Some of the new Web 2.0 based web applications that I could get my hands on 

1. Email on the web

A superb website, which allows us to send the entire webpage on email to anybody. Makes use of the google account (so you need to have one mandatorily) and it sends email enclosing the entire web page content removing all unnecessary ads and pop ups. There is no attachment to the email and so it cannot be removed by any firewall.

Check this out - 

http://www.emailtheweb.com/

The interface has to be improvised a lot, but the functionality is worth it. 

2. Temporary Inbox

Use this website to generate a temporary Inbox id, without any registration. This temporary Inbox ID can be used for any registration purpose without being hit by SPAM. Also this site will allow you to see the email, using the temporary Email ID.

If you look at the right top side, you have one temporary Email ID, which will be generated everytime you refresh this page. Use this temporary ID for any registration and then you can discard it :-)

Still on the development I guess, and they are planning to offer more features.

3. Shahi - A Visual Dictionary

This is a perfect mashup application which pulls the data from Dictionary, Flicker, Google and Yahoo Images. So if you search for a word, you get the meaning, a sentence as well as Images corresponding to them.

http://blachan.com/shahi/

4. Yola - A quick Website builder.

I was pretty impressed with the features being offered by Yola. I can add any Google or other gadgets, add youtube videos to my Site. I can host the site free as well I can get a paid domain site. Check this site out which I developed in 10 mins flat.. without having any content in mind.

http://arvindkr-temp-site.synthasite.com/

5. Bantora - Another innovative Start up

This site looks forward to being a single shop for all the event information across the world. Any event that happens, if it gets registered here,  every body wud get notified and the event gets widespread publicity for free. Not only the location of event, but we get Map of the event location as well (courtesy mashup from Google maps).

http://bantora.com/main/home

Check this site for more details. Nothing very interesting to see here now, but I hope it shapes up into a fine site in future.

Well folks, that is all I have for now. Will catch up with ya guys next time .. See ya :-)

Review of Kewl Web2.0 Apps

Its been really some time (about 8 months) since I reviewed Web 2.0 apps.. I have been keeping myself a lot busy with all other activities and now I think its time to revive the thirst for knowing more about web 2.0.. 

To make a come back, I have been browsing through web and looking through some of the 

kewl things that have been making impact.. The one that caught my attention recently was ADOBE AIR runtime. Adobe is now trying to show that it too can be a big Web 2.0 player. Well, they deserve the credit, as the Adobe AIR is one of the coolest APIs that have rocked the web recently.

Some of the coolest AIR Apps that I found on internet and were very useful are as below. But before you try to download and have them installed, you need to install Adobe AIR runtime which is found in - http://www.adobe.com/products/air/

The best part of these utilities are that they are also platform independent and are much more faster than Java. 

1. Webkut:

This site allows you to save the entire or part of a webpage as JPG/PNG/GIF Image or as a PDF. You can also post the images to flicker.

Download this Adobe AIR App at - http://toki-woki.net/p/WebKut/

Rating: 3/5

2. Skimmer

This is another cool AIR app which integrates all key Web 2.0 sites and brings them to single desktop based application. You can check out your blogger sites, youtube videos, Twitter profiles all at the same time on a desktop based app. 

http://www.fallon.com/skimmer

Check out how it looks like:

The only thing I found it was missing is that it doesnt allow Orkut access :( Otherwise one of the most koolest and handy utility that I should have it.

Rating: 3.5/5

There are other applications which are built on mashups around Flicker, Twitter and some on project management utilties. But I guess a lot of innovation is needed on that front to come with some thing which is really useful. I will keep you guys posted on what I get my hands on...

Google's Crown in Chrome

Hi All,

For so many days, I was very occupied with lots of stuff on my head. Though I was trying and finding out many things, but wasnt getting much time to put it as a blog. So here we go .. its about Chrome. Google has released its new web browser, which it aims to put it as direct competitor to Internet Explorer. I have been trying this baby out for last 2 days.. and now I think I have some data to blog about this.

Let us Do some Comparison of Chrome with Safari and Internet Explorer.

The above ratings are out of 5, which I can give for each of the browser.

Firefox scores 0.5 lesser than Chrome only for one reason. We still dont have functionality where we can take the tabs to make it a new Window in Firefox. The other way is the download functionality. When you download, the Firefox by default places in Desktop. Though its good, but we hardly clean our desktops and one fine day we find a lot of stuff on our desktop. Chrome solves this problem with a unique way. It will have a download box near the status bar. Once the download is completed, we can either open the download or copy it to a any location we want. By default it stores in My Documents\Downloads folder. Also, We have Incognito Mode, wherein all the sites which we surf, dont appear in History... Apparently, Chrome does everything and does it with Style.

It is not that I have any personal vengeance against Microsoft's IE or Safari.. they are just not IN.. they are neither cool.. neither do they offer much protection against hacks..Safari is the worst Browser I have ever used.. I dont understand how a company like Apple which brought iPhone to market, can make such a horrible Browser.

But on the other hand, I have an interesting thing to note. The below is a glimpse of processes running in my "Windows Task Manager"
























You could see that there are multiple Chrome processes running and the number of tabs that I have opened in Chrome is almost the same. The number of identical Chrome processes running could be same as no of tabs opened in Chrome or a little more than that. In my case, I have one window for Chrome and have opened 4 tabs, while it shows 6 processes.

The interesting part is, if I kill any of the above processes, I see one of the tab going down. I mean the tab doesnt get removed, but I see one screen like this -















I have already reported this issue to Google. Have to get any feedbacks from them. Will wait for their response.

Guide to Develop your own Web Services using Eclipse Plugins on AXIS

Introduction to Web Services
A Web Service is:

• A programmable application, accessible as a component via standard Web protocols,
• Uses standard Web protocols like HTTP, XML and SOAP,
• Works through existing proxies and firewalls,
• Can take advantage of HTTP authentication,
• Easy incorporation with existing XML messaging solutions. Takes advantage of XML messaging schemas and easy transition from XML RPC solutions,
• Available to a variety of clients (platform independent).

To get more info on Web Services, you can learn by Googling. Here in this post we will discuss how to create a Web Service on your system using ECLIPSE and AXIS Framework running on Apache Tomcat Server.

To start with, we would need the following JAR Files:

activation.jar

axis.jar

axis-ant.jar

commons-discovery-0.2.jar

commons-logging-1.0.4.jar

jaxrpc.jar

log4j-1.2.8.jar

mail.jar

saaj.jar

wsdl4j-1.5.1.jar

xercesImpl.jar

xml-apis.jar

The dependencies of AXIS Framework are listed in http://ws.apache.org/scout/dependencies.html

We dont need to download the individual JAR files. Just download the AXIS framework from http://ws.apache.org/axis/

All the dependencies JAR files would also be included in the ZIP File. Unzip this ZIP File and place it inside your Eclipse Workspace.

Setup the Apache Tomcat server. If you havent done this before, read this manual to install and configure the server.
http://www.coreservlets.com/Apache-Tomcat-Tutorial/Preconfigured-Tomcat-Version.html

Install, Configure and start the server using the steps given in the above link.

Now, download the WAR file for AXIS framework from

http://ws.apache.org/axis2/download/1_3/download.cgi

to the WebApps folder of Apache Tomcat as shown below.

Now we need to restart the Apache Tomcat server. Once the server is restarted we would notice that a new folder axis2 would be created in the webapps folder. We would store our Java Class files for the webservices within this folder.





Check if the AXIS framework is correctly installed or not by entering
http://localhost/axis2/services/listServices in the web browser. the output should be like the below


Now download two Eclipse Plugins for this AXIS Framework. They are:
1. Service Archive Wizard - Eclipse Plug-in
2. Code Generator Wizard - Eclipse Plug-in

They can be downloaded from
http://ws.apache.org/axis2/tools/index.html

Download these ZIP files and extract them to the plugins folder of ECLIPSE. Restart ECLIPSE with -clean option to install these plugins.

Now create two JAVA Files in ECLIPSE which will be define the web services .

TestWebserviceDef.java
-----------------------------
package testWebservice;

public interface TestWebserviceDef {
//Method that will be exposed as service. this contains only definitions
public String hostedService( int num );

}

TestWebserviceImpl.java
-----------------------------
package testWebservice;

public class TestWebserviceImpl implements TestWebserviceDef {

public String hostedService( int num )
{
return ("Hi, Webservice called with parameter "+num);
}
}

Now generate a WSDL file using the Eclipse Plugins for AXIS.
Go to New->Other->Axis2 Wizards as shown below and Click on "Axis2 Code Generator"

Select the Option "Generate WSDL from a Java Source File"
















Now Define the Fully Qualified Class of the Web Service whose WSDL we are going to create. Remember: The class should be in path of the folder/jar that we add the Java Class Path Entries as shown here-



Click on Test Class Loading. If it says successful, then finish button would be enabled. Press this button and move forward.


















Now, set the options as shown in the snapshot. The TargetNameSpace should ideally be same as your package name in which you are hosting the Web Service Java Classes.


The Service Name is the name of the class name which will be hosted as a web service. Others use the same value as shown here in the snapshot.












Now, Create a folder WSDL in the Eclipse project workspace and browse this location to "Output Location". By default you will get services.wsdl in the output file name.


This is the last screen. Click Finish to complete the Wizard.

You will see a message box "All operations completed successfully".

The WSDL would be generated in the location specified here. You can open the services.wsdl in Notepad to see how a WSDL looks like.







Now Generate the Service Archive using the other AXIS plugin - "Axis2 Service Archiver". CLick New -> Other -> Axis2 Wizard -> Axis2 Service Archiver














Point to the location where the Class files for the two Java Files are located. Normally in ECLIPSE they would be automatically built, and so we would have to point to the bin folder corresponding to our Project Workspace folder.


If you dont have any other JAR file, then click on "Include .class files only". It will select the class files located in this path.






Select the WSDL generated above by pointing to the full path where the WSDL is located.

In the next dialog box, it will ask if you need to select a "service.xml". CLick on the check box "Generate the service xml automatically"










Now this is the key part. Now we need to generate the Service Archiver. This needs to be placed inside

%TOM_CAT_SERVER_PATH%\ WEBAPPS\axis2\WEB-INF\services

where
%TOM_CAT_SERVER_PATH% represents the path for Apache Tomcat server installation.




In my example it is
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\apache-tomcat-6.0.10\webapps\axis2\WEB-INF\services

The Name of the Output File Name should be the same as the Java Class which is going to be exposed as Web Service. Click FInish to generate TestWebserviceImpl.aar in the folder
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\apache-tomcat-6.0.10\webapps\axis2\WEB-INF\services

Now we need to generate the STUB files:

Again we go to Axis2 Code Generator. However this time we will chose a different option.



















Select the option "Generate Java Source Code from a WSDL File"

Specify the WSDL File's full path and location in the next screen and press Next.















Now here is another Key part. Be careful while filling this part.

Imp: The Custom Package Name should be the same as the package name where the Java codes where stored. Else a lot of compilation errors would come in Stubs.

Prefer the Codegen option to be default if you are doing it for the first time.














Now select the option "Browse and select a project on current eclipse workspace" and check the option "Add the Axis2 codegen jars to the codegen resulted project".

Give the location of the project workspace. (Eg.

C:\Documents and Settings\The Geek House\workspace\MyfirstWebService

)

Press Finish.

A new folder lib gets generated with lot of JAR's in the project workspace. We need to include these JAR's in the project External JAR list. Also, two files are also generated - TestWebserviceImplCallbackHandler.java and TestWebserviceImplStub.java. Include these files in Eclipse Workspace and compile them after including JAR files generated above.


Now we will write the client to consume this web service.
testWebserviceClient.java
----------------------------

package testWebservice;
import testWebservice.TestWebserviceImplStub;

public class testWebserviceClient {

/**
* @Arvind K R
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {

TestWebserviceImplStub stub;

try {
stub = new testWebservice.TestWebserviceImplStub("http://localhost/axis2/services/TestWebserviceImpl");
TestWebserviceImplStub.HostedService Service1 = new TestWebserviceImplStub.HostedService();
Service1.setNum(10);

TestWebserviceImplStub.HostedServiceResponse Response1 = stub.hostedService(Service1);
String myResponse = Response1.get_return();

System.out.println("Response" + myResponse);
}
catch(Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Now run this Java Class in Eclipse. The Output is :

- Deploying module: addressing-1.3
Responsewebservice called with parameter 10

Voila!! Your web service is now configured and ready to run !!

Important thing:

Try to keep the JDK version used by Apache TOMCAT Server and ECLIPSE same. It will prevent lot of errors while running the client java class. Ideally the JDK version used by Eclipse should be lesser than or same as the JDK version used by Apache Tomcat. This is because Sun allows backward compatibility of the JDK.

This is one major reason for this error - java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: Bad version number in .class file

References:
http://ws.apache.org/axis/
http://ws.apache.org/axis2/1_3/installationguide.html
http://wso2.org/library/1719

Micro$oft's OOXML becomes an I$O Standard

Finally this day has come which the M$ is awaiting since last 1.5 years. Its document standard Object Oriented XML (OOXML) has been ratified by ISO to become a standard for saving the Word Documents, Power point and spreadsheet documents in a seemingly "OPEN" format.

But where was the need to have one more standard when we already have ODF (Open Document Format). The ODF is a community based standard and has been developed by the open source community at large across the world. Was there any deficiency in that standard which needs to be fulfilled with an another standard. Anyway, OOXML doesnt have anything different from the one the ODF already offers. Then why do we need OOXML as another standard for the same thing?

For the audience who dont have the background about ODF and OOXML, it is another war between Microsoft and Open Source Community. Microsoft which has been an advocate of properitary standards and softwares wanted to out-do the Open Source community with its false propaganda of aligning its strategies to the universally accepted standards. Hence to counter ODF which was launched by the Open Source Community to have a common standard for saving the documents, presentations and spreadsheet across multiple platforms and applications, Microsoft launched its own version called OOXML. It was subjected to intense scrutinization about 1 year back by ISO and it had rejected the standard because of many reasons. Some of them which I found to be interesting was:

1. The OOXML Document was having about 32,000 pages while the existing standard ODF was specified in 50 pages.

2. The OOXML had many references to older versions of Microsoft word which are not supported by other Open source based applications like OpenOffice.

Microsoft has then lobbied around the countries of the world to make its standard an ISO Standard. India had declined to vote in favour of OOXML. Interestingly even US had voted NO for making OOXML as a standard. However it still managed to get a whopping 77% of the votes from representatives from all over the world. Nothing to get surprised -- Money is the magician here...

Now you may be interested to know why M$ invested so much of money in lobbying for its OOXML format. The reasons are simply business. Many of its top clients had started demanding that Microsoft should use Open format for storing the documents so that they can be reopened in other applications as well. Hence Microsoft was lobbying for OOXML which is a but a modified version of its existing .doc, .xml and .ppt format all clubbed together with XML support. But was Microsoft seriously committed to the development of Open Standard? No I dont think so...The OOXML will never be allowed to be edited/modified by the community. So where is the question of having an Open standard where people cannot participate to improve it.

The imminent threat which is an outcome of the above ratification:

1. Microsoft will still rule the Office World with its properitary software leaving no room for any enhancement by the community.

2. Corporates will still be enslaved by Microsoft with its proprietary products and there can be no competitor for its Office product unless the competitor pays royalty.

3. The entire concept of having a standard for inter-operatibility is diminished. Why do we need this standards for anyway?

Nevertheless, If I have been tracing down Microsoft's history well, its downfall is imminent. These are some of the moves that it is making before dying off finally. Microsoft is unable to compete with the fast emerging Web2.0 based companies. Web is the future of the world and our desktop may soon be limited within our browser. This day is not far and if you are not aware of prism, do check this site out... May be this is just a beginning of the new era.

I can envisage this scenario as much similar to the one that lead to downfall of IBM during 1990's and uprising of Microsoft as a bigger fish. But as it is said in Matrix - "Every thing which has a beginning has an end" and Microsoft story is about to END.

Make your To-DO list Online using Mozilla's Prism and Vitalist

I always wanted a to-do list placed online, so that whenever i move around places (eg office-> home -> office), i have a consisent To-DO List. In Search for the same, I got Vitalist. (http://www.vitalist.com).

Go to the site and sign up for free.

There is another problem.. I wud always have to keep a tab open for Vitalist. So, I downloaded Prism from Mozilla (http://labs.mozilla.com/2007/10/prism/). This is a new platform launched by Mozilla Labs to integrate the web and desktop applications. Download this stuff and enjoy !

Delicious - Share Bookmarks across Web

Hi all,

Recently, I installed Windows on my system (though I dont like it, but it was required for some reasons..). Thinking of browsing the internet, I installed Firefox. But I realized something was missing... my Bookmarks.. Stupid Windows.. doesnt allow access to Linux partitions, so couldnt access the bookmarks there. Thought it wud be good if we can put these bookmarks in internet.

In quest for the above I got "Delicious". This is another cool website which allows to keep ur site bookmarked over the internet and allowing it to share it with others as well. The Link is - http://del.icio.us/

Enjoy Delicious if you still havent done it... Cheers !