Get A Virtual Machine
I use VMware at home. The benefits are huge. I have a virtual machine that acts as a file server, which I mirror to another server on my network. I also backup files to an external storgae device.
The biggest change for me is that my fully configured virtual machines are throw away appliances. I find this especially useful for the instance of Windows that I run. I have a snapshot of the VM in perfect working order. If I get a virus, or my registry becomes corrupt, I just roll back to the previous state. Since I do not use this instance to store files, I can do this with impunity.
I especially like being able to set up a web application with a separate database server and a separate apache instance to handle images. VMWARE let’s me plan how I am going to scale an application.
However, I still have a small problem. I still have to configure my VMs myself and install the software I need. You can solve this problem by downloading a preconfigured VM that can be used right out of the box. VMware provides some of these that can be downloaded out of the box, which is fine if you use VMware.
A Canadian company provides useful Virtual Appliances in multiple flavours. For example, you can download a server that runs an installed instance of PostgresSQL that runs under VMWARE, XEN or Microsoft Virtual PC. The copany is called Virtual Appliances, and their head office is in Uxbridge, Ontario. Their VMware appliances are certified by VMware, which means that they comply with best practice, they provide a safe computing environment and they have complete documentation. Give them a try. I found the TomCat VM very useful.
SMART Database Prototype
Now that I have been think about so-called smart data, I need to build some sort of a prototype to demonstrate some of my ideas. I have built something to start with DB4O, but I ran out of heap space when I created a file with too many entries. I can increase the heap space that is allocated by the JVM, but that does not seem like a happy solution. Therefore, I am going to look at some of the alternatives.
One alternative in the Berkeley DB, formerly owned by Sleepycat. It has been bought by Oracle. One of the feautures it is missing is support for flexible ad hoc queries. However, I will try to change my way of thinking. This will be my first attempt.
Object repositories are special not because they compete with an RDBMS, but because they store objects. Objects have behavior – they can even be smart. When we store files, we make a mistake. Storing a poem as a PDF requires a reader of the poem to use a PDF viewer. I would like to store a poem as a poem, and I would like the storage object to know how to serve the poem in a number of formats. I would like my poem to be able to find books about its author on the net – basically, I would like to build a smart data object.
I’ll see how things go with the Berkeley DB, Java Edition, and I will let you know.
Cool Google & Firefox Features
I have recently been working for a client that mandates the exclusive use of Internet Explorer. What makes it worse for me is that my desktop runs Windows 2000, which does not permit the use of IE 7. Sure, I missed tabbed browsing, but I missed some other features that surprised me. I especially missed the way Firefox and Google work together.
For example, let’s imagine that I am reading an article at Wired magazine that mentions something called a “Flickr account”. If I am unfamiliar with the term, I can highlight the term and right click my mouse. A menu pops up that gives me the option of running a Google search in another tab to help me understand the term before I continue. Isn’t that useful?You will also notice that the popup is aware of some of the Firefox plugins I have installed. I find this useful, too. Also, the popup is aware of the fact that I have used the Google notebook, and it gives me the option of making a note about Flickr and storing it using my Google Account.
At lunch, I sometimes make a blog entry, but I seem to have problems thinking and spelling at the same time. Firefox comes with a spell checker that runs in my browser as I type – it also feeds me some possible corrections if I spell something wrong. Firefox also allows me to save new words in a dictionary for later use. That is useful, too.
I know that IE 7 supports tabbed browsing, and I am sure that it has cool features I know nothing about. But, I am already happy with Firefox. I will get around to checking those new features out some day soon because I am prone to curiosity, but so many people are not.
I recently read an article that quotes Steve Balmer, of Microsoft, saying that his kids have been trained not to use Google, and not to use iPods. How cruel. How sad. And, how narrow. Still, they do not called them the browser wars for nothing. Microsoft intends to take no prisoners.