finally scribed down some of my recent javaws optimization lessons learned experiences. in short, javaws totally rocks!

all but one of the number of issues i had w/ javaws over time were resovlvable via either moving to an more informative http server or tuning and annotating the jnlp descriptor files and the one issue that remains is a known and non-critical bug that is fixed in follow on releases.

javaws ... do it!

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: The Crystal Method/Community Service/Kalifornia

reality check

indeed! well said!

now, let's get down to working together and moving the computing industry forward ... collectively and collaboratively.

btw, sony cameras rock!

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: The Verve/Urban Hymns/Space & Time

i truly suspect eitan's simply put perspectives is that of the silent majority. the folks that simply desire to build out next gen apps using the best tools available knowing that there are very few things in life that are "free." free. such an enabling world yet completely hijacked with subjectivity galore. there are bigger issues that we, collectively, need to address vs petty squabbling. really. consumer quality systems are not what they should be for the price we are paying. period. i believe a few are banging drums loudly and others simply mind numblingly march along to a tired old tune. the arguments are so 2000. get over it already. on the upside, most folks are picking up the pieces and collectively moving the computing world forward, rationalizing and resolving the issues enroute. it's fun. it's liberating. it's the way it should be. i choose the later and so should you.

go big or go home!

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: Orb/Auntie Aubries Beyond The Call Of Duty/Sun Electric Red Summer Orb Koskiewicz Mix

tried out netbeans 4.0b today. very nice!

when it comes to slinging code i'm a minimalist ... command line when possible, not a fan of mousing, green-on-black all the way baby. i'm likely addicted to anything beta as well. not sure what the attraction is but tweaking something that is taking shape before my eyes, vs spit-shined to a nice glossy gleen, is, well, fun. surf the edge!

anyways, i sliced a bit'o time today to tool around with the latest nb kind on the block ... and i'm impressed. very much so ... keeping in mind that i come from the minimalist camp. nb4 feels like it won't get in my way and does it's steady best to meld to my style, for better or worse. it happily slurps up my system and process agnostic ant files and maps the principal targets to nice little buttons. it looks to be quite configurable and should i dive in deeper there looks to be a ton of extremely enabling features, plugins, etc.

i like beta!

i converted our jnlp files to no longer pin to 1.4 now that tiger is on the prowl. the default ui is sweet and there looks to be some fixes in the mix (eg JEditorPane/HTML rendering) that makes the cutover worth the effort ... which was beyond painless. that and now my application's jnlp and associated instructions are significantly streamlined, as in "just click" simple.

now, where is the 1.6b?

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: Underworld/Second Toughest In The Infants/Air Towel

delayed javaOne recap as i have either been under the weather (as in sick) or under the ground (as in installing a sprinkler system) for the last couple of days. this is mondo brief, almost in word association format just highlighting highlights without repeated redundancy (funny ehhhh). on with the show ...

• worked my ar$e off to get the demos pulled together (note to self ... there has to be a better way)
• rode caltrain ... was nice
• set up shop 06.25 with my partner in crime lauren ... amazed how order comes about with so much chaos from the onset
• jxta booth discussions where great/contextual/lengthy this year ... extremely fun stuff
• lots of folks gladly left contact info to which i want to follow up with them regarding some open questions, etc.
• hung out at the bloggers @ thirsty bear and met and hashed jxta with jclingan (gud tymz), said props to blog czar mary, talked bloged smack with beuchelt, got disneyland pointers and caught on life in general with MartinHardee, threw back beers with webmink (man, what a journey ... and i'd do it all again) and tbray and, lastly, saw the man. go big! go fast! go mean!
• saw that the hands on labs were extremely popular ... 200 seats with a queue ... those folks did an amazing job pulling that labs together
• attended a jdnc session and was blown away by the productivity stats ... and i believe it all because i feel the pain everyday. this stuff is only going to get better and better. great work!
• learned about (un)pack200 which blew me away. being i am already a huge java webstart fan/user/addict i was amazed that (un)pack200 can compress jar file to 1/9 the original size thereby profoundly increasing the webstart transfer time. excellent work!
• updated myself with the forthcoming concurrency utilities ... can't way to try it out
• attended jonathan's keynote ... a system, a complete system, on ebay with a starting price of $.01 ... man. the tiger rocked! p2p is here. rich/thin clients are everywhere and java is the glue.
• watched scott's keynote via webcast ... i want a phantom box now! sun does/leverages open source. always has. always will. what is the confusion? it is spot on simple. jack rocked! hilarious. way to go scott!
• watched jag's keynote via webcast ... that java realtime demo completely ruled! and that big question" session was plain sad. seriously, wtf is the problem? i don't get it. i wish folks would step up and contribute to the overall solution openly, honestly and with acknowledge thought leadership reconginition vs continual detracting dribble. i know there are issues to address (there always are) but i believe the true kernel of the problem is addressible without all the noisy hand-waving bull$hit. don't we all have more important "big picture" endeavors to persue? openly and collectively? i wonder how much of this noise is based on envy. give me a break. jag, you rule!
• attended tra's "webjxta" bof ... that stuff is the bomb
• attended the "community meeting." chatted with my tomcat buddies a bit. hung out with my nokia and orkut compadres and hashed "ext:config" a bit ... gotta fix that bug. schmoozed with mary again (spiderman ... tooooo funny). had a great time talking with ted kosan and appreciated his time hanging out in the booth. fun times. too bad i couldn't make it up the last day of j1 to talk jxta smack more ... but it looks like i was on the verge of a flu that i am just now recovering from. met daniel brookshier. saw brad neuberg and neglected to ask how his presentation went. sorry about that. chatted with marla and martin a bit more. met helen chen ... should've talked more about myjxta issues here husband ran into awhile back. daniel steinberg and talked blog smack. saw emily again ... my home state compadre who happens to know one of my brothers who doesn't work at sun. got a chance to congratulate josh bloch on becoming a much deserved de ... only to find out he's, well ... sadness. best of luck to you and yours.
• saw my "vacationing" manager three times. that guy doesn't stop. it's infectious.
• saw my manager's manager. i'm going to miss working in his organization as the environment is bar none. there is literally nothing we can not achieve in such an environment.
• the "community session" was informal ... too informal. next time i think the mixer and the awards/presentations should occur sequentially.
• ate at a nearby diner ... to which i was pleasantly suprised
• nearly missed the last train home
• gearing up to do it all again bigger and better
• smiled

go big or go home!

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: Placebo/Sleeping with Ghosts/Bulletproof Cupid

oh, this is good. jdnc just popped. coding webapps just became fun again. couldn't really ask for more. a signficant meld of rich client constructs, declarative design elements, variable deployment models, minimal dependencies, and, did i say rich client constructs. the three webstart enabled demos are excellent proof points that this pup is only going to get better.

with this framework in hand we should be able to see the web with eyes wide open vs the bespectacled view constrained via the trusted yet tired browser. good times.

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: Death Cab for Cutie/Transatlanticism/Tiny Vessels

we'll i for one don't want to miss out on a java/blog melding of the minds ... oh, and the beer will be relished with delight.

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: RadioHead/Amnesiac/You and Whose Army

this one might be old school for some but is a bit new to me given that i have been working on "edge" systems for awhile now. anyways, i'm in a situation where a process is a bit platform specific. not that this is entirely wrong it is just that i'm a fan of having options and in this case i want to run on a fast platform with ample disk, etc. what to do ...

firstly, get the release out the door regardless. done. next, remember the pain. repeat ... do not forget, do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not drink away your woes ... wait a minute ... no, definitely do not drink away your worries. lastly, squirrel away some time to amp up the infrastructure processes. doing this is not all that sexy but conversely is all the more important so that one can, in turn, spend more time on critical work and further enable one to readily spin out new builds at the drop of a dime. more/faster/rinse/repeat.

ok. take inventory. runsocks ... fine. tsocks ... interesting. putty ... hmmmmm, i remember playing with silly putty as a kid. something is wrong. i don't want/need/desire platform anymore platform specific scripts then we already. in fact, i am actively trying to banish said situations. what next. think, think, think ... remembering an email thread where a colleague slipped into this very problem to which another colleague responded briefly espousing something about "... j2ssh cvs tunneled over ssh ..." ahhhh, found the email. next step ... implement. within minutes i'm served with a nice and readily accessible cvs service running that is visible to any intranet system that effectively proxies over ssh to our external repository. !sweet! now i can fire up our build jxta 1-2-3 from any system ... at anytime. cool. last step. drive the processes locally via ant on the target systems leveraging said process and shore up the artifact cvs commits. i like. next up. maven ... the holy grail of build systems.

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: The Streets/A Grand Don't Come For Free/Empty Cans

Having used and loved FreeTTS in MyJXTA for quite sometime now I have been itching to see about adding the oh so swag Sphinx to the mix. So, on the way home last evening I stopped by my local RadioShack and picked up a PC mic ... and a gnarly alarm clock thereby retiring an extremely annoying glaring red cheapo model I have had for eons. CVS'ing and building the Sphinx source was trivial. I run SuSE 9.1/KDE at home and after killing artsd and exchanging some late night emails with plamere the demos worked. Sweet! Next up, see how best to get MyJXTA to listen. Should be fun.

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: RadioHead/KidA/Idioteque

finally added the maven build results to the myjxta home page ... now if i can host the content under a site doesn't assume the content is relatively simple, that being nav-bar free, no frames, etc. none the less, a step forward.

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: New Order/Get Ready/Primitive Motion

FreeTTS is simply not enough, plamere, we need to go for Sphynx next. We want to own Google.iFeeLucky(sphinx+jnlp) as well ... at least for another 15s of fame. :)

To infinity and beyond ...

ahhhhhhhh ... given the recent spam storm i was very much motivated to finally implement a ban directive. directive in the sense of irc-like commands. while i would much rather spend my time building enabling features, vs disabling features, adding in a "directive substrate" to MyJXTA has been quite an eye opener ... something i've wanted to play with in time anyways. this effectively provides a "command" bus with which i can now quite adhocly tap into from pretty much any execution point, chain the events together, etc. quite fun.

now, in the context of p2p/organic systems and the like, if i have a ban list and you are a friend and also have a ban list our lists combined are greater then sum of the parts. chain this out a bit and the beginings of a "largely naturally balanced" system starts to emerge ... k3w1. i like. very much so in fact.

from the ashes ...

Within *minutes* of posting my Google + FreeTTS + JNLP blog the following MyJXTA dialog ensued:

And then this butt munch made his presence known adnauseum prompting me to move the long awaited ban feature up the queue a notch or two:

The world is comprised of all kinds. Looks like s/he goes by Raphael VossAdrian Sutton. Hmmmmm, makes me think ...