Cogitation and Rumination

NetBeans + Tomcat + Java for MacOS X 10.5 Update 4 = Fail

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Just struggled with this for a couple of days. After updating MacOS X with the latest Java update (Java for MacOS X 10.5 Update 4, patching security holes mentioned in the news the last few weeks), I could no longer launch Tomcat from NetBeans. And that's a Bad Thing. I use NetBeans all day for work, on a web application that gets tested through the local copy of NetBeans.

The error I was getting was that it couldn't find a file/directory under "/var/folders/ZC/ZCcmX61vGaqOjbHwwgwW-k+++TI/-Tmp-/". The filename changes every time, in the format "context1234567890123456789.xml". The "+++" throws it off because the path is passed as a URL parameter to the Tomcat Manager, which converts the +'s to spaces.

The solution is to go to your NetBeans application folder, right-click the application, and choose Show Package Contents. Under Contents/Resources/NetBeans/etc, open netbeans.conf, and find the line for "netbeans_default_options". Go to the end of this line, and add, inside the end quote, "-J-Djava.io.tmpdir=/tmp". Restart NetBeans, and you should be good to go.

DO WANT

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:24:00 +0000

Yes, both are still at the early-adopter, not-well-supported, haven't-gotten-all-the-kinks-out stage, but come on, how can you not want to combine a haptic full-3D controller with a high-def, full-color stereoscopic display? When I think about it I feel like Howard Hughes at the end of The Aviator - the way of the future, the way of the future, the way of the future....

Imagine a simple chess game, to take an easy example. You've got a 3D chessboard on screen, you click and drag to move pieces around, simple enough. Put on your 3D glasses, and you suddenly see the board with depth, as if its actually floating in front of you, just beyond the surface of the screen. Lose the mouse, and instead reach out and grab one of the pieces - touch it, it feels substantial, it has weight, and it has texture - feel the difference between wooden pieces and glass. Move the piece and set it down, and feel it connect with the board.

Don't like chess? Doesn't matter. Extrapolate to any game you like. See your favorite shooter in full 3D, and feel the recoil of your gun with every shot. Watch effects pop out of the screen, reach out and touch the environment you see. A whole realm of possibilities become available. It could completely change the level of 3D gaming.

While $200 for a game controller, $200 for a pair of 3D glasses, and hundreds more for a top-of-the-line LCD capable of operating stereo 3D may seem steep (especially considering that assumes you've already got a top-notch gaming rig with a recent NVidia graphics card) as early-adopter products go, that's really not bad -- it could be half the price in two or three years, if it catches on, production ramps up, and refinements are made. And if they can get developers excited about it, application support will speed its adoption and spur further improvement and innovation.

I can't wait to see what the next gen of gaming will look like. The way of the future, the way of the future...

Stackoverflow.com

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Today marks the public launch of Stackoverflow.com, the new programming Q&A site started by the famous Joel Spolsky. So far it looks like it's shaping up to be a very good resource for developers; and I agree with everything they said about Googling for solutions in this post. You can look me up on the site.

Beyond the site itself, which I think will become an oft-used resource for me, I also really like their badge system. I think a similar system could be a huge boon to any forum, social networking site, or other community site. Game developers learned years ago that people will be more active in an area they already enjoy if they can be recognized for their activity. The same idea applies just as well to community sites. I think it's brilliant, and I think we're going to be seeing similar implementations a lot more often.

Google Chrome

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:21:00 +0000

I downloaded and installed Google's Chrome browser today, and I have to say, I'm impressed. It handles tabs better than FireFox 3 does. The UI is clean and intuitive, though no moreso than FireFox's. It performs well, but not noticeably better or worse than FireFox 3. It has a desktop web app mode - exactly what Prism was supposed to be, only it actually works.

What I find particularly striking about Chrome's interface is a kind of minimalism that one usually expects to see in mobile software. It makes me wonder if, like Apple bringing Safari to the iPhone, Google might be using the desktop as a proving ground for a browser destined for the Android mobile platform. Use it for a few minutes and tell me if you can't picture using the same interface on a palm-top touch-screen.

It's not all roses, however. Chrome is currently Windows-only, a big downside in my book, as I use my MacBook more often than the PC when it comes to web browsing. It doesn't have all the options that FireFox does. It's got some quirks - the "smart" address bar can be irritatingly overzealous, and the scroll wheel seems to scroll half a page at a time, with no way to change it. And, of course, all those lovely FireFox extensions I've gotten so used to having around aren't going to work with Chrome. Still, it's a solid alternative to IE, especially for the more casual web user. Web developers, however, are better off sticking with FireFox and it's treasure trove of extensions.

XML: No, it isn't.

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:44:00 +0000

XML, well, just isn't. It's a raging misnomer. XML is, in theory, the eXtensible Markup Language. I have a couple of problems with that idea.

First, it's not extensible. It just isn't. You can't extend it. I can't extend it. No one can extend it. You know how I know? Because there aren't any extensions. Not a single one. Go ahead. Go find an extension to XML. I'd love to hear about it.

But it's just as well - there's no reason to extend it. XML defines very little; it's a syntax definition, nothing more. DTDs and Schemas are what make XML useful. They aren't extensions to XML, they're applications of XML. What's more, the DTDs and Schemas can be combined in a single document, but even they can't be extended.

Second, while it can be used as a markup language, it almost never is. XHTML is a markup language based on XML. There are a few others that are (debatably) markup languages, like DocBook, but even the likes of DocBook are more on the side of data structure definition than markup. A database file isn't markup. A Java properties file isn't markup. It's a data structure. Per Wikipedia:

A markup language is an artificial language using a set of annotations to text that describe how text is to be structured, laid out, or formatted.

Does that sound like most of the XML formats you've encountered? How many XML config files have you had to deal with? Do they fit that description, even a little bit? Of course not. You don't care about the structure, layout, or formatting of the text in a config file. All you care about is getting at the particular block of text you want. So, what is XML then? Something of a generic hierarchical data file format - though I suppose GHDFF just isn't as catchy as XML.

Now, besides being aggregiously misnamed, it's also a wretched tool for nearly every purpose to which it is applied. It's a language that aims for the middle ground between human-readable and machine-readable, and while it achieves both, it does so very poorly. XML is annoying to read, tedious to write, and resource-intensive to process.

I'm not suggesting dumping XML entirely, not at all. The angle-bracket tax is a fee worth paying for actual markup - you need syntax to seperate the markup from the text. XML is a flexible and effective format for marking up text. What it isn't is an effective format for storing arbitrary data. It's usable, but nowhere near optimal. What's the solution? Something else.

Programmers have a tendency to cling to standards, to try to apply them as much as possible. "Don't reinvent the wheel," we say. And that's a perfectly reasonable mantra - but that doesn't mean all wheels are created equal. When's the last time you saw a bicycle wheel on a car? Would the world be a better place if every wheel were the same? Sure, they'd be interchangeable - but they wouldn't be anywhere near as effective.

We need to step back sometimes, and think about whether there is, or could be, a better wheel for any given situation.

More on this to come.

My head hurts.

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:44:00 +0000

Falling in love is like being hit in the back of the head with a gold brick out of the middle of nowhere.

*WHACK* OW! What the fu- holy shit, that's a gold brick!

My head still hurts, but that will pass. The gold is mine for keeps.

Of KVMs and Synergy...

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:47:00 +0000

Okay, so a few months back I discovered Synergy, and filed it under "neat stuff worth a quick look." Now I've cast off the shackles of my KVM, cleared off my desk, and set up a second monitor. I can now seemlessly switch back and forth between Mac and PC as easily as you can switch between two screens connected to a single computer.

Here's how it works: you hook up computer A (the server) to keyboard, mouse, monitor, and network. You install Synergy, and start the server. You hook up computer B (a client) to monitor and network, install synergy, and start the client. Now, move the mouse connected to computer A past the edge of the screen, and it appears on computer B's screen - and now that the mouse is there, the keyboard is directed to computer B as well. And because it's just a KM (keyboard and mouse) solution, unlike VNC which has video, the connection is extremely snappy - so much so that it's unnoticeable to me.

Synergy is free, open-source, and works on Windows, MacOS X, and Unix/Linux. If you frequently use two (or more) computers, have the desk space for multiple monitors, and would like so save yourself some serious trouble, you should give Synergy a try.

Ergonomics FTW

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 03:48:00 +0000

I went out yesterday and picked up a couple of things, and I'd just like to say, ergonomics FTW.

First off, I'm typing this out on my nice new Logitech Wave corded USB keyboard. The keyboard is also available as a wireless desktop combo with an LX7 laser mouse; the keyboards are identical save for the wirelessness.

The keyboard shows off Logitech's typical quality and attention to detail; I've always loved Logitech's products. The drivers are good, but not great, and the UI they use is dated. However, the keyboard itself is lovely; it features an ergonomic design that works quite well for me; I've never been able to tolerate the split keyboards that have been the only ergo-option for some time. The keys are all the same size, and, as the name suggests, there is a gentle rolling curve to the keyboard that feels very comfortable under the fingers. It includes a built-in wrist wrest (not removable - not a problem for me, but it may be for those with less desk space), and has 4 and 8 degree angle stands. It has the usual menagerie of multimedia and function buttons, as well as a suite of fn buttons laid over the F-keys - luckily, unlike most keyboards with this feature, they are normal F-keys by default and only use the special action if you hold down the fn button.

The caps/scroll/num lock lights are strangely placed below the numpad; it's not really a problem, just unusual. The keyboard also features the same navigation key layout with the large delete key and no insert key that I enjoyed so much on the Microsoft Comfort Curve that this board replaced.

One downside to the board is it's just not very comfortable for WASD FPS gaming; something about the arrangment of the W key just makes it difficult. Luckily I had an old Fang sitting in my "spare peripherals" bin, so I hooked that up and it works quite well. It is something to keep in mind if you're considering this board, however.

Onto my new pointing device, another Logitech product, the Wireless TrackMan Optical. I'm not sure exactly why it's wireless - wires only ever bother me on mice, not on trackballs - but it's not much of a downside; I would have preferred a wired version to save me the trouble of dealing with batteries, but alas. Also, unlike their wireless mice, the trackball uses standard AA batteries rather than utilizing a charging dock.

The trackball is a small finger-operated (as opposed to thumb-operated) trackball, featuring left and right click (left click is the silver sliver in the thumb rest, NOT the giant silver pad on top), clickable scroll wheel, cruise up/down, drag lock, and back/forward buttons. The buttons are all fairly comfortably placed for me, but would probably be more comfortable for someone without my huge mitts. See notes above regarding the drivers; it's a different tab in the same program.

All in all I like the trackball; I've used trackballs before extensively, and I keep going back and forth; I prefer trackballs for their ergonomics, but I prefer mice for their precision. However, as I haven't been doing much FPS gaming or graphic design of late, I'm going for ergonomics over precision. (However, I'll be keeping my trusty MX1000 handy for the occasional bout of Team Fortress 2.)

Last, but absolutely, positively not least, I picked up a Eurotech Ergohuman EH-HAM/ME7ERG, a super-ergonomic mesh executive chair, at Office Depot. I won't talk about my experience at Office Depot. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad enough to rail them for it. The chair, however, is a work of art.

Not to say it's beautiful; I like the look alright but it might not be for everyone. The comfort, however.... oh, my goodness. Okay. Adjustables: seat position forward/back, seat height up/down, arm wrest height up/down, arm wrest angle left/right, back height, headrest height, headrest angle, back angle, back tension. All of it has a wide enough adjustment range to suit me, and I'm 6'6". Well, okay, to be fair, I'd like it if the back came up just one more inch. But, it's better than any other chair I've sat in by far regardless.

The back of the chair is three parts: the main back of the chair, which is just like any office chair back, is in the middle. Above it is the headrest, really a neckrest, and below it is the lumbar support. The lumbar support is on a hinge-and-spring mechanism so that when you're leaning forward it still provides support, and when you lean back, it folds back enough to keep you properly supported without jabbing you in the spine.

My only real concern about the chair is the attractiveness of the mesh to cat claws; we'll see how it goes. I got a 3 year warranty that covers the upholstery just in case.

On an unrelated note, I also picked up the Logitech Precision Gaming Headset, and as it wasn't available in USB form near me, I also picked up the SIIG USB SoundWave Pro 7.1. More on those as time permits... for now, I'm going to get out of this insanely comfy chair and go to be.

Portal is more fun than it should be.

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:57:00 +0000

In this game, you'll have to learn how to shoot a portal at the wall and a portal at the floor, so that you can fall down and fire yourself sideways. It makes more sense when you're doing it.

The Haps

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:51:00 +0000

Yeah, yeah, no postey lately. I've been viciously addicted to EVE Online (my char is Tremor Loktar, holla). I haven't posted in two months. Two months... lesse:

The Java servlets spec needs to freaking add core support for multipart form encoding and file uploads. Seriously. Like, yesterday.
I'm impatiently awaiting the new EO expansion - not because I'm starved for new content, but because they're totally revamping the graphics engine and the shots they've released are purrty.
I'm also impatiently awaiting the release of Battalion Wars II for Wii on the 29th.
Metroid Prime 3 Corruption is pretty farkin good.... but I still liked Godfather better.
I hope the EVEMon team release their ship fitter soon. If I knew .NET, I'd help.
Amazon's new MP3 download service is teh winnar. Music is cheaper by the song and by the album, it's un-DRMed, higher-quality, and downloads faster. The only disadvantage is catalog size, and I doubt if that will be a disadvantage for long, what with Amazon being the masters of the monster catalog.

KTHXBAI

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . The $200 Billion Rip-Off | PBS

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:07:00 +0000

I've talked about this before, but this is a brilliant explanation of how we got where we are today, and just how much it has cost consumers to get there. A definite must-read for anyone who cares.

read more | digg story

On the "Digital Civil Rights" Movement

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:32:00 +0000

The Yearly Kos Conference is holding a panel on net neutrality and other issues which are more and more often being grouped under a new banner of "Digital Civil Rights". I agree with many of the points being raised, but calling this a civil rights issue, I think, is misleading, in that they are trying to evoke ideas of the civil rights movement of the 1960's. This has little to do with equality in treatment, and everything to do with an aging government failing to come to grips with the new, digital age.

They even tried to make it about racial equality, noting statistics that minorities frequently use the internet on mobile phones rather than on computers. This isn't about racial equality. It's about giving the lower classes fair access to our new, digital world. And while it's still true that minorities are disproportionately in the lower classes, that's a completely unrelated issue - and, in my mind, a much more important one, and one we've been battling for decades.

But I'm not here to talk about racial or sexual equality. I'm here to talk about the failure of our government to keep up with the fast-paced advancement of technology in the digital age. This nation invented the modern computer, and the internet, yet while we trip, stumble, and fall, other developed nations have taken this new technology and hit the ground running. The US is ranked 14th among nations in broadband penetration. Broadband here is more expensive than almost any other developed nation, it's slower than in other developed nations, and it's available to less of the population. Not coincidentally, the US is also the only developed nation without a national broadband deployment policy.

We have in this country the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) going on a vast crusade against their own customers, bringing countless illegitimate and frivolous lawsuits to bear against hundreds of people nationwide, demanding obscene compensation for infractions that, quite often, never occurred. Unfortunately, the RIAA has enough political power to keep their witch-hunt going on unchecked.

We have in this country a deeply-entrenched broadband duopoly, again with enough political weight to keep themselves in power into the foreseeable future. They have little to no incentive to reduce prices, increase speeds, or widen deployment into rural and low-income areas. Monopolies and duopolies are a free-market failure that hurt the consumer in countless ways, limiting innovation and elevating prices. And, should they decide to start bringing to bear their threats of bandwidth shaping for the highest bidder, there will be no free and neutral alternative for internet access.

Don't think it's an issue? Look at Japan: 50Mbps DSL is available for $35 per month, 100Mbps fiber is available for $50, and 1 Gbps service over power lines is available for $90. I'm currently paying $43 for a paltry 6 Mbps, and I'm lucky to even have such "high" speeds available in my area; the majority of DSL customers in America are limited to 1.5 or 3 Mbps service, if DSL service is available at all.

So why are things in such a sad state in the country that originated the digital revolution? It's very, very simple: wretched companies with no concern for the consumer have far too much power, and the people have far too little. Is there a simple solution? Of course not. The unchecked political power of big corporations is a staple of American politics, and I don't see it changing any time soon. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are on the take from Big Business, leaving voters to choose the lesser of two evils.

The State of the Wii

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:12:00 +0000

I picked up Mario Strikers Charged on Wednesday. I haven't had enough time with it to really put in a solid review, but I will say that online multiplayer is really solid, and it's about damn time. More than anything, playing Strikers makes me yearn even more for Battalion Wars II, set to release in the US on October 29th, and it can't come soon enough. BW on the GameCube was a blast, and is a clear target for a dose of Wii controls.

I was beginning to feel a little down about the Wii, as the first half of this year was sparse on new titles, even more so for good ones. Godfather is top-notch, and that was about it. I was beginning to worry about the platform's viability with such a lack of good games coming out, then I saw what the second half of this year looks like, and, well... it looks amazing. See for yourself.

Ultimate OS Wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:37:00 +0000

You'll find below my ultimate OS feature wishlist. This is from years of use of Windows and Mac OS, as well as some Linux use. Now, I know, some of these may be covered by one or more of the countless Linux distros out there, however, Linux isn't ready for my desktop (whether it's ready for the desktop is a matter for people smarter than I).

The ultimate operating system would feature:
• A completely vector-based UI with full transparency, allowing users to select not only a monitor resolution, but also a display DPI, so that large, high-density displays could be used to display the same size features at higher quality.
• An auto-update system that's open to all developers to use. Currently, modern OS's (Mac OS and Windows) supply a system auto-update feature that cannot be used by installed applications, forcing application developers to write their own, separate auto-update libraries.
• A bug/crash reporting system that's open to all developers to use. We sort of have this now, but it could get a whole lot better.
• A complete skinning/theming system that can be used to apply complete OS-wide interface makeovers, as well as skinning specific applications. Currently, operating systems typically require a seperate piece of software to skin the OS, and many individual applications provide a means to skin that application.
• Filesystem-level local revision control, and integrated access to remote revision control repositories. Revision control isn't just for programmers any more.
• A tightly-integrated, professional-quality Personal Information Manager (PIM), integrated into the system's clipboard and drag-and-drop functionality. Apple almost has the right idea here, except that the PIM applications themselves are dreck. It should be simple to use my computer, without any 3rd-party software, to store contacts, set reminders and appointments, create a to-do list, and so forth.
• Multiple clipboards and clipboard history.
• Solid remote command-line and remote desktop capabilities. Only *nix really has this nailed down. I want to be able to throw away my KVM in favor of my LAN.
• System self-optimization based on usage statistics. C'mon, guys, this can't be that hard. I shouldn't have to do much, if any, of my own optimization; operating systems should be smart enough to monitor how I use my PC and adjust system settings accordingly.
• Window-manager-level support for tabbed interfaces. It should be up to the user, not the developers, what windows and applications can be run in tabs rather than a slew of individual windows.
• A decent application launcher. Seriously, this is the core functionality of all operating systems - running applications. But still, with every OS I've ever used, I've had to install a 3rd-party application launcher to really get the most out of my system. I should have a customizable solution that completely eliminates the need for programs like QuickSilver, Colibri, Katapult, DragThing, and so on.
• Easy management of startup items. For crying out loud, this is still a pain in the ass on both Windows and Mac OS. Why?!?
• A cappuccino maker.

So, what's your OS wishlist? Post in the comments!

Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:50:00 +0000

Wow. I just found this (quite old) post from my apathosist days... although I consider myself to be an Atheist now, most of it still rings true, so I'm reposting it here.

Okay, time to cover religion. You've got your ideological religions - agnosticism, atheism, and apathosism. Atheists believe there is no god. Agnostics don't know if there is a god or not. And Apathosists don't care if there is or not, they'll find out when they get there. If you haven't guessed, I fall into the last category.

Then you've basically got three other types of religions - anglican, based around the Old Testament, the New Testament, or some Testament or another involving lots of guys with shabby clothing, unkempt beards, and a bit of an overzealous love for wine; and eastern, based around spending lots of time doing menial tasks or sitting very, very quietly for long periods of time to reach a state of personal enlightenment; and the Old Religions, which were mostly about farming, eating, killing, and procreating (and what else would you need in life?)

And then, of course, there are the Unitarian Universalists, who believe in stuff, and who evangelise door-to-door in comfortable shoes saying "Hello, I'm with the Unitarian Universalist Church, and I was hoping you could take a moment to hear the joys of, well, whatever you believe in, being, ah, really really good, and all." If you've ever been to a Unitarian church, you'll notice a lot of Birkenstocks and Ugg boots and other brand-name hippie footwear. In fact, as a kid, for a brief while, I went to a Unitarian youth program at Our Lady of Sensible Shoes - fantastic lot, lots of candles, cork sandals, sex ed is done every year 5th grade through high school at an anual sleepover weekend at the church (good planning...) Makes for an interesting childhood, lemme tell ya.

And Unitarian ministers are great - they all sound like announcers from NPR, or maybe subliminal tape voiceover actors from Canada. Very polite, always soothing tones, lots of talk about how pretty the trees and the sky and the flowers are. Very politically correct church, they try to keep it non-denominational - no, not easy in a church, but if it's not a challenge, it's probably not worth doing, right? Or maybe it's just not worth doing right? I always get those confused...

So anyway, and then there was the Unitarian Inquisition - "Excuse me? Ah, excuse me?" "Yes?" "Well, I was just wondering... what do you believe?" "What do you mean?" "You know, the whole god, devil, afterlife thing - what's your stance?" "Well, I'm a Pagan, as a matter of fact." "Ahhh, yes, very good. Good for you, that. Hope you're enjoying it." "Well, the orgies are nice..." "Ah, yes... Ahh.... Have some tea?" "Well, aren't you supposed to be putting me on the rack now?" "What? Oh, goodness no... that'd be terrible... we might light some candles later..." "Candles?" "Yes, candles, love the things, can't get enough of 'em. May I ask another question? Do you have a comfortable pair of shoes?"

So, yes. That's the UU Church. I also did the Old Gnostic Mass for a while, that's pretty interesting, a dozen drunken Jews in Southern California putting on a Shakesperian play set in Pagan Rome with nude women and oh, what the hell, we'll use whiskey for sacrement, can't find the wine, whiskey's better anyway, I always feel closer to God after I've had a few. "There is nothing in me that is not of the Gods." Unless you're Michael Jackson, in which case most of what's in you is synthetic anyway.

I've done pagan circles too - again with the whiskey. I find that the alternative religions tend to very quickly decide that hard liquor is much more religious than wine. And if those stale crackers are the body of Christ, I really have to worry about the guy. I understand people are supposed to taste like pork, not cardboard. He might want to have a quick chat with God about that one. "Excuse me, dad?" "Yes?" "Well, I was wondering.... why do I taste like crap?" "Ahh, well... Huh... Hadn't really thought of that... Ahhh... well, you see, it's... it's, ahh.... it's all Adam's fault, that bastard! He - he made me do it!Yes, that's it..."

So, yeah. That's religion in a nutshell for ya. If you're still having trouble choosing one, go with Apathosism, it's easier, and it lets you have a lot more fun.

On the iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:42:00 +0000

I don't care.

I would, however, take an iPod with the same interface, at half the price and ten times the capacity. C'mon, Apple, you can do it.

Public Airwaves for the Public Good

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:52:00 +0000

I just learned about a really important issue, and signed a petition about it. The federal government is on the verge of turning over a huge portion of our public airwaves to companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast--who will use them for private enrichment instead of the public good.

These newly available airwaves are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize Internet access -- beaming high-speed signals to every park bench, coffee shop, workplace, and home in America. Phone and cable companies don't want this competition to their Internet service--they'd rather purchase the airwaves at auction and sit on them.

You can sign the petition I signed here - urging the government to make sure the public airwaves are used for the public good:

http://civic.moveon.org/airwaves/?r_by=-5971883-538sJA

ME WANT!

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Sun, 20 May 2007 23:26:00 +0000

O, M Fing G. I want one. Yes, I'm a technophile, but few products arouse my tech-interest quite like this one has. It has to be seen to be understood - so just go check it out for yourself. The Optimus Maximus keyboard, by Art. Lebedev.

The Joys of Hibernate

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Sun, 13 May 2007 15:37:00 +0000

I just spent the last few days troubleshooting a HibernateException with the error message Illegal attempt to associate a collection with two open sessions. After much Googling, I had tried every solution I could find, and none of them worked - so hopefully this solution will make it into the next person's search.

In my case, the issue was that I was taking a persistent object, storing it in the HTTP session, and trying to reconstitute it later. By storing the ID in the browser session and loading by ID each time, the error was eliminated.

I hope this helps someone - if so, or if you're having a similar issue, post in the comments!

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Tue, 08 May 2007 19:02:00 +0000

I got The Godfather: Blackhand Edition for the Wii for my birthday, and I'm totally hooked - and, after borrowing the game for a day, so is my best friend: he ran out and bought his own copy, after holding mine hostage for a few days. It's all the best qualities of Monopoly and Grand Theft Auto, set in the The Godfather, with the Wii controls allowing you to literally beat the pulp out of business owners with a baseball bat while extorting them for cash, and physically tossing people over balconies for bonus points.

Yes, it's that kind of game. Yes, it's not for kids. Yes, it's on the Wii. And yes, it's damned addictive.

The game smoothly mixes a wide array of sandboxing opportunities, including extorting businesses, setting off mob wars, robbing banks, taking on hit contracts, and so on, with a deep plotline that follows the story of the films. You start as a young gangster on hard times, dealing with a bad crowd. Luca Brasi comes to your aid, and initiates you into the Corleone family with a few tutorial missions. Then, it's up to you to take on any of the many "business opportunities" throughout the city, or continue to advance the main plot. The game lets you delay the main plot as long as you want between missions, letting you set the pace the entire time.

The graphics aren't stunning, but they definitely get the job done. It's enough for suspension of disbelief, particularly for fans of the films. Having not seen them for many many years, playing the game now makes me want to watch the movies again - and then play the game again from the beginning.

All in all, I'd give it a solid 8/10, and a definite recommendation to anyone that enjoys a little digital bloodshed in the morning.

Wired vs. Wireless

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Fri, 04 May 2007 04:40:00 +0000

I was talking to my mom today, and she wanted to set up a wireless network. I advised against it,
and her argument was that wired networks seem archaic.

Now, while I can certainly understand the idea that the same cables we've been using for decades are still just fine today may be hard to swallow, but in reality, wired networking is advancing far faster than wireless.

Wireless networking, over the last decade, has gone from 11mbit (802.11b) to 54mbit (802.11g) to "up to 700mbit" (802.11n; effectively 100 - 200 mbit). This bandwidth is per airspace - multiple clients on a network, and multiple networks in the same airspace, must share the available bandwidth.

Meanwhile, wired networks have gone from 10 to 100 mbit, then to 1 gbit and now 10 gbit, all on copper cable. And each client on a wired network gets a dedicated, full-bandwidth pipe all to its own.

So, while the cables may not have changed much (cat 6 is hard to tell from cat 5 to the average person), wired networks are advancing far beyond wireless, and all the while, they provide greater reliability, security, ease of use, and power efficiency.

All in all, I'll keep my wired network.

Mario Kart DS

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Thu, 03 May 2007 05:02:00 +0000

Now that I've had a few hours with Mario Kart DS, I must say, it's a really good game. Even my girlfriend, not much of a gamer, thinks so. I'd say it's console-quality, and definitely a solid update to a time-tested franchise.

MK DS includes 16 new tracks, and a selection of 16 tracks sampled from past MK games. Each racer (the usual 8: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Wario, and DK) has two cars to choose from, with differing stats.

Online play is smooth and easy to manage, and it allows random matchups via WFC without swapping friend codes. On a related side note, the DS apparently doesn't speak WPA2-PSK, which makes me very sad, since I'm never using WEP, and I'm certainly not going unencrypted just for WFC. I may have to invest in one of the Ninty USB WFC gadgets.

Nintendo DS

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:20:00 +0000

I just picked up a DS, and I must say, it's a very nice little machine. Ultra-portable, long battery life, built-in touch screen, microphone, and wireless, and a solid lineup of titles including a long history of GameBoy Advance titles which are still compatible with the machine. (Titles for older Game Boy models, such as original GB and GBC carts, will not work with the DS - only GBA titles.) This is particularly nice as I already have a small collection of games for my aging GBA SP, some of which I've now picked up and started playing again.

I've had it about 48 hours, and so far, I'm extremely happy with it. Final Fantasy III for the DS is a great game in the classic Final Fantasy tradition. Mario Kart DS is a solid title in the Mario Kart line, and blows away any portable Mario Kart title to date - honestly, you'll be amazed at the quality of the graphics and gameplay packed into a handheld game.

Elite Beat Agents is a good game for fans of rhythm games (which I am, even though I tend to be terrible at them). It uses the touch screen to great effect and provides a good challenge throughout, with as much replay value as can be packed into the relatively few songs included with the game.

I have yet to play multiplayer (DS-to-DS or via Nintendo WiFi Connection), but if you'd like to help me give it a shot, post your friend codes in comments.

My Mario Kart DS FC: 274976-668344
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin FC: 090293-173479

GarageBand is Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 00:39:00 +0000

GarageBand is fun. Came with the Mac, came with around a thousand loops. So, I tossed this together over a couple of hours - let me know what you think in the comments!

Original

Drums Remix

Google Traffic Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 16:16:00 +0000

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but some time in the last couple of days, Google finally added traffic information to Google Local/Google Maps. It's not available everywhere, but it is available for the major freeways here in Atlanta, and many other US cities. Look for the stop-light icon on Google Maps.