Digital Planet Fail!
I’m on a EJB3 mission March 15, 2008
The Hunt
I’ve gone on a mad hunt across the internet. It started a few weeks ago when I realized that my JEE knowledge needs to be improved. I mean, I know the concepts, I’ve got the basics, sheesh, I’ve even been on an EJB3 course! The problem the way I see it is that I haven’t studied and implemented something all the way through.I haven’t properly, practically built that many proper JEE apps. If any.
So with bow and arrow, or rather in this case, Google and keyboard, I went hunting. I quickly realized that it wasn’t as easy to find proper resources as I first anticipated. I should probably indicate that my quest was to find a tutorial (if that is what one would call it) that would take me all the way through. I mean everything. I wanted something that can lay down all the groundwork and then build on that solid foundation everything I would need to know.
Problem was that all the tutorials had some sort of problem. Some would indicate that I would need to know technology x and y, which I did, but then go on to assume I had knowledge of other technologies and concepts that I did not. Some “tutorials” would be very vendor or technology specific; for example, a tutorial on writing WebServices using Eclipse, Ant and whatever arbitrary tool (Ex Axis) doesn’t teach me what it is all about. It means that the arbitrary tools do a lot of work for me, work that I would like to understand before I use the tool. All of this takes away from a complete learning experience.
Looking at these problems from another angle would let me come to realize that maybe it all doesn’t really matter. Going to the beach by means of train or bus really doesn’t make any difference to my prospective day of sunshine, does it?
The Find
Well, I have a personality that borders on the over zealous side which I realize might somehow be detrimental to my health. Either way, I found a set of resources which I believe will get me where I want to be. I will list them here:
- Sang Shin’s Java Passion
When I attended Sun Tech Days this year in Johannesburg this man’s passion was so strong right off the bat that it affected and excited everyone attending. I like his site since it takes you through groundwork before it gets to the main meal.
- Sun’s Java 5 EE TutorialThis is probably the starting point from Sun’s perspective. It’s based on Glassfish which is the reference framework from Sun. This book looks to be the Full Monty sitting at 1124 pages in total.
- Online resources other than those listed above:
http://www.java.net
http://www.netbeans.org
Tips on filling your car March 1, 2008
Just got a mail forwarded to me written by a guy who claims to be working on the fuel pipelines in Durban.
In summary, his tips:
- Fill up early in the morning when it’s cool. Cooler = Denser fuel
- Fill up when your tank is half full. Less space for fuel vapor
- Get the pump attendant to pump at a slower rate. The faster speed could create more vapor.
- Do not fill up when the fuel tankers are filling the station. It causes lots of movement in the storage tanks which could bring the dirt to the surface.
Original content:
I don’t know what you guys are paying for petrol…. but here in Durban we are also paying higher, up to R7.35 per litre. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money’s worth for every litre.
Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline where I work in Durban , we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 6,800,000 litres.
Only buy or fill up your car or bakkie in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening….your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less worth for your money.
One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the tmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount.
Another reminder, if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT fill up–most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.
PS. I couldn’t find the original author of this; couldn’t give credit.
Credit Card Fraud Detection November 18, 2007
Over the past few months I’ve been adding a lot to my wishlist at Amazon. Everytime I read an article where someone writes about how a certain book really impressed them, I end up researching other views on those books, and if from those views the book seems worth the money, I add it to my wishlist. The problem is that my wishlist just grows and grows and uhm, well nothing else.
Tonight I decided to change all that and ordered 5 books. At first I went with used books, but because they all shipped from different stores, I had to cough up around $12 for each book. I calculated that the difference, on average, between the new and used prices are around $15. If I buy everything new from Amazon, I’ll pay shipping only once:
| used | new |
|---|---|
| book1 price + $12 | book1 price + $10 diff to get new |
| book2 price + $12 | book2 price + $10 diff |
| book3 price + $12 | book3 price + $10 diff |
| book4 price + $12 | book4 price + $10 diff |
| book5 price + $12 | book5 price + $10 diff |
| 5books total + $60 shipping = x | 5book total +$50 diffs + $12 shipping |
= only slighly more expensive to get them new.
I was thinking of second hand at first because I’ve heard of other people’s great savings and the quality of the second hand books, but looking at the whole deal like this, proves that second hand isnt always that much cheaper.
What is very clear however, is how much less I pay compared to buying locally Even though I buy from the US and ship international. If I had to buy the same 5 books in South-Africa, I would need to fork out 40% more. I’m pretty sure import duty on new books are around 14% or 15%, which leaves quite a bit of margin.
What impressed me the most was that more or less 10 minutes after I concluded that transaction, I got a call from card fraud telling me that they picked up a transaction that falls outside my usual pattern and that I should confirm that it was me that made it. I’ve heard many stories about this, but to actually experience it work, well done VISA!
Bootable Flashdisk mini-HOWTO September 20, 2007
It’s very clear to me after tinkering for 2 days (okay, it’s probably more like half a day effectively) that there’s no real simple solution to making a bootable USB flash drive (USB stick, flash disk, USB stick, or whatever else you prefer to call it.
Out there you will find lots and lots of information that lots and lots of people claim worked for them, but not all of it makes sense when you start to follow their magic recipes. I’ll be open minded today and just reason that it’s got to do with the fact the each computer differ very much from the next. Like a ‘rainbox-nation’. Bah!
It’s absolute balony to think that if you buy different parts they will actually work well together. That is not however, what I’m on about today…
Since this is a HOWTO, actually since this is a mini-HOWTO I guess I need to throw a few numbered bullets in the mix.
- Make sure you have a PC.
- Check that it (as in the PC pointed out in 1) is plugged in before you begin.
Ha! That is mini enough, isn’t it?! It doesn’t help though… ghrrr. You know, you shouldn’t bitch really. We live in this instant world where everything has to be quick; 2 minute noodles, 5 minute workouts, blah blah blah. Do you really think that all the instant bollocks have any value?! If so, then the two outlined points above should suffice for your needs.
Good night.
For the rest of you, read on.
NOTES
- This tutorial only works for computers that can boot up with the USB-HDD option. Some BIOSs have USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, USB-CDROM or whatever else. I’ve tried this recipe on them and it’s a no go.
- This HOWTO will get you to boot NTFS4DOS, which to me looks like Avira’s own DOS.
PRE-REQUISITES
- BIOS that can boot USB-HDD
- USB flash drive
- Half a brain
- Avira NTFS4DOS Personal (This means you will also need a floppy drive – download this zip which contains the result)
- HP Disk Storage Format Utility from Bay Wolf’s collection (or download it from my public box)
STEPS
- Download the Avira NTFS4DOS result zip and extract it somewhere.
- Run the HP Disk Storage Format tool.
- Check that it has your USB flash drive as the device.
- For the File System I used FAT
- Select ‘Create a DOS startup disk’
- Click the ‘…’ button after selecting ‘using DOS system files located at:’ and point it to the directory where you’ve extracted the zip to in 1.
- Copy all the files from the directory in 1. to the flash drive. DO NOT overwrite any of the files if the copy asks! IT WILL PREVENT THE DRIVE FROM BOOTING!
- Reboot your machine and enter the BIOS settings. Now go to wherever you change the boot order and select USB-HDD to be first.
- Save settings and exit the BIOS.
- You should now be booting off the flash drive.
Easy ne’! So now you would ask, WHAT THE BLEEP WOULD I NEED TO BOOT DOS FOR?!
Patience boet, we will explore one possibility tomorrow…
Cheers
