Google Adwords - gosh

I've just set up a Google Adwords standard account. I'm stunned. Now I kind of begin to understand where all those money Google makes come from. Gosh.

The joy of being a father

Flawless :-)

Online Automatic Update - how ?

Have you ever thought to use a versionig system (SVN for example) to build an automatic online update mechanism ? NO ? Think again. It will work. I don't know the alternatives, I haven't look at any, but it works for me as follows:

You must pay a little little extra attention not to get conflicts (or if you get them, to overwrite them, here you must make sure you NEVER commit user settings related files) and split the update into two parts:

• a "phisical" update mechanism (as oposed to logical) - phisical updates are where the versioning system will do all the job for you, updating files that changed and were commited by you to the update server and
• a "logical" update mechanism (e.g. database updates at software startup, after phisical updates took place)

If you have a pretty complex folder structure and want to update only what changed, SVN (or another versioning system for that matter) will do a damn good job. Some will say it's a huge hammer for a small nail but hey ? Do you want to do it right or you want to innovate a little and go into production with something that really works ?

Adaptiv software - web traffic analysis and SEO

Q1. How many of you have online websites (be it corporate/presentation site or online business, e-commerce) ? Alright, I see you.

Q2. Now, how many of you do know the number of visits you've had yesterday (or last month, for that matter), what search engine they came from, even more, from what site referring your site they came from, how many of them were new and how many of them were coming back, and what country/city did they come from ? OK, I see you too.

The current post is dedicated to the guys who raised the hands in response to the second question. Anyway, if you're not in that category, please don't go away, it means you have some experience is web traffic analysis, eventually SEO (if you've done one is highly probable you've done the other one, eventually with an expert) and you can complete the post with useful info (only if interested, of course :-) )

So, as I said, as we've launched our web site, http://www.adaptiv.ro we instantly became interested in the following 2 topics:

- Web traffic analysis and assessment - With a simple script or snippet of JavaScript or JavaScript + HTML you embed in each of your pages you'll get to know, for free, a LOT of useful information about your site. You'll know how many visitors you had, where did they come from (other site or search engine), what geographical zone are they, what keywords did they use to get to you etc. This is terribly useful information to have if you really want to know where do you stand in the virtual world.

So, here is what the StatCounter.com guys have to give you for free (for a limited traffic but if you get bigger traffic than what they give for free I am sure you can afford to pay) and you have the option do that TRANSPARENTLY, you don't put your logo on your site if you don't want. I'm using them and here's several samples of what you get for free, and in real time (immediately after the hit on your site, you'll have it reported into your StatCounter account):

- A Summary, will show you how many hits(page loads), unique visitors and returning visitors you had per day, in a selectable interval
- Popular pages, which pages of your site are most visited
- Came from, your visitors, where did they come from ?
- Visitor paths
- Keyword analysis, what keywords did they searched and got to you
- Country/State/City/ISP - Geographical / ISP information
- AND many others, go check them out !

Also, there is Google Analytics which also contains traffic analysis, but it also has a lot of tools and reports that allow you to assess also your online business performance, including integration with Google's AddWords and other useful stuff that I'm struggling to understand at the time of this post :-)) . From what I see right now, Google Analytics is a excellent looking and performing tool. It's not real time though, but that's not exactly a problem. You can assess tomorrow, today's traffic :-D.

Adaptiv Software web site is tracked with both StatCounter and Google Analytics for purposes of testing and getting familiar with these notions. What we have left to do is to figure out how to bring more traffic to our site. Isn't it ? :-)

- SEO meaning Search Engine Optimization - how do you build your website and what content do you put into it so that it is search engine friendly ? Oh yes, the term exists and it is a VERY powerful notion, as it can decide if you get 100.000 visitors coming from Google searches or you get 1000 visitors from there.

Now I'm sure you'll get TONS of SEO articles and techniques, TONS of software programs and consultancies who'll do that for you. But if you're interested, and being given that Google is the most used search engine out there, you'll want to go and see what they have to say.

I know there are lots of SEO resources and tools out there, I'm just giving a start point.

Also visit Google Webmaster Central and Google Webmaster Tools for a wider range of information in this area.

Now, take a look at Statcounter (excellent for basic + medium needs) and to Google Analysis (more advanced notions) and see what happens :-)

Facturi si Avize de Insotire a Marfii Gratis - de ce

Facturi Gratis este primul produs propriu lansat de Adaptiv Software, asa ca m-am gandit sa scriu putin despre el.

Facturi Gratis este o incercare (prima si in mod sigur nu ultima, indiferent de rezultatul demersului) a echipei Adaptiv Software de a iesi din tiparul "banu' jos ochii la usa" (vorba vine de a iesi, ca nu am fost niciodata inscrisi intr-un asemenea tipar, mai degraba de a demonstra ca se poate si altfel). In cazul Facturi Gratis, Adaptiv Software incearca sa foloseasca un alt tip de gandire si anume: Noi oferim un produs pe care dumneavoastra il folositi gratis, pe perioada nelimitata, indiferent pe cate calculatoare il instalati sau cati utilizatori al acestuia vor fi. Tot pe perioada nelimitata, clientul beneficiaza de actualizari si bug fixing, si aici intervine o aparenta "problema" si anume clientul se poate intreba pe buna dreptate:

"Cine imi garanteaza ca daca produsul crapa astia mi-l repara in timp util ?" Raspunsul formal este nemeni (revin imediat ca nu-i asa de simplu :-D ). Sau "Ma va despagubi Adaptiv Software daca eu sau firma la care lucrez sau pe care o administrez sufera orice fel de prejudicii in urma utilizarii produsului ?" Raspunsul este dat de licenta de utilizare a produsului : "Nu". Si urmatorul lucru care ii trece prin cap cititorului sau clientului : "Astia sunt sau fraieri, sau ne cred pe noi fraieri si incearca sa ne faca !"

O sa incerc sa explic ulterior care este in mare strategia noastra:

1.) Oferim un produs de calitate pentru a nu rani reputatia firmei. Calitatile acestuia vor deveni evidente pentru utilizatori pe parcursul utilizarii. Prin urmare nu avem absolut nici un interes in a oferi un produs de calitate proasta, deoarece, in cazul acesta pe langa ca ne-am pierdut timpul dezvoltandu-l, ne mai stricam imaginea ca si ofertant de produse si servicii software.

2.) Ceea ce noi urmarim prin acest demers este obtinerea de vizibilitate si credibilitate. Ceea ce spunem noi este: "Noi dezvoltam acest produs, il facem cat de bine putem, il actualizam cat mai des cu putiinta, este gratis deci puteti sa-l descarcati si sa-l folositi imediat, este usor de instalat si utilizat deci o sa va dati seama de ceea ce poate in foarte scurt timp. Daca sunteti satisfacut de produs si stiti cine l-a dezvoltat, atunci veti sti unde sa va indreptati in viitor pentru un produs de cel putin aceeasi calitate."

3.) Licenta de utilizare este atat de "zgarcita" cu garantiile pe care le ofera Adaptiv Software in legatura cu Facturi Gratis in principal pentru a feri firma Adaptiv Software de orice tentative de prejudiciere cu care s-ar putea confrunta in urma demersului de a oferi gratis acest produs. Riscul pe care vi-l asumati este minim: In cazul in care nu agreeati produsul, pur si simplu nu il utilizati. De asemenea in urma cresterii numarului de utilizatori a produsului, suntem constienti de faptul ca probabil ne vom afla in imposibilitatea de a satisface cerintele tuturor utilizatorilor programului, gratis. Ceea ce face momentan Facturi Gratis este sa satisfaca un set de cerinte de baza a unei majoritati a clientilor. Cu ajutorul dvs, al clientilor, noi speram sa crestem aceasta majoritate si in acelasi timp sa crestem si dimensiunea setului de cerinte satisfacut de Facturi Gratis.

4.) In cazul in care doriti un alt nivel de suport pentru produs, training sau un alt set de facilitati, eventual modificari la Facturi Gratis, care nu sunt incluse in planurile de dezvoltare pe viitor ale produsului, va rugam sa ne contactati pentru a ne da detalii.

5.) Dorim sa cream in jurul Facturi Gratis o comunitate de utilizatori si aceasta comunitate sa participe activ la imbunatatirea / extinderea produsului prin sugestii, evidentierea eventualelor probleme, cereri de facilitati noi.

Cam lung, in urmatoarele blog entry-uri o sa incerc sa detaliez o serie de facilitati si avantaje ale Facturi Gratis.

Lansare in sfarsit ! - http://www.adaptiv.ro

In sfarsit, am lansat site-ul firmei Adaptiv Software (firma proprie).

http://www.adaptiv.ro

Cu multa, multa muuulta intarziere (am muncit mult sa aducem in stadiu beta primul soft oficial lansat de Adaptiv Software si anume 'Facturi Gratis' ) dar important este ca suntem up & running.

Cat despre Facturi Gratis, in cateva cuvinte, este un program pentru emiterea / tiparirea facturilor si avizelor de insotire a marfii, personalizabile la limita inferioara acum (se poate specifica doar sigla care vreti sa apara pe factura), dar printr-un mecanism destept de templating si autodetectie a template-urilor, impreuna cu facilitatea de automatic update speram sa facem disponibile curand cateva modele noi de facturi, pe langa cel 'Classic' care este disponibil acum. De asemenea, pe langa facilitatea de tiparire facturi, Facturi Gratis mai ofera si posibilitatea de administrare (minimala) a listei de produse si servicii, clienti, angajati, definire serii facturi noi etc.

Sfatul nostru : Descarca si Incearca. Pagina 'Intro' contine cateva filmulete flash care tin loc de cateva pagini bune de help. Si sectiunea de help va fi extinsa in functie de cerintele utilizatorilor.

SI nu uitati : Facturi Gratis este ... GRATIS.

Multumiri cat casa echipei TEA COMMUNICATIONS pentru tot ajutorul si munca depusa in realizarea site-ului. Ei sunt in totalitate "responsabili" de identitatea vizuala a firmei Adaptiv Software. Ei sunt partenerii strategici ai Adaptiv Software pe tot ce inseamna "vizual".

De asemenea multumiri pentru ajutor echipei Mediatic pentru munca depusa, si inca mai mult pentru ideile destepte cu care au venit de fiecare data.

Concluzia: vizitati-ne si hotarati daca va putem fi de folos in vre-un fel sau nu :-)

Web site development

We're currently in the process of developing the web site for my company, Adaptiv Software (no typo, 'Adaptiv' is a romanian word, translated in english it means adaptive), and I was investigating the web resources one can use to get started. Of course you'll want to develop a (X)HTML + CSS based design for your site.

The first and the foremost, excellent resource for that is 'A LIST apart'. Boomer. Information about site structure, information you want/need to put there, CSS development tricks, tips and more. Read all that info (agree, it will take some time) and you'll be projected literally years ahead of what you know now about web design/development, especially if you are a beginner (as me ... hummm, when it comes about creative design, even site structure, shame on me I'm ,among others, a Java web developer, I should know better).

After that, you'll want to meets some gurus and their web friends isn't it ? Ok now meet Dave Shea the creator of the amazingly simple and powerful CSSZenGarden and his Mezzoblue.

Also go see Google's new Visual Design Lead, Douglas Bowman , and his Stopdesign.

Please look at these guys references and what they're visiting (their sites are organized as blogs, it won't be hard to find them) , all are worthy resources.

For a quick start in CSS layouting please go here. For TONS of CSS resources go to CSSVault. Want some Stylish CSS ? : Stylegala. Maniac already ? : CSSMania. Everything Web Development and even more ? : Web Developer's Handbook. I will stop now.

If there are more (and I am sure they are), and you think they're worth looking at, please post them as comments so people reading this can get all the help they need

So, to resume:

• A LIST apart
• Stopdesign
• Mezzoblue
• CSS Zen Garden
• Sample CSS layouts
• CSSVault
• Stylegala
• CSSMania
• Web Developer's Handbook
  

And you'll be a FAR more knowlegeable web developer.

p.s. If you'll post others as comments, I pormiss to evaluate adding them to the list, but I reserve the right to list them :-)

update: thanks to all who contributed to the list of resources.

Why the Java Ecosystem is so much fun after all

I was reading these two threads on InfoQ and I was thinking that Java has had such a big success because starting from James Gosling back the old days and "ending" nowadays with Jonathan Scwartz (SIC!) the Java platform has benefited from several (lots) of the brightest minds of all times. Of course I use Jonathan more to indicate a point in time than a brilliant mind (I'm just joking, it's MY blog after all !).

No what made my day is this:

On one side we have John Crupi (of SUN) evangelizing SOA, and the whole WS* thing, telling us how they basically define, design and publish enterprise services having XML Schema as a fist class citizen: "...whether it's one mega-schema that has all your use-cases and you have to pull out the parts that have been populated or the use-cases are finer grained associated with the schemas at a lower level" etc. Here's the link.

On the other hand, up one slot (on InfoQ) we have Tim Bray (of SUN) who obviously doesn't like what vendors currently do, or trying to do with all that SOA hype, and parts of all this WS* initiative: "...and they are based on XML schema and WSDL, which are two of the ugliest, most broken and irritating specifications in the history of the universe."

So what I did is I had a really good laugh, but after all, these guys are both for real. Obviously they are deeply involved professionals, you cannot laugh at one and disconsider the other. After watching both the interviews, it's sooo easy to make your choice and choose the path you want to go.

So this "being able to choose which way to go", which at a lower level in Java manifests itself by being able to choose between technology and implementations, is available at the concept level also as proven by the difference of vision between these two guys. That's one thing where the Java ecosystem got it right. Being able to choose. But there are lots of other reasons for the success of Java of course. Mhhhm. Mmm.

Which way do you go ? :-D

As a side note, it seems that InfoQ is starting to deliver isn't it ? :-) . Well, that's happening since some time now, what Iwant to say is that now it's becoming more and more obvious. Congrats Floyd and team, and keep up the good work.

Gregory Benford sau Isaac Asimov ? Amandoi ?

Am terminat de citit "Teama Fundatiei", scrisa de Gregory Benford si autorizata de patrimoniul Isaac Asimov. Volumul face parte din "A doua trilogie a Fundatiei", prima (trilogie) fiind scrisa de de Asimov.

Asimov mi s-a parut mai digerabil, mai usor de citit. Benford este mai greu de citit, dar cu atat mai mare este satisfactia cand actiunea incepe sa se lege, si explorezi, pe masura posibilitatilor intelectuale, un univers creat de o gandire mult mai ampla, mai complexa, neingradita de bariere conventionale.

De fiecare data cand termin un volum SF ma intreb cum a fost posibil ca un om sa creeze un univers, sa il descrie in detaliu, sa descrie mecanismele functionarii lui si interactiunile intre indivizi in asa fel incat sa rezulte o capodopera a genului (unde e cazul bine-nteles). Ce fel de pregatire, ce gandire si ce cumul de informatii si imaginatie trebuie sa posede un om ca sa te incante cu o lectura de genul "Fundatia" (Isaac Asimov) sau "Dune" (Frank Herbert) ? In acelasi timp nu ma pot opri sa nu observ esecul calculatorului (puneti aici orice joc in mod text sau grafic piratat sau cumparat cu care v-ati pierdut vreodata timpul :-D ) in crearea unei lumi virtuale de complexitatea celor care sunt posibile prin lectura unui SF (probabil si alte genuri) de calitate. Sa fie oare o problema senzoriala ? (text+lume interioara VS surogat de lume virtuala externa, perceputa in cea mai mare parte vizual ?).

O(pen) S(ource) JTA Transaction Managers

Maybe not lots of you needed things like XA transactions, two phase comit, and won't need it soon but anyway if you need transactions that span more than one data source (2 databases for example) or transactions that span a database and a JMS destination (pretty common usecase), you may want to look at the following:

• Atomikos TransactionsEssentials™
• JBOSS Transactions, which since 3-April-2006 includes technology aquired in 2005 from Arjuna.
• JOTM, the transaction manager developed by ObjectWeb.
• The Tyrex Transaction Manager.
• Simple-jta - A standalone JTA compliant Transaction Manager
• Bitronix Transaction Manager - a simple but complete implementation of the JTA API.
• See also here for some details on Glassfish's transaction manager.
  

If anyone knows some more, post them as replies, thanks.

All of these are usable/configurable outside a full blown J2EE container (I'm not sure about JBOSS Transactions though, anyway it's highly probable that it can be done).

All of these are supported and can be easily integrated with the Spring framework, if you don't want to use a J2EE container.

For more on Spring, Jencks and Geronimo Transaction Manager see here.
For more on Spring and JOTM see here.
For more on Spring and Atomikos see here.
For more on Spring and JBOSS see here.

For more on Spring Transaction Abstraction see here. It's not related to JTA entirely but it will give you some usefull info about transactions in general.

Update:
Thanks to Guy for replying and pointing me where I was wrong about Jencks.

Sybase SQL Anywhere joys

To connect to the f**king stupid Sybase SQL Anywhere (vers 5.5 and down) from a Java app on Windows NT/XP, you'll need, aside from the stupid SQL Anywhere server, another stupid piece of garbage named Open Server Gateway which enables remote client connections to a SQL Anywhere instance.

So what you have to do is:

1.) When installing SQL Anywhere Server make sure you find and check the checkbox that says
'Install the Open Gateway Components' or such shit

2.) Start a SQL Anywhere db engine like this:

dbsrv50.exe c:/sqlany50/sademo.db -n demo

This basically says start the DB from that file, and name it demo

3.) Go to C:\sybase\bin folder or wherever the installation put that stupid folder and start sqledit.exe

In there you'll need to define an Open Gateway instance as follows:

3.1) Into 'Input Server Name' put the name of the OGS instance like 'remote'
3.2) Choose Service Type = 'master'
3.3) Choose Platform = NT
3.4) Choose Net Library driver NLWNSCK
3.5) Connection information/network address - put here the IP the Open gateway will run on and the port, comma separated, like this:
192.168.4.5,5555 - intuitive huh ? Stupid schmucks !
3.6) Click on add service
3.7) Go to File - > Save and exit the DAMN ANTIC tool !

4.) Start the dbos50.exe with a command line like this:

dbos50.exe -e demo remote

Which means: start a damn Open Server Gateway instance named 'remote', use as the SQL Server Engine (-e demo) the one you find with the name 'demo'

Basically what you need to get right is to pass in the OGS name you've configured with sqlqedit (in this case 'remote')

After this, you'll be able to use JConnect from java to access this database as with any DB using JDBC follows:

private static final String USR = "dba";

private static final String PASS = "sql";

private static final String HOST = "192.168.4.55";

private static final String URL = "jdbc:sybase:Tds:" + HOST + ":5555";

.........

5.) If you agree with me that this is all completely BULLSHIT, pursue everybody to DUMP this shit and use PostgreSQL or the free version from Oracle or whatever else instead of this abysmal piece of shit and garbage named SQL Anywhere Server or Open Gateway Server or whatever else.

I've spent 2 days of my developer life to search the net for this information, including those useless Sybase resources, when for any other DB all you need to do is hit the fucking install.exe, grab a JDBC driver and connect to the freacking default DB that is there no doubt.

Some people never learn.

E destul de rau sa nu ai despre ce scrie

Mi-am facut Blog si deocamdata nu imi vine sa injur pe nimeni. Cam asta este intentia mea de fapt. Exista MULTE lucruri care ma deranjeaza in viata publica romaneasca, lucruri care ma fac sa injur. Acum am si unde.

Stay tuned.

PS. As vrea sa aiba si topics sa nu amestec Java cu politica romaneasca...