Tech Me Here

How That IT Job Can Kill You

2008-10-02T08:33:00.000+08:00

I read an interesting article about "How IT Job Wears Your Body Down" and I decided to change the title a bit because I think IT Jobs can kill people. It may sound pessimistic but I feel that my job is killing me slowly, where I draw this pleasure of being the masochistic slave worker.

Maybe someday, I will need to switch jobs. Maybe I can take up waitressing jobs or cleaning building windows for my next career \but I need to recover from my future Musculoskeletal disorders.

To read this article, go to : http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/151763-1/how_that_it_job_wears_your_body_down.html

Away For A Few Days And Back

2008-08-16T21:40:00.000+08:00

It has been a couple of days since I got back from Manila. Despite of my short-lived vacation, I am happy that I did fly up to see my family and Ate Desi who came all the way from Australia. I also met up with some of my very good friends and felt guilty that I never had enough time to visit some more of them. If I can only extend my 24 hours into days to make sure I have seen and reconnected to all family and friends I left behind.

While relishing the remain of my days in Manila, I can't help but miss the kind of life I had before going overseas. I met with Honey and Cha one Saturday and walked into a nail parlor to have my pedicure done, which I have done for the longest time. The one who did my nails just loved all the stories I've been telling her. For the first time in a long time, I felt so relaxed enjoying this laid-back lifestyle in Manila. I started remembering my old routines: usual dinner and gimmicks with friends, inuman on Friday nights, coffee on Saturdays, beauty day every other week, shopping, figuring out how to fill my schedule for weekdays and weekends. I miss how I took good care of myself and live that quality kind of life I have always enjoyed.

Living here on the other hand felt so different. For one thing, the kind of service that I get around here is not at par with the kind of experience I had in Manila. I never seem to connect with the people who does my nails, hair, food or whatever. My time is consumed mostly with work. I kept bring home proposals and demos to finish. I signed up to gym which I never go to because I never had enough time or energy to exercise. Acid churns in my stomach because of stress. Life here is entirely different than what I had back home.

But strange enough, I'm getting used to this kind of toxicness. I found this sense of self worth that has somehow left me satisfied and clamoring for more challenges. Manila maybe home sweet home but here in Singapore is somehow my self realisation of what I am capable with. And if I can prove to myself that I can make it in this city, I guess I can make it anywhere.

You've Been Hanging around With Computers for So Long when....

2008-05-12T15:41:00.000+08:00

Who amongst you have ever used a 5 1/4" floppy drive in school? I have used both low density and high density floppy disks. I even lock them by sticking a black sticker on the right hand side to prevent it from getting a virus.

I used to do some basic programming, word processing using Wordstar and spreadsheets using Lotus 1-2-3.

Back then, you have to know the commands to go around with MS-DOS. There was no Windows XP nor Vista. Windows 3.1 was just emerging and it definitely wowed me when I learned how to play solitaire with a mouse.

There was also a time when I used microprocessors to access my email and chat programs. Internet usage used to be text based using Lynx programs. Multi-user dungeons were the MMPORG games of today. Only it is command-line based gaming which requires a good pair of eyes, fast typing skills and a vivid imagination.

Monitors back then were either gray or green. If you manage to have colored monitor, sikat ka na. You can play pacman, Digdug, centiped and alleycat on those 386x machines when you are bored.

You would know when you have been hanging around with computers long enough when you tell all these stories and they would say "I never experienced those kind of things".

Sharepoint: Office Communication 2007 Licensing for Presence and IM

2008-04-16T10:01:00.000+08:00

For the past few days, I've been working on Sharepoint licensing schemes for a customer who is still using Microsoft Office 2000.

As you all know, Office Communicator 2007 is conveniently bundled with Microsoft Office 2007. However, I do not think it would be necessary for my customer to upgrade their whole Office Suite to get the Office Communicator for free.

I was able to find out that Microsoft is offering a stand-alone licensing for Office Communicator 2007 that can only do IM. However, if you want voice over ip and video conferencing, you need to package in Office Communication Server 2007 and user CALS to make it work.

Fortunately, my customer can do away with the VOIP and conferencing feature (less headache for me to include this in my capacity planning woes which I will tell in another time). But he wants online presence in Sharepoint and IM. No problem. Bundle all three of them: Office Communicator 2007 license with Office Communication Server 2007 and Standard User CALS. You can setup this up in a single server and with proper hardware sizing, it can support up to 5,000 online users.

Inspiration from a 50mm

2008-03-20T19:43:00.000+08:00

I've always wanted to take a shot at portraiture. After getting tired of making do with my kit lenses, I have pondered of buying my first portrait lens.

There are two types of portrait lenses that I'm choosing from: a 50mm and an 85 mm. Both lenses comes with f1.4 and f1.8. My first experience with a portrait lens is with a 50mm and I liked how creamy and bright the background even at night when you only have light fixtures in the room as source for ambient lighting. But an 85mm gives me more zoom and nice DOF while keeping some comfortable space between the camera and the subject.

As for the price, 85mm proves to be much more expensive than the 50mm but if I wanted wider angles, I can easily pick up a 50mm and maximize the aperture for poorly lit subjects.

The list of pros and cons goes on and on until I found a winner. Thanks to this flicker site of sweethobbes. Most of his photographs are taken using 50mm f1.4. He is using a Canon though which can have some technical difference with my Nikon but I believe the concept is all the same.

Also, Ken Rockwell approves of this. Even if there is no stark difference between its brother 50mm f1.8, I would rather get lenses that can do low-lit photography and daylight at the same time even it is worth 3 times the price of f1.8 (50mm f1.4 AF costs SGD 450++ btw).

Time to tighten the belt and save up for this baby.

Sneak Peek at Visual Studio.Net 2008

2008-03-06T20:14:00.000+08:00

Signed up for a sneak preview of the face off between VS.Net 2008 and SQL Server 2008 with a special segment on Microsoft Performance Point.

Imagine this, multi-framework support, improved intellisense, WPF (windows presentation foundation) support for ASP.Net, improved Java-scripting debugging, better emulation for Mobile apps development (can even emulate PDA phones on empty battery) are one of the cool things to check out in VS.Net 2008.

Earlier on, there was a demo Performance Point which is a glorified user friendly interface for BI. As my colleague would put it, why bother pay for Performance point when you can actually do it with SQL Server Analysis services + Sharepoint. Also, the page loads very slow even for a demo machine.

I didn't make it to the SQL Server 2008 preview as I have to step out of the room to attend to something urgent. But I was told that T-SQL queries comes with intellisense. Hehehe. So is this goodbye to SQL Server Books Online?

3AM and Can't Still F*cking Sleep

2008-02-06T22:17:00.000+08:00

"Gong Xi Gooong Xi Goooooong...."

This silly hymn of the CNY still kept ringing in my mind.

Later at 9am, I am heading towards the nearest Shop N' Save to buy ingredients for the pasta, which i'm bringing to Claire's All Pinoy CNY Party. I still have yet to decide if I want to toss in the Del Monte Pinoy style spaghetti sauce, hot-dog and the corned beef that I have surreptitiously brought here for the sake of my taste-buds. Who can resist Pinoy style spaghetti (or should I say spa-ketchup).

I'm so looking forward to be in a roomful of Filipinos speaking the same language, laughing at the same old Pinoy hirits and jokes, eating all those glorious Filipino food, Magic sing (I hope there is one) and of course, good old times.

But hey, do not be mistaken that I'm so excited in the party that I cannot sleep. I just can't sleep. Period. Zombified maybe because I cannot do post processing on my truckloads of unprocessed photos. But my eyes are still open wide like it is still daytime.

Maybe I'll try to cook something in the kitchen or do laundry then maybe I will drop on the floor and fall asleep. *blug*

Reminiscing Christmas At Home

2007-12-24T22:26:00.000+08:00

Christmas used to be my favorite holiday. I would prepare weeks before the big event for shopping lists, gift giving and never ending parties. It used to be one of the happiest time of the year to spend with my dear friends and loved ones.

But now, coming home in Manila for the holidays for the first time feels different. The fact that I'm broke for the holidays to afford buying gifts for my expectant inaanaks may have dampened my spirits. Also, all the initial holiday party has already gone before I arrived in Manila and I had to fit my schedule for family reunions, barkada get-together and meeting some friends, who I hope would have still remembered me.

I miss the old times. I miss the happy times when I go home 3am in the morning, drunk and happy. I miss the Friday group meeting every Friday in the bar for a round of drinks but those guys are gone already, living their own lives. I miss the high school barkada, chatting in circles about nonsense under the moon at 19 East. I miss the shopping spree in the tiangge with Dhez and Doodle and laughing out loud while being our own wacky selves. I miss the christmas hampers, paluwagan and 13th month pay while I was working in Thomson. I miss the gift giving with the WebDev team and the secret santas. I miss the hustle and bustle of the city due to the holiday season.

Yes, those were happy happy times. But now, things have changed and I cannot relive doing those happy things like I used to.

The only thing that kept the light of the holiday spirit in me is the things that matters the most for me: spending it with loved ones and dearest friends who I have missed after I was gone.

Sniff. Tahan na. Uhog mo tumutulo na.

Latest Readings

2007-10-01T05:31:00.000+08:00

A lot of books has been lined up for me to read:

Wilbur Smith - a colleague of mine has recommended and even lent me hardbound copies of two of his favorite novels Warlock and The Seventh Scroll. Since this is a different flavour than the fantasy and quirky chic literature that I've been perusing lately, I don't mind taking Epic African adventure novels and see if it is worth the read
Robin Cook - my heart stopped while I was reading one of his best-sellers Coma. The same colleague lent me this equally huge book Chromosome 6. So I might as well read also.
Susan Elizabeth Philips - my current addiction after the Sophie Kinsella's shopaholic series. What can I say, chick literature has always been my guilty pleasure.
David Eddings - After reading the first two books of his Elenium series, I have yet to find the third and final novel The Diamond Throne. Will Sparhawk save Queen Ehlana? I'm already on the edge my seat dying to know despite its predictable ending.

Real Magic on IPhone.

2007-06-30T17:20:00.000+08:00

Oo nga! Magic nga!

How To Be Happy

2007-06-30T16:54:00.000+08:00

I got this from Che-Ann, Jojo's little sister. Here's to something inspirational.

----------------------------------------

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed
each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and
shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing
home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move
necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home,
he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual
description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been
hung on his window.
"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having
just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is
something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is
arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I
can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts
of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for
the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll
focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just
for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw
from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot
of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in
filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

My First Idle Time In Singapore

2007-05-12T14:21:00.000+08:00

Today is actually my first idle time after one and a half months of pushing myself to work. Seriously, life has been hectic for me since I got here and I always find something pending for me to do. I was like a work horse.

But now when my baby project is about to close and just shy from two more launches next week, I have time in my hands at my disposal.

And the first order of business to spend my idle time with, watch Heroes online.

It has been weeks since I last watched the series. The last one I watched is before they went on a hiatus. I've been getting offers from a friend and my boss on two separate occasions of sending me a copy of episode 19. But instead of graciously accepting it, I snubbed at the opportunity, for the simple reason that I had more important things to do.

And now when I need my heroes fix the most, asan sila?!?! Joke.

Next order of business, watching telenovelas in the TFC channel. Though these episodes are replays from last night's primetime, Philippine drama never fails to amaze me. Now with the new telenovela of Claudine and Piolo, I think I have another reason to become a couch potato.

All this time, I was trying to boil water from the teapot for our drinking water. But I was so engrossed at watching, I completely forgot about it that when I got back after an hour, the water is about half of the kettle already.

Mahusay. Nasunugan ako ng tubig. Pathetic.

Now I have to find something else to do. Maybe cook dinner or clean my toilet.

Flying Back on Tuesday

2007-03-11T13:18:00.001+08:00

In 3 days, I will be officially an OFW.

Due to my uber speedy processing of my work permit/employment pass in Singapore, I was compelled to pay and rebook my ticket back to Manila from Sunday Midnight to Wednesday midnight.

Even my friends here were suprised to know that the in-principle approval letter and medical exam appointment was processed 3 days after my company passed it to Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Now I have to wait for the results on Monday and go to MOM to file for my Employment Pass card. Once I get it, I still have to go to the Philippine Embassy to process my medicard and Overseas Exit Certificate.

I haven't told my boss yet about my pending absence this Monday. In case some of you chanced upon being asked about my whereabouts, tell him I was out sick. Hehehehe!

Encounters of The "AnapsKind

2007-03-03T13:13:00.001+08:00

Where Do We Go From Here?

2007-01-13T03:34:00.001+08:00

Lately, there has been a number of people who have left the company if not the country and somehow I feel sad for my loss of good friends I can hang out with and called on to when I just need someone to talk to.

As you know last year, my best friend Dhez has left for the States to be with her family. After that, music buddy Dennis will follow suit in LA after finding a greener pasture where he can chew some top grade american grass. Then followed by my friend and colleague, Mike, who will be moving on to another company by end of this month.

On the family side, a cousin has already moved to Singapore for work and another cousin will be migrating to New Zealand with his family for a better life in April. And another cousin on the mum side is moving to Butuan where her husband's business is based.

People has moved on, seeking a better life but what about me? Should I wait until nobody else is left here?

Five years ago, my mindset is the same as the rest of these guys who have moved on to another country. But now after experiencing a real life and real people who has always been there through thick or thin, I think I am starting to take root and not considering of taking the big move to another country.

However my Mom has been nagging me on migrating elsewhere but I am still reluctant to take that big step. Life is always better here at home. But should my life stop here? What if I am meant to do other things? To be honest, I cannot imagine my life here in the next five years given the lack of opportunities and my disappointment in the system. Our system is run by thieving politcians vested in power to indulge in their own interest: remain in power for personal gain. And what is stopping me from keep my bile within the confines of my own gut is that I will never find the people I have grown to love and hang out with even the toughest times when I needed them the most.

So given my indecisiveness, I have entirely relied on fate to let things happen on me. If an opportunity comes, I'll take it.

But waiting can be tiring sometimes.

A friend of mine told me that things will not happen if I didn't want to make it happen. And there is a certain truth about that. If I make things happen and take my fate in my own hands and decide where I want to go, maybe I will get elsewhere except here.

So where should I go from here?

The Year That Was

2006-12-31T15:28:00.001+08:00

Today is the last day of the year and its time to reflect of the events that has transpired for this year. The following are the things that has happened in my life this year and most of them will most likely remain in the past:

I lost 30 lbs after working out in the gym for 7 consecutive months

I have fallen and lost in love with one of the people I thought who was worthy. I still don't have any regrets but wishing that someone would put a bullet in his head for being such an ass.

I have gone to Laiya, Boracay, Baguio and Laguna for a time out from my usual routine.

I have ridden a bike again and got over my phobia after my accident two years ago.

A very dear friend has left for the States

Posting N-number of Ways with Multiply

2006-11-25T16:16:00.001+08:00

I can cross-post to Blogger and Livejournal, in n-number of ways. Yay!

All you need to do is to go to when you add a post in your multiply blog, go at the bottom part of the page where you will find the "Add Blog From" section and select from any of the blogging services.

Then when multiply asks you to login your blogging service username and password, make sure that crossposting option checkbox is checked.

After that, import the entries. Soon after, whenever you post in multiply, options for cross-posting is available at your disposal.

Starbx.com

2006-11-25T12:31:00.001+08:00

I will be posting for starbx.com. It's a site for Pinoy Coffee culture scene on fancy coffee shops particularly Starbucks. Migs amazingly found the url still free despite of its name. I hope Starbucks would buy it from him 100,000 times its worth, haha!

So from time to time, I'll be posting regarding Starbucks coffee opinions and other coffee experiences probably bash a few if I find an opportunity.

PinoyTechScene Is Back and Other WhatNots

2005-10-20T22:12:00.000+08:00

If I didn't visit Clair Ching's blog and click on the PinoyTechScene, I wouldn't know that the original site is back online instead of having it point to Pinoy.Tech.Blog. I haven't even cleaned out the cobwebs in my tech site.

I am busy with my new ASP.Net project. I'm playing around with the web controls. Nifty stuff really. Allows you to do Rapid Application Development for web applications. With the use of web controls you can do event-driven validation whether server or client site and even data binding in minutes which can make you become the master of drag-and-drop technology instead of a real hardworking programmer.

Just the other day, Migs was telling me about Search Engine Optimization or SEO. At first, I thought it is something to do with building another search engine site like Yahoo! and Google. Hehehehe. Hindi pala! It is for making your site search-engine "friendlier" and get higher rankings when searched over the internet.

Will this make our favorite search engines more harm than good especially when it comes to accuracy? Maybe....if all of the websites would ethically optimize their contents according their target market. I think there is always potential for greedy traffic eaters to hog the rankings and delude the helpless visitor who thinks that what they went into contains everything except what they searched for. For the past weeks, I was comparing between my search hits in Yahoo and Google using the same keywords and for some reason Google seems to contain the stuff I'm looking for than Yahoo.

Maybe Yahoo should just stick with the freebie web mail, friendster-wannabe website and their messenger service while Google gets to run for their money.

Sun Microsystems are offering group discounts and we are forming a group of more than 11 to get 35% discount on all vouchers. If you are in Manila and wish to avail of the group discount c/o PinoyJUG, email me.

For those people who wish to take a stab at freelancing, check out Guru.com. It offers projects ranging from creative writing, programming and even typing. You just have to logon to the site and bid for the project. Going rate for creative writing projects goes as low as $3/page. A friend of mine actually have to compete with several Indian freelancers to win the bid. The only caveat is, you need to have a paypal account (which is not available in the Philippines and actually beaten by India for being one of the first to have it....grrrr), or at least someone who has a bank account in the US for guru.com to send money through escrow services.

Now PinoyTechScene is back, I'll be actively putting up some significant content before the dust starts to gather again.

2005-01-24T07:30:00.000+08:00

I've found one tutorial about Ruby on Rails. Perhaps it's worth checking it out.

http://www.onlamp.com/lpt/a/5546

2005-01-21T12:03:00.000+08:00

Helpful article on creating self-executing jars and best practices.

http://www.javalobby.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=15486&tstart=45

2005-01-19T14:08:00.000+08:00

I just finished my File Listener thread and created a startup servlet to instantiate it but couldn't get Tomcat to call it. When my colleague/in-house guru looked into my web.xml, I had my package to "dwnewsclient" instead of "dwnews". >:(

Lesson of the day: Wear those fokken glasses and never waste late nights alone working on something without somebody else to ask for help.

2005-01-12T11:42:00.000+08:00

Valuable resource for automated test tools for Java.

http://www.manageability.org/blog/stuff/open-source-automated-test-tools-written-in-java/view

Newbie guide to JDBC Connection using mysql jconnector and Eclipse

2005-01-10T14:28:00.000+08:00

When I voluntarily tasked myself to be responsible in automatically populating our development server with test accounts for a particular project, I realized that I don't know how to build a java app that accesses database from scratch. Unlike VB who has their class libraries included in the Visual Studio package, you have to hunt down for an ideal JDBC driver depending on your purpose. There are several drivers available on the internet depending on the kind of database you are working on. For this article, I'll be using mysql as my database.

This morning, I've found what I'm looking for. http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/j/3.1.html

I've download that packaged and extracted the mysql-connector-java-3.1.6-bin.jar file into my project folder. Then I've imported into my project library by clicking on Add JAR button in the Libraries tab under the Project>Properties.

Now that we have the mysql driver included in the project, we can start some coding.

To connect to the mysql database, you need to provide necessary information to connect to the database and put it in a connection string. The connection string for mySQL connector for java looks like this:


	jdbc:mysql://[your Server]/[your database]?user=[your user]&password=[your password]

for example:


	jdbc:mysql://localhost/Northwind?user=admin&password=admin

To find the mysql connector class:


	Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver");

Declaring on the import section may cause problems so this should suffice in the meantime if you need immediate access on the driver.

To activate connection to the mysql server using the connection string you have set, you use DriverManager.getConnection.


	conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url);

All in all, the code should look like this:


import java.sql.*;
     
public class simpleJDBCConnection{

	public static void main(String args[]) {
		  	
		String url = "jdbc:mysql://myServer/myDatabase?user=myUser&password=myPassword";
		Connection conn;
	
		try {
			Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"); 
	
		} catch(java.lang.ClassNotFoundException e) {
			System.err.print("ClassNotFoundException: ");
			System.err.println(e.getMessage());
		}	
	
		try {
			conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url);
                                    if (conn != null) 
                                         System.out.println("I can connect now.");
			conn.close();
	
		} catch(SQLException ex) {
			System.err.println("SQLException: " + ex.getMessage());
		}
	}
}

Now we are able to create a JDBC connection using mysql connector and myEclipse. You can put in your additional sql code for you own purposes.

In the meantime, I have to go back to my coding.

Trivia: Array in Java

2004-11-18T11:45:00.000+08:00

Little trivia on array declarations:

Did you know there is another way of declaring array declarations aside from the usual square brackets beside the type declaration? You can put the square brackets also beside the variable (or method if you are passing an array into it). Of course, this is discouraged for readability purposes but I just couldn't help toying it around for a bit.


public class ArraysTest {



  public static int passArray (int intArray[])[] {

		

    for (int i = 0; i <= intArray.length-1; i++) {

	System.out.println("this intArray[" + i + 

            "] still contains " + intArray[i]);

    }

		

    return intArray;

  }

	



  public static void main(String[] args) {

		

    int[] intArray;

    intArray = new int[10];

		

    for (int i = 0; i <= intArray.length-1; i++) {

        intArray[i] = i;

	System.out.println("intArray[" + i + 

           "] now contains " + intArray[i]);

    }

		

    //passing to a different array declaration		

    int newArray[] = passArray(intArray);

		

    for (int i=0; i <= newArray.length-1; i++) {

        if (newArray[i] == intArray[i])

	    System.out.println("newArray[" + i +

              "] value " + newArray[i] + 

              " = intArray[" + i + "] value "  + 

              intArray[i]);

	else 

	    System.out.println("newArray[" + i +

              "] value " + newArray[i] + 

              " <> intArray[" + i + "] value "  + 

              intArray[i]);

    }

		

  }



}

3650

2004-11-16T23:16:00.000+08:00

Toying my newly acquired second-hand 3650. Symbian OS is starting to grow on me. Should look for cheap 128MB MC cards to maximize functionality.... ;)

PDAs

2004-11-09T21:41:00.000+08:00

As much as I getting head over heals on O2's XDA II, I couldn't help oggle over the new ASUS MYPAL A730.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/4756.html
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118294,src,ov,00.asp

or better yet, wait for this one to come out in asia.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/n/5512.html

Dizzy with Assemblies

2004-10-31T17:29:00.000+08:00

As a start of my MCAD review series, I decided to tackle the concept of assemblies as this is one of the unknown points being covered in the 70-306 exam. However, having too many resources (using the Developing VS.Net Windows Applications using C# and Syngress VB.Net Developer's guide is not a really good combination trust me) started to contridict against each other. I eventually went to the MSDN site and settle the score between the two books.

Take my word for it. Thou shalt not use MS-PRESS publications for your certification needs unless you have adequate experience to understand the content and too lazy to browse MSDN. As for the Syngress explanation on assemblies, despite of the poor explanations and its organization of thoughts was a bit rugged on the edges, i can still find some truth in the content close to what i have seen in MSDN. Definitely not for newbies, trust me.

And there, I ended up using MSDN as my ultimate resource. Most of the certified professionals has vouched for using MSDN as their review material and passed the test with flying colors.

So what are assemblies?

Assemblies is the primary unit for every application deployed in .Net framework. This describes the code, resources and metdata to be used by the CLR (Common Language Runtime which is similar to JRE in Java) to interpret when executing the code.

The characteristics of assemblies are as follows:

Contains code with manifest
Assembly contains the MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate language which is the only language understood by CLR) compiled version of the code that will be interpreted by the CLR to run it. The list of types, dependent assemblies to be used are compiled in a file called assembly manifest. The assembly manifest will instruct the CLR what are the requirements to run the application.

Only has one entry point
An assembly will only have one and only one entry point. You can imagine it has having one main function to start your application, otherwise the compiler will complain.

Unit of side by side exection
Side by side execution is the ability to run mutiple versions of the application in the same machine at the same time. This enables to control which versions you want to run in the machine and this is one of the main reasons why strong names are built for assemblies. But honestly, I don't see why somebody would want to do this if they can just synchronize their code into one version and deploy that?

Type boundary
This will store the types in the memory within the scope of its assembly. It does not store the type as a single entity in the memory. I think this prevents accidental reference swapping.

Security boundary
Contains permissions set for the application.

Basic deployment unit
An assembly when deployed, only includes the assemblies that contains core functions. Other assemblies that can be retrieved on demand are left out and this keeps the assembly from being bloated as compared to an ordinary VB6 executable.

Reference Scope Boundary
It dictates what are the types that needed to be resolved and resources that needed to access. This also specifies which types that are exposed outside the assmebly and which other assemblies that depends on.

Version Boundary
it is the smallest versionable unit in CLR along with the types and resources, which also have their own versioning dog tagged in it.

There are two types of assemblies, static and dynamic. Static assemblies are stored in the disk that is needed in the application like .jpg, .bitmaps, etc. Dyanamic assemblies are stored in the memory and doesn't require any disk storage.

A static assmebly contains the ff:
1. assembly manifect
2. type metadata
3. MSIL that implements the types declared in the type metadata
4. set of resources to be used in the application

There are two ways to implement assemblies:
1. Single file assembly. All components are grouped into one single file (see figure below)

2. Multi-file assembly. Components can be divided into different files especially those that needed to be accessed remotely or downloaded on demand without being included in its deployment kit.

Like i said earlier, assmeblies contains an assembly manifest. An assembly manifest contains the assembly's metadata, which is a collection of data that describes how the all the assembly elements are related to each other.

MSDN enumerated the ff. functions done by a manifest:
1. Enumerates the files made up to form the assembly.
2. Resolve the references of types and resources that was mapped with the files with their declarations and implementations.
3. Enumerates which other assemblies it depends upon
4. Serves as a middle man between the consumers of the assembly (probably the CLR) and the assembly's implementation details.
5. Renders the assembly self-describing

Basic attribute classes the composes an assembly metadata can be found here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconassemblymanifest.asp?frame=true

Personality Traits of a Great Software Engineer

2004-10-30T23:07:00.000+08:00

Personally, I find this tad idealistic but couldn't hurt to make it as an example of becoming one.

-------------------------------------------------
http://www.jroller.com/page/J2JBlog/20040716#personality_traits
_of_a_great

Having blogged about what an enterprise Java developer should know, this time I'm going to list the personality traits that make a software engineer, in general, outstanding.
He is organized, disciplined, and focused on getting the job done. He doesn't rush to design and coding until the requirements are crystal-clear in his head. He's aware of his abilities and limitations and doesn't promise overoptimistic estimates. He's realistic and wouldn't delude himself into thinking that a certain task is easier than what it actually is.

He is insightful and has a far-reaching vision. He can see the forest from the trees because he understands the project he's working on as a whole, and how his part fits in the puzzle. He profoundly understands the business model and processes of his organization, and how his work contributes to the bottom line. He has prudent judgment and brainstorms alternative solutions instead of mechanically attacking the problem. He's able to prioritize and put first things first. He's too clever to fall victim to the feature creep trap or make assumptions about unlikely future scenarios. He is a problem solver and has the analytical faculty to trouble-shoot a system by narrowing in on the most logical cause of a defect.

He's a fast-learner and can comprehend complex technologies on his own without training or mentoring. He's on a continuous quest for knowledge and would never become complacent or rest on his laurels regardless of how much he already knows. He attends user groups and technical conferences when possible. He also keeps track of what's going on in his field and reads technical articles, newsgroups, mailing lists, white papers, and books on a regular basis.

He is pragmatic and open-minded, and doesn't retain a quasi-religious attachment to any technology or cast himself in a rigid mold. He has many skills in several languages and tools and is able to choose the right one for the job at hand. And even though he mastered the technologies he's working with, he's somewhat a jack-of-all-trades and can play different roles when called to task.

He is motivated with initiative and a go-getter. He doesn't procrastinate or need goading from his superiors. He's not ashamed to ask his colleagues if he doesn't know, but does so only after exhausting his options. He's also eager to help others without making them feel that he's overbearing or impatient, or that they're dumb, slow, or boring.

He is a team player and treats his coworkers with respect and humility. He listens carefully when spoken to and doesn't interrupt others in meetings because he thinks his opinion is more important than theirs.

He has an uplifting attitude that boosts other people's morale. He doesn't act like a Cassandra by spreading wicked rumors. He has an infectious smile and wouldn't let his personal problems affect his disposition. He doesn't complain or grumble about his job or how he's wasting his precious knowledge on trivial tasks.

He owns up to his responsibilities and doesn't come up with lame excuses or blame others for his failing. He appreciates his colleague's contributions and acknowledges their achievements. He doesn't criticize them or belittle them behind their back to look better. He is forgiving and able to resolve personal conflicts amicably without escalating them to management.

He has excellent communication skills and can articulate his opinions and elucidate complex issues in clear, easy-to-understand terms. He is able to write eloquent prose and speak without mumbling fillers like "You know what I mean?" or making awkward gesticulations.

He is presentable and takes care of his hygiene because infinite coding wizardry doesn't make up for halitosis or rancid T-shirts.

Free Certifications for Thomson employees

2004-10-28T08:58:00.000+08:00

Finally, Prometric, which is now a Thomson company, is now offering free certification exams to Thomson employees up to 3 tries. Can't you believe it?!?! This is what I call reaping the benefits for being part in the global corporate community. I think I'm starting to loooooooove this company. *snickers*

Elegance

2004-10-21T16:28:00.000+08:00

Coding is like art. Like a painter, you try to achieve the ultimate expression of your work. Beauty unfolds as you see your code humming to life and that is by achieving the simplicity of the whole logic.

But seeking it is not easy. It requires in-depth knowledge of what you do and deep appreciation of what you are doing. Given this, you will be able to create a sketch in your mind how to present your work in a way that is completely readable by any developer and optimal in terms of speed and efficiency at the same time. Personally, I take my time to do my coding. In fact, it takes me hours staring at the blank editor screen while browsing through the technical specifications from time to time. It is not because I'm having a mental blank but I'm trying to run various permutations in approaching the problem and seeking which is the best form I can use. Also, there are external factors involved. There is the timeline factor and the urgency factor. Timeline factor involves deadlines. Sometimes the shorter the deadline, the more haphazard is your approach to your code. The more time you have in your hands, the more time you can write and re-write your code till you got the best. Urgency, on the other hand, is very related to timeline. The more pressure your boss gives you to finish the code, the more garbage you put in your work. Given both as the same time, your code will look just like hell.

Like in any situaton, elegance requires luxury of time and resources and most likely bitten by any person with the dreamer's disease. Same goes with coding. Why do you think top corporation spend million of dollars on maintaining their systems? It is a bulk of garbage compiled together due to lack of enough resources to make things right. That is what happening in the real world and no amount of technical books and training will make it go away.

Setting up Networking in Virtual PC 2004

2004-10-15T13:32:00.000+08:00

I was toying around with my new installation for Virtual PC 2004. The installation is easy since the user friendly wizard will guide you through the process. Installing the OS inside the VMs is like going through the same process of installing them over operating systems but you must make sure that each VM is set at least to their minimum requirements.

After my VMs running smoothly in my XP, the next part is networking all my VMs and have them communicate to my host PC. At first, the documentation that came with the product kinda confuses me because it's hard for me to absorb all the jargon from a developer's standpoint. So I decided to make some trial and error. Here is what I've found:

There are many ways of setting up the networking properties in your VM.
1. Not connected: You can use this if you want to setup a stand-alone VM that is not connected to anything.
2. Local: This works on setting up a network between your Virtual machines.
3. Network Adapter on your physical machine: This is best used when you want your VM to be seen in the network. Be careful though as your VM may become vulnerable to any external attacks and can cascade on your host pc too. Personally, I'd suggest you keep your VMs out of the jungle.
4. Shared Networking (NAT): This is probably the best way to have your VM have access to networking properties of your host machine but cannot be reached by the external network. Virutal PC acts as its own DHCP server and will assign an private ip address to your VM. There is nothing to worry though because the range being assigned are in the range of 192.x.x.x which means, this cannot be detected on your LAN (unless you use this range though, you have to change it). Downside is that this machine cannot be accessed from the host machine or any of the VMs as it doesn't support inbound port mapping. Given this case, you have to create an additional network adapter at the settings of your VM and select Local.
5. Microsoft Loopback server : This works best if you don't have any networking setup in your host machine because Virtual PC needs to detect your hosts network settings and mimic it in their own systems.

You can set as much as 4 network adapters on each VM. You can try as many combinations depending on your needs.

Forgot your administrator password in WinXP?

2004-10-05T13:43:00.000+08:00

I got in this morning, after my exhilirating long weekend from Bolinao, when I realized that I forgot my password that I changed last Friday. After 45 minutes of trying to remember the last 3 digits of my password, I turn to my trusty Windows XP installation disk and did the ff.

1. Boot from CD and run the windows installer.
2. Go to repair mode and repair your current Windows XP installation
3. After a series of hoobaloos and entered into the main windows installation GUI, watch out for the "installing devices" status on the lower left side of screen.
4. When the magic word appears, press shift-F10. It will open a command prompt. This is a security hole which allows you to run almost any program in your system. Type nusrmgr.cpl and press enter. This will give you a sweat free access to the user accounts in the control panel. Reset your password of your administrator account.
5. You can also access things like registries or security policy editor but if you just want to changed your password, don't bother.
6. When you're done, close all windows and exit the command prompt then finish running the setup. You cannot cancel the installation after you change your password. Doing so will not save the changes you made.
7. After that, you can login your windows xp using your administrator account and your new password.

This works on Windows XP pre-SP1 and SP1. You have to keep your product key in handy as it has to go through the usual installation procedures (kahit repair pa siya) and it always asks for the product key.

If you are the type of person who forgets their password from time to time, don't fret. Windows XP has a utility called Password Reset Disk which you can use in case you forget your password. To create one, do the ff:

1. Go to control panel and open user accounts
2. Choose an account and click the hyperlink under related tasks called "Prevent a forgotten password"
3. When the wizard is opened, follow the instructions. Make sure a floppy disk is ready and keep your password in mind too.
4. Windows XP will create your password disk. Once your done, put it in a place that is safe and you can find it.

For more information, you can go to the ff. links
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;306214&

Note: Files stored in EFS (Encrypted File System) will no longer be accessed once you did that. I haven't figured out why but something about RID has been changed or something according to my team mate. Good thing i keep hard copies...

Security Bootcamp Aftermath

2004-10-02T02:00:00.000+08:00

Just got off from the Security Bootcamp training from DB Wizards two days ago. The experience can leave you paranoid over your workstation and even over your home machine. After seeing the hacking tools demo used to get confidential information or worse taking control of machine, plus the developer in me thinking how to make these all possible, I saw potential in me developing such tools and fear that somebody malicious enough can use it.

Sometimes, being paranoid helps you think of thousand ways to secure your systems from such attacks but the possibilities are endless that it can tire your brain and couldn't help but let your blood curdle at the fact that nothing is impossible.

Now I have to agree what Jay Paloma has said about hacking a few years ago. It is a state of mind and not the technology that gave the attacker the power to do such things. Simple things as unauthorized change of password on an unlocked machine is considered as hacking and I refused to believe that something as simple as that is such a big deal. But it is. Anything as simple as social engineering can easily blow your servers if system administrators are being careless about security.

Indeed, one has to bolster their system nice and tight. Some products are able to offer that like Microsoft in their latest set of enterprise servers such as Windows 2003. Other "learning" organizations cultivated the passion to educate system administrators and developers on harnessing their applications and servers. This provides opportunities to people like us, the common techs, to understand how the enemy thinks and outsmarting them. Hacking, like any other crime, has just been brough to a whole new level and everybody should be vigilant enough to protect the interests and productivity of the common good.

Setting Server Variables in MySQL

2004-08-10T17:17:00.000+08:00

All servers needed variables to know how they are to be configured. To manipulate these you have the option of tinkering them via startup using mysqld or at runtime in the mysql prompt. In my case, I have to set it in the prompt since MySQL server is already running and I'd hate to interrupt my colleagues with their work.

To set it you can do the following:

mysql>SET GLOBAL [server variable name] = value

i.e. mysql>SET GLOBAL key_buffer_size=16M

To check all server variables and their values on runtime in the same prompt:

mysql> SHOW VARIABLES

This should list all server varables.

Session based server variables can also be set by:

mysql>SET SESSION [server variable name] = value

i.e mysql> SET SESSION sort_buffer_size = 10 * 1024 * 1024;

Here's a list of all available server variables you can tinker with.

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/Dynamic_System_Variables.html

Copying Files in C#

2004-08-03T21:36:00.000+08:00

Once I was confused with the difference between DirectoryInfo/FileInfo and FileInfo/File objects. MSDN says that manipulation your files using both objects does the same thing. However, after a few hours of dealing with inummerable IOExceptions, I realized that Info objects has the added security of manipulating over files ESPECIALLY if their target files/directories exists.

One has to be careful when using FileInfo and File. Eventhough I think that it was sweet for Microsoft to add those unecessary security of avoiding to overwrite target files and folders despite of overriding the "overwrite" parameter, these things can get pretty annoying especially if you build modules specifically for that purpose.

My solution, use the File and Directory object instead. This can guarantee you of moving your files around in a straightforward manner without any fuss. FileInfo and DirectoryInfo are best used when you wish to reuse your object especially when navigating through the files or add extra caution in manipulating your file and directory objects.

Detecting Special Keystrokes via JScript

2004-07-28T19:10:00.000+08:00

http://www.javascripter.net/faq/ctrl_alt.htm

On TIME_WAIT

2004-07-26T15:12:00.000+08:00

Did you know that closing db connections (same goes with other connections that goes through TCP) will not exactly close your connection but will be put on TIME_WAIT status? TIME_WAIT status gives a lead time (usually about a few minutes) in the TCP after the FIN packet (aka FINISH) was received. During the lead time, no other connections can use that port.

If your database server can't scale that much (unless if any database has already released a freebie scalable version which won't make any sense on most capitalist), you might need to take some consideration in conserving your resources.

I'll be taking a look into db pooling to solve this db frustration once and for all.

On Training Centers and Self-Learning

2004-07-24T14:03:00.000+08:00

My boss just asked me to canvass for different trainings for certification available for Microsoft and Java certification.

Microsoft offers trainings through their official CTECs (Certified Training and Education Centers). Names include MISNet (http://education.misnet.com.ph), DBWizards (www.wizardsgroups.com) and Training.PH in the roster. With their sudden shift in programming paradigm, I doubt if my team (except for one who has exceptional talent for picking up new things) can still catch up with the .Net technology. Even myself get confused somehow, perhaps because of my lack of exposure on such technology. I can only go as far as console and basic web forms programming. Sniff.

Java on the other hand, only has their official curriculum endorsed only in Sun. They are monopolizing the Java training perhaps because that's where they earn a lot of money (costs around USD 500) since Java is an advocate for open-source computing. However, I still find some other training centers such as Cyber-J and Training.PH that offers a customized set of trainings for Java for at least around USD 200. But I still think joining the pinoyjug meetings, self-study and enough enthusiasm are sufficient enough to make it to be certified in Java. *wink* *wink*

I'm still looking for other training centers. If you know any, just drop a comment.

How to Create Faster JSPs

2004-07-23T11:08:00.000+08:00

http://www.javaworld.com/jw-12-1998/jw-12-servlethtml.html

Lessons learned:

Re-use, reduce and recycle objects. Lesser objects, lesser instantiations, lesser effort for garbage collection.
Set all object to null after use to make sure uneeded objects are no longer referenced. (If there is other way of setting stuff, please let me know)
Stream output using out.flush()
If flushing not an option, use a wait page. Though I need to grasp the idea how it works as said in this article. My implementation of wait pages by having the jsp process in the background via i-frame while the parent frame shows an animated gif that says "processing something....". However. this may need to use GET methods liberally which is not exactly secure.

Passing by Reference According to Java

2004-07-13T21:36:00.000+08:00

Today I've learned the hard truth as a former-VB-programmer-turned-Java-by-circumstance developer about passing parameters in Java: Primitives are passed as values and Objects are passed as reference in a different sort of way. Bottomline: There is no such thing as pass by reference the way Microsoft does. Period!

You begin to wonder how the heck can a method process an object without passing it's reference. I think Yoda's Balloon analogy will solve this question:

"I imagine every object as a helium balloon, every reference as a piece of string, and every variable as something which can hold onto a piece of string. If the reference is a null reference, that's like having a piece of string without anything attached to the end. If it's a reference to a genuine object, it's a piece of string tied onto the balloon representing that object. When a reference is copied (either for variable assignment or as part of a method call) it's as if another piece of string is created attached to whatever the first piece of string is attached to. The actual piece of string the variable (if any) is holding onto doesn't go anywhere - it's only copied.

This analogy also explains garbage collection (apart from the java.lang.ref API, which does "odd" things :) - a balloon floats away unless it is tethered down to something. The balloons can have further holders on them (instance variables), but just because two balloons are holding onto each other doesn't stop them from floating away. (Cyclic references are collected.) Any balloon representing an object which is in the middle of having a method invoked is tethered to the JVM. (Apologies for not being able to phrase that more succinctly - all I mean is that anything in an active thread's stack isn't garbage collected.)"

I don't understand why Sun decided to remove the idea of passing by reference despite the fact that is has been practiced on most programming languages including early OO Languages like ADA and Smalltalk. Sure, it is more elegant to just have your method throw back a return value instead of changing the contents of your object on the fly but I gotten sick of adding return values on my methods and add more method calls to alter my objects properly.

So from now on, thou shalt not pass parameters in java by reference but always use return values instead. Offenders will have their verbal warning, their code redone and conduct unit testing for about 10 rounds.

Reference: http://www.yoda.arachsys.com/java/passing.html

DB Connections

2004-07-08T19:39:00.000+08:00

Early this morning, our pet project just ran out of DB connections when I tried doing a save function. Sad to say, this is due to db programming malpractice which I would like to share with you today.

Most of the data classes created doesn't free the db connections they have instantiated. Yes folks! Isn't that great! We choked up MySQL connections for other instances and even other applications. I'll give you one example of what I'm talking about:

public class SampleDBApp extends DataConnectedClass {

private Connection conn;

public void init() throws Exception {
if (this.conn == null) {
//from DataConnected Class
//where the connection
//has been instantiated
//on the fly....
this.conn = super.getConnection();
}
}

public boolean isEmployeeEmpty() throws Exception {
boolean boolEmpty = true;
try {
this.init();
Connection conn = this.conn;
PreparedStatement ps = null;
String strSQL = "select * from Employees";
ps = conn.prepareStatement(strSQL);
ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();

if (rs == null)
boolEmpty = true;
else
boolEmpty = false;

} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}

return boolEmpty;
}
}

If you noticed, the DB connection wasn't close at all. Imagine if several instances of
this classed were run, it will create havoc on your app.

Whoever programmed this and chose to carry over this unadvisable coding standard (like me) is trying to reuse the connection on all the methods by placing the connection instance class-wide. Surely, this saves time to reinstantiate the whole thing and economy wise in terms of referencing the connection to any data-related methods within the class.

However, my colleague pointed out that there will always be a possibility of stale connections. Ergo, network failure, thus the connection is already stale. Although AutoReconnect = true on the connection string may do the trick but where to place the closing statement for a class-wide db connection will always be the problem. We thought of putting it on the finalize statement however, finalize will only be triggered when the garbage collector thinks that there is no other reference found in the said object. If we close the class-wide connection on every method call, that would be closing the only db connection available for the rest of the method calls while the object is still alive.

The solution? Instantiate the connection on every method call and close it when done under the finally statement. Make sure that the connection is set to null after you close it. This will remove the connection reference you made in the object.

public class SampleDBApp extends DataConnectedClass {

private Connection conn;

public boolean isEmployeeEmpty() throws Exception {
boolean boolEmpty = true;
Connection conn = null;

try {
this.init();
Connection conn = super.getConnection();
PreparedStatement ps = null;
String strSQL = "select * from Employees";
ps = conn.prepareStatement(strSQL);
ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();

if (rs == null)
boolEmpty = true;
else
boolEmpty = false;

} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (oConn != null) {
oConn.close;
oConn = null;
}
}

return boolEmpty;
}
}

My Definition of Unit Testing

2004-06-29T07:46:00.000+08:00

"My boss semi-ultimate punishment for code that doesn't work."

Importance of Audit Logs

2004-06-22T14:26:00.000+08:00

Two weeks ago, my boss was conducting a witchhunt on who has corrupted one of our translations table in the database. Sad to say, he decided to pick on my team because he think we may have touched it using our pet Admin site.

However, thanks to my liberal comments in the catalina log. I'm able to trace the culprit and product management was able to bash the guilty....who happens to be one of those new issues team who took the liberty of adding in new advisors into the table without anybody's knowledge.

LESSON LEARNED: Use audit logs to trace what your program has been doing in the database. It may save your ass someday.

Input value validation

2004-06-19T20:56:00.000+08:00

I was looking on JUnit the other day and evaluating it if this is an effective QA scripting tool. True, JUnit is useful for regression and functional testing. Sure, I can use this for input validation testing for the interfaces of the classes I built however, I don't think it would be useful as far as my current web project is concerned. Why? All input validation is done on the our client-side scripts.

I suddenly wondered if either my site is badly designed or JUnit is intended to be utilized strictly for Java classes only. If it can be used for servlets and JSP, I still have to that find out.

Then I thought, ASP.Net can do input validation on the server-side too. Baaaahhhh whatever!