Not feeling great

Working upstairs in lonely room

outside the window pathetic gloom

lends me the feeling my misery friend

I cannot wait until day's end.




Nothing to do, nowhere to go

it's not too common I feel this low.

Full of ideas and hobbies, too

but not today, I just can't do.




I need to go and see the faces

but of all the common, usual places

bookstore seems empty, the books are dull

gym is revolting, I hate them all!

My desk

This is my desk by the window upstairs, from here I have a nice view on my garden.

I love the things that have the old quality in them. Both the desk and the chair I got for Goodwill store for few dollars. The are scratched, but I like them that way, they have the age and quality that Japanese call Wabi-Sabi. The Apple computer adds a nice contrast on top.

Crew

Yesterday, I finally have hung the sails and the boat is read to go out.

The interesting thing is that as much as I always want to sail, I have hard time getting people to go.

RELIGION - they all basically like this...

Swaging wires

In the photo, you can see me tightening the bolts of the swaying tool to crimp down the sleeves on the wire loop.

 I did all 3 halyards that raise the sails this way. The process is very simple, really. After I crimped the excess wire, I cut it using a grinder with a cut-off wheel. This way, I am assured that it will be flush. To assure that I don't cut the wrong wire, I put a piece of steel sheet between the wires.

There is another type of swage tool that looks like a big bolt cutter, but the one I have works perfectly
and tales very little space.

Setting Environment Variables on Mac

It is essential to set up a list of environment variables that are specific to a specific development environment. Below are the step on how to accomplish this on MacOS: 1. Open a text file and save it as .bash_profile:

# User specific Terminal config if [ -n "$PS1" ]; then PS1='\u@\h:\w \$ '; fi shopt -s checkwinsize echo ~/.bash_profile export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin ####### JAVA DEV ####### export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/Home/ export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin

2. Save .bash_profile under main user directory in the HD. 3. Restart your terminal window. 4. Verify in the terminal that you have the correct path for the env var. you just set up:

echo $JAVA_HOME

Runner's joy

Gone! You gloomy days of old!

Sunset paints flowers of gold





On running path I cross

sun, a lovely rose,





bridge to happier time

verses want to rhyme,




birds to sing a song,

run's sweet and long.




Forest half aslep,

pace I want to keep,




yet I stoped and gazed

place got me amazed.




Night is falling fast

memories that last.

Jacek & Lola

GWT: convert database objects to DTO object

Google web toolkit operates on DTOs (Data Transfer Object) in the front end. Every time data is retrieved from the database, it has to be converted to DTO objects before it can be used in the front end. Below code illustrates how to convert from database objects to DTOs: In the service implementation class, externd HibernateRemoteService class:

public class MyServiceImpl extends HibernateRemoteService implements MyService, { public MServiceImpl() { XmlBeanFactory xml = ApplicationContextFactory.getXmlBeanFactoryInstance(); setBeanManager((HibernateBeanManager) xml.getBean("hibernateBeanManager")); myDao = (MyDao) xml.getBean("myDao"); } private MyDao myDao; public List fetchAll() { List myList = organizationDao.fetchAll(); List dtos = ConvertToDTO.clone MyObject ListToDTO(getBeanManager(), myList); return dtos; } }

Create a method as follows:

public static List cloneMyObjectListToDTO(HibernateBeanManager beanManager, List myList) { List< MyObjectDTO > dtos = new ArrayList< MyObjectDTO >(); for (MyObject obj : myList) { MyObjectDTO organization = (MyObjectDTO) beanManager.clone(org1); dtos.add(organization); } return dtos; }

At this point you can make a call from the front end to the Asynchronous method to call the service implementation. This will allow you to get a DTO objects that are converted from the back end.

My lonely quest

Late, after midnight

Failed evening's plight

This lonely quest

Came now to rest

No rest for me
No sign from thee
Alone in bed
Single, yet wed

It's jester's jest
My lonely quest
I'm here for thee
No one for me

So many years
And no one cares
My lonely quest
It's time to rest

I swear tonight
With all my might
My heart is right
My soul is right

I keep repeating
My heart is beating
I did my best
How can you rest?

"Runner" software for iPhone GPS

Yesterday night,  I was evaluating a new iPhone software for runners.

The program works very well, here are the highlights:

• start your music BEFORE you start running and it will keep on playing in the background
  
• select the distance (3 mile, etc), or time you want to run 
• keeps track of your current speed, 
• keeps track of your  average speed, 
• calories burned for your weight and distance (about 120 kcal per mile)
  
• routes the path you have run on the map
• keeps history of all of that
  

"Runner" software for iPhone GPS

Yesterday night, I was evaluating a new iPhone software for runners.

The program works very well, here are the highlights:

• start your music BEFORE you start running and it will keep on playing in the background
  
• select the distance (3 mile, etc), or time you want to run
• keeps track of your current speed,
• keeps track of your average speed,
• calories burned for your weight and distance (about 120 kcal per mile)
  
• routes the path you have run on the map
• keeps history of all of that
  

Akuma

Mermaid

Run 3 miles

Yesterday morning, I have run for three miles. The whole day I was hurting, especially my quads.

The feeling of the run, morning phisical effort, peaceful feeling of passing the quiet neighborhoods and the green views of Florida made me happy. The exhausted feeling, the sweat touch and smell and the shower
afterwards reminded me of my happy memories.

Fort Myers

Ft. Myers

The waters around south Florida are very shallow and only narrow channels permit sailboats to pass.

Fort Myers - sunset

Liliann watching sailboats coming back at the sunset by Fort Myers Bodwitch Point to Estero Pass.

New engine for Lil Walkabout - Johnson 9.9hp

I forgot to post this picture before, but here is the new engine Johnson 9.9 hp. 

I have installed the high-thrust propeller on it to help move the heavy boat. The boat has 3,000 pounds of lead in the keel. 

The high-thrust propeller and the relatively small engine will not get me anywhere fast. 

One day I had to get out of the marina in a very tall northern waves and the engine had no problem.

Fire the baby sitter

Turning on colored coding in Eclipse

It is exteremly helpful to have color coding turned on in your development environment. In Eclipse you can turn on this color coding option in order to have modifiers, variable names, etc display in a common color, this will help you quickly identify how the code is used. To do this follow below steps: In Eclipse menu -> Preferences option -> type "Editor" in the search text box -> Mark occurrences -> check all check boxes shown in picture below.

Origins by Richard E. Leakey

Richard E. Leakey, a famous archeologist, described humans in his book, "Origins":

[as] highly intelligent creature who, through technology and determination, has come to dominate the world [...]

Everyone will understand the definition of determination, but what is technology today? Surely not the flint points.


We created a lot of powerful technologies.. atomic bombs, fighter planes, satellites, bio, and chemical weapons, but if you think of it, they are mostly useless, the MOST far-reaching and POWERFUL weapon is INFORMATION and the World Wide Web. 

Do we have the determination to make good use of it?

Technology and Determination

Richard E. Leakey, a famous archeologist, described humans in his book, the "Origins":

[as] highly intelligent creature who, through technology and determination, has come to dominate the world [...]

Everyone will understand the definition of determination, but what is the technology today? Surely not the flint points.

We created a lot of powerful technologies.. atomic bombs, fighter planes, satellites, bio and chemical weapons, but if you think of it, they are mostly useless, the MOST far reaching and POWERFUL weapon is INFORMATION and the World Wide Web. We [I and some of my readers] happen to be foremost experts in this technology.

Do we have the determination to make a good use of it?

Therapy

exhausted

It is hard to express negative feelings without sounding like complaining, or being weak.

I am neither, but I think it would be live untrue record if I only wrote about the highlights of my life.

I have been told that men should not be sensitive, it's not welcome, but the truth is that despite the fact that we act strong, we get affected all the same.

So what bothers me? I am exhausted, beat down to the core of my soul.

Today, while talking to my sister and brother-in-law I realized that I have hard time composing simple sentences together. I took an afternoon nap after the flight from Chicago to Florida, a power swim
in the pool, and I was still tired mentally.

Now, I lay down and think. Am I just tired, or is it something serious? Maybe brain tumor (seriously) that soon will leave me a veggie, or dead? Headaches, feeling week day-after-day, hard time
thinking straight... Maybe I am just being tired after all.

I finished a book today about a great sailor Pete Goss. I almost cried on the airplane.

In my mind I single-handed race an empty southern ocean with cold wind in my face, constant beating, steep choppy waves and occasional iceberg, lurking to sink me here and there. No time to rest, no place
to rest, no one to talk to.

One day I hope to find my own sanity and peace again, to go to the blue lagoon with the sandy beach, the feeling which I am missing so much now.

Lola, Lila, Uki

Quote - persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Chay Blyth, sailor

Close to the wind

Raphael was 160 miles away to windward in this atrocious conditions.
But I had to go, I knew that.

The decision had been made for me a long time ago by a tradition of
the sea.

Pete Goss

Persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.


Chay Blyth, sailor

Quote

IT IS NOT BECAUSE THINGS ARE DIFFICULT THAT WE DO NOT DARE...
IT IS BECAUSE WE DO NOT DARE THAT THEY ARE DIFFICULT.
SENECA

Determine linking to your website

Here is a way to find out WHO (which websites) link to your site:

link:YOUR_SITE.COM

Setting up a new GWT project - part 2

This article assumes that you followed the previous step in "Setting up a new GWT project - part 1".

We will try to extend the previous functionality which just displayed the content of "Main.html" file and create a simple GWT element.

Here are the steps that we will work with:

• Add css and images directories for later styling
• Main.gwt.xml

This file at this point only defines the application entry point Main.java

• Main.html

This file does not change much, but it includes the compiled JavaScript 

<script language='javascript' src='com.taktico.Main.nocache.js' type="text/javascript">

• Main.java

This is a very basic GWT functionality:

package com.taktico.client;

import com.google.gwt.core.client.EntryPoint;

import com.google.gwt.user.client.Window;

import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.Label;

import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.RootPanel;

/**  @author Uki D. Lucas  */

public class Main implements EntryPoint

{

    public Main()

    {

RootPanel.get("page").add(new Label("GWT! 1"));

    }

    public void onModuleLoad()

    {

RootPanel.get("page").add(new Label("GWT! 2"));

Window.alert("done loading!");

    }

}

The Eclipse directory will look similar to this:

Here is the screenshot of Main.gwt.xml and Main.html

And here is the resulting application!

At this point you have the client side GWT working, all you have to do is to add some services...

Side note: 

MyEclipse 6.5  Maven dependencies drives me nuts, I frequently switch to MyEclipse 5.0 and all seems to work fine.

Setting up a new GWT project - part 1

Below are steps I took to set up a new GWT project. I realize that this is not a simple step-by-step instruction that someone may follow, but hopefully it will help you in some way. 

• Create a new Java project in Eclipse 
  
• Create Maven2 pom.xml with all dependencies you may need

Maven gathers all the required jars and builds the war file that will be copied to the Tomcat.

• Ant build.xml file:
  

Ant file coordinates all tasks into simple "single-click".  

<target name="war" depends="clean">

<echo>Maven Executable: ${MAVEN_EXEC}echo>

<exec taskname="mvn war" dir="${basedir}"

executable="${MAVEN_EXEC}">

<arg line="clean compile war:war -Dtarget=${TARGET}" />

exec>

<delete file=".\\target\\csd.war" />

target>




name="gwt_shell" depends="war">

<echo>GWT: starting hosted (dev)echo>

<java taskname="GWT hosted" classpathref="class_path"

classname="com.google.gwt.dev.GWTShell" fork="true"

maxmemory="512m">

<jvmarg line="-verbose ${JVM_ARG_START}" />

<arg line="-out www com.taktico.Main/Main.html" />

java>

target>




<target name="gwt_compile_to_js" depends="war">

<java taskname="GWT compile" classpathref="class_path"

classname="com.google.gwt.dev.GWTCompiler" fork="true"

maxmemory="512m">

<jvmarg line="-verbose ${JVM_ARG_START}" />

<arg line="-logLevel WARN -out www com.taktico.Main" />

java>

target>

• Properties file in src/main/resources (uki.properties)
  

DEPLOY_DIR = /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/csd/

GWT_HOME=/opt/gwt/gwt-mac-1.5.1/

JVM_ARG_START = -XstartOnFirstThread

MAVEN_EXEC=/opt/maven/apache-maven-2.0.9/bin/mvn

• Add  src/com/taktico/public/Main.html
• Add src/com/taktico/Main.gwt.xml

If you can see the HTML  it is a great time to take a break, good job!

If you need a weekend tutoring on any of the subjects mentioned I might be available on weekends for a very reasonable fee plus travel expense if outside the Chicago area, contact: UkiDLucas@mac.com

Please leave a comment.

Bernard Moitessier's book "Tamata and Alliance"

I had a real "Wow!" moment while finishing Bernard Moitessier's book "Tamata and Alliance".

To make a long (but good) story short, he lost his boat, Joshua, in the storm while in port at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Twenty-five other boats were lost that day. After digging in tons of sand and gravel, they excavated the boat on the beach and found out that despite the total loss of mast, rigging, and rudder, the 21-year-old steel hull was intact and watertight and was afloat the same day.

This is the first lesson I have learned, if I ever go to the big blue Pacific for some serious time, I will make sure to have a "tank" of a boat made of steel with a full-length keel that will allow me to the beach and paint the boat in the low tide on the sandy beach anywhere in the world.

Later in the book, his friends build him another boat, Tamata. After buying the steel sheets and welding the boat within weeks according to a design plan, he used telephone poles for the masts, which they smoothed with a simple electric plane!

Now, a cheap boat like that will not win any speed races or beauty contests, but think about it—no super-expensive aluminum masts, just a common-sense setup that has worked for him time and time again around the world throughout his lifetime at sea.

The picture is of a lovely wooden-mast ketch in the Kenosha Harbor.

Lola.

Swaging the wires

One of the last things left for Lil Walkabout to happen is swaging the halyard wires...

Here it is how it is done "Thimble and Ferrule Swaging":

Lola Dana

Bernard Moitessier "Tamata and Alliance"

See articles I wrote about this book:

Steel boat with the telephone pole masts

Guam

Masthead installed on Lil Walkabout

Art has installed the masthead, which was welded. 

Then, the plates on both sides were added and welded for additional support. 

This fix cost me several hundred dollars, but I figured it was still cheaper than ordering a new one that is approximately the same size and trying to customize it to the mast.

George from "Boat Farm" did a very good job machining the aluminum.

Internet Connection Anywhere (or almost)

I love to write blogs from the coffee shops at the bookstore.

There is hardly anything more stimulating for me than watching people
reading books. I try to guess each persons character and interests and
I know many of us do that. The crowds in the airports, malls, or
Starbucks are also interesting, but the people with books are much
better. You get less of the mindless or sleazy types in the bookstore,
yes I am talking about loud and obnoxious sales types. When totally
out luck, I can always glance up to the portraits of the authors in
Barnes & Noble, and smile to my buddy Melville and to my writing
Polish sailor hero, Joseph Conrad.

For last few years I have been using the Hot-Spot WI-FI service for T-
mobile, initially it was great, later it was dropped from Barnes &
Noble booksellers. I could still use it in Starbucks and Borders, but
there are two of the Barnes & Noble stores in my neighborhood and no
Borders, ouch!

Then, a few coincidences directed me to the current solution. I have
seen couple of associates using the laptop cards when internet was too
slow, or not available, I noticed the AT&T $60/month plans while
shopping for the new iPhone, finally after I cancelled a credit card
my T-Mobile service rejected me at the Starbucks.

I have to admit that $60 per month for the card is a lot, twice as
much as my previous WI-FI was. WIth it I still get WI-FI speed at the
coffee shops, but I can go on the sailboat, or the park bench and
still do my things. Time will show if this was a good choice. Since I
have a MacBookPro I opted for ExpressCard card and if you buy
refurbished one, you don't pay nothing for it with 2 year contract.

Mac driver for the Option Wireless GT Ultra Express.

Internet Connection Anywhere (or almost)

I love to write blogs from the coffee shops at the bookstore.

There is hardly anything more stimulating for me than watching people
reading books. I try to guess each persons character and interests and
I know many of us do that. The crowds in the airports, malls, or
Starbucks are also interesting, but the people with books are much
better. You get less of the mindless or sleazy types in the bookstore,
yes I am talking about loud and obnoxious sales types. When totally
out luck, I can always glance up to the portraits of the authors in
Barnes & Noble, and smile to my buddy Melville and to my writing
Polish sailor hero, Joseph Conrad.

For last few years I have been using the Hot-Spot WI-FI service for T-
mobile, initially it was great, later it was dropped from Barnes &
Noble booksellers. I could still use it in Starbucks and Borders, but
there are two of the Barnes & Noble stores in my neighborhood and no
Borders, ouch!

Then, a few coincidences directed me to the current solution. I have
seen couple of associates using the laptop cards when internet was too
slow, or not available, I noticed the AT&T $60/month plans while
shopping for the new iPhone, finally after I cancelled a credit card
my T-Mobile service rejected me at the Starbucks.

I have to admit that $60 per month for the card is a lot, twice as
much as my previous WI-FI was. WIth it I still get WI-FI speed at the
coffee shops, but I can go on the sailboat, or the park bench and
still do my things. Time will show if this was a good choice. Since I
have a MacBookPro I opted for ExpressCard card and if you buy
refurbished one, you don't pay nothing for it with 2 year contract.

Mac driver for the Option Wireless GT Ultra Express.

Option Wireless: GT Ultra Express Mac Installation

I wanted to provide these installation steps since the (retard) manufactures do not make it easy...

1) Insert the card (ExpressCard slot)

2) Download Mac driver for the Option Wireless GT Ultra Express.

3) Preferences -> Network -> Location (drop-down) -> "GlobeTrotter Connect" -> close this window

4) Open application: "GlobeTrotter Connect" -> Preferences -> 3G/EDGE/GPRS -> enter following:

APN: isp.cingular

5) click blue icon "Connect" -> Elapsed Time should tick...

Unix: passing in params into tomcat from shell

startup.sh -Djive.ws.disabled=false –DjiveHome=Users/zaziz/Documents/workspace/jive/jive-dev/Project/jiveHome Using CATALINA_BASE: /opt/apache-tomcat-6.0.16 Using CATALINA_HOME: /opt/apache-tomcat-6.0.16 Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/apache-tomcat-6.0.16/temp Using JRE_HOME: /Library/Java/Home/

Pride

Pride is probably one of the worse of our characteristics and offenses, yet we hardly ever realize it.

It is easy to realize that something is wrong when we lie, steal or otherwise hurt others. Pride is different, we see our pride as a noble thing, maybe the only thing we have left in difficult situations. Nothing, however, is further from the truth. 

When it comes to loving of our children we shall fail many times, we will be hated occasionally, mostly unappreciated, we will wipe poop and puke a thousand times, there is no pride to be had in these moments, it is the selflessness that is to be given.

The family we are born to, some may be drunks, some are failures, underachievers, some are religious freaks, some may think that are better, but they all need our love. There is no place for pride when it comes to dealing with the family, pride is often devastating when dealing with family problems.

There is no place for pride in love, friendship, even work -- pride gets in the way of expressing true feelings, from a desire for being good and helpful and caring despite of the position of others.

Finally, it has to be said that the greatest respect in history goes not to the proud pricks, but to these selfless people who were able to put aside their ego to love, care and do things they thought they were destined to. Think of (hopefully) your parents, teachers, Gandhi , Mother Teresa, John Paul II, Buddha and many other great people, they deserve our respect, they should be proud of their lives, yet many times they had no pride that have gotten in their way.

Option Wireless: GT Ultra Express Mac Installation

I wanted to provide these installation steps since the (retard) manufactures do not make it easy...

1) Insert the card (ExpressCard slot)

2) Download Mac driver for the Option Wireless GT Ultra Express.

3) Preferences -> Network -> Location (drop-down) -> "GlobeTrotter Connect" -> close this window

4) Open application: "GlobeTrotter Connect" -> Preferences -> 3G/EDGE/GPRS -> enter following:

APN: isp.cingular

5) click blue icon "Connect" -> Elapsed Time should tick...

Rabbits