Antonio Borges has asubtlemind

Classes

2006-01-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

This is for my records. I am lazy and don't feel like creating a website with my classes. Enterprise IT Integration http://www.albany.edu/~jh7545/MGMT4130/syllabus.html WebCT http://webct.rpi.edu - Enterprise Java - Capstone

I beat the sensor detector

2005-12-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

I work on a floor in which there is a bathroom with a motion sensor that detects when someone enters the room and the lights turn on. Sometimes I make it almost halfway to the urinal before the light goes on. Well to make a long story short, the other day I beat the sensor. I ran to the urinal and stood there awaiting the light to catch up with my speediness. It never came. This was the 6th floor and not the 4th. The interface on the 4th floor was a motion detector but on this floor it was a light switch. I beat the light switch - it didn't even know I was competing. You have to love it!

XML in a nutshell - C2

2005-12-20T19:10:00.000-08:00

So for the past couple of years XML has really taken off. So, just to make sure that I could have a good understanding of this I started reading XML in a nutshell. Chapter 2 is a simple Introduction. The chapter was easy to read and just gave some hint at what could be talked about in the future. Chapter 3 is on DTDs or Document Type Definitions.

Technical Interview Questions thanks to my friends in New York.

2005-12-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

The following are two interview questions given to me by a recruiter during an interview. Unfortunately I was unable to solve the problems at the time but now find one of the solutions very simple ... tell me which one you think is simpler. Do not post the answer. You can email me and I'll tell you if you are correct. Question 1. You have a certain amount of balls. However you 3 kids and cannot distribute the number of balls evenly to all the kids but you wish you could. Thanks to the miracle of this question maker, you have a special pond. In this pond, you can double the amount of balls that you put in and you have to put in all the balls that you have in your possession into the pond. Before giving each kid their respective share of balls you will take all the balls in your possession and put them into the pond. After giving the third, and last kid, their balls you will not have any left in your possession. I hope you can understand this. Otherwise I will draw a diagram for you if you email me. The answer is not that everyone gets 0 balls. Question 2. You have 8 balls. You have a scale. One of the balls is either heavier or lighter. You have a scale. What is the minimum amount of weighing it takes to find the ball that is out of place? Remember, a scale will be lopsided towards the side of the heavier ball. Which one was harder? Do you have any other questions like this to share with me?

Using Blogs as a repository of information

2005-11-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

I deal with some organizations on my campus. I have been advising them to use blogs to record and advertise information. Blogger does a great job at letting you add old posts which is great for this kind of usage. You can start your blog with historical data, boost your rank in google, and then continue to use it for current data which will become historical. It's a form of blogging for organizations and I find that its great. Woot.com, the sell one product a day store, has something similar to this and got me real interested in the idea.

Static Variables: What are they?

2005-11-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

Static variables are owned by the Object and not by an Instance of the object. So, you do not have to create an object to use one of those methods or variables. If it is final and static then it cannot be changed either so it is like a global constant. http://www.faqs.org/docs/javap/c4/s2.html A static member variable belongs to the class itself, and it exists as long as the class exists. Memory is allocated for the variable when the class is first loaded by the Java interpreter. Any assignment statement that assigns a value to the variable changes the content of that memory, no matter where that assignment statement is located in the program. Any time the variable is used in an expression, the value is fetched from that same memory, no matter where the expression is located in the program. http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-04-2003/jw-0425-designpatterns.html protected ClassicSingleton() { // Exists only to defeat instantiation. } public static ClassicSingleton getInstance() { if(instance == null) { instance = new ClassicSingleton(); } return instance; } }

What does Antonio think Web 2.0 is?

2005-11-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

What is Web 2.0? Well, my understanding of what Web 2.0 is using all the different information on the web and making it work for you. For example, we have blogs, podcasts, mapping services, financial tools, and many more tools that can be used in collaboration to get useful information or create something amazing. Some of the tools you should consider Google APIs - There are many of these. Take a look at the searching API, the mapping API, and all the other tools that are available there. Yahoo APIs - Of course Yahoo has to compete with Google. Microsoft APIs - What do they have? Besides a control on the market? They have APIs as well. You might want to start with these first as you get your feet wet because more people use them and (hopefully) they are better documented.

Putting a stop to "Desktop Organization"

2005-11-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. I must admit it to you. I have a problem with file organization. This is not bad in real life because I do not have many files to manage. In the computer side, however, things get messy. I know you have this problem too! I always save EVERYTHING on my desktop. After my desktop is full, I'll create a folder and put all the icons (files) in there. Within a couple of months, I'll have folders full of random, unsorted, unfiltered files. So, one way to force myself to be more organized is to disallow me from using the Desktop. So, I hid all the icons from my desktop. -------------- Taken from: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article05-012 Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer. Double-click the NoDesktop value (if its not there, select Edit -> New -> DWORD Value, and type "NoDesktop" for its name). Enter 1 for the value, and click Ok. (Just delete the value entirely to undo this.) Click on the desktop, and press F5 to refresh the desktop so that this change will take effect. --------------- Registry Editing is dangerous so be careful to backup your registry before doing this. I take no responsibility for any of your disasters. There are some drawbacks to this and if you try them you will find out what they are.

QBIC and Image Databases

2005-10-31T17:50:00.000-08:00

In MMDB we discussed Image Databases today and talked a little about QBIC. Its an IBM-powered way of indexing photos based on color, texture, and other features. Take a look at the following website and tell me what you think: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgi-bin/db2www/qbicSearch.mac/qbic?selLang=English Honestly, its not the best thing I've ever seen but its an improvement from Google's simple searching of metadata.... or is it???

Search Engine Optimization

2005-10-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

There are ways to be lucrative with information and Search Engine Optimization is one way that companies have tried to make money off of search engines. Commercial companies wanted to be ranked high for their products and they are willing to pay. For those of you who have never thought about how it works there are some complex algorithms but they all relate to your content and how well you are connected. So, first of all... have good content. Second, have people link to you. Third, and less obvious.. have lots of content as this may help. I can't help you with good content... that's up to you. You can have people link to you by simply asking them. Ask your friends. Ask anyone. Create a custom signature for yourself that includes your web address. Every little bit helps. Everytime you link to someone you are essentially giving them a virtual vote. If you just want to link and don't want to give them a vote.... use the following

a href="http://www.blogger.com/website.com" link="nofollow">

Website.com The search engine (google... I don't know if others do the same) will not follow that website as one of the websites you are voting for. Don't pay someone to do SEO for you... it doesn't make sense....

Griffin Ear Jams

2005-10-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

While I am in the computer store, I decide to pick up the Griffin Ear Jams because they were only 8 bucks and were supposed to be comfortable. So, I snap them to my earphones and wonder how this is going to fit my (not so small....) ears. They look huge. Well, after rasslin' with them, I realize that you are supposed to jam these things into your ears. Its scary.... like a q-tip or something. Okay, a note for you none q-tip users... use them before you try this product or you'll have yellow ear jams. -I want to thank D for her editing of my blog.

IBM T30 loads with a faint screen and then there is nothing on screen

2005-10-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

So, I started my laptop (its not really mine but I like taking possession of things...) and there was a faint image showing the startup page. The first thing that came to my mind was that I was going to have to pay over $500 for a new screen or something like that. So what was wrong with it? The sleep button which is located on the top of the keyboard ... which is activated by the screen clsoing was stuck (I know... that's a run on sentence). So, if you look at the upper left or right hand of your laptop, you will notice a small opening opposite to a place where the screen has a piece sticking out. Sometimes this gets stuck and bad things happen. So you take a pen or screwdriver and pop it back and it should work well. ( I am not responsible for any damages you make to your computer)

Last technical interview of the week

2005-10-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

9:30 am - interview with another company that services financial services firms. This one was fun. From 1 - 10, it was 6 in the level of technical but it felt like the best interview that I have been on in the last few days. Top 10 Reasons why this interview was good 10. The recruiter actually smiled. 9. There was no disturbing silent time. 8. The recruiter was actually taking notes!?! 7. Hey, I wasn't worried. 6. The recruiter stopped me and corrected me if I said something wrong. 5. I met some guys in the waiting area and had a good conversation with them. 4. I learned something. 3. This is another addition to my article on technical interviews (soon to come) 2. The guy's name was Mike. 1. I knew some of the answers. 0. It gave me something to talk about in my blog. A good interview doesn't necessarily mean that I got the job or not... that really doesn't matter if you have a good interview. So, Interviewers... START giving some good interviews....

A look at the life of a technical interviewee

2005-10-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

So, I sat and waited until my name was called. "Antonio?, " said the man wearing a light blue shirt and slacks on. "Yes!" I was ready again for another interview. It was with another financial services firm and I was looking into their information technology program. To my surprise, it was a technical interview. Technical interviews are funny - they ask you about subjects that may sound familiar but aren't easily accessible to you. They usually want to see what you know but most of the time its about what you can remember. Unfortunately this time I could not remember much. However, I have been on 9 interviews in the past two weeks and I know one thing... what these people are asking about technology. I plan on taking my experiences and compiling a PDF resource for those that may want to take a look at the some of the regular questions and where they are trying to lead.... I will post that site up soon. Ciao.