Appvance Integration Knowledge Kit

Learn about the diffs (costs, performance, best-practices etc.) between TIBCO, Oracle, IBM, SoftwareAG, and JBoss integration platforms. The researcher's finding is that the TCO (regarding developer productivity) of TIBCO is the lowest.

To further our mission to advance your apps, Appvance implemented the same app on the leading SOA and Integration platforms, including TIBCO, Oracle, IBM, SoftwareAG, and JBoss platforms. We kept track of developer productivity and ran a performance test against the finished app. The results are valuable lessons, patterns, and best practices for your organization. We package the source code, the developer’s journal, the TCO model, and performance tests into a free open-source Integration Knowledge Kit for you.

Reference:

http://www.appvance.com/appvance-integration-knowledge-kit-downloads/

HowTo: Setting a Minimum Height to a Div or HTML element in ALL BROWSERS.

I always seem to forget this one. ReignWaterDesigns explanation is very useful:

First things first. Use the "min-height" in your css like this:

.myDiver{
     min-height:100px;
}

NEXT! Set the regular height to "auto" using the "!important" tag.

.myDiver{
     min-height:100px;
     height:auto !important;
}

LAST! Set the regular height (again) but to the minimum height. ;-)

.myDiver{
     min-height:100px;
     height:auto !important;
     height:100px;
}

This will keep the div at 100px; and if the content inside of it extends beyond 100px, it will grow. This is true in ALL BROWSERS!

Reference:
http://www.reignwaterdesigns.com/ad/tidbits/hacks/minimum_height_in_css.shtml

Quantified self: analyze your Gmail usage

Get a comprehensive report every week with detailed statistics and analytics of how you use your Gmail or Google Apps email. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Google Drive and create a new Spreadsheet
2. Go to Tools and search for "gmailmeter".
3. The rest is simple. Have fun!

Reference:
http://gmailmeter.com/

Why I stopped looking for a OmniFocus replacement for Windows

OmniFocus 2 for iPhone is pretty darn awesome. Before the iPhone app update I was looking for ways how to use OmniFocus on my Lenovo W530 Windows computer. After reading this article, I decided to stop this stupid quest.

Meet Joe. He’s an expert but frustrated carpenter that juggles all sorts o’ projects at a time. He also uses a Mac when he’s not making things with his hands. He would love to use OmniFocus to manage his carpentry projects. But he hasn’t so far because he just can not figure out how to sync OmniFocus with his tool belt. 

Joe: a swell guy, but pretty stupid.

Reference:
http://www.practicallyefficient.com/2011/06/09/of-windows/

How to: Apply Instagram filters in Photoshop

If you own an iPhone, chances are you use Instagram, the popular iOS app that lets you apply effects to your photos and share them online in no time. Some of the filters included in Instagram can make your photos look really awesome, to the point that you may want to apply them to the images on your computer. And here's where Daniel Box gets into action.

http://features.en.softonic.com/how-to-apply-instagram-filters-in-photoshop

I Am Street Fighter - 25th Anniversary Documentary

The game that got me hooked to my snes.

HowTo: Adding Twitter RSS feeds to your RSS reader

If you are like me and you want to follow Twitter handles from companies or products you love, your feed can get tweet-cluttered very quickly. My solution is to get the Twitter RSS feeds you want to follow and subscribe to them with your RSS reader.

A fast way doing this one feed at a time:
- Go to Pixsy and type the following command: .twitter -rss-u [the Twitter handle]
- Copy the timeline feed that Pixsy generates. It should look someting like https://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name=medjo
- Subscribe to this feed with your RSS reader (I use Feedly).

HowTo: setting TIBCO Hawk Event Service classpath for JDBC

In our project, I wanted to implement TIBCO Hawk Event Service and write Hawk alerts and changes to agent status to my Microsoft SQL Server database.

The documentation states that in order to conclude the configuration, you need to add JARS to the classpath. After some fiddling, I discovered that you need to put te following line to the Java Virtual Machine Command Line Options:

-cp [path]\sqljdbc.jar;[path]\tibcrypt.jar

Screenshot:

Read: The Master Keys to Getting Things Done

From the David Allen Productive Living newsletter: http://www.davidco.com/newsletters/archive/0113.html

CONTROL (aka the "Mastering Workflow" model)Capture — Do a "core dump" of any and all potentially relevant data, ideas, and perspectives. Involve key players in this collection phase, if possible. Don't try to evaluate or let yourself run down "fix-it" rabbit trails at this point. It's necessary to pinpoint anything and everything that's on the radar, so you won't miss any burning barns or opportunities in the upcoming process.
Clarify — Identify what still has attention about what has shown up in the initial capturing. What outcomes and actions need to be determined for each of the items, if any? Who owns what about getting them done?
Organize — What data and what reminders need to be parked where and with whom about this? Fix any gaps or leaks in your systems for tracking and access.
Reflect — What needs to be reviewed about this, how often, and by whom? Set the appropriate forum and revisit times.
Engage — What next action, by whom, is moving this forward productively, now? Ensure that's clear, with the right people.
PERSPECTIVE (aka the "Horizons of Focus") (Which conversation below needs to happen, with whom, to bring the focus and content sufficiently current and complete?)Purpose/Principles — What's our primary intention? What are our rules of engagement?
Vision — What would wild success for us look/sound/feel like? How will we know when we've won?
Goals — What are the key outcomes that have to happen, to achieve the vision?
Responsibilities — What are the critical areas of our endeavor that need to be managed and maintained? Who owns them?
Projects — What are the multi-stepped components that have to be finished?
Actions — What are all the current actions on the moving parts, and who has them?