...try to think of something to say at least once a week, or else people will think you've died.

hi there folks - miss me ? :)

this really is a note to self - probably old news, but i wanted somewhere to keep it for future reference. if you're trying to get hold of an older RealPlayer client, such as the one for solaris (SPARC), then real, bless 'em, doesn't really go out of their way to lead you to them.

google is your friend, though, at times like these, and it is with great pleasure that I announce the RealPlayer Legacy Software Archive Page.

it's also the case that if you want to run RealPlayer on and x86 system you'll need to do the Juergen Keil's little hack involving the UnixWare7 player.

the Helix Community may offer up some nicer native versions in the future but that's all for now folks.

staroffice 8 should be out soon (the beta program closed at the end of april). for those who want to install and make it the default office suite for all users on a solaris 10 system, here are some quick and dirty instructions.

• install staroffice 8 as root. choose /opt/staroffice8 for the installation directory
• as root, go to /usr/share/application-registry directory
• copy existing config files into backup files:
  # cp gnome-vfs.applications gnome-vfs.applications.bak
# cp staroffice.applications staroffice.applications.bak
# cp staroffice8.applications staroffice8.applications.bak

  (staroffice8.applications is actually a symlink to /usr/share/gnome/applications-registry/staroffice8.applications - you may want to make a backup of that instead, ie /usr/share/gnome/applications-registry/staroffice8.applications.bak)
• edit staroffice8.applications - change the first line from 'staroffice8' to 'staroffice':
  staroffice
command=staroffice8 <---- note: should remain staroffice8
name=StarOffice 8
.../rest of file/...

  
• edit staroffice.applications - change the first line from 'staroffice' to 'staroffice7':
  staroffice7
command=staroffice
name=StarOffice 7
.../rest of file/...

  
• edit gnome-vfs.applications
  • find the entry for 'staroffice'
  • replace that entry with the text from staroffice8.applications


• default application should now be staroffice 8

the other day my old test lab sun ray 1 died. there's not much that can go wrong with sun ray units, but it probably didn't help that i jammed a live power cable in and out about 10 times in as many minutes - which this sort of early unit doesn't like. of course after i found out that das blinkenlichten on the front meant that the sun ray was no more, i just grabbed the spare unit from under my desk, plugged it in and away i went.

however - now i had a dead sun ray 1, so i did what any self-respecting nerd would do: got a screwdriver and opened it up. :)

here then are the innards of an early-model sun ray 1 enterprise appliance (click on the image for a bigger picture). note the complete lack of fan, disk drive or thievable RAM modules.

sun ray server 3 update 1 alpha is available for download.

go look at thin guy's blog for details.

sun labs comes up with some amazing technology demonstrations, but they often take a while to get 'baked in' to a complete product, with all the support, distribution, training, localisation, etc etc etc that goes on for an enterprise offering.

i'm sure this article will have a few people banging on my door asking for a demo, but it's early days yet, so bear with us.

besides, there's already a great way to do word processing and spreadsheets on sun ray. just look here. there's even a free version.

i'm now using solaris™ 10 for my sun ray™ sessions, thanks to amazingly fast installation of solaris 10 to production machines for general-purpose users (well, and me). this fast deployment is almost certainly thanks to the software express program which helped stage early-access releases inside sun as well as to customers. (want a sneek peek at solaris 11? go download it!)

i must admit the upgrade process for me was quite involved. what i had to do was log in to the old solaris 9 server, type in a single command in a terminal window, and i was automagically transferred to the new solaris 10 server. the whole upgrade process must have taken me 15 seconds 8P. try that on windows.

now the clever thing about my sun ray set up is that i'm actually using it (and typing this) from home. with a magic vpn box and my java™ card id, my desktop at home is the same as the one in the office. literally. i mean the mouse pointer is in the same place when i move from one site to the next.

the really clever thing, though, is that the local gateway for the sun ray home users trial is in singapore. that means that the session i'm using at home:

• travels through my home ADSL to my ISP in sydney
• goes from sydney to singapore via the internet
• enters the singapore gateway
• returns to sydney via the sun internal leased line
• does stuff on the sun ray controller
• returns back to singapore via the leased line
• out the gateway
• back to my ISP in sydney via the internet
• back down my ADSL line to the sun ray appliance

oh - and this is all encrypted traffic by the way.

and it works just fine. it just works

now to be honest, i'm not going to be watching video telecasts or anything this way, but really - this technology is light years ahead of what anyone else has. i wish more people knew about it...