XML vs JSON

2010 March 27
tags: android, json, xml
by Eddie

I recently read an article on Linux Magazine that suggested JSON is a better tool for data transfer than XML on Android phones.  So I decided to try switching some of QueueMan’s queue retrieves over to JSON.  Eliminating the verbose tags may be much quicker over wireless airwaves.

The choir I tackled was to compare the performance of XML and JSON by downloading the user’s recommendations from the Netflix API. To make testing quick I would make a call to both XML and JSON classes in each loop, and repeat 10-30 times for each sample point.  The sample points were 1,5,10,15,25,50, and 64 discs. (64 being the current # of recommendations Netflix is offering me)

I used org.xml.sax, and org.json. JSON* as the libraries for my parsing.

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My Free Google Phone Arrived!

2010 March 24
by Eddie

I never posted the start of this story. To be honest I thought it was a scam, and didn’t want to boast about being burned.
BUT alas it is not a scam! – The phone arrived as promised and ahead of schedule.

Free Google Phone in Box

'heres yer phone, thanks for rockin'

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Why I don’t support DZone

2010 February 25
tags: dzone, privacy
by Eddie

I have had more than a few friends and websites point me to DZone as a source for articles and reference material.
I love the idea of free PDF cheat-sheets for just about any language or technology, but there is a major “gotcha“:

Postal addresses, and other personally identifying information and data, will be used to promote DZone and other DZone companies products and services, and may be rented and/or licensed to selected outside firms for promotional purposes. Offers for which the personally identifying information and data are rented and/or licensed for use and the users are required to target their offers carefully.

Telephone numbers of DZone users may be used by DZone, affiliates and it’s advertisers for promotional purposes. DZone may rent and/or license for use phone numbers to selected outside firms for promotional purposes. Offers for which the numbers are rented and/or licensed for use are required to target their offers carefully.

When you provide your email address to us, you agree to receive email from DZone and its sister DZone companies. We allow users to “opt-out” of receiving email from outside firms, however, when email information is collected and with each email use of the user’s address you can individually “opt-out” of receiving further e-mail from outside firms, DZone and its sister DZone companies. If a user does not choose to “opt out” at the time the email address is collected, or does not respond to the questions concerning how we may use their email address, the address may be rented and/or licensed for use to outside firms.

That is taken directly from DZone’s Privacy Policy, and although not illegal by any means, is a major nuisance nonetheless.

Translation: DZone reserves the right to earn income (in addition to the advertisements) by adding your private information to mailing lists and call lists.  Anyone who has been added to a list like this in the past knows the drill — once you get on one, your information gets passed around like a dirty dollar bill.  Soon you’re receiving mailers for credit cards, and phone calls for auto warranties.   Super!

Running Pligg on Nginx – Rewrite rules

2010 February 19
by Eddie

As I mentioned in my article “Migrate form Apache to Nginx and keep rewrite rules intact”, Nginx is an awesome and lightweight web server.

The only trouble I have ran into since the switch is Pligg. The htaccess file is ridiculously complex, and I suspect some of the rewrite rules to be repetitive or overlapping in areas.

Using the rules from my past article though I was able to get nginx rules in place that seem to work.

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iPaddie iPad is the new iPad

2010 January 29
by Eddie

iPad ipad. Ipad ipad ipaddie pad pad. Ipad? ipad ipad. Ipading ipad is ipad for the ipad of ipadia. Ipadia’s prime-minister says

[...] iPady? absurd, ipad ipad ipad ipad”

Update- This just ipad

ipadind ipad is the new ipad for everyone who never needed an ipad.  Plus the new ipad doubles as an ipad, Ipad right? Ipad the ipad striclty for ipadding, and it can ipad at 3 frequencies! ipad!

Migrate from Apache to nginx (and keep rewrites intact)

2010 January 28
by Eddie

nginx is a very fast and very lightweight web server that can handle static HTML blazingly fast, and does very well with dynamic (PHP) content as well.   In fact the very site your viewing is running atop of nginx.  nginx isn’t ideal for every server, and can’t handle SVN or WebDAV among other protocols.  But for your average site running PHP, Ruby or Django, nginx is choice.

The trouble was that I have lots of site (like this one!) that rely on a myriad of rewrite rules and logic to direct users properly.  Because we lose the mod_rewrite provided by apache, we need to tell nginx about our rewrite rules.

Luckily the logic is very similar, and all expression based as before…

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Google Nexus One for only forty nine dollars ($49)

2010 January 17
by Eddie

Everyone is talking about Google’s Nexus One. Most people are saying that an unlocked phone for $529 just won’t fly here in America.  We like our phones with a ridiculous amortization attached through 2 year contracts so we feel like we’re getting a deal.  Sure we end up paying far more than the phone is worth – but we don’t pay it all at once. That’s the American way – defer.

Now if you tell a company like Verizon that you don’t want their discount phones for new contracts they will say fine.. but you won’t save any cash.  In fact you’ll pay more for unlocked phones plus an overpriced contract.

However for those fortunate few who have escaped the new-every-2-until-your-dead plan there are other options – like a Google Nexus One for $49.  If you’ve not had enough of my Verizon bashing, please read on.

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Netflix on Android – from G1 to Droid

2010 January 5
by Eddie

I wrote a month or two ago about my Android application for Netflix subscribers. The application allows users to fully manage their instant and disc queues, browse recommendations and search all titles.

The reason then for this post is to share an update and gloat a bit. QueueMan has a whole bunch of new features, has been downloaded nearly 5,000 times (Update: Over 10,000 times!), is tested and proven on Motorola’s Droid platform, and is getting quite positive reviews compared to other Netflix apps on the market.   Oh yeah – and it’s all open source – Booyah!

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Google to Offer New Phone Direct to Consumers in 2010

2009 December 14
by Eddie

Android was a nice start, but…

For sometime now Google has been offering its custom built mobile OS – Android – to various carriers and manufacturers.  News has been released however that the company plans to offer its very own phone direct to consumers by Quarter 1 – 2010.

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Running Android SDK on 64bit Fedora 11

2009 October 24
by Eddie

I just got up and running with Fedora 11 after Ubuntu finally pushed me over the edge.  Every update seemed to break something else for me.

But anyway Fedora is great, save one small caveat – I couldn’t run any 3rd party 32bit applications. Ok, make that one huge caveat.  Consider some critical apps like Flash, or Android SDK that just wouldn’t fly.  Rather than downgrade my distribution to the 32bit flavor (which too would solve this dilemma) I opted to keep my 64bit distribution and just add the needed 32 bit binaries.

SO you want to install Android SDK, or another 32bit app on Fedora 64bit? Read on!
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