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.

• Mastering Enterprise Java Beans 3.0, 4th Edition

  

• 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.