Mediocre Ninja webLog

Gnome theme collection

2009-08-17T21:10:00.004+07:00

Some nice themes for GNOME (mostly Ubuntu) on gnome-look.org .
Download and install what you like the most !

(you have to click on thumbnails to view larger image of screenshot)

HAVE FUN !

VMware acquired SpringSource

2009-08-11T21:24:00.004+07:00

VMware announced they have acquired SpringSource for a mix of approximately $362 million in cash and equity plus the assumption of approximately $58 million of unvested stock and options.

$420 millions! Good news !

Ubuntu Firefox sucks?

2009-08-08T10:38:00.008+07:00

Firefox on Ubuntu seems to have slower performance than on other OSes.

Symptoms:
- slow on page with flash, or hang when scroll fast, or unbearable slow (invoking CD-ROM) when type in address bar, especially on "backspace" key, ...

AFAIK, there are 3 major causes:
- FF's database SQLite becomes big and defragmented
- weak graphic card (usually on laptop)
- IPv6 is higher priority than IPv4 in FF by default.

Recommended work-arounds:
- change Visual Effects to "None"
- disable IPv6 in "about:config"
- clean up SQLite unused entries: first, install sqlite3 client
sudo apt-get install sqlite3
then enter these commands
find ~/.mozilla -type f -name "*.sqlite" -exec sqlite3 ‘{}’ VACUUM \;
find ~/.mozilla -type f -name "*.sqlite" -exec sqlite3 ‘{}’ REINDEX \;
or use these commands instead
for i in ~/.mozilla/firefox*/*/*.sqlite; do sqlite3 $i vacuum; done;

Alternative browsers:

+ Chromium (Ubuntu)
http://ubuntugeek.com/install-chromium-google-chrome-web-browser-in-ubuntu.html

+ Konqueror
( sudo apt-get install konqueror )

+ CxChrome
( http://ftp.codeweavers.com/pub/crossover/chromium/ )

Some OSS manual in Vietnamese

2009-06-26T23:14:00.002+07:00

Một số tài liệu được biên soạn bởi văn phòng Công Nghệ Thông Tin, thuộc Bộ Khoa học và Công nghệ :

Tài liệu hướng dẫn sử dụng phần mềm Soạn thảo văn bản OpenOffice.org Writer, phiên bản 3.0
(hanoi.centre-linux.org/IMG/pdf/HDSD_Writer_V3.0.pdf – 2,5 MB)

Tài liệu hướng dẫn sử dụng phần mềm bảng tính điện tử OpenOffice.org Calc, phiên bản 3.0
(hanoi.centre-linux.org/IMG/pdf/HDSD_Calc_V3.0.pdf – 1,6 MB)

Tài liệu hướng dẫn sử dụng phần mềm trình diễn hội thảo OpenOffice.org Impress, phiên bản 3.0
(http://hanoi.centre-linux.org/IMG/pdf/HDSD_Impress_V3.0.pdf – 3,4 MB)

Tài liệu hướng dẫn sử dụng phần mềm Mozilla Thunderbird phiên bản 2.0, Mozilla Firefox phiên bản 3.0, Unikey phiên bản 4.0
(hanoi.centre-linux.org/IMG/pdf/HDSD_Thunderbird_Firefox_UniKey_V3.0.pdf – 4,3 MB)

Tài liệu hướng dẫn sử dụng và cài đặt Ubuntu (8.04) cho máy trạm.
hanoi.centre-linux.org/IMG/pdf/Ubuntu_20090703.pdf - 10 MB

Comment: Chuyện sử dụng phần mềm mã mở trong chính phủ vẫn thuộc dạng mà Mediocre-Ninja nghi ngờ về mức độ hiệu quả, nhưng coi bộ lần này các bác làm nghiêm túc hơn nhiều so với Đề án 112.

Have fun (^o^) !

Eclipse NetBeans PHP

2009-06-20T22:16:00.005+07:00

Eclipse 3.5 (Galileo) new features:
http://infoq.com/news/2009/06/galileo

1. P2 provisioning which provides for a more efficient update process for Eclipse
2. OSGi Declarative Services, which allow OSGi services to be configured and installed based on XML prior to the start of the bundle's service
3. Improved target platform management, which allows the runtime platform to be configured easier
4. Mylyn WikiText, which can be used to edit bugs via Mylyn or transform into other documentation formats like DocBook
5. The addition of the Eclipse Memory Analyser, which can analyse the JVM's heap usage
6. Install into Self, which allows plugins to be developed and installed into the currently running Eclipse platform
7. Eclipse Modeling Project refinements, which reduces the size of the EMF runtime requirements
8. Improved RAP styles to allow your RAP based application to be customised
9. Enhanced JAvaScript bridge, which allows embedding of widgets like Google Maps into an SWT browser
10. Java compare editor enhancements which allow JavaDoc hovers, hyperlinking and other goodness from the compare page

NetBeans 6.7 new features:
http://wiki.netbeans.org/NewAndNoteWorthyNB67

PHP 5.3 new features:
http://vn.php.net/releases/5_3_0.php

:-)

VN opensource sites

2009-06-15T21:20:00.004+07:00

Some Vietnamese websites for OSS and Linux/Unix fan:

http://vnlinux.org/
http://forum.vnoss.org/
http://viettug.org/
http://diendanlinux.org
http://forum.ubuntu-vn.org/
http://ubunvu.com/
http://saigonlug.org
http://hanoilug.org
http://saigonlinux.org/
. . .

Also some blogs:

http://saylinux.wordpress.com
http://kythuatmaytinh.wordpress.com
http://zxc232.wordpress.com/
http://silverhat.wordpress.com/
http://projektantos.wordpress.com
http://tuyetkiem.wordpress.com/
http://xelnaga.wordpress.com/
http://moriator.wordpress.com/
http://phamkhoa.wordpress.com/

. . .

If you want to update your OSS website/blog here, feel free to post comments :-)

Pidgin Y!M connection

2009-06-09T23:17:00.004+07:00

Sometimes the Y!M pager server is down for maintenance. Therefore Pidgin clients encounter connection problem.

You may fix it simply by changing the pager server settings:
(Account -> Manage -> Modify -> Advance)

default: scs.msg.yahoo.com

change to: cn.scs.msg.yahoo.com

(or 66.163.181.166)

P.S: Kopete clients issue can be fixed in a similar way, too.

Books for programmers

2009-06-02T21:19:00.006+07:00

Top 10 of books (recommended by me ^^ ) :

1/ How to Win Friends and Influence People

2/ The pragmatic programmer

3/ Peopleware

4/ Mythical Man Month

5/ Coder To Developer

6/ Don't make me think

7/ The productive programmer

8/ Facts and Fallacies

9/ Code Complete 2

10/ Applying UML

Runner-up:

- Getting Real

Honorable mentions:

- Introduction to Algorithms

- Dragon Book

- Rapid Development

- Design Patterns GoF

- Refactoring

Agile Nokia test

2009-05-21T22:43:00.002+07:00

Well, you may already hear about "The Nokia test" or "Nokia Scrum" of Jeff Sutherland, but here is another perspective of the test, to see whether you are doing Agile or not:

1. Do you need a complete specification document before you start to build stuff?

2. Are you doing time boxed iterative development with each iteration lasting less than 6 weeks?

3. At the end of the iteration do you have working code?

4. Do you have tests to determine that you have finished development tasks?

That's all.
Simple, isn't it ?

1. Do you need a complete specification document before you start to build stuff?

Yes: Then you are not doing Agile, you are doing industrial Big Design Upfront making

No: Great - test passed, move to question 2

2. Are you doing time boxed iterative development with each iteration lasting less than 6 weeks?

Yes: Great - test passed, move to question 3

No: Then you are not doing Agile. The most important difference between agile and conventional methods of getting things done is that Agile uses lots of small steps rather than trying to do everything all at once

3. At the end of the iteration do you have working code?

Yes: If you can show this to your customers and get feedback then you have passed the test

No: Then how do you know you are done? If it is not working you can't demo it to your customer and they can't make effective prioritisation decisions

4. Do you have tests to determine that you have finished development tasks?

Yes: Good - you are on the path to Agile enlightenment!

No: You worked so hard but you don't know if you are done! How do you know that changes in the next iteration wont undo all your good work?

:-)

Static vs Singleton

2009-05-20T01:35:00.002+07:00

Ever wonder the advantages of using static methods or static class or Singleton class ?

IMHO, each approach has some benefits and disadvantages, you may choose your own depending on the situation.

Benefits of static methods :

Benefits of Singleton :

JavaScript gotcha Overloading

2009-05-03T23:24:00.004+07:00

Gotcha đơn giản là "got ya" , nghĩa là "Tóm được rồi", như khi bạn bắt được ai đó trong 1 trò chơi. Còn trong lập trình (programming, in other words "thảo chương") thì Gotcha được dùng với nghĩa tương tự: 1 feature ngoài mong đợi (unexpected) , thậm chí đi ngoài cả specs, mặc dù thường không được coi là bug.

Thường các gotcha lập trình này cần phải có nhiều kinh nghiệm mới phát hiện được (hoặc nhờ đọc bài viết của người có kinh nghiệm, hehe) . Nếu bạn đã từng trải qua hàng đống giờ dò lỗi (debug) vì 1 gotcha nào đó, thì hẳn sẽ rủa "mấy tay nào đó" làm cái chức năng ngớ ngẩn làm mất bao nhiêu công sức của mình. Do đó nếu có thời gian cũng nên xem thử các gotcha liên quan đến công việc của mình, phòng khi gặp trường hợp như trên.

JavaScript thì theo tôi biết có khoảng 15 gotcha dễ gặp, và overloading sẽ là gotcha đầu tiên trình bày ở đây.

(to be cont)

Ubuntu hibernate suspend

2009-04-28T00:50:00.003+07:00

Some commands to hibernate/suspend, tested on Ubuntu Hardy (8.04). Note that the effects of these command on laptop and desktop may be different with the same version of Ubuntu.

pmi action hibernate

pmi action suspend

pm-hibernate

pm-suspend

/etc/acpi/sleep.sh

/etc/acpi/hibernate.sh

/usr/lib/hal/scripts/linux/hal-system-power-hibernate-linux

/usr/lib/hal/scripts/linux/hal-system-power-suspend-linux

BONUS:

gnome-screensaver-command --lock

sudo apt-get install uswsusp && sudo s2ram --force

sudo apt-get install uswsusp && sudo s2disk

Oracle and Sun

2009-04-19T20:41:00.002+07:00

A big acquisition !

XPath quick notes

2009-04-19T10:26:00.003+07:00

The most useful path expressions to select nodes:

Expression	Description
nodename	Selects all child nodes of the named node
/	Selects from the root node
//	Selects nodes in the document from the current node that match the selection no matter where they are
.	Selects the current node
..	Selects the parent of the current node
@	Selects attributes

XPath wildcards to select unknown XML elements.

Wildcard	Description
*	Matches any element node
@*	Matches any attribute node
node()	Matches any node of any kind

XPath axes defines a node-sets relative to the current node.

AxisName	Result
ancestor	Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node
ancestor-or-self	Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself
attribute	Selects all attributes of the current node
child	Selects all children of the current node
descendant	Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node
descendant-or-self	Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself
following	Selects everything in the document after the closing tag of the current node
following-sibling	Selects all siblings after the current node
namespace	Selects all namespace nodes of the current node
parent	Selects the parent of the current node
preceding	Selects everything in the document that is before the start tag of the current node
preceding-sibling	Selects all siblings before the current node
self	Selects the current node

Remote Desktop Redmond

2009-04-07T21:27:00.003+07:00

to be cont.

English Talking Practice

2009-04-06T22:58:00.004+07:00

Sau bài về cách luyện kỹ năng nghe thì có một số bạn hỏi tôi có tips nào tương tự như thế để luyện nói hay không .

Dĩ nhiên là có rồi :-)

Nhưng nên nhớ có nhiều phương pháp học tiếng Anh và bạn có thể áp dụng vài cách trong số đó miễn là bạn cảm thấy phù hợp với mình và có hiệu quả.
Điều quan trọng là không nên áp dụng TẤT CẢ quy tắc hoặc cách học của người khác. Khi học theo một cách nào đó, nên thử chỉ 1 cách đó hoặc tối đa là 2, 3 cách; đừng dại dột mà thử nhiều cách mới cùng lúc, bởi khi đó bạn sẽ khó nhận thấy kết quả.

Sau đây là một số quy tắc quan trọng để học tiếng Anh, chủ yếu giúp cải thiện khả năng Talking, mà bản thân tôi cảm thấy rất hiệu quả. Nếu bạn đã có căn bản về ngữ pháp tiếng Anh thì áp dụng những cách này sẽ giúp bạn cải thiện việc giao tiếp với người nước ngoài trong thời gian ngắn !

1/ Từ vựng: học theo CỤM TỪ (câu ngắn cũng có thể xem là 1 cụm từ)
REASON:

2/ Gặp người nước ngoài: đừng bận tâm ngữ pháp
REASON:

3/ Trong lớp học: chỉ dùng tiếng Anh (các địa điểm như English Club cũng vậy)
REASON:

4/ Nghiền ngẫm: nghe lặp đi lặp lại để hiểu (ko dùng thiết bị thì tự mình đọc)
REASON:

5/ Ngữ pháp: nắm vững cơ bản (Simple Past, Simple Present, Present Perfect, Simple Future) qua các đoạn kể.
REASON:

6/ Cập nhật: học từ vựng thực tế, hiện đại qua các bản tin và Internet sites.
REASON:

7/ Phản xạ với tiếng Anh: bằng các đoạn Hỏi Đáp đơn giản thực tế
REASON:

Have fun ! and Good Luck !

XMLHttpRequest quick notes

2009-03-29T11:46:00.003+07:00

interface XMLHttpRequest {
// STATE
attribute int readyState; // readonly
attribute EventListener onreadystatechange;

const unsigned short UNSENT = 0; // innerHTML == "uninitialized"
const unsigned short OPENED = 1; // innerHTML == "loading"
const unsigned short HEADERS_RECEIVED = 2; // innerHTML == "loaded"
const unsigned short LOADING = 3; // innerHTML == "interactive"
const unsigned short DONE = 4; // innerHTML == "complete"

// REQUEST
void open(DOMString method, DOMString url, boolean async);
void open(DOMString method, DOMString url, boolean async, DOMString user, DOMString password);

void setRequestHeader(DOMString header, DOMString value);

void send(in DOMString data);
void send(in Document data);

void abort();

// RESPONSE readonly
attribute Document responseXML;
attribute DOMString responseText;
attribute int status;
attribute DOMString statusText;

DOMString getAllResponseHeaders();
DOMString getResponseHeader(in DOMString header);
};

BarCamp Hanoi 2009

2009-03-28T09:43:00.002+07:00

BarCamp Hanoi 2009 registration is now open

What:

BarCamp is a user-generated event — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants.

There is no audience, only participants. Attendees must give lead a discussion, give a demo, or help with one, or otherwise volunteer / contribute in some way to support the event. All sessions are scheduled the day they happen. The people present at the event will select the demos or presentations they want to see.

Attendance is free of charge.

Topics may include, but are not limited to: online services, social media, startups, UI design, entrepreneurship, VC, Web 2.0 technologies, online marketing, online advertising, online payment, e-commerce, open source software, hardware hacking, robotics, mobile computing, bioinformatics, programming languages, even the future of technology or global issues.

Learn more about BarCamp: http://www.barcamphanoi.org/?page_id=2&lang=en
Want to sponsor us: http://www.barcamphanoi.org/?page_id=12&lang=en

When:

April 19, 2009
8.30 AM to 5.00 PM

Where:

RMIT International University, Hanoi Campus
2/2C Van Phuc Compound, Kim Ma Street, Hanoi.

View the map here: http://www.barcamphanoi.org/?page_id=9&lang=en

------------------------------

Mở đăng ký tham dự Barcamp Hanoi 2009

Đăng ký tại đây: http://www.barcamphanoi.org/?page_id=10

Java basic videos

2009-03-22T19:10:00.004+07:00

Some Vietnamese videos for Java beginners : (composed by KhoaND)

http://www.mediafire.com/?5r4mmsaw5bn
http://www.mediafire.com/?woeyul1ltqk
http://www.mediafire.com/?ylujqjaz5iq
http://www.mediafire.com/?p4gyce0s2lf

Password mediafire :
mgsvn

HAVE FUN !

Why Eclipse IDE

2009-03-19T22:16:00.002+07:00

( 56kbps modem warning ! )

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS !

Debug Java ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-platform )

Customize perspective, views, hotkey... ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-master1/ )

Customize formatting ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-master3/ )

Refactoring 2003 ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/os-ecref/ ) :

Integrate SVN/CVS ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-ecl-subversion/ )

Debug PHP ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-ecbug/ )

Debug C/C++ ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/os-eclipse-cdt-debug2 )

Debug Python ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-ecant/ )

Debug ActionScript ( //swingchen.bokee.com/6028838.html )

Debug ColdFusion ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-cfeclipse/ )

And Ruby ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-rdt/ )

even .NET ! ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-migratenetvs/ )

and more... ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-iphone/ )

Rocks solid on multi-OS : ( //www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-osxjava/ )

Other IDEs which turn out to use Eclipse codebase :

FlexBuilder (Adobe)
Websphere Studio Application Developer (IBM)
JDeveloper (Oracle)
JBuilder 2007+ (Borland)
WebLogic workshop (BEA)
ZendStudio (Zend)
Aptana (Aptana)
PowerDesigner (Sybase)
MyEclipse (Genuitec)
Rational XYZ (IBM)
Parasoft XYZ (Parasoft)
. . .

...

Collaboration online services

2009-03-10T22:37:00.005+07:00

Lúc này tớ chuyển sang các dịch vụ online cho nó đồng nhất, tiết kiệm được khối thời gian khi phải làm việc trên nhiều máy khác nhau: lappy, deskies (@home, @work, etc)

Bookmarks
http://foxmark.com

Technical notes
http://pastebin.org

To-Do list
http://tadalist.com

IRC gossips:
http://mibbit.com

Compilers:
http://codepad.org

and more...

Java mess detector

2009-03-08T19:10:00.002+07:00

OK guys, I have used CheckStyle and PMD, either one of them seems good enough.

But do you have any comparision or advice for me about other tools: FindBugs, Hammurapi, TFTP, JLint, ...

I just want to make a list of Top 5 tools that is really useful in each catergories of software development (in a certain language, such as Java).

RANK ? : PMD

RANK ? : Checkstyle

RANK ? : FindBugs

RANK ? : Hammurapi

RANK ? : TFTP

Ubuntu screensaver hang

2009-03-05T23:51:00.005+07:00

Hic, khong biet co phai tai nghich ngom Compiz Manager voi Emerald Theme Manager hay khong, ma luc nay Ubuntu chay screensaver de bi ngon CPU (100%) , tham chi khi chi chay preview cung bi CPU 100%, lai gap em lappy thoi tien su cua minh, chan khong ta.

Khi gap cac tinh huong nhu tren, tuy theo muc do nang hay nhe ma ap dung cac giai phap:

* Alt+F2

* Ctrl+Alt+D

* Ctrl+Alt+F1 , sau do Ctrl+Alt+F7

* Ctrl+Alt+F9 , sau do go lenh sudo startx hoac sudo xinit -- :1

* Ctrl+Alt+Backspace , works 99% :-)

* giu nut Power cua may it nhat 4 giay :D

good luck,

(sry I will fix Vietnamese later)

Career Promotion faster

2009-02-27T00:01:00.005+07:00

Some working experience to learn:

1. How you appear is more important than how you perform in your job! Remember to create a professional image all the time; learn what's going on in your industry; speak them up whenever you can.

2. How you communicate is more important than how you do the job.

3. Any job will become a routine, mundane job after some time. You need to stretch yourself to make it interesting. If you can't do it, then quit.

4. Always have some ideas up your sleeve to tell your manager on how to improve things.

5. Take responsibilities when offered, they are the pathway to move up the career ladder.

6. Come at least 5 minutes earlier than the office start time. You can go home on the dot.

7. Be nice with your receptionist / administrative assistants. They run the company.

8. Bad people. They will be everywhere. Know how to handle them.

9. Don't do the works allotted to your colleagues. You tell them how to do and let them do it.

10. Compliment people; Give credits to others. Nice employees leave company not because of less salary, but for the lack of recognition.

Ubuntu APT deb

2009-02-26T19:48:00.003+07:00

for Ubuntu and other Debian-family:

APT = Advanced_Packaging_Tool

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo apt-get dist-upgrage

sudo apt-get install envyng

sudo apt-cache search envyng

The deb files are stored at /var/cache/apt/archives

sudo dpkg -i xvnkb-0.2.9a-utf_i386.deb

man dpkg