When Google announced that Java is the second language that the Appengine will support I almost didn’t believe it given the surge of the new languages and the perception that Java entered legacy but the JVM is a powerful tried-and-true environment and Google saw the potential of using it for what it is bound to… Continue reading Reviewing Google AppEngine for Java (Part 1)
“Thinking in” what?
“Thinking in…” anything has been a marketing quirk for a while now, being used and abused from the field of language learning to computer science. Thinking in Java is the title of a well known book written by Bruce Eckel. I am passing a “Think in Spanish” course flyer ad every time I stroll on… Continue reading “Thinking in” what?
Mobile internet is here to stay
Since I went back from vacation (Easter with family back home in Romania) I got quite interested in the mobile internet. This was the first time I wasn’t going to internet cafes or asking buddies to let me use their internet (and their PCs). I have a beaten Nokia 3100 that works both in RO… Continue reading Mobile internet is here to stay
Selecting location data from a spatial database
I have been thinking to write about this subject a while back when project Spincloud was still under development. I was even thinking about making this the first post on my blog. The idea is simple: you have location-based data (POIs for instance) stored in some database (preferably a spatial DB) and now you want… Continue reading Selecting location data from a spatial database
Evaluating EclipseLink 1.1
As I’m using the ubiquitous Hibernate 3.3 as the JPA 1.0 provider for Spincloud, I decided to try out another one. I had tried OpenJPA (spawned from Kodo JDO) when they only supported build-time bytecode enhancement and it was a pain to make it work. It worked all right but boy what a pain. There’s… Continue reading Evaluating EclipseLink 1.1
Choosing a Java hosting provider
TL;DR: Go for a VPS. I now use Digitalocean, they’re awesome. Selecting a web hosting provider is a tough job for any web developer that wants to put a Java/JEE web application online. The choice is much simpler when it comes to publishing a PHP web site and there are a load of cheap (and… Continue reading Choosing a Java hosting provider
Upgrading to Spring 3.0
In the spirit of beta I’m upgrading spincloud.com to Spring 3.0. I’m using version 2.5.6 currently but it’s missing REST support and I had to use Carbonfive’s REST library which worked like a charm. Now it’s time to get back under Spring’s fold and use their built-in REST support. Spring 3 opens the door to… Continue reading Upgrading to Spring 3.0
Spincloud Labs: Political boundaries overlay in Google maps (Part 2)
Update Sep.21.2011: I took the code in the two parts and made a github project off of it called Gborders. The code is simpler and there are more options to generate the borders overlay based on geographic regions. Happy forks! In Part 1 we imported world political borders into a database table. In this second… Continue reading Spincloud Labs: Political boundaries overlay in Google maps (Part 2)
Atlantis spotted on Google Earth?
I couldn’t miss this one. It didn’t take long after Google released its seafloor imagery to its Earth and Maps products for someone to claim the discovery of nothing less than Atlantis itself! Ah, and again it wasn’t me… Take a closer look at the Atlantic Ocean floor area: On the left, a grid-like structure is… Continue reading Atlantis spotted on Google Earth?
Spincloud Labs: Political boundaries overlay in Google maps (Part 1)
Update Sep.21.2011: I took the code in this post and part deux and made a github project off of it called Gborders. The code is simpler and there are more options to generate the borders overlay based on geographic regions. Happy forks! One thing I needed when designing the Meteoalarm mashup for Spincloud were the… Continue reading Spincloud Labs: Political boundaries overlay in Google maps (Part 1)