The Beta version of Java version 1.6 with the name Mustang is out.  “What’s New in Java SE 6 Beta 2 (Mustang)” in java.sun.com lists out what’s new in Mustang.  I can hear you saying “Haven’t got hold of Tiger yet, am not ready to ride a Mustang”. Count me in.

I had posted an introduction to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and was mentioning that there would be lot of scope for this new technology soon. Well it has already  done a good job in the FIFA world cup. FIFA used RFID and bar codes to authenticate and validate the visitor tickets to enter the venue. A tiny paper thin RFID chip was part of the ticket that recorded the information necessary (like passport number, name, match venue, timings and so on) to authenticate the visitor. This would have saved lot of effort to stop the anti-social elements to get into the venue by mal practice. If the visitor lost his ticket, he could call up the authorities and a new ticket could be issued. So there is no way someone could steal the ticket and enter the venue. Bar code was also used along with RFID in case the RFID chip is damaged because the visitor folded the ticket and the chip got corrupted.

The local newspaper “The Hindu” today had a column titled “Bar codes: smart symbols that speak” on the science and technology section that talks about use of RFID and Bar codes in FIFA. As you can see IT and networking companies collaboratively achieved this. I think the future is more about interconnecting and using the core strength of different organizations rather than trying to do everything from scratch.

Pair Programming is one of the eXtreme Programming (XP) techniques wherein two developers sit together and complete a coding task. There are several advantages by doing pair programming. Some of them listed below.

1. Syntax and Semantic bugs are caught then and there. This might sound no difference but drops of water make ocean, seconds put together make minutes and hours.
2. Code efficiency can improve as there is someone to question your logic.
3. Code review happens on the fly.
4. Discipline comes automatically as someone is watching your code and pointing out mistakes then and there.

Selecting the right pair is equally important for pair programming to work. The usual practice is to pair a senior and a junior person. The primary advantage here is mentoring of the junior developer can happen on the job and no dedicated effort is required. However coupled pair programming also has some disadvantages. And these disadvantages are primarily due to attitude differences. Few listed below.

1. Conflict in ideas particularly logic and approach
2. Ego clashes may result in time unnecessarily spent in arguments
3. When the timelines are critical and available resources are very few then pair programming might be a costly operation.

Nevertheless pair programming is good and a valuable practice and can help in lot of ways.

Phishing is a hacking method wherein the hacker fraudulently tries to grab sensitive information like user name, password, credit card information etc. How does it work? Let’s take one example. You receive a mail from your bank that says that the bank is doing maintenance and that your personal information has to be validated again. Clicking on it you will be directed to a site where the text fields for entering user name and password is displayed and then a form to fill up the details. The screen look and feel will be exactly similar to your online bank application. If you were not careful to identify that it is a trap you will end up giving your personal information and user name and password to a false application set by the hacker. What else does a hacker need?

What happened actually? The hacker gets your mail id through name database and various other sources. He creates an HTML email that has one image that contains all the text (the text that says that the bank is doing maintenance and so on) with the bank logo and some authority name and digital signature. The whole image is a link and wherever you click it will open up a browser page taking you to an application hosted by the hacker. If you watch the URL that’s opened in the browser the domain will be very similar to the bank’s domain name with a letter or two added or interchanged. It’s easy to fall prey to it as it is hard to notice the difference. Once the application receives the input it stores the information and the hacker will merrily use them to loot your money. There are other means of phishing too and you can read more about Phishing on Wikipedia.

Most of the time the production environment is not the same as development environment or for that matter similar to your desktop. It is natural when developers work on the desktop, to code to the programs and other tools/technologies that is locally deployed. It is easy to get carried away to do a local test, the references are hard coded. For example the database connection configurations or loading a property file with an absolute path. The first mistake would be to not notice it during the code review. The next stage of mistake is to check in that code in the version control system. And if not scrutinized this code would go all the way to various environments. And if it’s not trivial enough to show up as an error on the screen in the environments it may go all the way up to production environment.

Most of the time the issue shows up when the platforms are totally different. The Windows vs. UNIX environment differences can make the deployment difficult based upon how much of relative coding is done. Added to that is the forward vs. backward slash difference in folder representation, which is not a significant threat if the UNIX standard is followed early on. All said the point is that all these pain points can be avoided if developers can handle the file/tool configuration references relative to the application and separated in a configuration file (properties or xml files).

XHR is an AJAX based aggregator. A cool idea that acts as one stop place for connecting to various blog aggregators.

In computerese, mouse is mightier than sword. Here is a creative flash presentation of mouse vs. stick man. Hats off to the creativity demonstrated by the creator.

Happy weekend, have a great week and month ahead!