Wednesday, November 28, 2007
An easy way to deploy JAR/JAD content on all phones with GPRS is to create a WML site and provide a link to the JAR file that you have. [As an aside, the whole J2ME scene is so fragmented that it sucks completely. Let’s hope Android sorts it out.]
Here’s how you go about setting up that in Lighttpd:
Add these mimetypes (to lighttpd.conf or mime-types.conf):
mimetype.assign += (
".wml" => "text/vnd.wap.wml",
".wmlc" => "application/vnd.wap.wmlc",
".wmls" => "text/vnd.wap.vmlscript",
".vmlsc" => "application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc",
".wbmp" => "image/vnd.wap.wbmp",
".jar" => "application/java-archive",
".jad" => "text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor" )
Add the index.wml file as a valid DirectoryIndex:
server.indexfiles += ("index.wml")
Make this .wml file and upload it somewhere (replace JARCLIENT with your .jar file, and JADCLIENT with your .jad file):
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD WML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml">
<wml>
<card title="Download">
<p>Download the Jar file:</p>
<p>
<a href="JARCLIENT.jar">Download</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="JADCLIENT.jad">Download (JAD)</a>
</p>
</card> </wml>
Restart your server, and that should be it! If you’re using Apache, the steps are similar.
Tags: deployment • development • j2me • jar • sysadmin • wap
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Saturday, November 24, 2007
(Edit: was a liveblog, now over!)
Hey so I’m at BarcampKerala and this is a liveblog. Random impressions:
- The hall is really cool. It’s a big open, really lighted space and the infra is also pretty nice: power, wifi, et. al.
- Sreekanth did a really great job with the goodies: every camper gets a name tag, a file with a notepad, and a coke. Good stuff!
- I gave a presentation on Gosu-N3wton. The slides are at the end.
- Hari gave a pretty interesting presentation about Bluetooth automation which generated a lot of discussion.
- We have an Airport Base Station here (courtesy Pratap) as a WiFi router. How cool is that?
- In general, I found all the talks well done. For a first time event, it was really awesome. The percentage of really techy people (the best kind) was also the same. There were fewer people, but that’s easily corrected the next time around.
- So we had more than seventy people turn up. Exact number not known because by the time we counted them, lots had left (afternoon syndrome). Including some students from the nearby UCK college who made an interesting audience. I was impressed with Dhanesh and Dev who did something with QT. Kudos!
- All my photos are on flickr!
- Amit linked to me.
Tags: barcamp • barcampkerala • gosu • n3wton
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Saturday, November 24, 2007
For BarcampKerala, I made a small 2D game in Ruby and Gosu, which is a clone of a popular flash-based game by the same name.
I call it Gosu-N3wton, and I had great fun developing this game. Go check it out! (The code is opensource)
Tags: barcamp • barcampkerala • development • game • gosu • ruby
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A lot has been said about OpenSocial and Facebook, this is an attempt to say a bit more. As usual, a free-flowing list of observations:
- Google uses Javascript as its base client-side language and extends gadgets with OpenSocial features. This I consider “good enough” but perhaps more importantly has a much lower barrier to adoption. The way a FB app is delivered (request-mapping, restricted FBML, fine-grained privilege control) feels much more professional, but at the same time a bit intimidating for newbies to the field. Libraries for almost all languages (esp. rfacebook) lower the barrier, but it’s never as simple as a .xml file which is mostly html and javascript (this is what a gadget is).
- It’s currently not clear how OpenSocial apps communicate between each other across networks and how one app maps a user profile in one network to another. Without this, it’s mostly a single API which works across multiple containers in isolation. A single API that collates multiple containers is much more interesting.
- Is there any set of UI guidelines? Is a gadget supposed to emulate the look and feel of its container or is it supposed to look the same across networks? Facebook provides extensive CSS classes and Javascript goodies (AJAX friend selector) to keep the experience uniform. I hope OpenSocial addresses this and soon.
Tags: development • facebook • opensocial • web
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Stay, says Viragor,
I want you near me.
Nay, breathes Matilda,
Tho I can’t bear to leave thee.
His hair she clasps with twists and turns,
Hers he touches softly, kissing in burns.
‘Twill be months, years yet we meet,
But fleet should be our hearts be, sweet.
And then she’s gone, an orphan left,
Between people near but dead.
Stolen moments, sweet but misery,
Slowly turned dear, restless and finicky.
Oft-shaded heart and steady work’s a blanket,
A poor salve that, uproars many a racket.
Bent, slippery, tested and hurt,
But so doth love be stronger for worth.
A true refrain then, to ease parted hearts,
His heart and hers may beat to stars:
Come, says Viragor,
Been aching to hold thee.
Love, smiles Matilda,
When have we been free?
Tags: love • poetry • writing
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Monday, November 12, 2007
Kenney had this great idea about having a BarCampKerala over here and it’s got me really excited. I’ve been to BarCamps in Delhi and one in Hyderabad, and it’s always been an amazing place to talk to good people. I’m pretty sure I’ll find loads of techies in Thiruvananthapuram to contribute and because of the event I’ve already reconnected with some great people I know. Raj from Linuxense is chipping in, and so are many others I’ve yet to meet.
It’s going to happen Nov 24, and we haven’t decided on the venue yet it’s at the UST Zenith hall (next to Coffee Beanz) at Technopark. It should be easy enough to find. Most probably it’s going to be somewhere in or near Technopark.
In case you don’t know what a BarCamp is, it’s an unconference (yes cool word) which anybody can organize and anyone can come and speak on a first-come-first-speak basis. What I love about BarCamps are the discussions on the fringes of talks and the great people that come to them.
Gimme a call (+91.9846087017) if you’re somewhere in the vicinity and want to contribute!
Other assorted stuff:
Tags: barcamp • barcampkerala
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Monday, November 12, 2007
I saw Nalu Pennungal today. Before I forget a lot of the film, here’s some random impressions:
- In the first short the way Kunzhupennu is sexy without makeup and wearing that nadan dress has to be seen to be believed. The swagger in the way she walks is uber cool. Her husband’s helpless refrain “We are husband and wife” when faced with the judge’s questions is probably one the most poignant scenes in the movie.
- The first and last segments made the most impression on me. Nandita Das is superb and the way that story ends does tickle your brain.
- Chinnu Amma and Kanyaka I found amusing, esp. the scenes where the husband swallows whole bucketfuls of rice. There’s also a scene in Kanyaka where she tries to make an overture and he dismisses her by saying it’s too hot. Her riposte then is beautiful. Chinnu Amma’s plight is again darkly humorous especially the very last scene (which I almost missed) where she as an old woman recites her story to younger ladies.
I took the shorts as they came to me and didn’t think about any connecting thread then. Looking back, one thing which is perhaps common is that all the stories are about women who did the ‘right thing’ and somehow is punished because of it. Kunzhupennu who found a husband but is still branded a prostitute, Kanyaka who married but didn’t find happiness, Chinnu Amma who sacrificed progeny for being faithful, and the eternal virgin who sacrificed for her sister and so couldn’t marry. And still that punishment isn’t so severe that they aren’t able to lead a semi-normal life or as in the case of Chinnu Amma, look back upon the incident with a bit of humor.
It’s a good movie. Not a must watch, but it does make you think.
Tags: kerala • malayalam • movies
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