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Archive for May, 2008
SAP Enterprise SOA Starter Kit
SAP is starting to push the SOA bandwagon with a bit more vigour. For companies and individuals a bit more interested in the technicalities of Service Oriented Architecture, the new Enterprise SOA Starter Kit is a useful resource. Little more than a fancy slideshow with links to documents going into more specific detail, the Starter Kit is a 250MB download from the SAP Developer Network. You’ll need to be registered on the SDN, log on and then follow this link. The downloaded file is in RAR format, not ZIP. Get unrar here.
Remember to unpack with option x, like so: unrar x StarterKit.rar to maintain the necessary directory structure.
There’s certainly a lot of information contained in the pack, together with some interesting case studies. If you can deal with the product-specific slant (IBM and other vendors are no different), this should serve as a valuable starting point for generating a business case for a small SOA project. Remember, small and manageable is key. Also: you want to show a business benefit, not implement something for the sake of cool technology.
The idea is to take something like this
to something like this over a period of time.
Of course, theory and practice does not always blend seamlessly. Some disappointment is inevitable until this technology stack has had a chance to mature and prove itself.
9 June – iPhone 2.0
3 years ago
by manfred
in Moblogging
Wired seems to think that the Apple iPhone will be released on June 9. That’s the date of Apple‘s WWDC.
Most amazing would be any truth in their claim that the launch will be a worldwide one… I still think we’ll see it only sometime after September.
WordPress 2.5 editor
WordPress 2.5 has been a very worthwhile upgrade. I can’t believe that I’ve kept myself busy with the stock-standard HTML editor for so long. Inserting tags by hand has become second nature! The visual editor really is first-class.
After the upgrade, I was unable to see any text on the HTML editor buttons. Though the buttons were displayed, no description was available. Also, the Visual editor option simply did not appear. Having upgraded another of my websites earlier yesterday, I quickly compared the two installations. The only difference seemed to be the non-appearance of the button text and the Visual editor button. I was keen to go right ahead with the advice provided on the WordPress support forums: it seems that the reloading of the images in the wp-includes and wp-admin directories has been successful for some.
Armed with the download of 2.5, I was ready to try that when I remembered that I’ve never actually had access to a visual editor before. Sure enough, clicking the relevant option under the user preferences
fixed the issue.
No reloading of images necessary! Other than that, everything is working flawlessly. Can’t wait to try out the gallery options.
Once again, I can’t recommend WordPress enough. Try it – you’ll like it!
Brick’em up!
Suggested for those who have an impulse control problem: a gun made of Lego. Brickgun showcases their latest model: a Glock 17 faithfully reproduced using 240 black Lego pieces. It is on sale to any age group. No ID required 
This is no static model either. The slide has to be pulled back to cock the hammer. Squeeze the trigger to fire.
There are numerous other firearms available for purchase and there are instructions for building your own!.
Cram out those black blocks and get going.
Disclaimer: no minifigs where injured during the production of this post!
WordPress 2.5 upgrade done
The WordPress upgrade has been completed. In record time as always. I’ve given the site a quick once-over and everything seems to be in order. Except for the editor, where no text is provided for some of the buttons. Maybe Firefox on Linux?
If there are any issues you detect, please let me know. Else I’ll resolve them post haste as I find them!
Upgrade weekend
This weekend saw a number of installations and upgrades happening. Some successful and others less so.
First off, I replaced OpenSuse on G2S by overwriting Fedora 9 on the relevant partitions. The installation was quick and painless and Fedora 9 is a welcome addition to my mobile machine. Of course, the integrated nVIDIA 8600M GT adapter is unable to perform properly: the XServer included with Fedora 9 is so new that proper drivers are not yet available. That means Compiz won’t run and I’m stuck with a rather dull and dreary desktop experience. Other than that, all else is functional out of the box.
With the pleasant installation experience on G2S, I proceeded to upgrade katana from Fedora 8 to 9. No hassles and reasonably quick. Again, the nVIDIA driver issue is preventing Compiz from working. The annoyance of having windows appear without proper borders is easily resolved by disabling desktop effects. There are quite a few dependency issues that the updated package manager is unable to resolve. Most are related to Compiz components and I’ll have to wait for the repos to be updated. Might even have to remove Compiz entirely.
Mark Shuttleworth is definitely on to something in his bid to unify Linux release dates. The same issues constantly occur during an upgrade or new installation: certain packages are not ready, modules that are just out of beta or even still in beta like Firefox are included because they are shiny and new and hotly anticipated. It’s fine for those of us who don’t mind tinkering. But some people want to be productive. Imagine that! Hence, the distro has to ensure all components and dependencies are sorted out. It’s a question of bleeding edge versus usability and fewer hassles. It’s also a question of competing with commercial products and forever being regarded as a testbed for new technologies.
Whilst the upgrade was in process, the PS3 wanted to fetch another firmware upgrade. I let it do that and tried to upgrade the firmware on the E90. The PS3 has requested more updates than I can remember and I have no idea what version of firmware it’s running now. Unless the iBurst dips, it normally works.
A while back, the Nokia updater had indicated a new firmware to be available and with the hassles I’ve been having with the E90 I was keen to update. Network issues kept the updater unhappy: three or five retries without success. Then finally the last straw after the updater required an update itself: it now no longer works on Vista! A rather odd turn of events, leaving the E90 in its unmodified state.
PS3 update finished. I didn’t get to the WordPress upgrade this site needs rather urgently. I’ve started all the necessary backups and hope to get the update done tonight. Nothing wrong with the extension of the weekend into the first few days of the week
Nokia N96
The impending arrival of the 3G iPhone on our shores is making me excited about mobile devices again! That, and the rather inexplicable issues I’ve been facing withe my trusty E90. The E90 is probably the only device I’ve ever owned that has received all software required by me in a matter of a week after I received the phone. No additions or removal of anything else. That’s how well it is able to meet my requirements. The past two weeks have seen spontaneous reboots, failures in receiving calls and most notably, a complete wipe of all data on the device. Not a lot of fun. Thankfully, all my important data is backed up and a restore is not that big a deal. Nonetheless somewhat irritating. Maybe the software is degrading as part of an evil ploy to make me spend money on the next best thing…
By the way, the Nokia firmware updater program has spontaneously decided that it is not able to run on Vista anymore. A rather strange twist, seeing as the version I had prior to upgrading ran without a hitch. I know there’s an E90 firmware upgrade available. Just can’t get to it.
I had a Nokia N95 for a while, but that was too little business and too much phone. Some very annoying issues with that device, to be sure. The N95‘s successor, the N96 does have a lot going for it in the looks and specifications department, though. Pretty much the same dual-slide design, the N96 does the requisite media playback and Internet access. There’s WLAN, HSDPA and USB connectivity and a lot of memory. Additional micro-SD cards can up the total storage capacity to almost 24GB!
Though of little use to us right now, the inclusion of a DVB-H receiver is nice to have. The phone integrates a stand to ensure wobble-free viewing and ensuring no one has to let go of the popcorn and Coke. A 5MP camera, on of the best in the industry in my opinion and integrated GPS round out this nifty package.
If the stability of the device has improved and memory management is no longer an issue, this is a compelling device. Probably, it will be available sometime after August of this year.
Firefox release candidate available
All the newly released Linux distributions have included the beta version of Firefox. The Mozilla team is working hard to release the final version sometime in June. At least now, the betas seem to have come to an end and the first release candidate is available for testing.
There have been marked improvements in all beta releases of the browser and the RC is likely to improve many things even further.
The download is available here.
Europass Gloria
Left to their own devices, the host nations of the Euro 2008 came up with the following:
Not bad at all. Except the crucial element, the ball, is somewhat small and not technologically advanced enough to be kicked through the air at 120km/h. Thankfully, the Germans can be relied upon to deliver. Adidas is once again the supplier of the official matchball. This time, it’s named the Europass Gloria.
The name could refer to a passenger rail road ticket permitting the holder to travel throughout the European continent. Somehow, the name TeamGeist allotted to the World Cup’s official leather orb had a better ring to it.
The Europass Gloria is made up of 14 panels using a revolutionary Thermal Bonding Technology. Probably just a hot super glue by another name. The outer surface is optimized for various weather conditions and provides flight characteristics better than a Gripen.
Ferrari California
The 2009 Ferrari California has been revealed early, probably to cash in on the red team’s success in this year’s Formula 1 Championship. The usual sub four second time to 100km/h as one has come to expect from a modern supercar. This one also features a folding hard top.
A lot of aluminium has been used in the construction and a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox controlled by the F1-Trac traction control system is installed.
SoCal Outrun 2009 – start your engines!
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