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Qwest is Now CenturyLink

2011-09-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up to my post about Qwest failing to apply an electronic payment...
http://jsexton0.blogspot.com/2011/07/qwest.html

To sum up, I received a bill showing the prior month's bill as unpaid. I was told (by Qwest) that this was because I paid with my bank's (US Bank) bill pay service and Qwest can not always process these payment in a timely manner. At the time, I was told to just pay the new month's bill (by check or via Qwest's website) and the "unpaid" amount would surely be applied in the next cycle.

So what happened?

Well, on that next cycle, the amount I paid by check was credited, but no other payments were. I still "owed" a month's bill, plus the late payment.

Not feeling much like calling Qwest, which was also well into the process of transforming to CenturyLink, I just wrote a check for the full amount and sent it in. About this time I also received a disconnect warning from Qwest. I knew I didn't have to worry about being cut off, but it was disturbing just the same.

I have just received a new bill this week. This one is the first that is actually from CenturyLink. Oddly, this statement shows I owe nothing. In fact it shows a balance of 4 cents in my favor. So did that original payment get credited finally? No, not as such. This statement credits my previous "double" payment, and thus I owe nothing this month. However there is no mention of the previous "owed" amount, nor the originally missed payment, nor even the late payment fee. It has all simply vanished.

So to sum up:

Month 0: Bill received and paid electronically via US Bank.

Month 1: Month 0's amount shows unpaid plus a penalty. I then pay for month 1 alone, by check, as advised by Qwest.

Month 2: The invoice shows the check payment, but still has the old unpaid amount. I send in a check for the full amount of the invoice, essentially two months' service plus the late fee.

Month 3: The new statement is from Century Link. It shows the amount owed from month 2, the amount owed for the current month, and the large payment from the last month. The large payment is applied to both months 2 and 3 leaving a 4 cent credit. There is no mention of either the original missing payment, the amount owed from month 0, nor the late fee. They've all just vanished in a puff of billing system migration.

Google Music Beta

2011-08-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to use Google Music for awhile now. I want to like it, I really do, but it's just not working out.

When I first started using it, there was a bug in the mobile app (on my Droid 2) that caused the first song in a playlist, album or other sequence to repeat. After advancing from that first song manually, one time, the sequence would continue normally automatically on to each track.

At some point this bug has gotten far worse. As it stands now, the mobile app will not advance to the next song in a sequence automatically, at all, ever. I always have to manually tap the forward icon when a song ends, as it just repeats the same song again.

Needless to say this pretty much renders the music application unusable. It's too bad. Music is a hot area, and Google, ever ADD, seems to have forgotten Google Music and moved on. But if Google doesn't get it all working, one of the other services is going to capture the users.

UPDATE: Yesterday my phone updated itself to Android 2.3.3 and the Google Music problem went away. It works fine now. I'd be willing to bet this problem had something to do with the old built in music app previously included in the distribution.

Qwest

2011-07-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I received my latest billing from Qwest (paper mail, I don't trust them to accomplish any other method).

To my surprise, the prior month's amount showed unpaid, and so it was a double amount in total, plus a penalty. I went to the bill section of my online bank service and was not surprised at all. The bill was paid almost exactly a month ago.

So I get on the phone to Qwest. The first customer service person just listened to the problem, then transferred me to a person that could deal with these issues. There was a modest wait, not too bad.

The specialist listened to my explanation and also knew, or guessed, that I had used a bill pay service from my bank. She explained to me that Qwest's posting of these amounts is backlogged. She explained that Qwest has "millions of customers" in it's billing system and is unable to keep up. Really. She said this. Too many customers... That's the explanation.

She told me that the fee would be waived on my *next* billing and that I should pay the current month's bill (with the penalty) leaving off the last month's amount because that would be processed "'soon". She also tacked on a couple weeks to my bill due date, pushing it into August.

If you are a Qwest customer, do not use a bill pay service. Qwest is unable to handle the volume of business it has sold. Qwest's billing system can not process one month's electronic payments in 30 days. Send them a check.

Qwest is not alone in issues like this. Telecom companies in the US have for many years been over-selling their infrastructure. It makes me laugh out loud when I get junk mail from Qwest offering me even more services.

Still More Buzz About Google+

2011-07-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaIt's been a few days now since I got access to Google+. It remains the case that no one I know has received this access inspite of my adding them to Circles and sharing items with them in Streams. Yesterday I found out that one person I know does know someone else that has access - that's the first and only such person I have heard of.

I don't understand what Google is doing. Google+ is full of crickets and the occasional tumbleweed rolling past. It's a lonely place. The "nearby" section of the Stream on the mobile app has looked the same for 3 or 4 days. This isn't a slow roll-out, this is a no-roll-out.

At any rate, here are a few more observations...

1) As far as I can tell there is absolutely no functional difference between Buzz and the Stream in Google+. Are these two going to become one? If that is the case, why isn't my Buzz history in the new Stream? The interface on Google+ for Streams is quite a bit better than the interface for Buzz via gmail.

2) There is also no difference between "+1" and "Like". Why do both of these exist?

3) At first I thought I would really dislike the mobile app uploading photos automatically, but I've changed my mind. It's handy and allows for some cool functionality (now if only my real camera could do that!).

4) Google+ confuses your browser if you have multiple logins and one is a Googel Apps or Enterprise account (which is not supported by Google+, likely because those accounts do not have profiles).

I like the look of Google+ and I think I like what it hints at for the feature integration of Google features. I also think people will like it more than Facebook - but I also think that's not the point. Google is up to something much more with this. Google is making application use flow from the user identity, rather than having users pick and choice from unconnected facility.

But it sure is dull in Google+ so far.

More Google+

2011-07-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

One thing I like is what they have done to leverage Picasa Web Albums (instead of reinventing something). Google+ makes good use of Web Albums, and makes some slight changes to the way Web Albums works which I think are improvements.

When you get started with Google+ it's helpful to try a few things relating to photos and albums, then bounce over to your Picasa Web Albums and check out what it's doing.

In addition, the Google+ mobile application offers additional new, and much improved, ways to interact with photos in your albums.

Google+

2011-07-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

I got into Google+ today.

Ok Google, let me know if I'm leaving anything out. If I find something I think is interesting on the internet (that happens now and then), I need to:

1) eMail a link to people I know
2) Note the page in my shared items feed so people see it in Google Reader
3) Post the link to Google Buzz
4) If it's Google blog I need to "Friend Connect" it
e) "+1" it
6) Again if it's a blog, add the RSS feed to my Reader subscriptions
7) I'll just leave out Wave...
8) Post the link on my own blogger blog where it will show up in Reader for those that either Friend Connect or RSS subscribe
9) "Like" the page via Buzz or Reader or ...

And now I can also post it in Google+ ! Well, all this should only take about 10 minutes. Much less if I practice browsing to all the various websites...

Oh but to do all this I will need to maintain groups in contacts for email and Buzz posts, and now Circles also since they do not interact.

I was also nothing less than astonished that Google+ includes a checkin feature (another checkin feature) that, yes, believe it or not, appears to have no relationship to Latitude, Places, Buzz or Offers. Wow.

Google, these things are so obvious that they should not have to be mentioned, but here it goes...

A) I need to be able to add an RSS feed to Google+ so it can replace Reader, or I need to add Google+ items to Reader via an RSS feed (there's *no* RSS feed on Google+?! Seriously?!).

B) I need to be able to add Google+ to the feeds I share into Buzz, or, well, see above...

c) why does gmail exist as a separate interface? Why are not all the features (filters) of gmail implemented on Buzz, Reader and Google+ as one unified service?

D) Google, you really and truly did not tie this together with Latitude, Places and Offers? Really???

E) One, count them, one, mechanism for organizing contacts please. I actually had to type in some names, even though my gmail contact list is all set and organized. Why didn't groups I've created in gmail become circles?

F) Offer an RSS feed for publicly shared Google+ items so readers can read them in Reader.

G) There would appear to be no functional difference between "Like" and "+1", and even though here are sometimes both available, yet there are separate and do not completely overlap. Does that make sense to anyone?

H) There's almost no functional difference between Buzz and Google+ posts. Why do both of these exist? At the very least items posted to Google+ should be available as an additional feed to Buzz followers. People that follow items I post/blog/email/share will not check 4 different places for new content.

I) Related to Buzz... Why does Buzz history, shared items and comments, migrate over to Google+?

J) I see there is a "chat" in Google+, is that Google Talk, or yet another and different chat/IM/XMMS/whatever?

There seem to be people that exist only and fully with both feet in Facebook and never look at anything else. I think this is strange, but people like that do exist. For those people, Google+ may be easier and more fun. They might switch. But for those of use trying to organize and control a more robust online existence, a service that is yet-another-service isn't going to help.

Thank you though Google, keep up the work. And thank you for the de-facto additional space in web albums.

Google+

2011-07-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

As everyone and their pets has heard, Google has introduced a new competitor to Facebook called Google Plus. It sounds good. They have an intriguing set of walk throughs up, and we all know a Facebook that isn't Facebook is long over due. If anyone could do this, it would be Google.

But something doesn't add up here.

Within hours of "launching" this invite-only beta of Google Plus, invites were cut off citing "insane demand." As I write this, invitations have not resumed.

I know a lot of techy people. And they all know a lot of techy people. But no one seems to know anyone that has access to Google Plus. No one. Not a soul got an invitation. Google+ has created a huge "buzz" on the internet. A "latest" results search on Google for Google+ reveals a steady stream of chatter. But does anyone outside of Google employees and a few select journalists actually have access to the new service?

It doesn't make sense... Is Google doing this just to generate that chatter? They don't need to do that. Anyone would know that anything that offers a Facebook alternative would generate a massive "wave" of interest. Google does not need an artificial scarcity campaign to get attention.

So did Google get genuinely overwhelmed with a response their new system was unprepared for, and have to cut it off? That makes no sense either. Again, who wouldn't know that the sort of response this was likely to get?

Yes, I'm sure Google would want to be very cautious about this roll out. No one would want to see them pull a Sony and have the system flat on the floor the first day, as the PSN was on its triumphant return. But Google appears to have pulled the plug on signing up for Google+ almost instantly. And not a soul I know, nor any they know got their foot in that door.

Fishy.

So I'm calling it, it's vaporware. A social service no one can use, is a service that doesn't exist.

I very much look forward to something like Google+ could be, might be, whatever. But at this time, it's definitely not there. I'm sure they are working on it though.

Zombies Ahead

2011-05-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

Tips from the CDC on being prepared for the zombie apocalypse...

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/

"There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this"

Google Music Beta

2011-05-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

I received a Google Music Beta invite, and I've just set it up.
Here's a few initial observations...

1) It requires an application to upload files. The application is only for "PC and Mac", but what they really mean is Windows and Mac. It appears to be a real compiled application, not a Java program.

2) The web page shows all the music you have uploaded and you can play music and manage lists from there. It divides it nicely by artist, album and genre. However there is no way to upload music from the web application.

3) The web application works on Linux.

4) The Android app works fine too. Both the web app and the mobile app saw the new music I added as soon as it was finished uploading. The mobile app does not seem to have a way to delete music from your library however.

5) The system had no problem displaying cover art for the albums I uploaded.

6) I uploaded whole artists by placing my artist directory in "My Music" on Windows (you can use other locations). The system had no trouble magically dealing with my directory structures.

7) It appears to be able to suck music right out of iTunes.

8) The system seems to add free music to your available music based on what you upload, and also based on genre preferences entered during the initial setup. The does not seem to be a way to edit these preferences later.

9) Not surprisingly, there is no way to download files (aside from streaming music).

10) There's no "social" elements.

11) As far as I can tell, the mobile application includes no way to delete, thumbs-up or thumbs-down a song.

12) I like that the system counts the number of times a song has been played. On the web page, when viewing items by song, the play count shows up. The data can even be sorted by play count. Oddly though, this is only the plays via the web page. Plays via the Android application are not included.

13) During playback on my Droid 2, using the the phone network not WiFi, songs occasionally abruptly end and it skips to the next selection.

14) I did not at first realize it, but the interface on the mobile app is significantly different, and better, in "landscape" mode.

The whole thing, including the mobile app, has a very much no-frills feel to it. There's no fat or fluff on this, so on the one hand there's a lot it can't do, but on the other it's bonehead simple.

Seems to work so far, and the streaming audio quality is high... This thing it a major bandwidth consumer, but this isn't Google's fault. If this application catches on, and I think it will, the over-promising telcom providers are in trouble.

Things the new music system needs...

1) the mobile app should send play count data to the server so it shows on the web application.

2) There should be custom, configurable,"smart" automatic playlists so the user can control, perhaps with percentage sliders, the influence of various factors in "magic" playlists created by the system.

3) The "3D" interface element on the mobile app is fun. I'd like to see more of that.

4) The modile app'a album view shows 3 rows of cover art, in sideways mode. These images are too small on a phone. The size of the thumbnail should be configurable.

5) The WIndows/Mac only upload utility needs a bit more control - and a Linux version.

6) I'd like to be able to throttle back the playback bit-rate manually to save bandwidth in some situations. Of course the system is said to do this automatically, but just the same there may be times when I went something less then the very best possible rate.

7) Playback can be set to WiFi only on the mobile app. It would be nice to be able to set it to WiFi never as well.

8) Eventually it needs a method of buying music, if the media companies ever get out of suicide mode. Or perhaps Google should simply launch a record label and deal directly with artists.

The World's Largest Model Airport

2011-05-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches, 300 buildings and 40 planes - now that's dedication!

http://singularityhub.com/2011/05/11/worlds-largest-model-airport-completed-in-hamburg-germany-150-square-meters-costing-4-8-million/

Create an XMLGregorianCalendar for the Current Date/Time

2011-04-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

Creating a XML calendar object suitable for use in SOAP messages, in Java, is simple enough.

   public XMLGregorianCalendar getXMLGregorianCalendarNow()
   throws DatatypeConfigurationException
   {
   GregorianCalendar gregorianCalendar = new GregorianCalendar();
   DatatypeFactory datatypeFactory = DatatypeFactory.newInstance();
   XMLGregorianCalendar now =
   datatypeFactory.newXMLGregorianCalendar(gregorianCalendar);
   return now;
   }

Healthcare in America

2011-04-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/04/09/number-of-the-week-u-s-spends-141-more-on-health-care/

"A new report finds that the U.S. spends far more on health care than any of the other 29 OECD nations, and gets less health for its money."

America provides the best healthcare in the world, for the wealthy...

RIP Kermit

2011-04-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaNo, not that Kermit... This Kermit:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/

"Unfortunately, Columbia has determined it can no longer continue to support the Kermit Project going forward. As of July 1st, 2011, development of any new Kermit software enhancements at Columbia University will cease, as will any ability of Columbia to provide ongoing maintenance and technical support for Kermit."

Something like 25 years ago I was working on a project in which we needed serial data transfer for an unusual computer - some sort mini-computer, I don't even remember. We just picked the phone (yes, the telephone) and called (on the telephone) the author of Kermit, over at Columbia. We gave him some specs on our system, and a few weeks later, just like that, Kermit supported our computer!

Free Gun

2011-04-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/07/us-guns-radioshack-odd-idUSTRE73644320110407

"A chain of electronic stores in parts of the states of Idaho and Montana are offering free guns to first-time subscribers of satellite TV services."
...
"There's no problem with it here; this isn't New York City,"

Security

2011-03-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2011/03/18/authority-to-strip-search-passengers-at-will-claimed-by-feds/

"In a breathtaking statement delivered in an official court proceeding, the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims authority to strip search every airline passenger; and to begin such a practice without even soliciting comment from the public."

Color

2011-03-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

http://battellemedia.com/archives/2011/03/why_color_matters_augmented_reality_and_nuanced_social_graphs_may_finally_may_come_of_age

I completely agree on this what this review says. Mobile, GPS equipped, internet devices are going to lead to an explosion of new stuff as big as the one created by HTTP. This Color thing is likely an example of this next generation of ideas.

"...if Color is used by a statistically significant percentage of folks, nearly every location that matters on earth will soon be draped in an ever-growing tapestry of visual cloth, one that no doubt will also garner commentary, narrative structure, social graph meaning, and plasticity of interpretation. Imagine if Color - and the fundaments which allow its existence - had existed for the past 100 years. Imagine what Color might have revealed during the Kennedy assassination, or the recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, or hell, the Rodney King beating?"

Google needs to get on this idea...

I installed the Color application on my Droid 2, but it is no were near ready. It immediately freezes up when launched. I can't post a review of it since it appears it does not get far enough to be acknowledged as installed, I just see an initial screen, then nothing. Wait for an update or two, or for another, more fully cooked, implementation of this fine idea.

Netflix Down

2011-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBasePart of Netflix web server system was down the other night, no streaming. I actually did try to get on it too, so I noticed the problem while it was happening. I was frustrated by two things when my PS3 couldn't connect to the service. One was that I was paying a monthly fee for this, and that implies that I should be able to use it at anytime during the month that I have paid for. But the other thing was that there was no simple way to know whether or not the trouble was at my end. On Netflix website that evening there was absolutely no sign of trouble. Couldn't they post some sort of status? Some acknowledgement that they knew there was a problem?

Netflix has offered an account credit to those impacted, via an email today. So that takes care of one of the problems I had with the whole thing...

Panic

2011-03-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

This morning I received the following email, on the heels of the unfortunate explosions over the weekend at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

from: Trudie <+++++@gmail.com>

to: jsexton@agora.rdrop.com 

date: Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 8:00 AM 

subject: ground containation 

Dear Jeff

Please tell me as soon as possible, how to protect my family from fallout on the Oregon Coast. And how long should we not let the children on the lawns.

When will we be able to eat the fruits of our trees?

How long will the soil be contaminated ?

How long should we not grow vegetables & fruit?

How long shall we keep our dogs inside ?

Please answer as soon as possible since the rdiation cloud will be here on Wednesday

Thank you so very much

Trudie

Normally I would assume this was some sort of spam. However, I do have these old webpages online:

http://www.rdrop.com/~jsexton/cd/

This material has been sitting out there since the '90s and still gets a fair amount of traffic.It's simply astonishing that someone would write to some random person via email rather than simply inquire with local authorities, if that's what this email is really about.

Meanwhile...

2011-03-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

Shame.

Yep, That's an MS Phone Alright

2011-03-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaProblems updating the new Microsoft phones?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/04/windows_update/

Shocking!
Shocking I say!
I am shocked that enough people own these phones that the update problem was even noticed....

US Bank

2010-11-17T15:23:00.001-08:00

I was wondering if US Bank had an Android application. It appears they don't, but they do have a good mobile version on their website that I didn't know about.

https://m.usbank.com/usbmobile/Auth/useridAuthentication.do

Mt Hood On The Money

2010-09-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

There's a new Mt Hood quarter in the works.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/atb/?local=mtHood

"This reverse image depicts a view of Mount Hood with Lost Lake in the foreground. Inscriptions are MOUNT HOOD, OREGON, 2010 andE PLURIBUS UNUM."

Netflix News

2010-09-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68M43T20100924
"Shares of Netflix Inc hit an all-time high on Thursday after rival Blockbuster Inc filed for bankruptcy protection."

* * *

http://www.fastcompany.com/1690069/librarians-take-advantage-of-netflix-in-violation-of-terms-of-use
"For some time now, academic librarians have been resorting to Netflix to plug shortages in their media holdings."

* * *

http://newteevee.com/2010/09/23/netflix-may-launch-streaming-only-plan-in-the-u-s/
Netflix may offer a cheaper streaming-only plan. There's still a of things not available streaming, and the quality could really use a boost. Still it seems to be a logical step. I'm surprised they haven't done it already.

* * *

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/24/netflix-nbc-universal-content-deal-brings-battlestar-galactica/
Netflix has added NBC shows to streaming. Now I can get caught up on Battlestar Galactica. I need more hours in the day.

* * *

http://blog.netflix.com/2010/09/apologies.html
Netflix is sorry Americans are self-absorbed.

Link Rodeo

2010-09-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

Image by CeeDave via Flickrhttp://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/google-me-coming-this-fall/2458
"What’s interesting to me is that this doesn’t sound like it’s going tobe a stand-alone product — it appears the plan is to weave some socialgoodness into Google’s existing product base. Squeezing social stuffinto their already successful products is probably Google’s best shotat getting widespread adoption — as I imagine it would be extremelydifficult to get 500 million users to see the value in a competingservice, and then decide to switch."

* * *

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/library-desk-made-from
A creative library creates a desk made from old books...

* * *

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/15/gorgeous-mid-century.html
One awesome computer case... I may have to build something like this.

* * *

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/200lb_octopus_cake.html
A 200 pound octopus cake. Sort of speaks for itself.

* * *

http://nilno.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
"This site provides the highlights for construction of a CNC table with a 250 watt laser used to cut sheet metal. It includes an overview of the system and a description of the laser, its optics and how the laser is controlled. The system also has an X-Y table with CNC software."
Oh to have the time for such a project...

Salo

2010-08-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3825221.stm

"Forget deep-fried Mars bar. One of the unhealthiest snacks in the world can now be found in Ukraine."

Chocolate covered pork fat...

Last Thursday, Out of Control?

2010-08-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/portland_city_hall_continues_t.html

"Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard wants to beef up police patrols to crack down on musicians who play too loud or too long at Last Thursday, the monthly street festival along Northeast Alberta Street. Separately, city neighborhood officials have floated the idea of taking contact information for festival vendors."

If supporters of Last Thursday want the event to continue, then local residents and Alberta businesses are going to have to step up and take ownership of the event - and pay for some of the costs.

MS Lost

2010-08-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/05/microsofts_lost_generation/

"Microsoft has "lost a generation" of users — but from this number-cruncher's point of view, the situation is worse than Microsoft's CEO concedes."

Oh?
Just one generation?

Getting users used to products at an early stage has served Microsoft well in the past. But eventually, the products have to actually be good.

Meanwhile...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/05/microsoft_august_2010_patch_tuesday/

"The next Patch Tuesday, scheduled for August 10, will include 14 bulletins, eight of which are rated critical, Microsoft's highest severity classification, generally reserved for bugs that can be exploited to remotely execute malware on vulnerable systems with little or no interaction on the part of the end user."

Wave

2010-08-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html

Google is ending development on Wave because it has "not seen the user adoption we would have liked." Why has Wave not been a success? There will be a lot of commentary on this, and I'd predict that the main point made will be that Wave provided little that wasn't being done already by other good applications, including cloud applications from Google itself like Docs and Buzz. But I think this misses the mark. After all, the same thing is true of Twitter whose popularity continues to baffle.

It is true that a typical user sees Wave as a communications tool. As such, the very first concern is, "do I the need to check both email and Wave now?"

This point reveals one thing Google could have done a better job of. Wave should have been folded into GMail at least, if not also Reader and Docs right from the beginning. Wave as a stand alone tool (even going to far as to have its own independent user names!) should come as no surprise however given how Google seems to pursue it projects as a multitude of completely independent tracks - toss everything out there, go with what flies.

And so Wave's presentation to the world invites missing its most interesting feature; what Wave is, a question that seemed to be asked endlessly.

What Wave actually does, is provide a federated server environment that can keep synchronized a complex XML structure. This is incredibly powerful, with significant business applications well outside people chatting and sharing a photo "live". I hope Google doesn't miss this point. I don't think they do, since the official blog entry includes this:

"...we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects."

Wave technology in other products? Yes, please.

Aside from the ability to synchronize and revision complex data, Wave has a second innovation going for it in federation. Wave servers can be set up and put on line by anyone, anywhere, and will communication with each other, just like email servers, or MTAs, do. In other words Google doesn't have Wave all locked down to its own hosts only. This is sure something one could never picture the likes of Microsoft doing. And its something that adds exponential value to Wave.

I hope it has a future, in some new form. I think it will.

New Pok Pok

2010-08-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

"Foodie haven Pok Pok restaurant in Southeast Portland is opening an outlet at NE 15th and Prescott."

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Popular-Pok-Pok-eatery-coming-to-NE-Portland-99984689.html

No, not Prescott Arizona.

Modes of Time

2010-08-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Image by ToniVC via Flickr“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

-- Thomas Jefferson

* * *

"We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time."

-- Art Buchwald

* * *

Some food for thought... Philip Zimbardo’s remarkable talk on the Secret Powers of Time:

A Two Level Economy

2010-08-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/why-it-still-feels-like-a-recession/

"MR. ALAN GREENSPAN: …I think we’re in a pause in a recovery, a modest recovery. But a pause in the modest recovery feels like quasi recession. Our problem, basically, is that we have a very distorted economy in the sense that there has been a significant recovery in a limited area of the economy amongst high-income individuals who have just had $800 billion added to their 401(k)s and are spending it and are carrying what consumption there is. Large banks, who are doing much better, and large corporations, whom you point out and the — and everyone’s pointing out, are in excellent shape. The rest of the economy, small business, small banks, and a very significant amount of the labor force, which is in tragic unemployment, long-term unemployment, that is pulling the economy apart. The average of those two is what we are looking at, but they are fundamentally two separate types of economy."

Oracle Creates it's First Java Bug

2010-07-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6969236

"Regression: With Java 1.6.0_21, the ("\\StringFileInfo\\%04x%04x\\CompanyName") has changed in the java.exe and javaw.exe programs from "Sun Microsystems, Inc" to "Oracle".

"This causes a severe regression for programs that need to identify the Sun/Oracle HostSpot VM such that they know whether the "-XX:MaxPermSize" argument needs to be used or not."

Ha! Classic......

Shocking!

2010-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmT59dgLTTziX4p9X9MRBRpWZGdQD9H3JO4O0

Stock drop sharply as Bernanke stunningly fails to say he can predict the future!

Crash

2010-07-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

"One person was killed and another critically injured in a crash on Highway 99W, just west of downtown Newberg Monday night.

"The critically injured patient was flown in a LifeFlight helicopter to a Portland-area hospital for treatment. The other victim was pronounced dead at the scene, police said."

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Deadly-crash-on-Hwy-99W-near-Newberg-98837744.html

I'm starting to think I never want to go to the Oregon coast again.

Judy Meredith, 1945-2010

2010-07-01T08:04:00.002-07:00

Judith Ann Meredith was born Judith Ann Hasse in Spokane, Washington, Oct. 12 1945.

As a teen she was helped along by my Grandparents, Everett and Veda Sexton, in Cour d'Alene Idaho. She meet my father Gene Sexton and they were married in 1963. I was born in 1964 and the family moved to Portland. A few years later my brothers Tim and Stephen came along.

Things were not always easy or simple for my Mother in the decades after my parents divorced. She was married two further times, and suffered from health issues, some serious. But she was caring and thoughtful, and always did what she could for others, even when things were not going well for herself. She loved animals, family, children, and the ocean. She also enjoyed ink drawing and was always reading. Most of all she should be remembered as a person that was by nature ever at the ready to help all those to whom the world was unkind.

It was not always easy, but there were a great many good years, dear memories and many good friends along her way.

The end was a moment of violence; instantaneous and random. Left behind are our thoughts, a few possessions, objects now without context, and a twisted heap of scrap that was once an automobile. The human condition prevents us from ever understanding what has happened. The facts of the matter are of little use. There is no real way to come to grips with the void a person leaves behind when they are gone forever. We are simply left with it. As it is. There is no explanation.

Life is fragile and brief, there is not one day free to be wasted, and not one hope we are not under the strongest force of obligation to pursue, with all the strength we can find.

Thank you Mom, for everything. Finally rest in peace.

Veda Sexton

2010-06-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

My Grandmother was born to the family Lewis Lloyd and Margaret Bolton of Boyd Oregon in 1915. She was one of three sisters.

When she was school age, my Great Grandfather moved his family to a new house "in town," The Dallas, where my Grandmother grew up surrounded by the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins of her large, extended pioneer family.

Veda Bolton attended Oregon State Agricultural College (now OSU) and Willamette University before marrying a watchmaker in 1937 and becoming Veda Sexton.

The new family relocated to Cour d'Alene, Idaho for a watchmaking position at a store, Overjourde's, which is still there on Sherman Ave. Today, the shop is Clark's Jewelers. Eventually, my Grandfather came to own the store, where my Grandmother did the books.

My Grandparents were married for 70 years. They raised two children in Cour d'Alene, my father, Gene, and my Aunt Carol. They were very happy there, but for my Grandmother The Dalles was always and forever her home. They visited The Dalles frequently.

Veda Sexton was a living memory of a time when draft horses were the only engines on the great wheat fields of the Columbia River basin. She was proud of their Oregon Trail history, and of their home, which still stands, and the of Boltons that still work the land.

My Grandmother was loved by everyone that knew her. She was a devoted mother and wife, and cared for my Grandfather through to his last days. Even though his passing left a large hole in her life, she carried on, with a smile for everyone. She had an uncanny cheerfulness and above all else she believed that, no matter what, things were always right in the end.

She made it easy to believe that she would always be there.

We will miss her very much.

This Week's Economic News

2010-06-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Week of June 6th...

"For the first time in a year, unemployed workers in April outnumbered job openings in America by a ratio that was less than 5 to 1."

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/small-progress-in-job-openings-ratio/

* * *

"Americans reported spending an average of $80 a day last week, the highest such weekly spending average in more than 17 months"

http://www.gallup.com/poll/139613/Consumer-Spending-Job-Creation-Near-Month-Highs.aspx

* * *

Wholesale inventories rose for a fourth straight month in April, sales rose for a 13th consecutive time.

http://www.census.gov/wholesale/

* * *

"In testimony prepared for delivery to the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee, Bernanke said the economic recovery appeared to be on solid footing and that while a double-dip recession "can never be entirely ruled out," he expects the economy to continue growing."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65612920100609

* * *

Beige Book: "Economic activity continued to improve since the last report across all twelve Federal Reserve districts, although many districts described the pace of growth as 'modest,'" the central bank said

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWAL9HE68F20100609

* * *

"The number of people receiving continuing claims -- a measure of long-term unemployment -- dropped to 4.46 million, the lowest figure since December 2008."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2010/06/new_jobless_claims_drops_3000.html

* * *

"Foreclosure filings were made on 322,920 U.S. properties in May, up less than 1% from a year earlier. Bank repossessions hit a record monthly high for the second month in a row, totaling 93,777--up 1% from April and 44% from last year. Meanwhile, default notices dropped 7% and 22%, respectively, while scheduled foreclosure auctions edged down from both periods."

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100609-716734.html

* * *

"Sales at retailers unexpectedly fell in May for the first time since September following a record slump in purchases of building materials, adding to fears the economic recovery was losing some steam."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6592N720100611

* * *

"Confidence among U.S. consumers rose in June to the highest level in more than two years, a private survey showed."

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-11/u-s-michigan-consumer-sentiment-index-rose-to-75-5-update2-.html

* * *

These statistics and reports are not here selectively. These are, I think, the major bits of economic data reported during the week.

In spite of these items being almost entirely good news, or at the very least solid and indisputable evidence of a recovery, traders continued the create extreme market volatility all week. Why? "Nervousness"? In what other jobs do professionals get to behave like this and attribute it to nervousness?

The only "bad" news in these reports is May retail data which were weaker than expected. They are also 7% better than the same period 12 months ago.

One percent swings in the Dow day after day are not normal.

Of course, yes, yes, everyone knows that short term market behaviors are not rational and should not be taken into consideration by long term investors. This is quite true. However we have just come off a 30-40% loss in the savings of the world. It has taken quite a lot of dollar cost averaging and bargain hunting to rebuilt only up to the levels of two years before. No one expects markets to be rational, but volatility is breaking records these days. This isn't just irrational, it's random.

Memo to traders: the United States is not headed into a Mad Max scenario in the third quarter. A poor economy in Greece will not trigger collapse of all the world's major governments before Christmas. China is not planning a fire sale on Euro bonds for next Wednesday. And Iran is not going to cause world wide nuclear Armageddon during your lunch break.

I just received the July issue of Harper's Magazine. There's an amusing list there of statements found in the transcripts of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings of 2004 that were noted to have provoke laughter. For example:

"He suggested that we do what those in the survey industry do - have focus groups and really experiment with traders. My reaction was that the only time I've ever thought about experimenting with traders it involved cattle prods!"

What's My Wave ID?

2010-06-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Google Waves have an ID, and a URL. This information is needed with some add-ons, and of course is needed in order to tell someone how to find your Wave.

Yet Google does not make it obvious what the URL and the ID of Waves are. Here's how to tell...

First, the URL. The URL of a Wave is visible in the address bar of the web browser when you have a Wave selected. For example, this is the Elgintime vintage watch Wave:

https://wave.google.com/wave/#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252BBi-bhBc4A

The Wave ID is included in this path. It is:

googlewave.com!w+2BBi-bhBc4A

To get this, the escaped "%24" has been changed to "+".
Sometimes, and I don't know why, a decimal point and a number appear at the end of the URL, like this:

https://wave.google.com/wave/#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252BBi-bhBc4A.4

This, the ".4" in this example, is not part of the Wave ID and should be removed.

Some add-ons want to know the Wave's path. Unless you're working with Wave through a Google Sites or a Google Apps domain, this path is;

https://wave.google.com/wave/

There is at least one robot that will tell you what the ID of a Wave is, as well as the "path". To use this robot, just add the address below to your Wave contacts, and add the resulting contact to your Wave. The ID will be displayed. You can then remove the robot from the Wave.

"My Wave ID" robot:

mywaveid@appspot.com

The Pearl

2010-05-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/05/10/daily30.html

"Work has begun on a $400,000 effort to stop passing trains from blasting their horns near the Pearl District."

Because when you move to a trendy industrial loft in the core of the city's industrial area, you don't want to hear trains! Right?

Google GMail is Dead

2010-05-11T13:19:00.001-07:00

This has been going on since at least 6:00 AM; "Temporary Error (500)". Occasionally it gets a little further, very, very slowly, but when it does log in I've also seen repeated "Problem 793" messages. I have managed to send about 3 messages today, but nothing has been incoming. I wonder if it really sent anything? Hard to say...

Many Google applications have been extremely slow off and on for the past couple of weeks, sometimes to the point of being unusable.

Update: GMail seems to be working again? About 3:30 PM...

Breakfast

2010-04-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

So, if you were planning on having a KFC Double-Down for lunch, what would you have for breakfast?

How about an IHOP Stacker!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/29/ihop-pancake-stackers-iho_n_557322.html

Just 1250 Calories! Hopefully it'll hold you over 'til lunchtime...

Kauai

2010-04-21T18:09:00.001-07:00

A view of Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii...

Links Dumped

2010-03-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

Oregon DMV offices cancel their Muzak service.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2010/03/oregon_dmv_killing_muzak_in_se.html

"Oregon taxpayers pay up to $160 a month to pipe Muzak’s acoustic wallpaper into lobbies where drivers come to take tests, renew licenses and register vehicles."

* * *

Make your URL shady with ShadyURL!

http://www.shadyurl.com/

* * *

End tables from Ikea turn out to work great as 19" hardware racks.

http://wiki.eth-0.nl/index.php/LackRack

* * *

Here's in impressive visualization of the science, or lack o science, behind food supplements.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/

* * *

Google Public Data Explorer...

http://www.google.com/publicdata/home

* * *

Raptor-Cam!

http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/raptor-cam

Extending Java Socket Logging With SSL

2010-03-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

The java.util.logging package includes a handy way to send log message out a port to a server. This is done by replacing the usual log handler with an instance java.util.logging.SocketHandler. The provided SocketHandler, by default, uses java.util.logging.XMLFormatter to create an XML message that will be send out a socket to the host of your choice, and to your own server code.

Suppose you need to do this with an SSL connection, rather than a normal socket?

This is simple to do using a alternate handler which functions similarly to SocketHandler, but creates an SSL connection.

package com.example.logger;

import java.io.BufferedOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.util.logging.LogRecord;
import java.util.logging.StreamHandler;
import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocket;
import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory;
import java.util.logging.SocketHandler;
public class SSLHandler extends StreamHandler {
 private SSLSocket sslSocket;
 private String host;
 private int port;

 private SSLHandler() throws IOException {
 }

 public SSLHandler(String h, int p) throws IOException {
  host = h;
  port = p;
  connect();
 }

 private void connect() throws IOException {
  SSLSocketFactory sslsocketfactory = (SSLSocketFactory) SSLSocketFactory.getDefault();
  sslSocket = (SSLSocket) sslsocketfactory.createSocket(host, port);

  OutputStream out = sslSocket.getOutputStream();
  BufferedOutputStream bufferedOutputStream = new BufferedOutputStream(out);
  setOutputStream(bufferedOutputStream);
  java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(getClass().getName()).log(
    java.util.logging.Level.INFO,
    "connect() completed to [" + host + "] at port " + port);
 }

 public boolean isLoggable(LogRecord record) {
  return true;
 }

 public synchronized void publish(LogRecord record) {
  if (isLoggable(record)) {
   super.publish(record);
   flush();
  }
 }

 public synchronized void close() throws SecurityException {
  super.close();
  if (sslSocket != null) {
   try {
    sslSocket.close();
   } catch (IOException e) {
   }
  }
  sslSocket = null;
 }
}

The use of this class is the same as using a SocketLogger.

Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(getClass().getName());
Handler handler = new SSLHandler("my_host_name", 3000);
logger.addHandler(handler);
logger.log(Level.INFO, "Hello World");

Logged messages are send as XML fragments to the designated host at port 3000 via SSL. The developer is free to implement any sort of server needed to catch and process these messages.

There's some good information related to remote logging here, including a simple non-SSL logging server example:

http://blogs.sun.com/CoreJavaTechTips/entry/socket_logging

The non-SSL server code is easily altered to open an SSL connection using an instance of SSLServerSocket.

Panic

2010-03-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

This is the sort of thing that gets people really hating stock market traders.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-pare-gains-after-fed-hawkishness-2010-03-02

"Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig reiterated . . . that the Federal Reserve should not guarantee zero-percent interest rates for an extended period. "We're going to have these days throughout the year, when investors get hit with the idea of eventual tightening," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of U.S. equity group at Deutsche Bank. But the reaction is largely a knee-jerk one that's bound to dissipate, Fitzpatrick added"

Proving Hoenig correct, as he (shockingly reiterated) that interest rates might not stay near zero forever, the indexes dipped sharply on these words at about 10:30 eastern time this morning - only (of course) to climb right back up again.

So... I'm just wondering what traders expected him to to say? Maybe something like "I absolutely guarantee that interest rates will remain near zero from now until the end of times, for sure, no matter what." Ya, that would make sense. But since he didn't say that it's all OMG! Sell! Sell! Sell!

You just have to laugh...

Google Features and Changes I'd Like to See

2010-02-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

1. I'd like to be able to share items in Buzz with selected groups of my contacts much like is allowed in Google Docs.

2. Some sort of notification should be available from Google Wave to Google Buzz. Wave is notably absent from subscriptions that can be added to Buzz.

3. Gmail and Google Reader share many elements of interface style. Why doesn't Buzz look the same way?

4. Google Wave would be a useful addition for Google enterprise accounts.

5. Using Google Buzz can make the "People you follow" feed in Google Reader unnecessary. Why can't I turn it off?

6. Why can't I make a PDF file public in Google Docs the way I can a spreadsheet, for example?

7. Making Gmail-like filters available in Google Reader would be nice.

8. There really needs to be a way to collapse and expand items in Buzz, again, this it something Gmail does.

Tape

2010-01-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

Tape measure stunts!

Streaming Netflix on a PS3

2009-11-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I received a disc from Netflix finally allowing streaming content on my PS.

Interestingly, the feature seems to actually run off the CD they send. It doesn't appear to install anything on the PS3. I put the disc in and selected it under the "video" section of the menus. It popped up with a code to go to the website and type in - I guess you have to use a computer for that, not the PS3 browser.

When I went to the Netflix site there was a link right on the front to activate the device with the code. I put the code in and it said it might take a few minutes, but when I walked back to the PS3, it was already displaying movie choices. Apparently my on-demand queue is already populated with every movie I've ever gotten that was also available on demand.

Anyway, it's about as painless it could be. The interface is very simular to what I've seen on a Roku. The video quality was pretty poor though on the one thing I watched. There is an "HD" icon under selections that are supposed to be high definition, but the selection I tried was still very highly compressed. I hope that I simply picked a poor example, or that this improves over time. Regardly, I'm glad to finally have this feature!

Shed!

2009-11-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

It's a shed alright...
Ready to move in.

Markham

2009-11-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/schoolmodernization/1627.htm

Portland Pulic Schools has posted a collection of documents on the historic significance of its school buildings. Markham is an interesting case. PDF here:

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/files/schoolmodernization/Markham_ILS.pdf

I attended this school from 4th through 8th grade. I also went there for kindergarten. First through 3rd grades where at a school down the road a bit, no longer standing.

As the historic assessment notes, the Markham school, named for the poet Edwin Markham, is shaped like an 'H'. The reason for this is that it was built at the height of the cold war to serve as a field hospital in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union.

Really.

This is also the reason it's built of brick, and the reason it has ramps instead of stairs throughout the split-level floor plan. I doubt they are there now, but I recall the large circles painted on the paved playground surfaces behind the building, with X marks in the center. These were of course handy for playground games. They were helicopter landing pads.

Shed Update

2009-10-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

Moving right along... We have a roof, a door and some further siding.

Shed Again

2009-10-28T08:31:00.001-07:00

This new shed actually has its own smaller shed to one side of the door. I'm thinking of adding an additional smaller storage area to the small shed. And so on.

New Shed Internet Web Blog Posting Number III

2009-10-26T16:47:00.001-07:00

This is actually from yesterday...

Shed, Part Two

2009-10-24T08:29:00.001-07:00

Shed construction moving right along...

Intercepting Log Messages in Glassfish

2009-10-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I wanted a way to capture certain types of errors from an OpenESB application, under the Glassfish application server. I had to do this because a couple of error scenarios get their exceptions handled at a lower level than my application code and I never get a chance to detect the problem. One approach to resolving this is to write some completely external process to monitor the log file itself. But a another way is to use Glassfish's Self-Management Framework, an MBean and a rule.

There weren't a lot of examples of this to be found, so here some code. First, the MBean itself. The MBean needs to be built in conformance with some simple but very specific rules.

It must implement javax.management.NotificationListener
It must have an interface of its own with the same name as the MBean, but ending in "MBean"

Here is the MBean interface:

package com.log.monitor;

import javax.management.Notification;
import javax.management.NotificationListener;

public interface CustomActionMBean {
 public int getA();
 public void setA(int a);
}

It is a trivial Java Bean interface with one getter/setter pair added here just as an example. Here is the implementation class:

package com.log.monitor;

import javax.management.Notification;
import javax.management.NotificationListener;

public class CustomAction implements CustomActionMBean, NotificationListener {
 private int a = 0;

 public CustomAction() {
 }

 public void setA(int a) {
  this.a = a;  
 }
 
 public int getA() {
  return a;
 }

 public void handleNotification(Notification arg0, Object arg1) {
  System.out.println("Called... " + arg0.getMessage());
 }
}

These get built into a jar file called CutomAction.jar, using whatever IDE or command line you prefer. I used Eclipse, and I found that I had to uncheck the compression option to get this to fully work.

I deployed the jar file to Glassfish using its web-based administration console. This is done in a manner simular to deploying anything else, but using the section under "custom mbeans." There is a command line method too, using asadmin. The deployment will fail if there's anything wrong with the MBean, such as an incorrect interface name or referring to the wrong Notification classes.

Once this is done, a Management Rule can be created. The key here is that the "event type" should be "log". The MBean deployed above should appear in the "Action" drop down list. Each event type has different options. In the case of a log type it is also possible to select a log level, and a specific logger as filters. But once activated, this rule will call the new MBean as needed when an appropriate log message is created. The raw message string is available from the Notification object with getMessage().

Here's a few good resources on all this:

http://weblogs.java.net/blog/sankara/archive/2006/02/self_management.html

http://blogs.sun.com/technical/entry/self_management_rules

https://glassfish.dev.java.net/javaee5/selfmanagement/selfmanagementhome.html

http://www.caucho.com/resin-3.0/jmx/tutorial/listener/index.xtp

Shed, Part One

2009-10-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

A shed is going up in the little used corner of my backyard. I took these pictures this morning when there was a little moisture in the air, which was caught in the flash.

The shed is being built by Justin Swanson, the same contractor that did the work on the living room and bathroom a while back.

US Internet Service is Pathetic

2009-08-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Image by [ r ♥ c e y t ♥ y ] {I br♥ke for bokeh} via Flickr

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2009/08/10/getting-bandwidth-envy-portugal-to-have-1gbps-internet-service-by-fall/

"Portugal ISP Zon will be offering its customers 1Gbps service starting this September. The country will then become the world’s third (and the first in Europe) to provide such speeds, along with Japan and South Korea."

Apollo

2009-07-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Image by Vaguely Artistic via Flickr

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/opinion/19wolfe.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

"Three months after the landing, however, in October 1969, I began to wonder ... I was in Florida, at Cape Kennedy, the space program’s launching facility, aboard a NASA tour bus. The bus’s Spielmeister was a tall-fair-and-handsome man in his late 30s ... and a real piece of lumber when it came to telling tourists on a tour bus what they were looking at. He was so bad, I couldn’t resist striking up a conversation at the end of the tour.

"Sure enough, it turned out he had not been put on Earth for this job. He was an engineer who until recently had been a NASA heat-shield specialist. A baffling wave of layoffs had begun, and his job was eliminated. It was so bad he was lucky to have gotten this stand-up Spielmeister gig on a tour bus. Neil Armstrong and his two crew mates, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, were still on their triumphal world tour ... while back home, NASA’s irreplaceable team of highly motivated space scientists — irreplaceable! — there were no others! ...anywhere! ... You couldn’t just run an ad saying, “Help Wanted: Experienced heat-shield expert” ... the irreplaceable team was breaking up, scattering in nobody knows how many hopeless directions."

Several years ago I read an article that seriously questioned whether or not a project on the scale of Apollo was even possible today. It may well not be. It's an odd thing for someone from my generation to consider; that, for all sorts of reasons, the time and achievements of Apollo represent a high point, the very best, a peak of technology, will, project organization, and plain quality... Just memory, never to come again.

Toast

2009-07-21T14:08:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Toaster Project:

http://www.thetoasterproject.org/

"So are toasters ridiculous? It depends on the scale at which you look. Looking close up, a desire (for toast) and the fulfilment of that desire is totally reasonable. Perhaps the majority of human activity can be reduced to a desire to make life more comfortable for ourselves, and has thus far led to being able to buy a toaster for £3.99 [among other achievements]. But looking at toasters in relation to global industry, at a moment in time when the effects of our industry are no longer trivial compared to the insignificant when our, they seem unreasonable. I think our position is ambiguous - the scale of industry involved in making a toaster [etc.] is ridiculous but at the same time the chain of discoveries and small technological developments that occurred along the way make it entirely reasonable."

What Could Go Wrong?

2009-07-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/20/eatr_veggie/

The company explains: "Despite the far-reaching reports that this includes 'human bodies,' the public can be assured that the engine Cyclone has developed to power the EATR runs on fuel no scarier than twigs, grass clippings and wood chips."

...

Well quite. Cyclone CEO Harry Schoell further assures: “We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission."

Whew! That's a relief!

AuthBasicAuthoritative

2009-07-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Quite some time ago I posted an entry here about configuring Apache to authenticate against an NT4 Windows domain using PAM. That was on an older Fedora box. The original post is here:

http://jsexton0.blogspot.com/2007/10/subversion-fedora-pam-winbindd-apache.html

On a new Debian box, a very simular configuration failed. The Apache server recorded this message in its error log:

Internal error: pcfg_openfile() called with NULL filename

It turns out that later versions of Apache expect a users file even if the authentication method does not use one. The fix is to add an additional directive to protected block in Apache's configuration file.

AuthBasicAuthoritative Off

Reset the Service Light on a Volvo C70

2009-06-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Years ago, I saved an email on resetting the dash service light on a newer Volvo, such as my C70. I finally needed to do this, dug out the email and sure enough it worked! No OBD-II required.

1. Turn the ignition to the "I" position (accessory), and hold down the trip meter reset button

2. While holding it down turn the key to position "II" (don't start)

3. Continue to hold the reset button down until the service light begins to flash.

That's it - the internet used for good.

Hmmmm

2009-05-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

Image by law_keven via Flickr

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8056284.stm

"For decades, hundreds of people worldwide have been plagued by an elusive buzzing noise known as "the Hum". Some have blamed gas pipes or power lines, others think their ears are faulty. A few even think sinister forces could be at work.

...

"The internet is abuzz with rumour and speculation. There are dark mutterings about secret military activity, alien contact and government cover-ups. The hum even featured in an episode of the sci-fi drama "The X-Files"."

Blogger and Escaping HTML

2009-05-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Image by grebo guru via Flickr

While attempting to create a blog post containing a couple of XML fragments, I ran into a surprising problem with Goggle's Blogger editor. It is staggeringly difficult to get greater-then and less-then signs into you text!

I Goggled up this other blog post that sums up the problem nicely:
http://justfreakingwork.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-cant-blogger-escape-special.html

It's a little hard to believe in this day and age that Google has made such a mess of this.

Headless Build Automation for Netbeans BPEL Projects

2009-05-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the Netbeans/Glassfish/OpenESB build process. I'll include here a few details for others that may be interested, but it appears that a headless build is not possible or practical at this time. If you're looking for a solution, you won't find it here.

When I first started using Netbeans I was encouraged that it used ant for its builds rather than some process implemented as part of the IDE. However, in practice, doing a build outside the IDE turns out to be not only non-trivial but extremely complex, and may be impossible in some cases. For example, in the case of a BPEL project that includes a WSDL dragged into the BPEL editor from another project...

When a WSDL from a separate project is included in a BPEL, the tag's location cause looks like this:

<import namespace="http://myns" location="otherProject/my.wsdl" importType="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/"/>

where "otherProject" is the project containing the web service being used. WSDLs from the local BPEL project look like this:

<import namespace="http://myns" location="my.wsdl" importType="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/"/>

This location tag is not an operating system file path. "otherProject/" in the above example can be anyplace on the system relative to the project being built and the the IDE somehow finds it. Using "file://something" in the location tag is apparently a syntax error. It's hard to say what this location tag actually is. At the moment, I don't know.

Outside of the IDE, a location tag such as the above fails to find the WSDL file during the build. The failure occurs in at least two java classes that the build script invokes.

org.netbeans.modules.bpel.project.anttasks.cli.CliValidateBpelProjectTask
org.netbeans.modules.bpel.project.anttasks.cli.CliGenerateCatalogTask

Somehow these classes are able, in the IDE, to map the location tag to a physical WSDL file. The only reference I could find to these location strings is in the catalog.xml file in the project's base directory. But removing these does not create a build error in the IDE, so that can't be how it knows. Is there some internal database in Netbeans tracking these references? Hard to say.

A good deal of essential information on building Netbeans projects outside of the IDE can be found here:

http://blogs.sun.com/tronds/entry/creating_a_simple_headless_build

This information is vital to getting started with the build environment, outside the IDE. That setup may be enough for most projects, or at least projects other than BPEL projects that refer to WSDLs in other projects.

GUI-only builds is a very surprising limitation, but there it is. It seems we will have to replace the build scripts for our projects. It would have been better to know about this a long time ago, before beginning projects using this otherwise really quite nice technology.

A Lot

2009-04-02T10:44:00.001-07:00

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

How much is one trillion dollars?

Breaking News!

2009-03-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Image by hose902 via Flickr

This Just in!
Children are easily fooled!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29468137/

"In a new study, 186 4-year-olds were given regular carrots and, on other lunch days, they were given the same vegetables renamed X-ray Vision Carrots. On the latter days, they ate nearly twice as many."

Bell

2009-03-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.porticus.org/bell/bell.htm

"A website created as a memorial to the people, history, technology and the "Spirit of Service" of what was known as the "Bell System" prior to 1984."

Cool...

"You see, this phone system consists of a multibillion-dollar matrix of space age technology that is so sophisticated even we can't handle it. But that's your problem, isn't it? So, the next time you complain about your phone service, why don't you try using two Dixie cups with a string? We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company."

-- Lily Tomlin

The Passive-Aggressive Door Holding Game

2009-02-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

Remake

2009-02-27T07:54:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/27/total_recall/

"Columbia Pictures is in "final negotiations" with producer Neal H Moritz to develop a "contemporary version" of 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi romp Total Recall, the Hollywood Reporter, er, reports.

...

"The original Paul Verhoeven-helmed movie - which grossed $261m worldwide - was based on the Philip K Dick story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. Moritz described the Dick tale as "prescient"."

I hope it doesn't suck (but what are the odds...)

Hardware?

2009-02-24T17:49:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/24/2220209

"Microsoft executives have been telling the tech industry that if hardware supports Windows Vista, it will support Windows 7, but it now looks like that may not entirely be the case. According to CRN: 'But after a series of tests on older and newer hardware, a number of noteworthy issues emerged: Microsoft's statement that if hardware works with Windows Vista it will work with Windows 7 appears to be, at best, misleading"

The first thing that went through my mind when I read this was how pathetic it was - you'd never have that problem with Linux.

The second thing that occured to me was how remarkable it was that I had thought that, without hesitation. Hardware compatibility used to be a reason you'd need Windows of Linux. But now it's the other way around!

It was inevitable that MSFT's stategy of building the kitchen sink directly into it's giant, monolethic "operating system" would fail eventually. It's finally happening. What a relief!

Bits

2009-02-13T08:45:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://news.opb.org/article/4263-trimet-looks-cutting-routes-reducing-service/

"TriMet has just announced cuts of 5 percent across-the-board. That means fewer routes; buses that come every half-hour instead of every 15 minutes; and fewer trains at off-peak times.

"The cuts are coming now because most of the agency's income is derived from employer payroll taxes. Meaning when people lose their jobs, TriMet loses income."

There's something wrong with this equation. At a time when more people may be turning to TriMet, and starting a public transportation habit, TriMet should be improving its service.

* * *

http://news.opb.org/article/4267-elections-divisions-opens-sizemore-investigation/

"The Oregon Elections Division opened an investigation Thursday into Bill Sizemore's campaign activities during the 2008 elections. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports."

It's about time.

* * *

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/02/5_companies_building_the_internet_o.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

"An internet of things"

Someday I'll get spam from my toaster.

* * *

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090210.wdefence10/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostemail

"The Canadian military is evoking the wisdom of the green, pint-sized Yoda character from Star Wars for a video it's creating to give soldiers returning from Afghanistan tips on coping with the psychological scars of combat zones."

"I don't believe it," Skywalker says.

"That is why you fail," Yoda replies.

They're trying to touch soldiers to lift X-Wing Fighters with their minds?

Marshalling and Unmarshalling Without a @XmlRootElement

2009-02-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

Image by swisscan via Flickr

Netbeans has a handy feature off on the palette on the right (usually) of the code editor, where you can drag a marshal or unmarshal object into your Java code and it will generate marshal/unmarshal code for the XML or JAXB object of your choice.

It is interesting that sometimes, although it does not complain when generating these code fragments, there will occur an error at runtime stating that an object has no @XmlRootElement.

@XmlRootElement annotations are not always created in JAXB objects. Here is a nice explanation of why that is:

http://weblogs.java.net/blog/kohsuke/archive/2006/03/why_does_jaxb_p.html

The subject of this post is not why this happens, but rather how to deal with these objects when you don't want to use inline complex types.

Here's a sample marshal method more or less as generated by the wizard of Netbeans:

private String jaxbMarshalToString(MyType jaxbObj) throws javax.xml.bind.JAXBException, java.io.IOException {
java.io.StringWriter sw = new java.io.StringWriter();
javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext jaxbCtx = javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(jaxbObj.getClass().getPackage().getName());
javax.xml.bind.Marshaller marshaller = jaxbCtx.createMarshaller();
marshaller.setProperty(javax.xml.bind.Marshaller.JAXB_ENCODING, "UTF-8");
//NOI18N
marshaller.setProperty(javax.xml.bind.Marshaller.JAXB_FORMATTED_OUTPUT, Boolean.TRUE);
marshaller.marshal(jaxbObj, sw);
sw.close();
return sw.toString();
}
Here is an unmarshal method for the same object:

private MyType jaxbUnmarshalFromString(String str) throws javax.xml.bind.JAXBException {
MsgQMessageType ret = null;
javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext jaxbCtx = javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(MyType.class);
javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller unmarshaller = jaxbCtx.createUnmarshaller();
ret = (MyType) unmarshaller.unmarshal(new java.io.StringReader(str));
//NOI18N
return ret;
}
This object has "Type" appended to its name. That is a sign that this is a container rather than the JAXB representation of the XSD itself. These methods fail at runtime because the object jaxbObj includes no root annotation.

Here are these two methods changed so they work. In the first method, we create a new JAXBElement (so it will have a root element) and marshal that. In the second method, we unmarshal to a JAXBElement, and return that object's getValue(), cast to our desired type. Also in the unmarshal code, the context is created using getPackage().getName() rather than just the class.

private String jaxbMarshalToString(MyType jaxbObj) throws javax.xml.bind.JAXBException, java.io.IOException {
java.io.StringWriter sw = new java.io.StringWriter();
javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext jaxbCtx = javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(jaxbObj.getClass().getPackage().getName());
javax.xml.bind.Marshaller marshaller = jaxbCtx.createMarshaller();
marshaller.setProperty(javax.xml.bind.Marshaller.JAXB_ENCODING, "UTF-8");
//NOI18N
marshaller.setProperty(javax.xml.bind.Marshaller.JAXB_FORMATTED_OUTPUT, Boolean.TRUE);
marshaller.marshal(new JAXBElement(
new QName("http://www.namespace.com/schema/My", "My"),
MyType.class, jaxbObj), sw);
sw.close();
return sw.toString();
}
private MyType jaxbUnmarshalFromString(String str) throws javax.xml.bind.JAXBException {
JAXBElement ret = null;
javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext jaxbCtx = javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(MyType.class.getPackage().getName());
javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller unmarshaller = jaxbCtx.createUnmarshaller();
ret = (JAXBElement) unmarshaller.unmarshal(new java.io.StringReader(str));
//NOI18N
return (MyType)ret.getValue();
}

Big Mac Latte Numbers

2009-02-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1111/starbucks-versus-mcdonalds-choices-demographics

"Would you prefer to live in a place with more McDonald's or more Starbucks?" The Golden Arches won the head-to-head contest by 43%-35%"

Some interesting demographic breakdowns...

Fat Cars

2009-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/01/bigger_the_better_artist_makes.php

Har.

Job Losses In Recent Recessions

2009-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

Fire Drill

2009-02-05T08:35:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/05/1136228

"Researchers at Durham University have modified a video game and turned it into a fire drill simulator using the Source engine (the 3D game engine used to drive Half-Life 2), and created a virtual model of one of the university's departments. Dr. Shamus Smith said that although 3D modeling software was available, modifying a video game was faster, more cost effective, and had better special effects. 'We were interested in using game technology over a customized application and the Source Engine, from Half-Life, is very versatile,' said Smith.

Plus there might be mutants shooting at you during a fire. You never know.

Shut

2009-02-04T14:20:00.001-08:00

http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/stories/kgw_020209_lifestyle_columbia_gorge_hotel_closing.12b89d3b.html

"An icon of the Columbia River Gorge, referred to as the "Waldorf of the West" in its heyday, has become the latest victim of the economic crisis.

"The historic Columbia Gorge Hotel shut its doors Friday, canceling reservations and laying off dozens of employees."

A shame...

Mediatomb and Playlists

2009-01-31T07:32:00.000-08:00

I found a few issues adding playlists (m3u files) to Mediatomb. It works, but there are problems I have not been able to completely pin down. The main thing is that I have to add the individual playlist files to Mediatomb rather than depending on a timed rescan or a directory. When I time-rescan a directory containing a new playlist (only), the load operation appears in the Mediatomb console, but the playlist never appears in the database. If I add the single file however, and the list file has not been previously scanned, it works.

Also, once a directory is processed by a timed rescan, I have trouble adding new playlist files, individually, from that location. A couple of weeks ago, inexplicitly, a playlist I had previously used without trouble disappeared from Mediatomb, and I could not add it back (no errors, it just didn't show up). I removed my other playlists and found I could not add those back either. So I made a brand new file, and that would not add. To fix this I had to be sure that the directory and all playlists were removed from Mediatomb, and there were no timed rescans on that folder. I added back each m3u file individually, and they worked fine.

I think it's best to stay away from timed rescan, on my installation away, for playlists (I've had no trouble with rescans of music, video and photo files). I should note that this feature is supposed to work. And I should note that I have seen Mediatomb pick up m3u files on timed rescans from my music folders in the past. But from my playlist directory, I've had odd behaviors (no, this is not related to file/diectory permissions in my case, that is a common problem though. Check that if it is not working for you).

For creating playlists I have been using fapg. This worked well for me because I had already some long lists of files to work with and fapg can take these simple lists on stdin. Many people that use Mediatomb and similar servers use other media handler just to create playlists. I have been experimenting with juk. Juk seems to be particularly suited to larger collections (a problem I have with many of these tools is that they simply have not been designed for large and well organized media collections, with correct tags and such). There are other choices. I've seen Rhythmbox mentioned quite a bit. Such tools tend to support media playing or streaming on their own, but they also have nice playlist editors and search features that are useful alone.

One of the reasons I have been working to replace the system I had built myself, is that more standard bits and pieces (like m3u files) will allow me to use a variety of off the shelf packages (there are any number of programs available to edit playlists and now I can use any one, or more than one). There are also other servers and clients that support the same protocols. One does not have to be limited to one combination, if one server is better than another for, say, one type of content or another.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

2009-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,7847/title,Pride-and-Prejudice-and-Zombies/

Here's something new, public domain classic literature, with zombies added in. No really. Seriously. Stop laughing, it's true.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy."
...and so on.

Toying with Bacon

2009-01-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

http://foodproof.com/blogs/view/post/bacon-man-435

"A being with no knowledge of what it means to be sightless, having never had eyes. It knows no pain, but also no hope."

Bacon man...
Awesome.

Google Street View Death Machine Hits a Deer

2009-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4834025a27483.html

"The images show a young deer running beside the Google car before it can been seen lying on its side. A third screen grab shows the deer lying on the side of the road in the distance as the car moves away.

"The car was travelling in broad daylight down a narrow road in rural New York state when the accident happened."

Zimbabwe Abandons its Currency

2009-01-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7859033.stm

"BBC southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says the Zimbabwean dollar has become a laughing stock. A Z$100 trillion note was recently introduced. "

Things can always be worse.

Just $53.5 Million and It's Yours!

2009-01-29T08:16:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE50S4DF20090129

He complained the apartment was "attic-like" with small windows, low ceilings, obstructed views and ugly drainage grates. He demanded the return of his $10.7 million deposit and $30 million in damages.

In a counter suit, El-Ad accused Vavilov of libel and demanded $36 million in damages.

The Plaza overlooks Central Park and has inspired writers such as Kay Thompson, author of the "Eloise" stories about a 6-year-old girl who lived at the hotel, and Neil Simon, who wrote the Broadway play and hit film "Plaza Suite."

House Music - Mediatomb and PS3 Update

2009-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Having used a Mediatomb server with a Sony Play Station 3 client for awhile now, I have a few observations...

* Video is tricky to setup. Getting the contents of a DVD into a form that can be steamed to your PS3 is not documented nor easy. It does work, if you are persistent, and get the right software. There are legal grey areas here.

* I have two DVDs from which I could not create an AVI file that the PS3 would play. In both cases, the PS3 would act like it was indeed playing the stream, but there would be no picture nor sound. This did not appear to be related to the bit rate, frame rate or any other setting I adjusted (using dvd::rip) so I have no explanation. Other DVDs I have tried worked fine. Although me sample is small, just 6 or 7 discs.

* One other problem I had with one single disc was that the stream resulted an incorrect aspect ratio. Actually, the video was cut off at the top and bottom and all I got was a very, very narrow band in the middle of the film. Strange. No explanation. Oh, and with another disc, the AVI video froze near the end, while the soundtrack continued. When the content was over, the sound ended normally, but several minuted of video werethus missing. A lot of wierd things happen with this stuff.

* It is possible to get quite good video and sound quality in about a 2-3 GB AVI file. But the quality is not perfect, and there are occasional artifacts. The sound (in MP3) is likewise good, but not as good as it can be. So, as far as video goes, I will not be using the media server for more than a convenience. I can't see converting a library of DVDs to AVI.

* Music playlists work fine, but Mediatomb does not pick up new M3U files when it is set for a timed rescan of a directory containing such files. When it does a timed rescan, the playlist entry appears in the Mediatomb log output and, if you happen to catch it, in the web application's status line. However, the playlist is never made available in the database to select and play, and indeed does not appear in the database section of the web application. Playlists are added to Mediatomb with no trouble when they are individually added with the "add" link, rather than by using a timed scan.

* Scans that Mediatomb does on startup take quite a long time (on my system, I have a lot of content). It would be nice if this could be controlled, and also triggered manually when I know I've changed something.

* On the PS3 side, it would be nice if I could navigate in a more flexible manner by arist and album (such as when I'm playing a file from a playlist, and I'd like to see and play other tracks by that artist or the particular album).

* Also, the PS3 takes quite awhile to transfer complete information from the server when opening a media category. For example, when a playlist contains a couple thousand items, you have to select it, then wait until the PS3 has the entire list transfered. It does not cache this information at all. If you have a large music collection, then opening artists, for example, and browsing for something, is completely impractical.

* If you select a playlist to play before the entire list is transfered, then the PS3 will only play the selections that got transfered up to that point.

* There are three visualizations available on the PS3 for music. Although they are all interesting at first, just having three makes me wish "plain black screen with the track information at the bottom" was one of the choices.

* This setup provides no way to edit M3U files from the M3U. An alternative would be to store media on the PS3 and use it's playlists, but that doesn't give me the distributed interface I want.

* It would be nice if Mediatomb output information about what it is streaming. This would allow me to build alternative interfaces on the server side for playlist control.

* Multi-channel (more than stereo) soundtracks work fine.

* The PS3 will display thumbnail artwork embedded in MP3 files.

* Photos work fine, but the interface is not very robust. I'll stick with Google's Picasa, although leaving my photos volume up to date in Mediatomb's database certainly does no harm and the PS3 provides a good way to show photos to a group.

* I have not experimented with any formats other than AVI and MP3.

On the whole, the Mediatomb/PS3 (Ubuntu 8.10 server) is quite usable, as far as it goes. It doesn't do everything I want, but it's useful enough to keep installed. Next up, I plan to experiment with a streaming server, adding that stream to a Mediatomb playlist. By controlling the stream on the server, I'll have the control I want over what plays. And I'll be able to build a web interface for that control. The downside is that doing that will give up the PS3's ability to do that control 0 the stream will act just like an "internet radio station". But maybe with the combination of both approaches available, I can get (a little closer) to where I want to be.

Random Links

2009-01-27T09:09:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50Q03M20090127

"The Senate acted responsibly to give the Obama administration time to attempt to bring order to a mismanaged process," the West Virginia Democrat said in a statement.

"Many lawmakers worry that an estimated 20 million mostly poor, elderly and rural households are not ready for the switch, which requires owners of older television sets receiving over-the-air signals to buy a converter box or subscribe to cable or satellite TV."

Well... Yes, and that will be true no matter when the switch occurs.
The easiest, maybe the only, way to fix the problems that arrise from the change-over is to let the problems occur.

* * *

http://valleywag.gawker.com/5139511/steve-jobs-reportedly-under-the-knife-at-stanford-hospital-today

"Ailing Apple CEO Steve Jobs checked into Stanford Hospital over the weekend and was scheduled for surgery this morning, we hear."

Can't we just leave this guy alone?

* * *

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Politics/story?id=6740011&page=1

"The high-flying execs at Citigroup caved under pressure from President Obama and decided today to abandon plans for a luxurious new $50 million corporate jet from France."

I don't think the executives and boards of companies like this fully appreciate the position they are in, from the political point of view.

* * *

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123275192235811483.html

From the WSH, book recomendations on irrational decision making; Extraordinary Popular
Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Judgment Under Uncertainty, How We Know What Isn't So, The Winner's Curse and Predictably Irrational.

* * *

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/27/11202/3227/287/689257

From Norm Coleman's lawyer:

"It will be very boring," Joe Friedberg said in a conference call with reporters.

Not only boring, but it's going to take quite a long time (you can thank Norm Coleman for that), due to the Coleman campaign's recent request to have all 11,000 rejected absentee ballots reviewed. This is, of course, after claiming there were no wrongfully rejected absentee ballots in the first place.

Email Trivia - How Many Characters Can Be in an Email Address?

2009-01-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaYes, it turns out that there is a limit on how long an email address can be. According to RFC-2821, section 4.5.3.1, the part before the '@', the "local-part" can be up to 64 characters. The part after the '@', the "domain-part" can be up to 255 characters.

So, including the '@' character, an email address is allowed to be up to 320 characters in total.

In other fascinating trivia, according to RFC-2822, section 2.1.1, the maximum line length in an email is 998 characters, excluding the CRLF.

So watch it.

Performance and Calling a BPEL WSDL From an EJB

2009-01-26T10:20:00.000-08:00

In most of my current Java SOI/JBI (Netbeans/Glassfish/OpenESB) project, where a BPEL needs to be invoked from inside an EJB, I have done some variation of simply using Netbeans' wizard to create a Web Service Client, and then dragging the operation from the WSDL over into the EJB source editor. This creates a service class, and classes for the message and response that are generally pretty close to what I needs, all using Jaxb-ws.

At one point in the project however, I determined that one of these calls created a really significant performance hit. The hit occurred someplace between leaving my EJB code:

MyOperationDataResponse myOperationDataResponse = port.MyOperationDataSoapOperation(myOperationDataRequest);

...and the initial Receive operation in the BPEL (in a different Service Assembly - this might be a factor), which was the earliest I could place a log message. The delay in there was as long as 4-5 minutes, and seemed to be driven by the size of the request payload (about 2 MBs, large but not huge).

According to VisualVM, a great tool by the way, the process was spending a large amount of time in this method:

com.sun.enterprise.server.ss.provider.ASSelector.select(long)

...Which was interesting, but did not help me determine a course of action. In the end, I replaced the jaxb-style code with code that calls the web service using XMLBeans and javax.xml.soap.* classes only. I was unable to get the JAXB version of this call to hit the actually service with less than about a 5 minute delay, with the "large" payload I'm using. The equivalent part of this new call happens in .2 seconds (that's point-two). I don't know the repercussions of doing this sort of call vs. the web service client generated by Netbeans, or of having the XML Beans classes in the environment. It would be nice not to have to introduce this other style into the application. This does seem to confirm some sort of issue in either the jaxb-ws layers, or the HTTP Binding Component, though. I suspect the HTTP-BC because the payload size alone does not seem to cause a problem.

Here's the XMLBeans-style WS client code.

MyOperationDataDocument putCardDataDocument = MyOperationDataDocument.Factory.newInstance();

MyOperationDataResponse.MyOperationDataResponseDocument myOperationDataResponseDocument = MyOperationDataResponse.MyOperationDataResponseDocument.Factory.newInstance();

MyOperationDataDocument.MyOperationData myOperationData = myOperationDataDocument.addNewPutCardData();

myOperationData.setSomeField(something);

SOAPFactory sf = SOAPFactory.newInstance();

SOAPMessage soapMessage = MessageFactory.newInstance().createMessage();

SOAPPart part = soapMessage.getSOAPPart();

SOAPEnvelope soapEnvelope = part.getEnvelope();

SOAPBody body = soapEnvelope.getBody();

org.w3c.dom.Node node = putCardDataDocument.getDomNode();

SOAPBodyElement soapBodyElement = body.addDocument((Document)node);

SOAPConnectionFactory scf = SOAPConnectionFactory.newInstance();

SOAPConnection con = scf.createConnection();

URL endpoint = new URL("http://localhost:9080/MySoapService/MySoapPort");

SOAPMessage reply = con.call(soapMessage, endpoint);

con.close();

The message and response classes are created using the scomp command line utility that comes bundled with an XMLBeans install. I found surprisingly few examples like the above code online, so I hope this is helpful to someone else down the road.

Don't Delay

2009-01-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaHDTV has already been delayed enough. Now more than ever, we need the new technological and economic development that freeing up our old bandwidth allows. If that development isn't "shovel-ready" I don't know what is.

http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/T/TEC_DIGITAL_TV_TRANSITION?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-01-23-17-51-37

"But one big problem with extending the transition, critics warn, is that many TV viewers could be confused. A delay could also be expensive for broadcasters. And it could burden public safety agencies and wireless companies waiting for the airwaves that will be freed by the shutdown of
analog signals.

"Government agencies, consumer groups, television broadcasters and other parts of the industry have invested more than $1 billion over the past several years to educate consumers about the shift to digital broadcasting. The message all along has been that analog signals would be shut off on Feb. 17."

Windows 7 - Wrong Again

2009-01-16T11:45:00.001-08:00

Image by romkey via Flickrhttp://www.linuxjournal.com/content/windows-7-linux-users-perspective

"The problem I have with Windows 7, is that Microsoft still seems to confuse simplicity with dumbing down. Windows 7 is supposed to be much simpler, much more trim, and much easier to use. Trying to manage any system settings is an exercise in futility. Just connecting to a local area network was a 12 step program towards insanity. I know Microsoft is trying to answer all the ridicule they get about security, but asking a user to decide security question after security question does not make security “simple.” Microsoft, please read this: Don’t ask a user if they want to open their computer up for sharing to home, work, or public -- block off all sharing unless a user asks to turn it on. Look at how your competition manages to handle security issues. You don’t need to try making it more simple, just as simple"

Nicely put.
It's uncanny how Microsoft gets this sort of thing, system configuration and security, so consistently wrong, even in the face of great counter examples that they could just as easily simply copy.

OpenESB BPEL Assignment Tips

2009-01-09T10:05:00.001-08:00

Understanding how Assign operations occur in BPEL can save a lot of headaches, and coding. One of my favorite run-time exception messages from BPEL is this:

ElementNotFoundInComplexTypeException: Particle not found in the complex type.

Assignment problems are commonly at the root of this error, and there are some facts about the Assign operations that are extremely helpful to know.

1. When assigning a fragment of XML from one variable to another, where the schemas of the two variables are in different namespaces, it is usually required to assign each leaf individually.

2. Data can be copied from one part to another, however the source namespace will be preserved, likely leading to undesired results.

3. Repeating nodes should be copied with a loop because any BPEL evaluation must result in a single node, however this specification is not strictly enforced in OpenESB and an Assign will copy recursively through nodes that occur multiple times. Note again, however, that this leaves
the data in the source namespace.

4. Optional nodes be copied at the leaf level by setting "Ignore Missing From Data" to "yes" on the Assign operation. This applies in items 2 and 3 above also.

5. To copy leaf nodes in a repeating set, a loop construct is needed.

Consider the following example which will demonstrate these Assign properties. Two schemas, in two different namespaces, one WSDL using the schemas and input and output respectively, and a BPEL containing an Assign operation.

Here is the input schema.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/inputXmlSchema"
xmlns:tns="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/inputXmlSchema"
elementFormDefault="qualified">
<xsd:element name="Sample" type="tns:SampleType"/>
<xsd:complexType name="SampleType">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="Result" type="xsd:short"/>
<xsd:element name="Message" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0"/>
<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:element name="ID1" maxOccurs="unbounded"
type="xsd:long"/>
<xsd:element name="ID2" maxOccurs="unbounded"
type="xsd:long"/>
<xsd:element name="Data1" type="tns:Data1Type"/>
<xsd:element name="Data2" type="tns:Data2Type"/>
</xsd:choice>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:complexType name="Data2Type">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="FirstName" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="LastName" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="MiddleName" minOccurs="0"
type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="BirthDate" minOccurs="0" type="xsd:date"/>
<xsd:element name="Data2Field" minOccurs="0"
maxOccurs="unbounded" type="tns:field"/>
<xsd:element name="ID" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"
type="xsd:long"/>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:complexType name="Data1Type">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="FirstName" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="LastName" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="MiddleName" minOccurs="0"
type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="BirthDate" minOccurs="0" type="xsd:date"/>
<xsd:element name="Data2Field" minOccurs="0"
maxOccurs="unbounded" type="tns:field"/>
<xsd:element name="ID" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1"
type="xsd:long"/>
<xsd:element name="Data1Field" minOccurs="0"
maxOccurs="unbounded" type="tns:field"/>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:complexType name="field">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="Name" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:choice>
<xsd:element name="BinValue" type="xsd:base64Binary"/>
<xsd:element name="StringValue" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="DateValue" type="xsd:date"/>
<xsd:element name="NumericValue" type="xsd:decimal"/>
</xsd:choice>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:schema>

And the output schema:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
targetNamespace="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/outputXmlSchema"
xmlns:tns="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/outputXmlSchema"
elementFormDefault="qualified">
<xsd:element name="Sample" type="tns:SampleType"/>
<xsd:complexType name="SampleType">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="Result" type="xsd:short"/>
<xsd:element name="Message" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0"/>
<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:element name="ID1" maxOccurs="unbounded"
type="xsd:long"/>
<xsd:element name="Data1" type="tns:Data1Type"/>
</xsd:choice>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:complexType name="Data1Type">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="FirstName" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="LastName" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="MiddleName" minOccurs="0"
type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="BirthDate" minOccurs="0" type="xsd:date"/>
<xsd:element name="Data2Field" minOccurs="0"
maxOccurs="unbounded" type="tns:field"/>
<xsd:element name="ID" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1"
type="xsd:long"/>
<xsd:element name="Data1Field" minOccurs="0"
maxOccurs="unbounded" type="tns:field"/>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:complexType name="field">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="Name" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:choice>
<xsd:element name="BinValue" type="xsd:base64Binary"/>
<xsd:element name="StringValue" type="xsd:string"/>
&       <xsd:element name="DateValue" type="xsd:date"/>
<xsd:element name="NumericValue" type="xsd:decimal"/>
</xsd:choice>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:schema>

The output schema is a proper sub-set of the input in that all it's elements match elements of the input, however some input elements are not present in the output. ID2 for example my occur in the input, but not in the output. In addition, the output and the input have different target namespaces.

The following trivial BPEL will be used for these example:

The following Assign operation is setup initially:

This runs fine, and appears to copy input data to the output as needed. For example consider the following input.

<soapenv:Body> <inp:Sample> <inp:Result>1</inp:Result> <inp:Message>Hello</inp:Message> <inp:Data1> <inp:FirstName>Steve</inp:FirstName> <inp:LastName>Austin</inp:LastName> <inp:Data1Field> <inp:Name>One</inp:Name> <inp:StringValue>One String</inp:StringValue> </inp:Data1Field> <inp:Data1Field> <inp:Name>Two</inp:Name> <inp:NumericValue>365</inp:NumericValue> </inp:Data1Field> </inp:Data1> </inp:Sample>

And this resulting output.

<ns1:Sample xmlns:inp="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/inputXmlSchema" xmlns:msgns="http://j2ee.netbeans.org/wsdl/operationWSDL" xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:ns1="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/outputXmlSchema"> <inp:Result>1</inp:Result> <inp:Message>Hello</inp:Message> <inp:Data1> <inp:FirstName>Steve</inp:FirstName> <inp:LastName>Austin</inp:LastName> <inp:Data1Field> <inp:Name>One</inp:Name> <inp:StringValue>One String</inp:StringValue> </inp:Data1Field> <inp:Data1Field> <inp:Name>Two</inp:Name> <inp:NumericValue>365</inp:NumericValue> </inp:Data1Field> </inp:Data1> </ns1:Sample>

All the data is there, however the namespace in the out output is that of the input, "http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/inputXmlSchema". A conventional unmarshaller, constructed using the output schema, applied to this data will result in an empty structure because this message contains no data in the output name space.

How to copy the data into the output namespace? The data must be copied at the leaf level. Consider the following updated Assign operation.

This fails.

<SOAP-ENV:Fault>
<faultcode>SOAP-ENV:Server</faultcode>
<faultstring>BPCOR-6135:A fault was not handled in the process
scope; Fault Name is
{http://docs.oasis-open.org/wsbpel/2.0/process/executable}selectionFailure;
Fault Data is null. Sending errors for the pending requests in the process scope before terminating the process instance</faultstring>
<faultactor>sun-bpel-engine</faultactor>
<detail>
<detailText>BPCOR-6135:A fault was not handled in the process scope; Fault Name is
{http://docs.oasis-open.org/wsbpel/2.0/process/executable}selectionFailure;
Fault Data is null. Sending errors for the pending requests in the process scope before terminating the process instance
Caused by: I18N: BPCOR-3025: Selection Failure occurred in
BPEL({http://enterprise.netbeans.org/bpel/BpelModule1/BPELProcess}BPELProcess)
at line 30!
BPCOR-6129:Line Number is 20
BPCOR-6130:Activity Name is Assign1</detailText>
</detail>
</SOAP-ENV:Fault>

The problem is that Data1 can not be copied in this way. It must be copied at the leaf level. What's more the input, above, does not include an instance of ID1. Removing the assignments of Data1 and ID1, and re-running the above input works however, even though Data1 elements are
no longer created in the output:

First, how to copy ID1 as a leaf, when it may or may not exist? One way is to test its existence in an if construct and copy it conditionally, but with complex data this really is not practical. A better way is to set "Ignore Missing From Data" to "yes" on Assign1. First, add an assignment
of the ID1 node to Assign1. Next, in the BPEL builder, go to design mode and select the Assign operation. In the Navigator view, select the assignment of ID1. You can tell which one it is by looking at the properties view.

In the properties view, change "Ignore Missing From Data" to "yes". Here is what the resulting BPEL source will look like:

<assign name="Assign1">
<copy>
<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Result</from>
<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Result</to>
</copy>
<copy>
<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Message</from>
<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Message</to>
</copy>
<copy ignoreMissingFromData="yes">
<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:ID1</from>
<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:ID1</to>
</copy>
</assign>

The service now runs without error and ID1 will only appear in the output if it occurs in the input. Getting Data1 copied requires a bit more work. Firstly, if Data1 was defined to only occur once. Then assigning each leaf element inside Data1 would work, provided that these assignments where all set to "Ignore Missing From Data". The "Ignore Missing From Data" setting would be needed because Data1 includes optional elements, so not all its possible elements will exist. Since Data1 elements can occur multiple times, a loop construct is needed. This example will use a ForEach with a second Assign. To accomplish this, the ForEach and the
second Assign are added using the BPEL editor. Next, predicates are added to Data1 on both the input and the output. The predicate is the ForEach counter variable. Lastly the ForEach is set to loop from 1 to the count of Data1 nodes in the input. The second Assign copies Data1 elements and needs to have ignoreMissingFromData="yes" on the copies for its optional
fields. Nested complex elements DataField1 and DataField2 are left off the assignment for now.

The resulting assingment will work even though some fields no not exist in the input. Those fields will only appear in the output if they occur in the input. Here is the ForEach source.

<finalCounterValue>count($OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Data1)</finalCounterValue>
<scope name="Scope1">
<assign name="Assign2">
<copy ignoreMissingFromData="yes">

<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns0:FirstName</from>

<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns1:FirstName</to>
</copy>
<copy ignoreMissingFromData="yes">

<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns0:LastName</from>

<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns1:LastName</to>
</copy>
<copy ignoreMissingFromData="yes">

<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns0:MiddleName</from>

<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns1:MiddleName</to>
</copy>
<copy ignoreMissingFromData="yes">

<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns0:BirthDate</from>

<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns1:BirthDate</to>
</copy>
<copy ignoreMissingFromData="yes">

<from>$OperationWSDLOperationIn.part1/ns0:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns0:ID</from>

<to>$OperationWSDLOperationOut.part1/ns1:Data1[$ForEach1Counter]/ns1:ID</to>
</copy>
</assign>
</scope>
</forEach>

The output created from the same input used above now includes a Data1 element. Because of the loop, more than one Data1 would be copied if more than one was provided in the input.

<ns1:Sample xmlns:msgns="http://j2ee.netbeans.org/wsdl/operationWSDL" xmlns:ns1="http://xml.netbeans.org/schema/outputXmlSchema"> <ns1:Result>1</ns1:Result> <ns1:Message>Hello</ns1:Message> <ns1:Data1> <ns1:FirstName>Steve</ns1:FirstName> <ns1:LastName>Austin</ns1:LastName> </ns1:Data1> </ns1:Sample>

Data1's included name/value pair, Data1Field is ignored in Assign2. Data1Field has a required name, and a choice construct for data of several types. Choice constructs can be handled exactly like elements that may occur zero times - with leaf level Assign operations having ignoreMissingFromData="yes". Since Data1 may include zero to many Data1Field instances, this assignment must occur in a loop construct similar to the one above. This is left as an exercise for the reader.

House Music - Mediatomb and PS3, Again

2008-12-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

My Mediatomb install on Fedora never has worked correctly. All the reading I did it about just convinced me that no one seemed to have the same problems or questions I did. So I took an old computer and put Ubuntu 8.10 on it. Ubuntu has a Mediatomb that can be installed with apt-get, all ready to go (mostly).

First of all, I think one of the reason playlists didn't work for me was that, since I wasn't sure which would work better, I had both a pls and a m3u file with the same base name. I think this wasn't working well, not sure.... When I added a small m3u file, alone, it worked fine. Mediatomb created a new "playlist" section, and the PS3 could play it. I had not seen that before.

Given that, I went ahead and set Mediatomb to work scanning the full artist/album directories. This takes a long time (on the computer I used). Meanwhile, I was also able to add a few more, small, playlists.

I used fapg to create m3u files from the plain path/file lists out of my old database:

fapg -f m3u -s <> files.m3u

And they worked!

This step was important because what I had were just lists of files. I found that when the PS3 plays a playlist is displays information from the extended tags in the m3u file, not from the MP3 file tags (when playing by artist or album, the PS3 displays the MP3 tag data, however). I don't know if Mediatomb or the PS3 is deciding this, but I couldn't find any other jukebox software that would read in my list and save off a m3u file with extended information in the m3u file, from the MP3 tags. This in spite of the fact that all the programs I tried (three or four, there are a lot these days) would display the MP3 tag information on loading a simple file list... fapg saves the day. Converting a plain list to m3u with fapg causes it to read the MP3 tags and add the extended information to the resulting playlist file. Nice.

Here's a few observations and questions I still have about the Mediatomb/PS3 combination.

1. It seems to scan and run well up to some point. Then scanning and the response times at the web application and on the PS3 slow down dramatically, to the point of getting timeouts.

2. Large playlists, completely added on Mediatomb, do not appear all at once one the PS3. If I browse into a list, I get just 30 or 40 entries at first. More entries show up in bursts every few seconds after that. If I exit that list, and browse back, it picks up where it left off, but if I start playing the list, it only plays the tracks that had been listed so far. I hope it doesn't have to do that everytime the PS3 is restarted. Perhaps a more powerful server would resolve this. So for, it's been doing this while still scanning the full volume so that is a factor.

3. I added m3u files to Mediatomb with an add operation, not with a timed scan of the playlist directory. The later is what I want, but I'm not sure it works. I did try adding the directory with a scan, but the playlists were not created. Again, performance constraints may be a factor. Also, it takes a really long time to do this with larger lists so I'm not sure it's practical. How will I create, load and play dynamic lists? Say from a search result in other software?

4. The folks on the Mediatomb forum are responsive and helpful.

5. Mediatomb works great for photos.

One last thing. I was running Mediatomb two ways; one using init.d and one just at the command line, separate databases. While adding m3u files using the instance started at the command line, but not while doing the timed scan, I'd see this quite a bit on the console:

TagLib: MPEG::Header::parse() -- Invalid sample rate.

Many of my CDs are encoded with a variable bitrate, so that's probably the explanation. The error does not impact the ability to play the files at all, as far as I can tell.

When all's said and done, I can now listen to my playlists. But there's still a lot of missing functionality to be figured out - better searching and browsing, dynamicly created playlists, effective and scheduled rescanning, streams, and tracking what's played - all things my old system does. I am however, most sure that the Mediatomb/PS3 combination can be part of the solution.

Shoe

2008-12-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

Best shoe throwing video ever.

Closing

2008-12-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/10/office-depot-closing-112-locations/

Office Depot is closing 9% of their North American stores. They're just the latest... I bet this is the beginning of the end of the rediculous level of retail we've seen grow up over the past decade. Suburbs all the country are going to be littered with empty big-boxes that never should have been built in the first place.

Science

2008-12-12T08:46:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/12/oz_dementia_sarcasm_study/

"Australian scientists studying illnesses of the brain believe that an inability to detect when someone is being sarcastic is a symptom of dementia."

Oh, ya sure, THAT's going to work, right, WHAT EVER..... They'll probably discover that irony actually causes mental illness, then where will be be?

"The AFP reporters apparently asked Hodges whether the test would still work on "people from countries not renowned for their appreciation of sarcasm or irony".

"Apparently he believed the test "could be modified".

PC Power Saving

2008-12-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBase, source unknownhttp://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F12%2F1347200

"...most organizations remain behind the times on PC power management, in large part due to common misperceptions about PC power, writes InfoWorld's Ted Samson, who outlines five PC power myths debunked in a recent report from Forrester, ranging from the energy savings of screen savers, to the energy draw of powering up, to the difficulties of issuing patches to systems in lower-power states."

This week I finally gave up and disabled the power saving modes on my Windows computer at work. Why? Because Windows simply can't do it. I was just plain tired of having to hold down the power button for a hard shut down twice a week or so when Windows could not manage to come back from a power saving mode. And then, who knows what would be lost or corrupted, and I'd have to not only reboot, but restart everything I'm using (a 20-30 minute process).

At home I have all Linux-based machines that have used power saving modes just fine for many years. And a second computer at work running a Linux that also does this just fine, thanks. These machines I don't even think about.

Wii Again?

2008-12-08T07:26:00.000-08:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylifehttp://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE4B608520081207

"The Wii has emerged as one of the most sought-after gifts this holiday season, which has otherwise been lamented for a lack of new and hot products.

"On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which marks the start of holiday shopping, the Wii was the most searched-for product on the Yahoo Shopping site. It was also the most popular product on eBay, with 3,171 of the consoles selling for an average price of $349 that day."

The Wii is what, three years old now? And Nintendo still has not figured out that maybe they should, oh I don't know, make more of them? I don't get it.

WholeFoods Shopping Humor

2008-12-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=50028

"Mom, just hang out around here. I'll go up there and check on my Thanksgiving order. Don't wander off."

" 'DON'T WANDER OFF.' What?! I'm not a child. I'll wander off if I want to."

"You'll get lost."

"No I won't."

.....

[cell ring]

"I'm lost."

Netbeans Project File Madness

2008-12-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaFor the longest time one of my Netbeans targets was haunted by a component that I had long ago removed and moved to a different project. What would happen, a lot, is builds would suddenly fail with a message like this:

[ERROR] file:/C:/MyProject/EJBs/src/conf/xml-resources/web-services/ThatEJB/wsdl/ThatEJB.wsdl is unreachable

Failed to parse the WSDL.
C:\MyProject\EJBs\nbproject\jaxws-build.xml:112: wsimport failed

This was in spite of the fact that I had removed the target using the IDE, as "by the book" as possible. It should have cleaned up its target references, but obviously did not, and it just wouldn't let go.

What I had to do was open up C:\MyProject\EJBs\nbproject\jaxws-build.xml and remove all the references to the ThatEJB target. I had to do this once a week or so in fact, as the jaxws-build.xml file sometimes gets rebuilt (I don't know what triggers this rebuild, it doesn't seem to happen all the time).

I finally found the true source of the reference. I had to edit this file:

C:\MyProject\EJBs\nbproject\jax-ws.xml

This file contains an XML block for, it seems, each EJB, including ThatEJB. I completely removed that particular XML block. Problem solved.

Context Roots for EAR Files in Glassfish

2008-12-05T09:06:00.001-08:00

Image by UniqueOo Mania via FlickrAfter deploying a Java Enterprise Archive (EAR) file to a few different Glassfish instances, I found that the context root of an Enterprise Java Bean (EJB) in the application varied from server to server. It took awhile to determine how Netbeans and Glassfish set this part of the URL - although I still don't know why the (default?) paths varied.

It turns out that when using an EAR file, it doesn't matter what you put in the WSDL, in web.xml, or in sun-web.xml. The context root is controled instead by application.xml. In Netbeans, right-click on the enterprise application (EA) project, and select new and “Standard Deployment Descriptor”. This will create an application.xml file, in the project, based on your current web.xml. This application.xml file can be edited to set the context root.

When using a WAR file, the context root is controled by the usual deployment descriptor, as one might expect. An easy why to set a WAR file's context root, after deployment, is through the Glassfish server administration console. Go to "Applications" and "WebApplications" (on the left side of the administration page), click on the name of your application and you’ll be able to change the "Context Root" option. Then click “Save”.

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