May
3
2009
These are links that I have found useful in setting up and learning Apache Tomcat, learning about servlets, research into open-source java-based CMS, and development frameworks built on top of java.
Tomcat:
Java and Tomcat on Mac OS X
Servlets:
Definition of a servlet
Open Source JAVA-based CMS:
Alfresco
OpenCMS
Magnolia
dotCMS - built on an older version of LifeRay
LifeRay
Apache Lenya
List of open source JAVA-based CMS from Wikipedia
Development frameworks built on top of JAVA:
APPFuse
Scala
Hibernate
Spring
I hope that someone finds these useful. This is by no means exhaustive and is just the result of the beginning of my research into using JAVA as the basis for an enterprise CMS.
no comments | posted in JAVA
May
1
2009
no comments | posted in SELinux
Apr
30
2009
I am trying to learn SELinux. This link looks useful because it tries to simplify the system.
I will probably write about it some more later, but wanted to put this link up here.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SELinux/Understanding
no comments | posted in SELinux
Apr
9
2009
There is additional analysis of the situation that I first mentioned in this post.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is of the opinion that the Obama Administration’s Department of Justice is worse than that of Bush. Here is an excerpt from the EFF’s take on the situation:
Previously, the Bush Administration has argued that the U.S. possesses “sovereign immunity” from suit for conducting electronic surveillance that violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). However, FISA is only one of several laws that restrict the government’s ability to wiretap. The Obama Administration goes two steps further than Bush did, and claims that the US PATRIOT Act also renders the U.S. immune from suit under the two remaining key federal surveillance laws: the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act. Essentially, the Obama Adminstration has claimed that the government cannot be held accountable for illegal surveillance under any federal statutes.
Again, the gulf between Candidate Obama and President Obama is striking. As a candidate, Obama ran promising a new era of government transparency and accountability, an end to the Bush DOJ’s radical theories of executive power, and reform of the PATRIOT Act. But, this week, Obama’s own Department Of Justice has argued that, under the PATRIOT Act, the government shall be entirely unaccountable for surveilling Americans in violation of its own laws.
no comments | posted in Linux, Philosophy, Politics, Security, Wiretapping
Apr
7
2009
Please read this analysis on Salon. I hope that the administration responds and clarifies some of their language if the analysis does not reflect their intent.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html:
Every defining attribute of Bush’s radical secrecy powers — every one — is found here, and in exactly the same tone and with the exact same mindset. Thus: how the U.S. government eavesdrops on its citizens is too secret to allow a court to determine its legality. We must just blindly accept the claims from the President’s DNI that we will all be endangered if we allow courts to determine the legality of the President’s actions. Even confirming or denying already publicly known facts — such as the involvement of the telecoms and the massive data-mining programs — would be too damaging to national security. Why? Because the DNI says so. It is not merely specific documents, but entire lawsuits, that must be dismissed in advance as soon as the privilege is asserted because “its very subject matter would inherently risk or require the disclosure of state secrets.”
no comments | posted in Philosophy, Politics, Security, Wiretapping
Apr
3
2009
In my experience, the most productive people plan ahead. It is impossible to plan everything, but there is a certain degree of planning that is needed. One must first understand what they are getting themselves into.
These are the strategies that have helped me. I am absolutely sure that I have read these somewhere else and they are not my own creation. (I would post a link if I remembered.)
- Ensure that you clearly understand the goal of the project. Seek clarification if needed.
- Break the project into its major parts.
- Assign an importance level to each part.
- Roughly estimate the skills needed for each part and the time that it will take. Overestimate by 15-20%. No one is 100% efficient.
If this sounds an awful lot like common sense, that’s because it is. The problem is that it is easy to forget common sense when you are harried because of pressure from your superiors, internal pressure, or realize that your deadlines may be impossible to meet.
In analyzing what needs to be done, you may come to the realization that there is no way that you are going to be able to meet the deadline. This is something that needs to be determined at the beginning rather than the end of the project. It may be necessary to re-define the scope, get more time allotted, or temper the expectation of your superiors.
Regardless of the situation that you find yourself in, planning is vital. I have learned this the hard way. Poorly planned projects lead to lots of unnecessary “after-hours” work. There is nothing wrong with working hard and putting in extra time. The problem is when this is caused by poor planning whether it was your poor planning or that of another.
no comments | posted in Philosophy
Mar
30
2009
This prediction is likely going to sound evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It is not based upon any insider knowledge or hot tips. This product seems to be a logical next step.
Apple will likely come out with a multi-touch laptop and it will likely be in the tablet PC form factor. The company has already pioneered this concept with the iPhone to great success. Many of the gestures are now available on their laptops, but by using the touchpad. This next generation product will allow more natural interaction by directly manipulating objects on the screen.
When will it come out?
I predict this will happen relatively soon. Microsoft has been hard at work incorporating multi-touch in Windows 7.
no comments | posted in Mac, Technology
Jan
14
2007
I have not been blogging much as of late. Life has been a bit busy and hectic. Soon I will start blogging again.
Meanwhile Comcast is providing crappy customer support. I kind of expect it now after the whole CableCARD saga.
Should I just give up on them and move to satellite? I might. I might also just go without TV and watch stuff on the web.
Till next time.
no comments
Dec
10
2006
Windows Vista’s Hideous Wakeup Support at The NeoSmart Files:
Throughout the beta, Deep Sleep in Windows Vista went great. It’s the default option (so long as it’s configured in the BIOS) when you click the shutdown button. It would put your computer in a low-power mode that recovered in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds, and didn’t crash! But in the final version of Windows Vista, something is very, very majorly wrong.
no comments | posted in Technology