C++ Expression

I have one last task in my compiler class, which is counting simple C++ expression, using unary operator, such as a+b--+c or something like that. It was a simple task, but it's hard to do. I try to finish this task using PHP, since it was the most common programming language for me. I rarely use visual programming, such as Delphi or Visual Basic, since it requires a lot of object and my lecturer is using GNU/Linux for his operating system, and that would take him a hard way to check my task. He have to find another computer that uses Microsoft Windows.

The task's deadline is long enough, just before our final test, which will be held on December 4th. I have left this task unupdated for a long time, since i'm working on another big task. Now that i have finished my other task, i will continue finishing my compiler task. Today i tried to do some updates and i managed to get a big loop in this progress. The lecturer has given an instruction or algorithm to do the calculation process, and there were four steps. I have done 3 of them. I just need the final steps and this is the hardest thing, since i have to save the original values before i made a change and restore the value when i'm finished calculating. Hopefully in this week i can finish this task and submit this to my lecturer.

MySQL 4.1 Stable Enough?

MySQL, the most famous Open Source Database application around the world has accounced that MySQL 4.1 is ready for production application, the same level as MySQL 4.0. MySQL 4.1 has included some new features. You can see them all in MySQL Documentation section 1.5.2.1. If you used MySQL 4.0, then you should also read MySQL Documentation section 2.5.2 for an instruction on "Upgrading from Version 4.0 to 4.1".

Microsoft has included an improved version of their Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) in the recent versions of Windows. Using the MSI has become the de-facto standard for application installations on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The new MySQL server installer now also makes use of this technology to provide a smoother and more flexible installation progress. Further, Microsoft has introduced the WiX (Windows Installer XML) toolset recently. It is the first, highly acknowledged Open Source project from Microsoft. MySQL switched to WiX for two reasons. First, it is an Open Source project and second, it allows MySQL developers to handle the complete Windows engineering process in a flexible way with scripts.

As the result, there will be 3 installer files on the download page. Two of them are the original installer, and the new one is called essential package. It is called the "essential" package (e.g. mysql-4.1.7-essential-win.msi) since it features only the essential components one needs to run the MySQL server on a Windows machine. These include the optimized server binaries for Windows 9x/ME and Windows NT based systems, the command line tools, and the C developer files without debug information. This "essential" package is now becoming the recommended package because it has a reduced file size and contains everything needed in a standard setup.

Since MySQL often used on a busy websites, upgrading is an important process, but do you need an upgrade rather than updates to MySQL 4.0.22? Please refer to MySQL Documentation section C.2 for an overview about "Changes in release 4.1.x (Production)". Decide it wisely, since you need some extra process before the new MySQL will works on your system.

If you used GNU/Linux, maybe the process will be much much simpler than in Windows, but who knows until someone try the new MySQL and give their reviews.

Tokyo Love Story ... 12 Girl Band

I attended music class today and the lecturer was playing 2 kind of video, Kitaro and 12 Girl Band. It was interesting and also boring entertainment. Kitaro was the first video. The first show was quite good. I can enjoy it, but when it comes to the third song, ohh... i'm getting sleepy and finally i slept for about 10-15 minutes, before the lecturer switched to the second video, 12 girl band.

The second video was great and entertaining. It was a band consists of 12 girls that came from China. They performed classical music instrument to play some songs, inclusing classical, western, pop, and Japannese song, which was Tokyo Love Story's soundtrack (i forgot the title, but it was good). When the lecturer switched to the next track and skipped the Tokyo Love Story, some of the students protested and after the current track finished, the lecturer decided to reverse the video and played the Tokyo Love Story soundtrack. It was a good song, and i didn't expect that most students knew that song. It was an old movies, but it was fantastic.

Mandrake Official 10.1

After releasing their Community Edition few months ago, Mandrakesoft finally released their latest Mandrakelinux distribution, Mandrakelinux Official 10.1. This official version was based on the community edition that was updated to conform many users that were giving feedback about bugs and problem that was happening on the community edition. The result is a new greater distro that supports many new hardware, new packages and also less bug than any earlier version.

As usuall, Mandrakesoft released their distribution in several version. Some of them is free and the others are commercial. The free edition is called download edition. This version is not available right now and they will be ready in a few weeks in their FTP mirrors around the world. Download edition will consist of 3 CD and 1 extra CD if you have joined the Mandrakeclub members. For the commercial version, they have prepared three edition, discovery, powerpack, and powerpack+. Discovery consist of 2 CD and the same Mandrakeclub member can achive more packages via Mandrakeclub's service. Powerpack will give you 6 CD for approximately more than 1000 packages. This is suited for many advanced users that also need some development packages, such as Apache, MySQL, PHP, and some other packages that aren't included in the discovery edition. The last version, Powerpack+ is the most complete edition, with 8 CD and 1 DVD. It's targeted for server installation. It has the packages included in Powerpack plus some extra packages, such as Kontact, Kolab, and some proprietary packages, such as NVidia and Ati's VGA driver and Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Mandrakelinux Official 10.1 has included the most packages available right now, such as Kernel 2.8.x (includes some of 2.9.x patch), KDE 3.2.3 (and also 3.3 as an option), GNOME 2.8, Centrino support, better hardware detection, and also fixes some bugs and polishing better user interface in Mandrake's application, such as Mandrake Control Panel.

You can buy them at Mandrakestore, an online store designed to give people a change to get their Mandrakelinux as fast as they can after the release. You can view the price at this website also.

Mandrakelinux 10.1 CE has fewer bugs when compared with Mandrakelinux 10.0 CE, so i hope that Mandrakelinux 10.1 OE also a better distro than Mandrakelinux 10.0 that i used right now. I'm not buying this version, since i'm satisfied with my version right now. Maybe i'll buy the 11.0 or 12.0 version in the next few years :)

Viva Mandrakelinux

Debian 3.0r3

After a long wait, Debian Linux has released their third stable version, called 3.0r3. This is a good news for all Debian users, since they never get their version updated as often as other distros. Based on the version numbering, it is obvious that Debian rarely released their stable version. The good news is, they have done it now.

Debian categorize their packet into three categories, stable, testing, and unstable. All new packages goes to unstable first and after a moment, they will be transfered into testing category. This process will continue for a long time before they eventually became stable version. No wonder why Debian is known as one of the GNU/Linux distro that was considered old enough if you don't have any Internet connection, because Debian was using old packages as their stable version. In 3.0r2, they only use KDE 2.2.x and also kernel 2.2.

If you have Internet connection, Debian is a great distro, since they had a huge repository that includes all new packages and if you are paranoid, try to burn all Debian's packages into CD and you will find that Debian's packages are more than 15 CDs. Debian's apt-get is a great package management (or maybe the best, equivalent with Gentoo's emerge tool).

Mozilla Firefox is Spreading

As Microsoft Corporation leaves Internet Explorer un-upgraded to the next version that includes major features and security bug fixes, except for Windows XP users that installs Service Pack 2, most users are trying to look for another alternative for browsers which is safer, better, and faster than Internet Explorer. This is where Mozilla Firefox is playing the role. Mozilla Firefox is the lite-version of Mozilla which focused on browser capabilities, while Mozilla is the complete apps, including mail client, web composer, and others.

Mozilla Firefox has gained a great response from many users around the world. When SFX (Spread Firefox) website was released, it was visited by many visitors and they joined to the campaign to socialize and promote Firefox in around the world. I'm one of the users and you can see my promotion in my website. Look for the right side under my Brainbench certification.

The SFX site gained 10.000 new users in less than 10 days, just like the Firefox which was downloaded more than 5 million users and still increasing. This is a great media to promote Firefox. I think this number will increase a lot when Firefox 1.0 Final is released next month. People are attracted by the simplicity, security, and flexibility that was offered by the Firefox development team.

Just like the virus that are spreading, Firefox does too, but it's for the good purpose, not like virus that only damages and ruined other people computer or wasting network resources.

The Record Finally Stopped

Arsenal's unbeatable record finally come to an end, after they were beaten from Manchester United last night from Ruud Van Nistelrooy's Penalty and Wayne Rooney's goal. This two goals were two answers from Manchester United after they suffered from a series of draws in the last two games they played. The most valuable player in the game last night was definetly Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand. Rooney created the change as Sol Campbell hit his kick on the penalty area which gives Manchester United a change to get a penalty Kick, while Ferdinand gave a solid defence with Silvestre and Neville at the back, making Arsenal's attacker couldn't get the ball inside Manchester United's goal.

Nistelrooy's goal was his answer from his failure in the last two penalty shootout, which can be canceled by Arsenal's goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann from Germany. No wonder he was so happy after he scored the goal. You can see his celebration in the local news paper or in Soccernet's website. In the other hand, Rooney's goal was his best present for his 19th birthday at that day.

Meanwhile Arsene Wenger launched a bitter attack on Wayne Rooney, referee Mike Riley and Manchester United's rough-house tactics after Arsenal had surrendered their 49-game unbeaten record at Old Trafford. You can view the complete news in "Wenger left fuming after United loss".

Manchester United has shorter the gap between them and Arsenal with 8 points, but it's not an ending yet. It is the beginning of the Manchester United Revival, after a bad start of the season's league. Will they close another gap or there will be another gap between both team? We will see it in next week games.

Revenge or Get Blasted?

Tonight, there will be a big match between Manchester United and Arsenal in the Premier League competition that will broadcasted by TV-7. This match is considered as a match with high tension and ambition for both team. Arsenal is the leader in the Premier League for the moment and holding 49 unbeatable game record. If they beat Manchester United tonight, they will gain their 50 records. This is what Manchester United doesn't allow to happen, since if they do get it, their change to become the next Premier League champion will be stronger since they have beat one of the most biggest team in the Premier League besides Chelsea.

Manchester United started this season with a bad start and losing some of their key player, such as Wayne Rooney, Rudy Ferdinand, Ruud Van Nistelroy, and some other player that usually started as United's starting lineup. Right now, some of the main player has recovered from their injury and detension, but they still show a great improvement. They achieved their fourth draw this week and will have to face Arsenal while they're trying to recover from a busy week (This week they have to play in 3 games, including one games for the Champion League).

Tonight is the time to stop Arsenal's dominants or there won't be another change to stop Arsenal's fantastic records. Chelsea has cut their distance with Arsenal with a win last night. Gudjhonsen scored hat-trick (or maybe more, since i didn't watch until it finished). Will Manchester United cut their distance with Arsenal into 8 or will they get blasted in 14 points? We will see it tonight :)

Viva Manchester United

Windows on Linux = Wine

If you need Windows application being executed or installed in GNU/Linux platform, definetly you need Wine application to do that. Wine will try to emulate some of Windows DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files into GNU/Linux's specific runtime environment, so that it will make your GNU/Linux platform look like Windows. If you install Wine, it will create a fake Program File and Windows directories. This is where you will install your applications and the dll's required stays.

Wine is not finish yet (and i doubt if it will finish this year, since this is a big project and need a lot of testing and updates, since Windows application is rapidly increasing). Wine developers will try to do their best to make all application can be installed or executed via Wine, but there are no guarantee that they will make them as soon as you ask them. They divide into two categories, Gold and silver list. Applications which install and run virtually flawless on a out-of-the-box Wine installation make it to the Gold list, while The Silver list contains apps which we hope we can easily fix so they make it to Gold status. You can see the list on WineHQ's application website.

Another site that publish information about installing Windows application using Wine is http://frankscorner.org/. This page discuss an advanced way to install some popular Windows application, such as :

Application:
AutoCAD R14
Dreamweaver MX
Flash MX
Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1
MS Office 2000
Nero Burning Rom 6.0.0.9
Paintshop Pro 8
Photoshop 7.0

Games
Diablo 2
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast
Half-life
Simcity 4
Soldier Of Fortune 2
Starcraft
Warcraft 3
Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne

Now you can play Warcraft 3 with your friend while you boot at your GNU/Linux :)
Have fun with Wine...

Another Meeting

Next sunday there will be another meeting, discussing about our next plan and our activity in the future. I hope that the meeting won't be late again like the past. Well.. it's our bad habits and i hope it won't happen in next sunday, since there will be a lot of new people that will come into the meeting (as i read from the mailing list posts).

If you want to find our about our activity, please visit our website at http://jogja.linux.or.id/. Come and join us, Indonesia Linux User Group.

I will post about the seminar that will be held in this month and next month also. If you are looking for an events discussing about education, please check our website.

Cross Cable.....

Few hours ago i attended CCNA's class. The class was late for about 15 minutes, due to the lecturer forgot that there was a class. Ohh boy.....
we started module 5 about cabling and we had some demos about Cisco's router and some lab kit, developed to help students learning how to make a cable linked wo the router by using RJ-45 adapter.

It's quite fun there. We tried to make the cables connected to each other by using some kind of tester device brought by the lecturer. At first, my cable only hooked in cable 3 and 4, and after i clipped it again, finally it hooked at all of the cable, but cable 1 and 4 was weaker, and that means it was a little loose.

The Internet connection was so slow....
i couldn't republished all my blog in the lab. I don't know why, but my profile page is out of date and they show my posting that i posted at 30 September. It was 1 months ago. I hope i can fix it by republish all of my blog after this posting.

PHP 5 New Look

In July Zend Technologies announced the latest version of PHP, the widely used scripting language for Web programming. Version 5 incorporates a series of substantial enhancements over previous releases. Here's an introduction to some of the new features.

The greatest change in PHP 5 comes with a complete redesign of its object model, and with it, a tighter integration to object-oriented (OO) paradigms. Previous versions' usage of objects had one major drawback: Objects were not tightly aligned with the behavioural patterns observed in other object languages like Java or C++. While PHP offered a simpler approach, the disparity created a considerable chasm for those wanting to use PHP in a truly object-oriented manner -- in the sense of what the industry perceives as object-oriented.

The first technically deficient issue surrounding the older object model was the fact that objects were passed around by value and not by reference. To a seasoned object developer, this created a series of pitfalls in the creation of object hierarchies and execution of operations, some of which could be resolved through cryptic syntax. To technical observers, this made PHP a bloated object technology, since it continuously created clones of objects being passed around on every invocation.

Now objects in PHP 5 are passed around by reference as a default behaviour, in much the same way other object-oriented languages do, making it easier to work with for those experienced in object languages, while preserving almost transparent backward compatibility with the older PHP object model.

At the core of this PHP shift is the second version of the Zend Engine, which powers this new behaviour of object references through special handles which are assigned to each object instance. The core PHP engine also incorporates more object-oriented features:

* Interfaces allow for greater flexibility in the creation of class implementations and hierarchies.
* Protected and private class methods and members provide enhanced capabilities for encapsulating class data, in the same way other OO languages do.
* Static functions and variables ease the use of unique instance objects, or singletons, as they are dubbed in other OO languages.
* Reflection allows the introspection of data within a same class.
* Exceptions: In other PHP versions no provisions are made to trap class errors. PHP 5 adopts the natural OO syntax of defining catch sections to detect runtime exceptions.

Besides these enhancements, which are typically found in OO languages, there are many other new features similar to those found in Java or C++. However, the other central enhancement in PHP 5 is its tighter integration and faster execution when invoking components written in Java or .Net -- possibly the two most adopted development platforms in today's market -- all of which comes as a result of the engine redesign.

PHP 5 also takes a revamped approach to another pervasive technology: XML. The newest PHP version uses the open source libxml2 library for core XML tasks like DOM and SAX parsing and XSL transformations, substituting the previous PHP versions' approach of using a hodgepodge of libraries. SOAP support, as derivative of XML, was also rewritten as a built-in C extension in PHP 5, providing an enhancement over the widely used PEAR module (written in PHP) used to execute SOAP applications in older versions.

Another area which was also revised was the interaction of PHP with mainstream relational databases -- a typical component used in Web applications. The PHP 5 distribution incorporates a new MySQL extension which allows applications to take advantage of the features included in MySQL 4.1 and later versions, such as prepared statements, SSL, and transaction control. Support for SQLite, an embedded SQL database, was also added to PHP 5, allowing for a lightweight alternative to a full-fledged database suite while leveraging the newest object-oriented features in PHP.

Other provisions included in the latest PHP release are the execution of Perl scripts from within application code; the use of Tidy, an open source library used to analyze and parse HTML code; and a new memory manager for enhanced RAM utilization.

i Haven't use PHP 5, since it's stable enough to use the PHP 4. Use PHP 5 if you are comfortable with OOP paradigm and used to build application using OOP as a base. Use PHP 4 if you want the simple and traditional method, like i do :)

Second Heart Attack: Robotics Test Result

Tomorrow, i will attend robotics class. This will be the second heart attack, since the lecturer will give our results from the last mid test exam. I'm not quite sure that i will get the best mark, but i'm also pretty sure that i can get more than 80% of the maximum score. The exam was quite difficult, since it was an essay and it has a lot of materials to memorized. Maybe it was the only subject that has so many material this semester for me.

After the mid test, we will discuss more about sensors, especially a sophisticated sensors. Before the mid test, we only discuss the simple sensors and also a simple implementation for the programming, using NQC (Not Quite C). It was a simple programming language, derived from C or C++ and it was specialized for programming robots, like we did in the lab. Here is one example of NQC syntax to move the robot forward for 4 seconds and then reverse for 4 seconds and then stops the engine:

task main()
{
OnFwd(OUT_A+OUT_C);
Wait(400);
OnRev(OUT_A+OUT_C);
Wait(400);
Off(OUT_A+OUT_C);
}

Back to campuss again

After two weeks fighting with exams (i only had two of them), finally i'm back to campuss again to study and prepare ourself for our final test which will be held next December. It will be on the first and second week of December and in the middle of December, we will be able to finish this semester and enjoying our vacation and preparing for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The first class that i attend this morning was Compiler class, which was discussing about simple compiler implementation in real world programming language, which was PHP, the most famous server-side scripting language ever created in the world, invented by Rasmus and maintained by the OpenSource Community. In the end of the class, the lecturer gave the result of the mid test, and i scored 25.5 out of 30. It was good enough, but i'm still dissapointed, since i missed some small and simple question. I can have more than 25.5 if i was little bit carefull reading the questions.

In the evening, i got into CCNA class which discuss about cables, but i didn't pay attention on it, since i was busy downloading flash player that was required to see the materials but it wasn't installed on the computer. The connection was bad, so i couldn't got it fast, but finally i could manage it.

Tomorrow i have no class to attend, but i will go to campuss to meet my friend and borrow his CD. I also have to pick up my girlfriend and drop her at campuss. Well... this is my first day after the mid test....

Another Project is Waiting

Jogja Linux User Group is discussing about their new project that will be held by the end of this month. It will be another workshop about GNU/Linux and we hope that we can help that event. We have already made a big success with the previous events, a national seminar and demo about Wireless and Hacking, with Onno W. Purbo and Joshua Sinambela as the speaker that was held in October 9, 2004.

This events came from my friend's request in our mailing list few days ago and the response was great. Most of us were willing to help and participate in this event. Unfortunately, maybe i can't participate, since i have a lot of task to be done, including my "Kerja Praktek" task, second compiler task, and many other things that should be done as soon as possible. Thank goodness i have finished one of them yesterday, which was the kolokium day.

Well... enjoy your weekend guys :)

Judgement Day is Over

Today i have to defend my final project proposal with the lecturers that in charge to give me some questions about the project that i will developed next semester as my final project. We call this is a "kolokium" day. There were 40 students applied for this day and today there were 20 of them that was called to defend their final project. We are divided in two groups, depending on the category that we picked.

The kolokium is planned to start at 9.00 AM, but it was started at 10.00 AM. Each students would have 10-15 minutes to defend their project in front of the lecturers, but some of them spent more than 20 minutes inside the judgement room. It was a boring day, since i got number 14, and i can come in at 13.00 (i don't remember exactly, but i was called after the lecturers were having their lunch and finished on one of my friends.

It was kindda nervous just before i entered the room, but suddenly all that feelings were gone after i stepped into the room. I put of my bag and got my proposal out and waiting for any questions from my lecturers. Amazingly, I only got 1 questions and i have finished the kolokium day in less than 5 minutes, a record in my campuss :)
i was so happy to hear that they accepted my final project (this was same as i expected because some of the lecturers didn't know well about my final project. The only person that know my final project has read my proposal before and he agreed. He didn't asked more for this time).

This day, there were only less than 5 person that it's final project was accepted (only for 2001 class), which was me, Alphone, Fanny, and Sang Tu. (as far as i know). They that didn't pass this day may propose another proposal next month and they will have their third change in December. Good luck guys.

Enjoying Basketball Again

After a few years never played basketball, finally i have a change to play it again. I went to basketball court with some of my friends and my girlfriend and we played for about 2,5 hours (my girlfriends wasn't playing). It was fun enough, eventhough i missed a lot of shots (because i haven't used to touch basketball again for few years).

We will play again next friday in same time and same place. We hope next week will be more crowded as we can have more fun than today. It was more than a play, but rather a fun play. We laugh together (maybe we spent half of our energy just to laughed). We will try our best to invite some of our friends to join our game next week and we will have great time together.

Well... see you next week guys :)

Service Pack 2 Fulfilled Microsoft's Promises

Microsoft, via it's security program has declared that they will focus on security problem in their roadmap by launching many tools related to security, such as Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer which can analyze your system for vulnerability and connect to their headquarter to download the correct patch. The newest of their invention was Service Pack 2 for Windows XP which was launched few months ago.

It was a huge update for Windows XP which was intended to fix major security problems existed in many computers running Windows XP and Windows XP SP1. I have installed the SP2 pack and it was a great success. The new security flaws dropped to zero when i checked into WindowsUpdate (except for only a small update for Microsoft Virtual Machine that i ignored).

This months, Microsoft has announched their monthly security updates for Windows which can be found in Windows Security Updates for October 2004 page. There were 9 fixes, majorly for Windows and also IE (Internet Explorer), but only 1 updates for Windows XP that already installed Service Pack 2 on their system. It is a good news, since the new Service Pack is working and fixes many security flaws. I hope Microsoft will pay more attention to security problem before they release their product in the future. I also hopes that they will release another Service Pack for another Windows version, such as Windows 2000 and Windows 2003.

Linux is Easier to Maintain

I have fulfilled my promised that i will upgrade my Java version in Linux. Well here i am, sitting in front of my new Linux system with the updated Java version. The process is faster and smoother than any Windows platform. All application works well, except for NetBeans. Maybe i'll update it with the latest NetBeans 4.0 (but i should wait for the final release as the latest version is 4.0 beta 2).

I downloaded the rpm.bin version and it contains some updates. If the previous version just extract the files, this new version also install the packages (INSTALL, not UPGRADES), so if you want to free your space, you should uninstall the previous version, just as i did few hours ago.

After that, i changed the JAVA_HOME and CLASSPATH in /etc/profile and my .bash_profile file and logout and relogin again and voilaaaa... the system was already updated with the new Java version

[willy@informatika Documents]$ java -version
java version "1.5.0"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0-b64)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0-b64, mixed mode, sharing)

It only takes a few minutes to do the install, uninstall, move the old jar files into the new files and finally getting the new system updated. This is contrary with the Windows platform which took about 1/2 hour to get my system updated. This because the Antivirus always checks for every files on the installation process (that's fine with me, because i rather to wait than getting viruses on my computer).

My conclusion is Linux is easier to maintain rather than Windows, especially when you want to upgrade your application and configuration settings (except for the Kernel and glibc library, which require more attention as you may blow up your system)

Upgrading Java

Today i downloaded Java 1.5 for Windows in my campus and it finished in about 1 hour (because the lab was empty and i'm the only person for about 1 hour before another people came and the connection started to dropped). I also download some other program, such as PHPMyadmin-2.6.0-pl2, Microsoft's newest update for Windows XP SP2 (this was a monthly updates released by Microsoft).

I tried to upgrade my Java from 1.4.2_02 into 1.5 by uninstalling the previous version and started to install the new one. I also reinstall OpenOffice to reflect the changes that has been made to Java. Accidentally, i forgot to change the default directory for the Java installation. I usually put them in C:\j2sdk<java-version>, but this time, i put them in C:\Program Files\jsdk1.5.0. I have to change all of the PATH, CLASSPATH, and JAVA_HOME variable to reference to the new installation :(

Maybe later i will upgrade My Linux. I haven't upgrade them, although i have downloaded Linux version of Java several days ago. Upgrading in Linux is much much simpler and smoother, because you just write rpm -Uvh j2sdk1.5.0-linux.rpm and the process will be automatically, without uninstalling the previous version. you still have to update your PATH, JAVA_HOME, and CATALINA_HOME variable (the last variable is used when you install Apache Tomcat in your computer).

One Down, More to Go

Today i have finished my mid test since i only have to attend for two exams. Today's exam was not so good, since i didn't prepared very well for this test. Yesterday i wrote an article about security and forgot to study. I started to study at midnight and i think it's not enough to memorize all the materials of the subject.

Well... one down, but still there are plenty of tasks to be done in this week. I have to edit my final project proposal and submit it, finished my "Kerja Praktek" task, and also make a reports on it. That's our life... never enough time to relax :(

Preparing for Final Project

I have send my proposed final project to my lecturer to be editted before i submit it officially. My proposed final project will be reviewed by Volker Mueller and hopefully he aggrees with the title. I'm looking forward to receive his reviews in this week, since i have send my proposal last saturday via mail.

I have started to prepared myself for my final project. I started to download a few spesification from W3C about CSS, HTML, XHTML, RSS XML, XPATH, and also XSLT. I have bought several book in order to accomplish my final project. Yesterday i just bought another book when i visit Gramedia book store with my girlfriend. It was XHTML, written by Chelsea Valentine and Chris Minnick. It's an old imported book, so i can bought it with a rather cheap prices. In the other day, i have bought the latest book from Eric Meyer : "More Eric Meyer On CSS". It's a great book which cover CSS in real-world projects. You will see how Eric Meyer created great design by only using CSS. Hopefully in the next few week there will be another good book i can buy :)

Another Google Attack

Google is shocking. After the rumor that they will develop a new browser to compete with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (it's more than a rumor, since they have hired some cool person and they have bough their new domain), this time they showed up again with another two services, Google Print and Google SMS.

Google Print
Google Print puts the content of books where you can find it most easily; right in Google search results. Just do your usual searches on Google and whenever a book contains content that matches your search terms, Google will show that book in your search results. Click on the book title and you'll see the page of the book containing your search terms and other information about the book. Click on the "Buy this Book" link and you'll go straight to an online bookstore where you can purchase the book.

Google invites all publisher to publish their books on their web pages. They have prepared a web based program that lets book publishers of all sizes have their book content included in the main Google search results. Publishers send Google their books and Google scans them to add their content to your search results at no cost to the publisher.

Google SMS
Google SMS (Short Message Service) enables you to easily get precise answers to specialized queries from your mobile phone or device. Send your query as a text message and get phone book listings, dictionary definitions, product prices and more. Just text. No links. No web pages. Simply the answers you're looking to find.

Here is how to do it:
# Enter your query as a text message. See some sample queries.
# Send the message to the US shortcode 46645 (GOOGL on most phones).
# Receive a text message (or messages) with your results, usually within a minute. Results may be labeled as "1of3", "2of3", etc.
# To get Google SMS help info sent directly to your phone, send the word 'help' as a text message to 46645.

Get ready to get another shocking technology from Google in short time :)

First Exam

Few hours ago i have to face my first of two exams this semester. Today's exam was robotic experimental. I was quite nervous, since it was my first exam, but i could manage that and overcome my anxiety. I'm just hopping that it would resulted in good mark.

My next exam will be held on 11th of October. The subject is Compiler. I'm preety sure about this exam, since i have learned some of the materials last semester, so i think it wouldn't be a big problem for me to do this test next week.

In the other hand, i'm still confused with my final project proposal. After writing this blog, i will continue to write my proposal, since my time is running out and i only have 9 days left before i have to submit my proposal, otherwise i have to wait until next March to propose another proposal. Wish me luck :)

Running Out of Time

In the last 2 week, i'm very busy with my task, final project proposal, and also mid test exams. Luckily, i only have 2 exams this semester. The worse problem is i cannot contact my lecturer because they are busy with the test and also testing final project on somebody else. So i have to dot some things on my own and i will decide the next step later. Hopefully, they would understand my solutions and they will accept it.

Ten more days to the deadline of the final project proposal. If i'm late, then i should wait for the next change, which will be on next March. That means, my study will be delayed for a semester i think. Hope i can finish my proposal and get this things off as soon as possible.

XP SP2: Few Minor Problems

Yesterday, i received my Windows XP SP 2 cd which i ordered from Microsoft a few weeks ago. In that moment i have two feeling, happy and nervous. Happy because finally the cd has come after a long wait, but i got nervous too, because what will happen with my computer if i install this update into my computer? Why would i so nervous? Because i heard so many reviews and articles on the Internet saying that SP 2 made many application not functioning or not compatible, so you may have to update your application in order to get it back to normal. Until this noon, i decided not to install SP 2.

After a nap, i boot up my computer and decided to install SP 2 on my computer. It says that the process will be up to 2 hours, but in my case, it only result in half an hour (maybe Microsoft's prediction was based on the minimal computer specification). I was so nervous that time, but those feeling finally disappear after i restarted my computer and got my Windows XP back to normal. There are 2 application that i should upgrade, which was StyleXP and Nero, but it is not a big problem to me. I'm thinking about the whole system, since my task is inside this system and i need it for my study right now.

Before you install your SP 2, please check your software compatibility on Microsoft website and also visit SP 2 Installation Note for additional information about SP 2. Please take your time to browse those site, because the SP 2 installation can give you big updates or it can give you big troubles. Read it carefully and decide wisely.

The Sims 2 : Major Upgrade

Few weaks ago i have head that EA games will be launching their latest game called The Sims 2. It is an update for The Sims which was very succesful games for the simulation category. It has so many expansion pack, such as vacation, livin large, hot party, and many other packs that enhanced the original version into a fabulous pack of Simulations Gaming.

I wonder what will be that game? I'm imaginating that it will the same as the previous version of The Sims. Yesterday my cousins bought The Sims 2 cds and today i have installed in my computer. It has and advantage by buying that CD. You don't have to download the latest DirectX from Microsoft, since the game has included it as a bundled because it needed that version in order to The Sims 2 can be running well. I have tested and it runs well on my computer, and it's no so slow as i expected, since i have enough memory to play this game.

My first impression about this game was fantastic. It is a major upgrade from the first The Sim. It has so many new ability, jobs, more detail textures, and a lot of objects collection, and the list is getting long enough to be written here. you should try it by yourself. You will not regret if you buy this game, since it will help you simulate your life better.

You will encounter many new aspect of game character that is extraordinary. It became closer to real life and you could think it as it is you in the real life. Not like the old Sims, here the character can grow up and become old. There are also elder character, but i haven't seen it yet.

You can start the game by creating your new family, or by finishing the story line (some sort of campaign in the RPG game). It is so interesting, but i suggest that you should learn a lot of basic things first before you start your story mode, since it is harder to play rather than the first Sims

IE : Updates or Upgrade?

Despite all appearances, Microsoft insists it hasn't lost interest in Web browsers. It has been years since Microsoft declared victory over browser pioneer Netscape Communications, and a long time since it last released a full upgrade to Internet Explorer (IE). Now critics say the company is fulfilling old predictions that it would embrace the browser and extend its capabilities, only to extinguish it.

Microsoft's last major browser release was in August 2001. The company in the summer of 2003 discontinued its browser for the Macintosh and said it would issue no more standalone versions of IE. Last month, the company released new IE security features in its Service Pack 2 (SP2) for the Windows XP operating system, but said only XP users would get those improvements.

Once praised for its standards compliance, IE is now denounced by Web developers as outdated. Meanwhile, there has been an outcry over the browser's lack of standards support for basic Web technologies like CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) image format, and for its lack of popular features like tabbed browsing.

At the heart of the controversy is Microsoft's longtime insistence that the browser isn't a standalone piece of software, as it is most commonly thought of, but merely a feature of the Windows operating system. In future releases of Windows, starting with the long-awaited Longhorn, Web browsing functionality will be embedded deeply within applications, reaffirming the Windows interface rather than the browser as the center of the computing experience.

Microsoft, which makes most of its money from sales of its Windows operating system and Office application suite, refuses to characterize the Web browser as a threat to those businesses. But years ago, the computer industry and Wall Street alike saw that a highly functional Web and browser could indeed reduce the importance of both the OS and desktop applications, drawing consumers away from them.

That potential has been realized in some areas of computing, for example, Web-based e-mail. Microsoft anticipated that threat early with its 1997 purchase of Hotmail.

More comprehensively, the software giant met the Web threat embodied by browser start-up Netscape, which once commanded better than 85 percent of the market. Microsoft acquired browser technology from Spyglass that it turned into Internet Explorer. Through a relentless campaign that was later found to have violated antitrust law, Microsoft made quick work of Netscape, to the point that IE amassed by many estimates better than 95 percent of the browser market.

Critics in and out of court complained that Microsoft's quest for browser dominance was an effort to neutralize the threat of an open Web though an "embrace, extend, extinguish" strategy. By extending the technology beyond industry standards, the company could compel Web developers to code their sites to IE rather than to those standards. As a result, competing browsers would fail to render significant sites and remain marginal competitors.

IE defectors
Microsoft weathered vociferous campaigns by Web developers to support standards published by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Now many of those same developers are urging surfers to dump IE in favor of standards-compliant browsers like the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox.

Perhaps worse for IE's reputation, security advisers including the U.S. government's CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team) have warned against using Microsoft's browser. (CERT praised SP2's security improvements, but half of Windows users can't access them without paying for an upgrade to XP.)

If you are using IE as your primary web browser and you need the latest support for new technologies, such as CSS and PNG, you should upgrade your operating system into windows XP and apply the SP2 Patch or buy a Windows 2003 or.. (maybe the long term waiting), you can wait for the next Longhorn releases that will ship with the latest IE (in most cases it will be out in 2006).

I'm suggesting that you should switch to Firefox or Mozilla that always update their functionality and fixed their security hole as soon as possible while enhancing their CSS and PNG supports (currently, Mozilla 1.8.4 Beta 4 has a partial support on CSS3, which is a good news).

Compiler Task Uploading Problems

I'm taking a compiler class this semester and i have 2 task to be done in order to get full mark. The first task is identifying legal REAL constant in PASCAL. I have finished and you can view it on my students website. It was in Indonesian language though. The system that i built was using PHP and PERL C Compatible Regular Expression and it was quite a good system (in my opinion, but you can mail to give me a critics about how the system works).

I prefere PHP rather than any other scripting language because PHP has a great built in functions that was designed to work faster than any other web scripting language. Once of the most usefull function in PHP is regular expressions, that is widely used on many website to perform a string or input checking and validating it. I used that capability to scan the input through textarea input and if it qualified the pattern, it will start validating, noting which input are legal and not.

But the problems starts when i want to upload it to my lecturer's website. He demands that the project is uploaded into his website and should be compressed in ZIP format. I have done that but the system is unable to receive those file and saying that it wasn't a ZIP format. I sent messages to my lecturer and notify him that there were problems, and he responded well. He fixed the problem, but unfortunately.. more problem come. The database is unable to update and he is too busy to update his website. Deadline for the upload will be at 9th of October, but i hope that the system will be fully functional in these week.