Joshua van Aalst’s blog

Well it’s been a long time. Too long in fact. I’ve been very busy with my move to Boston and haven’t had a lot of spare time to write. That being said here goes…

Windows Vista, Dell XPS m1330 and Microsoft Office 2007

My new Dell XPS m1330  laptop arrived late last week with Windows Vista service pack 1. I have heard mixed reviews. 2 senior software developers I know said they have it and love it. Others say they hate it. After using Vista for 1 week, I have formed my own opinion… I like it.

The new search in the windows (start) menu is my favorite feature. You can type in almost anything and Windows will intelligently find it on your machine. A directory, a program, a document you used last. Very handy. I also found that file copying and other actions are a bit faster. Another thing i like is the centralization of user data into one directory. This makes backing up or synchronizing with multiple machines a lot easier.

Other than that, I must add at this point, the smaller form size and light weight 13inch screen XPS m1330 notebook is a blessing. It is easier to carry around and I can open and use it in many places that I couldn’t previously use a laptop, such as on buses and planes, where seat room is cramped. I am also loving the SD card reader. It is more convenient and faster for transfering photos too and from my laptop.

Onto Microsoft Office 2007. I am loving the new Outlook. It is great that on every screen you can see information from other parts of Outlook. For example, when reading mail you can see upcoming tasks and calendar appointments without having to switch to the tasks or calendar section. I have also been making use of the new task categorization and the functionality to easily convert an email into a task.

MyEclipse

MyEclipse is a *supposed* full featured Eclipse IDE which pre-packages and tests many of the popular plugins for various common software development tasks. Let me say that it is RUBBISH. Do not use it. It is slow as all hell. It crashes all the time, and I mean all the time. About 3 or 4 times a day for me. I am not alone either, everyone on my floor who is using it (about 8 people) are having the same issues.Use Netbeans instead.

Jumper

Last night I watched a movie Jumper. Jumper was in the cinemas in 2007 and received some of the worst reviews from critics of any big budget Hollywood film that year. It isn’t so bad, in fact I enjoyed many parts of it. If you are a Sci-Fi or Vampire fan then watch this movie.

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Melbourne. Originally I booked Melbourne as a getaway to forget about not being admitted to MIT, but only a couple of days after I booked the flights and accommodation … I got accepted!

Donna and I headed down there on Friday morning and booked into a nice little apartment called St James on Darling St (Note: make sure you stay in their apartment building and not the hotel). We then proceeded to indulge in shopping on Chapel St and the surrounding areas.  In the evening we met up with a very good friend of Donna’s and went to numerous clubs and bars, which was a lot of fun. The only downside of the evening was being door listed with free drinks to a hot new venue, called Boutique, and arriving to be told our door list and drinks were only valid till 10:30. Hmm….

On Saturday we got up fairly late and did a little wandering in the city and also on Brunswick St. I think the store of the day still has to go to Ministry Of Style. If you haven’t been there then make the effort. They design plenty of their own clothes and they are very raver/punk chic.

Saturday evening we met up with a good friend of mine and his girlfriend at the Casino. After having a very nice dinner and a couple of drinks at the bar, Donna went to the bathroom. Next minute we see her run out and security jump from all angles. Apparently she had been in the toilet cubicle and hung her hand bag on the back of the door. Whilst in there a young blonde girl leaned over the toilet door and grabbed her bag! Donna rushed out, after her and screamed “Their’s no money in there you moron. I’ve already lost it on the pokies!”. The girl seemed startled by this and started rummaging through Donna’s handbag. She grabbed my new camera. At this point Donna caught up with her and crashed tackled her in the hallway outside the bathrooms. The girl screamed back “Stop taking my stuff!”. Un-phased Donna grabbed her handbag, my camera and ran to security. What an ordeal. Luckily we got everything back. The only odd part was even though security caught the girl and noted her details, when we reported the incident to the police they said they couldn’t do anything. It was her word against Donna’s. Even though they noted that the girl had numerous prior reports and charges against her. So much for reasonable doubt.

All in all though it was a very enjoyable weekend away and a nice break prior to my MIT preperation and move to Boston.

Ok, I’ve had many wonderful weeks. The week I met Donna. The week I put on A Night Of Trance 1st Birthday. The week I met Mozart. The week I got into IBM e.t.c. e.t.c. but the last 7 days truly have been amazing!

Firstly, I have been officially accepted into the MIT MBA program at MIT’s Sloan school of management. For the Australian readers… American management schools tend to have names that are different to the universities they are apart of Stern is the business school for New York University for instance. Anyway, today i received my offical written offer. It was cutely packaged in a big envelope that on the outside said in big letters: YOUR IN!

Secondly, I received a wonderful bonus from my employer, Macquarie, for the year just gone. Macquarie year end is in April/May. I worked very hard for Macquarie but was concerned that since shifting from a contractor to an employee I would miss out financially. My manager was true to his word and then some. Incredibly generous. What a wonderful place to work. I am truly privileged and I thank him enormously.

Having been a long time Netbeans evangelist and community tester of the Visual Web pack, I thought what better way to help support the Netbeans team than with an in-depth blog on the exciting new Netbeans 6.1.

I have been using Netbeans since version 3 for various software projects including my community website www.joshandfriends.com.au and the development of the Internet Bank at www.stgeorge.com.au . I have also had significant exposure to the Eclipse IDE whilst working at Macquarie Bank.

This blog is a thorough review of the Netbeans 6.1 IDE and its new features. I will also make many comparisons to the Eclipse 3.3 IDE.

The project

I plan to build a campaign management product to display advertisements on my website www.joshandfriends.com.au . For administrators this application will be secured through integration with Vbulletin forum software.

The review computer

A Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop Pentium Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo) 2ghz processor with 2g of ram, a 60g 7200rpm hard drive and an ATI mobility Radeon x1400 128mb graphics card.

Initial thoughts – IDE performance

The improved startup time of Netbeans 6.1 IDE was obvious. The initial IDE start up, with 3 projects of 2 ,700 files took 50 seconds and subsequent start ups took only 5 seconds! In fact the whole IDE felt lightweight and fast. This is a dramatic different to previous versions of the IDE which were sluggish when performing certain tasks.

Another noticeable performance benefit of Netbeans over Eclipse is the complete lack of IDE blocking. Classpath changes are quietly scanned in the background and do not cause performance degradation and by default projects are compiled when the user chooses to do so, rather than automatically like Eclipse, which locks up the IDE at non-opportune moments.

Project creation

One thing that I have found a little difficult when configuring a new Visual Web Project is that it is not obvious that the “Default Java Package” setting should be a java package in the format com.mydomain.myapplication . I have often created a new project only to quickly delete and re-create due to the lack of description of this field.

In addition, I found that certain combinations of frameworks are incompatible. For example the Visual Web Pack and JavaServer Faces frameworks clash over the faces configuration file. I would advise only allowing a single Web UI technology to be selected.

Another very welcome feature edition of Netbeans 6.1 is the library sharing which is much needed if Netbeans is to compete with Eclipse in multi developer development environments. The feature enables the developer to have jar libraries located in a central folder on the file system. The end result is that multiple users and workspaces can access the same set of jar library definitions. This was a big issue in earlier versions of Netbeans where developers would be forced to re-add all libraries for each workspace. Overall the feature was easy to setup and use. It even asked you to import jars into your common library directory if they weren’t already in there. The only constructive criticism I have is that later when I wished to move the library folder’s location I found no function to enable me to do so and also I noticed that I couldn’t change library names once they were created.

One thing I must add here is that I believe it would be extremely useful to have Netbeans work in Eclipse compatibility mode. Such a feature would enable Netbeans to read and write to Eclipse project files. I am aware of the Netbeans Eclipse Project Importer module but I find it almost never works in large projects due to the way Eclipse references jars. I also find that in the corporate world developers tend to try Netbeans one at a time rather than with an all out team decision to convert IDEs. Such functionality would allow a team member to use the IDE in harmony with other Eclipse developers. Intellij already offers this and it has helped the adoption of that IDE.

Refactoring

Upon creating a new web project I attempted to rename the default package as my requirements had changed. Netbeans displayed an error message: “Error: Cannot rename default package”. This is something I believe needs to be addresses as default packages will often need to be refactored after creation. On the upside, I was able create a new package and move the Netbeans generated JSF files to it.

New hot keys

If you are still making the switch from Netbeans 5.5 to 6 or 6.1 please note that the default hot keys have changed. This caught me a little off guard but all in all the new keys were easy to pick up.

Netbeans 6.0 editor niceties

If you haven’t tried the Netbeans 6 editor then you’re in for a treat! It has all the usual Eclipse niceties including the ability to click on an error message and have the IDE fix the error such as “Implement all unimplemented methods” and also auto generation of object and variable names.

The only feature I found missing, which is useful in Eclipse, is the ability to not only see a drop down list of open files but also to enter a text filter to search for a specific open file.

An added bonus for the XML editor was its new feature to format XML.

Visual Web improvements

Immediately apparent to Visual Web users is how clean and neat the generated JSPs and backing beans have become. The removal of the rarely used binding objects has resulted in this and if you need them you can add them manually back in.

Also new in Netbeans 6.1 is the ability to generate JSF CRUD (create, read, update and delete) pages for JPA entities. This was both useful and cool. Not only were CRUD pages generated but the IDE even generated an array of standard error and success messages.

A nice to have, on the Web development side, would be the ability to auto generate import definitions for classes in jsps.

CVS

Having somewhat missed the Netbeans 6 upgrade. I was very keen to try the enhanced version control functionality that was released with that particular version. Although the functionality was visually a big improvement I found that Netbeans lacks the ability to see an overall repository view, like the CVS view in Eclipse. I would suggest that a new section for versioning be added to the Services window which allows developers to browse repositories.

Clear and concise help

The supplied help available in Netbeans IDE is clear and concise. I referred to it several times whilst writing this blog entry and especially for accessing the new features available in Netbeans 6.1 such as the CRUD generator.

Results are in. I got wait listed to MIT. Obviously I am delighted to have reached this stage of the application process, but at the same time disappointed that I have not been accepted. I felt I fitted extremely well with MIT. The alignment of their specialties (e.g. Entrepreneurship, Technology and Leadership) and my interests and experiences. In particular the ability to study an MBA focused on becoming a successful Entrepreneur. Their social scene, their location, their community, their everything. Yes I am a bit upset. That being said. You never know dreams can still come true with intelligence, hard work, effort and dedication. Heck, you never know, I could be called up off the waiting list.

…. so in the meantime where am I at?

“Dreams can come true”.

It’s time to stop waiting for results to be announced and start doing. It’s time to press the play button and swing into proactive action and chase those dreams. I will go to MIT. I will achieve a B*school education, experience. If it’s not this time round then I have learnt an incredible amount and will try again next year. I feel I have more to offer than what I displayed in my current application. For one, I believe, that I am capable of a much higher GMAT score.

… but thats not all. It’s time to press play on my own personal achievements. I want to build up the website to achieve a whopping 100,000 unique visitors per month. I want to donate a Josh and Friends annual scholarship to the Australian Institute of Music. I want to join a swimming squad. I want to build my team at the Investment Bank to become the leading Java development team in the group.

I want, I want, I want.

Well, what am I waiting for? nothing.

It’s time to achieve.

Hi all,

As a long time Netbeans evangelist and blogger, I have been spending a great deal of time writing a thorough Netbeans 6.1 IDE review. It is also written for those who seek to compare it with the Eclipse 3.3 IDE.

The review is now available here: >> CLICK ME <<

p.s. I haven’t heard back from MIT yet. It seems that they will hold true to their word of announcing on the 7th of April. I am so nervous and excited it is crazy. I haven’t slept for 2 weeks!

This is the week that Admissions will announce their decision for my MIT Sloan application.

I haven’t been this nervous since I was 8 years old on Christmas eve wondering if I would receive the present I had so hoped for. All last week I couldn’t sleep as I was so nervous waiting for the big day to arrive (Tuesday onwards this week).

I have studied long and very hard for the GMAT exam. I have spent many many hours profiling myself, delving into my life, past, present and future and of course writing my entrance essays. I have sought out several referees and I have researched MIT thoroughly, and know it is the school for me. I have also prepared for and been interviewed by the school.

I feel so close to achieving this life long goal and starting a journey that I believe will enrich my life in so many ways. If I were to write the reasons down I would have to write a 10,000 word thesis to simply cover them all!

Yet although I feel so close I still feel so far away.

All I can do now is wait patiently…. and pray…. and hope.

Hi,

I have just upgraded the classifieds (buying n selling) section of Josh and Friends http://www.joshandfriends.com.au/classifieds/.

What makes this upgrade so special is that anyone can now sell multiple copies of an item.

Why is this useful you say? Because you can now sell event tickets or merchandise via the store on Josh and Friends and have the money paid directly into your Paypal account with NO FEES!

This is a major advantage for event promoters as other online Ticketing outlets such as Inthemix, Ticketek and Ticketmaster take 4% of ticket revenue as fees.

A big thanks must be sent to Chuck from Photopost who listened and acted on my feedback for the above feature. It is always something special, and often a rarity, when a software company listens to feedback and acts on it.

Well what are you waiting for? Go and check out the new version of the Classifieds section here now: http://www.joshandfriends.com.au/classifieds/.

Just a quick update….

I’ve been really busy as of late working primarily on my MBA application but also on a variety of other projects both personal and work related.

I’ve been swimming at least 4 times a week and am actively trying to push the 40 second mark for 50 meters freestyle. That’s with shorts on. I prefer swimming with drag for improved exercise and strength building. Hopefully this should assist me in becoming a stronger surfer . The Easter long weekend is also coming up and Sydney has finally had a run of good weather. I am definately looking forward to indulging in as much surfing as possible.

Other than the above, I have some exciting updates to the website (http://www.joshandfriends.com.au) coming. New Classifieds (Buying and Selling) software will enable promotors to sell tickets and merchandise via the website. I also have a new blog software coming for this blog which will allow me to add more categories and improve the skin. I’d like to commission a skin that is actually related to my life rather than something generic. Both of those upgrades should be happening this weekend. Within the next month though, their will be a major upgrade to the forum software which will provide a tone of Facebook/Myspace style functionality.

Also work at Macquarie Equity Markets has been incredibly busy with multiple projects coming my/my teams way. One is a particularly interesting project which I’m really looking forward to.

Lastly, but certainly not the least important, I have been trying to catch up with alot of my friends. During the course of last year I drifted away from alot of my friends. Partly due to commitments to Josh and Friends but also due to MBA application commitments. Now that at least the first item above has become more manageable I am enjoying seeing many of my friends again

Anyway thats all for me

It’s a very big week for me this week with the MBA application process, so please wish me luck!!!

Josh

Hi everyone,

I am about to print new Josh and Friends T-shirts and singlet tops. We haven’t done any promotional merchandise for a very long time and to improve on the effectiveness of last times efforts, I decided to go for designed shirts and singlets rather than traditional Josh and Friends merchandise i.e. logo printed on a plain shirt.

The designer Mark from the Need for Tees as created 4 fabulous designs that you can view here: T Shirt Designs.

To ensure I choose the design that people want I have created a poll where you can vote.

Please take a moment to follow this link and vote: CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Thanks!

Josh