Apple products is probably not meant for me. At least that's how it seemed.
I remember years back in late 80s, a roommate bought a Macintosh. It was fascinating, crisp graph and all, but I remember thinking, it doesn't have as much software as the PC, shrugged and moved on. Fast forward a few years, Steve Jobs was dismissed from the company he co-founded and moved to build NeXT computers. A lab at the CalState Long Beach had a few NeXTs system. I think its the cubes, tho I can't remember exactly. I happened to have a login access to those machines and got a chance to use them, and I thought it was slick and beautiful, much more pleasant to use than the Unix terminals or the icky Dec's VAX/VMS terminals. Then I check on the price, and its way too far fetched for a starving student. So I don't let my self get too much hooked into it.
Fast forward again, I found my self with a photographer roommate and he showed me how he processed his photos on his Mac with Photoshop in the days when digital photography meant photos were scanned and processed, not transferred from a CF or SD cards. I asked how much all those cost and after hearing the answer, shake my head and went back to my PC and thought that maybe the PC can do the same thing and I just don't know about it.
Time after time, I had other brushes with Apple and its technologies, and though I marveled at the beauty of the design, I'm getting used to just brushed it off, make do with what I have and embrace the alternative. When Apple came out with the iPod, it was years until I got my iPods. The first was an iPod shuffle, a gift from the company and another bought for my daughter for her little free math and alphabets games. For my self I got an alternate technology that I thought fit my logical perception and expectations. Shortly before the iPhone was released, I bought a Windows Mobile phone that supports Java and was happy about it, expecting that a new version of Windows Mobile will soon replaced the older version I have on it. But as it turned out, the Windows Mobile release never come and I'm getting seriously disappointed and sworn off never to touch another dumb WinMo phone ever again.
In late 2009, after thinking I can get an early phone upgrade from AT&T and get an iPhone 3GS at upgrade price, I finally stepped into an Apple Store, asked for a 16GB iPhone 3GS. They have it in stock! So I got through the checks and balances, ready to switch when I found out that AT&T still locked my contract for a few more month (I thought I can upgrade my phone 6 months before contract ends, as it turns out its 3 months or so). Needless to say, I left the store disappointed. I didn't see any benefit of paying full price (+/- $700 if I remember correctly) for the 3GS when in a few more months I can get it at lower price subsidized by AT&T.
In the meantime, I started to look at Android and explored the Android Market to see what's available. By this time I have an iPod 3rd generation, mostly not for my use, but obviously I get to play with it too. So I looked to see if any of the app were also in the Android platform. To my surprise there are plenty of those app which were cross-platformed. So I started looking for the hardware and eventually saw the specs for the HTC EVO 4G. Which seems to have superior hardware compared to the 3GS. Eventually when it came time in Summer 2010, I switched both carriers and hardware. I switched to Sprint and got the HTC EVO 4G. I haven't regret that decision since. Goodbye Windows Mobile - hello, Android.
Over the years, I had actually acquired a few iPads and a MacBook for relatives overseas (I got reimbursed back) and play with them a little before passing them to their rightful owners. The "try it before you buy it" marketing ploy couldn't have worked with me, since until now even after all those brushes with the technology and actually liking it, I lacked the actual "must have" desire for Apple product.
I've seen the MacBook Air and saw how slick and simple the design is. I have people telling me how smooth the MacBook Pro worked with VMWare with Windows guest OS used for development. I actually tried the system. And yet, the "Must have" feeling disappeared as soon as I went back to my chair and back tinkering around with some code design.
Since Steve Jobs passed away, I tried to see how direct his product and technology affected me. I can see his indirect influence on how the technologies he "Re-imagined" affected what I worked on. I can see the beauty in his design decisions and as I slowly read over his biography and past articles from the Mac team, I learned more about his unique role. As Walter Isaacson summarized in a NY Times article - The Genius of Jobs: "Those who know how to stand at the intersection of the humanities and the sciences. That is the formula for true innovation."
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
How to access BPEDB using WebSphere Integration Developer (WID 6.2)
When developing Human Tasks for the IBM WebSphere Process Server 6.2 (WPS 6.2) and WebSphere Integration Developer 6.2 (WID 6.2) occasionally you want to see how the data are physically stored in the database. Out of the box, the database that stores these data is Derby and the database name is BPEDB.
If you have a need (like I did) to view BPEDB to see the human tasks data that belong to a business process using WebSphere Integration Developer (WID) 6.2, here's how you do it:
1. In WID, open the "Database Development" perspective.
2. In the Data Source Explorer, right click on "Database Connections" and select "New"
3. In the connection parameters window, select "Derby" as a database manager, select "Derby 10.x - Embedded JDBC Driver Default" - in my case it's 10.2, and browse for the location of your BPEDB.This should be in your server profile. eg: [installation dir]\WID62\profiles\server1\databases\BPEDB or something similar. In my test environment, I left user name and password are blank. Click test connection to make sure you can connect, before you click finish.
And voila... that's all, now you can see the content of your human tasks data. Just remember, you should leave data modification via the API. The data should be treated as read only to gain better understanding and debugging.
And that's all folks... Easy once you figure it out.. :p
If you have a need (like I did) to view BPEDB to see the human tasks data that belong to a business process using WebSphere Integration Developer (WID) 6.2, here's how you do it:
1. In WID, open the "Database Development" perspective.
2. In the Data Source Explorer, right click on "Database Connections" and select "New"
3. In the connection parameters window, select "Derby" as a database manager, select "Derby 10.x - Embedded JDBC Driver Default" - in my case it's 10.2, and browse for the location of your BPEDB.This should be in your server profile. eg: [installation dir]\WID62\profiles\server1\databases\BPEDB or something similar. In my test environment, I left user name and password are blank. Click test connection to make sure you can connect, before you click finish.
And voila... that's all, now you can see the content of your human tasks data. Just remember, you should leave data modification via the API. The data should be treated as read only to gain better understanding and debugging.
And that's all folks... Easy once you figure it out.. :p
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Apple's new A4 chip
Apparently the iPad is not the only thing new from #Apple. Inside the iPad is $AAPL new processor: the A4.
While the CPU speed does not seem too impressive, since other mobile CPUs such as Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon which powers Google's Nexus One run at the same speed, it's the power consumption or the lack of it is what may become a game changer here. Some reports suggested that you could play HD video for 10 hours before you ran out of power. True or not, with devices such as netbooks and laptops requiring bulky batteries to last a measly 4 hours, at 10 hours (if its true) while doing any processing IS impressive.
A4, the efficiently powered system on a chip which integrates the main processor, graphics, memory controller and few others is manufactured by Apple's own PA Semi, which Apple acquired back in 2008.
PA Semi is a low-power chip expert before getting acquired by Apple. Apparently Apple had the iPad in mind when it acquired PA Semi almost 2 years ago.
While the iPad itself look like the victim of "Honey, I blew up the iPod," just like with the iPhone, the innovative minds of Steve Jobs and his team has brought in a potentially disruptive technology. It may not be the iPad per se that will bring Apple more explosive growth into the future. It's the combination of things, the increasing demand of apps through iTunes, the potential of crossing into Amazon's eBooks/Kindle territory via iTunes, and depending on Apple's willingness to sell its A4 processor to other mobile device producers - the potential of being on top of the mobile processors market.
What's next? iPad with OLED display and super battery so power can last up to 20hrs?
For the iPad specs click here.
While the CPU speed does not seem too impressive, since other mobile CPUs such as Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon which powers Google's Nexus One run at the same speed, it's the power consumption or the lack of it is what may become a game changer here. Some reports suggested that you could play HD video for 10 hours before you ran out of power. True or not, with devices such as netbooks and laptops requiring bulky batteries to last a measly 4 hours, at 10 hours (if its true) while doing any processing IS impressive.
A4, the efficiently powered system on a chip which integrates the main processor, graphics, memory controller and few others is manufactured by Apple's own PA Semi, which Apple acquired back in 2008.
PA Semi is a low-power chip expert before getting acquired by Apple. Apparently Apple had the iPad in mind when it acquired PA Semi almost 2 years ago.
While the iPad itself look like the victim of "Honey, I blew up the iPod," just like with the iPhone, the innovative minds of Steve Jobs and his team has brought in a potentially disruptive technology. It may not be the iPad per se that will bring Apple more explosive growth into the future. It's the combination of things, the increasing demand of apps through iTunes, the potential of crossing into Amazon's eBooks/Kindle territory via iTunes, and depending on Apple's willingness to sell its A4 processor to other mobile device producers - the potential of being on top of the mobile processors market.
What's next? iPad with OLED display and super battery so power can last up to 20hrs?
For the iPad specs click here.
Apple iPad tech specs: rumor vs. reality scorecard
Engadget has this scorecard (http://bit.ly/9IQjXS) lining up the comparisons between what's rumored and what actually is there on the iPad when it's unveiled today.
Some of the no shows from the rumors according to engadget are: no camera (not yet), no multitasking, no phone (use safari to google voice web app and you may have got a phone. Assuming somewhere you can connect a headset via bluetooth), no Verizon, no iPhone OS 4.0, and no Flash anywhere to be seen.
And hey... I'd like to see a battery benchmark result on this puppy. How long can I use it before its running out of juice. Will it be as lousy as the iPhone?
Some of the no shows from the rumors according to engadget are: no camera (not yet), no multitasking, no phone (use safari to google voice web app and you may have got a phone. Assuming somewhere you can connect a headset via bluetooth), no Verizon, no iPhone OS 4.0, and no Flash anywhere to be seen.
And hey... I'd like to see a battery benchmark result on this puppy. How long can I use it before its running out of juice. Will it be as lousy as the iPhone?
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