Office 2007 Exams
Posted by Frank Ableson in Technology on May 13th, 2009
The rsync family
Posted by Frank Ableson in Technology on May 8th, 2009
The rsync utility is a file-transfer and synchronization program widely available for Linux® and UNIX® and even ported to Windows®. Its key feature is a very fast algorithm that just sends file differences over the data link, thus minimizing the total data flow between machines. (If you use the File Transfer Protocol [FTP] or utilities such as rcp or scp, complete files will be sent, even if just one byte has changed.) Of course, rsync isn’t limited to existing files: It can also deal with files and directories that might be present only at one end of the link. Finally, communications are optimized by compressing data, so you can use the tool even without a broadband connection.
Article by Federico Kereki
Head in the clouds?
Posted by Frank Ableson in General Business, Technology on May 5th, 2009
Cloud computing has been getting a lot of attention over the past couple of years, along with “Software as a Service (SaaS)”. Here is a provacative article about the questionable value proposition for small and larger enterprises alike.
Weather forecast
Posted by Frank Ableson in General Business on April 18th, 2009
OK, so this is not terribly new and exciting, but it was satisfying. My wife asked what the weather forecast was for tomorrow. Because we recently redesigned the website for our local township I was able to go right to the site and click on the weather forecast link. Very convenient. Unfortunately, the weather tomorrow will not be nearly as nice as it was today…oh well. Welcome to New Jersey in April.
Weather link @ ByramTwp.org
Cupcake is almost here…
Posted by Frank Ableson in Android, Technology on April 16th, 2009
The Android SDK version 1.5 has been “pre-released”. Pros: lots of cool stuff in there including both new features and improvements on existing functionality. Cons: moving target!
All in all, Android continues to impress me. I am working on a project presently which uses the different Hardware “Sensors” in the device. Very cool to have access to this kind of stuff.
Fortunately, it looks like the contents of the Unlocking Android book are still quite applicable.
Google Code Hosting
Posted by Frank Ableson in Android, Software Development, Technology on April 8th, 2009
I have not had the opportunity to use it before, but have found the Google Code hosting (code.google.com) to be quite helpful. The site allows you to create a project, project members, home page, etc. You can also have a “wiki” and issues list if you really want to manage a project right from the site. We are using it for the source code from the UnlockingAndroid book. Check it out.
The future?
Posted by Frank Ableson in Android, Technology on April 8th, 2009
As I have been working with Android over the past year, it has been a steady thought that it can be used in so many places beyond a “cell phone”. Here is another posting about where Android might be found.
http://www.androidacademy.com/3-news/122-home-is-where-the-andorid-is.html
Municipal website and Flickr
Posted by Frank Ableson in Social Media, Sussex County, Technology on April 7th, 2009
We recently launched a website for one of our municipal clients, Byram Township. There are a few items that we have added since the launch, including the ability to load all of their various meeting agendas and minutes. Today, Ian added a Picture section which actually takes a feed from flickr.com. This way the township staff can manage their pictures at Flickr and get multiple uses out of them.
Unlocking Android
Posted by Frank Ableson in General Business, Software Development, Technology on April 7th, 2009
Today I received the final ebook for Unlocking Android from Manning. Along with a couple of other authors (Charlie Collins and Robi Sen) have been working on getting this title out for over a year. It should be on book store shelves within about 10 days or so.
Unlocking Android
Version One
Posted by Frank Ableson in Android, Software Development, Technology on April 4th, 2009
I am working on an article project for IBM Developerworks. We (my son Tristan and I) have decided that we want our (Android oriented) system to monitor:
- presence of water (i.e. for leaks!)
- temperature
- power consumption (Tristan’s idea!).
We will also include a generic analog input value and two ouputs : one digital i/o and an analog value. These could be used for turning on a light, a heater, etc.
Things we would like to add (should we ever build this for real…) include:
- sound monitoring
- video input
- audio out
The architecture will look something like this to begin with:
Phase I - Android to PC to Microcontroller