Yesterday Microsoft has ended Windows 7 support. If you continue to use this operating system, your PC will still work, but it may become more vulnerable to security risks. The changes will affect hundreds of millions of people because more than one-third of PCs use Windows 7, CNN says:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/13/tech/microsoft-windows-7-support/index.html

I use or move to Windows 10 - 👍
I'll continue using Windows 7 - 😡
What is Windows 7? - 🔥
My PC is Windows XP - 😂

​​Upcoming webinar, January 22, 2020 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM GMT. CodeRage 2019 is about to close off. Community members with Regional MVP recognition will be awarded 🎉

Highlights of 2019 and awaits of 2020 will also be discussed. Register your spot now:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/90845352921505547

Check out this interesting video tutorial, which describes how to use FireDAC in your C++Builder app. The example creates an SQLite connection together with a FireDAC query component and tunes up a live binding with a grid using the LiveBindings visual Designer:
https://youtu.be/SzlJFMe5dxM

​​How to play an animated Gif in FMX? A simple answer - TGifPlayer. But what if you need to overlay another picture ontop of an animated gif head? The author of this blogpost proposes an easy solution.

Lets read and Like 👍
https://beyondvelocity.blog/2020/01/09/gif-animation-in-fmx/

​​Programmer Jokes

​​Firebird Project has announced an availability of Firebird 3.0.5 - the 5th sub-release in the Firebird 3.0 series.

Restoring compressed nbk files without having to explicitly decompress them, improved the SSPI plugin, other bug fixes and improvements 🔥
https://firebirdsql.org/en/news/firebird-3-0-5-sub-release-is-available/

Take a look on IntraWeb v17 designer in action. The designer allows you to drag&drop things onto a form, set up properties, preview the page in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. Enjoy !
https://youtu.be/t-IJ-9u8H34

How to monitor location changes in your Android or iOS apps? Check out this interesting article, which introduces a set of Delphi classes for location services, provides a working demo, and considers some implementation issues regarding iOS and tips&tricks to resolve them. Put Like if you worked on this problem!
https://www.delphiworlds.com/2020/01/cross-platform-location-monitoring/

​​Are you working on a cloud-based project and needing to connect to Azure with Delphi or C++Builder? Check out the following article, which provides a detailed description and a video, shows how to create an Azure account, database, connect from the RAD Studio IDE, and work with data.

Don't forget to put 👍
http://www.delphimagazine.com/2020/01/21/creating-and-connecting-to-mssql-database-on-azure-with-delphi-cbuilder/

How to make a floating menu in your FireMonkey app? Just watch this video.

BTW: English subtitles for this video are available, as well 👀
https://youtu.be/XyLUG12h7xk

WMI in Delphi and VBScript - the article provides an introduction to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) for Delphi developers, contains example codes to query WMI using Delphi, and gives basic examples of managing Windows PC/network environment.

Let's read and don't forget to 👍 this post.
https://beyondvelocity.blog/2020/01/14/wmi-in-delphi-and-vbscript/

​​Check out this interesting Delphi library, which was created to facilitate the creation of CRUDs in your apps. REST Dataware components utilize a power of modern REST / JSON technology with data compression and everything the language can offer.

👉 You can download them for free from the Sourceforge repository:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/rest-dataware-componentes/

Have you ever tried to SMTP-send a mail over proxy? In contrast to, e.g., FTP, the SMTP protocol doesn't natively support proxy. But it's still possible to connect to a mail service via an HTTPS tunnel and send messages even when you behind a firewall.
Just watch this video, which shows how to set up the Clever Internet Suite SMTP component and send mail through an HTTP Connect proxy.

Let's support the channel and 👍 this video!
https://youtu.be/jEUUiy6pM30

Should you read source code? Why spend time reading it? Check out this blogpost. The author claims that you should. He shares some thoughts concerning the conscious reading and study of source code. Reading code is a process which can help you become a more proficient software developer. It can undoubtedly improve and influence software development skills.

Let's read and discuss.
https://www.stevejgordon.co.uk/become-a-better-developer-by-reading-source-code

​​Wow, an OEM RAD Server deployment is available for now! This additional option may simplify REST-based Web service development and solution deployment. Read more in Embarcadero blog:
https://community.idera.com/developer-tools/b/blog/posts/introducing-additional-rad-server-deployment-options

​​If you work with computer graphics, you probably have come up with the issue of gamma correction. This article summarizes some of the knowledge that can be applied, for example, in game development when using Castle Game Engine, X3D, and glTF.

Put 🔥 if you like the article!
(Image by Jurohi)
https://github.com/michaliskambi/x3d-tests/wiki/Gamma-correction-in-X3D-and-glTF

What is gRPC? It was originally developed and used internally by Google and is now fully open sourced on GitHub. gRPC represents a modern open source high performance RPC framework, which can run in any environment. Isn't this a good replacement for REST JSON?

Check out this GitHub repository. DelphiGrpc is a Delphi implementation of the gRPC protocol 🔥
https://github.com/ultraware/DelphiGrpc

Wow, a first video for Database Comparer VCL! The tutorial describes how to connect to a Firebird database using the FireDAC library, extract the whole database structure, and generate a DB creation SQL script in your Delphi app 🔥
https://youtu.be/Xew0LQ9vmyo

Yet another wonderful update. Devexpress has published their VCL Subscription version 19.2.4. There are improvements in PDFViewer, RichEdit, and Scheduler controls.

👉 In fact, these visual controls became "must be" to many devs and companies.

Just check it out 👍
https://www.componentsource.com/news/feature-releases/2020/01/23/developer-express-vcl-subscription

​​The team behind TRichview has released RVMedia version 7.2. The components can display video from local and remote sources, can control camera properties and movement, record audio and video, organize video chats, and many more.

Let's support and 👍 this release!
https://www.trichview.com/