Ibacsoft Open Source

Setting up a Joomla Web Server using Virtualbox, TurnkeyLinux and DynDNS | Packt Publishing Technical & IT Book Store

2011-02-03T18:36:00.001-08:00

This article is based on the Joomla! CMS and how to make use of virtualization software to set up a fully functional web server completely isolated from other applications on your PC.

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Build your own Application to access Twitter using Java and NetBeans: Part 4

2010-06-28T22:17:00.001-07:00

http://www.packtpub.com/article/build-custom-application-twitter-java-netbeans-4

In this final part of my article series, you’ll learn how to convert the URLs from your friends’ timeline into clickable hyperlinks…

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VirtualBox 3.1 Beginners Guide : Review from Ubuntu Tutorials

2010-06-21T11:34:00.001-07:00

I am a big fan of VirtualBox as a desktop virtualization technology. I have it installed on my machine and I’m constantly using it to try out new distributions and learn new technologies. It really is a great tool! I have seen it grow from a new project into the fully featured, efficient virtualization competitor that it is today.

I was recently sent a copy of the newly released “VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner’s Guide“, which outlines deploying and managing a cost-effective virtual environment using VirtualBox. I want to thank Packt Publishing for sharing a copy with me, and I’d like to share my review of the book here. I hope some of you will take the time to check out the Packt Publishing website as a resource for technical books.

VirtualBox 3.1 Beginners Guide

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it is very detail oriented. It truly is a beginners guide. I’m positive I could give this book to my father and he’d be able to install, configure and run VirtualBox on Windows or Linux. It outlines, in step-by-step detail, everything you’d like to know about VirtualBox. Even though I consider myself a Virtualbox veteran, I followed along with some of the tutorials and was impressed that no detail was left out.

One of the things that really stands out about this title is that it includes a huge number of screenshots. The number of screenshots in the book provide any beginner with the visual roadmap they need to complete the task at hand. It covers installing VirtualBox on both a Windows and Ubuntu host, as well as installing and configuring the reverse as guests. If you’ve never installed VirtualBox before, you’ll have an installation up and running in just a few minutes.

Beyond installation and configuration, this book goes into detail regarding the command line options (I learned quite a bit from this chapter!) as well. VirtualBox provides a full set of command line tools for starting, stopping, configuring, cloning and creating virtual machines. This makes it a perfectly reasonable candidate for a headless server virtualization solution!

This book covers guest additions, disk and image creation and management, all networking options and how they differ, using and creating virtual appliances, using snapshots and even remote management. It really is a good resource for getting started with Virtualization. I’m glad to have a copy of this book in my collection.

The sections that were the most useful for me were the networking and command line chapters. I was not familiar with any of the command line tools, and the networking was a little blurry for me. Before getting a copy of this book I was unfamiliar with virtualized networking beyond NAT and Bridged. This book went into enough networking detail that I’m very comfortable with each of the networking options and in what situations each might apply. This will really boost my efficiency and productivity with VirtualBox.

For anyone wanting to learn more about virtualization or doing research into cost-effective virtual environment solutions, I would highly recommend VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner’s Guide.

If this article has been helpful, please consider linking to it.

via ubuntu-tutorials.com

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Problem with MySQL and Tomcat Turnkey Appliances connection solved

2010-06-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

After two frustrating days of testing, testing and guess what? More testing! Er… sorry for being a little bit rude, but I haven’t slept well in two days… Let me start again… After two frustrating days of testing & debugging, I finally solved the communication problem between my MySQL and my Tomcat Turnkey Appliances.

The following error kept showing up at my Mozilla Firefox screen:

Error 1: org.apache.commons.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create PoolableConnectionFactory (Communications link failure Last packet sent to the server was 0 ms ago.)

The problem is that the Tomcat Turnkey Appliance includes Tomcat 5.5 and it comes along with a lot of security restrictions. So I had to add the following line to the $TOMCAT-CONFIG/policy.d/04webapps.policy file:

permission java.net.SocketPermission "127.0.0.1:3306", "connect";

And all this thanks to kalkulator-kredytowy´s answer at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2172570/tomcat6-cant-connect-to-mysql-the-driver-has-not-received-any-packets-from-the

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Missing logs - Tomcat 5.5 + Ubuntu 8.04 - Server Fault

2010-06-04T10:38:00.001-07:00

Summary

Freshly-installed (via apt-get) Tomcat on a freshly-installed Ubuntu 8.04 LTS 64-bit works, but doesn't (seem to) log anything. See also "What I've Tried" and "Closing In On It" below.

More Detail

Because the package maintainers have done a HUGE amount of the work, getting basic things working has been a fairly straightfoward matter of running apt-get and pointing Tomcat at the right JDK. And it works. But it doesn't appear to log anything.

As far as I can tell, the logging infrastructure is controlled via logging.properties files (since this is Tomcat 5.5, not Tomcat 5.0), including a central one (which you can override per web app) at /etc/tomcat55/logging.properties (/etc/tomcat55 is symlinked as /var/lib/tomcat55/conf). I'm not overriding it, and I can't see why I'm not seeing something. Here's the file:
 1 1 # Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more   2  2 # contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with   3  3 # this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.   4  4 # The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0   5  5 # (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with   6  6 # the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at   7  7 #   8  8 #     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0   9  9 #  10 10 # Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software  11 11 # distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,  12 12 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.  13 13 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and  14 14 # limitations under the License.  15 15   16 16 handlers = 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 4admin.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, 5host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler  17 17   18 18 .handlers = 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler  19 19   20 20 ############################################################  21 21 # Handler specific properties.  22 22 # Describes specific configuration info for Handlers.  23 23 ############################################################  24 24   25 25 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE  26 26 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = ${catalina.base}/logs  27 27 1catalina.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = catalina.  28 28   29 29 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE  30 30 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = ${catalina.base}/logs  31 31 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = localhost.  32 32   33 33 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE  34 34 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = ${catalina.base}/logs  35 35 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = manager.  36 36   37 37 4admin.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE  38 38 4admin.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = ${catalina.base}/logs  39 39 4admin.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = admin.  40 40   41 41 5host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.level = FINE  42 42 5host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.directory = ${catalina.base}/logs  43 43 5host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler.prefix = host-manager.  44 44   45 45 java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.level = FINE  46 46 java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.formatter = java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter  47 47   48 48   49 49 ############################################################  50 50 # Facility specific properties.  51 51 # Provides extra control for each logger.  52 52 ############################################################  53 53   54 54 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].level = DEBUG  55 55 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].handlers = 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler  56 56   57 57 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/manager].level = INFO  58 58 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/manager].handlers = 3manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler  59 59   60 60 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/admin].level = INFO  61 61 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/admin].handlers = 4admin.org.apache.juli.FileHandler  62 62   63 63 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/host-manager].level = INFO  64 64 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/host-manager].handlers = 5host-manager.org.apache.juli.FileHandler  65 65   66 66 # For example, set the com.xyz.foo logger to only log SEVERE  67 67 # messages:  68 68 #org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.level = DEBUG  69 69 #org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.level = DEBUG  70 70 #org.apache.catalina.session.ManagerBase.level = DEBUG 
The only change I've made is:
1 1 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].level = DEBUG 
...which was set to INFO like all the others, but I wanted to get it to log something, so I upped it to DEBUG. Naturally I've restarted Tomcat.

I can compile and view a JSP, so again Tomcat is working, but /var/lib/tomcat5.5/logs is stubbornly empty. Even if I force an error by having an invalid JSP or some such, I'm getting nothing.

What I've Tried

I've been through the steps listed in the Tomcat FAQ for ensuring that the distro hasn't messed things up (they hadn't).

I've gone looking for a logs directory elsewhere in case it's not /var/lib/tomcat5.5/logs (although that was created by the install).

Naturally I've restarted Tomcat after making any changes.

One thing I haven't done is to chown everything to be owned by the tomcat55 user that the install created. logs is owned by tomcat55, but a number of the other directories and files are owned by root, though they're world-readable. I haven't done this because (hangs head) I can't quite figure out how to fully back-up the existing tree so I can readily undo the change. The blasted tree has absolute symlinks interweaving /etc/tomcat55, /var/lib/tomcat55, and /usr/share/tomcat55 that I know of. I could tar up each of those, but I don't know for certain I'm not missing something.

EDIT:

Closing In On It

Okay, so I've found that it's writing console-style stuff to /var/log/daemon.log. Whew! At least that gives me a place to start. And it's issuing complaints like:
1 1 jsvc.exec[18819]: Can't load log handler "2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler"  2 2 jsvc.exec[18819]: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler 
And I'm not surprised, 2localhost.org.apache.juli.FileHandler isn't a valid class name (packages can't start with digits!). So I'm suspecting that the default logging.properties file is...not good. Will report back.

via serverfault.com

Geez.... It's a good thing I found this excellent information on Tomcat 5.5, because I couldn't find out why there were no logs!

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Install Webmin on Ubuntu Server or Desktop 9.10 Karmic Koala - Andrei DANEASA

2010-06-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

I am a big fan of Ubuntu Server. It’s exactly what you need for a server, no fancy UI, just services.
Dealing with all the text configuration files can be a time consuming task and there is something that can help a lot. It’s called Webmin and it is a web interface for configuring your linux box.

You need to install first some perl-related libraries required by webmin:

sudo apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl

The you need to download the latest webmin archive (this might change in time). I am downloading the Debian package:

wget http://www.webmin.com/download/deb/webmin-current.deb

(thanks @macrocode)

Install the Debian package with dpkg, not Aptitude:

sudo dpkg -i webmin_1.490_all.deb

* Your downloaded version may differ. Just use the deb package you’ve just downloaded.

Enjoy your Webmin installation at https://[serverIP]:10000 .
What I am normally doing is forwarding the port 10000 out of my router and access my webmin from anywhere on the internet. You can forward it to another port and to be user-friendly and easy-to-remember you can use DynDNS to pick a nice name.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

Install Webmin on Ubuntu Server 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala released

Install Oracle 10g XE on Ubuntu Server 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

Ubuntu server upgrade to 9.04

Install subversion for VPS (cPanel) under CentOS
Tags: Jaunty Jackalope, Linux, ubuntu server, webmin

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Linux.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

via webxpert.ro

Excellent article that shows a pretty quick installation process for webmin. I used it in my recently created Ubuntu 9.10 Text-only server. Worked flawlessly.

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Book Review: Virtualbox 3.1 Beginners Guide | Damien Saunders

2010-05-24T12:10:00.001-07:00

Book Review: Virtualbox 3.1 Beginners Guide

24. May, 2010 0 Comments

Hi thanks for coming back ... got a question or a comment? or just say hello! Got a question? then say hello @damiensaunders

As far as book reviews go, from personal experience they are much harder to write then a review of a music album or live gig. So when reading VirtualBox 3.1 Beginners Guide by Alfonso V. Romero (Packt Publishing) I was surprised at how easy the book was to read and how an experienced VirtualBox user can dip in and find something new.

VirtualBox is one of my favourite system virtualisation apps that I use on my Mac and my Windows machines. I’ve written about Virtualbox quite a bit and my own guide to install Windows on a Mac is one of my most popular posts.

I would have considered this book more for people starting out with VirtualBox, but the last few chapters and appendix are really for advanced users, quite serious chapters for Linux users or web developers looking at options for virtual appliances.

I can only have kind words for this book – the majority of which anyone would be able to follow. The Guide seems to be more useful for people running Linux and wanting to install Windows. Niftily, the book tries to overcome this with specific sections on how to install VirtualBox for Windows. Any reader will feel happy that the how to install Windows guest section relates to both XP and Win7, I hope there is a future revision of the book to include Mac OSx users.

The book does what it says, revealing the ‘robust capabilities’ of VirtualBox – at the end of the book, I was left unsure why I would want to download and use VirtualBox – but there again, if you’re reading this, the probably you are already using VirtualBox so you can go buy the book without worrying about this.

VirtualBox 3.1 Beginners Guide and the format of this book has a nice approach, there are many headings like ‘What just happened’ for short reviews and every section has a pop quiz that won’t keep you awake at night. These reviews and questions help keep you engaged even when you’re reading this book away from a computer screen.

VirtualBox 3.1 Beginners Guide from Packt Publishing is available now.

Packt Publishing provided a copy of this book for review. Thanks.

Related posts:

Virtualbox has a new how to book

15 minute guide to Virtualbox Windows 7 RC1 and your Mac

Upgrading to Virtualbox 3.0 and Mac OSx hosts

How to install Virtualbox on a Mac

HOW-TO install Ubuntu using Virtualbox on a Mac

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via damiensaunders.com

Cool! Another review of my VirtualBox book!

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VirtualBox 3.1 Beginners Guide Review | The PC Report

2010-05-24T12:08:00.001-07:00

Here is our first ever book review at The PC Report! We were lucky enough to be sent a digital copy of this book from Packt Publishing to give our opinions on, and I will say straight off that I was impressed with what I read in the book and the quality of the writing. If you want a small sample of the book, Packt has a sample chapter available for download here (PDF link).

If you haven’t already figured it out, the VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner’s Guide, written by Alfonso Romero, is basically a book that covers everything a user needs to know about Oracle VM VirtualBox – the free virtualization application that I wrote a small guide on a few months ago. This book blows my guide right out of the water in the sheer amount of content and the detail the tutorials go into to help you understand everything about VirtualBox.

Read the rest of this review »

via thepcreport.net

Cool! A review of my VirtualBox book!

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Cool! The VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner's Guide is on the #1 Spot in Packt's Website! http://www.packtpub.com/books#

2010-05-12T20:02:00.001-07:00

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How to Install VirtualBox Guest Additions | Packt Publishing Technical & IT Book Store

2010-04-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

via packtpub.com

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Want to review the VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner's Guide book?

2010-04-21T07:26:00.001-07:00

Would you like to review the VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner’s Guide book? Just send an e-mail to Disha Parekh at dishap@packtpub.com and she’ll get in touch with you with all the details. Oh, and don’t forget to tell her you heard it from me J

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VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner's Guide Book now available !

2010-04-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

At last… the book I worked on during the last 6 months or so has been published!

Since virtualization is a pretty popular subject nowadays, I hope this book helps to promote one of the best virtualization software packages available: VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems (now a part of Oracle).

Overview of VirtualBox 3.1: Beginner's Guide

Get up and running with VirtualBox to start working with your own virtual machines
Effectively administer and use virtual machines in a home/office environment
Analyze virtual machines with the most commonly used software tools
Create your first virtual machine with VirtualBox on Windows/Linux with step-by-step instructions and screenshots

Click on the picture below if you want to see a detailed description:

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Apache Roller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2010-04-17T16:48:00.001-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article needs references that appear in reliable third-party publications. Primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please add more appropriate citations from reliable sources. (August 2008)

Apache Roller
Developer(s) Apache Software Foundation

Stable release 4.0.1 / January 13, 2009; 14 months ago (2009-01-13)

Preview release 5.0 Beta1

Written in Java

Operating system Cross-platform

Type weblog server

License Apache License 2.0

Website http://roller.apache.org/

Free software portal

Roller Weblogger is a Java-based, full-featured, Multi-blog, Multi-user, Open Source weblog server. Roller was originally written by Dave Johnson in 2002 for a magazine article on open source development tools, but became popular at FreeRoller.net (now JRoller.com) and was later chosen to drive the employee blogs at Sun Microsystems, Inc. and IBM developerWorks blogs. In 2007, Roller became an official project of the Apache Software Foundation.

[edit] Bibliography

Romero, Alfonso (December 15, 2010). Apache Roller 4.0 Beginner's Guide (1st ed.). Packt Publishing. pp. 388. ISBN 184719950X. http://www.packtpub.com/apache-roller-4-0-beginners-guide/.

[edit] External links

Roller website

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License: Apache License · Website: http://apache.org/

This Web software related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Roller"

Categories: Apache Software Foundation | Open source content management systems | Blog software | Free software programmed in Java | Web software stubs
Hidden categories: Articles lacking reliable references from August 2008 | All articles lacking reliable references

Developer(s)	Apache Software Foundation
Stable release	4.0.1 / January 13, 2009; 14 months ago (2009-01-13)
Preview release	5.0 Beta1
Written in	Java
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	weblog server
License	Apache License 2.0
Website	http://roller.apache.org/

via en.wikipedia.org

Cool! the Apache Roller Beginner's Guide shows up on Wikipedia!

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Creating Your First Virtual Machine: Ubuntu Linux (Part 2)

2010-04-15T20:38:00.001-07:00

This is the second part of the article: http://www.packtpub.com/article/creating-first-virtual-machine-ubuntu-linux-part2

An excerpt from my new VirtualBox 3.1 Beginner’s Guide Book.

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4436 (20090918) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

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Creating Your First Virtual Machine: Ubuntu Linux (Part 1)

2010-04-15T10:49:00.001-07:00

In this two-part article by Alfonso V. Romero, author of VirtualBox 3.1: Beginner's Guide, you shall:

Create your first virtual machine in VirtualBox, using Ubuntu Linux
Learn about your virtual machine's basic configuration
Download and install Ubuntu Linux on your virtual machine
Learn how to start and stop your virtual machine

Check out the full article at: http://www.packtpub.com/article/creating-first-virtual-machine-ubuntu-linux-part1

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4436 (20090918) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

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Installing VirtualBox on Linux

2010-04-14T22:09:00.001-07:00

This is an excerpt from my new VirtualBox book:

http://www.packtpub.com/article/installing-virtualbox-on-linux

In this article you’ll learn to install VirtualBox on Ubuntu Linux. If you have the time, check it out and let me know if it was helpful…

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4436 (20090918) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

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Build your own Application to access Twitter using Java and NetBeans

2010-04-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

The third part of my article series about building a Twitter client is now published on Packt’s website:

http://www.packtpub.com/article/build-your-own-application-twitter-java-netbeans-3

In this article you’ll learn to:

Add a Tabbed Pane component to your SwingAndTweet application, so you can show your own timeline on one tab and your friends’ timeline on another tab.
Use a JScrollPane component to add vertical and horizontal scrollbars to your friends’ timeline list.
Use the getFriendsTimeline() method from the Twitter4J API to get the 20 most recent tweets from your friends’ timeline.
Apply font styles to your JLabel components via the Font class
Add a black border to separate each individual tweet by using the BorderFactory and Color classes.
Add the date and time of creation of each individual tweet by using the getCreatedAt() method from the twitter4j.Status interface, along with the Date class.

Check it out and let me know if you like it or not! You can leave your comments in Packt’s website, too…

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4436 (20090918) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

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Installing FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for IIS 7 on Windows 7 Ultimate

2010-02-08T13:31:00.001-08:00

Last Friday I had to configure a Windows 7 Ultimate machine for developing Web applications with Visual Web Developer 2008, SQL Server Express 2008 and IIS 7. I needed the FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions, and found a new version here: http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1630

I installed them on a Windows 7 virtual machine created in VirtualBox, and they work perfectly!

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Audio problem in Windows 7 virtual machine with VirtualBox 3.1.2 corrected

2010-02-07T11:59:00.001-08:00

I recently installed Windows 7 Ultimate edition on a virtual machine created with VirtualBox 3.1.2, and noticed it didn't recognize the audio driver. Then I googled for an answer to my problem, and found on the VirtualBox forum that I had to download the AC97 drivers from http://www.realtek.com.tw/ and install them on the Windows 7 virtual machine. I did that and the problem disappeared! Now I can hear sound on my Windows 7 VM!

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Swinging and Tweeting with Java and NetBeans: Part 2

2010-02-03T15:03:00.001-08:00

In Swinging and Tweeting with Java and NetBeans: Part 1 of this article series, we saw a simple way to see your last tweet via a Java application called SwingAndTweet using the Twitter4J API.

In this article by Alfonso Romero, we will add some more functionality to our SwingAndTweet Java application.

Here, we will learn how to:

Create a twitterLogin dialog to take care of the login process

Add functionality to show your 20 most recent tweets right after logging in

Add the functionality to update your Twitter status

In this tutorial, we'll develop the simple Java application further to add some more functions. Now that we can connect to our Twitter account via the Twitter4J API, it would be nice to use a login dialog instead of hard-coding our Twitter username and password in the Java application.

But before we start to build our enhanced SwingAndTweet application, let me show you how it will look like once we finish all the exercises in this part of the tutorial:

Click here to see the full article...

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VirtualBox Beginner's Guide Announced in Packt's Website

2010-01-31T18:17:00.001-08:00

Wow! My second book is already announced in Packt's Website: http://www.packtpub.com/virtualbox-3-1-beginners-guide/book

Here's the cover:

I'd really appreciate it if you tell me what you think about the cover. We're still working on a couple of details on the book's chapters, but I'm definitely positive it will get published as soon as possible...

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Twitter Java APIs: JTwitter vs. Twitter4J

2010-01-23T23:27:00.001-08:00

I recently stumbled upon a twitter API called JTwitter. It looks as interesting as the Twitter4J API, which I'm using to write a Twitter Java application for my boss. It should be interesting to have a list of all the available APIs for Twitter, and make some comparisons...

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Swinging and Tweeting with Java and NetBeans

2010-01-22T15:02:00.001-08:00

Cool! The first article of my Swinging and Tweeting with Java and NetBeans series came out! Check it out at the Packt Publishing website: http://www.packtpub.com/article/swinging-tweeting-build-custom-application-twitter-java-netbeans

As always, I'm open to suggestions and improvements :)

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Something messed up my classpath in Netbeans 6.8

2010-01-20T19:01:00.001-08:00

I was working with a Twitter Java app in NetBeans, and suddenly I couldn't run my project from NetBeans 6.8. The strange thing was that I could compile it on NetBeans and then run the jar file on a terminal window! After two stinking hours of struggling with my project configuration, I found out it was a problem with the classpath, thanks to the tips I found on http://en.allexperts.com/q/Java-1046/main-class.htm.

So, basically, if suddenly you cannot run projects on NetBeans, try fixing up your classpath, and maybe your problem will be solved.

On Windows, type

set CLASSPATH=.;%CLASSPATH%

on a Command Prompt window.

On Linux, type

CLASSPATH=.:$CLASSPATH
export CLASSPATH

On a terminal window.

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Problem with Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic and 1024x768 screen resolution solved

2010-01-14T21:52:00.001-08:00

Geez, I had a lot of trouble these last two days because I installed Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic and my PC was stuck at 800x600 resolution, even though I could get up to 1024x768 on Ubunu 9.04 Jaunty. After two days and several anxiety attacks, I finally discovered that it all was due to a loose connection between the graphics adapter and the monitor! How about that? I never had a problem like this before...

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Apache Roller 4.0 Beginner's Guide Published and Available Online

2010-01-10T20:34:00.001-08:00

At last! The Apache Roller 4.0 Beginner's Guide is published and available online at Packt's web site! Click on the following image to see what this book covers:

Oh, and check out the sample chapter at http://www.packtpub.com/files/9508-Chapter-9-Advanced-Topics.pdf, where you'll learn how to:

Learn to manage group blogs
Use aggregators and blog search engines to expand your Roller blog's audience
Configure Google webmaster tools for your Roller weblog
Use podcasts in your weblog entries
Use Google docs as a weblog client to publish entries in your Roller weblog
Use Planet Roller to aggregate external blogs along with your Roller blogs

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Ubuntu Server, VirtualBox and PAE extensions

2010-01-03T22:42:00.001-08:00

A few minutes ago I had some trouble when creating a new virtual machine with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS edition through the VBoxManage interface. Thanks to the http://www.networkfoo.org/server-infrastructure/ubuntu-server-install-virtualbox-kernel-requires-following-features-not-presen post, I discovered I needed to activate the PAE extensions.

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Changing from Gnome to KDE on Ubuntu Desktop

2009-12-28T13:21:00.001-08:00

I've been working with the GNOME Ubuntu Desktop version for a while, but recently I've been trying to access an Ubuntu PC from a remote Windows machine. On a previous post I explained how to use the X11vnc package to connect to an Ubuntu machine from a remote PC because there were some problems with the GNOME desktop and the vncserver. Now I'm having some problems with the Ubuntu 9.10 GNOME version because if I disconnect the monitor from the PC, the maximum resolution I can use from my remote Windows PC is 800x600, and frankly it's very annoying! So now I'm going to try installing the KDE desktop manager on my Ubuntu 9.10 machine, and see if I can use the tightvnc server (www.tightvnc.com) to connect to it from my Windows main PC. I'll keep you updated about this...

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Uploading Videos and Sound Files on Your Posts Using Apache Roller 4.0

2009-12-22T00:02:00.001-08:00

http://www.packtpub.com/article/uploading-videos-sound-files-posts-using-apache-roller

This article teaches you how to insert video files in your posts.The article tells you how to offer your spectators the easiest, quickest, and most attractive way to see what you have to offer.

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Including Google Maps in your Posts Using Apache Roller 4.0

2009-12-21T23:58:00.001-08:00

http://www.packtpub.com/article/including-google-map-posts-using-apache-roller-4

This article teaches you how to take advantage of web services such as Google Maps, YouTube, and SlideShare and use Google Maps, YouTube, and SlideShare to embed maps, videos, and document presentations in your blog.

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Spicing Up Your Blog: Uploading Files and Images to your Weblog using Apache Roller

2009-12-21T23:45:00.001-08:00

http://www.packtpub.com/article/spicing-blog-uploading-files-images-weblog-apache-roller

This article gives you insight on weblogs and how they can be used to create a worldwide presence through the blogosphere. It also teaches you the difference between a blog and a CMS, the basics about newsfeeds and the important role they play for blogs, and how you can use them to spread information on the blogosphere.

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Working with Templates in Apache Roller 4.0

2009-12-10T12:14:00.001-08:00

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Apache Roller 4.0 Beginner's Guide Book Announced in Packt Publishing Web Site

2009-12-02T14:41:00.001-08:00

Check out the new Apache Roller Beginner's Guide Book at packtpub.com

I hope this book helps to promote Apache Roller, the best blog server I've used!

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Apache Roller 4.0 – Beginner's Guide

2009-12-02T14:35:00.001-08:00

Check out the new Apache Roller Beginner's Guide Book at packtpub.com

I hope this book helps to promote Apache Roller, the best blog server I've used!

Posted via web from alromero's posterous

Introduction to the Struts Web Framework - NetBeans IDE 6.7 Tutorial

2009-08-25T21:07:00.001-07:00

Introduction to the Struts Web Framework

This document takes you through the basics of using NetBeans IDE to develop web applications using the Struts web framework. Struts is an open source framework that extends the Java Servlet API and employs a Model, View, Controller (MVC) architecture. It enables you to create maintainable, extensible, and flexible web applications based on standard technologies, such as JSP pages, JavaBeans, resource bundles, and XML.

This tutorial teaches you how to build a simple MVC application that displays a login page and returns a success page upon submitting data that passes validation. You learn several basic features provided by Struts, as well as how these features are implemented using the IDE. Specifically, you use Struts tags in JSP pages, maintain user data with a Struts ActionForm bean, and implement forwarding logic using a Struts Action object. You are also shown how to implement simple validation to your application, including setting up warning message for a failed login attempt.

via netbeans.org

Excellent tutorial if you want a quick intro to Struts & NetBeans...

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Develop PHP Web Applications with NetBeans, VirtualBox and Turnkey LAMP Appliance

2009-08-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

Develop PHP Web Applications with NetBeans, VirtualBox and Turnkey LAMP Appliance

In this article by Alfonso Romero, we will learn how to configure NetBeans, VirtualBox and the Turnkey LAMP Appliance to develop complex PHP applications in a virtual environment. This article explains the process of creating a virtual machine, configuring the NetBeans PHP IDE, and managing a WordPress project with NetBeans in a step wise manner.

via packtpub.com

I hope this article helps to promote TurnKey Linux appliances, VirtualBox and NetBeans as a powerful way to develop Web apps...

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UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads

2009-08-13T12:16:00.007-07:00

via unetbootin.sourceforge.net

The other day I ran out of CDs to create a KUbuntu Live CD, and after googling to find another way to install this Linux distro, I found this excellent piece of software to create bootable Live USB drives of Ubuntu, KUbuntu and a bunch of other Linux distros!

Posted via web from alromero's posterous

Widgetbox › Edit Widget: alromero's posterous - Open Source Software & More

2009-08-13T12:16:00.005-07:00

via widgetbox.com

If you haven't visited the WidgetBox Web site yet (http://www.widgetbox.com), go and take a look! You can make your own widgets, like the one I made to show my recent posts from Posterous!

Posted via web from alromero's posterous

Using X11vnc instead of vino, tightvncserver or vnc4server

2009-08-13T12:16:00.003-07:00

I've been having a lot of trouble lately, using vino and vnc with my Ubuntu Linux PC. The bottom line is I need to use a remote desktop application to manage my Ubuntu PC from my Windows desktop. The first thing I tried was the Remote Desktop feature included in Ubuntu. This feature uses a package called vino, and the problem with vino is that I can't see the Ubuntu cursor correctly and the connection is a bit jerky.

Then I decided to install tightvncserver, but the keyboard was a mess and some icons and colors didn't display correctly on the remote desktop. After that I tried vnc4server, but got the same results. Then I stumbled upon No Machine NX (http://www.nomachine.com/) and decided to install it. To my surpirse it worked well the first time, but then Ubuntu updated some packages and NX started to behave exactly like tightvncserver and vnc4server!!

But today, after a week of frustration, I finally found something that works, at least for the time being! This fabulous package is called Xvnc, and you can download it from Ubuntu's repository. Just install it, open a terminal window and type x11vnc. Then you can connect from another PC using any vnc client like vncviewer:

The screenshot above shows a session on my Ubuntu PC using vncviewer from TighVNC on my Windows XP desktop. There are some settings to take care of, like adding a password to my X11vnc configuration, but right now I just wanted to let you know that this is the best vnc solution I've seen so far. I'll keep posting about all the new findings on vnc servers...

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Problem with keyboard, TightVNC and Gnome in Ubuntu 9.04

2009-08-13T12:16:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at bugs.launchpad.net

I followed the instructions and it worked on my Ubuntu Linux 9.04 (Jaunty) installation, hope it works for others with the same problem, too...

Posted via web from alromero's posterous

Enabling SSH on Ubuntu Linux 9.04 (Jaunty)

2009-08-13T12:15:00.009-07:00

I just finished installing Ubuntu Linux 9.04 (Jaunty) on one of my PCs, and wanted to connect through SSH from another Windows XP PC. I haven't worked with SSH in a long time since my last server, so I forgot that the Live CD Ubuntu installation doesn't have SSH enabled by default. But to my surprise, I just went to the Synaptic Package Manager, typed SSH in the Quick Search box and selected the ssh metapackage (it installs the OpenSSH client and server). I marked this package for installation and then clicked on Apply. After a few seconds, the OpenSSH package was installed! Then I went to the Windows XP PC and tested the connection:

Voila! Another good reason to use Ubuntu!

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Running Rise of Nations on VirtualBox 3

2009-08-13T12:15:00.007-07:00

Well, I finally managed to play Rise of Nations on my Windows XP virtual machine, thanks to VirtualBox 3.0 and its Direct3D support! For those of you who haven't tried it yet, you just need to install Windows XP like a regular virtual machine. Then, when installing the VirtualBox Guest Additions, make sure you reboot your virtual machine, press F8 to enter "safe mode" and install the Guest Additions when in safe mode, because if you try to install Guest Additions in normal mode, Windows' file protection mechanism will not let you install some DLLs VirtualBox needs to replace to use the 3D hardware directly from the host computer.

Here's a screenshot of Rise of Nations on my WinXP virtual machine:

One final consideration: I used the Spanish version, because I live in Mexico and I bought the game in Spanish, but the result is the same, no matter what language you use. Version 3 of VirtualBox has definitely improved its support for using 3D graphics hardware inside a virtual machine! The only tiny detail is that I noticed the game doesn't run as smooth as in my real Windows XP machine, but since I have an AMD Sempron w/ 2GB of RAM, I can't really say my hardware is helping VirtualBox! If you have better hardware and want to try VirtualBox 3 with a game like Rise of Nations, Age of Empires III, or some of the more recent titles, I'll appreciate if you keep me informed of your findings...

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Ubuntu Linux on VirtualBox 3 Network Problem Corrected

2009-08-13T12:15:00.005-07:00

Well, I couldn't wait to download VirtualBox 3 now that Sun released it officially, but almost had a heart attack when my Ubuntu Linux 9.04 Desktop virtual machine freezed up when running the update manager! I had to shut down the VM and tried again, but got the same result! Then I decided to change the network adapter type to Intel:

Then I restarted my virtual machine, and the problem disappeared! The update manager could do his job without any problems:

Now, I'm just waiting for my Ubuntu VM to restart after applying the upgrades...

So, if you run into the same problem when installing VirtualBox 3, remember to change your network adapter type first and try again. If the problem persists, send me an email or ask for help on the http://www.virtualbox.org...

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Testing Windows 7 on VirtualBox 2.2.4

2009-08-13T12:15:00.003-07:00

At last! I could spare the time to test the evaluation copy of Windows 7 that I downloaded two weeks ago! I still haven't got the chance to burn the image I downloaded to a DVD and test it on real hardware, but when that happens I'll post my results it in here, to let you know if there are any visible differences... I plan to test Windows 7 on an AMD Sempron +3400 (yes I know, but my budget sucks right now!) with 2GB of RAM.

In this post, I'm going to show you what I went through when installing Windows 7 on VirtualBox. The first thing I noticed was that the installation took a long time to complete, if you compare it to an ordinary Windows XP installation on VirtualBox. But considering that the Windows 7 ISO image is around 2.4 GB, and the Windows XP ISO image I use with VirtualBox is 700MB, maybe it's not a VirtualBox problem. I'll have to compare this with the time it takes Windows 7 to install directly in the same machine, without VirtualBox.

After half an hour, Windows 7 finally finished installing on my VirtualBox VM:

I opened Internet Explorer 8, and all went well, except I had to install the most recent Flash player version. After that, I went to http://www.playingforchange.com to test Windows 7 video streaming capabilities on VirtualBox. I played my favorite video, Stand By Me, and I noticed a little slowlyness on the video frames. In full-screen mode, it was impossible to see the video. I could hear the sound allright, but no video for me! Maybe I have to assign more than 512MB of RAM to the virtual machine, and 128 MB of video ram. I'll get back to you on this later on...

All in all, I think Windows 7 looks great, and VirtualBox is doing a great job, considering the sloppy hardware I have available to test it :)

[[posterous-content:UYsrXit6oqzrecA1amff]]

Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7

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6x5 VirtualBox Free E-Book .

2009-08-13T12:15:00.001-07:00

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Well, here's my first 6x5 E-book about VirtualBox, based on David Barnes's 6x5 template .

6x5_VirtualBox.doc (1068 KB)
View this on posterous

I'm open to suggestions and improvements, so don't hesitate to comment!

Regards,

Alfonso Romero

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