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Published
Aug 15, 2006
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In Python
It’s been quite some time since I learned a new skill and this feeling has started to haunt my mind. I have had thing feeling quite a few times before and every time it resulted in me adding a new skill to my resume. In 2004 it was PHP and in 2005 it made me to (re)learn Javascript for Ajax and in 2006, almost 7 months have gone 🙁 and so I have decided to get my hands dirty on something new.
The two new things top on my list are Python and Ruby and I have to decide upon either one of them. So guys, I am looking for your suggestion since I am new to both of them. If you have used any one of them then do share those experience with me.
Right now I am slightly biased towards Python, after knowing that even Jeremy is learning it. More over both Drive into Python by Mark and the Yahoo Python Developer center could assist me. 😉
So will the snake swallow the gem?
Posted in Python
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Tagged Python, Ruby
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Published
Aug 13, 2006
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In Google/Yahoo, Random/Personal
Update:(15-Aug-2006) Well, it seems that the Bcc filed is displayed only if you are the sender of the message. The confusion is because in Gmail even the sent mails are displayed in Inbox itself for conversation view. Thanks Rajiv for pointing it out.
Recently, one of my friends brought up to my notice that in Gmail even the Bcc field gets displayed. My initial reaction was “No it’s not possible!”. Then I tried to test it by sending myself a mail and to my surprise, even the Bcc field got displayed.
Here is the screen shot.
I tried Googling around but couldn’t get a satisfying answer. So can anyone throw some light on this and let me know whether it is a feature or a bug or am doing something wrong.
PS: Yuvi, can you gather any information about my browsing activities from this screenshot as you did for Aswin? 😉
Posted in Google/Yahoo, Random/Personal
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Tagged bcc, Gmail
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Published
Aug 7, 2006
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In Web Programming
My post on my love with Java has sparked a mild IDE war in the comments section. So I thought of sharing my thoughts on using an IDE.
I have used just simple text editors like vi, notepad, textpad to full grown IDE’s like Zend, IntelliJ IDEA etc. (Well I know that some of you are going to accuse me for calling vi has just a simple text editor 😉 ) and my answer to the question, “Whether you need an IDE?” is surely YES. I have worked under people who think that using an IDE is overkill and distracting but personally my view is that if you are going to do the same task more than twice a day then your IDE should do it. But at the same time I do respect people’s view that an IDE should be simple to use and not bloated and too heavy on the machine. After all you are going to spend most of your time with it and if it’s too slow then you productivity is under danger.
When ever I get a chance to meet a person working as a web developer one of my first questions to them would be, “What IDE are you using?” and believe it or not it is worse than the question “Which religion do you follow?” and have fought/witnessed soo many IDE wars. 😉
So if you ask me what my favorite is, For Java I mainly use IntelliJ IDEA and I simply love its refactoring, debugging and navigation support. I can go to any method/class/file with just a few keystrokes. I also love its code folding and its support for Javascript and CSS.
But for PHP I should rather admit that I am still in the search of a one with all the features I need. I use Zend mostly and love its debugging and syntax support but miss code folding (For HTML) and support for Javascript and CSS.
Recently I came across Aptana and it looks really promising. It has built-in support for both Javascript and HTML/CSS. If they could add support for PHP (which they say is coming soon) I am sold.
So guys, tell me “What IDE you use?” and what is your favorite feature?
Posted in Web Programming
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Tagged Aptana, IDE, PHP, Zend
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Published
Jul 30, 2006
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In WordPress
Both Simple Tags and Bunny Technorati Tags are nothing but WordPress Plugins, in case if you are wondering what the hell I am taking about. 😉
Both the above plug-ins lets you to insert Technorati tags in your blog posts. I have been using Simple Tags for quite some time but was not happy with its working. It stores the technorati tags with the blog post itself inside [tags][/tags] tags and they can be displayed only at the end of the posts. I found this very limiting because it was not suiting my recent design change. I wanted to display these technorati tags on a separate box on top of every post, but with Simple Tags this will not be possible.
So I searched for other plug-ins and found that Bunny Technorati Tags suits my needs. But then I have to remove the [tags][/tags] from every posts and include them inside a custom field.
Instead of doing it manually I wrote a PHP script to make the necessary changes to the table. If any one of you is also planning to do the same migration then you can grab the script and save some hours of copy pasting.
Now, after the migration I am able to place the technorati tags in the correct place where I wanted it to be displayed.
Posted in WordPress
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Tagged BunnysTechnoratiTags, Tags, WordPress
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Published
Jul 26, 2006
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In Random/Personal, Web Programming
From the day I started programming, I have been on different camps on the battle between strongly typed and weekly typed languages at different times.
For close to 2 years I was working on a java project and at that time I used to wonder why it was designed to be so strongly typed. I have to declare each and every variable, initialize them, cast them properly if I am converting their data type etc and at times I used to get frustrated at the type of errors the complier throws at me every time I try to compile them. I wished I could tell the complier to stop guessing what I was trying to do and that I am smarter than it.
But now I understand their importance. I have recently started working on an ASP project (yes it is not migrated to ASP.NET yet!) and in last week I spent around half a day trying to figure out what was wrong in my code. All I got was just a simple ‘type mismatch’ error. The same lines of code were working perfectly in another page but not on this particular page. It was just an assignment statement which was calling a method and was assigning the return value to a variable.
After hours of debugging (with lot of head banging’s and nail bytes) I found out that I have forgotten to include the file in which that method was declared. If it had been my Java dear then it wouldn’t have thrown the apt ‘Method not found’ error the very first time I complied it. And I would have saved some a couple of hours of my time (and also my head and nails) 😉
Ohh my dear Java, I miss you very much dear..
Posted in Random/Personal, Web Programming
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Tagged ASP, Java, programming
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Published
Jul 15, 2006
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In Certifications
I just received the Welcome Kit for the SCJP which I completed last month. Similar to the Microsoft welcome kits, it contained the signed certificate, welcome letter and also the wallet card.
My request for the SCJP logo was also approved and I have downloaded it. But it is in eps format. I have to convert it into either gif of jpg format and will upload it in my certification page once it is done.
Can any one suggest me a tool which would convert files from eps format to either gif or jpg?
Update (Jan 13 2007) : Finally I converted the logo file from eps format to gif format using Photoshop and updated my certification page.
Posted in Certifications
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Tagged eps, Logo, SCJP, WelcomeKit
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Published
Jul 9, 2006
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In WordPress
I am currently trying out a fully homegrown theme for my blog together will lot of custom PHP code for extending WordPress.
So during this period some pages may appear funny or broken. Kindly bear with me and do let me know how you feel about the new design.
I am planning to release this theme for public download. But before that I need to do lot of optimization and give the final touch. So guys stay tuned.
Posted in WordPress
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Tagged redesign, Theme, WordPress
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Published
Jul 3, 2006
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In Google/Yahoo
When I wrote about the making of Microsoft Office Killer, I was not able to list a competitive web based program for Visio. But now Microsoft is going to face threat even for Visio in the form of Gliffy.
Gliffy is a web based diagramming solution, similar to Visio on desktop. I was little skeptical when I first heard about it. But my opinion got changed on the very first look itself. It is pretty fast and very simple to use and has a ton of build in shapes and figures.
I was particularly amazed with its speed and it made me to wonder how it was implemented, particularly because none of the usual buzzwords like AJAX, Web 2.0 etc. were present. This is the problem being a web developer. You always look at a website from a developer perspective and never get to look at it from a user perspective. Within a couple of moments I found out that it was entirely designed with Flash OpenLaszlo. (Chirs, Co-Founder of Gliffy clarified that it was built using OpenLaszlo)
Well this may spark new discussion AJAX vs Flash but one thing is sure the guys behind Gliffy have really done lot of hard work and have done a wonderful job.
Here is the review about Gliffy from Lifehacker
Another great thing about Gliffy is that it keeps records of all your revisions, which makes collaboration a breeze – just add and remove collaborators who can access your document, and Gliffy takes care of the rest.
As with most web-based applications (so far), you may not want to move all of your projects online if you create diagrams a lot, but if you need to slap together a diagram every now and then but don’t want to pay the Microsoft premium for Visio, Gliffy looks like a solid choice
As clearly noted by them it may not (or may) fully replace Visio but Gliffy can be really handy when you have to just deal with a small diagram and you are left with just a browser and an internet connection. 😉
Posted in Google/Yahoo
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Tagged Collaboration, Killer, Office, Visio
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Published
Jun 15, 2006
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In Certifications
Finally I cleared my SCJP exam after a year of procrastination.
I decided to do SCJP almost a year back and planned to take up the exam for more than two times but thanks to my laziness I kept postponing it until last Tuesday.
I will try to scan the report card and post it here if I connect my scanner to my system again 🙂
Posted in Certifications
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Tagged Certification, SCJP
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Published
Jun 13, 2006
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In Google/Yahoo
As I promised earlier, here is the result of my comparison of various online spreadsheet services. I compared the services based on the following criteria.
- Basic Requirements
- Interpretability
- Usability
- Functionality
- Sharing and collaboration
Do let me know if I have overlooked something and also your comments and suggestions and I will try to keep this list updated. Also let me know if want me to add some more services to the list.
| Features |
Google |
Zoho |
iRows |
NumSum |
EditGrid |
| Basic |
|
|
|
|
|
| Browser Support |
IE 6, FireFox 1.07 |
IE 6, FireFox 1.0, Mozilla 1.4 |
IE 6, Firefox 1.5, Opera 9 |
IE 6, Firefox 1.5 |
IE 6.0, Firefox 1.0, Epiphany, 1.8.5, Galeon 2.0 |
| Stable or beta |
Private beta |
public beta |
Out of beta |
Public beta |
Public beta |
| Regsitration |
Needed |
Not needed |
Needed |
Needed |
Needed |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Interoperability |
|
|
|
|
|
| Import Excel (*.xls) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Import CSV (*.csv) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Import OpenDocument spreadsheet (.ods) |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Experimental |
| Import OpenOffice.org Calc (.sxc) |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Import Lotus 1-2-3 (.123) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Import TeX (.tex) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Export Excel (*.xls) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Export CSV (*.csv) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Export OpenDocument spreadsheet (.ods) |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Export OpenOffice.org Calc (.sxc) |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Export Lotus 1-2-3 (.123) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Export TeX (.tex) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Export HTML |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Export to PDF |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Print Preview |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Max size of imported file |
400 KB |
No particular limit |
500 KB |
500 KB |
Not available on site |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Usability |
|
|
|
|
|
| Key board navigation |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Right Click menu |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| No of sheets open (by default) |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Undo/Redo |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Cut, copy and paste |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Line Wrap |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Resize Row |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Resize Column |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Bold, italic, underline, colors etc., |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Align Horizontal and vertical |
Yes |
Only Horizontal |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Insert rows and cols |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Delete rows and cols |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Delete Selection |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Functionality |
|
|
|
|
|
| Search |
No |
Search Files based on tag |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Add Images |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Fill Series |
No |
To be impemented soon |
Yes (but Only copy) |
No |
No |
| Functions |
around 200 |
Yes |
around 50 |
Yes |
around 500 |
| Format Numbers |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Format Currencies |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Header rows and cols |
Only Rows |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Hide rows and cols |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Merge Sells |
Only horizontal |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Sort |
Only entire sheet, by one column |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Charts |
Not yet |
Bar, Column, Pie, Line |
Pie, Bar, Line |
Line, Area, Bar |
No |
| Automatic Save |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Build-it Templates |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Publish on other sites |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sharing and Collaboration |
|
|
|
|
|
| Tagging |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Chat |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Share read access with another user |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Share write access with another user |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Share read access with public |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Share write access with public |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Password-protected read access |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Password-protected write access |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Real time collaboration |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Conflict resolution |
Last save wins |
Last save wins |
Not applicable |
Last save Wins |
Last save wins |
Links to the above sevices
PS: I composed this list in Excel and then imported it to ZohoSheet and then generated the HTML page and then hand coded and cleaned it.
Posted in Google/Yahoo
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Tagged Google, iRows, NumSum, Online, Spreadsheet, Zohosheet
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