Thursday, June 30, 2005

WindowsDevCenter.com: Easy Scripting

WindowsDevCenter.com: Easy Scripting: "Easy Scripting
by Mitch Tulloch
06/28/2005

Writing scripts for Windows isn't like writing batch scripts for MS-DOS; the scripting capabilities of the latest version of Windows (XP/2003) are far more powerful than the batch scripting language but also far more complex. Microsoft has an excellent site on TechNet, the Script Center, that has lots of tutorials, articles, and resources to help you learn how to write Windows scripts. But the actual process of writing scripts hasn't really changed from the way we used to write batch files for DOS--it's still basically all about opening up Notepad and doing a bunch of typing, carefully. Isn't there an easier way to write scripts?"

XstreamDB 3.2 leverages power of native XML storage

XstreamDB 3.2 leverages power of native XML storage: "XstreamDB 3.2 leverages power of native XML storage

Posted by: webmaster on Thursday Jun 30, 2005 Viewed: 48 times

Bluestream Database Software Corporation has shipped a new release of its flagship product XstreamDB 3.2 native XML database.

This version is ideal for enterprise or, even better, for OEM such as content integration servers, next generation content management systems, learning object repositories or just about anyone who needs to store XML and understands the true power of XQuery and native XML storage."

IBM's Cloudscape Versus MySQL

IBM's Cloudscape Versus MySQL: "IBM's Cloudscape Versus MySQL
Both Cloudscape and MySQL open-source relational databases can be obtained at no cost for most users. But there are many differences that can strongly affect which you choose.

by Roger Smith June 28, 2005

The age of industrial-strength open-source databases has arrived. No longer collaborative science experiments, open-source database projects are growing up and going mainstream. In a recent survey, Evans Data Corp. found that two-thirds of database developers were currently using open-source databases, not just because of the cost-effectiveness of open-source software but also because they felt that the performance and scalability of open-source databases had increased to the point where they are acceptable for use in corporate enterprise environments.

Because of their self-managed features and extremely scalable modes of operation, several of the latest generation of open-source databases are also doing away with, or considerably reducing, the role of Database Administrators (DBAs).

Let's take the Cloudscape relational database management system (RDBMS that IBM recently contributed to the open-source community and compare it to the venerable open-source RDBMS workhorse, MySQL. How are they different, and if you are in the market for a no-cost fully relational database, how do those differences affect your choice?"

Wed Yourself to UML with the Power of Associations

Wed Yourself to UML with the Power of Associations: "Wed Yourself to UML with the Power of Associations
Some UML concepts are more difficult to grasp than others, and associations are a concept that proves the rule. But by thinking of associations as marriages, we've hit on a way of making even complex associations easy to learn. Walk through this tutorial, which includes implementation examples in Octopus.

by Anneke Kleppe, June 28, 2005"

2005 JavaOne Conference - Congratulations Duke's Choice Award Winners

2005 JavaOne Conference - Congratulations Duke's Choice Award Winners: "Congratulations, Duke's Choice Award Winners

By Jon Byous, June 28, 2005

Who launched the coolest Java technology-based applications over the last year? It's a matter of opinion, but it would be hard to narrow it down to just one, two, or even 10. That's the problem that James Gosling and Scott McNealy faced in judging this year's Duke's Choice Awards, also known as the Dukies."

Google Earth - Home

Google Earth - Home: " Google Earth – Explore, Search and Discover

Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips."

Sunday, June 26, 2005

CSS tips and tricks, Part 1 | 456 Berea Street

CSS tips and tricks, Part 1 | 456 Berea Street: "CSS tips and tricks, Part 1

As I stated in my recent article on CSS shorthand properties, I get a lot of questions about CSS from people who haven’t spent quite as much time working with CSS as I have. Their CSS is often not as efficient as it could be, and I come across some mistakes that are easy to make when you’re starting out with CSS."

The World's Simplest Code Generator

The World's Simplest Code Generator: "The World's Simplest Code Generator"

ionForge Evolution Source Control System - Simply Better Source Control

ionForge Evolution Source Control System - Simply Better Source Control: "Evolution 2.3.3 Now Available
This update includes primarily feedback based enhancements:
# IMAGE DIFFERENCE TOOL now availabe. Evolution now features a pixel by pixel image diffing and comparison tool. Just select any two versions of an image file and compare then like you usually do with source files. Instead of launching the default tool you will get the Evolution image differ if the format is supported. BMP, GIF, JPG, TIF, PCX and more are supported. Images of the same proportional dimensions can be compared. The tool also features a threshold slider to eliminate recompression noise, and various filters to see the intensity of the changes from pixel to pixel.
# Speed of 'Get' operations has been significantly improved when building the project tree. The improvement is particularly evident on very large code trees.
# 'Import' operation now provides the option to ignore files of certain extensions. These extensions can be added or removed, as well as saved."

RSS:

RSS:: "Microsoft, lists, RSS and me
Here's a preview of some RSS-related news coming later this week at Gnomedex.

I assumed (incorrectly) that this group was interested in reading and writing lists of browser bookmarks in RSS. But I found out, when I visited Microsoft in April, that while this is one of the applications they were considering, they were actually thinking bigger.

The first clue that something weird was happening at Microsoft around RSS was when Sean Lyndersay picked me up for dinner on the first night of my visit. I asked what part of Microsoft he worked for. He said he was on the RSS Team. I gulped. You mean there's an RSS Team at Microsoft? Yeah there is."

Saturday, June 18, 2005

flamin tiki dot com

flamin tiki dot com

Site that usually has a lot of useful links.

CSS Beauty | CSS Design Showcase

CSS Beauty | CSS Design Showcase

Just put this link as a reminder to check this site every now and again.

Aardvark Firefox Extension

Aardvark Firefox Extension: "The Aardvark Firefox extension is a tool for web developers/designers as well as casual users. To see it in action, run the demo.

Using Aardvark

Once you have installed Aardvark as an extension (as opposed to running the demo), start it by right-clicking on the page and choosing 'Start Aardvark' from the menu. The extension will run until you leave, refresh, or stop it by pressing “Q” for quit."

Looks superb - but I never like the idea of using extensions that are not hosted on an official mozdev site... but I probably won't be able to resist installing this one.

Greasemonkey compiler

Greasemonkey compiler: "Greasemonkey compiler

This site converts Greasemonkey user scripts into full-fledged Mozilla Firefox extensions. Fill out the form below, and it'll give you an XPI file, suitable for installation into Firefox."

Wicked!

Printing company cites XML tools for multimedia forms

Printing company cites XML tools for multimedia forms: "Printing company cites XML tools for multimedia forms

Posted by: webmaster on Friday Jun 10, 2005

IBM has released new XML Development tool plug-ins to support the strict specifications of the World Wide Web Consortium or the W3C."

Pervasive Software's Postgres 8 | Database Wars | April 14, 2005 | Network Computing

Pervasive Software's Postgres 8 | Database Wars | April 14, 2005 | Network Computing: "Pervasive Software's Postgres 8
Database Wars

Free of charge and enterprise-ready, this open-source database holds its own against Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.

Apr 14, 2005 | By Jeremy Baumgartner


The latest enterprise-class database product from Pervasive Software, Pervasive Postgres 8, includes several updates that will make DB administrators happy. It's based on version 8.0.1 of the free, open-source PostgreSQL database, the primary competitor of the popular open-source MySQL database. As part of the community working to improve PostgreSQL, Pervasive Software sells support contracts for its commercial version of the PostgreSQL server.

A key new feature in Postgres 8 is the ability to run the database as a Windows service on a variety of Windows platforms, including Windows 2000 Professional and Server, 2003 Standard and Enterprise, and XP Professional. The product is also compatible with SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9, SuSE Professional 9.1 and 9.2, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, and Fedora Core 2 and 3. Enterprises will enjoy support for tablespaces and server-side languages, better table-alteration support, and point-in-time recovery.

I tested Postgres 8 using Fedora Core 3 on a 1-GHz Pentium 3 system in our Madison, Wis., Real-World Labs®. Installation was a breeze, thanks to a simple, Java-based install wizard and packaged binaries. A Java run-time environment was provided, so there were no prerequisites to worry about."

jdeveloperaop: Default Project Content

jdeveloperaop: Default Project Content: "This project's goal is to provide integrated support for Aspect Orientated Programming in Oracle's JDeveloper IDE. Where possible we hope to make use of, and reuse code from, projects that have solved similar problems for other IDEs."

Technical Note

Technical Note: "Integrating FOP with Oracle JDeveloper

Author: Deepak Vohra (dvohra09@yahoo.com), NuBean Consultant and Web Developer
Publication Date: June 2005

An XML document does not include any formatting, except for the indentations. Therefore, for presentation purposes, a formatting object (also known as an FO or an XSL-FO) is included to provide additional information about layout, fonts, and data representation. Many J2EE developers convert XML documents to another format, such as PDF or PCL, to properly display the formatted data in the formatting object.

FOP (Formatting Objects Processor) is a print formatter for converting XSL formatting objects (XSL-FO) to an output format such as PDF, PCL, PS, SVG, XML, Print, AWT, MIF, or TXT. This Technical Note describes how to convert an example XML document to PDF with the FOP processor in Oracle JDeveloper; it assumes an existing Oracle JDeveloper install."

O'Reilly Network: Jabberwocky: Your Personal Compass

O'Reilly Network: Jabberwocky: Your Personal Compass: "Jabberwocky: Your Personal Compass
by Elizabeth Goodman
06/17/2005

Jabberwocky is a social mobile app, for Bluetooth-enabled phones. Elizabeth provides an overview of Jabberwocky and its potential. Did our world just get a little smaller?

Are all our interactions with people aimed at bringing us closer to them? It seems like designers of social applications often assume that.

Many social interactions in the real world are more subtle than the explicit connections, drinks, and dates. Busy streets are a case in point. Even surrounded by relative strangers, you can still sometimes spot some familiar faces--like someone you see every day at a bus stop.

Spotting a coworker in the stands of a huge and crowded stadium full of cheering fans is kind of unlikely, but what if you knew for sure that someone you knew from work was at the game with you? You might not be able to spot the person, but you'd know that you were in a place frequented by familiar people.

At Intel Research Berkeley, we've developed an application for Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones called Jabberwocky that does just that. When Jabberwocky is activated, the phone's Bluetooth radio repeatedly scans its neighborhood for other Bluetooth radios."

Great but why call it Jabberwocky? - There are already 2 sourceforge projects using that name.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

PROJECTOR PT-LB20NT - WIRELESS MOBILITY AND LOCAL AREA NETWORKING

PROJECTOR PT-LB20NT - WIRELESS MOBILITY AND LOCAL AREA NETWORKING: "'Multi Live' Mode with 16 - Window Extended Index Style

In Multi Live mode, a single projector unit can receive data from multiple PCs and display their images simultaneously on its multi-window screen. The projection style can be selected from Four Window split screen, 4-Window Index and 16-Window Extended Index. It is also possible to send images from a single PC to multiple PT-LB20NT units. The included Wireless Manger Mobile Edition (ME) 2 software simplifies set-up and operation."

Wireless Projector from panasonic

The Behaviour Layer: Using JavaScript for good, not evil

The Behaviour Layer: Using JavaScript for good, not evil: "Unobtrusive JavaScript"

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Web Test Tools

Web Test Tools: "Web Site Test Tools and Site Management Tools
More than 290 tools listed in 12 categories

* The description shown below for each tool is based on descriptions provided in the tool vendor's web site.
* Check listed sites for latest product capabilities, supported platforms/servers/clients, etc.
* New listings are periodically added to the top of each category section, for easy browsing by users when checking back in for newly-listed tools.
* See How can World Wide Web sites be tested? in the FAQ Part 2 for a discussion of web site testing considerations; there are also articles about web site testing and management in the 'Other Resources' section."

Comprehensive listing of testing tools.

Raganwald: Passionate Software Development

Raganwald: Passionate Software Development: "Why does failure matter?

It's a funny thing. After almost twenty years of drawing a paycheque for creating software, people generally want to hire me because they want me to duplicate the successes I've had. The model seems to be 'do the things you've done successfully before, and you'll be successful now.'

My experience is that this has never worked on its own. Success in software development is at least as much about avoiding failure modes as it is about 'best practices.' I conjecture it's because software development on a commercial scale is so hard that almost any mistake will sink a project if left uncorrected or even worse, actively encouraged."

An honest open assessment on the failures occurring during a life of software development. A lengthy but extremely interesting article, which is interspersed with many quotations that are annoying at first but grow on you.

My favourite:

"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who finish what they started."

Musings of a Software Development Manager » Blog Archive » JUnit 4 versus TestNG

Musings of a Software Development Manager » Blog Archive » JUnit 4 versus TestNG: "General details about JUnit 4 are starting to leak out and you can find more of the discussion at Cedric Beust’s blog. He’s one of the people behind TestNG which is an alternative java based unit testing framework that built on perceived problems in JUnit including things like the brittleness of having to build suites and adds supports for annotations."

Intersting comments on JUnit having momentum, whereas support for TestNG (which is perceived as superior) has less support so it is harder to sell as a usable framework. VHS vs Betamax anyone?

Also contrasts Subversion vs CVS - short interesting analogy.

Complex Dynamic Lists: Your Order Please: A List Apart

Complex Dynamic Lists: Your Order Please: A List Apart: "ISSN: 1534-0295. 24 May 2005 – Issue No. 200
Complex Dynamic Lists: Your Order Please
by Christian Heilmann

In our struggle to reduce the number of steps site visitors must take to accomplish their goals, we face a number of challenges. One of them is to provide a good way for users to choose from a list of hierarchical elements. For example, a list that serves as a diner menu, offering a selection of drinks, main dishes, salads, and desserts."

Excellent article, although horizontal navigation does not really work for heavily nested lists.

New Scientist Breaking News - Gamers turn cities into a battleground

New Scientist Breaking News - Gamers turn cities into a battleground: "Gamers turn cities into a battleground

* 09:45 12 June 2005
* Special Report from New Scientist Print Edition
* Duncan Graham-Rowe

Matt has been abandoned on Tower Bridge, London, with nothing except his clothes and a mobile phone. A woman dressed in black walks past, and Matt receives a text message to follow her. He doesn't know who she is, or where she is going. All he knows is that he must follow her if he is to find Uncle Roy.

Matt is playing Uncle Roy All Around You, where for one day he is the main character in an elaborate experimental fantasy game played out across the streets of London. He also happens to be a pioneer of a new social phenomenon, urban gaming. If you thought the computer games of the 21st century are only ever played by couch potatoes addicted to the new generation of Xbox, Nintendo or PlayStation consoles, you'd be mistaken. For urban gamers are harnessing the power of global positioning systems (GPS), high-resolution screens and cameras and the latest mobile phones to play games across our towns and cities, where they become spies, vampire slayers, celebrities and even Pac-Man."


No comment

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Slashdot | HTTP Request Smuggling

Slashdot | HTTP Request Smuggling: "'Multiple vendors are vulnerable to a new class of attack named 'HTTP Request Smuggling' that revolves around piggybacking a HTTP request inside of another HTTP request, which could let a remote malicious user conduct cache poisoning, cross-site scripting, session hijacking, as well as bypassing web application firewall protection and other attacks."

Saturday, June 11, 2005

ONJava.com: Playing Movies in a Java 3D World, Part 2:

ONJava.com: Playing Movies in a Java 3D World, Part 2:: "Playing Movies in a Java 3D World, Part 2:
by Andrew Davison, author of Killer Game Programming in Java
06/08/2005 "

In part one of this series, I described how to play a movie clip inside of a Java 3D scene with the help of the Java Media Framework (JMF). The implementation uses the Model-View-Controller design pattern

Sunday, June 05, 2005

XFX - Products : Features

XFX - Products : Features: "Revo32 is a new family of ATA and Serial-ATA storage accelerator PCI adapter cards from NetCell Corporation. Revo32 cards feature a revolutionary new 64-bit RAID engine, offering for the first time a mainstream RAID solution with the simultaneous benefits of both RAID 0-class performance and RAID 5-class data protection.

Revo32 is specifically designed to overcome the limitations of traditional RAID technology and provide a solution for today's demanding storage environments, offering the fastest a Serial ATA storage performance for bandwidth-intensive desktop, workstation, and media server applications. Revo32 delivers high-end performance with low-cost drives, while providing enterprise-class security for data and content."

Saturday, June 04, 2005

A bizarre no-post situation with GA-7vrxp and XP2100+ - TechSpot Troubleshooting

A bizarre no-post situation with GA-7vrxp and XP2100+ - TechSpot Troubleshooting: "The problem could be that your CMOS got currupted and tries to boot the CPU at a too high/too low frequency, try to clear the CMOS and also press the insert key like crazy when the system boots (tells the mobo to use 'safe' startup parameters)"

I recently ran into a NO-POST problem when CHKDSK hung after a crash. The tip of hammering the insert key to restore the BIOS setting to default values came in very useful!