Rajneesh's Logbook

Fall Colors!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:42:00 +0000

What Does It Take to Get a Job at Google?

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:11:00 +0000

via jobvine

Intel’s Parallel Extensions for JavaScript

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:10:00 +0000

Intel’s Parallel Extensions for JavaScript, code named River Trail, hooks into on-chip vector extensions to improve performance of Web applications. Details of Intel’s attempt to get on the JavaScript juggernaut emerged last month at its developer event.

The prototype JavaScript extension offered by Intel is intended to allow JavaScript apps to take advantage of modern parallel chip capabilities. Sequential gives way to parallel, at least in theory.

In-browser games and image editing are pitched as examples of application elements that would take advantage of new eight-core processors, blogs Intel’s Stephan Herhut.The software is said to ”play nicely” with the WebGL JavaScript API to OpenGL for 3D visualization in the browser. Intel has a beta Firefox extension for interested developers. Says Herhut:

You can download a prebuilt version for Windows and 64 Bit MacOS [from github] or build it yourself. For the latter, we have written a README that explains the process. Once you have the extension installed, take a look at our demos to see what is possible.

Why should the browser be a second fiddle to the operating system? As browsers, JavaScript, and HTML5 gain more influence, top-tier chip makers will start to adapt their libraries to Web application demands. More, including material on API design or the beginnings of API documentation, is on a RiverTrail wiki.

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Hackers break SSL encryption used by millions of sites

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Researchers have discovered a serious weakness in virtually all websites protected by the secure sockets layer protocol that allows attackers to silently decrypt data that's passing between a webserver and an end-user browser.

The vulnerability resides in versions 1.0 and earlier of TLS, or transport layer security, the successor to the secure sockets layer technology that serves as the internet's foundation of trust. Although versions 1.1 and 1.2 of TLS aren't susceptible, they remain almost entirely unsupported in browsers and websites alike, making encrypted transactions on PayPal, GMail, and just about every other website vulnerable to eavesdropping by hackers who are able to control the connection between the end user and the website he's visiting.

At the Ekoparty security conference in Buenos Aires later this week, researchers Thai Duong and Juliano Rizzo plan to demonstrate proof-of-concept code called BEAST, which is short for Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS. The stealthy piece of JavaScript works with a network sniffer to decrypt encrypted cookies a targeted website uses to grant access to restricted user accounts. The exploit works even against sites that use HSTS, or HTTP Strict Transport Security, which prevents certain pages from loading unless they're protected by SSL.

The demo will decrypt an authentication cookie used to access a PayPal account, Duong said.

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Highly Useful HTML5 Reference

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:54:00 +0000

Highly useful HTML5 Reference

[Click to see the original]

Microsoft download from The Garage: Mouse without Borders - Next at Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:42:00 +0000

Microsoft download from The Garage: Mouse without Borders - Next at Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs: Mouse Without Borders is a project I’ve been familiar with for the last 6 months or so and it’s a wonderfully useful tool. In a nutshell, it allows you to reach across your PC's as if they were part of one single desktop. I have two PCs on my desk at work connected to 3 LCD screens and using Mouse Without Borders I can move my mouse between the 3 screens, even though one of them is attached to a different PC from the other two. What’s more, I can move files between the 2 computers simply by dragging them from one desktop to another. In fact you can control up to four computers from a single mouse and keyboard with no extra hardware needed – it’s all software magic, developed by Truong Do who by day is a developed for Microsoft Dynamics. The software is easy to setup and in addition to enabling drag and drop of files, you can lock or log in to all PCs from one PC, and as a whimsical bonus is it allows you to customize your Windows logo screen with the daily image from Bing or a local collection of pictures :) I regularly use it to have one PC dedicated to social media streams while I work away on my other PC connected to two screens.

The video above both explains and shows Mouse Without Borders far better than I can using words. The project is testament to the power of The Garage which helped Truong develop the user interface and setup the usability tests that have helped the tool become very accessible and easy to use. As well as that, The Garage and its regular Science Fairs inside Microsoft helped expose the project to 9,000 people before it was ready for external release. Now that day has arrived and I’m delighted to announce here on Next at Microsoft that Mouse Without Borders is ready for download.

InfoQ: Limiting Work in Progress and Scrum

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:06:00 +0000

InfoQ: Limiting Work in Progress and Scrum: Limiting Work In Progress works in the same way that Scrum does. You see Scrum doesn't really solve any problems for you and neither does limiting Work In Progress, it just exposes the problem for what it really is which makes it easier to solve. If it's a business area problem, then it's easy to show and prove to the business making the solution easier. If it's a tendency of the team to juggle the entire sprint backlog, then bring in a WIP limit and measuring over a couple sprints might be enough to prove to them the virtues of this new idea.
If your Scrum team can't solve a problem on it's own, then they come to you (the Scrum Master). It's your job to hunt down whoever can unblock the team as quickly as possible and solve that problem. What will your developers do while you're on your manhunt? Partnering up on a single programming task would work great, maybe having a WIP limit of 8 for a team of 7 or a WIP limit of two for each single developer. Use your sprints to experiment here if it seems like something you want to implement.
Just remember to wear comfortable shoes since you'll be walking a bit more than normal for at least a little while.

www.TheServerSide.com accounts hacked?

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:48:00 +0000

I just received an email from TechTarget, informing me of the 'recent' breach with user accounts of www.TheServerSide.com and www.TheServerSide.net. The breach reportedly occurred on Jun 3, 2011.
It has further said 'only' email-ids and passwords were accessed (it does not store any CC or SSN info)!
Seems like this is the season of hacks - Gawker, Playstation Network (PSN) and various other Sony sites, Toyota...who is next in queue of getting hacked?

PS: I have not accessed my account on theserverside.com for a long time now. Let me see if I can access it. Looks like they have updated the passwords. Sending a request for password reminder. Waiting to hear from them now...

Tweets as a Newspaper!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:17:00 +0000

I came across paper.li few days back, courtesy @ideafactory and was immediately hooked to it. paper.li 'creates' a newspaper out of the timeline on your Twitter account. Here is a snapshot of my 'newspaper'.

As you may notice, there are some white spaces around. But overall, it is a nice template and gives a good feeling to overall content. There has been an effort to make different sections based on the hash-tags (my assumption). Videos and Photos different sections.
You can generate newspapers for any tags or you can generate newspapers out of Twitter lists. I have created Bollywood Newsline from one of such list.

Rajneesh Garg's Daily
Bollywood Newsline
The Tech Front
The India Daily
The Photography Daily

Book Review - HTML5: Up and Running

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:16:00 +0000

If you don't know about the new features available in HTML5, now's the time to find out.

Good introduction to core features of HTML5

Book starts with the history of HTML and then describes the details of the HTML5 specification for some of the more prominent features, and how you can use the new features to improve your website/webapps; New elements are introduced one by one - tags, canvas, video, geo-location, storage, offline web apps, new form features and microdata. Author Mark Pilgrim also introduces a nifty JavaScript library, Modernizr, used to check the HTML5 capabilities of the requesting browser (None of the mainstream browsers supports all features of HTML5, though all support some/many aspects of it). Most of the stuff in the book can be read independently, so, you can skip topics and then can always come back. A web version of this book is available at DiveIntoHTML5.org website maintained by the author and you can browse and explore it at the same time. The linked website is full of interesting illustrations. Both book and website compliments each other. Whether you buy the book or read it online, it’s the best introduction to the topic you’ll find.

The book is a good start for someone getting into HTML as well for someone who wants to increase his knowledge base. If you are looking for a book to learn about core features of HTML5, this book might be of your interest.

Disclosure: I’m writing this post as part of O’Reilly’s blogger review program. While I’m not getting paid to review books, I sure am getting to read them for free.

HTML5: Up and Running by Mark Pilgrim

Book Review - Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:46:00 +0000

The idea behind the concept of Web Apps is quite simple and interesting - to allow to create apps without bothering to learn the mobile platform specific SDKs (iOS or Android usually).

A mobile platform provides two ways to access applications - native apps and web apps. A native app can get at the special hardware in Android/iOS, uses the SDK and it can be sold in the app store. A web app, on the other hand, can't use the hardware, can't be sold in the app store but it is much easier to create.

The main focus of this book is to customize your website/apps to look good on an Android powered device. So, basically, you create the customized versions of the applications/websites for mobile from your knowledge of basic page creation technologies i.e. HTML, CSS and Javascript.

This book also shows the use of these along with jQuery and WebKit browser. There is an intrdouction to HTML5 (Local Storage and WebSQL database). 2 chapters are devoted to understanding and working with PhoneGap frmaework. You would enjoy working with PhoneGAp for using the accelerometer, making the phone buzz and using geolocation options.

If you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you already have the tools you need to develop Web Apps. There is a basic introduction to HTML, CSS and Javascript in book. However, this book would benefit those with a good working knowledge of these web technologies. If you are not comfortable at these, you may find yourself a handicap for creating web apps.

Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript By Jonathan Stark

Disclosure: I’m writing this post as part of O’Reilly’s blogger review program. While I’m not getting paid to review books, I sure am getting to read them for free.

Improving the usability of CodeIgniter applications using jQuery and other articles

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 01:57:00 +0000

Discover how easy it is to improve the usability of your CodeIgniter applications using jQuery. By leveraging the power of CodeIgniter's MVC-based framework and jQuery's support for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) interaction, learn how to quickly and efficiently create more effective UIs.
This article explains how to create and implement a custom filter that can guard against the various types of cross-site scripting attacks.
The 3 laws of error handling (and everything in life)
Has JDBC Kept up with Enterprise Requirements?
With Selenium, Java developers can develop integration tests, export those tests as JUnit tests, and automate test execution.

Some good reading stuff and tools for the week

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:17:00 +0000

Eloquent JavaScript - Aimed at the beginner JavaScript programmer, it is a digital book providing a comprehensive introduction to the JavaScript programming language. Apart from a bookful of text, it contains plenty of example programs, and an environment to try them out and play with them.
The Beginner's 10-Minute Guide to Setting Up Ubuntu
How to Make Ajax Applications Google-Crawlable
Do Developers Make Good Testers?
Microsoft FixIt Center beta fixes Windows 7 and Vista errors automatically
The Great Car Debate: New, Used or Leased?
A foreigner’s guide to traditional Indian dining etiquette

Good Reading Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:26:00 +0000

Beautiful interactive overview of HTML5. Love HTML5 Games? Get Here.
Checked exceptions are a good thing, learn to use them properly
Get the original URL of tiny ones
The self-repairing hard drive
Test How Your Site Looks on the iPad. Sure, you can switch the user agent, but here is a simpler and more realistic way of doing it.
Google's Innovation Factory (and how testing adapts)
Selenium VS WatiJ

Any views on Smart City project by Amrapali?

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:48:00 +0000

I am exploring the possibility of purchasing an apartment in or around Delhi. One of my friend has pointed me to Amrapali Group's Smart City project. This project is located in Noida.
While doing my research on Amrapali Group, I could not find anything good or bad about the Group or the projects they have undertaken in the past.
If you have any information to share, plz do so in the comments.

P.S. - The apartment I am considering is 3 BR and is not for investment purpose.

The Best Jobs in America

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:51:00 +0000

Best Jobs in America

Anatomy of an open source cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:58:00 +0000

M. Tim Jones at developerWorks has written an articles on the building blocks for infrastructure as a service.

The use of the cloud as an abstraction is quite common for the distributed system that is the Internet, but the past few years have seen this abstraction expanded to incorporate highly virtualized and scalable infrastructures that are easily provisioned as a service (either locally or remotely). This article forgoes an in-depth definition of cloud architecture and its benefits.

The article begins with an exploration of the cloud architectures and then moves beyond the building blocks to the more highly integrated solutions.

Link: Anatomy of an open source cloud

Windows Easter Egg: Administration and Configuration Utilities

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:18:00 +0000

There is a new Easter Egg found in Windows.

Create a folder anywhere on the disk.
Name it GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

The folder changes its name and icon to this:

Double clicking this new icon will result in giving shortcut access to the configuration and administration utilities in Windows.

Easter Eggs-Software Surprises[Amazon]

Java EE 6 one-week Online Codecamp

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Javapassion.com is conducting a week long codecamp for Java EE6, starting Jan 12. The course is conducted online, and details are available here. Among other things, it covers Java EE6, GlassFish v3, JSF 2.0, EJB 3.1 and Servlet 3.0. The course sessions are scheduled between Jan 12 and Jan 20. If you finish and submit all the homeworks, you receive a certificate.

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Rich Internet applications using ZK

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:15:00 +0000

ZK, an open source Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) framework written in Java™ code, lets you write a Web 2.0-enabled, rich Internet application without writing a single line of JavaScript code. Typical Ajax frameworks like Dojo have JavaScript libraries that expose certain API's for making "Ajaxified" calls. ZK, on the other hand, uses a meta-definition based on XML to define the user interface. Translation to HTML code then occurs when this page is requested by the client. This article introduces you to ZK and gives you a real-world example of its use running on Apache Tomcat and connecting to a MySQL database.

developerWorks

Is Your eBook Reader Spying On You?

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:10:00 +0000

If you don't want other people to know what you read, you probably shouldn't own an ereader.

via

'Twas The Night Before Prod Release

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:08:00 +0000

'Twas the night before prod release, when all through the build,
Not a unit test was failing, the developers were thrilled;

The release notes were emailed to users with care,
In hopes that new features, soon would be there;

The BA was nestled all snug in her chair,
With visions of magnitude ready to share;

And I on my QA box, trying not to be stressed,
Had just settled down for a last minute’s test;

When during my test there arose such a clatter,
I opened the error log to see what was the matter;

And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But an unhandled fault, with its wording unclear;

When I showed it to dev, and he gave me a shrug,
I knew in a moment it must be a bug;

More rapid than eagles, dev’s cursing it came,
And he shouted at testers, and called us by name;

“Now, Jacobson! Now, Zacek! Now, Whiteside and Surapaneni!
On, Cagle! On, Addepalli, on Chang and Damidi!

Stop finding bugs in my web service call!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

And then, in a twinkling, I heard from the hall,
The tester who showed me, scripts can’t test it all;

As I rejected the build, and was turning around,
Into my cube, James Bach came with a bound;

He was dressed really plain, in a baseball-like cap,
And he patted my back for exploring my app;

He had a big white board and a little round belly,
That shook when he diagrammed like a bowlful of jelly;

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And he laughed when he saw RST on my shelf;

Then he spoke about testing, going straight to his work,
And attempted traspection, though he seemed like a jerk;

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dice games, how merry!
He questioned and quizzed me and that part was scary!

He told me of lessons he taught at STARWEST,
Made an SBT charter and then told me to test;

Then I heard him exclaim, ere he walked out of sight
“Happy testing to all! ...just remember I’m right!”

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Gift for Boss - Dilbert Style!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta is Available Now

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta is available for download now. Download it and activate it using the key provided on the download page.

Download it here.

An overview of the product is available at Amit Agarwal's Digital Inspiration.

Ship it!Ship it! A Practical Guide to Successful Software Projects

Word Verification for Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Rajneesh Garg) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Hi,

I had to enable the word verification on the comments today. It follows a stream of spam comments on some of the posts. I hope this extra step wont deter the readers leaving their comments.