Lifelog

Deze post gaat over een leuk dilemma in het ontwikkelen van projecten, meer bepaald het schrijven van code. Iedereen die al eens geprogrammeerd heeft aan een groter project (neen ik heb het niet over de myspace pagina van jouw neefje’s reggae band) kent het dilemma “goeie code” vs “snelle code”. Bij elk groter project komt er een bepaald moment waar je moet kiezen : de snelle (& dirty) oplossing of tijd investeren in de perfecte code ? Er zijn zeer weinig projecten waar de duurzame oplossing, maar vaak komt het hierop neer “if it works, it works”, niets is minder waar.

Elke die-hard developer weet dat de wereld beter zou worden van “goeie code”. Applicaties (in mijn geval web applicaties) zouden niet alleen doen wat ze horen te doen, ze zouden ook nog eens sneller zijn ! Het project process zou vlotter verlopen, en het eindresultaat zou voldoen aan alle eisen vooropgesteld in de analyse, right ? Spijtig genoeg is de realiteit anders.

Het eindresultaat is niet altijd afhankelijk van tijd/resources, er zijn ook andere factoren.

Ik heb in het verleden al aan tal van internet applicaties gewerkt, en altijd had ik de beste intenties voor de realisatie van het project. Altijd ! Beginnend met de analyse, alle actoren en processen zo goed mogelijk in kaart brengen en begrijpen hoe al die zaken uiteindelijk moeten samenwerken. Het resultaat was (meestal) duidelijke en gedocumenteerde code die gestructureerd, onderhoudbaar, leesbaar en uitbereidbaar was…tenminste toch tot de klant zich besloot te “moeien”

Indien je al aan grotere projecten gewerkt hebt ken je zeker deze regel : “klanten weten nooit wat ze willen”. Zelfs als ze beweren van wel. Na het tonen van de eerste demo zijn ze verbaast en enthousiast zodat ze onmiddelijk idee’en beginnen te opperen om de applicatie “nog beter” en “nog cooler” te maken. Nu dit is niet echt een probleem zolang je de klant onder controle hebt (analyse document, project specificaties), maar dit niet het geval is : “let the bad code in” !

Op 90% van de reeds gerealiseerde projecten kwam er een moment waarop we keuzes moesten maken. Mogelijk kan er uit de eerste demo maar één voorstel van functionaliteit komen wat de klant geintegreerd wil zien. De kans is groot dat net deze functionaliteit zal botsen met alles wat je daarvoor al hebt geschreven. Daarom is het extreem moeilijk om “goeie code” te behouden. Het vereist oefening, ervaring en skill om dingen te schrijven die flexibel genoeg zijn om te voorzien aan de toenemende eisen van de klant.

Das nog eens een belgisch export produkt !

P.S. naar mijn mening zou Moby beter van de percussie afblijven !

Op dit moment heeft wel elk IT bedrijfje een IVR, je kan zo snel met asterisk (of andere voip software) een telefooncentrale opzetten, en mensen die teweinig tijd (en geld teveel) hebben kunnen altijd eens bij belgacom aankloppen.

Ik had zonet iemand nodig van domeincentrale

Welcom bij Xhost group,
bent u klant van …. druk 1
bent u klant van domeincentrale….druk 2
bent u kla….
ik : 2

welkom bij domeincentrale
voor verkoop druk 1
voor technische support druk 2
ik 2–>tuut tuut, call ended…

Ok opnieuw :

Welcom bij Xhost group,
bent u klant van …. druk 1
bent u klant van domeincentrale….druk 2
bent u kla….
ik : 2

welkom bij domeincentrale
voor verkoop druk 1
voor technische support druk 2
ik 1

Welcom bij Xhost group,
bent u klant van …. druk 1
bent u klant van domeincentrale….druk 2
bent u kla….
ik : 2

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!

From this morning pidgin wasn’t able to connect to the microsoft servers to get the contact list. A quick lookup gave me plenty of results. The fix is real easy.

First, close pidgin. Make sure it is closed by checking your system tray (or whatever that is called in gnome).
Then install msn-pecan

1

sudo apt-get install msn-pecan

Now boot up pidgin again, and change your account from MSN to WLM. Now reactivate your account and your buddy list should load fine.

I dediced to revive this blog.

I updated wordpress to v3.7 (coltrane) and updated the plugins i am using. Expect to see some posts here soon.

I am proud to announce we launched our new website. On this website you’ll find a detailed portfolio & more about us. Although there is still alot of work todo (optimise css/xhtml, w3c validation, content correction). Check out our site in english & dutch

Digital Base is looking for young skilled Belgian (dutch speaking) web developers. If you want to work in a small team on various projects (medium to large business) in a relaxed & friendly environment send your CV to me at snk00sj@digitalbase.eu Before you do that, make sure you have the following qualifications :

• under 30 years/old
• native or perfect dutch speaking
• decent knowledge of english
• good social skills
• excellent PHP knowledge
• good OOP knowledge
• close/around Leuven (office @ leuven)
• basic knowledge of version management systems (cvs, svn)
• basic unix knowledge

Make sure to mention your references and/or degrees.

Talk to you soon

We (@ DigitalBase) are using WindowsXp clients connected to a Samba Domain Controller (samba 3.X).
Due to the fast expansion & new workstations, i figured we could use something for “automatic software rollout”. At my previous assignment they were using a Windows SMS Server to rollout hotfixes, patches, software etc…This solution turned out really valueable & trustworthy. Software updates as well as new installs were faster/easier then i imagined, what eventually would free up some time on other “fronts”.

As we are using an open-source variant & no m$ domain controller this was not an option. The current set-up already forced windows clients to run a logon script. But untill now i never used that to maintain/administer systems. After looking around (tnx google ), i bumped onto an “open-source” solution that goes by the name of WPKG.

WPKG is an automated software deployment, upgrade and removal program for Windows.

It can be used to push/pull software packages, such as Service Packs, hotfixes, or program installations from a central server (for example, Samba or Active Directory) to a number of workstations.

It can run as a service to install software in the background, without user interaction.
It can install MSI, InstallShield, PackagefortheWeb etc. packages, and all other packages using repackaging or some batch scripting.

Source WPKG website.

Apparently this piece of (great) sofware, does not require a server side installation. The only requirements are a shared network resource & the installation of the WPKG client service (on the client machines). During installation you need to enter the location of 4 different scripts (3 configuration variables & engine .js script). As there was an existing netlogon samba share, i placed the all files in that share & pointed the installer to those files. After that you’ll need to set-up some user(s) & permission(s). I would advise to create a new samba user to access those scripts, this way you don’t need to update the cached password each X days (if samba password changes). I added that user as local administrator on the 4 Client’s & made sure the WPKG service was up & running.

Consider this post part1, i’ll post how i succeeded installing software on the clients the same hour (i am tired now).

Tired of navigating through different subfolders to reach that specific directory you were looking for ? Saving an image from the web to a certain directory takes you over 1 minute ? Stop looking for the same folders over & over again, let me introduce Dirkey.

Dirkey is a small utility that enables you to define bookmarks for folders and go back to these bookmarked folders from within File Open/Save dialogs and Windows Explorer. You can set and go to these bookmarks using your keyboard or your mouse. When Dirkey is active you can press Ctrl+Alt+0..9 in e.g. an Open/Save File dialog and a bookmark will be set on the current folder. You can go to any bookmarked folder by using Ctrl+0..9 in the same or another supported window. All bookmarks are global and are preserved when you turn your computer off. You can also open bookmarked folders in a new Explorer window.

Source : Dirkey Homepage

Plain simple, it rocks. I feel my life has gotten simpler. P.S. For xPlorer users, there is an xplorer plugin on the dirkey plugin page.

Some weeks ago i got some new monitors for my employers (2x Samsung Syncmaster 226 Bw). After checking out some monitor specifications i was fully convinced that these 22′ monitors were the best available monitors (price/quality), the Samsung 226BW has a response time of 2ms and a contrast ratio of 3000:1. After wortking with these monitors for 2 weeks, i was convinced of Samsung, an upcoming power in hardware parts.

So after the nice “Ricoh incident“, i needed a new printer. Again checking review websites as well as pricewatch listings, i didn’t find a suitable printer that would offer me the functions i need. This is what i had on the requirements list :

• Laser color printer
• Less then 800€
• Scanning capabilities
• Scanning capabilities
• Fax

When calling around & checking some various shops, one of those shops told me he had a brand new Samsung CLX-3160FN in stock (the last one), it’s a new Laser printer (all in one) solution that wasn’t even listed on the belgian Samsung website. (so i guess it was really new). I went to pick it up, although i noticed the specifications noted the CLX-3160FN printer could only print about 4pages per minute (in color), at the same time it had many other functions to compensate for the slow color printing (black&white has 16ppm). I was pleasantly surprised the printer had the retail price of 500€, what was less then i paid for the Ricoh machine 2 years ago.

Coming back @ our office, i immediately unpacked it. The CLX-3160FN comes with very good & brief instructions. You could call it a ‘fool-proof’ installation procedure. The printer picked up an ip adress from the DHCP server, allowing us to connect to it after about 10 seconds. After installing the drivers i noted the menu’s & applications were very clear & user friendly. I got a 10minute “godmode’ feeling when playing around with various features like : scan to email, scan to application, multi scan, fax from computer, fax to email etc…

I’ll write about some of these features later, it all comes down to my main point : “Samsung & CLX-3160FN rock ! ”