Paul Dhanjal

RSA - 04/07/08

Paul — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:23:33 +0000

So, I’m totally stoked about attending the RSA conference this year. The theme this year is a celebration of Alan Turing. Many people consider Turing the be the father of Computer Science.
My exposure to Turing Machines and Alan Turing started in university. I vividly recall myself - half dazed holding my tattered copy of Neuromancer while my second year professor closed out the Logic 201 class with a brief history lesson. He told us that this genius, Alan Turing was persecuted for his homosexuality and how he was forced to take estrogen and consequently grew breasts. Turing died at a young age of an apparent suicide with a cyanide-laced red apple by his bedside. Our professor abruptly left while the class sat there awe struck.

I wondered how someone so pivotal to the allies during WWII and today to our understanding of computer systems had to endure such hardships in his short yet profound existence. It’s a wonder we don’t credit his work more often. Here’s to you Alan.

RSA

Vista Sucks…

Paul — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:17:10 +0000

Ok, ok. I know. I don’t post anything for months then I go ahead and make a bunch at at time but this one’s too darn funny to miss. This pretty much sums up the reason why I switched to Apple. You know, the secret of success isn’t re-inventing the wheel every single time but rather making slight improvements as you go along. The following is why Vista SUCKS.

Vista SUCKS

Using SUN Access Manager to Secure Applications

Paul — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:56:42 +0000

Last month I had a firsthand experience with Robert’s fictitious EB Health and now feel more than obliged to tell everyone that this is a must-read for anyone deploying Access Manager. Part I is rich in information for securing J2EE applications using AM and implementing fine-grained access-level authorization. Part II’s still a little over my head and I’m still digesting it. (Pass the fiber.)

Developing Secure Applications With Sun Java System Access Manager

Access Manager, AM, Robert Skoczylas, SUN

Using Perl to Automate DS6 Installation and Configuration

Paul — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:16:31 +0000

Perl Scripts Offer Quick, Accurate Installation and Configuration of Sun Java System Directory Server

Jonathan Gershater posted a great article on Sun Developer Network on using the CLI (command line interface) for Directory Server 6 to automate the directory deployment of five servers in a MMR environment. This example shows how creating the instances, configuring and setting up replication can be done in minutes using Perl. This is one of the great leaps the 6 product has taken from 5.2. I used to create scripts to do the same thing but it always felt like a “hack”. I appreciate SUN implementing a CLI and supporting this type of configuration as it facilitates and simplifies migration deployments tremendously.

DIRECTORY, directory server perl ds6 directory server 6 sun sun microsystems LDAP

WTF - Leopard on a PC??!!

Paul — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:25:49 +0000

Ok, so this sounds too good to be true and driver support probably sucks but what a brilliant hack indeed. Follow these 3 steps to turn your crappy old PC into a Mac Wannabe and be the envy of your colleagues.

Just so you know, Apple will NEVER let their OS be sold for general PC consumption. They may however -unlikely while Jobs is still kicking- go open source one day.

apple, hack, leopard, open source, pc, windows

SUN Gets Wiki Wiki Whack

Paul — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:32:32 +0000

Sun’s got a Wiki (beta) and it runs on Confluence.

confluence, SUN, wiki

Unlocking My iPhone - Several Hours Later…

Paul — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:27:11 +0000

Ok, so unlocking my iPhone wasn’t as simple as the folks at anySIM claim it to be. I tried using the stupid gui twice and got errors like ‘you might want to check the baseband manually using minicom’ and another that was even more depressing like “can’t locate bytes to patch”. Each time I had to restore my iPhone using iTunes and apply the DVD Jon Activation hack I talked about previously. Many others complained about the installer not working properly and so for all you wishing to get going, here’s what you have to do:

Follow the instructions on this page. They take about 20 mins to walk through and another 20 minutes while your iPhone is being flashed. Right after that, you’re iPhone will be unlocked and will accept other GSM SIM cards.

Once that’s complete, follow these instructions to get it working with iTunes so you can at least upload and sync your media and other files.

DO NOT install AppTapp. It will kill the SIM fix.

Whew.

baseband, gsm sim cards, hack, iPhone, minicom

SUN Announces New Strategy

Paul — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:04:09 +0000