Hi,
here are two simple online applications I find myself returning to. The first is a Unicode converter. There are many Unicode conversion tables out there, but they many times only convert between two different encodings, eg between UTF-8 character and Decimal NCR. Give Unicode Code Converter v6 a go I am sure it will have the right answer for you :).
The second application I wanted to mention is SQLinForm. It is an excellent online SQL formatter which can also handle SQL embedded in Java code. SQLinForm is also used inernally by DbVisualizer another irreplacabe tool in my toolbox. It is not as poweful as specialised tools like Toad, but on the other hand it allows me to connect to any database I have a JDBC driver for.
So long,
--Hardy
Monday, October 20, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Using Mac's TextEdit from the command line
Just a short little note. As I recently mentioned there are a few things which I actually do not like about my Mac. One is that the Finder per default does not display hidden files and the second related issue that TextEdit is not in the default path of the console.
Why is that important you ask? Well I would like to say for example say at the command line:
> edit foo.txt
or
> edit ~/.bashrc
For the former I could open Finder, locate the file and double click. For the former I am pretty much out of luck. Of course I also could just use vi and in fact that's what I am doing most of the time, but then there are the times where I just want to have another simple editor. To come to the point, here is what I did and what I would like to share with you. Just add this to your ~/.bashrc (or ~/.bash_profile as a matter of fact):
function edit()
{
/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit $@ 2>/dev/null
}
Have fun,
--Hardy
Why is that important you ask? Well I would like to say for example say at the command line:
> edit foo.txt
or
> edit ~/.bashrc
For the former I could open Finder, locate the file and double click. For the former I am pretty much out of luck. Of course I also could just use vi and in fact that's what I am doing most of the time, but then there are the times where I just want to have another simple editor. To come to the point, here is what I did and what I would like to share with you. Just add this to your ~/.bashrc (or ~/.bash_profile as a matter of fact):
function edit()
{
/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit $@ 2>/dev/null
}
Have fun,
--Hardy
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
NINA == CICO?
Confused over what's currently happening with the world economy? Shocked that stock indexes can loose up to 20% of their value in one day!?
Surprise, surprise - this is not a new problem. The unsustainable practices which brought on the current crisis are known for a long time, even books have been written about them, for example "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis - published 1989. If you want to get a better knowledge about what's going on right now, read the book. You will be a lot wiser afterward, but don't expect to understand. Understanding seems just not possible right now.
Personally, I think that the whole crisis was brought on by a very old myth. The abiltiy to make gold out of sand or money for nothing. If I would claim our days that I could transform sand to gold the absurdity of this claim would hopefully be for most people quite obvious. Unfortunately, the money for nothing schemes which let the world economy collapse at the moment are much more sophisticated and for a layperson almost impossible to see through. But that should not be an excuse for anyone. Everyone should have been suspicious by the guaranteed interest gains promised by many of these dodgy investments. One should always remember - from nothing nothing comes.
And even in this crisis I can see parallels in the development world. Take for example the NINA mortgages which to a great extend brought on the current disaster. There is a direct parallel in the development world. It's called CICO. In my rather short career I already had the "pleasure" to work on several projects which got into difficulties due to CICO. The customer wanted to have this great new functionality, wanted to be part of Web 2.0, wanted it now. And all this of course without changing the underlying obsolete structures like the completely crusted, inconsistent and out of date database. Common sense suggests to at least address the issues and mitigate potential problems by for example adding an additional layer of indirection. But that's maybe just me, since many times I just fell on deaf ears.
I think it is time to stop building sand castles and remember that every system needs a solid foundation. A free market does not mean money can be made from nothing. A sustainable market has to be based on sustainable values.
Well, that were my 0.02$ to the topic.
--Hardy
Surprise, surprise - this is not a new problem. The unsustainable practices which brought on the current crisis are known for a long time, even books have been written about them, for example "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis - published 1989. If you want to get a better knowledge about what's going on right now, read the book. You will be a lot wiser afterward, but don't expect to understand. Understanding seems just not possible right now.
Personally, I think that the whole crisis was brought on by a very old myth. The abiltiy to make gold out of sand or money for nothing. If I would claim our days that I could transform sand to gold the absurdity of this claim would hopefully be for most people quite obvious. Unfortunately, the money for nothing schemes which let the world economy collapse at the moment are much more sophisticated and for a layperson almost impossible to see through. But that should not be an excuse for anyone. Everyone should have been suspicious by the guaranteed interest gains promised by many of these dodgy investments. One should always remember - from nothing nothing comes.
And even in this crisis I can see parallels in the development world. Take for example the NINA mortgages which to a great extend brought on the current disaster. There is a direct parallel in the development world. It's called CICO. In my rather short career I already had the "pleasure" to work on several projects which got into difficulties due to CICO. The customer wanted to have this great new functionality, wanted to be part of Web 2.0, wanted it now. And all this of course without changing the underlying obsolete structures like the completely crusted, inconsistent and out of date database. Common sense suggests to at least address the issues and mitigate potential problems by for example adding an additional layer of indirection. But that's maybe just me, since many times I just fell on deaf ears.
I think it is time to stop building sand castles and remember that every system needs a solid foundation. A free market does not mean money can be made from nothing. A sustainable market has to be based on sustainable values.
Well, that were my 0.02$ to the topic.
--Hardy
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