fishdan

Year: 2011

  • Using a Servlet to generate chart images for BIRT

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    dan
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    I’ve been working with Google’s chart tools — specifically their Image Chart tools.  My problem — I’m using BIRT as my PDF report engine, but I have a web interface.  I want the report to look the same on the web as it does in BIRT (which has it’s own excellent native charting library).  I…

  • Followup to the Integer toggle code

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    My good friend Greg mentioned that I should use bitwise operators to perform a toggle, as opposed to my earlier method of using integer math to manipulate the state.  I had not done that because the bitwise implementation is imho not comprehensible by a developer who does not have a CS degree. As an example it is not…

  • Using an integer to implement a binary toggle switch in Java

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    dan
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    We were talking about a way to use an integer to indicate teh state of a series of switches.  e.g. if there were 5 switches and the first 3 were on we would say think of that as 11100, or 28 Not a bad method — you can very quickly toggle switches on and off…

  • Fishman’s law

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    The corporation was initially a construct of government to enable efficiency in business.  Now government is a construct of corporations to enable efficiency in business.

  • Thoughts about power

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    The problem with power is that… well… it’s POWERFUL.  It can be used for both good and ill, but regardless of it’s usage, the more power there is behind a command, the harder it is for the individual to resist.  That’s pretty close to the definition of power. It’s become clear that throughout history there…

  • Concatenating BIRT reports via servlet

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    I’ve been using BIRT a bit and in our project we generate alot of PDFs and have found BIRT to be the beswt product there is for that.  One thing BIRT does NOT allow you to do is to combine reports.  The below is my Servlet based solution for that which correctly renumbers the pages …

  • Calvin R. Hill for City of Worcester School Committee

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    My co ex-MGH Institute of Health Professions colleague and generally good guy Calvin R. Hill is running for School Committee in Worcester MA. Calvin and I worked together for a year, and that was enough for me to form a pretty good impression of the guy. Calvin’s a person who get’s things done, but he…

  • Some thoughts on the world oil market, and the lesson of the last mile

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    Oil goes to $200/barrel — an almost certainty in the next 20 years. You don’t think that cost constraint will affect the nations that can’t afford oil like we can? Maybe they’ll be the ones who engineer their way out of this. This may end up being a cell phone type situation. Because the US…

  • Ubuntu on Asus 900a

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    I just installed ubuntu on my asus 900a. If your flash drive isn’t being recognized, try a different usb slot. Third time was the charm for me.  The front right slot was the one that worked.  Others have reported left only works for install, so try them ALL Sent from my Samsung Captivate(tm) on AT&T