VMware Converter

July 16th, 2007

I’ve had a nice shiny T60 on loan for the past couple of months for a project I’ve been working on. Unfortunately the time came to return it, at which point I thought I’d try out the free version of VMware Converter. This enables you to take a physical machine and convert it to a VMware image. The idea was that I would create an image of the laptop before giving it back in case there was something on it I still needed.
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Changing servers

July 13th, 2007

So, it’s been a little bit quiet on this blog for the past few days. The main reason is that it’s been on the move from the hosting provided by our ISP (PlusNet) to my SliceHost slice. Things would have been much quicker had I not decided to switch Apache for the increasingly popular (due to its low memory usage) nginx.
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Dorset Coast Path Relay

July 8th, 2007

382Yesterday the Dorset Coast Path Relay was blessed with the first sunshine for weeks. The route runs from Lyme Regis along to the ferry terminal at the end of Studland Bay. I was down for a leg from Lulworth Cove to Kimmeridge Bay. My pre-race preparation wasn’t ideal: Christine fed me my lunch as we were driving down; the combination of the team being 25 minutes ahead of schedule at this point and fighting our way through the sun seeking traffic meant I had just half an hour for my legs to unwind; and I was still watering the bushes when Matt Whipple was spotted sprinting down the hill towards us!
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IBM Resource Adapter for JMS with WebSphere Application Server

July 5th, 2007

I’ve mentioned the IBM Client for JMS on J2SE with IBM WebSphere Application Server on a couple of occasions. As the name suggests, this provides you with a couple of JAR files that allow a standalone J2SE application to act as a JMS client to the WebSphere Application Server default messaging provider. What it isn’t good for, is acting as a client from another, third-party, application server. Yes it may work but you don’t get all those good things that an application server provides, like XA transaction coordination and parallel message consumption using MDBs. Enter the IBM Resource Adapter for Java Message Service with WebSphere Application Server which allows you to do just these things. Note that it’s currently only tested on Apache Geronimo V1.2 and WebSphere Application Server Community Edition V1.1 but it’s a JCA 1.5 compliant resource adapter so should work with any J2EE 1.4 application server. Also note that, as with the original client, this download is initially only available with an early access license. If you are interested in using it in production though, drop a note to the e-mail address in the technical support section.

Manor Farm RR10

July 4th, 2007

My steady rise through the results of the RR10s came to a screeching halt at Manor Farm Country Park this evening with a 14th place. By rights it should have been just my sort of race with lots of mud and a couple of good steady inclines. I could put my result down to the fact that the supporters club decided to stay at home this evening however, as I postulated previously that it was actually less training that was leading to my improvement, conversely, going to the gym yesterday morning and then running around before, during and after the orienteering yesterday, probably wasn’t ideal preparation for tonight. Now have to save myself for the rest of the week in preparation for the Dorset Coast Path Relay on Saturday.

Rails Overview: Controller

July 4th, 2007

In the previous entry of this series I covered the model part of the MVC support in Rails. The view and controller support is very tightly linked (more so than in, say, Struts) but I’ll start with the controller just to be contrary.
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Scouts Score

July 4th, 2007

379Yesterday evening we put on our annual orienteering exercise for West Wellow Scouts. This year they had a one hour score event on Fritham Plain. I got soaked putting controls out and collecting them in again but it actually stopped raining for all of the time they were out. (Not that this stopped them getting wet as the plain is currently waterlogged.) The format seemed to work well with a lot more enthusiasm than I’ve seen in some years. Perhaps it was because the controls were easier to find or maybe it was because the openness of the area meant they could see how the other pairs were getting on. I was particularly impressed with one group who managed to get all fifteen controls with three minutes to spare.

WebSphere Technical Conference

July 2nd, 2007

I’ve just submitted my abstracts for the WebSphere Technical Conference to be held in Vienna at the beginner of November. If you’re a European WebSphere customer then I’d highly recommend attending. Sign up before 5 August and get a 100 Euro discount. Hope to see you there!