Microsoft Clippy for teams removed here's an alternate

A full list with all Clippy animations available in the new Microsoft Teams app can be found in the ClippySetRepository.cs file, within the microsoft-teams-clippy-app GitHub repository but has vanished? 

But you can get it at this Git - https://github.com/mampgmbh/microsoft-teams-clippy-app

For Javascript lovers, you can embed Clippy, Merlin, Rover and Links on any website
https://www.smore.com/clippy-js

A Unicode "ReplaceAt" string extension method handles Unicode string properly

Most "ReplaceAt" methods fail when using a Unicode string. They enumerate a Unicode character as 2 'places' wide instead of 1 place wide. Therefore, the resultant string has the replaced character in the wrong position.

Below is an large enumeration of common ReplaceAt implementations. They all fail, except for the last method made to handler Unicode characters. 

UnicocodeReplaceAt method replaces a character in a string at specific zero-based index and handles handle null char '\0' properly, by removing if from resultant string.

using System.Linq;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;

public static class Program
{
    const char cEMPTY = '\0';
    static readonly string EMPTY = cEMPTY.ToString(); 
    public static string UnicodeReplaceAt(this string str, int offset, char replaceChar)
    {
        int count = 1;
        string replaceBy = replaceChar.ToString();
        return new StringInfo(str).ReplaceByPosition(replaceBy, offset, count).String;
    }

    public static StringInfo ReplaceByPosition(this StringInfo str, string replaceBy, int offset, int count)
    {
        if (replaceBy != EMPTY)
            return str.RemoveByTextElements(offset, count).InsertByTextElements(offset, replaceBy);
        else
            return str.RemoveByTextElements(offset, count);
    }

    public static StringInfo RemoveByTextElements(this StringInfo str, int offset, int count)
    {
        return new StringInfo(string.Concat(
            str.SubstringByTextElements(0, offset),
            offset + count < str.LengthInTextElements
                ? str.SubstringByTextElements(offset + count, str.LengthInTextElements - count - offset)
                : ""
            ));
    }
    public static StringInfo InsertByTextElements(this StringInfo str, int offset, string insertStr)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(str.String))
            return new StringInfo(insertStr);

        return new StringInfo(string.Concat(
            str.SubstringByTextElements(0, offset),
            insertStr,
            str.LengthInTextElements - offset > 0 ? str.SubstringByTextElements(offset, str.LengthInTextElements - offset) : ""
        ));
    }

    public static string SubsituteStringStringBuilder(this string s, int idx, char replaceChar)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s) || idx >= s.Length || idx < 0)
            return s;

        return new StringBuilder(s).Remove(idx, 1).Insert(idx, replaceChar.ToString()).ToString();
    }

    public static string ReplaceAtSubstring(this string s, int idx, char replaceChar)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s) || idx >= s.Length || idx < 0)
            return s;

        return s.Substring(0, idx) + replaceChar.ToString() + s.Substring(idx + replaceChar.ToString().Length, s.Length - (idx + replaceChar.ToString().Length));

    }

    public static string ReplaceAtStringManipulation(this string s, int idx, char replaceChar)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s) || idx >= s.Length || idx < 0)
            return s;

        return s.Remove(idx, 1).Insert(idx, replaceChar.ToString());
    }

    public static string ReplaceAtLinq(this string value, int index, char newchar)
    {
        if (value.Length <= index)
            return value;
        else
            return string.Concat(value.Select((c, i) => i == index ? newchar : c));
    }

    public static string ReplaceAtCharArray(this string input, uint index, char newChar)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(input) || index >= input.Length)
            return input;

        char[] chars = input.ToCharArray();
        chars[index] = newChar;
        return new string(chars);
    }

    public static void Main()
    {
        //In .NET 4.5 and later also UTF-16 is supported
        //Console.OutputEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode;  

        Stopwatch sw = new Stopwatch();
        sw.Start();
        Console.WriteLine("🎶🔥--ReplaceAtCharArray".ReplaceAtCharArray(4, 'X'));
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("in {0} ticks.", sw.ElapsedTicks.ToString("N0"));

        sw.Restart();
        Console.WriteLine("🎶🔥--ReplaceAtLinq".ReplaceAtLinq(4, 'Y'));
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("in {0} ticks.", sw.ElapsedTicks.ToString("N0"));

        sw.Restart();
        Console.WriteLine("🎶🔥--ReplaceAtStringManipulation".ReplaceAtStringManipulation(4, 'Z'));
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("in {0} ticks.", sw.ElapsedTicks.ToString("N0"));

        sw.Restart();
        Console.WriteLine("🎶🔥--ReplaceAtSubstring".ReplaceAtSubstring(4, 'R'));
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("in {0} ticks.", sw.ElapsedTicks.ToString("N0"));

        sw.Restart();
        Console.WriteLine("🎶🔥--SubsituteStringStringBuilder".SubsituteStringStringBuilder(4, 'W'));
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("in {0} ticks.", sw.ElapsedTicks.ToString("N0"));

        sw.Restart();
        Console.WriteLine("c:\\\\dir\\🎶🔥--UnicodeReplaceAt".UnicodeReplaceAt(4, 'a'));
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("in {0} ticks.", sw.ElapsedTicks.ToString("N0"));

    

    }
}

Output

🎶🔥X-ReplaceAtCharArray
in 1,802 ticks.
🎶🔥Y-ReplaceAtLinq
in 33,156 ticks.
🎶🔥Z-ReplaceAtStringManipulation
in 1,579 ticks.
🎶🔥R-ReplaceAtSubstring
in 1,892 ticks.
🎶🔥W-SubsituteStringStringBuilder
in 1,821 ticks.
c:\\air\🎶🔥--UnicodeReplaceAt
in 5,745 ticks.

New Chrome builds reset Google Chrome sign-in setting, another battle

From now on, every time you log into a Google property (for example, Gmail), Chrome will automatically sign the browser into your Google account for you. Old news, but....because you could turn it off in the settings.


What's new, is since Chrome Version 72+ this is being reset every-time your browser updates. Beware.


Type the following in Google Address bar

chrome://settings/?search=allow+chrome

Allow Chrome sign-in (turn off)

By turning this off, you can sign in to Google sites like Gmail without signing in to Chrome