Fredriksson Space

Remote Backups

2007-09-17T14:00:00.000+02:00

We found a very interesting supplier of a service provider oriented backup system. I will try to implement it on some of our customers during this week.

There seams to be a lack of these products. Especially at the mid segment...

A week full of discussions

2007-09-09T15:01:00.000+02:00

I have had a week full of very interesting discussions.

There has been everything from finalizing business meetings to deep discussions regarding future cooperation opportunities.

I visited Finland again. It has been a while and it was nice to see Helsinki, even though it was a very short sight while driving out to the Finish Expo Center in Pasila. Later on, after attending a few inspiring meetings we drove to Turku. I have never seen Turku before and I had the chance to tour it briefly after our business meetings were over the following day. I must say I liked it!

Our sales manager is picking up speed. It will be very interesting to see her work in the upcoming weeks! We have high hopes for her...

We are looking for sales trainees and IT technicians as well so if you happen to be Swedish and English speaking person living in Stockholm and looking for a job, let us know!

Cheers

Sending non ASCII byte characters with Java

2006-06-09T15:42:00.000+02:00

I recently wrote a short piece about a simple Telnet implementation. I got it all working...until I moved the code to a Solaris machine. Then it stopped working.

It turned out that the problem was the platforms' default charsets.

So, if you plan to send byte long control characters over TCP with Java. If you also choose to use the character based print and read methods from the Writer and Reader classes, as opposed to the byte based write and read methods. Then you should seriously consider manually setting the charset.

For example, in the case of a BufferedReader:


BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(
        new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream(),
                              Charset.forName("ISO-8859-1")));

Over and out for now then.

Simple Telnet Client implementation

2006-05-23T16:35:00.000+02:00

Some background
I recently had to implement a software which needed to communicate with a system over Telnet.

My first thought was "Well that's easy, I just send and receive raw TCP". In the end things actually turned out to be almost that simple. However, "just raw TCP" didn't get me all the way.

In fact, it didn't even get me started. In order to talk with most Telnet hosts, you must first negotiate some capabilities. If you don't the host will think you are too stuck up to talk to. For you guys who already know this, the following post will be way below your level.

The key to solve the problem was to look the RFC up, as usual. The RFC you should be looking for is RFC 854.

I do not intend this post to be a pedagogic Tutorial or Howto. I am simply documenting the conclusions drawn from my own first time implementation of a Telnet Client.

The idea of Telnet
The basis of the Telnet protocol is that it should as if you where sending raw TCP. At least as long as you only send ASCII.

In order to negotiate about terminal capabilities, local echo and such, there is a set of codes outside the ASCII table range in order to help you along.

The idea is for the host to not only respond with ASCII output, but to be able to format it in a nice human readable way as well. To do this, the host needs to know what tricks the terminal can do.

For me, writing an automated software, taking this into consideration was a necessary evil.

Negotiation Flow
Telnet negotiations consists of command pairs. There are the positive commands:

WILL

... and the negative...

DON'T

WON'T

This means for example that in order to request a capability the host or the client sends DO. In order to confirm, the other side sends WILL. There are a few considerations that are mentioned in the RFC to point out:

Both parties send an identical request simultanously, each party should consider the other's request as an acknoledgement.

Parties may only request a change in option status.

A request to set the party in a mode it is already in shouldn't be answered at all.

Parties may only request a change in option status.

These pointers are really really important! If you don't consider it in your implementation, you might end up with very interesting loops...

Note: Even though most negotiations are handled in the beginning of a session. There might be new requests sent at any time during a session. If you are writing a user interactive client, these requests are important. However, if you are writing an automated software you just need to know what codes to filter once you are done with the initial chit-chat.

So how do I recognize a command?
A command is always preceeded by the IAC character (see RFC 854). After that, one or more characters will follow in order to describe the command.

One thing to remember is the SB and SE characters. They are there in order for one party to request additional modes. Common modes are for example terminal color capabilities and terminal geometry. When you trace a SB character from the host, I suggest you simply google the characters sent in the sequence in order to find the corresponding specifications.

Implementation tips
So, the straight forward way to handle this is to write a class to wrap around your standard client Socket implementation.

Let your little wrapper catch the IAC codes and handle the negotiations, let the rest pass through. Simple as that.

Our first fulltimer

2006-05-22T23:57:00.000+02:00

A while ago, we hired hour first part time technician. That was fun. However, today we hired our first full time developer. That was great!

Of course, neither me or my daughter have anything to do with this post.

Long time no see

2006-05-13T11:30:00.000+02:00

Hey guys, I'm back. :)

The past months has been quite intense, although fun as well. We are now running a company called Pale Blue AB. It is situated in the Stockholm area and focus on IT Service and consultancy based software development.

It is going well. We are building an growing business network and (believe it or not) we are actually getting customers! :-)

With our broad competence, we can probably help you with whatever IT-related problem you need solved. So, now you know where to find us.

At home, things are running really good as well! Our daughter, Tilde, was born on December 13th and is now a very active and happy 5 months old baby. Becoming a parent is rewarding. If you haven't, I can recommend trying it.

Going back to Stockholm

2005-10-04T17:22:00.000+02:00

So, it is now time to leave Portugal and head back for Stockholm. We plan to pack the car and leave in the next few days.

Both Marika and I will miss the PDM&FC folks here in Lisbon but we will keep in touch. Specially since we will continue working for PDM&FC while in Stockholm.

In parallell to this, I, Miguel (Founder and CEO of PDM&FC) and two more friends have started a new Swedish company called Pale Blue Dot (Website coming up soon).

So, I will definately be busy enough. :)

Winds picking up around ICANN

2005-10-04T10:26:00.000+02:00

Carl Bildt wrote this entry in his blog about the struggles around taking over the political control of the Internet. Even though ICANN doesn't control ALL INTERNET, I agree with Carl Bildt's concern about the recent maneuver from the European Union.

...all in all. Get a Grip EU! Yes, sure the US is acting like a retarded teenager who doesn't want to loose his toys. They always do when it comes to international politics. This doesn't mean that you, EU, should sink to the same level. Actually this time you have gone way below.

Creation vs Production

2005-10-02T16:27:00.000+02:00

Now and again I read the articles by Joel Spolsky on his blog Joel on Software. By chance, I got into reading an article he wrote on July 25th, which is called Hitting the High Notes.

In this article, Joel writes about a lot of things I agreee with. However, I would like to take it a step further. I think that a lot of bad project management and crappy software productions are due to a fundamental misunderstanding.

Let us take a generic manager. He or she knows a lot about how to build businesses and production processes and has come across a fair share of project models during his career.

The problems show up when this manager starts thinking of software development, or let's just call it programming, as a type of production.

Production is performed according to a recepie. Creation is by the beans with wich we come up with the recepie. A good programmer spends plenty time on the analysis and prototyping. The production part will be a very small part of the job performed.

Spending time on analysis and prototyping often involves tasks tha might not look like work. The manager simply must trust the programmers in doing a good job.

So, dear manager. Here are some key notes for you:
1. Without a sense of trust from the manager, all creativity dies.
2. A creative perfomance can only be meassured by the quality of the product and the ability to meet agreed deadlines.
3. If a programmer says he needs a day off, let him take it.
4. Do you count EVERY overtime hour the programmer works? No, I didn't think so. Then don't count his day off either.

...and don't forget...
If a good programmer is treated as a production unit. The company will have one less programer as soon as another opening is available.

Nokia 6600 with NetBeans 4.1

2005-09-15T12:36:00.000+02:00

I recently spent about 10 hours getting this to work, so if somebody is in the same pickle as I was, here is the way I got it running.

What you need to download:
-- Java SDK 1.4.2 from java.sun.com
-- NetBeans 4.1 and NetBeans Mobility Pack from www.netbeans.org
-- Nokia Developer Suite for Series 60 from forum.nokia.com (registration required).

Installation:
1. Install the Java SDK and NetBeans.
2. Install the Mobility Pack
3. Install Nokia Developer Suite as a stand alone application.

When installing the Nokia stuff, you might select the NetBeans option if you like, it just won't help very much.

Configuration:
1. In NetBeans, go to Tools->Platform Manager
2. Add a new Platform.
3. Select the directory of NOKIA_INSTALL_DIR\Devices\Nokia_Prototype_SDK_2_0
4. Create a new mobile application project (if you haven't already)
5. In the Project Properties, Nokia_Prototype_SDK_2_0 should now be available as a selectable platform.
6. For device, select Prototype_2_0_S60_MIDP_Emulator.

There seams to be something wrong with the how the Prototype package reports its abilities to NetBeans. As you can see, only the CLDC version 1.1 is available for selection. However, the Nokia 6600 runs on MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.0...

7. Still in the Properties window, under Application Descriptor->Attributes. Add a new attribute. Select MicroEdition-Configuration, and add the value CLDC 1.0.

... I know. All logic will tell you to only set the value to 1.0 but believe me; I tried and it didn't work. Set the value to CLDC 1.0.

Now you should be all set. You can run your apps in the emulator by the regular Debug button in NetBeans and the project's dist-directory will contain a JAR file that can run on your phone.

If you have questions about programming your Nokia, the number one resource is the Forum Nokia's discussion groups

Good Luck!

So I am back in Lisbon

2005-08-25T15:21:00.000+02:00

Did I say something about writing posts while in Sweden? ...sure hope not :)

I spent about 20 days in Sweden and I think I managed to squeeze in about everything I had planned.

- I started a company along with a few friends. It is called Pale Blue Dot and you will here more about it soon.
- We bought a car. A nice Saab 9-3 1.8t from 2003.
- We bought an appartment. Marika and I will move into this lovely two room appartment in Bergshamra, north of Stockholm in the beginning of October.
- I almost managed to meet up with all friends. A few of you were missed though, sorry about that!

A Swedish Code Camp?

2005-07-22T14:55:00.000+02:00

or maybe a European one? There is code camp coming up in Portland. This is the first time I heard about it and sounds like a really great idea. We should have one on this side of the Atlantic as well, don't you think?

According to TANKERx

2005-07-21T21:49:00.000+02:00

Since I am messing around with Symbian stuff at the moment (again...), I checked the net for interesting blogs and found According to TANKERx.

Besides from writing a few posts on Smartphone stuff now and again, he writes a lot of other good stuff as well.

Who pays for a Mobile App?

2005-07-21T21:25:00.000+02:00

If you surf the web, you find a pile of mobile applications available for download. Som are useful and some are useless. Some are payware and some are shareware.

Eventually, most product developing companies need to get fed. That would probably mean getting paid in some way.

-------- But who pays?

When I consider myself as a mobile application user, I am thinking: "Heck no, I am paying enough as it is for the subscription!". If that's what the rest of you are saying...well, then who?

Is the only way to go through an operator, which in its turn adds the cost on their customers?

Or will a user rather pay for a service? ...yet another service and another bill?

What do you think? ------

The benefit of No doubt

2005-07-21T16:27:00.000+02:00

How about it?

The absolute majority of my employers have trusted my work morale. Sometimes one might spend a few working hours for private matters. This is however balanced by the the hours that you spend of your private time for working matters, almost always to the employers benefit.

ars technica is taking this Web Sense survey apart in a quite good fashion. The survey says that private surfing at work is costing businesses nearly $200 billion.

The sad part is that anybody is STUPID! enough even to publish this kind of survey. Are we still in the mid evil ages?

Going on vacation

2005-07-19T20:50:00.000+02:00

From July 25 to August 20, I will be in Sweden on vacation.

Until august I will be around Stockholm and its archipelago. From august 6 however, I and some friends are sailing to Gotland.... oh yes, so nice... :)

As soon as I get a Swedish mobile number, I will post it here.

Changing topic

2005-07-19T11:53:00.000+02:00

...again..

Am I not interested in Marine tech and sailing? Yes I am
Have I, since the topic change, written anything whatsoever about it? .. errr Nope

So let us cut the crap and change the topic shall we. I will focus this blog on what I have been focusing on so far:

---> Tidbits about what happens to catch my attention at the moment.

Friends visiting

2005-07-18T21:21:00.000+02:00

This weekend, Marika and I had friends visiting. Johan and Petter dropped by, so to speak.

Since Johan left Lisbon, he has been to Brasil and have had a lot of fun. If you read his blog, you will see what I mean.

Petter is studying in Ronda, which is in southern Spain. He seams to be able to enjoy himself as well! :)

This weekend howver, they were both staying in our our appartment here in Lisbon. Johan just got back and Petter had been driving from Ronda. It was great fun! Since I haven't got around to fix this picture online thing yet, I recommend that you take a look at both their blogs.

Sin City

2005-06-15T14:05:00.000+02:00

No, this is not a post about Lisbon. :)

I went to the movies with Marika this other night and saw Sin City. In short on the upside, I can say that:
- I did get entertainment all the way.
- The violence level was very seldom lower than extremely excessive.

THE BEST of all was the picture format; black and white with sparse occurences of colour. Wonderful. The cast was impressive as well. Just to mention a few, there was: Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Torro, Rutger Hauer and more and more...

On the downside however, was the story. Or stories. They where all good in their own way and the serialized form in which they were presented was true to the comic strip. However, it doesn't make that of a good movie. They should have made the stories closer connected to eachother, shown more interrelations. Now, it almost seamed like the movie ended three times.

All in all I think it was worth my 5 Euros. If you are Sweden and have to pay 10 Euros, I would recommend you to wait for the DVD.

Anjos

2005-06-14T11:15:00.000+02:00

A part of the old town in Lisbon is called Anjos. The houses are in various conditions. Some, like ours, are newly renovated. Others are more or less waiting to be torn down. All in all you could say it looks like a the standard, very old south-european town.

Our appartment is very very nice. Johan, you made a good choice on this one. Our sighted neighbors so far are; two students sharing the appartment to the left and a older man living in the appartment on the right hand side. Plus, of course the woman that takes care of the cute kittens running around the place.

Below our front door (which is up a stair) is a small court yard with two tables and a BBQ. There is also a palm tree which trunk is just barely visible because of some "flowery nice-smelling clanging plant thingy" that has decided to cover it. I think I have seen the plant in a pot somewhere in Sweden. There however, it was certainly not over four meters high...

So now you guys know where we live. :)

Moving to Lisbon - and for real this time.

2005-06-09T17:21:00.000+02:00

Johan is moving home to Sweden this weekend. We will miss him, but not his centrally located appartment. You see it is to this very appartment into which we are moving!

Anjous, is the name of the area. It is centrally located with two minutes walk to the subway and ten minutes walk to anywhere.

Marisol is nice. It is very empty though. I definately think we will notice a difference in that respect. :)

Getting to know you...

2005-05-30T21:56:00.000+02:00

I have now been in Lisbon for about two months. Some things you quickly learn to like; sun, beach and coffe are good examples of such. Some things take a bit more effort to get used to. People drunk driving and smoking all over the place can put a strain on my patience now and again.

All in all however. I think I like this place.

Latest events:
- Porto -- Good wine, beautiful city. Go there!
- Star Wars III -- ...just don't.
- Danny the Dog (or Unleashed) -- A very intense Luc Besson movie with Jet Lee, Morgan Freeman, et al. You will either love it or hate it. I loved it!
- Sailing -- I will be in Stockholm archipelago off and on from July 25th to August 15th. Any one want to meet up? Drop me a mail.

Sun sand and Mazda Miatas

2005-04-28T23:30:00.000+02:00

Notes about my stay so far...

...dejavu... Why do I connect all these beaches and cars to Newport Beach, CA? Probably because I am now driving the very same Miatas, CA plates and all. A bit more worn and torn but still; Nostalgic.

Lisbon seams to be really cool in so many ways. Yet so strange. If I get to work earlier than 10 am, I am definately the first one there. If I go to lunch around noon, the restaurants have barely opened.

Needless to say, the typical Portugese restaurant dinner starts at 11 pm and the party doesn't happen until 2 am :-)

As sushi should be

2005-04-13T17:47:00.000+02:00

Wonderful.

When in Lisbon, be sure to visit the sushi bar Rock'n Sushi. I have eaten sushi in quite a few places and this sure is as good as it gets!

The interior is in a clean and classy design and so are the dishes, making them even more tasty.

These guys have even created a their own coctail which I warmly recommend; look up a recepie of a Caprinha and replace the Rum with Sake. Voilà! You have just made your first Rock'n Sushi Sakrinha ...and, believe it or not, it's great!

Visit it and enjoy!

In Lisbon and Online

2005-04-12T17:10:00.000+02:00

Late Saturday night, Marika and I arrived to Lisbon.

We already look like overcooked crayfish from walking in the sun without sunscreen.

In Lisbon, the weather is good, food is good and accommodation is excellent. In other words; the city is wonderful with the exception that there are too few access points for an internet addict like me.

I have updated my mobile number in my profile for those of you that want to contact me in the old school type of way.

Sailing Haiku III

2005-04-06T11:27:00.000+02:00

Summer sun warming
A gentle breeze through the hair
Waves set peace to mind

Sailing Haiku II

2005-04-06T11:25:00.000+02:00

Storm is approaching
Open water surrounds me
I'm king of the world!!

Sailing Haiku I

2005-04-06T11:22:00.000+02:00

Shades in green and blue
slowly rocking me to sleep
Tomorrow is near

New Haikus

2005-04-05T19:23:00.000+02:00

When I changed topic to sailing, Marika got inspired to write new haikus. They are great, thanks Marika!

Fixed my boat up

2005-04-05T18:57:00.000+02:00

I would say that the spring fixup was rather painless. At least for me, since I only could help out during the easter weekend. There are a lot of things yet to be done but hey, I am moving to Lissabon in four days and I need to pack.

...sorry about that Thomas.

By the way Thomas, when I google you, I only find your redbook on BladeCenters.
How nerd isn't that? :)

We needed to fix a new main sail haul so we turned to Pille Repmakarn. I warmly recommend this guy, he knows his stuff. When writing this post, I googled him and found some insteresting stuff about him. It appears he wrote this book for example.

Bought for the boat this year (so far):

GPS antenna
VHF
VHF antenna
Main sail haul.

...argh...

Changed Topic -- Sailing

2005-03-22T00:19:00.000+01:00

From now on, I will focus this blog on sailing and marine technology. We'll see how it goes.

Nerd Haiku V

2005-03-16T22:44:00.000+01:00

Monitor glowing
Quiet tapping in the night
Awaiting sunrise

Nerd Haiku IV

2005-03-16T20:54:00.000+01:00

Bugs form into ranks
All resistance is futile
Lambs off to slaughter

Nerd Haiku III

2005-03-16T20:46:00.000+01:00

Depths are so silent
Surface forms into structures
Ideas come to life

Nerd Haiku II

2005-03-16T20:44:00.000+01:00

See tranquility
So long time, so few changes
The core now stable

Nerd Haiku I

2005-03-16T20:41:00.000+01:00

There is little code
But still oh so beautiful
A perfect design

When in Stockholm, don't visit Fenix!

2005-03-16T20:26:00.000+01:00

Me and my friends were going to see a play this other night. Before the play we wanted to have a quick bite to eat. Of this reason we ended up at a restaurant called Fenix on Götgatan in Stockholm, Sweden.

At the door we were required, not asked, to leave our jackets at a fee. This wouldn't really be a problem. However, they also insisted on us leaving my friend's backpack behind. Now, this backpack contained a corporate laptop, a cell phone and a passport.

The natural question was of course: 'Will you take responsibility for the backpack?'
The natural answer would be: 'Yes, of course. Since we are charging you a fee for leaving your things at the door.'

The actual answer was: 'No.'

Hence we left the place in a hurry and I suggest you do the same. Even before you enter.

Rent an appartment anyone?

2005-03-10T12:01:00.000+01:00

Now when we are moving to Portugal, we need to find somebody to sublet our appartment to.

If you are interested in renting a 85 square meters, 3 room flat in Täby; drop me a mail would you.

The end?

2005-03-04T13:51:00.000+01:00

Are They taking over?

M...Is this... The End?

MMM....are they listening?...

MMM--- can they hear me? ---

Shotgun!

2005-03-04T11:49:00.000+01:00

Tony Welch at Sun point to this important set of rules for
Calling Shotgun.

These rules of conduct cannot be stressed often enough!

Moving

2005-03-03T18:21:00.000+01:00

So, we have some things to care about before moving. My checklist:

Buy tickets to Portugal.
Get someone to rent the appartment.
Talk to the landlord about subletting.
Cancel the telephone subscription.
Cancel the electricity.
DONE -- Talk to CSN.
Fix e-invoicing for CSN and rent.
Fix appartment in Protugal.
Fix the old boat so that we can sell it.
Fix the new boat so that we can sail it.
Pack and store things from the appartment.
Give furniture away.

Hitchhikers Guide

2005-03-02T10:22:00.000+01:00

I read from Buzz that there is a new trailer of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy out. Looks really good to me. I just can't wait to see what of the books that has been included in this feature!

Don't Panic.

When I was looking into this, I ran into a nice site about Douglas Adams. The site name is Douglas Adams Continuum and contains interesting information about both Mr. Adams himself and his work.

For us who hasn' t been monitoring this production from the beginning, the site has an FAQ available to bring us up to speed.

So I am going to Portugal

2005-02-25T14:12:00.000+01:00

I and Marika are going to Portugal. It's hard to leave friends and colleages behind but some chances you just can't afford to miss.

We will start working as developers in Lisboa in about one month. More information to come.

Bug Report

2005-02-22T14:44:00.000+01:00

The bug keeps flooding me, requiring answers to messages that, while still valid, are so trivial that the mere simplicity causes mental overload.

Denial of service attacks are also occurring.

Sometimes the bug acts as a malware to its own host computer. By almost intentional misstakes, the bug manages to remove parts of or whole data. In those cases the bug seam to have memory leaks, causing disruptions in backup routines just before data removal.

Haiku, a debated matter.

2005-02-22T09:57:00.000+01:00

The general definition of an English haiku is a 3 line poem in a 5-7-5 syllable structure. However this is actually a bit too simple statement.

Here is a walkthrough, mainly referenced from Ray Rasmussen's definition.

Brevity
An important component of a haiku's beauty is that it is minimalistic, short but still meaningful. A haiku is limited to use one to three lines, totaling 17 syllables or less.

When read aloud, a haiku can be completed in one breath.

Symmetry
As stated above, the general requirement is three lines made of 5-7-5 syllables. However, some people actually suggest a structure of three lines with 5 syllables or less, 7 or less and 5 syllables or less.

Content
A haiky should avoid traditional English poetic forms, such as rhyming and metephor. In addition, a haiku describes it does not prescribe or tell.

Finally, a vital part in the signature of a haiku is that two elements or lines of the haiku relates to a third.

Coffee Haiku
So let us consider the Coffee Haiku from my earlier post.. Does it meet all requirements as far as Brevity, Symmetry and Content? Well almost, there is actually a syllable too much in the third line. However, who really cares. In this poem, the awaiting coffee is what matters.

The Story about Ping

2005-02-21T17:04:00.000+01:00

You might have read this already since it is old Slashdot material. I had not seen this however and it delighted me.

I give you the review of the book The Story About Ping.

I am on support

2005-02-21T13:16:00.000+01:00

An interesting experience. I am supposed to learn more about the product I develop and lo and behold; I think it helps!

Last time this happened to me was back in 1994. I hated it and decided that I wanted to be a developer. This time time however, it has a certain nostalgic aura. I will let you know when I change my mind...

Well here I am

2005-02-18T15:21:00.000+01:00

So let me start with what I found at the Sun blogger Dan Lacher's. Wonderful poetry to my ears. Especially with the sound of the coffee brewer in the background here at the Helsinki Office:

Coffee Haiku

Beans roasting away
Water brewing through the grind
Perfect cup awaiting