Teknovis

I used this Java Service Wrapper this morning to load a Java Application (in the form of a JAR) as a Windows XP service!

The process was very straightforward, and it worked perfectly first time!

Tags: Java, Windows XP

I have a friend who visited Ted Johnson’s shop today, because she wanted to buy a new pair of Crocs. Apparently, this shop has the largest range of Crocs in Ireland :o

While she was wandering around the shop she received a Bluetooth message informing her that if she showed the message to the checkout assistance then she would get a discount! So she got the Crocs that she wanted, and she was delighted to get a novel discount! She is wondering why more shops do not do this, especially in busy areas. Clearly, she does not feel it is a form of spaming!

Anyway, well done to Ted Johnson :)

Tags: Bluetooth

I have been doing some work with Quartz this week to develop an application that needs to schedule tasks. Quartz provides a very nice way of doing this that is independent of the operating system.

Unfortunately, I had some difficulty getting the example applications to run because I kept getting some general exceptions (that I cannot remember now).

The problem was that I had not included either commons-collections-3.2.jar or commons-logging-1.1.jar in my classpath!

It took me quite a while to discover that :(

Tags: Java, Quartz

Over the weekend I noticed that Blacknight has updated the control panel. In particular, it now includes a new file manager!

The old control panel linked to an independent file manager that was not integrated with the control panel. It was very basic :|

The new file manager is completely integrated into the control panel, and it is far easier to use! However, the best thing about it is that it operates over port 80/443. This means that I can use the new file manager behind my restricted firewall!

Brilliant!

Tags: Blacknight

I used WURFL (Wireless Universal Resource FiLe) during the week for the first time. Specifically, I was using WALL (Wireless Abstraction Library – I think!)!

I was really impressed by how simple it made designing a site to support multiple types of mobile devices!

Tags: WURFL

I recently tried to avail of a Kellogg’s promotion. The promotion involved collecting 3 unique numbers from 3 different cereal boxes, entering these number online, and then printing a voucher for the free box of cereal.

It all sounded wonderfully simple, but it turned out to be a disaster! In fairness, it is not all Kellogg’s fault, because it chose two other companies to fulfil the promotion. Coinks was responsible for redeeming the collected numbers, and converting them into rewards. Couponstar was responsible for providing the printable vouchers. It is really this company that I am faulting!

In theory this should be a very simple process. Simply generate a PDF file that the user can download and print. However, Couponstar take a very different approach to this simple task. Its motivation is that it prevents users from printing the same coupon multiple times. It appears that this company has never heard of a photocopier!

Therefore, the complex process that I had to follow was:

1. I tried to avail of the offer from my house, but I was unsuccessful because Firefox and Ubuntu are not supported :(
2. I used another computer, and then discovered that virtual printers are not supported (I was trying to print to a PDF file).
3. I went back to my Ubuntu computer and started a virtual machine in VMware. Virtual machines are not supported either :(
4. I then tried to avail of the offer from a Windows computer in work. The application downloaded and installed. It then displayed a message saying that my vouchers would be printed shortly. The only problem was that it did not specify on which of the company printers (in separate parts of the building) my vouchers would be printed!
5. Ultimately, it did not print on any of them. Perhaps this is because the software could not communicate with the server, because it never asked me to specify my proxy settings!

At this stage I gave up!

I have written a letter of complaint to Kellogg’s :o Unfortunately, I had to send it using a form on its Contact Us web page. I wish that the email address was listed there so that I could use my favourite email client instead of having to use a small text area :(

I will update this blog if I get a response from Kellogg’s.

Tags: Firefox, Ubuntu, VMware

I was searching for something today relating to .mobi domains, and I saw an interesting list on a side panel of the page I was reading. The heading stated something like New .mobi Sites, and it then listed about 10 sites. The one that caught my attention was mobilporn.mobi (This is NOT suitable for viewing in work)!

I do not know if there is already a huge number of pornography web sites that are specially designed for mobile devices. It would not surprise me if there were!

Pornography is always associated with the seedy side of the Internet. However, it is worth remembering that pornography web sites were making money on the Internet long before any other web sites! So, to a certain extent, they are trend setters!

Tags: Pornography

I bought a Dell Inspiron 10v last week because I was really impressed with its weight and size. It came with some version of Windows XP, but I removed this and I installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 instead. I decided to try this because I liked the user interface, and I thought that it might extend my battery life.

Everything appeared to installed correctly, except the display driver :( The maximum resolution that I can specify is 800×576. However, the 10v has a native resolution of 1024×576!

This is driving me mad! I posted a comment on the Ubuntu form (see Ubuntu Netbook Remix Display Resolution on Dell Inspiron 10v), but I have not got any responses yet :( I would love to know if anybody has got a 10v to work at this resolution! At least then I would know it is possible!

Unfortunately, if I do not find a solution soon I will have to revert to Windows :(

I will keep my blog updated with any progress that I make.

Tags: Dell, Ubuntu, Windows XP

I just heard this afternoon that a friend of mine has recently launched a new company called Glorsoft. In the company’s own words…

Glorsoft is a leading software company focused on the development of .NET based IVR and Voice Application development tools.

Our goal is to simplify telephony programming to the extent that any .NET developer can create voice applications without the need to learn any new skills.Velocity 2.0 is our flagship development toolkit.

I hope that this new venture experiences great success!

Tags: .NET, Glorsoft

A friend told me about this lovely graphic depicting the acquisitions and investments made by Amazon.

Amazon Acquisitions and Investments

Tags: Amazon