GWT Link Library

• GWT Tutorial – I used it to lean a bit of new things about UBinder

Single Page Applications and MVC vs MVP

As it turns out, there is still no clear, a well-define architecture for building SPAs, or rich browser clients. I’ve been working on some UI recently and found this Paper by Martin Fowler that does a good job summarizing a variety of approaches to building UI: https://martinfowler.com/eaaDev/uiArchs.html.

The article references a couple of foundational publications that lead to 404s, so I found those after some digging. Definitely a must read foe those of us who want to understand MVP on the level where it can be made practical:

• MVP: Model-View-Presenter. The Taligent Programming Model for C++ and Java by Mike Potel, VP and CTO Taligent, Inc.

  A quote of gold 1: “The presenter then represents the traditional “main” or “event loop” part of the application, creating the appropriate models, selections, commands, views, and interactors, and providing the business logic that directs what happens when, like a traffic cop or orchestra conductor.”

  A quote of gold 2: “The event processing system underlying the MVP programming model is embodied in a Notification Framework, which provides for interest-based notification of events, senders and receivers of events, type checking of events, distribution of events, etc. to mediate all the interactions among the programming model abstractions.”

• TWISTING THE TRIAD. The evolution of the Dolphin Smalltalk MVP application framework. Tutorial Paper for ESUG 2000. by Andy Bower, Blair McGlashan, Object Arts Ltd.

TEDTalk On Netlfix

Apparently, TED Talk is now available on Netflix online streaming. Awesome!

The Children of the Sky

Apparently, Vernor Vinge has written and published a sequel to ‘A Fire Upon the Deep’ back in 2011 that is called ‘The Children of the Sky‘. This is so cool because I loved the the whole ‘Zones of Though’ big time. I am so looking forward to reading The Children of the Sky on my iPad. It’s going to be a welcomed distraction from seemingly endless ‘The Definitive Hadoop Gide’.

Here Is to Vendor Lock-in

Vendor lock-in is a good thing. Here is why.

‘Vendor lock-in’ has somehow become a dirty phrase in software development. Yet, it is actually a good thing. What vendor lock-in really means is that you have found a company, a vendor, that solves your critical problem so good that you want to stay with them. Look at critical problems that have been solved for you – moving around (your car), storing food safely (your fridge), cooking food (your kitchen), roof under your head (your house), access to information (your computer and internet).

Same with software that you use at home and in our projects. There are companies, the vendors, behind the product you use and you know their names and you stay with them for long, locked in, because you like them. You get your problem solved and the companies get your money that they use to further develop the products you use and to feed the people that do it. Everyone is happy and that’s how it should be.

Vendor lock-in is a good thing because these are the vendors you want to stay with.

Regards,

Slava Imeshev

On Life and Death of Steve Jobs

Unexpectedly, the death of Steve Jobs has touched me more profoundly that I could ever expect.

When I heard the news, I was shocked. I new that Steve Jobs was sick, but I really hoped that he’d pull through. I’ve never met him and my only personal connection to him is that I live a couple of miles from his place. Of course, I’ve been a admirer of his work and an Apple customer, and that’s it.

And yet, what I feel now is full-blow grief. Maybe that’s because his work touched me in a way deeper then I thought. Maybe it’s realization that we won’t see more of his awesome creations. Maybe that’s because he is gone so early, killed by a stupid disease. I don’t know.

R.I.P Steve Jobs.

Regards,

Slava Imeshev

A SpecialTeas.com Relacement

I have found a decent replacement for SpecialTeas.com. It’s Upton Teas Imports.

So, SpecialTeas.com went under which was a family micro-tragedy. After searching for awhile, I have found a decent replacement for SpecialTeas.com. It is Upton Tea Imports [1]. The most important thing is that the selection is very good and on par with SpecialTeas.com. The shipment is pretty fast. The tea is packaged well, and the samples are coming in tins:

We are happy campers again.

References

1. Upton Tea Imports

SCI-FI Movies That Will Blow Your Mind

There is something in the makeup in software people’s brain that makes them love SCI-FI. Here are SCI-FI movies that I am sure you’ll love.

After having my mind blown twice in a row recently I thought it would benefit many if I logged those awesome SCI-FI movies so that you can enjoy them, too. I intend to keep this list growing. Here they go, in no particular order:

• Sunshine
• Lathe of Haven
• Absolon
• Alien
• Aliens
• Dark City
• Blade Runner
• Screamers
• Metropia
• Cypher

Regards,

Slava Imeshev

Presenting on Best Practices for Scaling Java Applications with Distributed Caching at Silicon Valley Code Camp

I will be giving a talk on best practices for scaling Java applications with distributed caching on October 8 or 9, 2011 at Silicon Valley Code Camp.

This vendor-neutral session will explore ways for improving reliability, scalability, performance and concurrency of Java applications through local and distributed caching. You will learn how to identify data best fit for caching; deepen your knowledge with best practices for caching; understand distributed caching and ways it enables scalability of Java applications. We will discuss common usage scenarios for distributed caching and will provide best practices for the supporting network infrastructure.

Register here, it’s completely free: http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?ForceSortBySessionTime=true&AttendeeId=169

I will post the slides online after the session. If you cannot make it to Code Camp but want to get notified when the slides are available, drop me a line at simeshev@cacheonix.com.

See you there!

Regards,

Slava Imeshev

Moving from MS Outlook to Entourage Made Easy

Moving from Outlook to Entourage is trivial and takes 15 minutes when you know what software to use. Here is how.

I switched from Windows to Mac OS X awhile ago, and one thing that really delayed completing the switch was moving contacts and a large message database from Outlook to Entourage. I googled “free outlook entourage” and wasted a few hours trying various 50-step suggestions that didn’t work. The bitch was “free” in my search query. At some point I  decided that it just wasn’t worth my time and killed “free”.

In 5 minutes I found MessageSave by TechHit.  It is worth every penny I’ve spent on it. With MessageSave my migration from Outlook to Entourage took around 15 minutes, attachments preserved.  What message MessageSave does, it converts the proprietary Outlook message database to a set of Mbox-compatible files that Entourage understands. Here is a screenshot of the start screen:

All you need after MessageSave completed the export is to copy those Mbox files to your Mac and drag’n’drop them into Entourage. Entourage will chew through them and you are done. MessageSave also allows to move your Outlook contacts and schedule. TechHit provides a detailed step-by-step manual on how to import Mbox files into Entourage.

One thing to remember is that exporting to the same folder twice will produce duplicate messages on import. Make sure you are exporting your messages to a clean folder.

Hope this saves you a few gray hairs.