Everything Technical

Android Facebook Integration

2011-02-23T02:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I found this a little (but only a little) tough than integrating Twitter in your Android applications, but this is how it works:

Download the Facebook Android SDK from https://github.com/facebook
Extract the zip file.
Inside it, there is a folder called 'Facebook' . Its the SDK reference we'll be using.
Open up Eclipse and 'Create a new project from existing source' (I hope you know how to do it, if not, add a comment in the end), and select the Facebook SDK folder you just extracted, as the source.
Remember, this is just a reference project, thus you cant get an APK out of it.
Now create your new project.
Right click on your project>Properties>Android>Library
Select the above imported Facebook SDK as the library
Done, now look at the sample project I am providing. It updates your facebook status after asking for login.

Here's the sample project: Facebook Status Update Example

There are some more IMPORTANT steps to take which are discussed here in detail. Do read them to understand what my project does. Though mi sample project works, but that too because I followed all those steps.

Since its a very short and quick post, If you face any problem at any level, just ping me.

You need answers? sure, we need etiquette !

2011-01-25T01:09:00.000-08:00

There's one thing about Open Source tradition that everyone should know and care about.

This is specifically for the people who are actively (or maybe not that often) ask questions on Q&A sites (like stackoverflow.com) and other development forums.

The person who answers you, is certainly knowing a particular thing better than you, in some cases knows MANY things better than you. This is the only reason he's able to answer you and perhaps get you out of your biggest problem of the day.

He's sharing his hard-earned knowledge with you, for free!

For which he could have earned serious amount of money if he was selling it. But the spirit of collaborative learning is what drives him.

That's how OpenSource things work.

Consider the case when there was nobody to help him, he dug out things himself, and now is ready to share.

For all this favour, he at least deserves a warm thanks, or at least attention when he's waiting for you to respond.

I have been active into Java and now Android for quite few years, and am seeing as Android is rapidly gaining success, many and many people are jumping into Android development, and obviously, are heading toward forums and Q&A sites for help.

But many of them have behaviours which hurt a lot.

You, as a person asking for help, must understand that you are being given knowledge that can help you gain competitive advantage over your peers in a certain area. Your problems are being solved, your project bottle necks are being resolved, all for free. So you at least can be nice to him, be attentive and respond frequently.

Please ask questions nicely. Provide as much information as you can, thank the person helping you.

If you're in chat, try to be friendly and have appropriate amount of gratitude. Please.

Android: Sign-in with Twitter

2011-01-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

Hi.

Many people use Twitter4J for coding Twitter clients for Android, but I couldn't find a single example of how to implement "Sign-in with twitter" in my Android applications, as Facebook Single Sign-on works.
So I coded my own.

I took references from sign-post methodology and Twitter4J itself, merged goods of both and finally had what I wanted.

Find the whole project at this link: ~~http://goo.gl/GOjiE~~ (No longer works)
Find the project at this link now: http://goo.gl/t5VPD

The code should be self explanatory, still if you need any help, revert.
my contact details can be found on: www.sheikhaman.com

Happy coding!

Update: I have been seeing many people not getting the idea of all the stuff being done in the code. So here's the simple step by step explanation of what's happening:

Make sure your twitter app is set as a Web application rather than a Desktop Client. For this you'll have to specify a callback URL at twitter's end. Don't worry, it won't bother us much.
You have the consumerKey and consumerSecret from twitter, you use twitter4j and create an auth URL with helpt of its methods. you specify a callback URL at this level.
Then you invoke an intent that opens this URL in device's browser and takes the user to twitter for logging in.
Once the user logs in, Twitter asks him/her to allow/deny your app, the access to your twitter profile.
Once the user allows/denies permissions to your app, the browser redirects to the callback URL, which you had provided in the second step, and if you're going by my code, that callback URL calls your activity back.
When you're activity gains the focus again, you separate the token and secret from it.
You then create an AccessToken with those token and secret, and use this AccessToken for interaction with twitter.
You can (you should) also save the token and secret and use it to create AccessToken for future interactions with twitter.
If the user wants to logout, simply delete the token and secret from your app. Since twitter4j works in complete stateless manner, you don't have to do anything more.
Once logged in, you'll have access to user's twitter account untill one of the two things happen: 1) The user logs out, or 2) The user revokes access to your app from twitter.

I hope this was explanatory.
Again, In case of questions, revert.

Vodafone Mobile Connect settings for Android handsets.

2011-01-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

If you're also in the same condition which I was in a couple of weeks ago, you're at the right place to find a solution.

I live in India , I had GPRS/Internet enabled through Vodafone, but it only used to work with the browser and nothing else.

I couldn't access Gmail, Market, Twitter, Facebook, Maps and my own apps which used the internet.

After a lot of research, I found out that its the problem with Internet Settings.

I was using settings, made for “Vodafone live!” while I had to use settings fo “Vodafone Mobile Connect”

I had to go to a Vodafone Mini Store here in India, and had to make the guy understand that although my phone is a Sony Ericsson, but its an Android handset, as he was only searching for settings sent by Vodafone for Sony Ericsson handsets.

After searching his computer for a short while, I found out that there were dedicated settings for “Android Handsets” provided by Vodafone.

So, here they are:


Navigate to network settings:  Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks & Access Point Names > New APN (via 'menu' button)

Name: VMC

APN: www

Proxy: 0.0.0.0

Port: 9401

Username: --blank--

Password: --blank--

Server: --blank--

MMSC: --blank--

MMS Proxy: --blank--

MMS Port: --blank--

MCC: 404

MNC: 88

Authentication Type: None

Apn Type: --blank--

Save these settings, make them default, and restart data connection (or restart your phone) and things should work fine now.

The only drawback I noticed, was that the browser won't work using these settings.

So for this, you have Opera Mini!

Please remember that these settings are for Vodafone India. They might not work in other countries.

On the other note, I also have subscribed to their internet services by paying extra fee, not doing so, might also keep your apps from accessing the internet.

Just research this on your end. :-)

Android Tutorial : Custom adapter for ListView to create bubble shaped list rows

2010-12-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hi.
I am seeing many people interested in writing their own adapters for various reasons. the primary reason being their need to implement their custom layouts in the rows.

In this tutorial, I am going to explain how you can set custom layouts to your lists and their rows.

Although, here's an in-depth article (An excerpt from his awesome book) about custom adapters from the great book of 'CommonsGuy' Mark Murphy at his website, but this tutorial is a quick way of doing that.

For this example, I have created a ListView which has a custom background, and custom rows representing a conversation in bubble format.

Here's the screenshot to make things clear:

Find the whole source code at this link.

The whole concept works like this-

You create two layouts:
- One for Even rows
- One for Odd rows
These layouts are designed keeping in mind that they'll be used as layouts of a row.
Your code has an array containing the data that will be displayed in the list view.
Inside your code, write a simple class extending BaseAdapter.
- In this class we implement following methods of Android.Widget.Adapter super class, in order to get things working:
  - getCount() - returns the total number of elements in your data array
  - getIterm() - returns the data item associated with the specified position in the data set. Not implemented at this point.
  - getItemId() - returns the row id associated with the specified position in the list. Not implemented at this point.
  - getView() - returns the row that has to be drawn. This is the method we're interested in the most. It will be called every time the ListView draws a new row.
    Here, you can control what gets drawn in a particular row, by selecting a layout and setting data into it.
    In our example, we are checking whether the position of the row is even or odd, and according to that, we are setting the row's layout.
I have also set a background to the layout which holds the list.
A list has a transparent background in normal conditions which makes you see the image that you set as the layout background, but when the List is scrolled, it doesn't remain transparent any more.
If you want you background image to be visible while scrolling too, set cacheColorHint of your ListView.

Refer to the project for more, and revert for feedback.

Download the source code here.

Happy Coding!

Show Splash Screen for fixed amount of time in Android Apps

2010-12-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

You'll be into situations where you have to present a user with a splash screen that stays for sometime and then loads the main application and goes away.

This post demonstrates a code that displays a splash screen for a fixed amount of time and then loads the main screen.

This code isn't for the situation where you have to display a splash screen until you finish doing some work or load data from the web.

It will be covered in a different post.

Read the code, and understand the things from the comments

import android.app.Activity;

import android.content.Intent;

import android.content.SharedPreferences;

import android.os.Bundle;

import android.os.Handler;

import android.view.Window;

import android.view.WindowManager;

public class SplashScreen extends Activity {

private final int DISPLAY_LENGTH = 1000;

/** Called when the activity is first created. */

@Override

public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {

super.onCreate(icicle);

requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);

getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,

WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);

setContentView(R.layout.splash_screen);

/* New Handler to start the Menu-Activity

* and close this Splash-Screen after DISPLAY_LENGTH/1000 seconds.*/

new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable(){

@Override

public void run() {

/* Create an Intent that will start the Main-Activity. */

Intent mainIntent = new Intent(SplashScreen.this,Main.class);

SplashScreen.this.startActivity(mainIntent);

SplashScreen.this.finish();

}

}, DISPLAY_LENGTH);

}

Android OS Source Code Modification (Part-II): Making the System

2010-10-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Considering that you have followed all the instructions in my previous post here, I take this series of post forward which illustrates how to compile the source code in order to get it running in an emulator.

Building Android 2.2 source to run an Emulator

The main reason for first doing this instead of illustrating the modification of source is that, you should know what steps you have to perform in order to see the changes that you have made.

Secondly, you must be aware of outcomes of your modification.

Third, You must know what your objective is, then you'll be able to work more precisely, for example, you now know that you have to run your modifications in an emulator, so you'll see the screens, change them, make the build and will again run the emulator to see the changes.

Moreover, I feel that it will help you understand what actually happens when we build for a system, as a result, you'll be able to make changes more comfortably, and without working vaguely .

So, I have just ended up creating an emulator, and there's really nothing big involved in this.

To start the compiling/building/making process, we just use the make command.

And to make it deliver an emulator, we use the sdk switch with make command.

This is done in the following manner:

In a shell prompt, first go to the directory where your files are (probably under 'bin' or 'mydroid') or you can also set the $PATH to have any of these folders in your path, then run:

$ make sdk

The above lines will compile the source and will generate an sdk folder under your root directory (most probably this root directory will be 'bin')
If your build fails due to a missing run-java-tool then run the following command to simple set your environment variable ANDROID_JAVA_HOME:

$ export ANDROID_JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_HOME

Then again start the build process with the make sdk

Now wait for a long time, as it is going to take long for it to compile the code.
on my machine, it took 5 hours.

When it finishes, you should be able to find one sdk folder under following directories:

~/bin/out/host/[OS build]/sdk

in my case, the [OS build] folder was linux-x86, so just replace it with yours.
under normal circumstances, it should be yours too.

This folder will have the emulator which you can run.
This emulator can be found in:

~/bin/out/host/[OS build]/sdk/[sdk version dependant folder]/tools

here [OS build] was linux-x86 on my system
and [sdk version dependant folder] was android-sdk_eng.root_linux-x86.

To run the emulator that you have just built, you'll run the emulator command from a terminal, but before that, you must have an AVD to run the emulator.

So,to create an AVD, run the following commands under a terminal

$ cd /bin/out/host/[OS build]/sdk/[sdk version dependant folder]/tools
$ ./android create avd -n [Your AVD's name] -t 1

here [Your AVD's name] is whatever you want your AVD to be named like

As a result, you might get something like this-

Android AOSP (Preview) is a basic Android platform.
Do you wish to create a custom hardware profile [no]no
Created AVD '[Your AVD's name]' based on Android AOSP (Preview),
with the following hardware config:
hw.lcd.density=160

Now, to run the emulator with this AVD, run the following command:


~/bin/out/host/linux-x86/sdk/android-sdk_eng.root_linux-x86/tools$ ./emulator @[Your AVD's name]

You should get your Emulator running.

In the next post, I might show how to make changes in few things of the source, and how to build an emulator to see those changes.

Enjoy!

Android OS Source Code Modification: Getting Started with Android Source Code modification

2010-10-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have just started playing with Android OS Source and I can assure you, it can be a real pain for some people, so be prepared.

For all the downloading and documentation needs, you can go to: source.android.com

We'll be using one key command , repo, to download the OS from the Git repository.
be patient and read the full article, it will explain all.

First of all, you can't play with it on your beloved Windows (to be specific, Android 2.2 Source Code development doesn't support Windows) . you'll have to get a Linux (preferably Ubuntu, as they've used Ubuntu) to work with the source of Android 2.2.

Second, Not all the things written in the documentation are correct. I cam across many anomalies in the documentation, sometimes total contradictions too, so I'll be discussing the real details too.

To download the source code, you'll have to go to this link to get the instructions (While I am also giving them here) -> http://source.android.com/source/index.html

Steps to setup developer machine:

You should have a Mac or Ubuntu machine, as Windows is not yet supported. Now here's the catch, the documentation says they haven't tested 64 bit versions of Ubuntu and prefer to have feedbacks, but the reality is, if you are going to work with Android 2.2 or higher, you wouldn't be able to build your source if you aren't running a 64 bit version. so better get the 64 bit version of Ubuntu and follow the steps ahead. and please, do get a hi end system with at least 3 GB of RAM, good 64-bit processor-motherboard and nice HDD space, as while development and building, Android OS becomes a monster in every aspect.
As soon as you finish setting up your Ubuntu 64, you'll have to setup some more things. use this command to get them:
```
$ sudo apt-get install git-core gnupg flex bison gperf build-essential zip curl sun-java5-jdk zlib1g-dev  gcc-multilib g++-multilib libc6-dev-i386 lib32ncurses5-dev ia32-libs x11proto-core-dev libx11-dev lib32readline5-dev lib32z-dev
```
Notice here, there are a lot of packages being installed, but perhaps you won't be able to install sun-java5-jdk as its not available in Ubuntu repository. You'll have to install it via Sun's website. AND it will also not be supported, as Android 2.2 will require Java6. don't go by the documentation for this. this is why i have written it in strike-through.
Now, install Java6. to ask how this will be done, ask me separately or google for it, as this article isn't about it.
Repo & Git: Repo is a client that fetches the source of Android OS from the git repository. Google guys maintain the code of Android on git, and its updated frequently, so now you'll have to setup repo and fetch the source code.

Configuring Repo:

To download repo, you'll have to follow some easy steps, follow these lines:
```
$ cd ~
$ mkdir bin 
$ echo $PATH 
```
The last line checks if ~/bin is in your path.
Now to download repo:
```
$ curl http://android.git.kernel.org/repo >~/bin/repo
$ chmod a+x ~/bin/repo
```
This will download the repo script and will make it executable.
now the next step is to fetch the whole Android code. hold your breath, its of about 2.1 GB, and will take a LONG time! run this command:
```
$ ./repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git
```
Notice that the documentation doesn't include a './' before repo in this command, but you'll have to include it in order to run it. this will download the manifest and will set the repo client up, so that when you sync, it downloads the correct thing. It will ask for your name and email, so give it. better if its a Google account, it can be used to submit back the code. The next command will start download:
```
$ ./repo sync
```
this command will start syncing your current directory (that is ~/bin) with the Android 2.2 git repository. As this process is going to take time, you can go out for a walk or a game.
Every time you run the syncing, it will sync your base code with the code available in the repository, so possible upgrades will happen. It will be good if you follow a good backup policy.
When you're back, the Android OS might have got downloaded by then, and you can begin experimentation with it.

That's it for now. In my next post I'll explain how to setup Eclipse for Android Source modification and how to build the whole OS.

Till then, take care.
and, I love your comments, so go ahead!

Guide: How to set up Android SDK on Linux machines

2010-08-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

I know many of you have already done this before, but I also believe that there will be a lot who will gain from this document.

Here is a 6 page Google doc in PDF format, which teaches you how to install Android SDK on your Linux machine, set it up and even makes you build your first project on it.

I hope you'll find it useful.
Find the document here: http://bit.ly/cQJJKE

Feel free to download, and in case of any correction, complaint, modification request, you always have comments area here on blogspot :)

Android is on it's way to become #1

2010-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hi guys.
I little time has passed since I last posted.
Quite a few things have changed since then, like my location.

But most effective (and which worth talking about) is the Android sales.
Today, news broke up that Android is now the #1 smartphone platform in the US.

Good News for all of us (or maybe only for Android devs out here huh?)

For more details, you can see this link: Android hits #1

Android :: Cool Tool :: Drag n Drop GUI Designer

2010-03-20T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hi guys.

Recently I came across a free (Open Source) and very useful tool for designing the UI of your android applications.

I know that at times, it becomes painful, and confusing too, to design the exact UI of your choice.

For these purposes, this tool called DroidDraw is a life saver.

Frankly i like this very very much.

Have a screenshot here, and go download it here: http://www.droiddraw.org

How It Works-

Simply Drag and drop components on you screen, select layout, select/create values or do whatever you like.

and Click the button generate on top left corner, and you'll get the XML layout.

Check website for more info and cool tutorials

Good News: Its an online tool, but it is also available as a download for Windows, Linux, Mac. Thats the power of J !!

MySql :: How to convert UNIX_TIMESTAMP data into DATE data in queries

2010-03-17T04:22:00.000-07:00

Hi guys.
there might be some situations where you would want to convert a data stored in UNIX_TIMESTAMP format (may be by your program or else) to human readable DATE format of mysql, then just run this query-

SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(time_stamp_fieldname) as any_ FROM table;

and see the results in a new table format, every record's timestamp data will be changed in Date data.
try it.
n
enjoy!
:-)

How to Unfriend (remove from friend list) Some one on the "New Facebook"

2010-03-15T02:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, here I go.

i tried to find on so many sites, but they all suggest you how to do this in the previous User Interface of Facebook, not in this one.

So here I show you how to do this..

1.) That option is moved under Account tab. so click on it, and select "Edit Friends". Like this-

2.) Now when you click this, another page will appear, like this-

3.) In that page, click on All Connections (marked with "1"), and when all your friends show up in the list, click on the X in front of each friend to remove him/her from your friend list (marked with "2").

Thats it. You're done!

Simple.

wasn't it?

How to import data into MySql Database table from a CSV file

2010-03-13T02:13:00.001-08:00

Whenever I have to fill a table with data in CSV file, I do this-

1.) Log in to your mysql console

mysql -u root -p

2.) Make sure you have a database set up. now select that database

mysql> use mydatabase;

3.) Create the table where you'll be inserting the data of CSV. now here, make sure that the table has the same column names ordering as they appear in the CSV file, because mysql puts all data as it encounters it. means in the same order. so if u break the order, then ur table may have fields with irrelevant data.

4.) Now fire this command to actually load the data from CSV into table-

     mysql>load data local infile 'c:/path/to ur/ file/filename.csv' into table yourTableName fields terminated by ',' enclosed by ' " ' lines terminated by '\n'

This should do all.

Any confusions?

ask me.

comment/compliment here.

Why is Apple Suing HTC and not Google ?

2010-03-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

Posted By Varun Krish On March 3, 2010 (1:07 am) on Fone Arena

Apple is suing HTC over infringment of patents related to the iPhone. But we doubt that this suit is aimed at HTC , it is aimed at Android or for that matter Google – the creator of the Android operating system. So why is Apple suing HTC and not Google ?

HTC is the largest maker of Android handsets and they are the makers of the latest Google phone – the Nexus One. They worked really closely with Google for the production of the phone as you can see in the Making of the Nexus One videos. While the Nexus One is the first Android phone to be sold directly by Google, the T-Mobile G1 which was launched back in 2008 was the first Android phone and developed by HTC.

Google has been betting that Android will outperform the iPhone and after the success of the Motorola Droid and amount of the coverage the Nexus One has been getting since its launch is pretty impressive. Now the complaints filed talk about the Nexus One, HTC G1 , Hero, Magic and Droid Eris – Android Phones.

It's pretty clear now why Google CEO Eric Schmidt got booted from the Apple Board. Earlier rumors indicated Apple was dropping Google as the default search engine on the iPhone and that the company was replacing Google Maps with it's own mapping solution.

Google beat Apple in the race to pick up mobile advertising company Admob last year .

On examining the partial list of patents Apple has managed to patent some of the most obvious things and it leaves almost no room for innovation by other players. We do love the iPhone touchscreen and it's one of the best phones we have ever used. Some of the patents under the radar are.

Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image
List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display
System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device
Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor

Although the rumors indicated Apple and Google were parting ways, during the recent iPad announcement , Steve Jobs was pretty happy to show off the Google Maps application on the iPad. Apple might not want to sue the neighboring Mountain View based Company as Google Services are critical for Apple products . But it's pretty clear that Apple wants to send out a message to Google and other Android manufacturers. We won't be surprised if Apple sued Motorola next .

We are no legal experts but if the patent madness continues , someone might even patent the way you breathe or make love or take a leak !

Wish the patent system gets a revival and there is lesser room for corporate monopoly !

Article taken from Fone Arena - The Mobile Blog - http://www.fonearena.com/blog
URL to article: http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2010/03/03/why-is-apple-suing-htc-and-not-google.html

Nokia's first C series phone

2010-03-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

After a long round of rumours, Nokia has finally made the C5 official, it will be the first phone of C series from Nokia.

It will feature Symbian S60, with 3.2 megapixel cam, and 3.5 mm audio jack along with FM radio.

Nokia has called it a "Smartphone optimized for social networking and sharing".

Its price is 135 EUR in Europe, meaning Rs.8500 when it is launched in India.

Read full at Fone Arena

Samsung Bada phone

2010-02-26T03:10:00.000-08:00

The Sony Ericsson Aspen

2010-02-25T05:16:00.000-08:00

I present you one of the first photos of Sony Ericsson Aspen phone.
Check out the phone's front here-

Pictures are copyrights of Fone Arena, my favorite phone resource site,
so you can just go and check the full gallery out there on Fone Arena
Enjoy!

LG Launches Watch Phone in India

2010-02-25T04:49:00.001-08:00

LG Electronics has launched a watch phone in india.
It sports a bluetooth headset,, is pretty thin at 13.9 mm, but will cost you around 50 thousand rupees.

See the phone-

Read the full article on Fone Arena

Apache Access log mods : Redirecting logs to a MySql Database

2010-02-19T21:33:00.001-08:00

Purpose

There are times when you require that your Apache server logs the request made to it, in a customized location. In my case, i wanted it to log all the incoming requests in a MySql database, so i made some experiments based on the things told by many people and yes, finally i got it. Read the full article for more details. I have tried to keep this article as short as possible, still have tried to make it understandable.

Objective

Redirect all the output to a user defined database (here MySql database) which is logged in "access.log" file by default.

Testing System Configuration

The test machine was running Ubuntu 9.10 with Apache2 and MySql5.

Requirements

1.) For this example, you'll need-
mod_log_sql
2.) Second thing,you'll need to define a database that will hold the table having access logs. I'll show you how.
3.) Lastly, what you need, is a modification to the default configuration file of Apache. I'll show you how to do it.

How Things Are Done : Step by Step

Step1: Installing mod_log_sql

If you don't have this installed by default, which i didnt have, use these procedures to get it installed
Open a terminal, and type-

sudo apt-get install libapache-mod-log-sql-mysql

this will install mod_log_sql.we need this in order to get things done.
now restart the apache server-

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Step2: MySql part

you can use database creation from phpMyadmin as well, but i prefer using terminal, since so many things will be done using only terminal.
So open a terminal, type-

mysql -u root -p

and give your root password.
Now we'll create a user called "loguser" which will be updating tables, and we are going to grant CREATE, INSERT permissions to this user, sinse this user will be doing these things. Fire this command-

grant insert,create on apachelogs.* to loguser@localhost identified by 'loguser_password';
grant insert,create on apachelogs.* to loguser@localhost.localdomain identified by 'loguser_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

where 'loguser_password' can be anything that you like the password to be.

Step3: Apache part

Do the following things to create a virtual host of apache, a new virtual host actually.
This involves creating a separate default config file.
So first, we backup our own default config file.
Fire these commands-

Backing up old config file

sudo mv /etc/apache2/sites-available/default /etc/apache2/sites-available/default_orig

We renamed our old file to default-orig'

Creating new config file

Open a new file-

sudo gedit /etc/apache2/sites-available/default

After this, paste the following text in it-

LogSQLLoginInfo mysql://loguser:loguser_password@localhost/apachelogs
LogSQLCreateTables on
LogSQLDBParam socketfile /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
LogSQLTransferLogFormat AbHhmRSsTUuvI

NameVirtualHost *
<VirtualHost *>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost

DocumentRoot /var/www/web1/web/
<Directory /var/www/web1/web/>
Options Indexes MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>

LogSQLTransferLogTable web1_access_log
</VirtualHost>

Update: I noticed, that if you edit your default config file and put these lines in it in the way that it doesn't create a problem,

then you'll end up with apache logging on two places: one is the default log file, and the second will be your MySql database.

Cool, isn't it?

after doing this, restart your apache-

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

After this, make some requests to apache, and open the particular database that you had created, to see the changes.
We're done!

Conclusion/Known Issues

Well, there are some things you should be careful about-
1.) You'll end up creating a NEW virtual host, so any settings particular to the old virtual host, may not work
2.) I got several warnings, which meant that apache couldn't map the name localhost to the ip 127.0.0.1, so it used the real ip. means, i couldn't use localhost in my URL anymore.
3.) You should have root permissions to perform most of the things, so i prefixed a sudo before commands.
4.) This thing may not be suitable if your database isn't dedicated to the sole task you want this feature to work for, So if you want logging to be done in a file too, then try another methods available on the Internet.
Update: I devised another method. please look at the update of step3 Creating New Config File

For more information, you can refer to this page at How to Forge. But this article is optimized for Ubuntu, while How to Forge article focuses on Debian Etch Linux.
Happy moding!

Samsung's New AMO LED display

2010-02-17T03:50:00.001-08:00

Superb performance of AMO LED screen

read full article from Fone Arena
you'll also get a nice video showing it.

all this is happening in Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona.

Sony Ericsson's first Android Phones

2010-02-17T03:45:00.001-08:00

Sony Ericsson unveils its new line of Android phones: Xperia X10, with 1Ghz snapdragon processor, full touch screen | Xperia Mini, with 600mhz processor, Android, Full touch screen, size equal to a credit card, 5megapixel cam | Xperia Mini Pro, same as Xperia Mini, but with a QWERTY keyboard.
All of them are expected to arrive around april 2010, that is Q2 FY2010. X10 will be priced around 35000 INR, slightly more than the Google Nexus One.

--
Impossible is Nothing

Sent from Calcutta, WB, India

Puma will make phones??

2010-02-17T03:32:00.001-08:00

Yes!!
Just heard that Puma (The shoe maker) has teamed up with Sagem mobile phones, to manufacture Puma phones.
This tie up has happened in the World Mobile Congress 2010 in Barcelona.
amazing!
check the pic out-

the full article may be found here

Assymptotic Notations. Source: Eternally Confuzzled

2008-09-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

By Julienne Walker
License: Public Domain

I try to minimize things that might not be well known to my target audience because I'm reasonably sure that when a lot of people reach some funky notation that they don't understand, they stop reading. Now, while I try also to explain the good, the bad, and the ugly without using those notations as well, it's hard to realize this if you don't get to that point. ;-) The most important measures that I use are for asymptotic growth of algorithms. This article will attempt to explain the use of these notations without requiring you to have a degree in computer science.

Because I'm simplifying reality, it should be noted that none of the information in this article will be completely accurate in a formal mathematical sense, so please refrain from emailing me with complaints that I'm not entirely correct. The information in this article is more than sufficient to know what I mean when I say O(N2), or Ω(Nlog2 N) and which one is better. And to be perfectly frank, once you get the basic concept, that's more than enough to live your life unless you have a burning desire to formally analyze and prove the performance properties of an algorithm. I don't really care about that because I can get close enough with my simplified reality to know which algorithms to choose.

The very word “asymptotic” scares the bejeezus out of people because it sounds complicated. The definition doesn't serve to aleviate that fear. Something that's asymptotic relates to a asymptote, which is defined as “A line whose distance to a given curve tends toward zero”. That's damn near worthless, so let's say that something asymptotic refers to a limiting behavior based on a single variable and a desired measure.

For example, we can use the number of steps that it takes for an algorithm that works with N items to complete (aka. time complexity) as the desired measure, and derive an asymptotic bound on the time complexity by increasing N toward infinity. In real person terms, we're just figuring out how much longer the algorithm takes when we add more items. The most common way to go about this is to double the number of items and see how much longer the algorithm takes.

Now, we could actually test this by writing the algorithm, profiling it to see how long it takes for N, then profiling it again after doubling N. The time difference is a rough estimate of the growth. This is called an empirical test. However, we can also do a theoretical test by measuring the steps that rely on the size of N and get a reasonably useful measure of how the time complexity grows. Because the steps that don't rely on N won't grow, we can remove them from the measure because at a certain point, they become so small as to be worthless. In other words, we pretend that they don't matter in all cases.

This is the idea behind asymptotic notation. By removing the constants (variables that have a fixed but unknown value), we can focus on the part of the measure that grows and derive a simplified asymptotic bound on the algorithm. A common notation that removes constants is called Big O Notation, where the O means “order of” (there are variants that do something similar that we'll look at shortly). Let's look at an example:

1 void f ( int a[], int n )
2 {
3 int i;
4
5 printf ( "N = %d\n", n );
6
7 for ( i = 0; i < n; i++ )
8 printf ( "%d ", a[i] );
9 printf ( "\n" );
10 }
In this function, the only part that takes longer as the size of the array grows is the loop. Therefore, the two printf calls outside of the loop are said to have a constant time complexity, or O(1), as they don't rely on N. The loop itself has a number of steps equal to the size of the array, so we can say that the loop has a linear time complexity, or O(N). The entire function f has a time complexity of 2 * O(1) + O(N), and because constants are removed, it's simplified to O(1) + O(N).

Now, asymptotic notation also typically ignores the measures that grow more slowly because eventually the measure that grows more quickly will dominate the time complexity as N moves toward infinity. So by ignoring the constant time complexity because it grows more slowly than the linear time complexity, we can simplify the asymptotic bound of the function to O(N), so the conclusion is that f has linear time complexity.

Okay, but what does O really mean? Big O notation refers to the asymptotic upper bound, which means that it's a cap on how much the time complexity will grow. If we say that a function is O(1), then there's no growth and the function will always take a fixed amount of time to complete. If we say that a function is O(N) then if N doubles, the function's time complexity at most will double. It may be less, but never more. That's the upper bound of an algorithm, and it's the most common notation.

Now, even though O notation is the most common, it's not always the most accurate measure. For example, let's say we have a sequential search of an unordered array where the items are randomly distributed and we want both the average case growth and the worst case growth:

1 int find ( int a[], int n, int x )
2 {
3 int i;
4
5 for ( i = 0; i < n; i++ ) {
6 if ( a[i] == x )
7 return 1;
8 }
9
10 return 0;
11 }
This algorithm is clearly O(N) because it only has one loop that relies on the size of the array, and the time complexity of the loop doubles as the size of the array doubles. However, that's the worst case upper bound. We know (because smarter people than I figured it out) that on average, only half of the array is searched before the item is found due to the random distribution. So while the time complexity could reach O(N), it's usually less even though we don't really know how much less.

Okay, how about a binary search instead of a sequential search? If the array is sorted, we can make the search a lot faster by splitting the array in half at each comparison and only searching the half where the item might be. That's common knowledge, but why is it faster? Here's the code for a binary search:

1 int find ( int a[], int n, int x )
2 {
3 int i = 0;
4
5 while ( i < n ) {
6 int mid = ( n + i ) / 2;
7
8 if ( a[mid] < x )
9 n = mid;
10 else if ( a[mid] > x )
11 i = mid + 1;
12 else
13 return 1;
14 }
15
16 return 0;
17 }
We can call this an O(N) algorithm and not be wrong because the time complexity will never exceed O(N). But because the array is split in half each time, the number of steps is always going to be equal to the base-2 logarithm of N, which is considerably less than O(N). So an even better choice would be to set the upper bound to log N, which is the upper limit that we know we're guaranteed never to cross. Therefore, a more accurate claim is that binary search is a logarithmic, or O(log2 N), algorithm.

Sometimes we're interested not in an upper bound, but in a lower bound. What's the smallest time complexity that we can expect? For example, what if we want to know the lower bound for the binary search we just found the upper bound for? Well, since a correct binary search is guaranteed to only take log N steps to complete, we can say that the lower bound is also logarithmic. There's a notation for the lower bound too, called Omega, so we can say that the lower bound for binary search is Ω(log2 N).

Wait a second. The upper and lower bounds are the same! That's good, now we can have a very accurate bound on the time complexity of a binary search. There's a notation for the asyptotically tight bound too, called Theta, and since we know the O and Ω for binary search and they're the same, we can say that binary search is Θ(log N). O(log2 N) is still correct, and you'll see it more often than any of the other notations, but Θ(log2 N) is a much stronger claim.

Note that in the best case scenario, the first item we look at would be the one we're looking for and the search would effectively be O(1), so why is the lower bound Ω(log2 N)? Remember that we're only using one variable, the size of the array, to derive our measure. If we use other variables, such as the contents of the array and the item being searched for, we can easily say that the lower bound is O(1) because the best possible case is an immediate match. However, lacking those extra variables, we can't make an assumption. Therefore, the longest time complexity possible is logarithmic for both the upper and lower bounds.

Okay, what about a sorting algorithm? Let's start with selection sort. The algorithm is simple: find the largest item and move it to the back of the array. When you move an item to the back, decrease the size of the array so that you don't continually choose from the items that have already been selected:

1 void jsw_selection ( int a[], int n )
2 {
3 while ( --n > 0 ) {
4 int i, max = n;
5
6 for ( i = 0; i < n; i++ ) {
7 if ( a[i] > a[max] )
8 max = i;
9 }
10
11 if ( max != n )
12 jsw_swap ( &a[n], &a[max] );
13 }
14 }
This algorithm has two loops, one inside of the other. Both rely on the size of the array, so the algorithm is clearly O(N * N), more commonly shown as O(N2) and referred to as quadratic. The fact that N decreases with each step of the outer loop is irrelevant unless you want a tight bound, and even then it's difficult to analyze. But that doesn't matter much because the upper bound is really all we care about for an existing sorting algorithm.

Let's look at a faster sort. The heap sort algorithm uses a tree based structure to make the selection process faster. Because the selection part of a selection sort is Θ(N), and the outer loop that it's nested in is O(N), selection sort is O(N2). But by using a heap where selection is O(1) and fixing the heap is Θ(log2 N), we can turn the whole process of selection into a Θ(log2 N) process:

1 void jsw_do_heap ( int a[], int i, int n )
2 {
3 int k = i * 2 + 1;
4 int save = a[i];
5
6 while ( k < n ) {
7 if ( k + 1 < n && a[k] < a[k + 1] )
8 ++k;
9
10 if ( save >= a[k] )
11 break;
12
13 a[i] = a[k];
14 i = k;
15 k = i * 2 + 1;
16 }
17
18 a[i] = save;
19 }
20
21 void jsw_heapsort ( int a[], int n )
22 {
23 int i = n / 2;
24
25 while ( i-- > 0 )
26 jsw_do_heap ( a, i, n );
27
28 while ( --n > 0 ) {
29 jsw_swap ( &a[0], &a[n] );
30 jsw_do_heap ( a, 0, n );
31 }
32 }
Because the heap is structured like a tree, jsw_do_heap is Θ(log2 N). The first loop in jsw_heapsort is O(N / 2), but because the second loop is O(N) and dominates the first loop, we can toss the complexity of the first loop. So we have an O(N) loop that calls a Θ(log2 N) function. We conclude that the upper bound of heap sort is O(Nlog2 N), which doesn't have a set descriptive name, but it's often shown as O(N * log2 N). However, because the lower bound of heap sort is also Ω(Nlog2 N) for the same reasons as binary search, we can safely say that heap sort has Θ(log2 N) time complexity.

We've looked at the most common time complexities: O(1) for constant time, O(N) for linear time, O(log2 N) for logarithmic time, O(Nlog2 N), and O(N2) for quadratic time. Others exist, such as O(N!) for a ridiculous factorial growth, but you won't see them often. Here are the upper bound time complexities in order of growth from least to greatest that you're most likely to see:

O(1) - No growth
O(log2 N) - Grows by the logarithm of N when N doubles
O(N) - Grows with N when N doubles
O(Nlog2 N) - Grows by the product of N and the logarithm of N when N doubles
O(N2) - Grows twice as fast as N when N doubles
O(N!) - Grows by the factorial of N when N doubles
Hopefully this article clears up any confusion without delving too far into the theory. Unfortunately, algorithm analysis can only be simplified so much before it becomes useless, but I think I covered all of the foundations that would be useful in figuring out a basic time complexity for your own algorithms as well as understanding many of the time complexities given for existing algorithms.

TopFrom the twisted minds of Julienne Walker and The EC Team

more related stuff at-
http://www.eternallyconfuzzled.com

E-books related to Computer Science

2008-08-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Here, i have posted some of the links where you can download free ebooks from.
these books are related with computer science.
Notice, that i haven't hosted them, iam just providing u with the links of the sites which originally have them stored.
and yaa,they are ABSOLUTELY FREE.

here are some-

But, After u visit these Links, Do tell me via email or anything if u dont find what u expected, or if the links are broken. Please do this favor so that i can correct the mistakes.

Introduction to Algorithms (link 1)-
Introduction to Algorithms, by Cormen 1

Introduction to Algorithms (link2)-
Introduction to Algorithms, by Cormen 2

Introduction to Algorithms (link3)-
Introduction to Algorithms, by Cormen 3

Management Information System, A O.Brian
MIS

Data Communication and Networking, Forouzan (26.1 MB) - Link 1
DCN

Data Communication and Networking, Forouzan (26.1 MB) - Link 2
DCN

Data Communication and Networking, Forouzan (35.2 MB)
DCN

Data Communication and Networking, Forouzan - Solutions (1.2 MB) - Link 1
DCN-Solutions

Data Communication and Networking, Forouzan - Solutions ( 642.8 KB) - Link 2
DCN-Solutions

All the above books are hosted on esnips.com by their users, and are free to download.u may need to register first, but thats free too.

Operating System Concepts, Galvin, 7th edition-
Operating System Concepts, Galvin

Operating Systems, Tennenbaum-
OS by Tennenbaum

the above files are hosted on crazyreader.com.

the download should begin as soon as u click the links.
keep a watch on this post, i'll be updating it with more books soon

JSmooth - Wrapping JARs into EXE files

2008-08-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hello guys, ive been seeing that so many of u need to wrap (or convert as u might say) ur java JAR archives into exe, so that they can look better.
so the solution is a software kinda thing called JSmooth API, which wraps ur JAR archives into windows exe files.
heres the link to that software-
JSmooth
its an open source and free ware.

and heres a guide which tells u about how to get things done through it in 10 easy steps.
well i have created this guide myself, so for any questions related to it, ask me.
heres its link-

take care, and continue commenting.

Format USB Pen Drive in NTFS format

2008-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

normally all the USB pen drives are formatted in FAT or FAT32 file system by windows.
but you can also have them formatted in NTFS to use the compression feature and file encryption provided b windows, and also, the ability to use quota management if ur drive is used by some particular users.

to do this, follow these steps-
1.) Right click on My Computer>Properties.
2.) On the Hardware ab, click on Device Manager Button.
3.) select your pen drive from the list of storage devices listed.
4.) Right click on the pen drive, and click Properties.
5.) Now in the Policies tab,check the Optimized for Performance.
6.) This will enable the NTFS file system when u try to format the drive normally.

Thats it..!!
ur done.
u can now use NTFS on ur pen drive also, bt there may be a compatibility issue on the OSs which do not support NTFS, like some of Linux vendors, so do manage these things.

And, After doing this, please remove ur pen drive by choosing Safely Remove Hardware option only, and not by just plucking it out from the USB port.
In win xp, this safely remove.. option will get highlighted in the system tray when pen drive is plugged in.

Enjoy!!

Make Your XP talk your text

2008-08-08T23:09:00.000-07:00

Copy the following things in notepad-

Dim msg, sapi
msg=InputBox("Enter text","Text to Speech Microsoft SAM")
Set sapi=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
sapi.Speak msg

now save this file with extension - .vbs
means a vb script file.

now double click it to run, then enter the text u want to be spoken, and click OK
Voila!!!

Removing autorun.inf virus

2008-07-28T04:05:00.000-07:00

sometimes ur drives get infected with viruses which dnt let u open that file, or simply scramble up ur right click context menu.
so why use any anti virus when u can remove it urself??

so, make a search for autorun.inf file, and include hidden files and system file in it.as soon as u get the file, SHIFT+DELETE.
now relogin.ur dives will get open.
u can also enable the "show hidden files" options from folder options menu, bt sometimes that virus disables this feature too. so for this, u can go to DOS, and type-
C:>\DIR/AH

this will show u ur hidden files, now mesmerize the names to delete, delete that autorun.inf file and other unwanted files with DEL command, and relogin.

i'll be posting the registry entry which control the view of hidden file.
try this until then or mail me if any problem

Welcome!!

2008-07-15T04:15:00.000-07:00

hello guys!!
here's my new blog, that will contain, program codes, their logic, and some concepts I would be working on.

it will also contain some tweaks and tricks for different things, to either flaunt your devices or to use them in the times of need/crisis.

compliments, comments and corrections are always welcomed. :)