Hey - I've been too busy lately. But one of my colleagues hinted me about the announcement of the final version of Netbeans 6.0.
Good work guys!
For those of you who haven't used NB6 yet because you wanted to wait for the final version - go get it now! ;-)
Get it here:
http://sunmicro.vo.llnwd.net/c1/netbeans/6.0/final/
Read about all the glory features here:
http://www.netbeans.org/features/
Nokia has released a new update for the software on the N95 - version 20.0.015.
It should increase the performance and stability of many major parts of the software (including Maps), and enhance the battery lifetime by about 30% while listening to music (from 9 to 12 hours of listening).
I haven't tried it out for myself yet, but I'll update this blog very soon when I have.
In the meantime you can fetch it for yourself here:
http://europe.nokia.com/A4579163
Specs on the update can be found here:
http://europe.nokia.com/A4577225
After updating you can install the new enhanced menu structure using this link:
http://nds1.nokia.com/files/support/nseries/phones/software/New_Menu_Structure.SIS
UPDATE: After installing it myself, I strongly recommend all you N95 users out there to do the same. The entire phone seems remarkably faster, in the menu, the applications (calendar, messaging, contacts) and in just about every corner of the feature set that I've visited tonight.. Go get it!
Last Friday JRuby 1.1 beta 1 was released:
http://docs.codehaus.org/display/JRUBY/2007/11/02/JRuby+1.1b1+Released
The last time I tried to check out from trunk (about a week ago), I couldn't get it to work properly with the Rails support in Netbeans 6.0 beta 2, but I'll try it out again as soon as possible.
The performance is now better than MRI (the original C based Ruby implementation) in 14 out of 18 tests, and what's very important to many: It's even faster on Rails!
JRuby is now the most performant option for Rails deployments. w00t!
Congrats JRuby team! :-)
Blogged with Flock
I finally got the time to take a deeper look at JRuby 1.1 (trunk).
just checked it out, and ran a small performance test.
Immediately after I ran the exact same test for MRI.
These are the results, showing an approximate 4-10 times performance from JRuby over MRI!!!
E:\ror\jruby>jruby -J-server -O test/bench/bench_method_dispatch.rb
Control: 1m loops accessing a local variable 100 times
0.422000 0.000000 0.422000 ( 0.422000)
0.282000 0.000000 0.282000 ( 0.282000)
0.141000 0.000000 0.141000 ( 0.141000)
0.156000 0.000000 0.156000 ( 0.156000)
0.156000 0.000000 0.156000 ( 0.156000)
Test STI: 1m loops accessing a fixnum var and calling to_i 100 times
3.781000 0.000000 3.781000 ( 3.781000)
3.625000 0.000000 3.625000 ( 3.625000)
3.125000 0.000000 3.125000 ( 3.125000)
3.110000 0.000000 3.110000 ( 3.110000)
3.172000 0.000000 3.172000 ( 3.172000)
Test ruby method: 1m loops calling self's foo 100 times
12.094000 0.000000 12.094000 ( 12.094000)
11.859000 0.000000 11.859000 ( 11.859000)
11.063000 0.000000 11.063000 ( 11.063000)
10.890000 0.000000 10.890000 ( 10.890000)
10.875000 0.000000 10.875000 ( 10.875000)
E:\ror\jruby>ruby test/bench/bench_method_dispatch.rb
Control: 1m loops accessing a local variable 100 times
5.625000 0.000000 5.625000 ( 5.672000)
5.625000 0.000000 5.625000 ( 5.625000)
5.562000 0.000000 5.562000 ( 5.562000)
5.704000 0.000000 5.704000 ( 5.719000)
5.640000 0.000000 5.640000 ( 5.703000)
Test STI: 1m loops accessing a fixnum var and calling to_i 100 times
18.891000 0.000000 18.891000 ( 19.328000)
18.937000 0.000000 18.937000 ( 19.344000)
19.016000 0.000000 19.016000 ( 19.235000)
19.375000 0.000000 19.375000 ( 20.125000)
21.172000 0.000000 21.172000 ( 23.781000)
Test ruby method: 1m loops calling self's foo 100 times
37.156000 0.000000 37.156000 ( 42.984000)
39.141000 0.000000 39.141000 ( 55.672000)
33.812000 0.000000 33.812000 ( 37.156000)
33.047000 0.000000 33.047000 ( 34.032000)
32.938000 0.016000 32.954000 ( 33.609000)
Yup, the final release of The Gimp version 2.4 is finally out! :-)
Windows users - get it here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=121075&package_id=250052&release_id=549292
Other users can find their version here:
http://www.gimp.org/
I was too busy last week, didn't have much time to blog about anything..
Now is the time to briefly mention the most important news from the week that passed.
The first one is Netbeans 6.0 beta 2. Since I haven't been using much of it's Java features recently, I decided to go with the Ruby-Only version.
And what a joy that is!
It's a tiny download - about 19 Megs.
It starts in a flash!!
It rocks..
Get it - now - here:
http://download.netbeans.org/netbeans/6.0/beta2/
According to gimpusers.com, the Gimp 2.4 (final) will be released tomorrow:
http://www.gimpusers.com/news/2007-10-22/gimp-24-release-24-october.html
Joy to the (open source gfx) world!
Yesterday Charles Nutter did some extreme performance work on JRuby, making it outperform the MRI in most cases:
http://headius.blogspot.com/2007/10/performance-update.html
A lot of individual performance tests are shown here at Ola Binis blog. The list shows that JRuby outperforms MRI at a factor of more than 20 in some cases! In most cases the JRuby performance is a little faster (from a few percent to 2-3 times the performance). In a few cases MRI is still the fastest (ie. regexp):
http://ola-bini.blogspot.com/2007/10/mystery-expos-on-jruby-performance.html
Unfortunately the performance on JRuby on Rails are a hog.. The latest findings from Ola Bini shows that this might be a result from very, very, very slow regexp-performance in JRuby, alongside symbols:
http://ola-bini.blogspot.com/2007/10/jruby-discovery-number-one.html
Congratulations on the fantastic work on the general performance! I think this is a milestone to remember.
When the performance issues on JRuby on Rails is fixed, JRuby will surely be the Ruby implementation to use! I'll test it on SAP NetWeaver as soon as I get the chance.
technorati tags:jruby, performance, compiler, charles nutter, ola bini
Joost has now finished their closed beta testing period. This means that Joost is now open for the public.
The beta label is still there, but the version is now 1.0.
technorati tags:joost, open, public, announcement
Yesterday Charles Nutter - one of the core members of the JRuby Team, and the man behind the recently announced JRuby Compiler - raised the expectations on when to see a compiler for JRuby capable of producing normally-instantiable and invokable Java classes from Ruby ditto.
He says that he might be starting on it before JRuby 1.1, and that his best guess is to see it done before the end of 2007.
When "JRuby compiler #2" is finished, it will be far easier to call Ruby code from a Java app. Just as easy as calling Groovy classes from Java.
Read the post here
http://www.nabble.com/using-JRuby-objects-from-Java-tf4561533.html#a13018626
technorati tags:jruby, compiler #2, invokable, instantiable, java classes, ruby
There is a new tutorial in the "learning curve" series for JavaFX at java.sun.com (part 3):
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/scripting/javafx/lc/part3/
The first 2 parts can be found as links in the lower part of the article.
Furthermore innovative guys are giving JavaFX Script support for GlassFish V2 UR1 application clients - interesting stuff!
Read more about that here:
http://blogs.sun.com/quinn/entry/preview_of_javafx_script_support
technorati tags:javafx, functions, operations, glassfish, tutorial
The long awaited "Consumer JRE" (now called Java 6 SE Update N) is here for preview:
https://jdk6.dev.java.net/6uNea.html
This version is supposed to enable start of Java Applications in a speed comparable to Flash based applications.. This is particularly nice for projects relying on Java Web Start and Applets, but should benefit other usage types as well.
Read more about it on these links:
http://cld.blog-city.com/consumer_jre_is_here__early_access_available.htm
http://weblogs.java.net/blog/chet/archive/2007/10/early_access_gr.html
technorati tags:java 6 udpate n, consumer jre, early access, preview
Last week (at JAOO!) Charles Nutter finished the bytecode compiler for JRuby. Congratulations on that one! :-)
Unfortunately I haven't had the time to take a look at it yet - I'm pretty busy these days - but I'll get it and share my first impressions as soon as possible.
technorati tags:charles nutter, jruby, compiler
Woopsie, due to this weeks JAOO conference in Århus Denmark, I completely missed that The Gimp is now available in RC3 - also for Windows.
Download here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=121075
I have a lot to blog about on JAOO, I just don't know where to begin ;) I'll be getting to it.
technorati tags:the gimp 2.4 rc3, windows, released
After reading this blog post, I installed the new Conversations app on my N95.
It the kind of messaging app I've always wanted for my phone. Actually a little bit like Life Blog, but just for the messages on your phone.
It shows the newest messages on you phone in a conversational format, a little like you might know it from Evolution or Gmail. Very nice actually, although it shows the all messages stored from a user in a conversation, instead just the ones that have been send and received in the same logical conversation. But it works anyway.
After installing Conversations it is "always on" through it's direct integration into the contacts application. Just as you might have seen in IP Phone apps such as Gizmo.
What I would have liked to see to make Conversations complete, was integration into the Call Log application. But who knows what sneaks into the app before it's beta tag is removed.You can get the app here:
http://www.nokia.com/A4568203
Remember to install the services on the phone memory!
technorati tags:conversations, nokia n95, messaging, contacts integration, application, utility, oppinion, first impressions, beta labs
Hey - I just realized that the two gurus of JRuby - Charles Nutter and Thomas E. Enebo - is visiting Denmark at next weeks JAOO conference.
I saw your presentation at JavaOne 4 months ago, and can't wait to see what you have to say now (I mean - things move fast nowadays).
See you next week guys!
technorati tags:jruby, charles nutter, thomas enebo, visting denmark, jaoo conference, java, sun microsystems
Ohoy folks - it's time for Netbeans 6.0 beta 1!
After a quick run my first impression is that it seems remarkably faster than the M10 build. The Ruby editor is somewhat snappier and less reluctant. It is actually really nice to work with. More or less on par with the speed of a native windows application - and possibly getting even better before the RC and final version.
The welcome and splash screens have been updated:
As well as the it's icon:
But those are some of the least interesting of the changes. See the full change list here:
http://wiki.netbeans.org/wiki/view/NewAndNoteWorthy#section-NewAndNoteWorthy-Beta1
Get it here (including link to the ruby-only IDE):
http://bits.netbeans.org/download/6_0/beta1/latest/
More info here:
http://cld.blog-city.com/netbeans_6_beta_arrives__cool_new_look_and_brimming_with_fe.htm
Jooooy!
BTW: A comparison of MS Visual Studio.NET 2008 and Netbeans 6.0 can be found here:
http://sunnytalkstech.blogspot.com/2007/09/visual-studio-2008-vs-netbeans-60.html
The updated documentation including the newest tutorials can be found here:
http://www.netbeans.org/kb/60/
Direct link to tutorials (also included on the welcome page):
http://www.netbeans.org/kb/60/ruby/index.html
technorati tags:netbeans 6.0 beta 1, oppinion, first impressions, release, ruby rails ide, rails REST example
A couple of days ago Charles Nutter announced the preview version of the Glassfish server gem for JRuby/Rails deployments.
What's the biggie about this you ask? Well, you get high performance JRuby on Rails support out of the box, with way better features han running Mongrel. In other words - you get the benefit of the features of a state of the art Java Application Server, as well as the ease of use of the Mongrel...! Ok, Glassfish+JRuby is not as fast as Mongrel+Ruby, but will (hopefully) be with JRuby 1.1.
You download the gem here:
http://download.java.net/maven/glassfish/com/sun/enterprise/glassfish/glassfish-gem/10.0-SNAPSHOT/
Then you install the gem with this command:
gem install glassfish-gem-10.0-SNAPSHOT.gem
You run the server using this command:
glassfish_rails testapp
Charles reports that Glassfish has blazing performance on static files. This will be a really attractive option (if not first choice) when JRuby 1.1 hits the road.
technorati tags:jruby, glassfish, performance, rails, charles nutter, gem
According to Charles Nutter himself his recent work on finishing the JRuby Compiler already made JRuby run faster than MRI (Matz Reference Implementation = the "original" c based Ruby implementation). Which is very nice - congrats!
You can read about the details on this blog post, as well as info on what is still missing from the compiler:
http://headius.blogspot.com/2007/09/jruby-compiler-update-and-nice.html
It's gonna be a long waiting time until the release of JRuby 1.1 ;-)
technorati tags:jruby, compiler, benchmark, MRI, ruby reference implementation
The Gimp has now been released in it's version 2.4 RC2.
About 7 hours ago, the installer for Windows became available on this link:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=121075&package_id=240554&release_id=537331
Enjoy.
While we're at the Nokia Maps, we might as well mention the new Nokia Map Loader 1.2.
The new version requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0! What a shame.. Why don't Nokia just use Java which just about everyone seems to have?
Well, the installer fetches .NET 3.0 for you, if you don't already have it installed.It takes some time to get, and a little more than a short while to install.. It actually takes quite some time, which is very annoying. But hey, it's only the first time (but what if I didn't want .NET 3.0 on my machine?).
After .NET 3.0 has finished installing, the rest of the installation takes only a moment.
Besides the splash screen, I can't tell the difference from Map Loader 1.1. It's probably just bugfixes, or perhaps the preparation for using new features in .NET 3.0. Anyone?
I still miss the feature that lets you see which maps you've already installed on the memory card. I hope this feature will show up in the next version.
Also check out this post for updates on the Maps application:
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/nokia-maps-10-finally-for-n95.html
technorati tags:nokia, map loader 1.2, update, oppinion, missing feature, .net 3.0
The official Maps 1.0 for N95 is now available here:
http://europe.nokia.com/A4509291
Remember to make sure you have the newest firmware (12.0.013) before upgrading your Maps application.
I've now installed it on my N95. It looks the same as the beta version I installed a couple of weeks ago, but it should be more stable. The version is now called 1.02(1).
It is advised to install Maps in the phone memory. The actual installation is done onto the ROM alongside the Symbian OS. Which is why it doesn't show up in the application manager (which manages applications stored in memory or flash RAM).
If you bought navigation and/or city guides, you might have to re-activate your license. You do this by "buying it" again for the same areas/cities. But you don't pay for it again. The licenses are stored per IMEI-number, so if you haven't changed your phone, the license stays.
Everything seems the same as in the beta version. Probably only bugs have been fixed since the beta version - which is nice.
I saw a glitch in the beta version - if the Maps 1.0 beta wanted you to go in one direction while navigating, and you decided to go another way, sometimes it couldn't calculate a new route. I've seen this a couple of times, and hope this have been fixed in this final version.
UPDATE: If you actually got a new phone after you bought the licenses, there is help to get. Read the info in this post: http://myn95.com/?p=77
Also see this post for updates on the Map Loader:
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-nokia-map-loader-12.html
Earlier posts on Nokia Maps:
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-nokia-maps-on-n95.html
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/nokia-maps-10-update.html
technorati tags:nokia, maps, 1.0, final, release, oppinion, installation, license
I finally got the time to take a quick look at the newest Netbeans JavaFX sample application. The sample application contains a Java Service hosting weather data, and a (not very beautiful) JavaFX GUI showing the weather data. The weather data is animated in small "weather widgets", when you drag the slider beneath the date bar.
You'll need Netbeans 6.0 M10. Goto Tools -> Plugins (Netbeans Plugins Manager). Find the JavaFX Weather Sample application, and click "Install":
After completed installation of the sample app, goto File -> New Project -> Samples -> JavaFX, and select the Weather Sample app:
Finish the wizard, and run the application. When you drag the mentioned slider, the widgets are animated:
The sample is nicely structured, containing a JavaFX source file for each widget, and 3 Java classes emulating the service.
technorati tags:javafx, sample, weather, widget, netbeans, java
I've now had the time to test the new ActiveRecord-JDBC 0.5. It now works perfectly with MS SQL Server.
At least with SQL Server 2000 on Windows Server 2003, using Microsoft's own driver contained in sqljdbc.jar (I use version 1.1, compatible with SQL Server 2005).
Excellent work! :-)
technorati tags:jruby, RoR, jruby on rails, rails, activerecord, jdbc, activerecord-jdbc 0.5, microsoft sql server
As if it wasn't enough already with the announcement of JRuby 1.0.1, the guys behind ActiveRecord-JDBC have released version 0.5.
I haven't had the opportunity to try it out myself yet, but will do that in a short while - but the support for HSQL, MS SQLServer, PostgreSQL, Oracle and Derby has been updated. I hope this means that I will now be able to use JRuby with MS SQL Server (not that I'm particularly fond of that DBMS, but many danish Enterprises use it..).
UPDATED: Thomas Enebo's announcement has more detailed information on how to use the new version:
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/ThomasEEnebo?id=36
technorati tags:jruby, activerecord-jdbc, activerecord, rails, RoR, JRuby on Rails, MS SQLServer, SQL Server
I missed the announcement Friday last week, that JRuby 1.0.1 has been released:
http://docs.codehaus.org/display/JRUBY/2007/08/24/JRuby+1.0.1+Released
There should be enough fixes/minor enhancement for you to want it.
Among the very small enhancements is "my own" issue no. 1181 regarding batch files for the windows environment. As small and insignificant it may seem, I must say I'm pretty proud to have helped JRuby a tiny step ahead. And that I hope to be able to help more from the Windows platform POV in the future (and hopefully with code).
technorati tags:jruby, 1.0.1, released, announcement, ruby
Remember how I complained about my N95 that kept on rebooting? And that I ended up having it returned to the reseller for service? And that I stated that it worked perfectly when I got it back?
Well, it didn't. It worked perfectly for the first day or so, and then it got just as bad as it was before it got its service.
Now I've found out what the issue is all about:
It seems that after I updated the firmware to version 12.0.013, the feature of synthetically speaking the name of who is calling you, makes the phone reboot (almost) every time somebody actually calls you. Not good.
But after I turned off that feature, it works perfectly again. Nice!
The synthetic voice-thing is turned off here:
Tools -> Settings -> General -> Personalisation -> Tones -> Say caller's name (-> Off).
That's it! :-)
technorati tags:nokia, n95, reboot, issue, problem, 12.0.013, solution, fix
Apparently The Gimp (worlds greatest open source image editor in many ways on par with Photoshop) was released last week in its RC1 version.
This friday the RC1 got available for Windows as well.
Go get it now, here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=121075&package_id=240554&release_id=532945
The Gimp 2.4 has many new features and improvements. Including faster startup time, and a polished look.
One of the funkier new features is the foreground extraction wizard..!
The full list of new features can be found here:
http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/gimp-2-4-new-features.html
There has been a lot of fuzz about Netbeans 6 Ruby support. And there still is.
A lot of hardcore Ruby folks have historically been using (X)Emacs, among other reasons because of it's way of being easy to expand and personalize.
But hardcore Ruby guys, like i.e. Charles Nutter - one of the guys from the core JRuby core team which are responsible for making Ruby Rock on the Java platform - swears to Netbeans 6 ruby support.
Read his oppinion about Netbeans 6 and it's support for Ruby here:
http://headius.blogspot.com/2007/08/netbeans-ruby-support-is-bomb.html
In the comments to the post, a guy actually states, that he is one of those who has trashed XEmacs for ruby in favor of Netbeans! :-)
Charles' post includes links to Netbeans' Ruby features pages, and mentions the existence of a Ruby-only version of Netbeans 6.
The Ruby-only version can be found here:
http://deadlock.netbeans.org/hudson/job/ruby/
The download is merely 30 MB!
technorati tags:jruby, ruby, netbeans 6, charles nutter, emacs, ruby only ide, xemacs
If you want to get started with animations in JavaFX, Chris Oliver just posted a short getting-started tutorial on his blog.
It shows how JavaFX makes it easy to make smooth running non-blocking (Swing based) animations, with no explicit use of threads.
Read the full post here:
http://blogs.sun.com/chrisoliver/entry/programming_animations_in_fx
Especially the Simple Path Animation is quite educational for beginners (link opens up JavaFXPad).
technorati tags:javafx, animation, guide, tutorial, howto, getting started, chris oliver, java, swing
Today I got my N95 back from service. And now it works perfectly again.. As a matter of fact, they even replaced the cover (Sand colored), which had got a slightly reddish tint at the edges, as well as the battery (don't know why - perhaps it's an updated version which lasts longer?).
And a couple of minutes ago I installed the Nokia Maps 1.0 pre-release update from the link found in this post:
http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=62157&highlight=nokia+maps
It works perfectly, and the user interface is now better and more informative. It support A-GPS and has updated colors on the maps. For a full review of the updated Maps, check out this preview:
http://thenokiablog.com/2007/06/15/preview-nokia-maps-10-update/
I found the link to the above post in this post.
UPDATE: For updated information, check out these posts:
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/nokia-maps-10-finally-for-n95.html
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-nokia-map-loader-12.html
technorati tags:nokia, maps, 1.0, preview, update, agps, a-gps, n95
If you're the kind of guy/gal that needs good thoroughly worked tutorials to get started on new technologies, the JavaFX Tutorial from java.sun.com might just be for you.
I just stumbled upon it today, and it was a very nice read. And very focused on using what you know already (=Java) to learn JavaFX.
It's part 1 of a series of 3. The first part is a general introduction to the language, syntax, tools etc. The next 2 tutorials will be about handling client-server communication with JavaFX based applications.
Check it out right here:
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/scripting/javafxpart1/
technorati tags:javafx, tutorial, getting started, article, introduction, jfx
Currently JRuby supports Java 1.4.x, which is good for all us supporting enterprise customers still on this old platform (i.e.: almost every SAP customer I've come across).
For all new versions JRuby will only support Java 5. This goes for current trunk and forward.
The JRuby 1.0 trunk will stay compatible with 1.4.x, and the JRuby team will provide a Retrotranslator/Retroweaver version, slower than the 5-version, but compatible with 1.4.x.
After all this is probably the best solution for JRuby, but now I'm even more eagerly awating the enterprises of the world to move to 5.
Read the announcement on Ola Bini's blog:
http://ola-bini.blogspot.com/2007/08/jruby-is-now-java-5.html
technorati tags:jruby, java 5, 1.4.x, ola bini, retrotranslator, retroweaver
Patrick Peak - the (unbiased?) author of the book Hibernate Quickly, has made a comparison of the persistence model behind Hibernate and Rails (=ActiveRecord):
The conclusion is, that Rails' ActiveRecord might be the best choice suited for small and simple data models, while Hibernate is best for complex data models with lots of joins and so forth.
While he might be right (I'm not in the exact right time and place to completely disagree on his conclusions), I wonder if he's aware of Mingle, and if he knows that Mingle is made in JRuby on Rails??
technorati tags:jruby, rails, activerecord, hibernate, mingle, comparison, opinion, RoR
I finally managed to get a database backed JRuby on Rails application to run smoothly on SAP NetWeaver '04 (J2EE1.4 + JDK1.4).
What I needed to do to get it working was:
Note: I tried to just build jruby-complete.jar, but for some reason it didn't work (I got a NoClassDefFoundError: null in line 715 of Ruby.java). That's why I built jruby.jar instead.
So I actually have my first JRuby on Rails application running on SAP NetWeaver 2004 now! :-)
I'm all joy.
The SQL Server issue still remains, but is of less importance.
technorati tags:jruby, RoR, ruby, rails, goldspike, jdk 1.4, jdk14, sap, netweaver, solved, solution, issue, problem, trouble
I'm having a couple of issues running a JRuby on Rails application on SAP NetWeaver Application Server.
First of all I wan't to be able to use the DBMS of the NetWeaver App. Server, which in my case is Microsoft SQL Server 2000. But currently there is no working support for SQL Server in activerecord-jdbc 0.4. Hope to find a work-around soon (tried different jdbc drivers, but those are not the issue - actually I know what the issue is, but not how to fix it because when using netbeans 6 you don't seem to get the sources for the gems you are using).
The next issue is that if I use MySQL instead of MS SQL, JRuby can't find the rubygems I use in the WAR file generated by the goldspike plugin (ServletException: Failed to load rubygems).
I just wanted to tell the world about my issues, because I can't seem to find an answer to my trouble anywhere, and the JRuby experts seem to be on (a well-deserved) vacation ;-)
If anyone out there have faced the same issues (or similar), please let me know. Until then I'll continue to try and find a solution (and let you know when I succeed).
technorati tags:jruby, rails, goldspike, netweaver, microsoft sql server, activerecord-jdbc, issue, problem, trouble
The new pre-release version of Nokia Maps can be installed on N95, though the website doesn't initially say so.
This article describes how to install it on the N95:
http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=62157&highlight=nokia+maps
More information on the new features can be read here:
http://thenokiablog.com/2007/06/15/preview-nokia-maps-10-update/
Thanks to myn95 for the tip.
UPDATE: Check out these newer posts for updated information:
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/nokia-maps-10-update.html
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/nokia-maps-10-finally-for-n95.html
http://luposlip.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-nokia-map-loader-12.html
technorati tags:nokia, n95, maps, preview, update, install, guide
Last week I got the time to investigate why my N95 often reboots when somebody calls me. It's been doing it always, but to begin with only occasionally.
A couple of days ago I deinstalled any third party software I've ever installed on it, and it kept on doing it. The reason for me to do this now is that it now reboots itself almost every time somebody calls me.. Argh!
Well, I backed it up, reset it to factory settings, took out my SD card, and gave it to my reseller to have him fix it. He borrowed me a Nokia 3130, which I'll have to cope with for about 2 weeks... Bummer!
Has anyone else out there experienced the same kind of reboot-trouble?
While I was on vacation, Chris Oliver worked on the compiled version of JavaFX Script. And the preliminary results is awesome - the result for now is a amazing 54x performance gain!
See the post for yourself here:
http://blogs.sun.com/chrisoliver/entry/first_steps_with_the_javafx
technorati tags:javafx, compiler, performance, javac
A warning from jealouscomputers.com to all owners of nseries (and particulary N95) popped in during my vacation last week:
Nokia just announced their launch of Nokia Music!
Strangely they don't seem to support other phones than 5300, 6085 and N75..!?
If anyone knows otherwise, please comment on this post. I couldn't find any information on how to access the service from the N95. But as far as I'm concerned, all the features listed on the Nokia Music site is already available on the N95. Features such as (taken from the feature list of the N75):
technorati tags:nokia music, n95, media player
In the next version of the JavaFX interpreter, Chris Oliver introduces a genious concept he calls bidirectional binding.
In short it means that you can now bind a value, Y, to a function of another value, X. When you change the value of X, Y changes automatically - this is ordinary binding.
The magic happens if you change the value of Y. Then JavaFX performs a reverse calculation, to rectify the value of X!!
A small example from Chris's blog:
// arithmeticChris' blog post also contains an example for logical negation, as well as for sequence elements.
var x = 10;
var y = bind -x + 100;
assert y == 90;
y = 40;
assert x == 60; // passes
technorati tags:javafx, interpreter, chris oliver, bidirectional binding
By reading this I realized that Nokia has finally released the much anticipated new firmware for the N95.
The much anticipated new firmware for the Nokia N95 has arrived. And yes, it's the one that includes assisted GPS (A-GPS), which makes the GPS lock in to it's position much faster than before, as well as navigating indoor (well, perhaps not really navigating, but at least finding out approximately where you are, and in which direction you move).
Before you begin, remember to backup your phone memory! You can do this from Nokia PC Suite.
Afterwards, go to this site to get the update (and follow instructions):
http://europe.nokia.com/softwareupdate
This fetches the NokiaSoftwareUpdater_setup.exe (I got version 01.03.084.28415), which identifies the new 12.0.013 firmware:
After complete installation of the new update, disconnect the phone, and let it post install everything if it needs to (it took about 20 seconds on my phone).
Then you can restore your backup to the phone memory. You do this the same place as you took the backup. In my case from the Nokia PC Suite -> Backup -> restore.
That's it! :-)
Now it's time to play around with the new A-GPS feature. You can check that it is enabled in the settings -> general -> positioning -> pos. methods -> assisted gps.
When you start the Maps application, it will ask you to choose an internet connection, to let it ask a server for satellite positions (time based).
Have fun!
technorati tags:nokia, n95, firware, update, guide, howto, 12.0.013, assisted gps, a-gps, maps
If you missed it, you can go get the newest update to Java SE 6.0 (update 2) from here:
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
The list of changes can be found here:
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/webnotes/ReleaseNotes.html
technorati tags:java se 6.0 update 2, announcement
1½ days ago, the Netbeans team announced the availability of the Netbeans 6.0 Milestone 10 build!
It includes a lot of bugfixes/improvements, including JRuby 1.0 and much more.
Furthermore, it now includes both glassfish v2 build 53, and Tomcat 6.0.13.
A list of changes can be found here:
http://wiki.netbeans.org/wiki/view/NewAndNoteWorthyMilestone10
technorati tags:netbeans 6.0, milestone 10, m10, announcement, jruby
If you want to try out how easy it is to build Rails applications with JRuby and Netbeans 6.0 M9 (or newer), check out the following to sampes:
The first one actually took me almost 15 minutes, because my machine crashed (I think it's a bug in my graphics adapter driver from nvidia on windows XP, on a Dell Precision M70, and seems to have nothing to do with Java/Netbeans directly). If you - like me - use JRuby 1.0 instead of the M9 supplied JRuby 0.9.8, remember to put the derbyclient.jar into your JRuby 1.0 folder instead of the folder from the M9 installation ;-) - and if you've ever before heard of a "fist post", this is it:
The next Flickr browser application, is a bit more involved. If you - as I - already have a Flickr API key, it shouldn't take you too long. I got the application up and running in about 14 minutes:
Awesome examples! :-)
technorati tags:jruby, sample, applications, getting started, netbeans, rails
Open up your JIRB (or IRB for that matter) and run this:
$i=99
def b()"#{$i>0?$i: 'No'} bottle#{'s'if$i!=1} of beer"endIf you're a developer coming from the Java language, the above example represents unprecedented compactness (compared to the code needed to perform the same task in Java).
Mmmmmmnnhhh - the syntax. I like it!
Actually I don't remember where I found the above example a month ago or so. If you're the original author, I hope you'll forgive me ;)
It's easy to install Ruby/JRuby. But if you don't wan't to waste that 5 minutes of your life, you can run ruby code directly from within this site - clever!:
http://tryruby.hobix.com/
UPDATE: Found this site, showing examples of the above in 1103 different languages and variations - nice place to spend some hours ;):
http://99-bottles-of-beer.net/
technorati tags:ruby, bottles of beer on the wall, jruby, jirb, irb, try ruby
Chris Oliver has updated the JavaFX interpreter, so it now correctly supports binding of local variables, and partially supports correct use of cardinality constraints (such as 0..1, 0..n etc.).
Try it out now, by opening the notorious JavaFX Pad here:
http://blogs.sun.com/chrisoliver/resource/javafxpad.jnlp
technorati tags:javafx, chris oliver, pad, update, binding, cardinality, constraints
Just realized, that the mobile version of YouTube has gone live!
Check it out here:
http://m.youtube.com/
The mobile version of YouTube works perfectly on the Nokia N95, without installation of any 3rd party software. The videos play flawlessly from the pre-installed Real Player. The picture quality is quite nice, although I haven't tried to output the vide on my TV set. Yet.
UPDATE: Only a subset of the videos on YouTube are available in the mobile version! YouTube are working hard to "bring you more".
technorati tags:youtube, mobile, nokia, n95, nokia n95, real player
Chris Oliver - the dude behind JavaFX Script (formerly known as F3) - posted a preview of his SVG to JavaFX Translator. This is sort of a converter engine, that transforms SVG to JavaFX.
Very, very cool work. I know a bunch of guys, that might actually use their current SVG knowledge, to get started with JavaFX using this translator.
It's also possible to view both the SVG and JavaFX code, after translation. The code is not editable, so it's not possible to edit and view the changes. I hope this will be possible in the final version. But the code can be saved, and used from JavaFX Pad.
Nice work Chris!
The screenshot below shows the famous SVG tiger in firefox, and in SVG to JavaFX Translator at the side:
technorati tags:chris oliver, javafx, svg, translator, preview, demo
For you VOIP-hungry N95 owners out there (and others as well), I'll just mention these to services, which in their own way are alternatives to both Skype and Gizmo:
Both services are installable on the N95, but to be honest, I haven't tried them.
While Truphone seems quite familiar to Gizmo, Jajah is primarily a web based service. Without even registrering, you can enter your own (land line) phone number, and some other (land line) phone number that you want to call, press "Call", and voila - Jajah calls the number for you.
Note: you need to be at your own (land line) phone to try this - but try it, it's remarkably easy and working extremely well.
Gizmo - by the way - have made any call to landlines totally free. Forever.That's something.
technorati tags:nokia, n95, nokia n95, voip, gizmo, jajah, skype, truphone, free calls
Nokia just released the Mobile Web Server beta - free of charge.
Technically there is nothing revolutionary to it.
But in a use case perspective, it's impact could be immense.
As the name implies, you basically host your own small footprint web server, right there on your phone. Yes - a small web server, being able to render web pages dynamically. Yup! :-)
Suddenly adding a blog post to your mobile blog, is just as fast as writing a SMS. Or a MMS if you want the post to contain visual media.You write the post, add the picture, and click "Post", and it's posted. No waiting time, because the blog is hosted right there on the device.
So the real upside is, that you don't have to wait for the post to be "posted" on your blog, over a not-always-too-fast wireless connection. Sometimes even using obscure and slow add-ons. And you don't have to pay for uploading the photo etc... NOT!
Not - because the downside to all of this is of course, that you need to pay for uploading it, each and every time a new visitor wants to take a look at your post.
With the current sky-high rates for up- and downloading using 3G/4G services, it's not that attractive not to be able to control the cost of your next bill. But for Wifi-enable devices - such as the delicious Nokia N95 amongst other Symbian S60 devices, it's not less than a revolutionary new way of doing mobile blogging.
Furthermore you can share your calendar, and your friends can send messages to you from you mobile site. And this is only the beginning! :-)
Yes - the mobile server is for S60 devices only - not for other mobile phones. Perhaps someday a Java version will show up.
technorati tags:nokia, n95, mobile web server, symbian s60, nokia n95, mobile, calendar, sharing
CodeGear recently announced, that their Ruby on Rails IDE will be available later this year (Q3 more specifically).
They mention that their RoR IDE will be the "first real IDE for Ruby on Rails development". I will question that, with a rather huge question mark: What about Aptana IDE (formerly known as RadRails)? Netbeaans 6.0? IDEA 6.0?
Well, if you want to participate in the beta programme, you can apply by sending an email by clicking here.
A 4 months old comparison between Netbeans 6.0, IDEA 6.0 and RadRails can be found here:
http://tnlessone.wordpress.com/2007/02/28/ruby-rails-ide-comparison-idea-netbeans-radrails/
technorati tags:codegear, ruby on rails, netbeans, idea, radrails, aptana, comparison
Symbian-Freak recently posted news about new stereo bluetooth headsets from Nokia, which works with current Bluetooth 2.0 compatible phones:
http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/007/06/nokia_add_three_new_bt_headsets.htm
For all you N95 (or Nxx) users out there who love music, but decent cables, you definitely should consider those. I don't use my N95 that much for music, so for now I'll be using my cabled version ;)
Somehow I managed to overlook this nice introductory article about JRuby and Netbeans 6.0 from java.sun.com:
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/scripting/jruby/
If you're still new to all this JRuby stuff (like I mainly due to time restrictions) consider myself, read it. It has lots of nice tips'n'tricks in it.
technorati tags:jruby, ruby, netbeans 6, java, sun
3½ hours ago, The Gizmo Project announced that it is now possible to add AIM and Messenger contacts directly to your Gizmo contacts (with Gizmo version 3.1.1.285).
As far as I can see, this new feature is only available on the Windows version og Gizmo, because the other builds (for Mac version 3.1.1.220, Linux version 3.0.1.70 and mobile phones version 2.0.0.56) haven't been updated yet.
But stay tuned, because it would be quite puzzling, if this feature isn't soon available for new builds for the other platforms as well.
Blurghz.. While we held our housewarming party all saturday - at 30 degrees centrigrade and absolutely no wind - the JRuby team announced JRuby 1.0!
Congratulations to you guys, both the team members themselves (Charles Nutter, Thomas E. Enebo, Ola Nibi) and you other guys!!
technorati tags:jruby, ruby, jruby 1.0, charles nutter, thomas e enebo, ola nibi
I just found this announcement on Symbian Freak, mentioning the free WWIGO software (Webcam Whereever I Go). It lets a Series 60 2nd and 3rd edition sSymbian phone work as a high quality webcam, using Bluetooth for connectivity to the PC.
I wonder when it will be possible, to use the camera as a webcam, when using the phone stand-alone on a WiFi or 3G connection, without the need of having a PC next to it! :-)
For now, it works with Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live! Messenger and YouTube/Grouper.
It's also possible to use the phone for recording videos using the (faster) PC as storage medium.
Clever little application - can't wait for it to be stand-alone compatible with something like the upcoming skype (??) for mobile phones, or the already existing Fring! :-D
technorati tags:n95, symbian, wwigo, webcam, mobile, messenger, youtube, grouper, skype, fring, nokia, nokia n95
Yesterday the JRuby team released the final release candidate for JRuby version 1.0.0.
The announcement can be read on Thomas Enebo's blog:
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/ThomasEEnebo?id=28
And on Charles Nutter's blog:
http://headius.blogspot.com/2007/06/jruby-100rc3-released-and-this-is-it.html
This is quite an announcement. The journey towards the first major goal of JRuby will soon be over. Go on, get the RC3 release, crash test it, and give the guys feedback if you find anything of interest:
http://dist.codehaus.org/jruby/If you are looking into JavaFX, you have probably seen the JavaFX Pad.
But other tools exist. Netbeans 6.0 M9 supports JavaFX (Script), after a quick update in the update center. And last week JFXBuilder appeared.
JFXBuilder seems interesting, not least because of it being brand new, but also because it claims to be "the first JavaFX graphical editor", which just might be right.
You boot it up simply using Java Web Start. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to run on Ubuntu using Java 6u1. But JFXBuilder is not surprisingly still a work in progress, so I hope it'll work soon.
Otherwise I'll try it from my Windows box, take a few screendumps, and let you know what I feel about it.
If any of you've tried it out, please comment.
All presentations from this years JavaOne is now available online, right here:
http://developers.sun.com/learning/javaoneonline/j1online.jsp?yr=2007
Enjoy!
technorati tags:javaone, java, presentations, session, pdf
For those of you that have yet to see a cool demo of what JavaFX is capable of, I found a very cool JavaFX clock widget today:
If you want to play around with the source code, it is very simple and contains very few lines, and is easily launched. Open JavaFX Pad (using Java Web Start) and put this link into the "location" textfield, and hit the "Go" button:
http://sellmic.com/lab/dev/jfx/clock/Clock.fx
This very cool clock is animated and very glossy, and only 83 lines!! Amazing..
Today the clock got updated, to support transparent window, to make it a real widget. The transparent window part needs JNA, but you can see it live without worrying about that, using this link:
http://sellmic.com/lab/dev/jfx/clock/webstart/JFXClock.jnlp
The two original posts are linked to below, just wanted you to be aware of it, so you too could have a look at how easy it is to do cool stuff in JavaFX:
http://sellmic.com/blog/2007/05/20/javafx-clock/
http://sellmic.com/blog/2007/05/22/javafx-clock-update-now-with-transparency/
PC World Denmark has finally reviewed the Nokia N95:
http://www.pcworld.dk/art/8689?a=newsletter&i=313
To all you non-danish readers out there, the conclusion is, that N95 is "the perfect mobile phone, including everything in connectivity, camera, GPS and what ever you could want from a modern top level device".
It receives 4 out of 6 possible points, with the battery lifetime being the biggest down side. But the conclusion is that "the N95 is an impressive flagship, and a fascinating taste of what to expect from the mobile multimedia machines of the future."
technorati tags:nokia, nokia n95, n95, review, pc world, danish, denmark, anmeldelse, dansk, danmark
Today Nokia announced Gizmo for N80 and N95, which is official software from Nokia a bit like Fring, to enable chatting and VOIP'ing (=performing internet based phone calls) directly from the phone.
I just installed it succesfully. But the first time the installation failed. The reason being that I installed the first of the two necessary installation packages on the microSD Flash instead of directly on the phone.
So; install both packages on the internal phone RAM!
The installation consist of two downloads:
After the installation has completed, Gizmo is available in the programs folder, just as any other third party application.
The first step is to go online, and logon using an existing account, or create a new one (which I did). You can sign up directly from the device, using the web browser. You apply a user name, password times 2, an email address, confirm the license (after reading it offcourse), and clicking a button.
After registration/login, a button let's you have Gizmo to automatically configure your phone for SIP use.
The really nice thing about Gizmo is, that it actually integrated directly into N95's normal contact application (as a new tab), so you don't have to start Gizmo manually, and use it instead of the ordinary dialer.
After installing Gizmo, when you enter a phone number as you normally do from the stand-by screen, you can now choose to dial using the internet instead of normal GSM, so that too is nicely integrated into S60.
The not-so-nice thing about Gizmo is, that it doesn't integrate with Skype, but from the Gizmo Project web site, it looks like it can integrate with Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo! Messenger. It's not clear from the installed application, but I'll have to dig into that.
I don't know anybody else using Gizmo, or VOIP, so I haven't tested it yet. And I suppose it's not possible to use Gizmo for calling to land lines or ordinary mobile phones, without some sort of VOIP account.
Until I found out more about Gizmo, I'll still use Fring for outgoing VOIP calls. But now Gizmo has been installed, so I'll definitely look more into it, and let you know when I know more.
If you know a lot about Gizmo, please comment on this post! ^_^
technorati tags:nokia n95, n95, gizmo, voip, skype, google talk
If you - just as I - want to experiment with Netbeans while getting to know OpenJDK, then I just found this nice guide on how to use OpenJDK together with Netbeans:
http://nb-openjdk.netbeans.org/get-and-build.html
By the way, if you aren't aware of Netbeans Magazine, you can read/download it here (May issue is 84 pages - and with lots about the new features in version 6.0!):
http://www.netbeans.org/community/magazine/
technorati tags:netbeans, openjdk, netbeans magazine
