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• Create a Social Community of Trust Along With Your Federal Digital Services Governance

  - by TedMcLaughlan

  The Digital Services Governance Recommendations were recently released, supporting the US Federal Government's Digital Government Strategy Milestone Action #4.2 to establish agency-wide governance structures for developing and delivering digital services. Figure 1 - From: "Digital Services Governance Recommendations" While extremely important from a policy and procedure perspective within an Agency's information management and communications enterprise, these recommendations only very lightly reference perhaps the most important success enabler - the "Trusted Community" required for ultimate usefulness of the services delivered. By "ultimate usefulness", I mean the collection of public, transparent properties around government information and digital services that include social trust and validation, social reach, expert respect, and comparative, standard measures of relative value. In other words, do the digital services meet expectations of the public, social media ecosystem (people AND machines)? A rigid governance framework, controlling by rules, policies and roles the creation and dissemination of digital services may meet the expectations of direct end-users and most stakeholders - including the agency information stewards and security officers. All others who may share comments about the services, write about them, swap or review extracts, repackage, visualize or otherwise repurpose the output for use in entirely unanticipated, social ways - these "stakeholders" will not be governed, but may observe guidance generated by a "Trusted Community". As recognized members of the trusted community, these stakeholders may ultimately define the right scope and detail of governance that all other users might observe, promoting and refining the usefulness of the government product as the social ecosystem expects. So, as part of an agency-centric governance framework, it's advised that a flexible governance model be created for stewarding a "Community of Trust" around the digital services. The first steps follow the approach outlined in the Recommendations: Step 1: Gather a Core Team In addition to the roles and responsibilities described, perhaps a set of characteristics and responsibilities can be developed for the "Trusted Community Steward/Advocate" - i.e. a person or team who (a) are entirely cognizant of and respected within the external social media communities, and (b) are trusted both within the agency and outside as practical, responsible, non-partisan communicators of useful information. The may seem like a standard Agency PR/Outreach team role - but often an agency or stakeholder subject matter expert with a public, active social persona works even better. Step 2: Assess What You Have In addition to existing, agency or stakeholder decision-making bodies and assets, it's important to take a PR/Marketing view of the social ecosystem. How visible are the services across the social channels utilized by current or desired constituents of your agency? What's the online reputation of your agency and perhaps the service(s)? Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) a facet of external communications/publishing lifecycles? Who are the public champions, instigators, value-adders for the digital services, or perhaps just influential "communicators" (i.e. with no stake in the game)? You're essentially assessing your market and social presence, and identifying the actors (including your own agency employees) in the existing community of trust. Step 3: Determine What You Want The evolving Community of Trust will most readily absorb, support and provide feedback regarding "Core Principles" (Element B of the "six essential elements of a digital services governance structure") shared by your Agency, and obviously play a large, though probably very unstructured part in Element D "Stakeholder Input and Participation". Plan for this, and seek input from the social media community with respect to performance metrics - these should be geared around the outcome and growth of the trusted communities actions. How big and active is this community? What's the influential reach of this community with respect to particular messaging or campaigns generated by the Agency? What's the referral rate TO your digital services, FROM channels owned or operated by members of this community? (this requires governance with respect to content generation inclusive of "markers" or "tags"). At this point, while your Agency proceeds with steps 4 ("Build/Validate the Governance Structure") and 5 ("Share, Review, Upgrade"), the Community of Trust might as well just get going, and start adding value and usefulness to the existing conversations, existing data services - loosely though directionally-stewarded by your trusted advocate(s). Why is this an "Enterprise Architecture" topic? Because it's increasingly apparent that a Public Service "Enterprise" is not wholly contained within Agency facilities, firewalls and job titles - it's also manifested in actual, perceived or representative forms outside the walls, on the social Internet. An Agency's EA model and resulting investments both facilitate and are impacted by the "Social Enterprise". At Oracle, we're very active both within our Enterprise and outside, helping foster social architectures that enable truly useful public services, digital or otherwise.

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• Extending QuickBooks Reporting with the QuickBooks ADO.NET Data Provider

  - by dataintegration

  The ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks comes with several reports you may request from QuickBooks by default. However, there are many more that are not readily available. The ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks makes it easy for you to create new reports and customize existing ones. In this article, we will illustrate how to create your own report and retrieve it from the Server Explorer in Visual Studio. For this example we will show how to create an Item Profitability Report. Creating the report script file Step 1: Download the sample reports available here. Extract them to a folder of your choice. Step 2: Make a copy of the ReportGeneralSummary.rsd file and rename it to ItemProfitability.rsd. Then open the file in any text editor. Step 3: Open the installation directory of the ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks. Under the \db\ folder, locate the ReportJob.rsb file. Open this file in another text editor. Note: Although we are using ReportJob.rsb for this example, other reports may be contained in other Report*.rsb files. We recommend consulting the included help file and first locating the Report stored procedure and ReportType you are looking for. Otherwise, you may open each Report*.rsb file and look under the "reporttype" input for the report you are attempting to create. Step 4: First, let's rename the title of ItemProfitability.rsd. Near the top of the file you will see a title and description. Change the title to match the name of the file. Change the description to anything you like. For example: <rsb:info title="ItemProfitability" description="Executes my custom report."> Just below the Title, there are a number of columns. The Id represents the row number. The RowType represents the type of data returned by QuickBooks. The ColumnValue* columns represent all of the column data returned by QuickBooks. In some instances, we may need to add additional ColumnValue columns. Step 5: To add additional ColumnValue columns, simply copy the last column, paste it directly below, and continue increasing the numerical value at end of the attribute name. For example: <attr name="ColumnValue9" xs:type="string" readonly="true" required="false" desc="Represents a column of data."/> <attr name="ColumnValue10" xs:type="string" readonly="true" required="false" desc="Represents a column of data."/> <attr name="ColumnValue11" xs:type="string" readonly="true" required="false" desc="Represents a column of data."/> <attr name="ColumnValue12" xs:type="string" readonly="true" required="false" desc="Represents a column of data."/> ... Caution: Do not rename the ColumnValue* definitions themselves. They are generalized so that we can understand each type of report returned by QuickBooks. Renaming them to something other than ColumnValue* will cause your columns to return with null values. Step 6: Now let's update the available inputs for the table. From the ReportJob.rsb file, copy all of the input elements into ItemProfitability under the "Psuedo-Column definitions" comment. You will be replacing the existing input elements in ItemProfitability with inputs from ReportJob. When you are done, it should look like this: <!-- Psuedo-Column definitions --> <input name="reporttype" description="The type of the report." value="ITEMESTIMATESVSACTUALS,ITEMPROFITABILITY,JOBESTIMATESVSACTUALSDETAIL,JOBESTIMATESVSACTUALSSUMMARY,JOBPROFITABILITYDETAIL,JOBPROFITABILITYSUMMARY," default="ITEMESTIMATESVSACTUALS" /> <input name="reportperiod" description="Report date range in the format (fromdate:todate), and either value may be omitted for an open ended range (e.g. 2009-12-25:). Supported date format: yyyy-MM-dd." /> <input name="reportdaterangemacro" description="Use a predefined date range." value="ALL,TODAY,THISWEEK,THISWEEKTODATE,THISMONTH,THISMONTHTODATE,THISQUARTER,THISQUARTERTODATE,THISYEAR,THISYEARTODATE,YESTERDAY,LASTWEEK,LASTWEEKTODATE,LASTMONTH,LASTMONTHTODATE,LASTQUARTER,LASTQUARTERTODATE,LASTYEAR,LASTYEARTODATE,NEXTWEEK,NEXTFOURWEEKS,NEXTMONTH,NEXTQUARTER,NEXTYEAR," default="ALL" /> ... Step 7: Now let's update the operationname attribute. This needs to match the same operationname used by ReportJob. After you have copied the correct value from ReportJob.rsb, the operationname in ItemProfitability should look like so: <rsb:set attr="operationname" value="qbReportJob"/> Step 8: There is one more thing we can do to make this a true Item Profitability report. We can remove the reporttype input and hardcode the value. To do this, copy and paste the rsb:set used for operationname. Then rename the attr and value to match the name and value you want to use. For example: <rsb:set attr="operationname" value="qbReportJob"/> <rsb:set attr="reporttype" value="ITEMPROFITABILITY"/> After this you can remove the input for reporttype. Now that you have your own report file, we can move on to displaying the report in the Visual Studio server explorer. Accessing the report through the Data Provider Step 1: Open Visual Studio. In the Server Explorer, configure a new connection with the QuickBooks Data Provider. Step 2: For the Location connection string property, enter the directory where the new report has been saved to. Step 3: The new report should appear as a new view in the Server Explorer. Let's retrieve data from it. Step 4: You can specify any inputs in the WHERE clause. New Report Example Script To help you get started using this new QuickBooks Data Provider report, you will need to download the QuickBooks ADO.NET Data Provider and the fully functional sample script.

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• Breaking through the class sealing

  - by Jason Crease

  Do you understand 'sealing' in C#?  Somewhat?  Anyway, here's the lowdown. I've done this article from a C# perspective, but I've occasionally referenced .NET when appropriate. What is sealing a class? By sealing a class in C#, you ensure that you ensure that no class can be derived from that class.  You do this by simply adding the word 'sealed' to a class definition: public sealed class Dog {} Now writing something like " public sealed class Hamster: Dog {} " you'll get a compile error like this: 'Hamster: cannot derive from sealed type 'Dog' If you look in an IL disassembler, you'll see a definition like this: .class public auto ansi sealed beforefieldinit Dog extends [mscorlib]System.Object Note the addition of the word 'sealed'. What about sealing methods? You can also seal overriding methods.  By adding the word 'sealed', you ensure that the method cannot be overridden in a derived class.  Consider the following code: public class Dog : Mammal { public sealed override void Go() { } } public class Mammal { public virtual void Go() { } } In this code, the method 'Go' in Dog is sealed.  It cannot be overridden in a subclass.  Writing this would cause a compile error: public class Dachshund : Dog { public override void Go() { } } However, we can 'new' a method with the same name.  This is essentially a new method; distinct from the 'Go' in the subclass: public class Terrier : Dog { public new void Go() { } } Sealing properties? You can also seal seal properties.  You add 'sealed' to the property definition, like so: public sealed override string Name {     get { return m_Name; }     set { m_Name = value; } } In C#, you can only seal a property, not the underlying setters/getters.  This is because C# offers no override syntax for setters or getters.  However, in underlying IL you seal the setter and getter methods individually - a property is just metadata. Why bother sealing? There are a few traditional reasons to seal: Invariance. Other people may want to derive from your class, even though your implementation may make successful derivation near-impossible.  There may be twisted, hacky logic that could never be second-guessed by another developer.  By sealing your class, you're protecting them from wasting their time.  The CLR team has sealed most of the framework classes, and I assume they did this for this reason. Security.  By deriving from your type, an attacker may gain access to functionality that enables him to hack your system.  I consider this a very weak security precaution. Speed.  If a class is sealed, then .NET doesn't need to consult the virtual-function-call table to find the actual type, since it knows that no derived type can exist.  Therefore, it could emit a 'call' instead of 'callvirt' or at least optimise the machine code, thus producing a performance benefit.  But I've done trials, and have been unable to demonstrate this If you have an example, please share! All in all, I'm not convinced that sealing is interesting or important.  Anyway, moving-on... What is automatically sealed? Value types and structs.  If they were not always sealed, all sorts of things would go wrong.  For instance, structs are laid-out inline within a class.  But what if you assigned a substruct to a struct field of that class?  There may be too many fields to fit. Static classes.  Static classes exist in C# but not .NET.  The C# compiler compiles a static class into an 'abstract sealed' class.  So static classes are already sealed in C#. Enumerations.  The CLR does not track the types of enumerations - it treats them as simple value types.  Hence, polymorphism would not work. What cannot be sealed? Interfaces.  Interfaces exist to be implemented, so sealing to prevent implementation is dumb.  But what if you could prevent interfaces from being extended (i.e. ban declarations like "public interface IMyInterface : ISealedInterface")?  There is no good reason to seal an interface like this.  Sealing finalizes behaviour, but interfaces have no intrinsic behaviour to finalize Abstract classes.  In IL you can create an abstract sealed class.  But C# syntax for this already exists - declaring a class as a 'static', so it forces you to declare it as such. Non-override methods.  If a method isn't declared as override it cannot be overridden, so sealing would make no difference.  Note this is stated from a C# perspective - the words are opposite in IL.  In IL, you have four choices in total: no declaration (which actually seals the method), 'virtual' (called 'override' in C#), 'sealed virtual' ('sealed override' in C#) and 'newslot virtual' ('new virtual' or 'virtual' in C#, depending on whether the method already exists in a base class). Methods that implement interface methods.  Methods that implement an interface method must be virtual, so cannot be sealed. Fields.  A field cannot be overridden, only hidden (using the 'new' keyword in C#), so sealing would make no sense.

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• Row Count Plus Transformation

  As the name suggests we have taken the current Row Count Transform that is provided by Microsoft in the Integration Services toolbox and we have recreated the functionality and extended upon it. There are two things about the current version that we thought could do with cleaning up Lack of a custom UI You have to type the variable name yourself In the Row Count Plus Transformation we solve these issues for you. Another thing we thought was missing is the ability to calculate the time taken between components in the pipeline. An example usage would be that you want to know how many rows flowed between Component A and Component B and how long it took. Again we have solved this issue. Credit must go to Erik Veerman of Solid Quality Learning for the idea behind noting the duration. We were looking at one of his packages and saw that he was doing something very similar but he was using a Script Component as a transformation. Our philosophy is that if you have to write or Copy and Paste the same piece of code more than once then you should be thinking about a custom component and here it is. The Row Count Plus Transformation populates variables with the values returned from; Counting the rows that have flowed through the path Returning the time in seconds between when it first saw a row come down this path and when it saw the final row. It is possible to leave both these boxes blank and the component will still work.   All input columns are passed through the transformation unaltered, you are not permitted to change or add to the inputs or outputs of this component. Optionally you can set the component to fire an event, which happens during the PostExecute phase of the execution. This can be useful to improve visibility of this information, such that it is captured in package logging, or can be used to drive workflow in the case of an error event. Properties Property Data Type Description OutputRowCountVariable String The name of the variable into which the amount of row read will be passed (Optional). OutputDurationVariable String The name of the variable into which the duration in seconds will be passed. (Optional). EventType RowCountPlusTransform.EventType The type of event to fire during post execute, included in which are the row count and duration values. RowCountPlusTransform.EventType Enumeration Name Value Description None 0 Do not fire any event. Information 1 Fire an Information event. Warning 2 Fire a Warning event. Error 3 Fire an Error event. Installation The component is provided as an MSI file which you can download and run to install it. This simply places the files on disk in the correct locations and also installs the assemblies in the Global Assembly Cache as per Microsoft’s recommendations. You may need to restart the SQL Server Integration Services service, as this caches information about what components are installed, as well as restarting any open instances of Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) / Visual Studio that you may be using to build your SSIS packages. For 2005/2008 Only - Finally you will have to add the transformation to the Visual Studio toolbox manually. Right-click the toolbox, and select Choose Items.... Select the SSIS Data Flow Items tab, and then check the Row Count Plus Transformation in the Choose Toolbox Items window. This process has been described in detail in the related FAQ entry for How do I install a task or transform component? We recommend you follow best practice and apply the current Microsoft SQL Server Service pack to your SQL Server servers and workstations, and this component requires a minimum of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1. Downloads The Row Number Transformation is available for SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 (includes R2) and SQL Server 2012. Please choose the version to match your SQL Server version, or you can install multiple versions and use them side by side if you have more than one version of SQL Server installed. Row Count Plus Transformation for SQL Server 2005 Row Count Plus Transformation for SQL Server 2008 Row Count Plus Transformation for SQL Server 2012 Version History SQL Server 2012 Version 3.0.0.6 - SQL Server 2012 release. Includes upgrade support for both 2005 and 2008 packages to 2012. (5 Jun 2012) SQL Server 2008 Version 2.0.0.5 - SQL Server 2008 release. (15 Oct 2008) SQL Server 2005 Version 1.1.0.43 - Bug fix for duration. For long running processes the duration second count may have been incorrect. (8 Sep 2006) Version 1.1.0.42 - SP1 Compatibility Testing. Added the ability to raise an event with the count and duration data for easier logging or workflow. (18 Jun 2006) Version 1.0.0.1 - SQL Server 2005 RTM. Made available as general public release. (20 Mar 2006) Screenshot Troubleshooting Make sure you have downloaded the version that matches your version of SQL Server. We offer separate downloads for SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2012. If you get an error when you try and use the component along the lines of The component could not be added to the Data Flow task. Please verify that this component is properly installed.  ... The data flow object "Konesans ..." is not installed correctly on this computer, this usually indicates that the internal cache of SSIS components needs to be updated. This is held by the SSIS service, so you need restart the the SQL Server Integration Services service. You can do this from the Services applet in Control Panel or Administrative Tools in Windows. You can also restart the computer if you prefer. You may also need to restart any current instances of Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) / Visual Studio that you may be using to build your SSIS packages. Once installation is complete you need to manually add the task to the toolbox before you will see it and to be able add it to packages - How do I install a task or transform component?

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• How to safely reboot via First Boot script

  - by unixman

  With the cost and performance benefits of the SPARC T4 and SPARC T5 systems undeniably validated, the banking sector is actively moving to Solaris 11.  I was recently asked to help a banking customer of ours look at migrating some of their Solaris 10 logic over to Solaris 11.  While we've introduced a number of holistic improvements in Solaris 11, in terms of how we ease long-term software lifecycle management, it is important to appreciate that customers may not be able to move all of their Solaris 10 scripts and procedures at once; there are years of scripts that reflect fine-tuned requirements of proprietary banking software that gets layered on top of the operating system. One of these requirements is to go through a cycle of reboots, after the system is installed, in order to ensure appropriate software dependencies and various configuration files are in-place. While Solaris 10 introduced a facility that aids here, namely SMF, many of our customers simply haven't yet taken the time to take advantage of this - proceeding with logic that, while functional, without further analysis has an appearance of not being optimal in terms of taking advantage of all the niceties bundled in Solaris 11 at no extra cost. When looking at Solaris 11, we recognize that one of the vehicles that bridges the gap between getting the operating system image payload delivered, and the customized banking software installed, is a notion of a First Boot script.  I had a working example of this at one of the Oracle OpenWorld sessions a few years ago - we've since improved our documentation and have introduced sections where this is described in better detail.   If you're looking at this for the first time and you've not worked with IPS and SMF previously, you might get the sense that the tasks are daunting.   There is a set of technologies involved that are jointly engineered in order to make the process reliable, predictable and extensible. As you go down the path of writing your first boot script, you'll be faced with a need to wrap it into a SMF service and then packaged into a IPS package. The IPS package would then need to be placed onto your IPS repository, in order to subsequently be made available to all of your AI (Automated Install) clients (i.e. the systems that you're installing Solaris and your software onto).     With this blog post, I wanted to create a single place that outlines the entire process (simplistically), and provide a hint of how a good old "at" command may make the requirement of forcing an initial reboot handy. The syntax and references to commands here is based on running this on a version of Solaris 11 that has been updated since its initial release in 2011 (i.e. I am writing this on Solaris 11.1) Assuming you've built an AI server (see this How To article for an example), you might be asking yourself: "Ok, I've got some logic that I need executed AFTER Solaris is deployed and I need my own little script that would make that happen. How do I go about hooking that script into the Solaris 11 AI framework?"  You might start here, in Chapter 13 of the "Installing Oracle Solaris 11.1 Systems" guide, which talks about "Running a Custom Script During First Boot".  And as you do, you'll be confronted with command that might be unfamiliar to you if you're new to Solaris 11, like our dear new friend: svcbundle svcbundle is an aide to creating manifests and profiles.  It is awesome, but don't let its awesomeness overwhelm you. (See this How To article by my colleague Glynn Foster for a nice working example).  In order to get your script's logic integrated into the Solaris 11 deployment process, you need to wrap your (shell) script into 2 manifests -  a SMF service manifest and a IPS package manifest.  ....and if you're new to XML, well then -- buckle up We have some examples of small first boot scripts shown here, as templates to build upon. Necessary structure of the script, particularly in leveraging SMF interfaces, is key. I won't go into that here as that is covered nicely in the doc link above.    Let's say your script ends up looking like this (btw: if things appear to be cut-off in your browser, just select them, copy and paste into your editor and it'll be grabbed - the source gets captured eventhough the browser may not render it "correctly" - ah, computers). #!/bin/sh # Load SMF shell support definitions . /lib/svc/share/smf_include.sh # If nothing to do, exit with temporary disable completed=`svcprop -p config/completed site/first-boot-script-svc:default` [ "${completed}" = "true" ] && \ smf_method_exit $SMF_EXIT_TEMP_DISABLE completed "Configuration completed" # Obtain the active BE name from beadm: The active BE on reboot has an R in # the third column of 'beadm list' output. Its name is in column one. bename=`beadm list -Hd|nawk -F ';' '$3 ~ /R/ {print $1}'` beadm create ${bename}.orig echo "Original boot environment saved as ${bename}.orig" # ---- Place your one-time configuration tasks here ---- # For example, if you have to pull some files from your own pre-existing system: /usr/bin/wget -P /var/tmp/ $PULL_DOWN_ADDITIONAL_SCRIPTS_FROM_A_CORPORATE_SYSTEM /usr/bin/chmod 755 /var/tmp/$SCRIPTS_THAT_GOT_PULLED_DOWN_IN_STEP_ABOVE # Clearly the above 2 lines represent some logic that you'd have to customize to fit your needs. # # Perhaps additional things you may want to do here might be of use, like # (gasp!) configuring ssh server for root login and X11 forwarding (for testing), and the like... # # Oh and by the way, after we're done executing all of our proprietary scripts we need to reboot # the system in accordance with our operational software requirements to ensure all layered bits # get initialized properly and pull-in their own modules and components in the right sequence, # subsequently. # We need to set a "time bomb" reboot, that would take place upon completion of this script. # We already know that *this* script depends on multi-user-server SMF milestone, so it should be # safe for us to schedule a reboot for 5 minutes from now. The "at" job get scheduled in the queue # while our little script continues thru the rest of the logic. /usr/bin/at now + 5 minutes <<REBOOT /usr/bin/sync /usr/sbin/reboot REBOOT # ---- End of your customizations ---- # Record that this script's work is done svccfg -s site/first-boot-script-svc:default setprop config/completed = true svcadm refresh site/first-boot-script-svc:default smf_method_exit $SMF_EXIT_TEMP_DISABLE method_completed "Configuration completed"  ...and you're happy with it and are ready to move on. Where do you go and what do you do? The next step is creating the IPS package for your script. Since running the logic of your script constitutes a service, you need to create a service manifest. This is described here, in the middle of Chapter 13 of "Creating an IPS package for the script and service".  Assuming the name of your shell script is first-boot-script.sh, you could end up doing the following: $ cd some_working_directory_for_this_project$ mkdir -p proto/lib/svc/manifest/site$ mkdir -p proto/opt/site $ cp first-boot-script.sh proto/opt/site  Then you would create the service manifest  file like so: $ svcbundle -s service-name=site/first-boot-script-svc \ -s start-method=/opt/site/first-boot-script.sh \ -s instance-property=config:completed:boolean:false -o \ first-boot-script-svc-manifest.xml   ...as described here, and place it into the directory hierarchy above. But before you place it into the directory, make sure to inspect the manifest and adjust the appropriate service dependencies.  That is to say, you want to properly specify what milestone should be reached before your service runs.  There's a <dependency> section that looks like this, before you modify it: <dependency restart_on="none" type="service" name="multi_user_dependency" grouping="require_all"> <service_fmri value="svc:/milestone/multi-user"/>  </dependency>  So if you'd like to have your service run AFTER the multi-user-server milestone has been reached (i.e. later, as multi-user-server has more dependencies then multi-user and our intent to reboot the system may have significant ramifications if done prematurely), you would modify that section to read:  <dependency restart_on="none" type="service" name="multi_user_server_dependency" grouping="require_all"> <service_fmri value="svc:/milestone/multi-user-server"/>  </dependency> Save the file and validate it: $ svccfg validate first-boot-script-svc-manifest.xml Assuming there are no errors returned, copy the file over into the directory hierarchy: $ cp first-boot-script-svc-manifest.xml proto/lib/svc/manifest/site Now that we've created the service manifest (.xml), create the package manifest (.p5m) file named: first-boot-script.p5m.  Populate it as follows: set name=pkg.fmri value=first-boot-script-AT-1-DOT-0,5.11-0 set name=pkg.summary value="AI first-boot script" set name=pkg.description value="Script that runs at first boot after AI installation" set name=info.classification value=\ "org.opensolaris.category.2008:System/Administration and Configuration" file lib/svc/manifest/site/first-boot-script-svc-manifest.xml \ path=lib/svc/manifest/site/first-boot-script-svc-manifest.xml owner=root \ group=sys mode=0444 dir path=opt/site owner=root group=sys mode=0755 file opt/site/first-boot-script.sh path=opt/site/first-boot-script.sh \ owner=root group=sys mode=0555 Now we are going to publish this package into a IPS repository. If you don't have one yet, don't worry. You have 2 choices: You can either  publish this package into your mirror of the Oracle Solaris IPS repo or create your own customized repo.  The best practice is to create your own customized repo, leaving your mirror of the Oracle Solaris IPS repo untouched.  From this point, you have 2 choices as well - you can either create a repo that will be accessible by your clients via HTTP or via NFS.  Since HTTP is how the default Solaris repo is accessed, we'll go with HTTP for your own IPS repo.   This nice and comprehensive How To by Albert White describes how to create multiple internal IPS repos for Solaris 11. We'll zero in on the basic elements for our needs here: We'll create the IPS repo directory structure hanging off a separate ZFS file system, and we'll tie it into an instance of pkg.depotd. We do this because we want our IPS repo to be accessible to our AI clients through HTTP, and the pkg.depotd SMF service bundled in Solaris 11 can help us do this. We proceed as follows: # zfs create rpool/export/MyIPSrepo # pkgrepo create /export/MyIPSrepo # svccfg -s pkg/server add MyIPSrepo # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo addpg pkg application # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo setprop pkg/port=10081 # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo setprop pkg/inst_root=/export/MyIPSrepo # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo addpg general framework # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo addpropvalue general/complete astring: MyIPSrepo # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo addpropvalue general/enabled boolean: true # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo setprop pkg/readonly=true # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo setprop pkg/proxy_base = astring: http://your_internal_websrvr/MyIPSrepo # svccfg -s pkg/server:MyIPSrepo setprop pkg/threads = 200 # svcadm refresh application/pkg/server:MyIPSrepo # svcadm enable application/pkg/server:MyIPSrepo Now that the IPS repo is created, we need to publish our package into it: # pkgsend publish -d ./proto -s /export/MyIPSrepo first-boot-script.p5m If you find yourself making changes to your script, remember to up-rev the version in the .p5m file (which is your IPS package manifest), and re-publish the IPS package. Next, you need to go to your AI install server (which might be the same machine) and modify the AI manifest to include a reference to your newly created package.  We do that by listing an additional publisher, which would look like this (replacing the IP address and port with your own, from the "svccfg" commands up above): <publisher name="firstboot"> <origin name="http://192.168.1.222:10081"/> </publisher>  Further down, in the  <software_data action="install">  section add: <name>pkg:/first-boot-script</name> Make sure to update your Automated Install service with the new AI manifest via installadm update-manifest command.  Don't forget to boot your client from the network to watch the entire process unfold and your script get tested.  Once the system makes the initial reboot, the first boot script will be executed and whatever logic you've specified in it should be executed, too, followed by a nice reboot. When the system comes up, your service should stay in a disabled state, as specified by the tailing lines of your SMF script - this is normal and should be left as is as it helps provide an auditing trail for you.   Because the reboot is quite a significant action for the system, you may want to add additional logic to the script that actually places and then checks for presence of certain lock files in order to avoid doing a reboot unnecessarily. You may also want to, alternatively, remove the SMF service entirely - if you're unsure of the potential for someone to try and accidentally enable that service -- eventhough its role in life is to only run once upon the system's first boot. That is how I spent a good chunk of my pre-Halloween time this week, hope yours was just as SPARCkly^H^H^H^H fun!    

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• Availability Best Practices on Oracle VM Server for SPARC

  - by jsavit

  This is the first of a series of blog posts on configuring Oracle VM Server for SPARC (also called Logical Domains) for availability. This series will show how to how to plan for availability, improve serviceability, avoid single points of failure, and provide resiliency against hardware and software failures. Availability is a broad topic that has filled entire books, so these posts will focus on aspects specifically related to Oracle VM Server for SPARC. The goal is to improve Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS): An article defining RAS can be found here. Oracle VM Server for SPARC Principles for Availability Let's state some guiding principles for availability that apply to Oracle VM Server for SPARC: Avoid Single Points Of Failure (SPOFs). Systems should be configured so a component failure does not result in a loss of application service. The general method to avoid SPOFs is to provide redundancy so service can continue without interruption if a component fails. For a critical application there may be multiple levels of redundancy so multiple failures can be tolerated. Oracle VM Server for SPARC makes it possible to configure systems that avoid SPOFs. Configure for availability at a level of resource and effort consistent with business needs. Effort and resource should be consistent with business requirements. Production has different availability requirements than test/development, so it's worth expending resources to provide higher availability. Even within the category of production there may be different levels of criticality, outage tolerances, recovery and repair time requirements. Keep in mind that a simple design may be more understandable and effective than a complex design that attempts to "do everything". Design for availability at the appropriate tier or level of the platform stack. Availability can be provided in the application, in the database, or in the virtualization, hardware and network layers they depend on - or using a combination of all of them. It may not be necessary to engineer resilient virtualization for stateless web applications applications where availability is provided by a network load balancer, or for enterprise applications like Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) and WebLogic that provide their own resiliency. It's (often) the same architecture whether virtual or not: For example, providing resiliency against a lost device path or failing disk media is done for the same reasons and may use the same design whether in a domain or not. It's (often) the same technique whether using domains or not: Many configuration steps are the same. For example, configuring IPMP or creating a redundant ZFS pool is pretty much the same within the guest whether you're in a guest domain or not. There are configuration steps and choices for provisioning the guest with the virtual network and disk devices, which we will discuss. Sometimes it is different using domains: There are new resources to configure. Most notable is the use of alternate service domains, which provides resiliency in case of a domain failure, and also permits improved serviceability via "rolling upgrades". This is an important differentiator between Oracle VM Server for SPARC and traditional virtual machine environments where all virtual I/O is provided by a monolithic infrastructure that itself is a SPOF. Alternate service domains are widely used to provide resiliency in production logical domains environments. Some things are done via logical domains commands, and some are done in the guest: For example, with Oracle VM Server for SPARC we provide multiple network connections to the guest, and then configure network resiliency in the guest via IP Multi Pathing (IPMP) - essentially the same as for non-virtual systems. On the other hand, we configure virtual disk availability in the virtualization layer, and the guest sees an already-resilient disk without being aware of the details. These blogs will discuss configuration details like this. Live migration is not "high availability" in the sense of "continuous availability": If the server is down, then you don't live migrate from it! (A cluster or VM restart elsewhere would be used). However, live migration can be part of the RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability) picture by improving Serviceability - you can move running domains off of a box before planned service or maintenance. The blog Best Practices - Live Migration on Oracle VM Server for SPARC discusses this. Topics Here are some of the topics that will be covered: Network availability using IP Multipathing and aggregates Disk path availability using virtual disks defined with multipath groups ("mpgroup") Disk media resiliency configuring for redundant disks that can tolerate media loss Multiple service domains - this is probably the most significant item and the one most specific to Oracle VM Server for SPARC. It is very widely deployed in production environments as the means to provide network and disk availability, but it can be confusing. Subsequent articles will describe why and how to configure multiple service domains. Note, for the sake of precision: an I/O domain is any domain that has a physical I/O resource (such as a PCIe bus root complex). A service domain is a domain providing virtual device services to other domains; it is almost always an I/O domain too (so it can have something to serve). Resources Here are some important links; we'll be drawing on their content in the next several articles: Oracle VM Server for SPARC Documentation Maximizing Application Reliability and Availability with SPARC T5 Servers whitepaper by Gary Combs Maximizing Application Reliability and Availability with the SPARC M5-32 Server whitepaper by Gary Combs Summary Oracle VM Server for SPARC offers features that can be used to provide highly-available environments. This and the following blog entries will describe how to plan and deploy them.

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• Reference Data Management and Master Data: Are Relation ?

  - by Mala Narasimharajan

  Submitted By:  Rahul Kamath  Oracle Data Relationship Management (DRM) has always been extremely powerful as an Enterprise Master Data Management (MDM) solution that can help manage changes to master data in a way that influences enterprise structure, whether it be mastering chart of accounts to enable financial transformation, or revamping organization structures to drive business transformation and operational efficiencies, or restructuring sales territories to enable equitable distribution of leads to sales teams following the acquisition of new products, or adding additional cost centers to enable fine grain control over expenses. Increasingly, DRM is also being utilized by Oracle customers for reference data management, an emerging solution space that deserves some explanation. What is reference data? How does it relate to Master Data? Reference data is a close cousin of master data. While master data is challenged with problems of unique identification, may be more rapidly changing, requires consensus building across stakeholders and lends structure to business transactions, reference data is simpler, more slowly changing, but has semantic content that is used to categorize or group other information assets – including master data – and gives them contextual value. In fact, the creation of a new master data element may require new reference data to be created. For example, when a European company acquires a US business, chances are that they will now need to adapt their product line taxonomy to include a new category to describe the newly acquired US product line. Further, the cross-border transaction will also result in a revised geo hierarchy. The addition of new products represents changes to master data while changes to product categories and geo hierarchy are examples of reference data changes.1 The following table contains an illustrative list of examples of reference data by type. Reference data types may include types and codes, business taxonomies, complex relationships & cross-domain mappings or standards. Types & Codes Taxonomies Relationships / Mappings Standards Transaction Codes Industry Classification Categories and Codes, e.g., North America Industry Classification System (NAICS) Product / Segment; Product / Geo Calendars (e.g., Gregorian, Fiscal, Manufacturing, Retail, ISO8601) Lookup Tables (e.g., Gender, Marital Status, etc.) Product Categories City à State à Postal Codes Currency Codes (e.g., ISO) Status Codes Sales Territories (e.g., Geo, Industry Verticals, Named Accounts, Federal/State/Local/Defense) Customer / Market Segment; Business Unit / Channel Country Codes (e.g., ISO 3166, UN) Role Codes Market Segments Country Codes / Currency Codes / Financial Accounts Date/Time, Time Zones (e.g., ISO 8601) Domain Values Universal Standard Products and Services Classification (UNSPSC), eCl@ss International Classification of Diseases (ICD) e.g., ICD9 à IC10 mappings Tax Rates Why manage reference data? Reference data carries contextual value and meaning and therefore its use can drive business logic that helps execute a business process, create a desired application behavior or provide meaningful segmentation to analyze transaction data. Further, mapping reference data often requires human judgment. Sample Use Cases of Reference Data Management Healthcare: Diagnostic Codes The reference data challenges in the healthcare industry offer a case in point. Part of being HIPAA compliant requires medical practitioners to transition diagnosis codes from ICD-9 to ICD-10, a medical coding scheme used to classify diseases, signs and symptoms, causes, etc. The transition to ICD-10 has a significant impact on business processes, procedures, contracts, and IT systems. Since both code sets ICD-9 and ICD-10 offer diagnosis codes of very different levels of granularity, human judgment is required to map ICD-9 codes to ICD-10. The process requires collaboration and consensus building among stakeholders much in the same way as does master data management. Moreover, to build reports to understand utilization, frequency and quality of diagnoses, medical practitioners may need to “cross-walk” mappings -- either forward to ICD-10 or backwards to ICD-9 depending upon the reporting time horizon. Spend Management: Product, Service & Supplier Codes Similarly, as an enterprise looks to rationalize suppliers and leverage their spend, conforming supplier codes, as well as product and service codes requires supporting multiple classification schemes that may include industry standards (e.g., UNSPSC, eCl@ss) or enterprise taxonomies. Aberdeen Group estimates that 90% of companies rely on spreadsheets and manual reviews to aggregate, classify and analyze spend data, and that data management activities account for 12-15% of the sourcing cycle and consume 30-50% of a commodity manager’s time. Creating a common map across the extended enterprise to rationalize codes across procurement, accounts payable, general ledger, credit card, procurement card (P-card) as well as ACH and bank systems can cut sourcing costs, improve compliance, lower inventory stock, and free up talent to focus on value added tasks. Change Management: Point of Sales Transaction Codes and Product Codes In the specialty finance industry, enterprises are confronted with usury laws – governed at the state and local level – that regulate financial product innovation as it relates to consumer loans, check cashing and pawn lending. To comply, it is important to demonstrate that transactions booked at the point of sale are posted against valid product codes that were on offer at the time of booking the sale. Since new products are being released at a steady stream, it is important to ensure timely and accurate mapping of point-of-sale transaction codes with the appropriate product and GL codes to comply with the changing regulations. Multi-National Companies: Industry Classification Schemes As companies grow and expand across geographies, a typical challenge they encounter with reference data represents reconciling various versions of industry classification schemes in use across nations. While the United States, Mexico and Canada conform to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) standard, European Union countries choose different variants of the NACE industry classification scheme. Multi-national companies must manage the individual national NACE schemes and reconcile the differences across countries. Enterprises must invest in a reference data change management application to address the challenge of distributing reference data changes to downstream applications and assess which applications were impacted by a given change. References 1 Master Data versus Reference Data, Malcolm Chisholm, April 1, 2006.

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• 5 Android Keyboard Replacements to Help You Type Faster

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Android allows developers to replace its keyboard with their own keyboard apps. This has led to experimentation and great new features, like the gesture-typing feature that’s made its way into Android’s official keyboard after proving itself in third-party keyboards. This sort of customization isn’t possible on Apple’s iOS or even Microsoft’s modern Windows environments. Installing a third-party keyboard is easy — install it from Google Play, launch it like another app, and it will explain how to enable it. Google Keyboard Google Keyboard is Android’s official keyboard, as seen on Google’s Nexus devices. However, there’s a good chance your Android smartphone or tablet comes with a keyboard designed by its manufacturer instead. You can install the Google Keyboard from Google Play, even if your device doesn’t come with it. This keyboard offers a wide variety of features, including a built-in gesture-typing feature, as popularized by Swype. It also offers prediction, including full next-word prediction based on your previous word, and includes voice recognition that works offline on modern versions of Android. Google’s keyboard may not offer the most accurate swiping feature or the best autocorrection, but it’s a great keyboard that feels like it belongs in Android. SwiftKey SwiftKey costs $4, although you can try it free for one month. In spite of its price, many people who rarely buy apps have been sold on SwiftKey. It offers amazing auto-correction and word-prediction features. Just mash away on your touch-screen keyboard, typing as fast as possible, and SwiftKey will notice your mistakes and type what you actually meant to type. SwiftKey also now has built-in support for gesture-typing via SwiftKey Flow, so you get a lot of flexibility. At $4, SwiftKey may seem a bit pricey, but give the month-long trial a try. A great keyboard makes all the typing you do everywhere on your phone better. SwiftKey is an amazing keyboard if you tap-to-type rather than swipe-to-type. Swype While other keyboards have copied Swype’s swipe-to-type feature, none have completely matched its accuracy. Swype has been designing a gesture-typing keyboard for longer than anyone else and its gesture feature still seems more accurate than its competitors’ gesture support. If you use gesture-typing all the time, you’ll probably want to use Swype. Swype can now be installed directly from Google Play without the old, tedious process of registering a beta account and sideloading the Swype app. Swype offers a month-long free trial and the full version is available for $1 afterwards. Minuum Minuum is a crowdfunded keyboard that is currently still in beta and only supports English. We include it here because it’s so interesting — it’s a great example of the kind of creativity and experimentation that happens when you allow developers to experiment with their own forms of keyboard. Minuum uses a tiny, minimum keyboard that frees up your screen space, so your touch-screen keyboard doesn’t hog your device’s screen. Rather than displaying a full keyboard on your screen, Minuum displays a single row of letters.  Each letter is small and may be difficult to hit, but that doesn’t matter — Minuum’s smart autocorrection algorithms interpret what you intended to type rather than typing the exact letters you press. Just swipe to the right to type a space and accept Minuum’s suggestion. At $4 for a beta version with no trial, Minuum may seem a bit pricy. But it’s a great example of the flexibility Android allows. If there’s a problem with this keyboard, it’s that it’s a bit late — in an age of 5″ smartphones with 1080p screens, full-size keyboards no longer feel as cramped. MessagEase MessagEase is another example of a new take on text input. Thankfully, this keyboard is available for free. MessagEase presents all letters in a nine-button grid. To type a common letter, you’d tap the button. To type an uncommon letter, you’d tap the button, hold down, and swipe in the appropriate direction. This gives you large buttons that can work well as touch targets, especially when typing with one hand. Like any other unique twist on a traditional keyboard, you’d have to give it a few minutes to get used to where the letters are and the new way it works. After giving it some practice, you may find this is a faster way to type on a touch-screen — especially with one hand, as the targets are so large. Google Play is full of replacement keyboards for Android phones and tablets. Keyboards are just another type of app that you can swap in. Leave a comment if you’ve found another great keyboard that you prefer using. Image Credit: Cheon Fong Liew on Flickr     

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• Project of Projects with team Foundation Server 2010

  - by Martin Hinshelwood

  It is pretty much accepted that you should use Areas instead of having many small Team Projects when you are using Team Foundation Server 2010. I have implemented this scenario many times and this is the current iteration of layout and considerations. If like me you work with many customers you will find that you get into a grove for how to set these things up to make them as easily understandable for everyone, while giving the best functionality. The trick is in making it as intuitive as possible for both you and the developers that need to work with it. There are five main places where you need to have the Product or Project name in prominence of any other value. Area Iteration Source Code Work Item Queries Build Once you decide how you are doing this in each of these places you need to keep to it religiously. Evan if you have one source code file to keep, make sure it is in the right place. This makes your developers and others working with the format familiar with where everything should go, as well as building up mussel memory. This prevents the neat system degenerating into a nasty mess. Areas Areas are traditionally used to separate out parts of your product / project so that you can see how much effort has gone into each. Figure: The top level areas are for reporting and work item separation There are massive advantages of using this method. You can: move work from one project to another rename a project / product It is far more likely that a project or product gets renamed than a department. Tip: If you have many projects, over 100, you should consider categorising them here, but make sure that the actual project name always sits at the same level so you know which is which. Figure: Always keep things that are the same at the same level Note: You may use these categories only at the Area/Iteration level to make it easier to select on drop down lists. You may not want to use them everywhere. On the other hand, for consistency it would be better to. Iterations Iterations are usually used to some sort of time based consideration. Here I am splitting into Iterations with periodic releases. Figure: Each product needs to be able to have its own cadence The ability to have each project run at its own pace and to enable them to have their own release schedule is often of paramount importance and you don’t want to fix your 100+ projects to all be released on the same date. Source Code Having a good structure for your source even if you are not branching or having multiple products under the same structure is always a good idea. Figure: Separate out your products source You need to think about both your branches as well as the structure of your source. All your code should be under “Source” and everything you need to build your solution including Build Scripts and 3rd party tools should be under your “Main” (branch) folder. This should them be branched by “Quality”, “Release” or both to get the most out of your branching structure. The important thing is to make sure you branch (or be able to branch) everything you need to build, test and deploy your application to an environment. That environment may be development, test or even production, but I can’t stress the importance of having everything your need. Note: You usually will not be able to install custom software on your build server. Store any *.dll’s or *.exe’s that you need under the “Tools\Tool1” folder. Note: Consult the Branching Guidance for Team Foundation Server 2010 for more on branching Figure: Adding category may be a necessary evil Even if you have to have a couple of categories called “Default”, it is better than not knowing the difference between a folder, Product and Branch. Work Item Queries Queries are used to load lists of Work Items out of TFS so you can see what work you have. This means that you want to also separate queries out by Product / project to make it easier to Figure: Again you have the same first level structure Having Folders also in Work Item Tracking we do the same thing. We put all the queries under a folder named for the Product / Project and change each query to have “AreaPath=[TeamProject]\[ProductX]” in the query instead of the standard “Project=@Project”. Tip: Don’t have a folder with new queries for each iteration. Instead have a single “Current” folder that has queries that point to the current iteration. Just change the queries as you move from one iteration to another. Tip: You can ctrl+drag the “Product1” folder to create your “Product2” folder. Builds You may have many builds both for individual products but also for different quality's. This can be further complicated by having some builds that action “Gated Check-In” and others that are specifically for “Release”, “Test” or another purpose. Figure: There are no folders, yet, for the builds so you need a good naming convention Its a pity that there are no folders under builds, some way to categorise would be nice. In lue of that at the moment you can use a functional naming convention that at least allows you to find what you want. Conclusion It is really easy to both achieve and to stick to this format if you take the time to do it. Unless you have 1000+ builds or 100+ Products you are unlikely run into any issues. Even then there are things you can do to mitigate the issues and I have describes some of them above. Let me know if you can think of any other things to make this easier.

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• Ransomware: Why This New Malware is So Dangerous and How to Protect Yourself

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Ransomware is a type of malware that tries to extort money from you. One of the nastiest examples, CryptoLocker, takes your files hostage and holds them for ransom, forcing you to pay hundreds of dollars to regain access. Most malware is no longer created by bored teenagers looking to cause some chaos. Much of the current malware is now produced by organized crime for profit and is becoming increasingly sophisticated. How Ransomware Works Not all ransomware is identical. The key thing that makes a piece of malware “ransomware” is that it attempts to extort a direct payment from you. Some ransomware may be disguised. It may function as “scareware,” displaying a pop-up that says something like “Your computer is infected, purchase this product to fix the infection” or “Your computer has been used to download illegal files, pay a fine to continue using your computer.” In other situations, ransomware may be more up-front. It may hook deep into your system, displaying a message saying that it will only go away when you pay money to the ransomware’s creators. This type of malware could be bypassed via malware removal tools or just by reinstalling Windows. Unfortunately, Ransomware is becoming more and more sophisticated. One of the latest examples, CryptoLocker, starts encrypting your personal files as soon as it gains access to your system, preventing access to the files without knowing the encryption key. CryptoLocker then displays a message informing you that your files have been locked with encryption and that you have just a few days to pay up. If you pay them $300, they’ll hand you the encryption key and you can recover your files. CryptoLocker helpfully walks you through choosing a payment method and, after paying, the criminals seem to actually give you a key that you can use to restore your files. You can never be sure that the criminals will keep their end of the deal, of course. It’s not a good idea to pay up when you’re extorted by criminals. On the other hand, businesses that lose their only copy of business-critical data may be tempted to take the risk — and it’s hard to blame them. Protecting Your Files From Ransomware This type of malware is another good example of why backups are essential. You should regularly back up files to an external hard drive or a remote file storage server. If all your copies of your files are on your computer, malware that infects your computer could encrypt them all and restrict access — or even delete them entirely. When backing up files, be sure to back up your personal files to a location where they can’t be written to or erased. For example, place them on a removable hard drive or upload them to a remote backup service like CrashPlan that would allow you to revert to previous versions of files. Don’t just store your backups on an internal hard drive or network share you have write access to. The ransomware could encrypt the files on your connected backup drive or on your network share if you have full write access. Frequent backups are also important. You wouldn’t want to lose a week’s worth of work because you only back up your files every week. This is part of the reason why automated back-up solutions are so convenient. If your files do become locked by ransomware and you don’t have the appropriate backups, you can try recovering them with ShadowExplorer. This tool accesses “Shadow Copies,” which Windows uses for System Restore — they will often contain some personal files. How to Avoid Ransomware Aside from using a proper backup strategy, you can avoid ransomware in the same way you avoid other forms of malware. CryptoLocker has been verified to arrive through email attachments, via the Java plug-in, and installed on computers that are part of the Zeus botnet. Use a good antivirus product that will attempt to stop ransomware in its tracks. Antivirus programs are never perfect and you could be infected even if you run one, but it’s an important layer of defense. Avoid running suspicious files. Ransomware can arrive in .exe files attached to emails, from illicit websites containing pirated software, or anywhere else that malware comes from. Be alert and exercise caution over the files you download and run. Keep your software updated. Using an old version of your web browser, operating system, or a browser plugin can allow malware in through open security holes. If you have Java installed, you should probably uninstall it. For more tips, read our list of important security practices you should be following. Ransomware — CryptoLocker in particular — is brutally efficient and smart. It just wants to get down to business and take your money. Holding your files hostage is an effective way to prevent removal by antivirus programs after it’s taken root, but CryptoLocker is much less scary if you have good backups. This sort of malware demonstrates the importance of backups as well as proper security practices. Unfortunately, CryptoLocker is probably a sign of things to come — it’s the kind of malware we’ll likely be seeing more of in the future.     

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• Coherence Data Guarantees for Data Reads - Basic Terminology

  - by jpurdy

  When integrating Coherence into applications, each application has its own set of requirements with respect to data integrity guarantees. Developers often describe these requirements using expressions like "avoiding dirty reads" or "making sure that updates are transactional", but we often find that even in a small group of people, there may be a wide range of opinions as to what these terms mean. This may simply be due to a lack of familiarity, but given that Coherence sits at an intersection of several (mostly) unrelated fields, it may be a matter of conflicting vocabularies (e.g. "consistency" is similar but different in transaction processing versus multi-threaded programming). Since almost all data read consistency issues are related to the concept of concurrency, it is helpful to start with a definition of that, or rather what it means for two operations to be concurrent. Rather than implying that they occur "at the same time", concurrency is a slightly weaker statement -- it simply means that it can't be proven that one event precedes (or follows) the other. As an example, in a Coherence application, if two client members mutate two different cache entries sitting on two different cache servers at roughly the same time, it is likely that one update will precede the other by a significant amount of time (say 0.1ms). However, since there is no guarantee that all four members have their clocks perfectly synchronized, and there is no way to precisely measure the time it takes to send a given message between any two members (that have differing clocks), we consider these to be concurrent operations since we can not (easily) prove otherwise. So this leads to a question that we hear quite frequently: "Are the contents of the near cache always synchronized with the underlying distributed cache?". It's easy to see that if an update on a cache server results in a message being sent to each near cache, and then that near cache being updated that there is a window where the contents are different. However, this is irrelevant, since even if the application reads directly from the distributed cache, another thread update the cache before the read is returned to the application. Even if no other member modifies a cache entry prior to the local near cache entry being updated (and subsequently read), the purpose of reading a cache entry is to do something with the result, usually either displaying for consumption by a human, or by updating the entry based on the current state of the entry. In the former case, it's clear that if the data is updated faster than a human can perceive, then there is no problem (and in many cases this can be relaxed even further). For the latter case, the application must assume that the value might potentially be updated before it has a chance to update it. This almost aways the case with read-only caches, and the solution is the traditional optimistic transaction pattern, which requires the application to explicitly state what assumptions it made about the old value of the cache entry. If the application doesn't want to bother stating those assumptions, it is free to lock the cache entry prior to reading it, ensuring that no other threads will mutate the entry, a pessimistic approach. The optimistic approach relies on what is sometimes called a "fuzzy read". In other words, the application assumes that the read should be correct, but it also acknowledges that it might not be. (I use the qualifier "sometimes" because in some writings, "fuzzy read" indicates the situation where the application actually sees an original value and then later sees an updated value within the same transaction -- however, both definitions are roughly equivalent from an application design perspective). If the read is not correct it is called a "stale read". Going back to the definition of concurrency, it may seem difficult to precisely define a stale read, but the practical way of detecting a stale read is that is will cause the encompassing transaction to roll back if it tries to update that value. The pessimistic approach relies on a "coherent read", a guarantee that the value returned is not only the same as the primary copy of that value, but also that it will remain that way. In most cases this can be used interchangeably with "repeatable read" (though that term has additional implications when used in the context of a database system). In none of cases above is it possible for the application to perform a "dirty read". A dirty read occurs when the application reads a piece of data that was never committed. In practice the only way this can occur is with multi-phase updates such as transactions, where a value may be temporarily update but then withdrawn when a transaction is rolled back. If another thread sees that value prior to the rollback, it is a dirty read. If an application uses optimistic transactions, dirty reads will merely result in a lack of forward progress (this is actually one of the main risks of dirty reads -- they can be chained and potentially cause cascading rollbacks). The concepts of dirty reads, fuzzy reads, stale reads and coherent reads are able to describe the vast majority of requirements that we see in the field. However, the important thing is to define the terms used to define requirements. A quick web search for each of the terms in this article will show multiple meanings, so I've selected what are generally the most common variations, but it never hurts to state each definition explicitly if they are critical to the success of a project (many applications have sufficiently loose requirements that precise terminology can be avoided).

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• Implementing a Custom Coherence PartitionAssignmentStrategy

  - by jpurdy

  A recent A-Team engagement required the development of a custom PartitionAssignmentStrategy (PAS). By way of background, a PAS is an implementation of a Java interface that controls how a Coherence partitioned cache service assigns partitions (primary and backup copies) across the available set of storage-enabled members. While seemingly straightforward, this is actually a very difficult problem to solve. Traditionally, Coherence used a distributed algorithm spread across the cache servers (and as of Coherence 3.7, this is still the default implementation). With the introduction of the PAS interface, the model of operation was changed so that the logic would run solely in the cache service senior member. Obviously, this makes the development of a custom PAS vastly less complex, and in practice does not introduce a significant single point of failure/bottleneck. Note that Coherence ships with a default PAS implementation but it is not used by default. Further, custom PAS implementations are uncommon (this engagement was the first custom implementation that we know of). The particular implementation mentioned above also faced challenges related to managing multiple backup copies but that won't be discussed here. There were a few challenges that arose during design and implementation: Naive algorithms had an unreasonable upper bound of computational cost. There was significant complexity associated with configurations where the member count varied significantly between physical machines. Most of the complexity of a PAS is related to rebalancing, not initial assignment (which is usually fairly simple). A custom PAS may need to solve several problems simultaneously, such as: Ensuring that each member has a similar number of primary and backup partitions (e.g. each member has the same number of primary and backup partitions) Ensuring that each member carries similar responsibility (e.g. the most heavily loaded member has no more than one partition more than the least loaded). Ensuring that each partition is on the same member as a corresponding local resource (e.g. for applications that use partitioning across message queues, to ensure that each partition is collocated with its corresponding message queue). Ensuring that a given member holds no more than a given number of partitions (e.g. no member has more than 10 partitions) Ensuring that backups are placed far enough away from the primaries (e.g. on a different physical machine or a different blade enclosure) Achieving the above goals while ensuring that partition movement is minimized. These objectives can be even more complicated when the topology of the cluster is irregular. For example, if multiple cluster members may exist on each physical machine, then clearly the possibility exists that at certain points (e.g. following a member failure), the number of members on each machine may vary, in certain cases significantly so. Consider the case where there are three physical machines, with 3, 3 and 9 members each (respectively). This introduces complexity since the backups for the 9 members on the the largest machine must be spread across the other 6 members (to ensure placement on different physical machines), preventing an even distribution. For any given problem like this, there are usually reasonable compromises available, but the key point is that objectives may conflict under extreme (but not at all unlikely) circumstances. The most obvious general purpose partition assignment algorithm (possibly the only general purpose one) is to define a scoring function for a given mapping of partitions to members, and then apply that function to each possible permutation, selecting the most optimal permutation. This would result in N! (factorial) evaluations of the scoring function. This is clearly impractical for all but the smallest values of N (e.g. a partition count in the single digits). It's difficult to prove that more efficient general purpose algorithms don't exist, but the key take away from this is that algorithms will tend to either have exorbitant worst case performance or may fail to find optimal solutions (or both) -- it is very important to be able to show that worst case performance is acceptable. This quickly leads to the conclusion that the problem must be further constrained, perhaps by limiting functionality or by using domain-specific optimizations. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to design these more focused algorithms. In the specific case mentioned, we constrained the solution space to very small clusters (in terms of machine count) with small partition counts and supported exactly two backup copies, and accepted the fact that partition movement could potentially be significant (preferring to solve that issue through brute force). We then used the out-of-the-box PAS implementation as a fallback, delegating to it for configurations that were not supported by our algorithm. Our experience was that the PAS interface is quite usable, but there are intrinsic challenges to designing PAS implementations that should be very carefully evaluated before committing to that approach.

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• Are there Negative Impact of opensource on commercial environment?

  - by Lostsoul

  I know this is not a good fit for Stack Overflow but wasn't sure if it was good for this site also so let me know if its not and I'll delete it. I love programming for fun but my role in my company is not technical. I have always loved the hacker culture and have been trying to drive that openness within my company from day one. My company has a very broad range of products and there are a few that are not strategic to us so I wanted to open source them (so we can focus on what makes us unique and open source the products that every firm has). Our industry does not open source(we would be the first firm to try this) and the feedback I'm getting from my management team is either 1) we'll destroy the industry or 2) all competitive commercial firms will unite against us and we'll be wiped out either way. I disagreed on both points because I think transparency will only grow our industry and our firm (think of McDonalds/KFC sharing their recipe openly, people may copy you, competitors may target you, but customers also may feel more comfortable buying your product. The value add, I believe, is in the delivery and experience not in hoarding the recipe). It's a big battle in my firm right now between the IT people who have seen the positive effects of sharing and the business people who think we'll be giving up everything (they prefer we sell parts we want to opensource, but in their defense this is standard when divesting something). Our industry is very secretive and I don't want to put anyone(even my competitors employees) out of a job yet I don't want to protect inefficient people by not being open with everyone. Yet I've seen so many amazing technologies created in interesting ways just by giving people freedom to take apart code and put it back together. I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts(doesn't have to be to my specific situation, I'm looking for the general lessons). Its a very stressful decision(but one I feel I must make) because if we go the open source route then there will be no going back. So what are your thoughts? Does open sourcing apply generally or is it only really applicable to software? Is it overall good for people in the industry and outside? I'm actually more interested in the negativeness effects(although positive are welcomed as well) Update: Long story short, although code is involved this is not so much about code as it is more about the idea of open sourcing. We are a mid sized quant hedge fund. We have some unique strategies but also have the standard long/short, arbitrage, global macro, etc.. funds. We are keeping the unique funds we have but the other stuff that everyone else has we are considering open sourcing (We have put in years of work & millions of dollars into. Our funds is pretty popular and our performance is either in first or second quartile so I suspect there will be interest but I don't know to what extent). The goal is not to get a community to work for us or anything, the goal is to let anyone who wants to tinker with it do so and create anything they want (it will not be part of our product line although I may unofficially allocate some our of staff's time to assist any community that grows). Although the code base is quite large, the value in this is the industry knowledge and approaches we have acquired (there are many books on artificial intelligence and quant trading but they are often years behind what's really going on as most firms forbid their staff from discussing what they are doing). We are also considering after we move our clients out to let the software still run and output the resulting portfolios for free as well so people can at least see the results(as long as we have avail. infrastructure). I think our main choices are, we can continue to fight for market share in a products that are becoming commoditized, we can shut the funds/products down(and keep the code but no one outside of our firm will ever learn from it) or we can open source it and let people do what they want. By open sourcing it, my idea is that the talent pool in the industry will grow because right now most of our hires have the same background (CFA, MBA, similar school, same experience,etc.. because we can't spend time training people so the industry 'standardizes' most people and thus the firms themselves start to look/act similar) but this may allow us to identify talent that has never been in the industry before (if we put a GPU license then as people learn from what we did, we can learn from what they do as well and maybe apply it to other areas of our firm). I see a lot of benefits but not many negatives while my peers at the company see the opposite.

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• Having problem with C++ file handling

  - by caramel1991

  Our lecturer has given us a task,I've attempted it and try every single effort I can,but I still struggle with one of the problem in it,here goes the question: The company you work at receives a monthly report in a text format. The report contains the following information. • Department Name • Head of Department Name • Month • Minimum spending of the month • Maximum spending of the month Your program is to obtain the name of the input file from the user. Implement a structure to represent the data: Once the file has been read into your program, print out the following statistics for the user: • List which department has the minimum spending per month by month • List which department has the minimum spending by month by month Write the information into a file called “MaxMin.txt” Then do a processing so that the Department Name, Head of Department Name, Minimum spending and Maximum spending are written to separate files based on the month, eg Jan, Feb, March and so on. and of course our lecturer does send us a text file with the content: Engineering Bill Jan 2000 15000 IT Jack Jan 300 20000 HR Jill Jan 1500 10000 Engineering Bill Feb 5000 45000 IT Jack Feb 4500 7000 HR Jill Feb 5600 60000 Engineering Bill Mar 5000 45000 IT Jack Mar 4500 7000 HR Jill Mar 5600 60000 Engineering Bill Apr 5000 45000 IT Jack Apr 4500 7000 HR Jill Apr 5600 60000 Engineering Bill May 2000 15000 IT Jack May 300 20000 HR Jill May 1500 10000 Engineering Bill Jun 2000 15000 IT Jack Jun 300 20000 HR Jill Jun 1500 10000 and here's the c++ code I've written ue#include include include using namespace std; struct Record { string depName; string head; string month; float max; float min; string name; }myRecord[19]; int main () { string line; ofstream minmax,jan,feb,mar,apr,may,jun; char a[50]; char b[50]; int i = 0,j,k; float temp; //float maxjan=myRecord[0].max,maxfeb=myRecord[0].max,maxmar=myRecord[0].max,maxapr=myRecord[0].max,maxmay=myRecord[0].max,maxjune=myRecord[0].max; float minjan=myRecord[1].min,minfeb=myRecord[1].min,minmar=myRecord[1].min,minapr=myRecord[1].min,minmay=myRecord[1].min,minjune=myRecord[1].min; float maxjan=0,maxfeb=0,maxmar=0,maxapr=0,maxmay=0,maxjune=0; //float minjan=0,minfeb=0,minmar=0,minapr=0,minmay=0,minjune=0; string maxjanDep,maxfebDep,maxmarDep,maxaprDep,maxmayDep,maxjunDep; string minjanDep,minfebDep,minmarDep,minaprDep,minmayDep,minjunDep; cout<<"Enter file name: "; cina; ifstream myfile (a); //minmax.open ("MaxMin.txt"); if (myfile.is_open()){ while (! myfile.eof()){ myfilemyRecord[i].depNamemyRecord[i].headmyRecord[i].monthmyRecord[i].minmyRecord[i].max; cout << myRecord[i].depName<<"\t"< cout<<"Enter file name: "; cinb; ifstream myfile1 (b); minmax.open ("MaxMin.txt"); jan.open ("Jan.txt"); feb.open ("Feb.txt"); mar.open ("March.txt"); apr.open ("April.txt"); may.open ("May.txt"); jun.open ("Jun.txt"); if (myfile1.is_open()){ while (! myfile1.eof()){ myfile1myRecord[i].depNamemyRecord[i].headmyRecord[i].monthmyRecord[i].minmyRecord[i].max; if (myRecord[i].month == "Jan"){ jan<< myRecord[i].depName<<"\t"< if (maxjan< myRecord[i].max){ maxjan=myRecord[i].max; maxjanDep=myRecord[i].depName;} //if (minjan myRecord[i].min){ // minjan=myRecord[i].min; //minjanDep=myRecord[i].depName; //} for (k=1;k<=3;k++){ for (j=0;j<2;j++){ if (myRecord[j].minmyRecord[j+1].min){ temp=myRecord[j].min; myRecord[j].min=myRecord[j+1].min; myRecord[j+1].min=temp; minjanDep=myRecord[j].depName; }}} } if (myRecord[i].month == "Feb"){ feb<< myRecord[i].depName<<"\t"< //if (minfebmyRecord[i].min){ //minfeb=myRecord[i].min; //minfebDep=myRecord[i].depName; //} for (k=1;k<=3;k++){ for (j=0;j<2;j++){ if (myRecord[j].minmyRecord[j+1].min){ temp=myRecord[j].min; myRecord[j].min=myRecord[j+1].min; myRecord[j+1].min=temp; minfebDep=myRecord[j+1].depName; }}} } if (myRecord[i].month == "Mar"){ mar<< myRecord[i].depName<<"\t"< if (myRecord[i].month == "Apr"){ apr<< myRecord[i].depName<<"\t"< if (minaprmyRecord[i].min){ minapr=myRecord[i].min; minaprDep=myRecord[i].min;} } if (myRecord[i].month == "May"){ may< if (minmaymyRecord[i].min){ minmay=myRecord[i].min; minmayDep=myRecord[i].depName;} } if (myRecord[i].month == "Jun"){ jun<< myRecord[i].depName<<"\t"< if (minjunemyRecord[i].min){ minjune=myRecord[i].min; minjunDep=myRecord[i].depName;} } i++; myfile.close(); } minmax<<"department that has maximum spending at jan "< else{ cout << "Unable to open file"< } sorry inside that code ue#include should has iostream along with another two #include fstream and string,but at here it was treated as html tag,so i can't type it. my problem here is,I can't seems to get the minimum spending,I've try all I can but I'm still lingering on it,any idea??THANK YOU!

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• Java homework help, Error <identifier> expected

  - by user2900126

  Help with java homework this is my assignment that I have, this assignment code I've tried. But when I try to compile it I keep getting errors which I cant seem to find soloutions too: Error says <identifier> expected for Line 67 public static void () Assignment brief To write a simple java classMobile that models a mobile phone. Details the information stored about each mobile phone will include • Its type e.g. “Sony ericsson x90” or “Samsung Galaxy S”; • Its screen size in inches; You may assume that this a whole number from the scale 3 to 5 inclusive. • Its memory card capacity in gigabytes You may assume that this a whole number • The name of its present service provider You may assume this is a single line of text. • The type of contract with service provider You may assume this is a single line of text. • Its camera resolution in megapixels; You should not assume that this a whole number; • The percentage of charge left on the phone e.g. a fully charged phone will have a charge of 100. You may assume that this a whole number • Whether the phone has GPS or not. Your class will have fields corresponding to these attributes . Start by opening BlueJ, creating a new project called myMobile which has a classMobile and set up the fields that you need, Next you will need to write a Constructor for the class. Assume that each phone is manufactured by creating an object and specifying its type, its screen size, its memory card capacity, its camera resolution and whether it has GPS or not. Therefore you will need a constructor that allows you to pass arguments to initialise these five attributes. Other fields should be set to appropriate default values. You may assume that a new phone comes fully charged. When the phone is sold to its owner, you will need to set the service provider and type of contract with that provider so you will need mutator methods • setProvider () - - to set service provider. • setContractType - - to set the type of contract These methods will be used when the phones provider is changed. You should also write a mutator method ChargeUp () which simulates fully charging the phone. To obtain information about your mobile object you should write • accessor methods corresponding to four of its fields: • getType () – which returns the type of mobile; • getProvider () – which returns the present service provider; • getContractType () – which returns its type of contract; • getCharge () – which returns its remaining charge. An accessor method to printDetails () to print, to the terminal window, a report about the phone e.g. This mobile phone is a sony Erricsson X90 with Service provider BigAl and type of contract PAYG. At present it has 30% of its battery charge remaining. Check that the new method works correctly by for example, • creating a Mobile object and setting its fields; • calling printDetails () and t=checking the report corresponds to the details you have just given the mobile; • changing the service provider and contract type by calling setprovider () and setContractType (); • calling printDetails () and checking the report now prints out the new details. Challenging excercises • write a mutator methodswitchedOnFor () =which simulates using the phone for a specified period. You may assume the phone loses 1% of its charge for each hour that it is switched on . • write an accessor method checkcharge () whichg checks the phone remaing charge. If this charge has a value less than 25%, then this method returns a string containg the message Be aware that you will soon need to re-charge your phone, otherwise it returns a string your phone charge is sufficient. • Write a method changeProvider () which simulates changing the provider (and presumably also the type of service contract). Finally you may add up to four additional fields, with appropriate methods, that might be required in a more detailed model. above is my assignment that I have, this assignment code I've tried. But when I try to oompile it I keep getting errors which I cant seem to find soloutions too: Error says <identifier> expected for Line 67 public static void () /** * to write a simple java class Mobile that models a mobile phone. * * @author (Lewis Burte-Clarke) * @version (14/10/13) */ public class Mobile { // type of phone private String phonetype; // size of screen in inches private int screensize; // menory card capacity private int memorycardcapacity; // name of present service provider private String serviceprovider; // type of contract with service provider private int typeofcontract; // camera resolution in megapixels private int cameraresolution; // the percentage of charge left on the phone private int checkcharge; // wether the phone has GPS or not private String GPS; // instance variables - replace the example below with your own private int x; // The constructor method public Mobile(String mobilephonetype, int mobilescreensize, int mobilememorycardcapacity,int mobilecameraresolution,String mobileGPS, String newserviceprovider) { this.phonetype = mobilephonetype; this.screensize = mobilescreensize; this.memorycardcapacity = mobilememorycardcapacity; this.cameraresolution = mobilecameraresolution; this.GPS = mobileGPS; // you do not use this ones during instantiation,you can remove them if you do not need or assign them some default values //this.serviceprovider = newserviceprovider; //this.typeofcontract = 12; //this.checkcharge = checkcharge; Mobile samsungPhone = new Mobile("Samsung", "1024", "2", "verizon", "8", "GPS"); 1024 = screensize; 2 = memorycardcapacity; 8 = resolution; GPS = gps; "verizon"=serviceprovider; //typeofcontract = 12; //checkcharge = checkcharge; } // A method to display the state of the object to the screen public void displayMobileDetails() { System.out.println("phonetype: " + phonetype); System.out.println("screensize: " + screensize); System.out.println("memorycardcapacity: " + memorycardcapacity); System.out.println("cameraresolution: " + cameraresolution); System.out.println("GPS: " + GPS); System.out.println("serviceprovider: " + serviceprovider); System.out.println("typeofcontract: " + typeofcontract); } /** * The mymobile class implements an application that * simply displays "new Mobile!" to the standard output. */ public class mymobile { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("new Mobile!"); //Display the string. } } public static void buildPhones(){ Mobile Samsung = new Mobile("Samsung", "3.0", "4gb", "8mega pixels", "GPS"); Mobile Blackberry = new Mobile("Blackberry", "3.0", "4gb", "8mega pixels", "GPS"); Samsung.displayMobileDetails(); Blackberry.displayMobileDetails(); } public static void main(String[] args) { buildPhones(); } } any answers.replies and help would be greatly appreciated as I really lost!

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• What is the best Battleship AI?

  - by John Gietzen

  Battleship! Back in 2003, (when I was 17,) I competed in a Battleship AI coding competition. Even though I lost that tournament, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot from it. Now, I would like to resurrect this competition, in the search of the best battleship AI. Here is the framework: Battleship.zip The winner will be awarded +450 reputation! The competition will be held starting on the 17th of November, 2009. No entries or edits later than zero-hour on the 17th will be accepted. (Central Standard Time) Submit your entries early, so you don't miss your opportunity! To keep this OBJECTIVE, please follow the spirit of the competition. Rules of the game: The game is be played on a 10x10 grid. Each competitor will place each of 5 ships (of lengths 2, 3, 3, 4, 5) on their grid. No ships may overlap, but they may be adjacent. The competitors then take turns firing single shots at their opponent. A variation on the game allows firing multiple shots per volley, one for each surviving ship. The opponent will notify the competitor if the shot sinks, hits, or misses. Game play ends when all of the ships of any one player are sunk. Rules of the competition: The spirit of the competition is to find the best Battleship algorithm. Anything that is deemed against the spirit of the competition will be grounds for disqualification. Interfering with an opponent is against the spirit of the competition. Multithreading may be used under the following restrictions: No more than one thread may be running while it is not your turn. (Though, any number of threads may be in a "Suspended" state). No thread may run at a priority other than "Normal". Given the above two restrictions, you will be guaranteed at least 3 dedicated CPU cores during your turn. A limit of 1 second of CPU time per game is allotted to each competitor on the primary thread. Running out of time results in losing the current game. Any unhandled exception will result in losing the current game. Network access and disk access is allowed, but you may find the time restrictions fairly prohibitive. However, a few set-up and tear-down methods have been added to alleviate the time strain. Code should be posted on stack overflow as an answer, or, if too large, linked. Max total size (un-compressed) of an entry is 1 MB. Officially, .Net 2.0 / 3.5 is the only framework requirement. Your entry must implement the IBattleshipOpponent interface. Scoring: Best 51 games out of 101 games is the winner of a match. All competitors will play matched against each other, round-robin style. The best half of the competitors will then play a double-elimination tournament to determine the winner. (Smallest power of two that is greater than or equal to half, actually.) I will be using the TournamentApi framework for the tournament. The results will be posted here. If you submit more than one entry, only your best-scoring entry is eligible for the double-elim. Good luck! Have fun! EDIT 1: Thanks to Freed, who has found an error in the Ship.IsValid function. It has been fixed. Please download the updated version of the framework. EDIT 2: Since there has been significant interest in persisting stats to disk and such, I have added a few non-timed set-up and tear-down events that should provide the required functionality. This is a semi-breaking change. That is to say: the interface has been modified to add functions, but no body is required for them. Please download the updated version of the framework. EDIT 3: Bug Fix 1: GameWon and GameLost were only getting called in the case of a time out. Bug Fix 2: If an engine was timing out every game, the competition would never end. Please download the updated version of the framework. EDIT 4: Results!

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• How To Run XP Mode in VirtualBox on Windows 7 (sort of)

  - by Matthew Guay

  A few weeks ago we showed you how to run XP Mode on a Windows 7 computer without Hardware Virtualization using VMware. Some of you have been asking if it can be done in Virtual Box as well. The answer is “Yes!” and here we’ll show you how. Editor Update: Apparently there isn’t a way to activate XP Mode through VirtualBox using this method. You will however, be able to run it for 30 days. We have a new updated article on how to Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite Plugin.   Earlier we showed you how to run XP mode on windows 7 machines without hardware virtualization capability. Since then, a lot of you have been asking to a write up a tutorial about doing the same thing using VirtualBox.  This makes it another great way to run XP Mode if your computer does not have hardware virtualization.  Here we’ll see how to import the XP Mode from Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate into VirtualBox so you can run XP in it for free. Note: You need to have Windows 7 Professional or above to use XP Mode in this manner. In our tests we were able to get it to run on Home Premium as well, but you’ll be breaking Windows 7 licensing agreements. Getting Started First, download and install XP Mode (link below).  There is no need to download Virtual PC if your computer cannot run it, so just download the XP Mode from the link on the left. Install XP mode; just follow the default prompts as usual. Now, download and install VirtualBox 3.1.2 or higher(link below).  Install as normal, and simply follow the default prompts. VirtualBox may notify you that your network connection will be reset during the installation.  Press Yes to continue. During the install, you may see several popups asking you if you wish to install device drivers for USB and Network interfaces.  Simply click install, as these are needed for VirtualBox to run correctly. Setup only took a couple minutes, and doesn’t require a reboot. Setup XP Mode in VirtualBox: First we need to copy the default XP Mode so VirtualBox will not affect the original copy.  Browse to C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode, and copy the file “Windows XP Mode base.vhd”.  Paste it in another folder of your choice, such as your Documents folder. Once you’ve copied the file, right-click on it and click Properties. Uncheck the “Read-only” box in this dialog, and then click Ok. Now, in VirtualBox, click New to create a new virtual machine. Enter the name of your virtual machine, and make sure the operating system selected is Windows XP. Choose how much memory you want to allow the virtual machine to use.  VirtualBox’ default is 192 Mb ram, but for better performance you can select 256 or 512Mb. Now, select the hard drive for the virtual machine.  Select “Use existing hard disk”, then click the folder button to choose the XP Mode virtual drive. In this window, click Add, and then browse to find the copy of XP Mode you previously made. Make sure the correct virtual drive is selected, then press Select. After selecting the VHD your screen should look like the following then click Next. Verify the settings you made are correct. If not, you can go back and make any changes. When everything looks correct click Finish. Setup XP Mode Now, in VirtualBox, click start to run XP Mode. The Windows XP in this virtual drive is not fully setup yet, so you will have to go through the setup process.   If you didn’t uncheck the “Read-only” box in the VHD properties before, you may see the following error.  If you see it, go back and check the file to makes sure it is not read-only. When you click in the virtual machine, it will capture your mouse by default.  Simply press the right Ctrl key to release your mouse so you can go back to using Windows 7.  This will only be the case during the setup process; after the Guest Additions are installed, the mouse will seamlessly move between operating systems. Now, accept the license agreement in XP.   Choose your correct locale and keyboard settings. Enter a name for your virtual XP, and an administrative password. Check the date, time, and time zone settings, and adjust them if they are incorrect.  The time and date are usually correct, but the time zone often has to be corrected. XP will now automatically finish setting up your virtual machine, and then will automatically reboot. After rebooting, select your automatic update settings. You may see a prompt to check for drivers; simply press cancel, as all the drivers we need will be installed later with the Guest Additions. Your last settings will be finalized, and finally you will see your XP desktop in VirtualBox. Please note that XP Mode may not remain activated after importing it into VirtualBox. When you activate it, use the key that is located at C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode\key.txt.  Note: During our tests we weren’t able to get the activation to go through. We are looking into the issue and will have a revised article showing the correct way to get XP Mode in VirutalBox working correctly soon.    Now we have one final thing to install – the VirtualBox Guest Additions.  In the VirtualBox window, click “Devices” and then select “Install Guest Additions”. This should automatically launch in XP; if it doesn’t, click Start, then My Computer, and finally double-click on the CD drive which should say VirtualBox Guest Additions. Simply install with the normal presets. You can select to install an experimental 3D graphics driver if you wish to try to run games in XP in VirtualBox; however, do note that this is not fully supported and is currently a test feature. You may see a prompt informing you that the drivers have not passed Logo testing; simply press “Continue Anyway” to proceed with the installation.   When installation has completed, you will be required to reboot your virtual machine. Now, you can move your mouse directly from Windows XP to Windows 7 without pressing Ctrl. Integrating with Windows 7 Once your virtual machine is rebooted, you can integrate it with your Windows 7 desktop.  In the VirtualBox window, click Machine and then select “Seamless Mode”.   In Seamless mode you’ll have the XP Start menu and taskbar sit on top of your Windows 7 Start and Taskbar. Here we see XP running on Virtual Box in Seamless Mode. We have the old XP WordPad sitting next to the new Windows 7 version of WordPad. Another view of everything running seamlessly together on the same Windows 7 desktop. Hover the pointer over the XP taskbar to pull up the Virtual Box menu items. You can exit out of Seamless Mode from the VirtualBox menu or using “Ctrl+L”. Then you go back to having it run separately on your desktop again. Conclusion Running XP Mode in a Virtual Machine is a great way to experience the feature on computers without Hardware Virtualization capabilities. If you prefer VMware Player, then you’ll want to check out our articles on how to run XP Mode on Windows 7 machines without Hardware Virtualization, and how to create an XP Mode for Windows 7 Home Premium and Vista. Download VirtualBox Download XP Mode Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite PluginUsing Windows 7 or Vista Compatibility ModeMake Safari Stop Crashing Every 20 Seconds on Windows VistaForce Windows 7 / Vista to Boot Into Safe Mode Without Using the F8 KeyHow To Run Chrome OS in VirtualBox TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Enable Check Box Selection in Windows 7 OnlineOCR – Free OCR Service Betting on the Blind Side, a Vanity Fair article 30 Minimal Logo Designs that Say More with Less LEGO Digital Designer – Free Create a Personal Website Quickly using Flavors.me

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• How To Run XP Mode in VirtualBox on Windows 7 (sort of)

  - by Matthew Guay

  A few weeks ago we showed you how to run XP Mode on a Windows 7 computer without Hardware Virtualization using VMware. Some of you have been asking if it can be done in Virtual Box as well. The answer is “Yes!” and here we’ll show you how. Editor Update: Apparently there isn’t a way to activate XP Mode through VirtualBox using this method. You will however, be able to run it for 30 days. We have a new updated article on how to Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite Plugin.   Earlier we showed you how to run XP mode on windows 7 machines without hardware virtualization capability. Since then, a lot of you have been asking to a write up a tutorial about doing the same thing using VirtualBox.  This makes it another great way to run XP Mode if your computer does not have hardware virtualization.  Here we’ll see how to import the XP Mode from Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate into VirtualBox so you can run XP in it for free. Note: You need to have Windows 7 Professional or above to use XP Mode in this manner. In our tests we were able to get it to run on Home Premium as well, but you’ll be breaking Windows 7 licensing agreements. Getting Started First, download and install XP Mode (link below).  There is no need to download Virtual PC if your computer cannot run it, so just download the XP Mode from the link on the left. Install XP mode; just follow the default prompts as usual. Now, download and install VirtualBox 3.1.2 or higher(link below).  Install as normal, and simply follow the default prompts. VirtualBox may notify you that your network connection will be reset during the installation.  Press Yes to continue. During the install, you may see several popups asking you if you wish to install device drivers for USB and Network interfaces.  Simply click install, as these are needed for VirtualBox to run correctly. Setup only took a couple minutes, and doesn’t require a reboot. Setup XP Mode in VirtualBox: First we need to copy the default XP Mode so VirtualBox will not affect the original copy.  Browse to C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode, and copy the file “Windows XP Mode base.vhd”.  Paste it in another folder of your choice, such as your Documents folder. Once you’ve copied the file, right-click on it and click Properties. Uncheck the “Read-only” box in this dialog, and then click Ok. Now, in VirtualBox, click New to create a new virtual machine. Enter the name of your virtual machine, and make sure the operating system selected is Windows XP. Choose how much memory you want to allow the virtual machine to use.  VirtualBox’ default is 192 Mb ram, but for better performance you can select 256 or 512Mb. Now, select the hard drive for the virtual machine.  Select “Use existing hard disk”, then click the folder button to choose the XP Mode virtual drive. In this window, click Add, and then browse to find the copy of XP Mode you previously made. Make sure the correct virtual drive is selected, then press Select. After selecting the VHD your screen should look like the following then click Next. Verify the settings you made are correct. If not, you can go back and make any changes. When everything looks correct click Finish. Setup XP Mode Now, in VirtualBox, click start to run XP Mode. The Windows XP in this virtual drive is not fully setup yet, so you will have to go through the setup process.   If you didn’t uncheck the “Read-only” box in the VHD properties before, you may see the following error.  If you see it, go back and check the file to makes sure it is not read-only. When you click in the virtual machine, it will capture your mouse by default.  Simply press the right Ctrl key to release your mouse so you can go back to using Windows 7.  This will only be the case during the setup process; after the Guest Additions are installed, the mouse will seamlessly move between operating systems. Now, accept the license agreement in XP.   Choose your correct locale and keyboard settings. Enter a name for your virtual XP, and an administrative password. Check the date, time, and time zone settings, and adjust them if they are incorrect.  The time and date are usually correct, but the time zone often has to be corrected. XP will now automatically finish setting up your virtual machine, and then will automatically reboot. After rebooting, select your automatic update settings. You may see a prompt to check for drivers; simply press cancel, as all the drivers we need will be installed later with the Guest Additions. Your last settings will be finalized, and finally you will see your XP desktop in VirtualBox. Please note that XP Mode may not remain activated after importing it into VirtualBox. When you activate it, use the key that is located at C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode\key.txt.  Note: During our tests we weren’t able to get the activation to go through. We are looking into the issue and will have a revised article showing the correct way to get XP Mode in VirutalBox working correctly soon.    Now we have one final thing to install – the VirtualBox Guest Additions.  In the VirtualBox window, click “Devices” and then select “Install Guest Additions”. This should automatically launch in XP; if it doesn’t, click Start, then My Computer, and finally double-click on the CD drive which should say VirtualBox Guest Additions. Simply install with the normal presets. You can select to install an experimental 3D graphics driver if you wish to try to run games in XP in VirtualBox; however, do note that this is not fully supported and is currently a test feature. You may see a prompt informing you that the drivers have not passed Logo testing; simply press “Continue Anyway” to proceed with the installation.   When installation has completed, you will be required to reboot your virtual machine. Now, you can move your mouse directly from Windows XP to Windows 7 without pressing Ctrl. Integrating with Windows 7 Once your virtual machine is rebooted, you can integrate it with your Windows 7 desktop.  In the VirtualBox window, click Machine and then select “Seamless Mode”.   In Seamless mode you’ll have the XP Start menu and taskbar sit on top of your Windows 7 Start and Taskbar. Here we see XP running on Virtual Box in Seamless Mode. We have the old XP WordPad sitting next to the new Windows 7 version of WordPad. Another view of everything running seamlessly together on the same Windows 7 desktop. Hover the pointer over the XP taskbar to pull up the Virtual Box menu items. You can exit out of Seamless Mode from the VirtualBox menu or using “Ctrl+L”. Then you go back to having it run separately on your desktop again. Conclusion Running XP Mode in a Virtual Machine is a great way to experience the feature on computers without Hardware Virtualization capabilities. If you prefer VMware Player, then you’ll want to check out our articles on how to run XP Mode on Windows 7 machines without Hardware Virtualization, and how to create an XP Mode for Windows 7 Home Premium and Vista. Download VirtualBox Download XP Mode Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite PluginUsing Windows 7 or Vista Compatibility ModeMake Safari Stop Crashing Every 20 Seconds on Windows VistaForce Windows 7 / Vista to Boot Into Safe Mode Without Using the F8 KeyHow To Run Chrome OS in VirtualBox TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Enable Check Box Selection in Windows 7 OnlineOCR – Free OCR Service Betting on the Blind Side, a Vanity Fair article 30 Minimal Logo Designs that Say More with Less LEGO Digital Designer – Free Create a Personal Website Quickly using Flavors.me

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• SQLAuthority News – Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008 Query Optimization & Performance Tuning Training

  - by pinaldave

  Last 3 days to register for the courses. This is one time offer with big discount. The deadline for the course registration is 5th May, 2010. There are two different courses are offered by Solid Quality Mentors 1) Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008 Query Optimization & Performance Tuning – Pinal Dave Date: May 12-14, 2010 Price: Rs. 14,000/person for 3 days Discount Code: ‘SQLAuthority.com’ Effective Price: Rs. 11,000/person for 3 days 2) SharePoint 2010 – Joy Rathnayake Date: May 10-11, 2010 Price: Rs. 11,000/person for 3 days Discount Code: ‘SQLAuthority.com’ Effective Price: Rs. 8,000/person for 2 days Download the complete PDF brochure. To register, either send an email to [email protected] or call +91 95940 43399. Feel free to drop me an email at pinal “at” SQLAuthority.com for any additional information and clarification. Training Venue: Abridge Solutions, #90/B/C/3/1, Ganesh GHR & MSY Plaza, Vittalrao Nagar, Near Image Hospital, Madhapur, Hyderabad – 500 081. Additionally there is special program of SolidQ India Insider. This is only available to first few registrants of the courses only. Read more details about the course here. Read my TechEd India 2010 experience here. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Training, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• Ubuntu 12.04 + Eclipse 64 bits key binding error

  - by user110933

  The text is quite extense so, this is just a part of it: !SESSION 2012-11-23 10:15:52.442 ----------------------------------------------- eclipse.buildId=I20120608-1200 java.version=1.7.0_09 java.vendor=Oracle Corporation BootLoader constants: OS=linux, ARCH=x86_64, WS=gtk, NL=en_US Command-line arguments: -os linux -ws gtk -arch x86_64 !ENTRY org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 10:16:06.408 !MESSAGE Keybinding conflicts occurred. They may interfere with normal accelerator operation. !SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 10:16:06.408 !MESSAGE A conflict occurred for ALT+SHIFT+R: Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.rename.command,Rename, Rename the selected text., Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.internal.ArtifactRefactoringCommandHandler, ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) !ENTRY org.eclipse.ui.workbench 4 0 2012-11-23 10:16:10.409 !MESSAGE An unexpected exception was thrown. !STACK 0 java.lang.NullPointerException at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.putToolbarLabel(WorkbenchWindow.java:1697) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.menus.MenuAdditionCacheEntry.createToolBarAdditionContribution(MenuAdditionCacheEntry.java:208) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.menus.MenuAdditionCacheEntry.createContributionItems(MenuAdditionCacheEntry.java:177) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.menus.TrimContributionManager.update(TrimContributionManager.java:224) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.updateLayoutDataForContents(WorkbenchWindow.java:3874) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.setCoolBarVisible(WorkbenchWindow.java:3675) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ViewIntroAdapterPart.setBarVisibility(ViewIntroAdapterPart.java:203) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ViewIntroAdapterPart.dispose(ViewIntroAdapterPart.java:106) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPartReference.doDisposePart(WorkbenchPartReference.java:737) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ViewReference.doDisposePart(ViewReference.java:107) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPartReference.dispose(WorkbenchPartReference.java:684) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPage.disposePart(WorkbenchPage.java:1801) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPage.partRemoved(WorkbenchPage.java:1793) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ViewFactory.releaseView(ViewFactory.java:257) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Perspective.dispose(Perspective.java:292) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPage.dispose(WorkbenchPage.java:1872) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.closeAllPages(WorkbenchWindow.java:894) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.hardClose(WorkbenchWindow.java:1729) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.busyClose(WorkbenchWindow.java:730) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.access$0(WorkbenchWindow.java:715) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow$6.run(WorkbenchWindow.java:867) at org.eclipse.swt.custom.BusyIndicator.showWhile(BusyIndicator.java:70) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.close(WorkbenchWindow.java:865) at org.eclipse.jface.window.WindowManager.close(WindowManager.java:109) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$18.run(Workbench.java:1114) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.busyClose(Workbench.java:1111) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.access$15(Workbench.java:1040) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$25.run(Workbench.java:1284) at org.eclipse.swt.custom.BusyIndicator.showWhile(BusyIndicator.java:70) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.close(Workbench.java:1282) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.close(Workbench.java:1254) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.busyClose(WorkbenchWindow.java:727) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.access$0(WorkbenchWindow.java:715) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow$6.run(WorkbenchWindow.java:867) at org.eclipse.swt.custom.BusyIndicator.showWhile(BusyIndicator.java:70) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchWindow.close(WorkbenchWindow.java:865) at org.eclipse.jface.window.Window.handleShellCloseEvent(Window.java:741) at org.eclipse.jface.window.Window$3.shellClosed(Window.java:687) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.TypedListener.handleEvent(TypedListener.java:98) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.EventTable.sendEvent(EventTable.java:84) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1276) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1300) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1285) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell.closeWidget(Shell.java:617) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell.gtk_delete_event(Shell.java:1191) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.windowProc(Widget.java:1750) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control.windowProc(Control.java:5116) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.windowProc(Display.java:4369) at org.eclipse.swt.internal.gtk.OS._gtk_main_do_event(Native Method) at org.eclipse.swt.internal.gtk.OS.gtk_main_do_event(OS.java:8295) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.eventProc(Display.java:1192) at org.eclipse.swt.internal.gtk.OS._g_main_context_iteration(Native Method) at org.eclipse.swt.internal.gtk.OS.g_main_context_iteration(OS.java:2332) at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.readAndDispatch(Display.java:3177) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.runEventLoop(Workbench.java:2701) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.runUI(Workbench.java:2665) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.access$4(Workbench.java:2499) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$7.run(Workbench.java:679) at org.eclipse.core.databinding.observable.Realm.runWithDefault(Realm.java:332) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.createAndRunWorkbench(Workbench.java:668) at org.eclipse.ui.PlatformUI.createAndRunWorkbench(PlatformUI.java:149) at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ide.application.IDEApplication.start(IDEApplication.java:124) at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.app.EclipseAppHandle.run(EclipseAppHandle.java:196) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.runApplication(EclipseAppLauncher.java:110) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.start(EclipseAppLauncher.java:79) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:353) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:180) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601) at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.invokeFramework(Main.java:629) at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.basicRun(Main.java:584) at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:1438) at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.main(Main.java:1414) !SESSION 2012-11-23 10:36:07.863 ----------------------------------------------- eclipse.buildId=I20120608-1200 java.version=1.7.0_09 java.vendor=Oracle Corporation BootLoader constants: OS=linux, ARCH=x86_64, WS=gtk, NL=en_US Command-line arguments: -os linux -ws gtk -arch x86_64 !ENTRY org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 10:36:13.181 !MESSAGE Keybinding conflicts occurred. They may interfere with normal accelerator operation. !SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 10:36:13.181 !MESSAGE A conflict occurred for ALT+SHIFT+R: Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.rename.command,Rename, Rename the selected text., Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.internal.ArtifactRefactoringCommandHandler, ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) !ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 2 1 2012-11-23 10:39:04.681 !MESSAGE NLS unused message: CacheManager_CannotLoadNonUrlLocation in: org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.repository.messages !SESSION 2012-11-23 15:14:12.933 ----------------------------------------------- eclipse.buildId=I20120608-1200 java.version=1.7.0_09 java.vendor=Oracle Corporation BootLoader constants: OS=linux, ARCH=x86_64, WS=gtk, NL=en_US Command-line arguments: -os linux -ws gtk -arch x86_64 !ENTRY org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:14:23.380 !MESSAGE Keybinding conflicts occurred. They may interfere with normal accelerator operation. !SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:14:23.380 !MESSAGE A conflict occurred for ALT+SHIFT+R: Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.rename.command,Rename, Rename the selected text., Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.internal.ArtifactRefactoringCommandHandler, ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) !ENTRY org.springframework.ide.eclipse.uaa 4 2 2012-11-23 15:14:32.800 !MESSAGE Problems occurred when invoking code from plug-in: "org.springframework.ide.eclipse.uaa". !STACK 0 java.lang.NullPointerException at org.springframework.ide.eclipse.internal.uaa.monitor.CommandUsageMonitor.startMonitoring(CommandUsageMonitor.java:61) at org.springframework.ide.eclipse.uaa.UaaPlugin$1$1.run(UaaPlugin.java:91) at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42) at org.springframework.ide.eclipse.uaa.UaaPlugin$1.run(UaaPlugin.java:85) at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:54) !SESSION 2012-11-23 15:15:21.833 ----------------------------------------------- eclipse.buildId=I20120608-1200 java.version=1.7.0_09 java.vendor=Oracle Corporation BootLoader constants: OS=linux, ARCH=x86_64, WS=gtk, NL=en_US Command-line arguments: -os linux -ws gtk -arch x86_64 !ENTRY org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:15:27.283 !MESSAGE Keybinding conflicts occurred. They may interfere with normal accelerator operation. !SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:15:27.283 !MESSAGE A conflict occurred for ALT+SHIFT+R: Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.rename.command,Rename, Rename the selected text., Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.internal.ArtifactRefactoringCommandHandler, ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+R, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,system) !ENTRY org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:18:41.265 !MESSAGE Keybinding conflicts occurred. They may interfere with normal accelerator operation. !SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:18:41.265 !MESSAGE A conflict occurred for ALT+SHIFT+E: Binding(ALT+SHIFT+E, ParameterizedCommand(Command(oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.rename.command,Rename, Rename the selected text., Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.internal.ArtifactRefactoringCommandHandler, ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.emacsAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,user) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+E, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.emacsAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,user) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+E, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.wst.jsdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.wst.jsdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - JavaScript,JavaScript Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.emacsAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,user) !SESSION 2012-11-23 15:18:56.267 ----------------------------------------------- eclipse.buildId=I20120608-1200 java.version=1.7.0_09 java.vendor=Oracle Corporation BootLoader constants: OS=linux, ARCH=x86_64, WS=gtk, NL=en_US Command-line arguments: -os linux -ws gtk -arch x86_64 !ENTRY org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:19:01.605 !MESSAGE Keybinding conflicts occurred. They may interfere with normal accelerator operation. !SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.jface 2 0 2012-11-23 15:19:01.605 !MESSAGE A conflict occurred for ALT+SHIFT+E: Binding(ALT+SHIFT+E, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.wst.jsdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.wst.jsdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - JavaScript,JavaScript Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.emacsAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,user) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+E, ParameterizedCommand(Command(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.edit.text.java.rename.element,Rename - Refactoring , Rename the selected element, Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), , ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.emacsAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,user) Binding(ALT+SHIFT+E, ParameterizedCommand(Command(oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.rename.command,Rename, Rename the selected text., Category(org.eclipse.jdt.ui.category.refactoring,Refactor - Java,Java Refactoring Actions,true), oracle.eclipse.tools.common.services.ui.refactor.internal.ArtifactRefactoringCommandHandler, ,,true),null), org.eclipse.ui.emacsAcceleratorConfiguration, org.eclipse.ui.contexts.window,,,user)

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• Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 is an Awesome Replacement for Microsoft Office

  - by Asian Angel

  Are you looking for a good free replacement for Microsoft Office, but LibreOffice and OpenOffice are not working out well for you? Then you will definitely want to have a look at Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012, which you can download as a suite or as individual apps. As soon as the installation has completed you will see this window. All relevant file types are checked by default, but you may deselect any that you do not want associated with Kingsoft Office before clicking Close. Special Note: See further below for additional information about the extra formats (i.e. Office 2007 & 2010) that the suite will open. Here is a quick overall view of what the Writer App window looks like. Each of the three apps in the suite will open with the New Document Pane displayed by default on the right side of the window. A closer view of the upper left corner in Writer, Presentation, and Spreadsheets… A look at the Start Menu options available… In our tests with the suite it opened up Microsoft Office 2007 & 2010 documents without any problems. Note: You can also see part of the built-in Tab Bar outlined in red in the upper left corner. The only drawback with the free version of the suite is that you are limited to the Classic Style Interface, which may or may not be a problem depending on your preferences. How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using? HTG Explains: What The Windows Event Viewer Is and How You Can Use It

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• Advantages to Server Scripting languages over Client Side Scripting languages

  There are numerous advantages to server scripting languages over client side scripting languages in regards to creating web sites that are more compelling compared to a standard static site. Server side scripts are executed on a web server during the compilation of data to return to a client. These scripts allow developers to modify the content that is being sent to the user prior to the return of the data to the user as well as store information about the user. In addition, server side scripts allow for a controllable environment in which they can be executed. This cannot be said for client side languages because the developer cannot control the users’ environment compared to a web server. Some users may turn off client scripts, some may be only allow limited access on the system and others may be able to gain full control of the environment.  I have been developing web applications for over 9+ years, and I have used server side languages for most of the applications I have built.  Here is a list of common things I have developed with server side scripts. List of Common Generic Functionality: Send Email FTP Files Security/ Access Control Encryption URL rewriting Data Access Data Creation I/O Access The one important feature server side languages will help me with on my website is Data Access because my component will be backed with a SQL server database. I believe that form validation is one instance where I might see server side and client side scripts used interchangeably because it does not matter how or where the data is validated as long as the data that gets inserted is valid.

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• What Gets Measured Gets Managed

  - by steve.diamond

  OK, so if I were to claim credit for inventing that expression, I guess I could share the mantle with Al Gore, creator of the Internet. But here's the point: How many of us acquire CRM systems without specifically benchmarking several key performance indicators across sales, marketing and service BEFORE and AFTER deployment of said system? Yes, this may sound obvious and it might provoke the, "Well of course, Diamond!" response, but is YOUR company doing this? Can you define in quantitative terms the delta across multiple parameters? I just trolled the Web site of one of my favorite sales consultancy firms, The Alexander Group. Right on their home page is a brief appeal citing the importance of benchmarking. The corresponding landing page states, "The fact that hundreds of sales executives now track how their sales forces spend time means they attach great value to understanding how much time sellers actually devote to selling." The opportunity is to extend this conversation to benchmarking the success that companies derive from the investment they make in CRM systems, i.e., to the automation side of the equation. To a certain extent, the 'game' is analogous to achieving optimal physical fitness. One may never quite get there, but beyond the 95% threshold of "excellence," she/he may be entering the realm of splitting infinitives. But at the very start, and to quote verbiage from the aforementioned Alexander Group Web page, what gets measured gets managed. And getting to that 95% level along several key indicators would be a high quality problem indeed, don't you think? Yes, this could be a "That's so 90's" conversation, but is it really?

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• Run WordPress & Other Web Apps with Windows Web Platform

  - by Matthew Guay

  Would you like to run WordPress or other web apps on your PC so you can easily test and design websites?  Here we’ll look at how you can get the latest web apps on your computer in only a few quick steps. Many web apps today, such as WordPress, MediaWiki, and more, are open source and can be run for free from any computer with even a simple local web server.  They are often very difficult to install on your computer, since they require a number of dependencies such as PHP and MySQL.  Microsoft has worked to make this easier, releasing the Windows Web Platform Installer.  This lets you install many popular web apps and free tools in Windows with only a few clicks. Here we’re going to look at how to install WordPress and the free Visual Web Developer 2010 Express to edit web code with the Web Platform Installer.  But, if you’d rather install a different web app or tool, feel free to choose those as the installations are generally similar. Getting Started Head over to Microsoft’s Web development site and download the Web Platform Installer (link below).  This will download very quick, as it is just a small loader.  When you run this loader, it will download the Web Platform Installer files.  The Web Platform Installer works on XP, Vista, and Windows 7, as well as the related versions of Windows Server. After a couple moments, the Web Platform Installer will open and load information about the latest web offerings.    Now you can choose what you want to install.  You can quickly select the recommended products for several categories such as Web Server, Database, and more. Alternately, click Customize under the category and select exactly what you want to install.  Note that items already installed on your computer will be grayed out. We wanted to install Visual Web Developer 2010 Express, so select Customize under Tools, and select Visual Web Developer 2010 Express. Or, for more preset choices, select Options on the bottom of the window. You can choose to add Multimedia, Developer, and Enterprise tools to the lists, or add a new preset list from a feed. Choose Specific Web apps to Install We wanted to install WordPress, so instead of choosing a preset, select the Web Applications tab on the left.  Now you can choose from a variety of apps based on category, or you can view them all together in an A to Z, Most Popular, or Highest Rating list. Click the checkbox beside the app you want to install to select it, or click the “i” for more information. Here’s the More Information pane for WordPress.  If you’re ready to install it, click the checkbox. Now you can go back and add more web apps or tools to the install list if you like.  The Web Platform Installer will automatically find and select prerequisite apps such as MySQL, so you won’t need to worry about finding them. Once you’ve selected everything you want to install, click the Install button on the bottom of the window. The Web Platform Installer will now show you everything that’s selected, including components that it automatically selected.  Notice we only chose to install WordPress and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express, but it also has selected MySQL and PHP automatically.  Click I Accept to proceed. Enter an administrator password for MySQL before the setup begins. Now the Web Platform Installer will take over, automatically downloading, installing, and configuring all of your web apps.  It will also activate optional Windows components that may be needed on your computer.  This may take several minutes, depending on the components you selected and your internet speed.   Setting up Your Test Site Once the installation is finished, you’ll be asked to enter some information about your site.  You can simply accept the defaults or enter your own choices, and then click Continue. Now you’ll need to enter some information for your web apps.  When installing WordPress, you’ll need to choose a database and enter administrative usernames and passwords.  You may also be asked to enter extra information for additional security, but for a local-only test site this isn’t necessary.  Click Continue when you’re finished. You’ll need to wait a few more moments as it complete the setup of your web apps.  The good thing is, once it’s finished, they’ll be ready to go with only minimal configuration. And you’re finished!  The installer will let you know everything it installed, and if there were any problems.  In our test, Visual Web Developer 2010 Express failed to install successfully.  Often the problems may be with the download, so click Finish and then reselect the apps that didn’t install and run the installer again. Now you’re ready to run WordPress from your PC.  Click the Launch WordPress link or enter http://localhost:80/wordpress in your browser to get started. You’ll only have a little more setup to do on WordPress to get it running.  Once you’ve opened your WordPress page in your browser, enter a name for your blog and your email address, and click Install WordPress.   After a few seconds, you should see a Success! page with your username and a temporary password.  Copy the password, and then click Log In. Enter admin as the Username and paste the random generated password, and click Log In. WordPress will remind you to change the default password.  Click the Yes, Take me to my profile page link to do this. Enter something easier for you to remember, and click Update Profile. Now you’re ready to enjoy your new WordPress install on Windows.  You can add plugins and themes, and everything else you’d do with a normal WordPress site.  Here’s the dashboard running from localhost. And here’s the default blog running. Setting up Visual Web Developer 2010 Express As mentioned before, Visual Web Developer 2010 Express didn’t install correctly on our first try, but the second time it installed seamlessly.  Once it’s installed, launch it from your start menu as normal.  It may take a few minutes to load on the first run as it is finishing up setup. You may notice that the splash screen displayed while the program is loading says For Evaluation Purposes Only.  This is because you still need to register the program. You have 30 days to register the program, but let’s go ahead and do it to get this step out of the way.  Click Help in the menu bar, and select Register Product. Click Obtain a registration key online in the popup window. You’ll need to sign in with your Windows Live ID, and then fill out a quick form. When you’re done, copy the registration key displayed and paste it into the registration dialog in Visual Web Developer.   Now you’ve got a registered, free web development program with full standards compliance and IntelliSense to help you work smarter and faster.  And it works great with your local web apps, so you can create, tweak, and then deploy, all from your desktop with this simple installer! Install More Apps You can always run the Web Platform Installer again in the future and add more apps if you’d like.  The install adds a link to the Installer in the Start menu; just run it and repeat the steps above with your new selections. Also, from the installer, you can cleanup the setup files downloaded during the installation if you want.  Click the Options link in the bottom of the window, and then scroll down and select Delete installer cache folder. Uninstalling the apps is not as easy, unfortunately.  If you wish to uninstall the Web Platform Installer and everything you installed with it, you’ll need to uninstall each item individually.  One easy way to see what was all installed together is to sort the entries in Uninstall Programs by date.  In our case, we also installed some other applications on the same day, but it’s easier to see what was installed together. Or if you are not a fan of using Programs and Features to uninstall them, try out a program like Revo Uninstaller Pro. Conclusion Whether you’re a full-time web developer or just enjoy testing out the latest web apps, the Web Platform Installer makes it quick and easy to get your computer loaded up with the latest bits.  In fact, it’s easier to install these tools with all their dependencies than it is to install many standard boxed programs. If you’d like to take your web server anywhere you go and not have it confined to your desktop, then check out our article on how to Turn Your Flashdrive into a Portable Webserver. Link Download the Microsoft Web Platform Installer Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Linux QuickTip: Downloading and Un-tarring in One StepQuick Tip: Set a Future Date for a Post in WordPressHow-To Geek SoftwareAdd Social Bookmarking (Digg This!) 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• When runs a product out of support?

  That is a question I get regularly from customers. Microsoft has a great site where you can find that information. Unfortunately this site is not easy to find, and a lot of people are not aware of this site. A good reason to promote it a little. So if you ever get a question on this topic, go to http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/Default.aspx. At that site, you can find also the details of the policy Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy The Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy took effect in October 2002, and applies to most products currently available through retail purchase or volume licensing and most future release products. Through the policy, Microsoft will offer a minimum of: 10 years of support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended Support) at the supported service pack level for Business and Developer products 5 years Mainstream Support at the supported service pack level for Consumer/Hardware/Multimedia products 3 years of Mainstream Support for products that are annually released (for example, Money, Encarta, Picture It!, and Streets & Trips) Phases of the Support Lifecycle Mainstream Support Mainstream Support is the first phase of the product support lifecycle. At the supported service pack level, Mainstream Support includes: Incident support (no-charge incident support, paid incident support, support charged on an hourly basis, support for warranty claims) Security update support The ability to request non-security hotfixes Please note: Enrollment in a maintenance program may be required to receive these benefits for certain products Extended Support The Extended Support phase follows Mainstream Support for Business and Developer products. At the supported service pack level, Extended Support includes: Paid support Security update support at no additional cost Non-security related hotfix support requires a separate Extended Hotfix Support Agreement to be purchased (per-fix fees also apply) Please note: Microsoft will not accept requests for warranty support, design changes, or new features during the Extended Support phase Extended Support is not available for Consumer, Hardware, or Multimedia products Enrollment in a maintenance program may be required to receive these benefits for certain products Self-Help Online Support Self-Help Online Support is available throughout a product's lifecycle and for a minimum of 12 months after the product reaches the end of its support. Microsoft online Knowledge Base articles, FAQs, troubleshooting tools, and other resources, are provided to help customers resolve common issues. Please note: Enrollment in a maintenance program may be required to receive these benefits for certain products (source: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#tab1)

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