river island - Page 8 - Developer IT

Creating Lotus Notes documents with specific created/modified/last accessed dates for testing

- by Xolstice

I'm currently writing an application that moves Notes documents between databases based on the amount of days that have elapsed from the creation/modified/last accessed dates. I would just like to get ideas on a simple and convenient way to create documents with specific dates, without having to change the time on the Domino server, so that I could test out my application. The best way I found so far was to create a local replica and change the system clock to the date I want. Unfortunately there are problems associated with this method. It does not work on the modified date - I'm not sure how it is getting the modified date information when the location is set to Island (Disconnected) - and it also changes the modified and last accessed dates when the documents are replicated to the server replica. Someone suggested trying to create a DXL of the document, modify the date time in the DXL file, then import it back into the database as a Notes document; but that does not work. It just takes on the date-time that it was created. Can anyone offer any other suggestions?

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A doubt on DOM parser used with Python

- by fixxxer

I'm using the following python code to search for a node in an XML file and changing the value of an attribute of one of it's children.Changes are happening correctly when the node is displayed using toxml().But, when it is written to a file, the attributes rearrange themselves(as seen in the Source and the Final XML below). Could anyone explain how and why this happen? Python code: #!/usr/bin/env python import xml from xml.dom.minidom import parse dom=parse("max.xml") #print "Please enter the store name:" for sku in dom.getElementsByTagName("node"): if sku.getAttribute("name") == "store": sku.childNodes[1].childNodes[5].setAttribute("value","Delhi,India") print sku.toxml() xml.dom.ext.PrettyPrint(dom, open("new.xml", "w")) a part of the Source XML: <node name='store' node_id='515' module='mpx.lib.node.simple_value.SimpleValue' config_builder='' inherant='false' description='Configurable Value'> <match> <property name='1' value='point'/> <property name='2' value='0'/> <property name='val' value='Store# 09204 Staten Island, NY'/> <property name='3' value='str'/> </match> </node> Final XML : <node config_builder="" description="Configurable Value" inherant="false" module="mpx.lib.node.simple_value.SimpleValue" name="store" node_id="515"> <match> <property name="1" value="point"/> <property name="2" value="0"/> <property name="val" value="Delhi,India"/> <property name="3" value="str"/> </match> </node>

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Movies recommendation engine conceptual database design

- by Supyxy

I am working at an movie recommendations engine and i'm facing a DB design issue. My actual database looks like this: MOVIES [ID,TITLE] KEYWORDS_TABLE [ID,KEY_ID] - where ID is Foreign Key for MOVIES.id and KEY_ID is a key for a text keywords table This is not the entire DB, but i showed here what's important for my problem. I have about 50,000 movies and about 1,3 milion keywords correlations, and basically my algorithm consists in extracting all the who have the same keywords with a given movie, then ordering them by the number of keywords correlations. For example i looked for a movie similar to 'Cast away' and it returned 'Six days and six nights' because it had the most keywords correlations (4 keywords): Island Airplane crash Stranded Pilot The algorithm is based on more factors, but this one is the most important and the most difficult for the approach. Basically what i do now is getting all the movies that have at least one keyword similar to the given movie and then ordering them by other factors which are not important for a moment. There wouldn't be any problem if there weren't so many records, a query lasts in many cases up to 10-20 seconds and some of them return even over 5000 movies. Someone already helped me on here (thanks Mark Byers) with optimizing the query but that's not enough because it takes too longer SELECT DISTINCT M.title FROM keywords_table K1 JOIN keywords_table K2 ON K2.key_id = K1.key_id JOIN movies M ON K2.id = M.id WHERE K1.id = 4 So i thought it would be better if i pre-made those lists with movies recommendations for each movie, but i'm not sure how to design the tables.. whatever is it a good idea or how would you take this approach?

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A question about DOM parser used with Python

- by fixxxer

I'm using the following python code to search for a node in an XML file and changing the value of an attribute of one of it's children.Changes are happening correctly when the node is displayed using toxml().But, when it is written to a file, the attributes rearrange themselves(as seen in the Source and the Final XML below). Could anyone explain how and why this happen? Python code: #!/usr/bin/env python import xml from xml.dom.minidom import parse dom=parse("max.xml") #print "Please enter the store name:" for sku in dom.getElementsByTagName("node"): if sku.getAttribute("name") == "store": sku.childNodes[1].childNodes[5].setAttribute("value","Delhi,India") print sku.toxml() xml.dom.ext.PrettyPrint(dom, open("new.xml", "w")) a part of the Source XML: <node name='store' node_id='515' module='mpx.lib.node.simple_value.SimpleValue' config_builder='' inherant='false' description='Configurable Value'> <match> <property name='1' value='point'/> <property name='2' value='0'/> <property name='val' value='Store# 09204 Staten Island, NY'/> <property name='3' value='str'/> </match> </node> Final XML : <node config_builder="" description="Configurable Value" inherant="false" module="mpx.lib.node.simple_value.SimpleValue" name="store" node_id="515"> <match> <property name="1" value="point"/> <property name="2" value="0"/> <property name="val" value="Delhi,India"/> <property name="3" value="str"/> </match> </node>

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how to display my list with n amount on each line in Python

- by user1786698

im trying to display my list with 7 states on each line here is what i have so far, but it displays as one long string of all the states with quotes around each state. I forgot to mention that this is for my CS class and we havent learned iter yet so we not allowed to use it. the only hint i was given was to to turn STATE_LIST into a string then use '\n' to break it up state = str(STATE_LIST) displaystates = Text(Point(WINDOW_WIDTH/2, WINDOW_HEIGHT/2), state.split('\n')) displaystates.draw(win) and STATE_LIST looks like this STATE_VOTES = { "AL" : 9, # Alabama "AK" : 3, # Alaska "AZ" : 11, # Arizona "AR" : 6, # Arkansas "CA" : 55, # California "CO" : 9, # Colorado "CT" : 7, # Connecticut "DE" : 3, # Delaware "DC" : 3, # Washington DC "FL" : 29, # Florida "GA" : 16, # Georgia "HI" : 4, # Hawaii "ID" : 4, # Idaho "IL" : 20, # Illinois "IN" : 11, # Indiana "IA" : 6, # Iowa "KS" : 6, # Kansas "KY" : 8, # Kentucky "LA" : 8, # Louisiana "ME" : 4, # Maine "MD" : 10, # Maryland "MA" : 11, # Massachusetts "MI" : 16, # Michigan "MN" : 10, # Minnesota "MS" : 6, # Mississippi "MO" : 10, # Missouri "MT" : 3, # Montana "NE" : 5, # Nebraska "NV" : 6, # Nevada "NH" : 4, # New Hampshire "NJ" : 14, # New Jersey "NM" : 5, # New Mexico "NY" : 29, # New York "NC" : 15, # North Carolina "ND" : 3, # North Dakota "OH" : 18, # Ohio "OK" : 7, # Oklahoma "OR" : 7, # Oregon "PA" : 20, # Pennsylvania "RI" : 4, # Rhode Island "SC" : 9, # South Carolina "SD" : 3, # South Dakota "TN" : 11, # Tennessee "TX" : 38, # Texas "UT" : 6, # Utah "VT" : 3, # Vermont "VA" : 13, # Virginia "WA" : 12, # Washington "WV" : 5, # West Virginia "WI" : 10, # Wisconsin "WY" : 3 # Wyoming } STATE_LIST = sorted(list(STATE_VOTES.keys())) I am trying to get it to look somewhat like this

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What would you write in a Constitution (law book) for a programmers' country? [closed]

- by Developer Art

After we have got our great place to talk about professional matters and sozialize online - on SO, I believe the next logical step would be to found our own country! I invite you all to participate and bring together your available resources. We will buy an island, better even a group of islands so that we could establish states like .NET territories, Java land, Linux republic etc. We will build a society of programmers (girls - we need you too). To the organizational side, we're going to need some sort of a Constitution or a law book. I suggest we write it together. I make it a wiki as it should be a cooperative effort. I'll open the work. Section 1. Programmers' rights. Every citizen has a right to an Internet connection 24/7. Every citizen can freely choose the field of interest Section 2. Programmers' obligations. Every citizen must embrace the changing nature of the profession and constanly educate himself Section 3. Law enforcement. Code duplication when can be avoided is punished by limiting the bandwith speed to 64Kbit for a period of one week. Using ugly hacks instead of refactoring code is punished by cutting the Internet connection for a period of one month. Usage of technologies older than 5/10 years is punished by restricting the web access to the sites last updated 5/10 years ago for a period of one month. Please feel free to modify and extend the list. We'll need to have it ready before we proceed formally with the country foundation. A purchase fund will be established shortly. Everyone is invited to participate.

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TomCat starts, but does not load properly

- by user37136

Hey guys, I've been working on this for a day now and still don't know what's wrong. I am essentially building a second environment for our web and app server. I got apache to load up just fine, but tomcat is proving to be difficult. It appears to start and load just fine, but when it comes to loading our application, its just got stuck for 2-5 minutes and then shut down. Here is the log on the original machine where it works fine: 2010-02-12 11:52:40,506 INFO Web application servlet context is initializing... 2010-02-12 11:52:40,540 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: select_jobType=[{1,Undefined}, {100,Completion}, {200,Plugging}, {300,R+M}, {400,Workover}, {500,Swab - tubing}, {600,Swab - fluid}] 2010-02-12 11:52:40,540 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: select_jobTaskType=[{1,Undefined}, {100,Rod part}, {200,Tubing leak}, {300,Pump change}, {400,Stripping job}, {500,Long stroke}, {600,A/L optimization}] 2010-02-12 11:52:40,541 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: select_wellType=[{1,Undefined}, {100,Rod pump}, {200,ESP}, {300,Injector}, {400,PC pump}, {500,Co-Rod}, {600,Flowing}, {700,Storage}] 2010-02-12 11:52:40,541 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: select_assetType=[{1,Rig}, {100,Disabled rig}] 2010-02-12 11:52:40,542 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: select_state=[{AL,Alabama}, {AK,Alaska}, {AZ,Arizona}, {AR,Arkansas}, {CA,California}, {CO,Colorado}, {CT,Connecticut}, {DE,Delaware}, {FL,Florida}, {GA,Georgia}, {HI,Hawaii}, {ID,Idaho}, {IL,Illinois}, {IN,Indiana}, {IA,Iowa}, {KS,Kansas}, {KY,Kentucky}, {LA,Louisiana}, {ME,Maine}, {MD,Maryland}, {MA,Massachusetts}, {MI,Michigan}, {MN,Minnesota}, {MS,Mississippi}, {MO,Missouri}, {MT,Montana}, {NE,Nebraska}, {NV,Nevada}, {NH,New Hampshire}, {NJ,New Jersey}, {NM,New Mexico}, {NY,New York}, {NC,North Carolina}, {ND,North Dakota}, {OH,Ohio}, {OK,Oklahoma}, {OR,Oregon}, {PA,Pennsylvania}, {RI,Rhode Island}, {SC,South Carolina}, {SD,South Dakota}, {TN,Tennessee}, {TX,Texas}, {UT,Utah}, {VT,Vermont}, {VA,Virginia}, {WA,Washington}, {WV,West Virginia}, {WI,Wisconsin}, {WY,Wyoming}, {ACO,Atlantic Coast Offshore}, {FOAK,Federal Offshore Alaska}, {NGOM,Northern Gulf of Mexico}, {PCO,Pacific Coastal Offshore}] 2010-02-12 11:52:40,542 INFO KeyviewContextMonitor.contextInitialized: Loaded drop-down lists:com/key/portal/web/common/lists.properties 2010-02-12 11:52:40,937 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.SERVLET_MAPPING=*.do 2010-02-12 11:52:40,937 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.ACTION_SERVLET=org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet@155d578 2010-02-12 11:52:41,939 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.MODULE=org.apache.struts.config.impl.ModuleConfigImpl@e08e9d 2010-02-12 11:52:41,962 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.FORM_BEANS=org.apache.struts.action.ActionFormBeans@b31c3c 2010-02-12 11:52:41,967 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.FORWARDS=org.apache.struts.action.ActionForwards@102c646 2010-02-12 11:52:41,973 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.MAPPINGS=org.apache.struts.action.ActionMappings@127276a 2010-02-12 11:52:41,974 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.MESSAGE=org.apache.struts.util.PropertyMessageResources@18cae13 2010-02-12 11:52:41,984 DEBUG Servlet context attribute added: org.apache.struts.action.PLUG_INS=[Lorg.apache.struts.action.PlugIn;@f875ae 2010-02-12 11:52:46,816 INFO Sucessfully loaded application properties com/key/core/properties/application On my second environment, it didn't execute the last line. I start tomcat with the exact same command line !/bin/ksh export JAVA_HOME=/app/java export CATALINA_HOME=/app/tomcat export CATALINA_BASE=/app/keyview/appserver CATALINA_OPTS=" -Xms128m -Xmx800m -Dapplication.props=com/key/core/properties/application -Dlog4j.configuration=com/key/core/log/log4j.xml -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dlog4j.debug" export CATALINA_OPTS ${CATALINA_HOME}/bin/startup.sh I bolded the line that I think are in error. Thanks

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Form, function and complexity in rule processing

- by Charles Young

Tim Bass posted on ‘Orwellian Event Processing’. I was involved in a heated exchange in the comments, and he has more recently published a post entitled ‘Disadvantages of Rule-Based Systems (Part 1)’. Whatever the rights and wrongs of our exchange, it clearly failed to generate any agreement or understanding of our different positions. I don't particularly want to promote further argument of that kind, but I do want to take the opportunity of offering a different perspective on rule-processing and an explanation of my comments. For me, the ‘red rag’ lay in Tim’s claim that “...rules alone are highly inefficient for most classes of (not simple) problems” and a later paragraph that appears to equate the simplicity of form (‘IF-THEN-ELSE’) with simplicity of function. It is not the first time Tim has expressed these views and not the first time I have responded to his assertions. Indeed, Tim has a long history of commenting on the subject of complex event processing (CEP) and, less often, rule processing in ‘robust’ terms, often asserting that very many other people’s opinions on this subject are mistaken. In turn, I am of the opinion that, certainly in terms of rule processing, which is an area in which I have a specific interest and knowledge, he is often mistaken. There is no simple answer to the fundamental question ‘what is a rule?’ We use the word in a very fluid fashion in English. Likewise, the term ‘rule processing’, as used widely in IT, is equally difficult to define simplistically. The best way to envisage the term is as a ‘centre of gravity’ within a wider domain. That domain contains many other ‘centres of gravity’, including CEP, statistical analytics, neural networks, natural language processing and so much more. Whole communities tend to gravitate towards and build themselves around some of these centres. The term 'rule processing' is associated with many different technology types, various software products, different architectural patterns, the functional capability of many applications and services, etc. There is considerable variation amongst these different technologies, techniques and products. Very broadly, a common theme is their ability to manage certain types of processing and problem solving through declarative, or semi-declarative, statements of propositional logic bound to action-based consequences. It is generally important to be able to decouple these statements from other parts of an overall system or architecture so that they can be managed and deployed independently. As a centre of gravity, ‘rule processing’ is no island. It exists in the context of a domain of discourse that is, itself, highly interconnected and continuous. Rule processing does not, for example, exist in splendid isolation to natural language processing. On the contrary, an on-going theme of rule processing is to find better ways to express rules in natural language and map these to executable forms. Rule processing does not exist in splendid isolation to CEP. On the contrary, an event processing agent can reasonably be considered as a rule engine (a theme in ‘Power of Events’ by David Luckham). Rule processing does not live in splendid isolation to statistical approaches such as Bayesian analytics. On the contrary, rule processing and statistical analytics are highly synergistic. Rule processing does not even live in splendid isolation to neural networks. For example, significant research has centred on finding ways to translate trained nets into explicit rule sets in order to support forms of validation and facilitate insight into the knowledge stored in those nets. What about simplicity of form? Many rule processing technologies do indeed use a very simple form (‘If...Then’, ‘When...Do’, etc.) However, it is a fundamental mistake to equate simplicity of form with simplicity of function. It is absolutely mistaken to suggest that simplicity of form is a barrier to the efficient handling of complexity. There are countless real-world examples which serve to disprove that notion. Indeed, simplicity of form is often the key to handling complexity. Does rule processing offer a ‘one size fits all’. No, of course not. No serious commentator suggests it does. Does the design and management of large knowledge bases, expressed as rules, become difficult? Yes, it can do, but that is true of any large knowledge base, regardless of the form in which knowledge is expressed. The measure of complexity is not a function of rule set size or rule form. It tends to be correlated more strongly with the size of the ‘problem space’ (‘search space’) which is something quite different. Analysis of the problem space and the algorithms we use to search through that space are, of course, the very things we use to derive objective measures of the complexity of a given problem. This is basic computer science and common practice. Sailing a Dreadnaught through the sea of information technology and lobbing shells at some of the islands we encounter along the way does no one any good. Building bridges and causeways between islands so that the inhabitants can collaborate in open discourse offers hope of real progress.

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Geocaching - World wide treasure hunt

I'm not quite sure how I came across this topic but actually I find it absolutely interesting, challenging and most of all a great fun for the family and friends. The interesting part is for sure that you can follow other peoples treasures and their preferred locations where a cache might be hidden. Of course, it wont be easy to find a cache after all. Sometimes there are even 'mystery caches' which have either riddles, further instructions or little brain games for you in order to find the actual cache - that's the challenge. And last but not least, those caches are hidden outdoor. A great experience to explore nature either on your own, or your family especially with children, or as a treasure hunting pack with a couple of friends. What is geocaching? It's a high-tech outdoor treasure hunting game that's a great way to explore the world with friends, family or on your own. Participants use GPS-enabled devices to locate hidden containers called geocaches. There are over one million geocaches hidden around the world today, waiting for you to find them. Visit Geocaching.com to search for geocaches near you.(Source: Referral Email of geocaching.com) Checkout the Geocaching 101 for further details and information. They also provide a video channel on YouTube. Which equipment do I need? Any GPS-enabled device is sufficient to go onto the hunt. I'm going to start our geocaching experience equipped with my Samsung Galaxy Tab. Additionally, I installed a geocaching.com client called c:geo that hopefully assists me soon. Combined with a map app like Google Maps and a nice Compass app you should be fully equipped and ready to go. I guess, that even a car navigation system is perfect for that task. Later on, with more experience and demand for technology (or precision) it might be interesting to opt-in for a pure GPS device, like a Garmin or any other brand on the market. {loadposition content_adsense} What is a geocache and what does it contain? In its simplest form, a cache always contains a logbook or logsheet for you to log your find. Larger caches may contain a logbook and any number of items. These items turn the adventure into a true treasure hunt. You never know what the cache owner or visitors to the cache may have left for you to enjoy. Remember, if you take something, leave something of equal or greater value in return. It is recommended that items in a cache be individually packaged in a clear, zipped plastic bag to protect them from the elements. Finding your first geocache Well, first you have to have interest to pick up the challenge. Then you have to check out the Geocache directory on geocaching.com. They have recommendations for beginner's caches but you are free to choose any. Actually, we have a Mystery Cache very close to our base, and I guess that we are going for that one on our first trip. Anyway, there is a very informative guide on the website which should answer all your questions about starting your new outdoor adventure. For sure, it's going to be rewarding. Team up with friends and family Especially as a beginner there might be misunderstandings in handling the GPS coordinates, the compass, or the map, and even finding the container at the documented position isn't easy in the first place. Luckily, there are logbook reports online from other hunters, and most of the time there are even 'spoiler' images available. But also bear in mind, that a geocache might have been removed or is lost due to unconscious people or whatever other reasons. Don't be disappointed in case that you can't find anything... There be nothing anymore. A general recommendation in this case would be to replace the missing container with a new one, and give feedback to the original owner about the state of that particular location. After all, it's about fun and active participation in a world-wide community. Geocaches in Mauritius? Yes, there are currently about 45 geocaches spread all over the island, and even a single in Rodriguez - that's gonna be a tough one. Hopefully, we will get increasing numbers as Geocaching.com allows, no better, even encourages you to hide new containers at your locations of choice. I think this is going to be real fun for us during the upcoming weeks and months. Especially, when we are travelling to other countries and transfer so-called trackable items between geocaches. On my first impression, Geocaching.com seems to be very mature, open and community-oriented. There are literally hundreds of thousands geocache 'hunters' all over the world. And usually finding a container remote from your home is very rewarding. I'll keep you updated in these matters during the next months to come...

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SUPINFO International University in Mauritius

Since a while I'm considering to pick up my activities as a student and I'd like to get a degree in Computer Science. Personal motivation I mean after all this years as a professional software (and database) developer I have the personal urge to complete this part of my education. Having various certifications by Microsoft and being awarded as an Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) twice looks pretty awesome on a resume but having a "proper" degree would just complete my package. During the last couple of years I already got in touch with C-SAC (local business school with degree courses), the University of Mauritius and BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT to check the options to enroll as an experienced software developer. Quite frankly, it was kind of alienating to receive that feedback: Start from scratch! No seriously? Spending x amount of years to sit for courses that might be outdated and form part of your daily routine? Probably being in an awkward situation in which your professional expertise might exceed the lecturers knowledge? I don't know... but if that's path to walk... Well, then I might have to go for it. SUPINFO International University Some weeks ago I was contacted by the General Manager, Education Recruitment and Development of Medine Education Village, Yamal Matabudul, to have a chat on how the local IT scene, namely the Mauritius Software Craftsmanship Community (MSCC), could assist in their plans to promote their upcoming campus. Medine went into partnership with the French-based SUPINFO International University and Mauritius will be the 36th location world-wide for SUPINFO. Actually, the concept of SUPINFO is very likely to the common understanding of an apprenticeship in Germany. Not only does a student enroll into the programme but will also be placed into various internships as part of the curriculum. It's a big advantage in my opinion as the person stays in touch with the daily procedures and workflows in the real world of IT. Statements like "We just received a 'crash course' of information and learned new technology which is equivalent to 1.5 months of lectures at the university" wouldn't form part of the experience of such an education. Open Day at the Medine Education Village Last Saturday, Medine organised their Open Day and it was the official inauguration of the SUPINFO campus in Mauritius. It's now listed on their website, too - but be warned, the site is mainly in French language although the courses are all done in English. Not only was it a big opportunity to "hang out" on the campus of Medine but it was great to see the first professional partners for their internship programme, too. Oh, just for the records, IOS Indian Ocean Software Ltd. will also be among the future employers for SUPINFO students. More about that in an upcoming blog entry. Open Day at Medine Education Village - SUPINFO International University in Mauritius Mr Alick Mouriesse, President of SUPINFO, arrived the previous day and he gave all attendees a great overview of the roots of SUPINFO, the general development of the educational syllabus and their high emphasis on their partnerships with local IT companies in order to assist their students to get future jobs but also feel the heartbeat of technology live. Something which is completely missing in classic institutions of tertiary education in Computer Science. And since I was on tour with my children, as usual during weekends, he also talked about the outlook of having a SUPINFO campus in Mauritius. Apart from the close connection to IT companies and providing internships to students, SUPINFO clearly works on an international level. Meaning students of SUPINFO can move around the globe and can continue their studies seamlessly. For example, you might enroll for your first year in France, then continue to do 2nd and 3rd year in Canada or any other country with a SUPINFO campus to earn your bachelor degree, and then live and study in Mauritius for the next 2 years to achieve a Master degree. Having a chat with Dale Smith, Expand Technologies, after his interesting session on Technological Entrepreneurship - TechPreneur More questions by other craftsmen of the Mauritius Software Craftsmanship Community And of course, this concept works in any direction, giving Mauritian students a huge (!) opportunity to live, study and work abroad. And thanks to this, Medine already announced that there will be new facilities near Cascavelle to provide dormitories and other facilities to international students coming to our island. Awesome! Okay, but why SUPINFO? Well, coming back to my original statement - I'd like to get a degree in Computer Science - SUPINFO has a process called Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE) which is tailor-made for employees in the field of IT, and allows you to enroll in their course programme. I already got in touch with their online support chat but was only redirected to some FAQs on their website, unfortunately. So, during the Open Day I seized the opportunity to have an one-on-one conversation with Alick Mouriesse, and he clearly encouraged me to gather my certifications and working experience. SUPINFO does an individual evaluation prior to their assignment regarding course level, and hopefully my chances of getting some modules ahead of studies are looking better than compared to the other institutes. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to go down the easy route but why should someone sit for "Database 101" or "Principles of OOP" when applying and preaching database normalisation and practicing Clean Code Developer are like flesh and blood? Anyway, I'll be off to get my transcripts of certificates together with my course assignments from the old days at the university. Yes, I studied Applied Chemistry for a couple of years before intersecting into IT and software development particularly... ;-)

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IndyTechFest Recap

- by Johnm

The sun had yet to raise above the horizon on Saturday, May 22nd and I was traveling toward the location of the 2010 IndyTechFest. In my freshly awaken, and pre-coffee, state I reflected on the months that preceded this day and how quickly they slipped away. The big day had finally come and the morning dew glistened with a unique brightness that morning. What is this all about? For those who are unfamiliar with IndyTechFest, it is a regional conference held in Indianapolis and hosted by the Indianapolis .NET Developers Association (IndyNDA) and the Indianapolis Professional Association for SQL Server (IndyPASS). The event presents multiple tracks and sessions covering subjects such as Business Intelligence, Database Administration, .NET Development, SharePoint Development, Windows Mobile Development as well as non-Microsoft topics such as Lean and MongoDB. This year's event was the third hosting of IndyTechFest. No man is an island No event such as IndyTechFest is executed by a single person. My fellow co-founders, with their highly complementary skill sets and philanthropy make the process very enjoyable. Our amazing volunteers and their aid were indispensible. The generous financial support of our sponsors that made the event and fabulous prizes possible. The spectacular line up of speakers who came from near and far to donate their time and knowledge. Our beloved attendees who sacrificed the first sunny Saturday in weeks to expand their skill sets and network with their peers. We are deeply appreciative. Challenges in preparation With the preparation of any event comes challenges. It is these challenges that makes the process of planning an event so interesting. This year's largest challenge was the location of the event. In the past two years IndyTechFest was held at the Gene B. Glick Junior Achievement Center in Indianapolis. This facility has been the hub of the Indy technical community for many years. As the big day drew near, the facility's availability came into question due to some recent changes that had occurred with those who operated the facility. We began our search for an alternative option. Thankfully, the Marriott Indianapolis East was available, was very spacious and willing to work within the range of our budget. Within days of our event, the decision to move proved to be wise since the prior location had begun renovations to the interior. Whew! Always trust your gut. Every day it's getting better At the ending of each year, we huddle together, review the evaluations and identify an area in which the event could improve. This year's big opportunity for improvement resided in the prize give-away portion at the end of the day. In the 2008 event, admittedly, this portion was rather chaotic, rushed and disorganized. This year, we broke the drawing into two sections, of which each attendee received two tickets. The first ticket was a drawing for the mountain of books that were given away. The second ticket was a drawing for the big prizes, the 2 Xboxes, 3 laptops and iPad. We peppered the ticket drawings with gift card raffles and tossing t-shirts into the audience. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again Each year of IndyTechFest, we have offered a means for ad-hoc sessions or discussion groups to pop-up. To our disappointment it was something that never quite took off. We have always believed that this unique type of session was valuable and wanted to figure out a way to make it work for this year. A special thanks to Alan Stevens, who took on and facilitated the "open space" track and made it an official success. Share with your tweety When the attendee badges were designed we decided to place an emphasis on the attendee's Twitter account as well as the events hash-tag (#IndyTechFest) to encourage some real-time buzz during the day. At the host table we displayed a Twitter feed for all to enjoy. It was quite successful and encouraging use of social media. My badge was missing my Twitter account since it was recently changed. For those who care to follow my rather sparse tweets, my address is @johnnydata. Man, this is one long blog post! All in all it was a very successful event. It is always great to see new faces and meet old friends. The planning for the 2011 IndyTechFest will kick off very soon. We have more capacity for future growth and a truck full of great ideas. Stay tuned!

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Some mail details about Orange Mauritius

Being an internet service provider is not easy after all for a lot of companies. Luckily, there are quite some good international operators in this world. For example Orange Mauritius aka Mauritius Telecom aka Wanadoo(?) aka MyT here in Mauritius. The local circumstances give them a quasi-monopol position on fixed lines for telephony and therefore cable-based DSL internet connectivity. So far, not bad but as usual... the details. Just for the records, I am only using the services of Orange for mobile but friends and customers are bound, eh stuck, with other services of Orange Mauritius. And usually, being the IT guy, they get in touch with me to complain about problems or to ask questions on either their ADSL / MyT connection, mail services or whatever. Most of those issues are user-related and easily to solve by tweaking the configuration of their computer a little bit but sometimes it's getting weird. Using Orange ADSL... somewhere else Now, let's imagine we are an Orange ADSL customer for ages and we are using their mail services with our very own mail address like "[email protected]". We configured our mail client like Thunderbird, Outlook Express, Outlook or Windows Mail as publicly described, and we are able to receive and send emails like a champion. No problems at all, the world is green. Did I mention that we have a laptop? Ok, let's take our movable piece of information technology and visit a friend here on the island. Not surprising, he is also customer of Orange, so we can read and answer emails. But Orange is not the online internet service provider and one day, we happen to hang out with someone that uses Emtel via WiMAX or UMTS.. And the fun starts... We can still receive and read emails from our Orange mail account and the IT world is still bright but try to send mails to someone outside the domain "@intnet.mu" or "@orange.mu". Your mail client will deny sending mail with SMTP message 5.1.0 "blah not allowed". First guess, there is problem with the mail client, maybe magically the configuration changed over-night. But no it is still working at home... So, there is for sure a problem with the guy's internet connection. At least, it is his fault not to have Orange internet services, so it can not work properly... The Orange Mail FAQ After some more frustation we finally checkout the Orange Mail FAQ to see whether this (obviously?) common problem has been described already. Sorry, but those FAQ entries are even more confusing as it is not really clear how to handle this scenario. Best of all is that most of the entries are still refering to use servers of the domain "intnet.mu". I mean Orange will disable those systems in favour of the domain "orange.mu" in the near future and does not amend their FAQs. Come on, guys! Ok, settings for POP3 are there. Hm, what about the secure version POP3S? No signs at all... Even changing your mail client to use password encryption with STARTTLS is not allowed at all. Use "bow.intnet.mu" for incoming mail... Ahhh, pretty obvious host name. I mean, at least something like pop.intnet.mu or pop3.intnet.mu would have been more accurate. Funny of all, the hostname "pop.orange.mu" is accessible to receive your mail account. Alright, checking SMTP options for authentication or other like POP-before-SMTP or whatever well-known and established mechanism to send emails are described. I guess that spotting a whale or shark in Mauritian waters would be easier. Trial and error on SMTP settings reveal that neither STARTTLS or any other connection / password encryption is available. Using SSL/TLS on SMTP only reveals that there is no service answering your request. Calling customer service So, we have to bite into the bitter apple and get in touch with Orange customer service and complain/explain them our case and ask for advice. After some hiccups, we finally manage to get hold of someone competent in mail services and we receive the golden spoon of mail configuration made by Orange Mauritius: SMTP hostname: smtpauth.intnet.mu And the world of IT is surprisingly green again. Customer satisfaction? Dear Orange Mauritius, what's the problem with this information? Are you scared of mail spammer? Why isn't there any case in your FAQs? Ok, talking about your FAQs - simply said: they are badly outdated! Configure your mail client to use server name based in the domain intnet.mu but specify your account username with orange.mu as domain part. Although, that there are servers available on the domain orange.mu after all. So, why don't you provide current information like this: POP3 server name: pop.orange.muSMTP server name: smtp.orange.muSMTP authenticated: smtpauth.orange.mu It's not difficult, is it? In my humble opinion not really and you would provide clean, consistent and up-to-date information for your customers. This would produce less frustation and so less traffic on your customer service lines. Which after all, would improve the total user experience and satisfaction level on both sides. Without knowing these facts. Now, imagine you would take your laptop abroad and have to use other internet service providers to be able to be online... Calling your customer service would be unnecessary expensive!

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Yes, I did it - Skydiving in Mauritius

Finally, I did it or better said we did it. Already back in November last year I saw the big billboard advertisement of Skydive Austral Mauritius near Caudan Waterfront in Port Louis and decided for myself that this is going to be the perfect birthday gift for my wife. Simply out of curiosity I would join her tandem jump with a second instructor. Due to her pregnancy of our son I had to be patient... But then finally, her birthday had arrived and on our midnight celebration session I showed her her netbook with the website preloaded. Actually, it was the "perfect" timing... Recovery from her cesarean is fine, local weather conditions are gorgious and the children were under surveillance of my mum - spending her annual holidays on the island. So, after late wake-up in the morning, we packed our stuff and off we went. According to Google Maps direction indication we had to drive for roughly 50km (only) but traffic here in Mauritius is always challenging. The dropzone is at the Zone Industrielle Mon Loisir Sugar Estate near Riviere du Rempart at the northern east coast. Anyways, we were not in a hurry and arrived there shortly after noon. The access road to the airfield are just small down-driven paths through sugar cane fields and according to our daughter "it's bumpy!". True true true... The facilities at Skydive Austral Mauritius are complete except for food. Enough space for parking, easy handling at the reception and a lot to see for the kids. There's even a big terrace with several sets of tables and chairs, small bar for soft drinks, strictly non-alcoholic. The team over there is all welcoming and warm-hearthy! Having the kids with us was no issue at all. Quite the opposite, our daugther was allowed to discover a lot of things than we adults did. Even visiting the small air plane was on the menu for her. Really great stuff! While waiting for our turn we enjoyed watching other people getting ready in the jump gear, taking off with the Cessna, and finally coming back down on the tandem parachute. Actually, the different expressions on their faces was one of the best parts while waiting. Great mental preparation as my wife was getting more anxious about her first jump... {loadposition content_adsense} First, we got some information about the procedures on the plane about how to get seated, tight up with our instructors and how to get ready for the jump off the plane as soon as we arrive the height of 10.000 ft. All well explained and easy to understand after all.Next, we met with our jumpers Chris and Lee aka "Rasta" to get dressed and ready for take-off. Those guys are really cool and relaxed for their job. From that point on, the DVD session / recording for my wife's birthday started and we really had a lot of fun... The difference between that small Cessna and a commercial flight with an Airbus or a Boeing is astronomic! The climb up to 10.000 ft took us roughly 25 minutes and we enjoyed the magnificent view over the turquoise lagunes near Poste de Flacq, Lafayette and Isle d'Ambre on the north-east coast. After flying through the clouds we sun-bathed and looked over "iced-sugar covered" Mauritius. You might have a look at the picture gallery of Skydive Mauritius for better imagination. The moment of truth, or better said, point of no return came after approximately 25 minutes. The door opens, moving into position on the side on top of the wheel and... out! Back flip and free fall! Slight turns and Wooooohooooo! through the clouds... It so amazing and breath-taking! So undescribable! You have to experience this yourself! Some seconds later the parachute opened and we glided smoothly with some turns and spins back down to the dropzone. The rest of the family could hear and see us soon and the landing was easy going. We never had any doubts or fear about our instructors. They did a great job and we are looking forward to book our next job. I might even consider to follow educational classes on skydiving and earn a license. By the way, feel free to get in touch with Skydive Austral Mauritius. Either via contact details on their website or tweeting a little bit with them. Follow the tweets of Chris and fellows on SkydiveAustral.

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Best programming aids for a quadriplegic programmer

- by Peter Rowell

Before you jump to conclusions, yes, this is programming related. It covers a situation that comes under the heading of, "There, but for the grace of God, go you or I." This is brand new territory for me so I'm asking for some serious help here. A young man, Honza Ripa, in a nearby town did the classic Dumb Thing two weeks after graduating from High School -- he dove into shallow water in the Russian River and had a C-4/C-5 break, sometimes called a Swimming Pool break. In a matter of seconds he went from an exceptional golfer and wrestler to a quadriplegic. (Read the story ... all of us should have been so lucky as to have a girlfriend like Brianna.) That was 10 months ago and he has regained only tiny amounts of control of his right index finger and a couple of other hand/foot motions, none of them fine-grained. His total control of his computer (currently running Win7, but we can change that as needed) is via voice command. Honza's not dumb. He had a 3.7 GPA with AP math and physics. The Problems: Since all of his input is via voice command, he is concerned that the predominance of special characters in programming will require vast amount of verbose commands. Does anyone know of any well done voice input system specifically designed for programmers? I'm thinking about something that might be modal--e.g. you say "Python input" and it goes into a macro mode for doing class definitions, etc. Given all of the RSI in programmer-land there's got to be something out there. What OS(es) does it run on? I am planning on teaching him Python, which is my preferred language for programming and teaching. Are there any applications / whatevers that are written in Python and would be a particularly good match for engaging him mentally while supporting his disability? One of his expressed interests is in stock investing, but that not might be a good starting point for a brand-new programmer. There are a lot of environments (Flash, JavaScript, etc) that are not particularly friendly to people with accessibility challenges. I vaguely remember (but cannot find) a research project that basically created an overlay system on top of a screen environment and then allowed macro command construction on top of the screen image. If we can get/train this system, we may be able to remove many hurdles to using the net. I am particularly interested in finding open source Python-based robotics and robotic prostheses projects so that he can simultaneously learn advanced programming concepts while learning to solve some of his own immediate problems. I've done a ton of googling on this, but I know there things I'm missing. I'm asking the SO community to step up to the plate here. I know this group has the answers, so let me hear them! Overwhelm me with the opportunities that any of us might have/need to still program after such a life-changing event.

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Why is this giving me 2 different sets of timezones?

- by chobo2

Hi I have this line to get all the timezones Dictionary<string, TimeZoneInfo> storeZoneName = TimeZoneInfo.GetSystemTimeZones().ToDictionary(z => z.DisplayName); Now when I upload I try it on my local machine I get this (UTC-12:00) International Date Line West (UTC-11:00) Coordinated Universal Time-11 (UTC-11:00) Samoa (UTC-10:00) Hawaii (UTC-09:00) Alaska (UTC-08:00) Baja California (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (UTC-07:00) Arizona (UTC-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan (UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada) (UTC-06:00) Central America (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) (UTC-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey (UTC-06:00) Saskatchewan (UTC-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) (UTC-05:00) Indiana (East) (UTC-04:30) Caracas (UTC-04:00) Asuncion (UTC-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada) (UTC-04:00) Cuiaba (UTC-04:00) Georgetown, La Paz, Manaus, San Juan (UTC-04:00) Santiago (UTC-03:30) Newfoundland (UTC-03:00) Brasilia (UTC-03:00) Buenos Aires (UTC-03:00) Cayenne, Fortaleza (UTC-03:00) Greenland (UTC-03:00) Montevideo (UTC-02:00) Coordinated Universal Time-02 (UTC-02:00) Mid-Atlantic (UTC-01:00) Azores (UTC-01:00) Cape Verde Is. (UTC) Casablanca (UTC) Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London (UTC) Monrovia, Reykjavik (UTC+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna (UTC+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague (UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris (UTC+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb (UTC+01:00) West Central Africa (UTC+02:00) Amman (UTC+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul (UTC+02:00) Beirut (UTC+02:00) Cairo (UTC+02:00) Harare, Pretoria (UTC+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius (UTC+02:00) Jerusalem (UTC+02:00) Minsk (UTC+02:00) Windhoek (UTC+03:00) Baghdad (UTC+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh (UTC+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd (UTC+03:00) Nairobi (UTC+03:30) Tehran (UTC+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat (UTC+04:00) Baku (UTC+04:00) Port Louis (UTC+04:00) Tbilisi (UTC+04:00) Yerevan (UTC+04:30) Kabul (UTC+05:00) Ekaterinburg (UTC+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi (UTC+05:00) Tashkent (UTC+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi (UTC+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura (UTC+05:45) Kathmandu (UTC+06:00) Astana (UTC+06:00) Dhaka (UTC+06:00) Novosibirsk (UTC+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon) (UTC+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta (UTC+07:00) Krasnoyarsk (UTC+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi (UTC+08:00) Irkutsk (UTC+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore (UTC+08:00) Perth (UTC+08:00) Taipei (UTC+08:00) Ulaanbaatar (UTC+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo (UTC+09:00) Seoul (UTC+09:00) Yakutsk (UTC+09:30) Adelaide (UTC+09:30) Darwin (UTC+10:00) Brisbane (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (UTC+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby (UTC+10:00) Hobart (UTC+10:00) Vladivostok (UTC+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Is., New Caledonia (UTC+12:00) Auckland, Wellington (UTC+12:00) Coordinated Universal Time+12 (UTC+12:00) Fiji (UTC+12:00) Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (UTC+13:00) Nuku'alofa When I run it on a different local machine or my server I have this. <option value="(GMT) Casablanca">(GMT) Casablanca</option> <option value="(GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London">(GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London</option> <option value="(GMT) Monrovia, Reykjavik">(GMT) Monrovia, Reykjavik</option> <option value="(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna">(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna</option> <option value="(GMT+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague">(GMT+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague</option> <option value="(GMT+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris">(GMT+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris</option> <option value="(GMT+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb">(GMT+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb</option> <option value="(GMT+01:00) West Central Africa">(GMT+01:00) West Central Africa</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Amman">(GMT+02:00) Amman</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul">(GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Beirut">(GMT+02:00) Beirut</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Cairo">(GMT+02:00) Cairo</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Harare, Pretoria">(GMT+02:00) Harare, Pretoria</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius">(GMT+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Jerusalem">(GMT+02:00) Jerusalem</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Minsk">(GMT+02:00) Minsk</option> <option value="(GMT+02:00) Windhoek">(GMT+02:00) Windhoek</option> <option value="(GMT+03:00) Baghdad">(GMT+03:00) Baghdad</option> <option value="(GMT+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh">(GMT+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh</option> <option value="(GMT+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd">(GMT+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd</option> <option value="(GMT+03:00) Nairobi">(GMT+03:00) Nairobi</option> <option value="(GMT+03:00) Tbilisi">(GMT+03:00) Tbilisi</option> <option value="(GMT+03:30) Tehran">(GMT+03:30) Tehran</option> <option value="(GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat">(GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat</option> <option value="(GMT+04:00) Baku">(GMT+04:00) Baku</option> <option value="(GMT+04:00) Port Louis">(GMT+04:00) Port Louis</option> <option value="(GMT+04:00) Yerevan">(GMT+04:00) Yerevan</option> <option value="(GMT+04:30) Kabul">(GMT+04:30) Kabul</option> <option value="(GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg">(GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg</option> <option value="(GMT+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi">(GMT+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi</option> <option value="(GMT+05:00) Tashkent">(GMT+05:00) Tashkent</option> <option value="(GMT+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi">(GMT+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi</option> <option value="(GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura">(GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura</option> <option value="(GMT+05:45) Kathmandu">(GMT+05:45) Kathmandu</option> <option value="(GMT+06:00) Almaty, Novosibirsk">(GMT+06:00) Almaty, Novosibirsk</option> <option value="(GMT+06:00) Astana, Dhaka">(GMT+06:00) Astana, Dhaka</option> <option value="(GMT+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon)">(GMT+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon)</option> <option value="(GMT+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta">(GMT+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta</option> <option value="(GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk">(GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk</option> <option value="(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi">(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi</option> <option value="(GMT+08:00) Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar">(GMT+08:00) Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar</option> <option value="(GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore">(GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore</option> <option value="(GMT+08:00) Perth">(GMT+08:00) Perth</option> <option value="(GMT+08:00) Taipei">(GMT+08:00) Taipei</option> <option value="(GMT+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo">(GMT+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo</option> <option value="(GMT+09:00) Seoul">(GMT+09:00) Seoul</option> <option value="(GMT+09:00) Yakutsk">(GMT+09:00) Yakutsk</option> <option value="(GMT+09:30) Adelaide">(GMT+09:30) Adelaide</option> <option value="(GMT+09:30) Darwin">(GMT+09:30) Darwin</option> <option value="(GMT+10:00) Brisbane">(GMT+10:00) Brisbane</option> <option value="(GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney">(GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney</option> <option value="(GMT+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby">(GMT+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby</option> <option value="(GMT+10:00) Hobart">(GMT+10:00) Hobart</option> <option value="(GMT+10:00) Vladivostok">(GMT+10:00) Vladivostok</option> <option value="(GMT+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Is., New Caledonia">(GMT+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Is., New Caledonia</option> <option value="(GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington">(GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington</option> <option value="(GMT+12:00) Fiji, Kamchatka, Marshall Is.">(GMT+12:00) Fiji, Kamchatka, Marshall Is.</option> <option value="(GMT+13:00) Nuku'alofa">(GMT+13:00) Nuku'alofa</option> <option value="(GMT-01:00) Azores">(GMT-01:00) Azores</option> <option value="(GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Is.">(GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Is.</option> <option value="(GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic">(GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic</option> <option value="(GMT-03:00) Brasilia">(GMT-03:00) Brasilia</option> <option value="(GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires">(GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires</option> <option value="(GMT-03:00) Georgetown">(GMT-03:00) Georgetown</option> <option value="(GMT-03:00) Greenland">(GMT-03:00) Greenland</option> <option value="(GMT-03:00) Montevideo">(GMT-03:00) Montevideo</option> <option value="(GMT-03:30) Newfoundland">(GMT-03:30) Newfoundland</option> <option value="(GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)">(GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)</option> <option value="(GMT-04:00) La Paz">(GMT-04:00) La Paz</option> <option value="(GMT-04:00) Manaus">(GMT-04:00) Manaus</option> <option value="(GMT-04:00) Santiago">(GMT-04:00) Santiago</option> <option value="(GMT-04:30) Caracas">(GMT-04:30) Caracas</option> <option value="(GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco">(GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco</option> <option value="(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)">(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)</option> <option value="(GMT-05:00) Indiana (East)">(GMT-05:00) Indiana (East)</option> <option value="(GMT-06:00) Central America">(GMT-06:00) Central America</option> <option value="(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)">(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)</option> <option value="(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey">(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey</option> <option value="(GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan">(GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan</option> <option value="(GMT-07:00) Arizona">(GMT-07:00) Arizona</option> <option value="(GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan">(GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan</option> <option value="(GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)">(GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)</option> <option value="(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)">(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)</option> <option value="(GMT-08:00) Tijuana, Baja California">(GMT-08:00) Tijuana, Baja California</option> <option value="(GMT-09:00) Alaska">(GMT-09:00) Alaska</option> <option value="(GMT-10:00) Hawaii">(GMT-10:00) Hawaii</option> <option value="(GMT-11:00) Midway Island, Samoa">(GMT-11:00) Midway Island, Samoa</option> <option value="(GMT-12:00) International Date Line West">(GMT-12:00) International Date Line West</option> They are different. Same line of code but one is GMT and one is UTC. How can I force it to be always the same? Also I want to have a default choice of "UTC" but I am not sure what the diff is between this (UTC-11:00) Coordinated Universal Time-11 and this (UTC-02:00) Coordinated Universal Time-02

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php split array into smaller even arrays

- by SoulieBaby

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How to interpret kernel panics?

- by Owen

Hi all, I'm new to linux kernel and could barely understand how to debug kernel panics. I have this error below and I don't know where in the C code should I start checking. I was thinking maybe I could echo what functions are being called so I could check where in the code is this null pointer dereferenced. What print function should I use ? How do you interpret the error message below? Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000d pgd = c7bdc000 [0000000d] *pgd=4785f031, *pte=00000000, *ppte=00000000 Internal error: Oops: 17 [#1] PREEMPT Modules linked in: bcm5892_secdom_fw(P) bcm5892_lcd snd_bcm5892 msr bcm5892_sci bcm589x_ohci_p12 bcm5892_skeypad hx_decoder(P) pinnacle hx_memalloc(P) bcm_udc_dwc scsi_mod g_serial sd_mod usb_storage CPU: 0 Tainted: P (2.6.27.39-WR3.0.2ax_standard #1) PC is at __kmalloc+0x70/0xdc LR is at __kmalloc+0x48/0xdc pc : [c0098cc8] lr : [c0098ca0] psr: 20000093 sp : c7a9fd50 ip : c03a4378 fp : c7a9fd7c r10: bf0708b4 r9 : c7a9e000 r8 : 00000040 r7 : bf06d03c r6 : 00000020 r5 : a0000093 r4 : 0000000d r3 : 00000000 r2 : 00000094 r1 : 00000020 r0 : c03a4378 Flags: nzCv IRQs off FIQs on Mode SVC_32 ISA ARM Segment user Control: 00c5387d Table: 47bdc008 DAC: 00000015 Process sh (pid: 1088, stack limit = 0xc7a9e260) Stack: (0xc7a9fd50 to 0xc7aa0000) fd40: c7a6a1d0 00000020 c7a9fd7c c7ba8fc0 fd60: 00000040 c7a6a1d0 00000020 c71598c0 c7a9fd9c c7a9fd80 bf06d03c c0098c64 fd80: c71598c0 00000003 c7a6a1d0 bf06c83c c7a9fdbc c7a9fda0 bf06d098 bf06d008 fda0: c7159880 00000000 c7a6a2d8 c7159898 c7a9fde4 c7a9fdc0 bf06d130 bf06d078 fdc0: c79ca000 c7159880 00000000 00000000 c7afbc00 c7a9e000 c7a9fe0c c7a9fde8 fde0: bf06d4b4 bf06d0f0 00000000 c79fd280 00000000 0f700000 c7a9e000 00000241 fe00: c7a9fe3c c7a9fe10 c01c37b4 bf06d300 00000000 c7afbc00 00000000 00000000 fe20: c79cba84 c7463c78 c79fd280 c7473b00 c7a9fe6c c7a9fe40 c00a184c c01c35e4 fe40: 00000000 c7bb0005 c7a9fe64 c79fd280 c7463c78 00000000 c00a1640 c785e380 fe60: c7a9fe94 c7a9fe70 c009c438 c00a164c c79fd280 c7a9fed8 c7a9fed8 00000003 fe80: 00000242 00000000 c7a9feb4 c7a9fe98 c009c614 c009c2a4 00000000 c7a9fed8 fea0: c7a9fed8 00000000 c7a9ff64 c7a9feb8 c00aa6bc c009c5e8 00000242 000001b6 fec0: 000001b6 00000241 00000022 00000000 00000000 c7a9fee0 c785e380 c7473b00 fee0: d8666b0d 00000006 c7bb0005 00000300 00000000 00000000 00000001 40002000 ff00: c7a9ff70 c79b10a0 c79b10a0 00005402 00000003 c78d69c0 ffffff9c 00000242 ff20: 000001b6 c79fd280 c7a9ff64 c7a9ff38 c785e380 c7473b00 00000000 00000241 ff40: 000001b6 ffffff9c 00000003 c7bb0000 c7a9e000 00000000 c7a9ff94 c7a9ff68 ff60: c009c128 c00aa380 4d18b5f0 08000000 00000000 00071214 0007128c 00071214 ff80: 00000005 c0027ee4 c7a9ffa4 c7a9ff98 c009c274 c009c0d8 00000000 c7a9ffa8 ffa0: c0027d40 c009c25c 00071214 0007128c 0007128c 00000241 000001b6 00000000 ffc0: 00071214 0007128c 00071214 00000005 00073580 00000003 000713e0 400010d0 ffe0: 00000001 bef0c7b8 000269cc 4d214fec 60000010 0007128c 00000000 00000000 Backtrace: [] (__kmalloc+0x0/0xdc) from [] (gs_alloc_req+0x40/0x70 [g_serial]) r8:c71598c0 r7:00000020 r6:c7a6a1d0 r5:00000040 r4:c7ba8fc0 [] (gs_alloc_req+0x0/0x70 [g_serial]) from [] (gs_alloc_requests+0x2c/0x78 [g_serial]) r7:bf06c83c r6:c7a6a1d0 r5:00000003 r4:c71598c0 [] (gs_alloc_requests+0x0/0x78 [g_serial]) from [] (gs_start_io+0x4c/0xac [g_serial]) r7:c7159898 r6:c7a6a2d8 r5:00000000 r4:c7159880 [] (gs_start_io+0x0/0xac [g_serial]) from [] (gs_open+0x1c0/0x224 [g_serial]) r9:c7a9e000 r8:c7afbc00 r7:00000000 r6:00000000 r5:c7159880 r4:c79ca000 [] (gs_open+0x0/0x224 [g_serial]) from [] (tty_open+0x1dc/0x314) [] (tty_open+0x0/0x314) from [] (chrdev_open+0x20c/0x22c) [] (chrdev_open+0x0/0x22c) from [] (__dentry_open+0x1a0/0x2b8) r8:c785e380 r7:c00a1640 r6:00000000 r5:c7463c78 r4:c79fd280 [] (__dentry_open+0x0/0x2b8) from [] (nameidata_to_filp+0x38/0x50) [] (nameidata_to_filp+0x0/0x50) from [] (do_filp_open+0x348/0x6f4) r4:00000000 [] (do_filp_open+0x0/0x6f4) from [] (do_sys_open+0x5c/0x170) [] (do_sys_open+0x0/0x170) from [] (sys_open+0x24/0x28) r8:c0027ee4 r7:00000005 r6:00071214 r5:0007128c r4:00071214 [] (sys_open+0x0/0x28) from [] (ret_fast_syscall+0x0/0x2c) Code: e59c4080 e59c8090 e3540000 159c308c (17943103) ---[ end trace be196e7cee3cb1c9 ]--- note: sh[1088] exited with preempt_count 2 process '-/bin/sh' (pid 1088) exited. Scheduling for restart. Welcome to Wind River Linux

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Underwriting in a New Frontier: Spurring Innovation

- by [email protected]

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} Susan Keuer, product strategy manager for Oracle Insurance, shares her experiences and insight from the 2010 Association of Home Office Underwriters (AHOU) Annual Conference, April 11-14, in San Antonio, Texas How can I be more innovative in underwriting? It's a common question I hear from insurance carriers, producers and others, so it was no surprise that it was the key theme at the recent 2010 AHOU Annual Conference. This year's event drew more than 900 insurance professionals involved in the underwriting process across life and annuities, property and casualty and reinsurance from around the globe, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Bahamas, and more, to San Antonio - a Texas city where innovation transformed a series of downtown drainage canals into its premiere River Walk tourist destination. CNN's Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta kicked off the conference with a phenomenal opening session that drove home the theme of the conference, "Underwriting in a New Frontier: Spurring Innovation." Drawing from his own experience as a neurosurgeon treating critically injured medical patients in the field in Iraq, Gupta inspired audience members to think outside the box during the underwriting process. He shared a compelling story of operating on a soldier who had suffered a head-related trauma in a field hospital. With minimal supplies available Gupta used a Black and Decker saw to operate on the soldier's head and reduce pressure on his swelling brain. Drawing from this example, Gupta encouraged underwriters to think creatively, be innovative, and consider new tools and sources of information, such as social networking sites, during the underwriting process. So as you are looking at risk take into consideration all resources you have available. Gupta also stressed the concept of IKIGAI - noting that individuals who believe that their life is worth living are less likely to die than are their counterparts without this belief. How does one quantify this approach to life or thought process when evaluating risk? Could this be something to consider as a "category" in the near future? How can this same belief in your own work spur innovation? The role of technology was a hot topic of discussion throughout the conference. Sessions delved into the latest in underwriting software to the rise of social media and how it is being increasingly integrated into underwriting process and solutions. In one session a trio of panelists representing the carrier, producer and vendor communities stressed the importance to underwriters of leveraging new technology and the plethora of online information sources, which all could be used to accurately, honestly and consistently evaluate the risk throughout the underwriting process. Another focused on the explosion of social media noting: 1. Social media is growing exponentially - About eight percent of Americans used social media five years ago. Today about 46 percent of Americans do so, with 85 percent of financial services professionals using social media in their work. 2. It will impact your business - Underwriters reconfirmed over and over that they are increasingly using "free" tools that are available in cyberspace in lieu of more costly solutions, such as inspection reports conducted by individuals in the field. 3. Information is instantly available on the Web, anytime, anywhere - LinkedIn was mentioned as a way to connect to peers in the underwriting community and producers alike. Many carriers and agents also are using Facebook to promote their company to customers - and as a point-of-entry to allow them to perform some functionality - such as accessing product marketing information versus directing users to go to the carrier's own proprietary website. Other carriers have released their tight brand marketing to allow their producers to drive more business to their personal Facebook site where they offer innovative tools such as Application Capture or asking medical information in a more relaxed fashion. Other key topics at the conference included the economy, ongoing industry consolidation, real-estate valuations as an asset and input into the underwriting process, and producer trends. All stressed a "back to basics" approach for low cost, term products. Finally, Connie Merritt, RN, PHN, entertained the large group of atttendees with audience-engaging insight on how to "Tame the Lions in Your Life - Dealing with Complainers, Bullies, Grump and Curmudgeon." Merritt noted "we are too busy for our own good." She shared how her overachieving personality had impacted her life. Audience members then were asked to pick red, yellow, blue, or green shapes, without knowing that each one represented a specific personality trait. For example, those who picked blue were the peacemakers. Those who choose yellow were social - the hint was to "Be Quiet Longer." She then offered these "lion taming" steps: 1. Admit It 2. Accept It 3. Let Go 4. Be Present (which paralleled Gupta's IKIGAI concept) When thinking about underwriting I encourage you to be present in the moment and think creatively, but don't be afraid to look ahead to the future and be an innovator. I hope to see you at next year's AHOU Annual Conference, May 1-4, 2011 at The Mirage in Las Vegas, Nev. Susan Keuer is the product strategy manager for new business underwriting. She brings more than 20 years of insurance industry experience working with leading insurance carriers and technology companies to her role on the product strategy team for life/annuities solutions within the Oracle Insurance Global Business Unit

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Visiting the Fire Station in Coromandel

Hm, I just tried to remember how we actually came up with this cool idea... but it's already too blurred and it doesn't really matter after all. Anyway, if I remember correctly (IIRC), it happened during one of the Linux meetups at Mugg & Bean, Bagatelle where Ajay and I brought our children along and we had a brief conversation about how cool it would be to check out one of the fire stations here in Mauritius. We both thought that it would be a great experience and adventure for the little ones. An idea takes shape And there we go, down the usual routine these... having an idea, checking out the options and discussing who's doing what. Except this time, it was all up to Ajay, and he did a fantastic job. End of August, he told me that he got in touch with one of his friends which actually works as a fire fighter at the station in Coromandel and that there could be an option to come and visit them (soon). A couple of days later - Confirmed! Be there, and in time... What time? Anyway, doesn't really matter... Everything was settled and arranged. I asked the kids on Friday afternoon if they might be interested to see the fire engines and what a fire fighter is doing. Of course, they were all in! Getting up early on Sunday morning isn't really a regular exercise for all of us but everything went smooth and after a short breakfast it was time to leave. Where are we going? Are we there yet? Now, we are in Bambous. Why do you go this way? The kids were so much into it. Absolutely amazing to see their excitement. Are we there yet? Well, we went through the sugar cane fields towards Chebel and then down into the industrial zone at Coromandel. Honestly, I had a clue where the fire station is located but having Google Maps in reach that shouldn't be a problem in case that we might get lost. But my worries were washed away when our children guided us... "There! Over there are the fire engines! We have to turn left, dad." - No comment, the kids were right! As we were there a little bit too early, we parked the car and the kids started to explore the area and outskirts of the fire station. Some minutes later, as if we had placed an order a unit of two cars had to go out for an alarm and the kids could witness them leaving as closely as possible. Sirens on and wow!!! Ladder truck L32 - MAN truck with Rosenbauer built-up and equipment by Metz Taking the tour Ajay arrived shortly after that and guided us finally inside the station to meet with his pal. The three guys were absolutely well-prepared and showed us around in the hall, explaining that there two units out at the moment. But the ladder truck (with max. 32m expandable height) was still around we all got a great insight into the technique and equipment on the vehicle. It was amazing to see all three kids listening to Mambo as give some figures about the truck and how the fire fighters are actually it. The children and 'our' fire fighters of the day had great fun with the various fire engines Absolutely fantastic that the children were allowed to experience this - we had so much fun! Ajay's son brought two of his toy fire engines along, shared them with ours, and they all played very well together. As a parent it was really amazing to see them at such an ease. Enough theory Shortly afterwards the ladder truck was moved outside, got stabilised and ready to go for 'real-life' exercising. With the additional equipment of safety helmets, security belts and so on, we all got a first-hand impression about how it could be as a fire-fighter. Actually, I was totally amazed by the curiousity and excitement of my BWE. She was really into it and asked lots of interesting questions - in general but also technical. And while our fighters were busy with Ajay and family, I gave her some more details and explanations about the truck, the expandable ladder, the safety cage at the top and other equipment available. Safety first! No exceptions and always be prepared for the worst case... Also, the equipped has been checked prior to excuse - This is your life saver... Hooked up and ready to go... ...of course not too high. This is just a demonstration - and 32 meters above ground isn't for everyone. Well, after that it was me that had the asking looks on me, and I finally revealed to the local fire fighters that I was in the auxiliary fire brigade, more precisely in the hazard department, for more than 10 years. So not a professional fire fighter but at least a passionate and educated one as them. Inside the station Our fire fighters really took their time to explain their daily job to kids, provided them access to operation seat on the ladder truck and how the truck cabin is actually equipped with the different radios and so on. It was really a great time. Later on we had a brief tour through the building itself, and again all of our questions were answered. We had great fun and started to joke about bits and pieces. For me it was also very interesting to see the comparison between the fire station here in Mauritius and the ones I have been to back in Germany. Amazing to see them completely captivated in the play - the children had lots of fun! Also, that there are currently ten fire stations all over the island, plus two additional but private ones at the airport and at the harbour. The newest one is actually down in Black River on the west coast because the time from Quatre Bornes takes too long to have any chance of an effective alarm at all. IMHO, a very good decision as time is the most important factor in getting fire incidents under control. After all it was great experience for all of us, especially for the children to see and understand that their toy trucks are only copies of the real thing and that the job of a (professional) fire fighter is very important in our society. Don't forget that those guys run into the danger zone while you're trying to get away from it as much as possible. Another unit just came back from a grass fire - and shortly after they went out again. No time to rest, too much to do! Mauritian Fire Fighters now and (maybe) in the future... Thank you! It was an honour to be around! Thank you to Ajay for organising and arranging this Sunday morning event, and of course of Big Thank You to the three guys that took some time off to have us at the Fire Station in Coromandel and guide us through their daily job! And remember to call 115 in case of emergencies!

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RiverTrail - JavaScript GPPGU Data Parallelism

- by JoshReuben

Where is WebCL ? The Khronos WebCL working group is working on a JavaScript binding to the OpenCL standard so that HTML 5 compliant browsers can host GPGPU web apps – e.g. for image processing or physics for WebGL games - http://www.khronos.org/webcl/ . While Nokia & Samsung have some protype WebCL APIs, Intel has one-upped them with a higher level of abstraction: RiverTrail. Intro to RiverTrail Intel Labs JavaScript RiverTrail provides GPU accelerated SIMD data-parallelism in web applications via a familiar JavaScript programming paradigm. It extends JavaScript with simple deterministic data-parallel constructs that are translated at runtime into a low-level hardware abstraction layer. With its high-level JS API, programmers do not have to learn a new language or explicitly manage threads, orchestrate shared data synchronization or scheduling. It has been proposed as a draft specification to ECMA a (known as ECMA strawman). RiverTrail runs in all popular browsers (except I.E. of course). To get started, download a prebuilt version https://github.com/downloads/RiverTrail/RiverTrail/rivertrail-0.17.xpi , install Intel's OpenCL SDK http://www.intel.com/go/opencl and try out the interactive River Trail shell http://rivertrail.github.com/interactive For a video overview, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jueg6zB5XaM . ParallelArray the ParallelArray type is the central component of this API & is a JS object that contains ordered collections of scalars – i.e. multidimensional uniform arrays. A shape property describes the dimensionality and size– e.g. a 2D RGBA image will have shape [height, width, 4]. ParallelArrays are immutable & fluent – they are manipulated by invoking methods on them which produce new ParallelArray objects. ParallelArray supports several constructors over arrays, functions & even the canvas. // Create an empty Parallel Array var pa = new ParallelArray(); // pa0 = <> // Create a ParallelArray out of a nested JS array. // Note that the inner arrays are also ParallelArrays var pa = new ParallelArray([ [0,1], [2,3], [4,5] ]); // pa1 = <<0,1>, <2,3>, <4.5>> // Create a two-dimensional ParallelArray with shape [3, 2] using the comprehension constructor var pa = new ParallelArray([3, 2], function(iv){return iv[0] * iv[1];}); // pa7 = <<0,0>, <0,1>, <0,2>> // Create a ParallelArray from canvas. This creates a PA with shape [w, h, 4], var pa = new ParallelArray(canvas); // pa8 = CanvasPixelArray ParallelArray exposes fluent API functions that take an elemental JS function for data manipulation: map, combine, scan, filter, and scatter that return a new ParallelArray. Other functions are scalar - reduce returns a scalar value & get returns the value located at a given index. The onus is on the developer to ensure that the elemental function does not defeat data parallelization optimization (avoid global var manipulation, recursion). For reduce & scan, order is not guaranteed - the onus is on the dev to provide an elemental function that is commutative and associative so that scan will be deterministic – E.g. Sum is associative, but Avg is not. map Applies a provided elemental function to each element of the source array and stores the result in the corresponding position in the result array. The map method is shape preserving & index free - can not inspect neighboring values. // Adding one to each element. var source = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4,5]); var plusOne = source.map(function inc(v) { return v+1; }); //<2,3,4,5,6> combine Combine is similar to map, except an index is provided. This allows elemental functions to access elements from the source array relative to the one at the current index position. While the map method operates on the outermost dimension only, combine, can choose how deep to traverse - it provides a depth argument to specify the number of dimensions it iterates over. The elemental function of combine accesses the source array & the current index within it - element is computed by calling the get method of the source ParallelArray object with index i as argument. It requires more code but is more expressive. var source = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4,5]); var plusOne = source.combine(function inc(i) { return this.get(i)+1; }); reduce reduces the elements from an array to a single scalar result – e.g. Sum. // Calculate the sum of the elements var source = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4,5]); var sum = source.reduce(function plus(a,b) { return a+b; }); scan Like reduce, but stores the intermediate results – return a ParallelArray whose ith elements is the results of using the elemental function to reduce the elements between 0 and I in the original ParallelArray. // do a partial sum var source = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4,5]); var psum = source.scan(function plus(a,b) { return a+b; }); //<1, 3, 6, 10, 15> scatter a reordering function - specify for a certain source index where it should be stored in the result array. An optional conflict function can prevent an exception if two source values are assigned the same position of the result: var source = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4,5]); var reorder = source.scatter([4,0,3,1,2]); // <2, 4, 5, 3, 1> // if there is a conflict use the max. use 33 as a default value. var reorder = source.scatter([4,0,3,4,2], 33, function max(a, b) {return a>b?a:b; }); //<2, 33, 5, 3, 4> filter // filter out values that are not even var source = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4,5]); var even = source.filter(function even(iv) { return (this.get(iv) % 2) == 0; }); // <2,4> Flatten used to collapse the outer dimensions of an array into a single dimension. pa = new ParallelArray([ [1,2], [3,4] ]); // <<1,2>,<3,4>> pa.flatten(); // <1,2,3,4> Partition used to restore the original shape of the array. var pa = new ParallelArray([1,2,3,4]); // <1,2,3,4> pa.partition(2); // <<1,2>,<3,4>> Get return value found at the indices or undefined if no such value exists. var pa = new ParallelArray([0,1,2,3,4], [10,11,12,13,14], [20,21,22,23,24]) pa.get([1,1]); // 11 pa.get([1]); // <10,11,12,13,14>

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Is the design notion of layers contrived?

- by Bruce

Hi all I'm reading through Eric Evans' awesome work, Domain-Driven Design. However, I can't help feeling that the 'layers' model is contrived. To expand on that statement, it seems as if it tries to shoe-horn various concepts into a specific, neat model, that of layers talking to each other. It seems to me that the layers model is too simplified to actually capture the way that (good) software works. To expand further: Evans says: "Partition a complex program into layers. Develop a design within each layer that is cohesive and that depends only on the layers below. Follow standard architectural patterns to provide loose coupling to the layers above." Maybe I'm misunderstanding what 'depends' means, but as far as I can see, it can either mean a) Class X (in the UI for example) has a reference to a concrete class Y (in the main application) or b) Class X has a reference to a class Y-ish object providing class Y-ish services (ie a reference held as an interface). If it means (a), then this is clearly a bad thing, since it defeats re-using the UI as a front-end to some other application that provides Y-ish functionality. But if it means (b), then how is the UI any more dependent on the application, than the application is dependent on the UI? Both are decoupled from each other as much as they can be while still talking to each other. Evans' layer model of dependencies going one way seems too neat. First, isn't it more accurate to say that each area of the design provides a module that is pretty much an island to itself, and that ideally all communication is through interfaces, in a contract-driven/responsibility-driven paradigm? (ie, the 'dependency only on lower layers' is contrived). Likewise with the domain layer talking to the database - the domain layer is as decoupled (through DAO etc) from the database as the database is from the domain layer. Neither is dependent on the other, both can be swapped out. Second, the idea of a conceptual straight line (as in from one layer to the next) is artificial - isn't there more a network of intercommunicating but separate modules, including external services, utility services and so on, branching off at different angles? Thanks all - hoping that your responses can clarify my understanding on this..

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ocjective-c Obtain return value from public method

- by Felix

I'm pretty new to objective-C (and C in general) and iPhone development and am coming from the java island, so there are some fundamentals that are quite tough to learn for me. I'm diving right into iOS5 and want to use storyboards. For now I am trying to setup a list in a UITableViewController that will be filled with values returned by a web service in the future. For now, I just want to generate some mock objects and show their names in the list to be able to proceed. Coming from java, my first approach would be to create a new Class that provides a global accessible method to generate some objects for my list: #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface MockObjectGenerator : NSObject +(NSMutableArray *) createAndGetMockProjects; @end Implementation is... #import "MockObjectGenerator.h" // Custom object with some fields #import "Project.h" @implementation MockObjectGenerator + (NSMutableArray *) createAndGetMockObjects { NSMutableArray *mockProjects = [NSMutableArray alloc]; Project *project1 = [Project alloc]; Project *project2 = [Project alloc]; Project *project3 = [Project alloc]; project1.name = @"Project 1"; project2.name = @"Project 2"; project3.name = @"Project 3"; [mockProjects addObject:project1]; [mockProjects addObject:project2]; [mockProjects addObject:project3]; } And here is my ProjectTable.h that is supposed to control my ListView #import <UIKit/UIKit.h> @interface ProjectsTable : UITableViewController @property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *projectsList; @end And finally ProjectTable.m #import "ProjectsTable.h" #import "Project.h" #import "MockObjectGenerator.h" @interface ProjectsTable { @synthesize projectsList = _projectsList; -(id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewStyle:style { self = [super initWithStyle:style]; if (self) { _projectsList = [[MockObjectGenerator createAndGetMockObjects] copy]; } return self; } - (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView { // only one section for all return 1; - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { NSLog(@"%d entries in list", _projectsList.count); return _projectsList.count; - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // the identifier of the lists prototype cell is set to this string value static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"projectCell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; Project *project = [_projectsList objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; cell.textLabel.text = project.name } So while I think everything is correctly set, I expect the tableView to show my three mock objects in its rows. But it stays empty and the NSLog method prints "0 entries in list" into the console. So what am I doing wrong? Any help is appreciated. Best regards Felix

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MSCC: Scripting - Administrator's toolbox of magic...

Finally, we made it to have our April meetup - in May. The most obvious explanation is the increased amount of open source and IT activities that either the MSCC, the Linux User Group of Mauritius (LUGM), or the University of Mauritius Student's Computer Club is organising. It's absolutely incredible to see the recent hype of events here on the island. And I'm loving it! Unfortunately, we also had to deal with arranging for a location this time. It was kind of an odyssey as my requests (and phone calls) haven't been answered, even though I tried it several times - well, kind of disappointing and I have to look into that for future gatherings. In my opinion, it is essential that two parameters of a community meeting are fixed as early as possible: Location, and Date and time You can't just change one or both on the very last minute. Well, this time we had to do it due to unforeseen reasons, and I apologise to any MSCC member which couldn't make it to our April meetup. Okay, lesson learned but now back to the actual meetup report ... Shortly after the meeting I placed the following statement as my first impression: "Spontaneous and improvised :) No, seriously, Ish and Dan had well prepared presentations on shell scripting, mainly focused towards Bourne Again Shell (bash), and the pros and cons of scripting versus actually writing something in a decent programming language. I thought that I could cut myself out of the equation but the demand for information about PowerShell was higher than expected..." Well, it turned out that the interest in Windows PowerShell was high, as I even got a couple of questions on it via social media networks during the evening. I also like to mention that the number of attendees went back to what I would call a "standard" number of participation. This time there were 12 craftsmen, but again a good number of First Timers. Reactions of other attendees Here are some impressions and feedback from our participants: "Enjoyed the bash and powershell (linux / windows) presentations ..." -- Nadim on event comments "He [Daniel] also showed us some syntax loopholes in Bash that could leave someone with bad code." -- Ish on MSCC – Let's talk about Scripting Glad to see a couple of first time attendees, especially students from the university itself. Some details on the presentations MSCC: First time visit at the University of Mauritius - Phase II Engineering Tower, room 2.9 Gimme some love ... bash and other shells Ish gave a great introduction into shell scripting as he spoke about existing shell environments and a little bit about their history. Furthermore, he talked about various built-in commands, the use of coreutils, the ability to daisy-chain multiple commands using pipes, the importance of the standard I/O streams and their file descriptors in advanced scripting techniques. Combined with a couple of sample statements in the Linux terminal on Ubuntu 14.04 machine it was a solid presentation. Have a closer look at his slides - published on his blog on MSCC – Let's talk about Scripting. Oddities of scripting After the brief introduction into bash it was Daniel's turn to highlight a good number of oddities when working with shell scripts. First of all, it should be clear that scripting is not supposed for any kind of implementations in terms of software but simply to automate administrative procedures and to simplify routine jobs on a system. One of the cool oddities that he mentioned is that everything (!) in a shell is represented by strings; there are no other types like integer, float, date-time, etc. that you'd like to use in a full-fledged programming language. Let's have a look at his sample: more to come... What's the output? As a conclusion, Daniel suggests that shell scripting should be limited but not restricted to automatic repetitive command stacks and batch jobs, startup wrapper for applications in order to set up the execution environment, and other not too sophisticated jobs. But as soon as it might involve a little bit more logic or you might rely on performance it's better to write an application in Ruby, Python, or Perl (among others of course). This is also enables the possibility to test your code properly. MSCC: Ish talking about Bourne Again Shell (bash) and shell scripting to automate regular tasks MSCC: Daniel gives an overview about the pros and cons of shell scripting versus programming MSCC: PowerShell as your scripting solution on Windows operating systems The path of the Enlightened is long ... and tough. Honestly, even though PowerShell was mentioned without any further details on the meetup's agenda, I didn't expect that there would be demand to give a presentation on Microsoft PowerShell after all. I already took this topic out of the announcement but the audience wanted to have some information. Okay, then let's see what I could do - improvised style. While my machine booted and got hooked up to the projector, I started to talk about the beginnings of PowerShell from back in 2006, and its predecessors MS DOS and Command Prompt. A throwback in history... always good for young people. As usual, Microsoft didn't get it at that time. Instead of listening to their client's needs and demands they ignored the feasibility to administrate Windows server farms without any UI tools. PowerShell is actually a result of this, and seeing that shell scripting is a common, reliable and fast way in an administrator's toolbox for decades, Microsoft had to adapt from their Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to a broader approach. It's not like shell scripting was something new; it is in daily use by alternative operating systems like AIX, HP UX, Solaris, and last but not least Linux. Most interestingly, Microsoft is very good at renovating existing architectures, and over the years PowerShell not only replaced their own combination of Command Prompt and Scripting Hosts (VBScript and CScript) but really turned into a challenging competitor on the market. The shell is easy to extend with cmdlets, and open to other Microsoft products like SQL Server, SharePoint, as well as Third-party software applications. Similar to MMC PowerShell also offers the ability to administer other machine remotely - only without a graphical user interface and therefore it's easier to automate and schedule regular tasks. Following is a sample of a PowerShell script file (extension .ps1): $strComputer = "." $colItems = get-wmiobject -class Win32_BIOS -namespace root\CIMV2 -comp $strComputer foreach ($objItem in $colItems) {write-host "BIOS Characteristics: " $objItem.BiosCharacteristicswrite-host "BIOS Version: " $objItem.BIOSVersionwrite-host "Build Number: " $objItem.BuildNumberwrite-host "Caption: " $objItem.Captionwrite-host "Code Set: " $objItem.CodeSetwrite-host "Current Language: " $objItem.CurrentLanguagewrite-host "Description: " $objItem.Descriptionwrite-host "Identification Code: " $objItem.IdentificationCodewrite-host "Installable Languages: " $objItem.InstallableLanguageswrite-host "Installation Date: " $objItem.InstallDatewrite-host "Language Edition: " $objItem.LanguageEditionwrite-host "List Of Languages: " $objItem.ListOfLanguageswrite-host "Manufacturer: " $objItem.Manufacturerwrite-host "Name: " $objItem.Namewrite-host "Other Target Operating System: " $objItem.OtherTargetOSwrite-host "Primary BIOS: " $objItem.PrimaryBIOSwrite-host "Release Date: " $objItem.ReleaseDatewrite-host "Serial Number: " $objItem.SerialNumberwrite-host "SMBIOS BIOS Version: " $objItem.SMBIOSBIOSVersionwrite-host "SMBIOS Major Version: " $objItem.SMBIOSMajorVersionwrite-host "SMBIOS Minor Version: " $objItem.SMBIOSMinorVersionwrite-host "SMBIOS Present: " $objItem.SMBIOSPresentwrite-host "Software Element ID: " $objItem.SoftwareElementIDwrite-host "Software Element State: " $objItem.SoftwareElementStatewrite-host "Status: " $objItem.Statuswrite-host "Target Operating System: " $objItem.TargetOperatingSystemwrite-host "Version: " $objItem.Versionwrite-host} Which gives you information about your BIOS and Windows OS. Then change the computer name to another one on your network (NetBIOS based) and run the script again. There lots of samples and tutorials at the Microsoft Script Center, and I would advise you to pay a visit over there if you are more interested in PowerShell. The Script Center provides the download links, too. Upcoming Events What are the upcoming events here in Mauritius? So far, we have the following ones (incomplete list as usual) in chronological order: Hacking Defence (14. May 2014) WebCup Maurice (7. & 8. June 2014) Developers Conference (TBA ~ July 2014) Linuxfest 2014 (TBA ~ November 2014) Hopefully, there will be more announcements during the next couple of weeks and months. If you know about any other event, like a bootcamp, a code challenge or hackathon here in Mauritius, please drop me a note in the comment section below this article. Thanks! My resume of the day Spontaneous and improvised :) The new location at the University of Mauritius turned out very well, there is plenty of space, and it could be a good choice for future meetings. Especially, having the ability to get more and more students into our IT community sounds like a great opportunity. Later during the day, I got some promising mails from Nadim regarding future sessions at the local branch of the Middlesex University. Well, we will see in the future... But for now this will be on hold until approximately October when students resume their regular studies. Anyway, it was a good experience at the university, and thanks again to the UoM Student's Computer Club that made the necessary arrangements for the MSCC!

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Orchestrating the Virtual Enterprise

- by John Murphy

During the American Industrial Revolution, the Ford Motor Company did it all. It turned raw materials into a showroom full of Model Ts. It owned a steel mill, a glass factory, and an automobile assembly line. The company was both self-sufficient and innovative and went on to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. Nowadays, it's unusual for any business to follow this vertical integration model because its much harder to be best in class across such a wide a range of capabilities and services. Instead, businesses focus on their core competencies and outsource other business functions to specialized suppliers. They exchange vertical integration for collaboration. When done well, all parties benefit from this arrangement and the collaboration leads to the creation of an agile, lean and successful "virtual enterprise." Case in point: For Sun hardware, Oracle outsources most of its manufacturing and all of its logistics to third parties. These are vital activities, but ones where Oracle doesn't have a core competency, so we shift them to business partners who do. Within our enterprise, we always retain the core functions of product development, support, and most of the sales function, because that's what constitutes our core value to our customers. This is a perfect example of a virtual enterprise. What are the implications of this? It means that we must exchange direct internal control for indirect external collaboration. This fundamentally changes the relative importance of different business processes, the boundaries of security and information sharing, and the relationship of the supply chain systems to the ERP. The challenge is that the systems required to support this virtual paradigm are still mired in "island enterprise" thinking. But help is at hand. Developments such as the Web, social networks, collaboration, and rules-based orchestration offer great potential to fundamentally re-architect supply chain systems to better support the virtual enterprise. Supply Chain Management Systems in a Virtual Enterprise Historically enterprise software was constructed to automate the ERP - and then the supply chain systems extended the ERP. They were joined at the hip. In virtual enterprises, the supply chain system needs to be ERP agnostic, sitting above each of the ERPs that are distributed across the virtual enterprise - most of which are operating in other businesses. This is vital so that the supply chain system can manage the flow of material and the related information through the multiple enterprises. It has to have strong collaboration tools. It needs to be highly flexible. Users need to be able to see information that's coming from multiple sources and be able to react and respond to events across those sources. Oracle Fusion Distributed Order Orchestration (DOO) is a perfect example of a supply chain system designed to operate in this virtual way. DOO embraces the idea that a company's fulfillment challenge is a distributed, multi-enterprise problem. It enables users to manage the process and the trading partners in a uniform way and deliver a consistent user experience while operating over a heterogeneous, virtual enterprise. This is a fundamental shift at the core of managing supply chains. It forces virtual enterprises to think architecturally about how best to construct their supply chain systems. Case in point, almost everyone has ordered from Amazon.com at one time or another. Our orders are as likely to be fulfilled by third parties as they are by Amazon itself. To deliver the order promptly and efficiently, Amazon has to send it to the right fulfillment location and know the availability in that location. It needs to be able to track status of the fulfillment and deal with exceptions. As a virtual enterprise, Amazon's operations, using thousands of trading partners, requires a very different approach to fulfillment than the traditional 'take an order and ship it from your own warehouse' model. Amazon had no choice but to develop a complex, expensive and custom solution to tackle this problem as there used to be no product solution available. Now, other companies who want to follow similar models have a better off-the-shelf choice -- Oracle Distributed Order Orchestration (DOO). Consider how another of our customers is using our distributed orchestration solution. This major airplane manufacturer has a highly complex business and interacts regularly with the U.S. Government and major airlines. It sits in the middle of an intricate supply chain and needed to improve visibility across its many different entities. Oracle Fusion DOO gives the company an orchestration mechanism so it could improve quality, speed, flexibility, and consistency without requiring an organ transplant of these highly complex legacy systems. Many retailers face the challenge of dealing with brick and mortar, Web, and reseller channels. They all need to be knitted together into a virtual enterprise experience that is consistent for their customers. When a large U.K. grocer with a strong brick and mortar retail operation added an online business, they turned to Oracle Fusion DOO to bring these entities together. Disturbing the Peace with Acquisitions Quite often a company's ERP system is disrupted when it acquires a new company. An acquisition can inject a new set of processes and systems -- or even introduce an entirely new business like Sun's hardware did at Oracle. This challenge has been a driver for some of our DOO customers. A large power management company is using Oracle Fusion DOO to provide the flexibility to rapidly integrate additional products and services into its central fulfillment operation. The Flip Side of Fulfillment Meanwhile, we haven't ignored similar challenges on the supply side of the equation. Specifically, how to manage complex supply in a flexible way when there are multiple trading parties involved? How to manage the supply to suppliers? How to manage critical components that need to merge in a tier two or tier three supply chain? By investing in supply orchestration solutions for the virtual enterprise, we plan to give users better visibility into their network of suppliers to help them drive down costs. We also think this technology and full orchestration process can be applied to the financial side of organizations. An example is transactions that flow through complex internal structures to minimize tax exposure. We can help companies manage those transactions effectively by thinking about the internal organization as a virtual enterprise and bringing the same solution set to this internal challenge. The Clear Front Runner No other company is investing in solving the virtual enterprise supply chain issues like Oracle is. Oracle is in a unique position to become the gold standard in this market space. We have the infrastructure of Oracle technology. We already have an Oracle Fusion DOO application which embraces the best of what's required in this area. And we're absolutely committed to extending our Fusion solution to other use cases and delivering even more business value.

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Action bar with Search View. Reverse compatibility issues

- by suresh

I am building a sample app to demonstrate SearchView with filter and other Action Bar items. I am able to successfully run this app on 4.2(Nexus 7). But it is not running on 2.3. I googled about the issue. Came to know that i should use SherLock Action bar. I just went to http://actionbarsherlock.com/download.html, downloaded the zip file and added the library as informed in the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GJ6yY1lNNY&feature=player_embedde by WiseManDesigns. But still I am unable to figure out the issue. Here is my code: SearchViewActionBar.java public class SearchViewActionBar extends Activity implements SearchView.OnQueryTextListener { private SearchView mSearchView; private TextView mStatusView; int mSortMode = -1; private ListView mListView; private ArrayAdapter<String> mAdapter; protected CharSequence[] _options = { "Wild Life", "River", "Hill Station", "Temple", "Bird Sanctuary", "Hill", "Amusement Park"}; protected boolean[] _selections = new boolean[ _options.length ]; private final String[] mStrings = Cheeses.sCheeseStrings; @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); getWindow().requestFeature(Window.FEATURE_ACTION_BAR); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); // mStatusView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.status_text); // mSearchView = (SearchView) findViewById(R.id.search_view); mListView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.list_view); mListView.setAdapter(mAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, mStrings)); mListView.setTextFilterEnabled(true); //setupSearchView(); } private void setupSearchView() { mSearchView.setIconifiedByDefault(true); mSearchView.setOnQueryTextListener(this); mSearchView.setSubmitButtonEnabled(false); //mSearchView.setQueryHint(getString(R.string.cheese_hunt_hint)); } @Override public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) { super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu); MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater(); inflater.inflate(R.menu.searchview_in_menu, menu); MenuItem searchItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search); mSearchView = (SearchView) searchItem.getActionView(); //setupSearchView(searchItem); setupSearchView(); return true; } @Override public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) { if (mSortMode != -1) { Drawable icon = menu.findItem(mSortMode).getIcon(); menu.findItem(R.id.action_sort).setIcon(icon); } return super.onPrepareOptionsMenu(menu); } @Override public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) { String c="Category"; String s=(String) item.getTitle(); if(s.equals(c)) { System.out.println("same"); showDialog( 0 ); } //System.out.println(s); Toast.makeText(this, "Selected Item: " + item.getTitle(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show(); return true; } protected Dialog onCreateDialog( int id ) { return new AlertDialog.Builder( this ) .setTitle( "Category" ) .setMultiChoiceItems( _options, _selections, new DialogSelectionClickHandler() ) .setPositiveButton( "SAVE", new DialogButtonClickHandler() ) .create(); } public class DialogSelectionClickHandler implements DialogInterface.OnMultiChoiceClickListener { public void onClick( DialogInterface dialog, int clicked, boolean selected ) { Log.i( "ME", _options[ clicked ] + " selected: " + selected ); } } public class DialogButtonClickHandler implements DialogInterface.OnClickListener { public void onClick( DialogInterface dialog, int clicked ) { switch( clicked ) { case DialogInterface.BUTTON_POSITIVE: printSelectedPlanets(); break; } } } protected void printSelectedPlanets() { for( int i = 0; i < _options.length; i++ ){ Log.i( "ME", _options[ i ] + " selected: " + _selections[i] ); } } public void onSort(MenuItem item) { mSortMode = item.getItemId(); invalidateOptionsMenu(); } public boolean onQueryTextChange(String newText) { if (TextUtils.isEmpty(newText)) { mListView.clearTextFilter(); } else { mListView.setFilterText(newText.toString()); } return true; } public boolean onQueryTextSubmit(String query) { mStatusView.setText("Query = " + query + " : submitted"); return false; } public boolean onClose() { mStatusView.setText("Closed!"); return false; } protected boolean isAlwaysExpanded() { return false; } }

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