Senseless techno ramblings

Automated (Hacking out) subscription to Google Alerts

2008-03-19T17:33:00.005+08:00

Recently I have been trying to write a "automated email notification" software program to subscribe to email notifications from Google Alerts. A quick look at the news groups for Google API show up that there is not API to do a subscription programatically .... time to get the hand dirty digging through the web interface :)

A quick look at the source yields the following information

action="/alerts/create?hl=en&gl=" method="POST"

This means url encoding will not work and that we will need to do a http post instead. Fortunately this is quite easy to do in C#. The next step is to figure out the parameters being passed.

Search terms name="q"
size="20" maxlength="256"

Type name="t"
value="1" News
value="4" Blogs
value="2" Web
value="7" Comprehensive
value="9" Video
value="8" Groups

Frequency name="f"
value="1" once a day
value="0" as-it-happens
value="6" once a week

Email name="e"
size="20" maxlength="256"

As such, an example of the parameters for the Search term "Google" in News as-it-happens being emailed to myemail@email.com will be as follows after URL encoding:

q=help&t=1&f=0&e=myemail%40email.com

Hard coding this will yield the following code:

public string TestGoogleAlertSubscription()
{
System.Net.WebRequest req = System.Net.WebRequest.Create(@"http://www.google.com/alerts/create");
req.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
req.Method = "POST";

byte[] bytes = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("q=help&t=1&f=0&e=myemail%40email.com");
req.ContentLength = bytes.Length;

System.IO.Stream os = req.GetRequestStream();
os.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
os.Close();

System.Net.WebResponse resp = req.GetResponse();
if (resp == null) return null;

System.IO.StreamReader sr = new System.IO.StreamReader(resp.GetResponseStream());
return sr.ReadToEnd().Trim();
}

Running this VS2005 using debug mode yields the following response showing a successful subscription.

Checking the inbox will show the verification email.

Its been a while

2008-03-19T17:29:00.002+08:00

Its been a while since I last made an entry to this blog. Too much work and other stuff going on in my life over the past 1/2 a year..... Almost forgot about this blog, until someone left a comment and I got an email notification. :P

That spurred me on to update this as perhaps its too much of a coincident that what I am working on recently is related to email notifications. :) Stay tuned for more information.....

CoScriptor

2007-09-27T09:34:00.000+08:00

Another nicely done tool from IBM......

While its concept is nothing new (think Web Marco tools like iMarco, Selenium etc), it adds in a few really nice touches.

Collaboration + Tagging => You can share and use script from others together with a standard tagging system. What really separates it is the private database that let you define/customise "variables"
Firefox integration => No need to startup a separate/additional program
Stored in easy to read text => the "source code" literally reads like a use case ..... can't wait to see its future integration with Rational tools. This flexible parser is probably the coolest touch.
Step run and running of script => Amazing done, with highlighting and direct script/web interface editing possible to accommodate any deviations. While Selenium does this too, CoScriptor is much narrower in its scope and hence able to do this more intuitively.

Firefox users should really give this a spin.

Technology..... using it to save or waste

2007-09-14T12:21:00.000+08:00

Technology is a double edge sword. As new technology makes it possible to create innovations like cost effective solar panels to support and sustain us, we get closer using technology for achieving a more renewable and sustainable planet. Unfortunately, for every step forward, it is human nature to stray.

Russia recently tested a vacuum bomb ..... from this article it says that this new and bigger bomb is made possible via nanotechnology.

The bomb is smaller than the MOAB, employing nanotechnology to double the heat from a blast, according to the Russian military officer.

I have always though of advances and applications in nanotech as positive advancements form mankind (e.g. nanofilters for water filtration to remove the need for chemical treatment, reduce petroleum usage, etc) ..... I guess this adds a new twist to it

lists, sets and everything nice

2007-09-13T13:38:00.000+08:00

Lists and sets, 2 very simple concepts but at the core of many many computer programs.

I simply love the idea behind listphile

Listphile is a powerful tool for organizing and collaborating around structured information. Call it a database tool, if you will (but please don't scare anyone away).

Listphile was borne of curiosity, and the belief that we learn more effectively when we have a framework for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Simple, yet opens up a whole new world for developing mashups. I have a couple of prototypes written in .Net that does something similar => get a list of stuff and simply make it consumable via RSS. Originally i wanted to use it together with in Mashup with Google sets to create basic catalogues that are ready for use in rapid prototyping (Think of it as sample Northwind database on RSS crack :P). But Listphile did it and added in a dash of collaboration, really cool.

The potential for growth in this is immense, imagine a nice list of blogs, eating places etc, before mashing it up with geotags, they can be used by dropdown boxes to query it live instead of either coding it in the html pages or generating it off a stored database. I have always personally felt that there should be a repository for generic list information for things like countries, cities, last names etc. The other aspect that this can really take off is in the area of metadata. One of the problem with metadata as Cory Doctorow mentions

People are stupid - Even when there's a positive benefit to creating good metadata, people steadfastly refuse to exercise care and diligence in their metadata creation.
Take eBay: every seller there has a damned good reason for double-checking their listings for typos and misspellings. Try searching for "plam" on eBay. Right now, that turns up nine typoed listings for "Plam Pilots." Misspelled listings don't show up in correctly-spelled searches and hence garner fewer bids and lower sale-prices. You can almost always get a bargain on a Plam Pilot at eBay.

Constrain the metadata to a collaborative list that is managed by a community will certainly be the first step to better metadata and eventually a more semantic web.

Is it time for 64 bit computing?

2007-09-09T21:28:00.000+08:00

Lately I have been looking around for a new computer (Funded not by me of course :P). Looking at getting some 64bit cpu power and picking a suitable OS. After listening to this Hanselman minutes podcast, I sort of decided that going 64bit Vista is a good idea, especially since I intend to be running VPCs off it.

NOSO

2007-08-27T11:50:00.000+08:00

Came across this site recently.

NOSO is a real-world platform for temporary disengagement from social networking environments. The NOSO experience offers a unique opportunity to create NO Connections by scheduling NO Events with other NO Friends.

With all the craze over social networks and such, this site remind me of a subtle point of meeting people .... its not always about connections.

Flying penguins on SIA

2007-08-27T10:14:00.000+08:00

It not often that Singapore gets positive limelight in IT news (Yup I am refering to Odex...) but this article certainly sounds like something which will make IT people take a second look.

To make flying more enjoyable for its passengers, Singapore Airlines Ltd. is adding bigger screens, more in-flight movies and a PC, running Red Hat Inc.'s distribution of the Linux operating system, in every seat on its newest planes.

That by itself is nothing really special, but the following is what I guess really makes it stand out.

KrisWorld can also be used as a PC and includes Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice application suite, which offers a word processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation program. Every seat is fitted with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port that lets passengers access documents carried on a thumb drive or portable hard disk.

Event Driven Architecure

2007-08-20T10:14:00.000+08:00

Event Driven Architecture (EDA)

is a software architecture pattern promoting the production, detection, consumption of, and reaction to events. - Wikipedia

This area has recently caught my interest. Previously when I was still at Cornet Technologies, the framework which I had developed had an "aspect of delivering data" which seemed to be a mismatch with the SOA approach that it was based off. After looking through this glossary, EDA seems like a natural fit to it. Guess I will be looking more into this area in the coming weeks.

Firefox dictionaries

2007-08-17T10:16:00.000+08:00

I realised that after my move over to Australia that my Firefox installation had lost its built-in spell checker. At first I thought that it was the result of certain new plug-ins I had installed, but after look round a bit, found out that it was because of a missing dictionary.

In short what happened was I after getting to Australia, I changed my operating system time zone setting, which also change the dictionary that was being use.

The solution is simple, right click on any text area which you would normally expect the spellcheck to be active -> languages -> Add dictionaries.

After that, simply click on the dictionary you need to install it.

html composing reloaded

2007-08-09T14:21:00.000+08:00

Its been a while since I last had to do any manual html composing. Instead of sticking to the regular dreamweaver, for this time round, I took a look around to see what good open source alternatives are available. Heres the latest configuration of my "enviroment".

Firefox with the following plugins

Firebug - great debugging tool
Web developer - name says it all, a real "swiss army knife"
color picker - great for getting the actual color
IE Tab - for double checking it runs ok in IE

Composing tools

Nvu - Neat tool that does exactly what it say
Sea Monkey - Thought this would be good but theres simply too many unnessary stuff thats pack in it, ditched it in favour of Nvu

Reverting to an older JRE

2007-08-08T14:11:00.000+08:00

It has been a while since I fiddled with java. Was trying to revert to an earlier version of JRE (1.42) after installing JRE 1.5. Did not manage to find much concise info on the web besides for chunks of queries on the sun forums. But I did manage to find what I was looking for there and thought it would be nice to summarise it here.

Anyway on windows, the easiest thing to do is actually to simply append the path of the JRE to your classpath settings. Win XP will simply use the first JRE it encounters on your classpath.

The other alternative is to run jpicpl32.exe(1.4) or javacpl.exe(1.5 and later) in the bin directory of the JRE you have installed and configure it from there.

Its been a while

2007-07-31T11:35:00.000+08:00

.... Since I last made a post. Moved to Sydney recently to do my Postgrad in research and lets just say that internet access is now a limited resource. Just started my scholarship internship at First Data International too.

Hopefully once things get settled down for me I will get the time to blog a little more.

For all those space fans out there

2007-06-29T01:18:00.000+08:00

Every once in a while, Ted talks showcases technology that simply makes me go WOW. The Talk by Bill Stone is one such case. He plans to send a machine to bore through miles of ice and swim through a liquid underworld that may harbor alien life. And if that's not enough, he's also planning to mine lunar ice by 2015.

Sounds like a page out of a science friction novel? Watch the talk yourself and be the judge.

Pros and Cons of Working for a Technology based Small Business

2007-06-20T01:40:00.000+08:00

Michael made a post on his blog recently about pros and cons of working for a small business.

I am not sure about other industries, but for the IT industry, I personally think it boils down to what you intend to achieve with your career and your appetite for risks. A job acts as a spring board and transition phase to your future plans. Its always good to start a little career planning early and adapting as and when the opportunities arises ... especially if you are still below the age of 30.

A mistake many people make when deciding on this question is that they see it as a final choice, instead of a just a transition. A good counter question to ask is 'Do the pros or cons matter as long as it lets you get to your goals faster?'.

A table ... ahem... 'surface' for every home?

2007-06-07T05:31:00.000+08:00

Simply amazing, Microsoft's new upcoming product Microsoft Surface.

Official Site
Popular Mechanics July 2007 Report

Imagine this working with software and add ons that can be written. What I have in mind is Bump Top (Demo at Ted Talks) running on Surface.... will surfaces be the new desktops in homes of the future?

Tackling a Technology problem

2007-06-06T05:26:00.000+08:00

During the recent D5 conference where Bill Gates and Steve Job were interviewed, this came up.

I think in terms of intuitive taste, both for people and products, you know, we sat in Mac product reviews where there were questions about software choices, how things would be done that I viewed as an engineering question, you know, and that’s just how my mind works. And I’d see Steve make the decision based on a sense of people and product that, you know, is even hard for me to explain. The way he does things is just different and, you know, I think it’s magical. And in that case, wow.

- Bill Gates

This reminded me of a Ted Talk by David Pogue I had seen some time back. As I am working late tonight using office 2007, it struck me how Microsoft has tackled technology problems once again. Anyone using the office 2007 will be familiar with the Ribbon toolbar.

It is seriously an amazing engineering feat and attempt to manage complexity.... Is this the best possible solution? Technology problems is always best solved with a people aspect in it, after all technology is created for people and technology problems are caused by them too. And as per the title's of David's Talk, "Simplicity Sells". Guess he forgot to mention the punchline, "except to engineers".....

Apple iPhone Ad

2007-06-05T15:57:00.000+08:00

Wow the iPhone is looks great in the ad. Would be great to see what other products will emerge from this new next level benchmark in mobile phones.

Ask.com relaunch

2007-06-05T15:16:00.000+08:00

Ask.com just had a relaunch of their website. My first impression is that it looks and feels like Google.... with a touch of Yahoo.

Its certainly a vast improvement over the original and while the little touches on the UI like skins that are nice to have. Interestingly, the search results returned feels more personal compared to what I can find from a Google search. I could actually find some of the old web sites of friends just by searching for their names; some thing which I cannot find in Google. The search customization panel on the left is also a nice touch compared to Google's which is located at the top and bottom.

For now, I think I will stick to Google search.

Understanding an individual, technology takes a leap

2007-06-04T20:37:00.000+08:00

For technology, there is always a point when its utility value takes a huge upturn. Like for the Internet, it was the intervention of WWW, for mobile devices, it was when your local Telco providers started providing affordable prices and plans. Just seen an article in New York Times.

JAMES D. WATS ON, who helped crack the DNA code half a century ago, last week became the first person handed the full text of his own DNA on a small computer disk. But he won’t be the last.

Having such information about our DNA at an affordable cost will signal a new era on how medical treatment and services will work. General practitioners role in medical treatment will evolve to studying an individual's DNA and understanding what specific hybrid of medication works best. The demand for technology that provides manageable access to this wealth of data will skyrocket and whole industries will be spun round using/abusing this data.

But until then, this milestone in genetic studies, will be as how Amy Harmon reported it

Until then, even Dr. Watson, who posted his genome on the Internet last week, has to wait. At a ceremony marking the occasion, he stared at the disk containing his genome for a few seconds, then stuck it in his pocket.

Reactee, be your own walking advertisment

2007-06-04T20:11:00.000+08:00

Just saw this on TechCrunch about Reactee.

Reactee allows users to create t-shirts that include a personalized message such “Stop Global Whaling” or “Andrew Keen is a Luddite” that is then complimented by a unique keyword such as SUSHI or MORON on the shirt. People who see the shirt can then respond to it by sending the keyword via SMS to 41411. In return senders receive a custom text message response created by the T-Shirt creator.

Interesting idea, and I would say that theres a good market for this in Singapore. You know about the annoying flyers that chug the dustbins and litter the floor as you walk around the crowded city places? Well I would certainly think that this will go along way to helping clear them up.

Business will also benefit greatly from this. That day as I was walking out of the MRT (Singapore's Subway) entrance, a girl stuffed a whole set of broaches into my face..... well first off any business that employs such aggressive tactics to get my attention will get a thumbs down from me.... secondly, haha guess what? They were for doing nails pedicure ..... surely I am not in their target market. Guess this is a case of part time job holder trying to get rid of their allocated flyers to dispatch.

With a service like Reactee, we can get rid of the huge waste on paper and have that information actually be stored electronically on a personal device of an individual who is seriously interested. I am no marketing guru, but certainly this will be a better marketing case in my opinion.

Having said that, anyone interested in such a service for SG? We have an SMS server sitting in our office and we can certainly whip something up like this if theres a demand for it :P

Ask iris? Deja Vu ....

2007-06-02T04:44:00.000+08:00

What is iris?

iris is the acronym for Intelligent Route Information System. Through iris, we hope to provide information services to enhance your travel experience with SBS Transit. iris currently offers 2 applications to help you better plan your journeys: iris NextBus and iris Journey Planner.

Source : SBS Transit

When i first saw this I had a feeling of Deja Vu. Back when I was doing my diploma at NYP in 2002, we came up with this exact same idea as a project on entrepreneurship ideas.

Back then, the feedback we got was that its impractical and the such software services are too far-fetched, that it would seem like magic. We eventually still went ahead with this idea to do our business proposals as we believe that it was feasible. The idea got a luke warm response and the team had the grades to reflect that.

Fast forward 5 years later, when GPS and location based services are ubiquitous, the advertisement poster for iris reminder me of those words and the words of Arthur C. Clarke

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

The lesson learned? We set our own limits, that just because you have a different view of the world from seasoned individuals, it does not mean you are wrong, it just means you are different.

Google Gears and Google reader

2007-06-02T03:43:00.000+08:00

Simple and straight forward to install Google Gears. Besides for the small hitch of having to restart Firefox before being able to use it(Somehow they left that out in the installation instructions), I would give the process a 5 star rating. Downloading of the items was all simple and direct.

The UI for Google Reader in offline mode was a pleasant surprise. It looks great on a Tablet PC in portrait mode.

Hectic 2 weeks

2007-06-02T03:23:00.000+08:00

The past 2 weeks have been really busy, both for my work life and in the technology sector. From cool tech conferences like where2.0, new stuff like Google mashup, Street views on both Google maps and Live Search, interesting Bill Gates and Steve Jobs interview and so on..... talk about information overload :P

Going on that, Google Gears would likely be something that will help me heaps. Reading feeds to keep updated on happenings in the IT world, especially on a Monday morning can certainly be overwhelming. Now with Google Gears, I can actually get a head start while transiting to office.

Coming up next.... Goggle reader on a tablet PC.

Technology.... works best standing on the shoulders of giants

2007-05-16T01:46:00.000+08:00

I have recently taken onto listening to podcasts from educators corner as I transit to and from office. The session by Shai Agassi hit many notes that I felt was very true with respect to technology. These podcasts are a definite must listen for anyone who intends to do something in technology with business.

Programming... what is it?

2007-05-16T00:02:00.000+08:00

Having read a recent BBC news article about scratch I cannot help but take a step back and look at what the term programming actually means.

These days with 4GL programming languages, tools like workflow(WF), languages like ruby etc, how do you actually define the job title of a programmer? What are the skills that a good or decent programmer should have?

Computer programming has been traditionally seen as something that is beyond most people - it's only for a special group with technical expertise and experience -Professor Mitchel Resnick

Heres my take on what are the basic technical expertise required (not in any order of importance):

Structured thinking and knowledge of data structures/design patterns
Understanding of different programming paradigms (i.e. OO, functional, structured etc)
Problem analysis
Ability to read code and documentation

Its actually amazing to see how some job seekers (role of senior programmer) that I have interviewed lack the above mentioned skills while continuously proclaiming their skills and proficiency in C# or html.....

When systems for convenience screws up

2007-05-15T23:28:00.000+08:00

Lately, I have become acutely aware of certain incidents at a local tertiary institution's library. Amazingly at this world class library(Names are left out to protect the guilty :P), with all the IT and high-tech systems, they are unable to track some books that have been dropped into their book drops.

Technically speaking there are 101 things that can go wrong when a book is dropped into a book drop. Obviously a book drop is for the user's convenience, but imagine what happens when a book you have returned is marked as lost.....

What happens when the lifts in a building breaks down every other day? What happens if the automatic glass doors only detect you and opens 9 of 10 times when u walk towards it? This really highlights a crucial aspect for any system that aims to make activities in our daily lives convenience, it has to be reliable...... and when it screws up, there had better be proper procedures to follow and people who have sufficient brains or responsibility to take the required actions.

Although having to take unjust responsibility for a missing book is not as painful as slamming your face into a glass door, its definitely worth the inconvenience of by-passing the whole book drop system. This is often made more so by individuals who operate that system and couldn't care less that its causing the end users problems..... =>picture a security guard that finds his daily entertainment by guessing who is the next person to walk into the defective glass door

Technology ..... worthless without a cause

2007-05-11T16:29:00.000+08:00

Maybe I am not geeky enough, but sometimes I do give a blank look when some of my friends take about cool new devices, gadgets..... and well simply tech stuff. Why? I guess the main reason was that besides for the cool factor, I did not really see the cause for that technology.

This particular article about Dr Krause who has spent the last 40 years collecting sounds and currently hoping to include it in Google Earth is something I totally emphasize with. While the technology and concepts in it is not new, his ideas gives a cause for using them.

During my undergraduate days in ANU, I worked with many a few wonderful people in the cultural and heritage faculty as part of my research paper for digital heritage. Their views and opinions opened my eyes to a new perspective on technology. While I was busy with sorting out the technical aspects of using semantic web technologies for preserving cultural information, they provide me with their views and visions of what preserving heritage is all about .... giving my research direction and well .... simply a 'cause' to follow.

HP Compaq 2710P ultralight Tablet PC

2007-05-11T15:25:00.000+08:00

My current work machine is a HP tc4400 machine. Personally, besides for a few software issues I faced using it, I think its a great machine in terms of the feel, casing and mobility it offers. Used to work on a Toshiba Portege M400 Machine and all I have to say is that HP's tablet designs are much better.(Yes rounded edges do matter when u are someone who uses it on the move)

Naturally, when I saw HP's new model review on Engadget, I paused to take a closer look.

Performance specs aside (Hey if I wanted performance instead of portability I will be looking at a laptop anyway), I think this model is really cool. The imprints are just the little bit that makes it cooler and at 3.6 pounds (about 1.65kg) This is a device that I would actually enjoy carrying around and work/read on as I transit around in Singapore, accessing the internet via one of the new broadband plans.

New live hotmail

2007-05-09T20:42:00.000+08:00

Been using it since beta..... Actually my only complain about it is that 1/4 of the screen's top real estate is taken up by an ad.... anyone whos using Hotmail will know what I mean.

But besides for that, I would say its really a good effort by Hotmail to be relevant again..... while theres definitely no serious motivation for someone to drop Gmail for it (Esp. with the grease monkey firefox plugin for Gmail aka better Gmail), its features will definitely be something existing users will find useful.

First post!

2007-05-09T19:18:00.000+08:00

Ok, finally got around to doing this after dragging my feet over this for so long......