My browser is estimated to have a fingerprint that conveys at least 16.08 bits of identifying information.

I created a very simple log4j-appender which used notify-send (commandline-tool for libnotify) to report errors. This way I will get a visual notification when something went wrong, immediately showing the class of the error and the message.

As an example, I use my favorite Application Server, JBoss AS, but any java-app using log4j (or commons-logging on top of log4j or slf4j-log4j) will do.

Step 1

Make sure notify-send is installed on your machine. You can check this by running this command in your terminal:

notify-send -i info "Hello world"

Step 2

Place the notify-send-log4j.jar in the classpath of your application. In case of JBoss, it’s in the node’s /lib/ folder.

• Download notify-send-log4j-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar OR
• Download notify-send-log4j.zip, containing a tiny maven-project and build it yourself (so little code isn’t worth being checked in in SVN ;))

Step 3

Configure Log4j to use the appender. For JBoss, the jboss-log4j.xml is found in the server-node’s /conf/ folder. Add a new appender, at ERROR-level using onlyOnceErrorhandler:

<appender name="SEND-NOTIFY"
  	 class="be.stacktrace.log4j.notifysend.NotifySendAppender">
     <errorHandler class="org.jboss.logging.util.OnlyOnceErrorHandler"/>
     <param name="Threshold" value="ERROR"/>
</appender>

Add the appender to the root-category:

<root>
     <appender-ref ref="CONSOLE"/>
     <appender-ref ref="FILE"/>
     <appender-ref ref="SEND-NOTIFY"/>
</root>

Step 4

Cause an error

Step 5 (optional)

If you’re using compiz, you can add a custom effect to the notification-popup. For example, use the ‘Burn’-effect when appearing (see screenshot on top of post):

• Open compiz-config
• Open “Animations” in tab “Animate when opening”
• Add new animation, use window-match: (type=Notification)

When I was using the flags in an app, I noticed that (accoring to the XML’s I downloaded from iso.org containing all country-data) 5 flags where missing. One was Antarctica, but makes sense since it has no official flags. The other I created myself, trying to use the same “style” as the original ones, see below:

: Antarctica (AQ)
: Guersney (GG)
: Saint Barthélemy (BL)
: Saint-Matrin (MF)
: Jersey (JE)
: Isle of Man (IM)

Feel free to use these (was only 10 minutes of work anyway…):
Dowload zipfile containing extra flags

Using this popup is very easy:

1. Add org.eclipse.mylyn.commons.ui as dependency for your plugin (see screenshot below)
2. Create a class that extends the (internal) class AbstractNotificationPopup (org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.provisional.commons.ui.AbstractNotificationPopup), see code snippet 1. Note the “SupressWarnings” annotation, to get rid of the annoying compiler-warnings bugging us about “restricted” use… We know what we’re doing
3. You can show the popup the same way you should treat another Dialog, have a look at snippet 2.

Code snippet 1

package be.stacktrace.notification;
 
import org.eclipse.mylyn.internal.provisional.commons.ui.AbstractNotificationPopup;
import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Image;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
 
import be.stacktrace.jfarse.Activator;
 
@SuppressWarnings("restriction")
public class MyNotificationPopup extends AbstractNotificationPopup {
 
	public MyNotificationPopup(Display display) {
		super(display);
	}
 
	@Override
	protected void createContentArea(Composite composite) {
		composite.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, true));
		Label testLabel = new Label(composite, SWT.WRAP);
		testLabel.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.FILL_HORIZONTAL));
 
		testLabel.setText("Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. "
				+ "Maecenas nunc elit, vulputate vel sollicitudin nec, vehicula ut est. Sed diam risus, "
				+ "dignissim eu sodales vitae, vestibulum et libero.");
		testLabel.setBackground(composite.getBackground());
	}
 
	@Override
	protected String getPopupShellTitle() {
		// Return a custom title
		return "Stacktrace.be ";
	}
 
	@Override
	protected Image getPopupShellImage(int maximumHeight) {
		// Use createResource to use a shared Image instance of the ImageDescriptor
		return (Image) Activator.getImageDescriptor("/icons/information.png")
				.createResource(Display.getDefault());
	}
}

Code snippet 2

...
 MyNotificationPopup popup = new MyNotificationPopup(window.getShell().getDisplay());
 popup.create();
 popup.open();
...

java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /opt/eclipse/plugins/org.mozilla.xulrunner.gtk.linux.x86_1.8.1.3-20070904/xulrunner/libjavaxpcomglue.so: libstdc++.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
at java.lang.ClassLoader$NativeLibrary.load(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary0(ClassLoader.java:1751)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1647)
at java.lang.Runtime.load0(Runtime.java:769)
at java.lang.System.load(System.java:968)
at org.mozilla.xpcom.internal.JavaXPCOMMethods.registerJavaXPCOMMethods
(JavaXPCOMMethods.java:57)
at org.mozilla.xpcom.internal.MozillaImpl.initialize(MozillaImpl.java:48)
at org.mozilla.xpcom.Mozilla.initialize(Mozilla.java:668)
…

XULRunner needs libstdc++5 and it seems that it’s removed from the Karmic repository when upgrading from Jaunty. To get JBoss Tools back online, install the .deb file yourself from the jaunty repo:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/i386/libstdc++5/download

A word processor including a native XML file format is provided. The well formed XML file fully represents the word-processor document, and fully supports 100% of word-processor’s rich formatting. There are no feature losses when saving the word-processor documents as XML. A published XSD file defines all the rules behind the word-processor’s XML file format. Hints may be provided within the XML associated files providing applications that understand XML a shortcut to understanding some of the features provided by the word-processor. The word-processing document is stored in a single XML file. Additionally, manipulation of word-processing documents may be done on computing devices that do not include the word-processor itself.

newState.setCredentials(AuthScope.ANY,
       state.getCredentials(AuthScope.ANY));

Even te kort door de bocht… Commons-httpclient veralgemeent authenticatie zodat de method-signatures van setCrendentials() en setProxyCredentials() exact dezelfde is.

Gefixed op de update-site. Als je de laatste versie (0.0.2) al hebt geinstalleerd, gaat eclipse deze fix niet binnenhalen. Best gewoon de jar manueel downloaden en in “/eclipse/plugin/” kopieren!

Het duurde wat langer dan verwacht, maar hij is er “Traffide Buggy Bison”.

Meer info hier

Hoewel ik vroeger een microsoft-fanboy was, ben ik een jaar en half geleden volledig overgestapt op Linux (Ubuntu). Gisteren nog maar eens bevestigd waarom…

Heb mijn goed hart laten zien aan mijn vriendin en heb besloten om toch een XP op mijn desktop te installeren. Niet dat ze niet met linux kan werken, maar enkel en alleen omdat die nieuwe “µsoft Live” het fysiek onmogelijk maakt om een email te sturen op “Live mail” vanuit firefox op Ubuntu.

Ineens de grove borstel erdoor. Schijf formatteren, 2 partities maken en windows installeren. Daarna linux erop en GRUB bootloader ervoor en iedereen tevreden.

Enkele jaren terug was mijn “argument” om geen linux te installeren: “Linux heeft geen drivers voor alles en dan moet ik zelf beginnen compilen enzo…”. Nu moet ik op mijn woorden terugkomen. Beide systemen geïnstalleerd, met alle “randapparatuur” werkende, waren de volgende CD’s OF manueel gedownloade drivers nodig:

Windows XP :

1. Windows XP
2. Microsoft office
3. Nvidia Driver CD
4. Asus Wireless-lan USB-adapter driver CD
5. USB bluetooth-adapter CD
6. MSI moederbord CD (sound-driver etc.)
7. Printer Driver (HP Laserjet)

Ubuntu 8.10:

1. CD Ubuntu 8.10

Uit eerbetoon heb ik dan ook het “I love Ubuntu” logo gemaakt in Inkscape: