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Saturday 15 December 2007

Google Encyclopedia

Hi,
Let me be very honest and forthcoming as I can be. I am an ardent fanatic of Google for all these years (Honestly, I do not know how many). But taking on Wikipedia is a little too much. I am not saying that Google's concept of the web encyclopedia should be trushed because Wikipedia is an indestructible fortress but what I am saying is this..

Firstly, I will admit that I am a man of open source and freeware. I think of Wikipedia as being in the same vein of open source though not directly because, Wikipedia in a way allows us to alter its "source code" i.e. change facts on the encyclopedia when they are "not facts".

Here now comes my verdict;
By creating the web encyclopedia ( they have chrsitened it "knol" ), the are really beginning to bite more than they can chew. As we all know well that if you bite more than you can chew, two things are most likely to happen; you may get choked or you may puke.
We will stick to the puking part here. We know that when you start puking, you do not stop until you have puked all that you have eaten in the first place.

I am not saying that this project is a sham and will result in failure but I am saying that Google is simply taking on too much. Wikipedia is just as good enough. Why take on extra work load.
Anyway, as they as, let's wait and see.

Saturday 8 December 2007

Networking Tips

Networking simply refers to the process of interconnecting two or more devices, which devices are usually computers, with the intention of sharing resources and information. The connection can be either wired which includes but is not limited to; optical fire and copper cabling. Wireless connectivity can be carried out using mainly electromagnetic waves in the radiowave frequency. This can be in the form of bluetooth, infrared or more commonly IEEE 802.11a, b, g and n 2.5 and 5GHz frequencies. OK enough with the intro..

The first tip that I can give is that default settings should be changed. What do I mean by that?
I mean that the networking equipment usually comes along with default settings such as, in Cisco routing equipment, the default user name is admin with no password. This should be changed and a password should be provided as well. This password should be changed as regularly as possible because, a static password can very easily be cracked or even guessed.

The default IP address of your networking equipment for example of your wireless access point should also be changed. If for instance, you get your Internet connectivity from a wireless router which usually has the default gateway of 192.168.1.1, then it is advisable that this be changed to another private address value because this is usually the first addresss that an illegal computer user will attempt to connect to, and if successful, then, can use your Internet connectivity for free and could also access the router settings and perhaps even prevent you, the owners, from accessing the Internet.

I will give more tips later. Cheers

Java, Starting Up

One of the first and most important resources that you will need in your hungry pursuit of mastering programming in the Java platform is the API documentation. Trust me, it is even more important than that 2000+ paged book that you have bought to learn the language; yes that book on your table. With time, you will know what I am talking about.

First things first. Without knowledge of the Java API (Application Programming Interface), all your attempts to learn Java programming will come to naught. You are as good as finished. Anyway, not to discourage you, you have to find a way to getting your hand(s) on the Java API. If you have regular access to the Internet, then you may want to bookmark the Java API page from the Java website: check somewhere like http://www.java.sun.com/javase/6/docs. Make sure you bookmark it and view this page nearly daily. If you work in a busy office environment, you should probably spare extra time after work hours and read and "cram" the API.

If you are a student, you'd better rush to the Computer Labs early in the morning, cram a few classes in the API and go on for lectures. I wouldn't advise on cutting out on lectures unless you are doing a software programming course basing on the Java platform.

If you do not have regular Internet connection, do not get depressed. I, too, do not have regular Internet connection. The good thing is that the Java documentation, which contains the complete Java API, is contained in a compressed zipped format thereby making it downloadable. So, simply spare some good time( and money too), slope down to the nearest Internet cafe and start downloading the Java documentation. The last time I checked, it was about 33MB. 33BM? Yes it will take longer if the connection is on dial-up, but believe me, it will be worth every single cent that you spend on it. You may also need a program to uncompress the files. Windows users have it by default. Otherwise, you can acquire a free uncompressing program from http:www.winzip.com

Thursday 6 December 2007

MySQL

MySQL is arguably the world's most popular open source relational database management system (RDBMS). It is also the world's fastest database server (Well, on this point, this is arguable, I know Oracle pops up in your mind). MySQL is just simply too cool for anyone to ignore. Even those fellows at Oracle, Microsft and Sybase have taken serious notice of it. MySQL has many open source cousins but PostgreSQL and Firebird stand out to me.

OK, it is true that MySQL is not the most powerful database server available, but hey, who needs battleship strength (and expense too) of Oracle when you can carry out over 1000 simulatenous transactions on MySQL, all for the price of nothing? Huh? MySQL is freely downloadable from http://www.mysql.com

However, you should be able to contend with Command line interface. If you can't stand a command line interface, then you would want to download the MySQL client GUI( Graphical User Interface). The GUI tools contain a suite which includes; MySQL Administrator, MySQL QUery Browser and MySQL Systems Tray Icon and other programs. All these help you in creating schemas (databases), creating the tables, editing accout privileges and so much more. The GUI tools are also freely downloadable.

You can also manage your relationships and schemas using MySQL Workbench which is a freely but separately downloadable program from the same site as above.

You may notice that there are two different types of the MySQL server. The current server version is Version 6.0. The two types include the free GPL MySQL Commmunity Server and the commercial MySQL Enterprise Edition. The Enterprise edition is an extension of the Community Edition. This, however does not imply that the Community edition should be rubished. It is equally powerful.

The Enterprise edition is USD $200. This should be cheap enough for the enterprises and businesses as compared to the over USD$1000 for Oracle or MSSQL server.

If you try to download the free Community EDition but come up and can only find the commercial Enterprise Edition with 30 day trials, well if you intend to buy the commercial edition, then you can accept the terms and try it out before buying it. However, if you are short on finances, then locate the Community link in the home page of the MySQL website and from there you should be able to find the free editions.

If you intend to use MySQL with applications such as Java, C++, Python, PHP, Perl or any other use such as dynamic website development, then you may wany to also download the MySQL database drivers from the same site. Just read on within the site. It may also be a good idea to become a member of the site as well by registering freely.

By the way, MySQL is the most widely used database server for web applications (websites). Even Google uses it( At least I am mean't to understant so).

So, basing on all this, I strongly recommend MySQL for both commercial and non commercial use

Java

Java is one of the most amazing languages that everyone should consider learning. I am currently just learning the Java programming language and platform 'on my own'. I started it out this year(2007) in August and at the moment, only the sky is the limit