn Van Derber

A leader takes people where they want to go…A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be. – Rosalynn Carter

A mediocre idea that generates great enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no none.  -Mary Kay Ash

A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success – Dr.  Joyce Brothers

The naked truth is always better than the best dressed lie. – Ann Landers

The sign of intelligent people is their ability to control emotions by the application of reason. – Marya Mannes

The true way to  soften one's troubles is to solace those of others. – Madame de Maintenon

The verb "to love" in Persian is "to have a friend." "I love  you" translated literally is "I have you as a friend." and "I don't like you"  simply means "I don't have you as a friend." – Shusha Guppy

There are two ways of meeting difficulties.   You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them. – Phyllis Bottome

You must learn to say no when something is not right for you.  – Leontyne Price

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling – Margaret B. Runbeck

I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. – Martha Washington

The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging. – Molly Ivins

The longer we listen to one another–with real attention–the mroe commonality we will find in all our lives.  That is, we are careful to exchange with one another life stories and not simply questions. – Barbara Deming

The best of us must sometimes eat our words. – JK Rowling

The child becomes largely what it is taught;  hence we must watch what we teach it, and how we live before it. – Jane Addams

There is always sunshine, only we must  do our part, we must move  into it. – Clara Louise Burnham

Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt

regsvr32 and Vista

Testing the registration of one of our plugins (DLLs) under Vista fails when regsvr32 is launched returning error code 0×80070005.  This is an "Access Denied" error and has to do with the fact that under Vista, if you run regsvr32 from a command prompt, the command prompt must be started in Admin Mode (elevated).

What does regsvr32 do?

Programatically registering a dll.

Not only would executing a shell command to launch regsvr32 fail, but updating ther registery also gets a AccessDenied error.  I ended up just turning off UAC while I tested.  I suppose since our setup program accessed permission, once given, everything else worked.

Playstation 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4

I don't know who is spoiled more, David or me.

I justify the PS3 purchase because I'm a high definition snob and I want to watch everything I can in HD.  Netflix still has HD-DVD movies that they will send if available but of course new releases are only available in Blu-ray.  So last week, in my mind, I bought a new Blu-ray player!  Most Blue-ray players cost $400 anyway!  So for an extra $100, I got a new game console.  Do we need a new game console?  Of course  not.  I bought the new PS3 80g model with the new DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller and the much anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4 game bundled.  At Best Buy, I was able to negotiate an in store $100 gift card and I used a $50 gift card I already had, so for me, that made for quite a sweet deal.

The console is attractive and a bit heavy.  Since I used an HDMI cable setup was simple.  The console has wireless built-in and I was able to get it on the Internet without any problem.  The wireless USB dongle for the XBOX 360 is extra and lists for $99 but you should be able to find it for less.

So far, David and I are enjoying the game.  The out of box experience was not that great since it had to "install" to the hard drive a portion of the game before we could start and it took about 10 minutes.  We tried multiplayer and were not very impressed.  You have to jump through a lot of hoops before you are allowed to play.  You have to sign up for a Konami Id, then a MGS4 Id and they must be different and they each have different password rules.  Then you have to create yet another id to serve as your profile for the game on your PS3.  This is the only one that can  go online and you must purchase another id if you want to play  online with a second profile.

"MGS4, although it has a FPS mode is NOT an FPS game. It’s a third person stealth game."

If you've never played a Metal Gear Solid game,  I recommend reading about them before trying MSG4 for the first time.   This will set your expectations appropriately.  I didn't understand  why the cut scenes were soooo  long.  The GameSpot review explains:

Fully realized, lengthy story sequences will come as no surprise to anyone who has played a Metal Gear game. You'll spend a good half of MGS4 watching cinematics, but it would be a grave misinterpretation to assume that great gameplay takes a backseat to the story. Rather, these two elements are tightly intertwined…

By lengthy they're talking about sitting through 20 minutes or more of video at a time!  Sure it looks great but that's too much.  If it were just a movie or show and not a game I would STILL find them too verbose  and boring.  They could have edited them more tightly.  That's my only big complaint.   The process for getting online is bad but you only have to do it once.

Tennis record

I’m playing tennis again after a two year absence.  I started playing in seventh grade and played through high school winning 3rd place in UIL Tennis in 1980.  Leonard Smith was #1 and Robert Stapper was #2.  I beat my friend Monty Sauls in a very close match to win 3rd place.  I actually ended up going to sectionals in Corpus Christi because I believe Robert was unable to make it due to an injury.  I also came in 3rd in mixed doubles playing with Melanie Markow-Wilkes.  Since then I’ve played in USTA 4.5 leagues.  Here is my history in USTA tennis (for which there is an online record):

2008 Record: 9-2

2007 Record: Did not play

2006 Record: Did not play

2005 Record: USTA 4.5 – 7-4  (includes 2-1 in singles)

2004 Record: Did not play

2003 Record: USTA 4.5 – 1-4  (I did go 3-0 in Waco Little State Champ)

2002 Record: USTA 9.5 – 2-2

1979 LBJ Tennis Team

So over Halo 3. COD4 is where it’s at.

David can’t get enough of Call of Duty 4.  I have to admit, it is quite compelling.  The campaign is fun, but I found playing multiplayer online was extremely difficult.  You get killed almost instantly!  I kept at it and I’m finally at the point where I’m doing well and really enjoying it.  I really like the team work aspect of Search and Destroy.  Nothing beats hearing “Comrade, you’re the last one. Complete the objective!” and actually managing to kill the last two opponents or detonating the bomb while David, who is playing along with me from upstairs, watches and encourages me through our chat session yelling YEAH!!! when I manage to win the game for our team.  Doesn’t happen very often but when it does….sweet!

I read an interview with somebody involved with the game and he made two points I found very interesting. First, they took a great deal of time making sure that there were no completely “safe” spots where you could camp through the whole game.  Virtually every “good” spot has another spot from which you could get shot!
The other point was that they wanted the game to be fair for a newbie when they found themselves up against an experienced player.  They felt if you had the “jump” on a guy, you should be able to win that fire-fight. And even though more experienced players may have better equipment it shouldn’t give them TOO big of an advantage.  That’s why the almost-instant kills in COD4 can make for a better online experience than Halo 3 which due to the shields, allows a better player to turn things around and easily overtake a novice that started out with the advantage.

Prestige Modes Icons (Thanks Pavel)

Points needed to rank and unlock weapons and perks.

RANK (number/rank title/xp required)

1 Private First Class 0
2 Private First Class I 30
3 Private First Class II 120
4 Lance Corporal 270
5 Lance Corporal I 480
6 Lance Corporal II 750
7 Corporal 1080
8 Corporal I 1470
9 Corporal II 1920
10 Sergeant 2430
11 Sergeant I 3000
12 Sergeant II 3650
13 Staff Sergeant 4380
14 Staff Sergeant I 5190
15 Staff Sergeant II 6080
16 Gunnery Sergeant 7050
17 Gunnery Sergeant I 8100
18 Gunnery Sergeant II 9230
19 Master Sergeant 10440
20 Master Sergeant I 11730
21 Master Sergeant II 13100
22 Master Gunnery Sergeant 14550
23 Master Gunnery Sergeant I 16080
24 Master Gunnery Sergeant II 17690
25 2nd Lieutenant 19380
26 2nd Lieutenant I 21150
27 2nd Lieutenant II 23000
28 1st Lieutenant 24930
29 1st Lieutenant I 26940
30 1st Lieutenant II 29030
31 Captain 31240
32 Captain I 33570
33 Captain II 36020
34 Major 38590
35 Major I 41280
36 Major II 44090
37 Lt. Colonel 47020
38 Lt. Colonel 50070
39 Lt. Colonel II 53240
40 Colonel 56530
41 Colonel I 59940
42 Colonel II 63470
43 Brigadier General 67120
44 Brigadier General I 70890
45 Brigadier General II 74780
46 Major General 78790
47 Major General I 82920
48 Major General II 87170
49 Lieutenant General 91540
50 Lieutenant General I 96030
51 Lieutenant General II 100640
52 General 105370
53 General I 110220
54 General II 115190
55 Commander 120280

UNLOCKABLES (Unlockable/Rank #)

Features

Demolitions Class 2
Sniper Class 3
Create-A-Class 4
Challenges 5
Clan Tag 12
Prestige Mode 55

Pistols

M9 0
M1911 .45 16
USP .45 0
Desert Eagle 43
Golden Desert Eagle 55

SMGs

Mini Uzi 13
MP5 1
Skorpion 4
AK74u 28
P90 40

LMGs

M60E4 19
M249 SAW 1
RPD 4

Shotguns

W1200 2
M1014 31

Assault Rifles

AK 47 4
M4 Carbine 10
G3 25
M16A4 1
G36c 37
M14 46
MP44 52

Sniper Rifles

SVD 22
M21 8
M40A3 3
Barrett .50cal 49
R700 34

Perk 1

C-4 x2 1
Special Grenade x3 1
RPG-7 x2 2
Claymore x2 23
Frag x3 41
Bandolier 32
Bomb Squad 14

Perk 2

Stopping Power 1
Juggernaut 1
Sleight of Hand 20
Double Tap 29
Overkill 38
UAV Jammer 11
Sonic Boom 1

Perk 3

Extreme Conditioning 1
Steady Aim 1
Last Stand 8
Martydom 17
Deep Impact 1
Iron Lungs 26
Dead Silence 44
Eavesdrop 35

How to save money running a startup, or not.

List of practical tips for saving money in a startup.  Comments on the post are worth reading.  Go HERE for counterpoints.  Perhaps working long hours isn't all life should be about.

1. Buy Macintosh computers, save money on an IT department

2. Buy second monitors for everyone, they will save at least 30 minutes a day, which is 100 hours a year… which is at least $2,000 a year…. which is $6,000 over three years. A second monitor cost $300-500 depending on which one you get. That means you're getting 10-20x return on your investment… and you've got a happy team member.

3. Buy everyone lunch four days a week and establish a no-meetings policy. Going out for food or ording in takes at least 20-60 minutes more than walking up to the buffet and eating. If you do meetings over lunch you also save that time. So, 30 minutes a day across say four days a week is two hours a week… which is 100 hours a year. You get the idea.

4. Buy cheap tables and expensive chairs. Tables are a complete rip off. We buy stainless steel restaurant tables that are $100 and $600 Areon chairs. Total cost per workstation? $700. Compare that to buying a $500-$1,500 cube/designer workstation. The chair is the only thing that matters… invest in it.

5. Don't buy a phone system. No one will use it. No one at Mahalo has a desk phone except the admin folks. Everyone else is on IRC, chat, and their cell phone. Everyone has a cell phone, folks would rather get calls on it, and 99% of communication is NOT on the phone. Savings? At least $500 a year per person… 50 people over three years? $75-100k

6. Rent out your extra space. Many folks have extra space in their office. If you rent 5-10 desks for $500 each you can cut your burn $2,500 to $5,000 a month, or $30-60,000 a year. That's big money.

7. Outsource accounting and HR—such a no brainer.

8. Don't buy everyone Microsoft Office–it's too much money. Put Office on three or four common computers and use Google Docs.

9. Use Google hosted email. $50 or free per user…. how can you beat that?!?! Why screw with an exchange server!?!?

10. Buy your hardest working folks computers for home. If you have folks who are willing to work an extra hour a day a week you should get them a computer for home. Once you get to three hours of work a week from home you're at 150 hours a year and that's a no brainer. Invest in equipment *if* the person is a workaholic.

11. Fire people who are not workaholics. don't love their work… come on folks, this is startup life, it's not a game. don't work at a startup if you're not into it–go work at the post office or stabucks if you're not into it you want balance in your life. For realz.

12. Get an expensive, automatic espresso machine at the office. Going to starbucks twice a day cost $4 each time, but more importantly it costs 20 minutes. Buy a $3-5,000 Jura industrial, get the good beans, and supply the coffee room with soy, low fat, etc. 50 people making one trip a day is 20 hours of wasted time for the company, and $150 in coffee costs for the employees. Makes no sense.

13. Stock the fridge with sodas—same drill as above.

14. Allow folks to work off hours. Commuting sucks and is a waste of time for everyone. Let folks start at 6am or 11am and you'll cut their commute in half (at least in LA).

15. Go to each of your vendors every 6-9 months and ask for 10-30% off. If half of them say yes you'll save 5-15% on fixed costs. People will give you a discount if they think they are going to lose the business.

16. Don't waste money on recruiters. Get inside of linkedin and Facebook and start looking for people–it works better anyway.

17. Really think about if you need that $15,000 a month PR firm. Perhaps you can get a PR consultant to work on 2-3 projects a year for $10-15k each and save 75%. More PR firms are wasted half the year while you build up your product anyway.

18. Outsource to middle America: There are tons of brilliant people living between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York who don't live in a $4,000 one bedroom apartment and pay $8 to dry clean a shirt–hire them!

Anyone else have startup money saving tips? I will post them below as they come in…

1. Peter Rojas of RCRDLBL: You probably don't need to rent an office, at least not at first. It's really easy to collaborate online, and unless you have a really compelling reason for everyone being in the same place at the same time, you should save your money for as long as you can get away with it. Plus it'll force you to hire people who don't need to be micromanaged.

2. Pat Phelan gives a ton of advice including: a) No company cars, b) put your HQ in the burbs to save 50% on rent, c) Blog instead of hiring a PR firm, d) let one person book flights since it's an art, e) keep conference calls to a minimum (amen to that!).