C++ is gaining momentum as a development language, so whether you’ve never used C++ or stopped using it a decade ago, it may be time to brush up on your skills. With a new standard release providing new keywords and capabilities, C++ is a  featured language for many of the new Microsoft technologies and enables some amazing speed-ups of your application using libraries like PPL and C++ AMP. What’s more, Visual Studio offers tools to native developers that have only been available for managed developers in earlier versions. This all-day session will show you what all the fuss is about and give you the skills you need to understand the advantages of C++ today and how to start applying those benefits to your application.

There are three main categories of attendees who would enjoy this session:

• It’s perfect for those who used C++ a long time ago and need a refresher, a way to catch up with all that has happened to C++ in the last ten years.
• Developers who have never written a line of C++ code, but are solid in C# or Java will know the basic syntax (if, while, etc) and be able to follow this session and see why there is so much excitement around C++ these days.
• C++ developers who are not using Visual Studio and not developing for Windows can come and see how their C++ skills will translate to these technologies and how quickly they can be productive on a new platform.

This preconference is technical and has lots of code in it. It’s not an “introduction to C++” that starts from scratch. It’s about providing the inspiration you need to start using particular features and starting writing modern C++. While you’re at TechEd, you can also attend some C++ breakout sessions to go deeper into particular technologies and tools that caught your interest. If you watched the sessions from the GoingNative 2012 conference, and could follow them, you know how much C++ programming has changed this century. If not, and you’re curious what the buzz is about, come and find out! It’s a great way to start your TechEd experience, June 10^th in Orlando or June 25^th in Amsterdam. We’ll see you there!

Visual C++ Team Blog

It’s a hell of a thing, DJing in front of a huge, international crowd.

Many of you guys have seen my Youtube Series The 90 Days Project: 90 Days To Becoming A DJ In Berlin. I think you’re going to like this episode.

When I moved to Berlin, I, along with my buddy Rachman, decided that we would become DJs. I made this goal years ago in college, when I started using it as a pickup line at parties—which is really how most of my plans get started.

How to Hack Getting A DJ Gig

If you check out the previous episodes of the 90 days project, you’ll see how we got started: we couldn’t get shows instantly, so we built a shopping cart music system and threw parties on the street. Episode 3 shows how we tried to build an amazing, bicycle wheel-laden behemoth that was a total failure.

So we realized, instead of only playing in bars….

What if we rented out a club and threw a party of our own?

So that’s what we did. Rachman found a club in Berlin, VCF Club, that was available to rent. He brought in great Dubstep DJs: Mensah from the UK, and several local excellent DJs from Berlin.

As you’ll see on the video, through the use of Facebook Ads and shopping cart promotion, we got the club completely full. Rachman did some amazing work with marketing and bringing in excellent DJs.

Check it out—I promise you’ll get something out of these methods.

How to earn 00 in one night as a DJ in Berlin – 90 Days episode 5 is a post from: Hack The System

Hack The System

Four Pages or Less

One of the most important things you must realize is that your document should have less than four visa pages remaining which will signify the need to get more. If this is not the case, you cannot make such an application. If your document satisfies this condition, you can prepare for the application.

What You Need

Just like when you were applying for a new document, there will be applicable fees charged to complete the process. Of course, you also need your current passport, which should be valid since it is where the page will be added. You should also fill out a DS-4085 form with the necessary details regarding your application. The form and your existing document should be mailed to the address provided on the form.

Critical Care

Since you will be submitting the document via mail, it is important to ensure you use a method that allows tracing of the package. Choosing this option will prove invaluable in case of shipment problems. If possible, you should also opt for a secure mailing option since it is the only way you can be sure that the contents of your document are protected.

At or Near Expiration

Although some people will apply for page addition when the document is still valid, you can also do so when it expires. This involves submitting a request for additional pages when applying for a new document after the one you have expires. This option is for those who travel extensively causing them to realize the need for page addition even before the new document is delivered.

Written Request Required

In cases like these, the applicant has to write a letter requesting the additional pages. The request letter should be signed as an affirmation of the same. If the applicant is eligible, they can complete form DS-82 and send it to the address that is provided on the form. Those who are not eligible have to complete form DS-11 and deliver it to the address personally.

Tracking Mail

For eligible applicants who mail their forms, it is advisable to use a mailing option that is traceable and reliable. This will save you major loses in case a problem arises in the delivery. It is important to use mailing options that are secure so your United States passport renewal will be safe from unauthorized use and to give you peace of mind.

Welcome to the second episode of the Hack The System show!

You should subscribe to this show on iTunes.

The Hack The System Podcast is your access to interviews with the worlds’ foremost experts on blogging, lifestyle design, traveling, and life/system hacking. In short–you’re going to learn how to kick ass.

In this episode, I sit down with Scott H Young of ScottHYoung.com. Scott is awesome–at 23, he’s built a business that pays for a swanky Vancouver apartment and all his bills, freeing up his time to do what he really loves to do: learn.

Scott has written a ton of ebooks and posts about learning. Over the last few months he has been implementing the MIT Challenge. He is using the MIT coursework, available online for free, to learn the entire MIT Computer Science Curriculum, in just one year. The amazing part is that, due to his system of studying, he never seems to be working—he takes frequent breaks, and always finishes his work by 6pm.

Listen to the podcast here:

Watch it here:

This podcast can be seen on iTunes. Click here to follow it via iTunes (and automatically sync it to your iPod)

0:13 – Scott H. Young
0:47 – How to get more from life
1:04 – The main distinguishing characteristic of my blog is that I talk a lot about learning
2:10 – Don’t memorize something that needs to be understood
3:31 – Learning holistically
4:42 – It’s not just about being proactive & a good student – it’s about understanding things on a deeper level so that you actually enjoy the learning
5:27 – Learning better is more difficult but not more time consuming
7:03 – The more you can separate your work and your life the less stress you’ll have
9:17 – People feel that the spontaneity of their system is what makes it relaxing, but that couldn’t be further from the truth

11:43 – Scott’s Three Phases of Learning
12:47 – The “Feynman” Technique
14:58 – The big problem with learning is that we don’t really have a good sense about what we don’t understand yet about an idea
19:51 – First get coverage of all the ideas so that you can see the big picture
22:50 – If you’re learning something technical, do 50% practice problems
23:32 – The point of practice questions is to search for possible errors
23:40 – Cal Newport’s “Quiz and Recall” Approach
25:20 – We don’t want negative feedback

26:16 – The key to going to a dedicated approach is to flip that mentality on its head; you must constantly remind yourself of the things you don’t yet understand
28:00 – Don’t resist deliberate practice
30:13 – Having intrinsic motivation
33:17 – Weekly Daily Goals
35:55 – The Pomodoro Technique
38:39 – Brainstorm / Destruct for Creative Work
43:01 – I need to give these people some benefits and skills, not just ideas
48:42 – Figuring out the worldview of your customers; how they interpret their own problems

Hack The System Podcast: Episode 2 with Scott H Young is a post from: Hack The System

Hack The System

Hacking the system is about finding cheat codes for life.

I try to discover the secrets to breaking into any new business, hacking systems, and figuring out the best paths to success—while skipping the normal steps.

In the summer of 2011, I moved to Berlin to attempt to become a DJ. I wanted to go from no experience, to throwing shows at clubs and in the city.

In episode six, you’ll see a very special party—on an abandoned boat in the middle of a Berlin canal.

Rachman and DJ Maneesh in front of an Abandoned Boat in Berlin

We built a mobile disco that was powered by car batteries, and played our music everywhere.

Check out our party that ended with the Polizei coming on a giant frigate and letting us finish our last song before breaking up the party (at 5am).

Check out the whole series at http://90days.tv.

Abandoned Boats, Polizei, and a ridiculous party – 90 Days To Becoming A DJ Ep. 6 is a post from: Hack The System

Hack The System

In a very un-Apple fashion the Cupertino company yesterday released the developer preview of the next version of its Desktop operating system, which will carry the name OS X Mountain Lion. As you will see from this top 10 new features Mountain Lion is heavily influenced by iOS.

Here are the top 10 features from the OS X Mountain Lion preview.

4) Notes - A lot of us have been waiting for this update, even though Notes isn’t new per se, the changes to Notes in Mountain Lion is that its broken free from the Mail app into its own app to parallel the Notes app in iOS. Now you can make notes as an when you want and even stick them to the desktop to help you remember them a little more clearly. These notes will also be synched with your iOS Devices.

5) Notification Center - Perhaps our favourite feature is an iOS style Notification Center. Mac OS X will be the first OS X release to have a built-in Notification Center that lets you stay on top of things. The Mac OS X Notification center is very similar to the iOS version. Working like the Notification drag down bar in iOS, users will be able to access a panel to the right of their desktop at any time to see what the latest notifications are.

6) Share Sheets - Share Sheets are heavily inspired by the share button seen across the Web. A handy way of emailing links or posting videos to Youtube, we believe you will use this feature more often than you can probably think right now. Sharing your content has never been so easy.

7) Twitter - Twitter integration is another feature that’s straight from iOS. Operating System level support for Twitter accounts that lets you sign-in once and tweet from any application, will be very useful. In the same way Twitter is everywhere on your iPhone or iPad, Apple has added the blue bird in a similar way here.

8) Game Center - If you enjoy playing games then this is great news for you. Apple is bringing the Game Center from iOS to Mountain Lion, allowing users to find friends to play with, check out their leaderboard stats and achievements gained. What is interesting is that  it will allow you to play other Game Center users regardless of what device they are on.

9) Airplay - Airplay Mirroring is as easy as on iOS. With an Apple TV hooked up to a television set, Air Play lets you mirror your Mac on a HDTV or simply stream the movie playing on your Mac to the TV.

10) Gatekeeper - Gatekeeper is designed make your Mac more secure. It gives you the ability to run your Mac in 3 different modes. The first one lets you download and install any app you want, just like OS X Lion. The second lets you run apps from the Mac App Store and apps with a Developer ID. The third mode restricts your Mac to only apps from the Mac App Store.

What feature are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!

Mobile Orchard

Services

Treatment facilities provide a wide range of services for clients. Most importantly, they support individuals coping with substance abuse problems. This support is manifested in a variety of ways. Some patients are able to seek treatment through outpatient programs, while others may require in-patient care at a residential facility. Residential homes often give the addict a chance to detoxify and rebuild his or her life in a structured and supportive environment.

Strategies

These facilities employ a range of programs designed to help patients overcome their drug dependency. Some tools that are used to help people recover include counseling sessions and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Patients in the early stages of treatment might also undergo detoxification and strategies to deal with physical withdrawal symptoms. Many programs also employ the well-known twelve step program begun by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Reasons For Treatment

Some patients may be required to seek treatment by court order while others arrive voluntarily. In either case, it is important to get a handle on the drug dependency and to implement a workable treatment program. Many patients benefit from group therapy sessions where they can share their experiences with others and gain mutual support. This support can help them grow and keep them focused on recovery.

Specific Groups

Some rehabilitation centers specialize in treating certain segments of the population. For example, there are centers devoted solely to helping women or teenagers or criminal offenders. Some may specialize in treating a certain type of addiction such as heroin addiction or alcohol dependency. Many centers are state run, but others are privately operated and funded.

A New Life

Many who have been through rehabilitation center, have made productive life changes. They report more fulfilling lives with better personal relationships and better employment due to their newly found sobriety. While not every story is necessarily a success story, treatment centers have brought positive changes to many individual’s lives. People who have overcome substance abuse problems have often relied on rehabilitation centers to help them make that progress.

Many Helped

The drug addiction clinic are increasingly used to help drug addicts begin the process of recovery. Results are not uniform but many lives have been altered favorably by drug treatment programs designed to treat addiction. Some people who go through the programs go on to assist others in overcoming the same struggles they themselves faced.

Oxycontin

Oxycontin was first produced in Germany at the University of Oxford. It was developed as an alternative to heroin for pain management. The intent was that the new drug would be less addicting than heroin. Usually, oxycontin is prescribed in tablet form and is meant to be taken every 12 hours.

Side Effects

There are many side effects to oxycontin consumption. Most drastically, the drug can cause impotence. It has also been known to cause memory loss, fatigue, headache and anxiety. Prolonged usage of oxycontin can also cause permanent, blurred vision.

Rehabilitation

If a person consumes oxycontin for more than a couple of weeks they will naturally develop a dependency to it. This occurs because the person’s brain gets accustomed to receiving it. If a person develops a dependency to oxycontin it can become very hard to overcome. At this point it is necessary for an individual to seek medical treatment. Withdrawal symptoms will be painful and require medical supervision

Counseling

In order to obtain abstinence addicts must overcome physical dependency. It is important that oxycontin addicts enter a rehabilitation center so that they may be provided with counseling. This process is medically assisted to guarantee detoxification. Recovering oxycontin addicts will need to be under constant watch to help reduce the pains of withdrawal.

Aftercare

After initial oxycontin medical detoxification there are a few different choices for aftercare. Many people continue their recovery in a residential setting. They participate in addiction treatment programs in a drug rehabilitation center or hospital program. Some prefer treatment in an outpatient facility.

Time to read: 7 minutes
On March 18, I’m flying to Medellin, Colombia—the City of Eternal Spring.

Horseback Riding in Salento, near Medellin

28 days later, I’ll be flying to New York City—business class.

Total cost? , for taxes and fees. For an INTERNATIONAL round trip business class ticket.

Getting free plane tickets for fun and profit (Total time required: 15 minutes)

Over the last 18 months, I’ve increased my frequent flier mile balance from 0 – 600,000+. Below, you’ll see my AwardWallet screenshot. (NOTE: If you want a free premium account at AwardWallet, leave a note in the comments and I’ll send it to you).

My Mileage Accounts–600,000+ Miles

A couple of years ago, I read an article on Chris Guillebeau’s site called the Frequent Flyer Challenge. Chris wrote about his experience applying for credit cards that offered a mileage bonus for signing up. I’ve been hooked ever since I received my first 20,000 mileage bonus. And now I’m going to share with you the exact steps you need to follow to fly anywhere in the world, for free.

Step by step–how to earn a round trip flight to Colombia

I’ve written about this in the past in my Travel Hacking Report, but I’ve gotten some questions about the specific steps to make it happen. I want this article to go into more depth about how it works—and how you can redeem tickets.

Here are the specific steps. I’ll go in depth after.

How Frequent Flyer Miles, Alliances, and Credit Card Hacks Work

I spend hours every week reading forums, booking sample tickets, and trying to optimize for miles. Honestly, if I just worked, I would make more than enough money to cover the ticket.

Fortunately for you, I’ve done all the hard work.

Alliances

An airline alliance refers to airline partners. When two airlines are in the same alliance, you can use the miles from one airline to book a flight on the other. For example, if I have miles with United Airways, I can book a ticket to Europe with Lufthansa, using my United Miles. However, I must book by calling United Airlines, not Lufhtansa.

This also means that if you pay for a ticket on Lufthansa, you can earn miles that accrue in your United Account. The goal is to centralize all your miles into a single milage account for each alliance.

There are three alliances:

• Oneworld, consisting of American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN, Qantas, and several others.
• Star Alliance which consists of United, Continental, US Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss, and several more.
• Skyteam which consists of Delta, Air France, KLM, and a bunch more. Skyteam sucks. It just does. This alliance is irrelevant for international flights. It’s okay for flights within the US though, using Delta.

You’ll want to create an account at one airline in each alliance, and centralize there. I recommend the following

Oneworld: Create an account at American Airlines.
Star Alliance: Create an account at United Airlines. (although, there may be benefits to using Air Canada—read here for details.
SkyTeam: Create an account at Delta.

Once you have the mileage accounts set up, make sure that you credit miles into the correct alliance account whenever you fly.

Some notable exceptions that don’t have alliances are JetBlue and Southwest Airlines. If you fly with these airlines, you can’t credit them into one of the alliance accounts.

How Frequent Flyer Miles Work

This part is confusing for people. What are miles? How can you redeem them? How do they work?

Frequent flyer miles are accrued for flying on an airline. Usually, you earn one mile for every mile you fly. Flying isn’t the only way to earn miles, however.

You can also earn miles by acting on promotions, or spending money using an airline credit card. Generally, you’ll earn one mile per dollar spent.

Once you have enough miles in your account, you can redeem miles by going to your airline’s website, or calling their help desk. I recommend you call in, because only by calling can you search partner airlines as well.

One major question is “How many miles does it take to fly somewhere?” For your resource kit, here are links to all the award charts.

Oneworld: OneWorld Award Chart.
Star Alliance: Star Alliance Award Chart.
SkyTeam: SkyMiles Award Chart.

Let’s take a look at the American Award Chart and see what it means.

The OneWorld Award Chart

It’s a complex beast, no? Let me break it down for you.

I’ve marked flights originating or ending in North America with a red box. As you can see, the cost in miles is based on the region you are originating from and the region you are ending up in. Doesn’t matter which airport, which city, etc. This means that it costs the same number of miles to fly to a capital city as to a difficult and hidden airport.

So, if you see the column I’ve highlighted, you’ll see the costs to fly from anywhere in the USA to any other region in the world. Here are some sample economy class one way itineraries.

USA -> Europe, offseason: 20,000 miles
USA -> South America, offseason: 20,000 miles
USA -> Central America (incl. Peru and Colombia), offseason: 15,000 miles
USA -> Another city in USA: 12,500

So, for 30,000 miles round trip, you can head all the way to Peru or Colombia. These tickets often cost 00+ to fly to. But, with miles, it costs almost the same as flying to another US city. Amazing, right?

So, depending on where you want to go, all you have to do is earn enough miles to book that ticket. Then, when actually booking the ticket, I recommend you call in—by calling in, they will check partner airlines as well as the original airline. When you try to book on the website, you have much less availiability.

Here are the phone numbers to book award tickets, for your records:

Oneworld: Call 1-800-882-8880.
Star Alliance: For travel within the U.S., call 1-888-467-0507, for international award travel, call 1-888-674-4680.
SkyTeam: Call 1-800-323-2323.

How to Hack Travel With Credit Cards

So, now we are getting closer to the method. Here’s the deal — many banks in the US want you to apply for their cards. In order to get you to do this, they offer enormous promotions if you apply.

My favorite card, the Starwoods Preferred Card, gives you 25,000 miles that you can redeem on any airline. The coolest part is that Starwoods offers a 5,000 point bonus when you transfer 20,000 at a time—the only card that offers such a serious bonus.

The OneWorld cards are great for mileage. Here’s why.

For spending just 0 in 4 months, you get 30,000 miles. BUT, that’s not it—you also get 0 in free credit. That’s right—they are actually paying you 0 AND giving you a FREE Roundtrip flight to central america…for just a single credit card.

So, if your goal is to get to Colombia or Peru or central america, round trip, you only need to apply for a SINGLE Citi AAdvantage card. But you can apply for 4 or more at the same time, earning up to 120,000 miles.

The other cards that are great for starting out are the United and Continental Award cards. I use the Continental OnePass card. These guys give you 30,000 miles after hitting the minimum spend, and because they are about to merge, you can transfer the miles into a single account. Awesome.

Now here’s the cool part–after you’ve received the miles, you can cancel the card, and they’ll usually pay you more if you just hold off for 24 hours. I usually call in, and they say ‘we’ll give you 3,000 miles if you wait to cancel.’ Free 3,000 miles? Score.

Your credit score doesn’t usually go down. We’ll talk about that a bit later on.

The Step-by-Step process

Okay, so now that you understand how the whole system works, here is what you need to do.

1) Best overall card (GET THIS FIRST): Starwoods Preferred Amex Card.

Why? You can transfer the miles to ANY frequent flyer program, and it gives you a 25% bonus (25,000 miles for every 20,000 points transferred).

Apply at the link above to get the bonus offer: 15,000 automatic points, 10,000 bonus after spending ,000 in 6 months, and fee for the first year (AMAZING)

You shouldn’t ever have to cancel this card, it is the best of the best. It should be your goto card.

2) Next card to get: American Airlines Citi Mastercard and Amex

Why? American Airlines is part of the OneWorld Alliance, which has the best redemption offer out of any alliance. Offseason, you can get to Europe OR South America for 20k miles.

Apply at the link above to get 30,000 miles after spending 0 in 4 months of membership, and 10,000 more after spending another ,000 in 6 months. PLUS, get 0 in
statement credit (that is FREE MONEY, with no annual fee for the first year).

Other excellent cards to research and get: Continental OnePass Mastercard, United MileagePlus Explorer Visa. There are other ones with many airlines, but these are good to start with.
Check out Chris Guillebeau’s Airline Card Comparison Chart for more info.


And that’s really all there is to it…

It takes 5 minutes to apply for a card. For example, this is all you have to do to sign up for the Starwoods Card.

The Starwoods Amex Signup Form

As you can see, it’s just a few fields…and takes less than a few minutes.

After applying, you’ll either get an ‘Application Approved’ message or ‘Application Received.’ If it says ‘Application Received,’ then you’ll know the result via email or mail in a few days.

Next, just meet the spending requirements.

And that’s all it takes to fly free. Click here now to apply and get started.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

1) What about your credit score?

I’ve written several articles about credit scores when I blogged at Lending Club, but my experience has been this: In the four or so years that I’ve done credit card mileage hacking, my credit score has increased from 715 to 800. The reason is this: I always pay off my cards on time. Because each new card increass my credit limit, and I continue to pay off my card, my record looks consistently better and better, and therefore my score increases.

From anecdotes and experience, it seems that your credit score will drop in the short term, especially when canceling cards, but will go up in the long term. So, if you don’t expect to be purchasing a house or car in the short term (1 year or so), then this mileage hack is perfect for you.

2) What if I’m already in debt?

Then, this is probably not for you. I don’t recommend that people deeply in credit card debt attempt this method of mileage hacking for two reasons. 1) You probably won’t be able to get the cards anyway, and 2) I’m worried you’ll overspend and go deeper into debt. Don’t do this if you’re stupid and will go deep into debt.

If you’ve got good spending habits, and your credit history is decently long, then you’re a perfect candidate for this method.

3) Do I need to sign up for the rewards program before signing up for the credit card?

No, usually they will create a number for you if you are a first time applicant.

But, if you are applying for three AAdvantage cards, you may want to create the account first, and use the same number—otherwise, they may create 3 different accounts for you.

Great, that’s all there is to it! Please post any questions in the comments, and I’ll add them to the FAQ above!

Get the Starwoods Amex and get your first free ticket.

What do you think about this hack? What sort of hacks would you like to learn? Please let me know in the comments below!

How to fly business class to Medellin, Colombia—for is a post from: Hack The System

Hack The System

Passports

Passports are documents that allow one to travel internationally. Anyone attempting international travel must have a passport in order to do so. Obtaining a passport used to be difficult, today with new technology and services it is a cinch. Before applying for it make sure you have all necessary documents including a travel visa if needed. This will ensure a smooth child passports application process and allow for a timely delivery.

Pantheon History

The pantheon was built in 27 B.C.E to 25 B.C.E, to celebrate the victory of Actium over Antony and Cleopatra by Marcus Agrippa. The original structure burned down in 80 C.E. and was then reconstructed in 125 C.E. by the emperor Hadrian. It was a fully functional temple.

Structure

The architecture of the Pantheon was very unique at the time of its construction. It was built as a rotund building with the only light entering from an opening at the center of the building. This opening was known as the oculus. When the Pantheon was used as a temple it housed the statues of various deities and the altar also featured animal sacrifices. The smoke from the burned animals ascended through the oculus and directly to the gods.

Christianity

When Rome was taken over by Christianity the Pantheon was then abandoned. While Christianity ruled it was illegal for any public pagan worship to go on. Later there was a decree that stated all buildings have a purpose. Eventually the Pantheon because a consecrated Christian church. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the host of martyrs and saints in the Catholic Church. It was called the Church of Santa Maria Ad Martyers.

Michelangelo

The Pantheon has gone through many changes from it’s functionality to its structure. It was looted numerous times and even stripped of its goods, like Bronze. Michelangelo in the 16th century studied the Pantheon for inspiration, this lead to the dome of St. Peter featured at the Vatican. The Dome is only two feet smaller in comparison to the Pantheon.

Inspiration

The Pantheon is one of the most frequented sites in Rome and has been featured in many documentaries and books. In 1980 it was declared a World Heritage site. The structure of the Pantheon has been the inspiration for a lot of modern buildings. Building such as; the British Museum Reading Room, The Tomas Jefferson Rotunda at the University of Virginia, the Low Library at Columbia University and the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.