“Is Java Finished?” By Vincent Ryan

Here are my takes from an article by Vincent Ryan called "Is Java Finished?"

• Java's philosophy of development is to expose low-level system interfaces to give developers greater control.


• Microsoft simplifies the development process; the developer has less control -- but the tools are easier to use.


• In the Microsoft model, standards and portability are not important, he noted. That makes developing on .NET a high-risk strategy, because the developer is locked into Windows and Windows characteristics.


• Will Java go away? Most unlikely, because developers who want cross-platform interoperability will take Java. No question about it!

Read more at www.newsfactor.com. Thanks to my friend, Anup, for the article.

What is a MS SQL Server Trigger?

A trigger is an object contained within a SQL Server database that gets called each time a row in a table is INSERTED, DELETED, or UPDATED. It is used to execute a batch of SQL code whenever one of these SQL commands, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE, is executed against a specific table.

Trigger is stored in the database and can be accessed from any client or web page that connects to the database. If used correctly, trigger can save developers a large amount of time and work.

CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name

ON { table | view }

[ WITH ENCRYPTION ]

{

{ { FOR | AFTER | INSTEAD OF } { [ INSERT ] [ , ] [ UPDATE ] [ , ] [ DELETE ] }

[ WITH APPEND ]

[ NOT FOR REPLICATION ]

AS

[ { IF UPDATE ( column )

[ { AND | OR } UPDATE ( column ) ]

[ ...n ]

| IF ( COLUMNS_UPDATED ( ) { bitwise_operator } updated_bitmask )

{ comparison_operator } column_bitmask [ ...n ]

} ]

sql_statement [ ...n ]

}

}

Example:

CREATE TRIGGER trig_addAuthor

ON authors

FOR INSERT

AS

-- Get the first and last name of new author

DECLARE @newName VARCHAR(100)

SELECT @newName = (SELECT au_fName + ' ' + au_lName FROM Inserted)

-- Print the name of the new author

PRINT 'New author "' + @newName + '" added.'

Read more on this at www.devarticles.com.

Mason Advances to the FINAL FOUR

George Mason stunned the no. 1 seed University of Connecticut, 86-84, in a thrilling overtime NCAA Tournament game on Sunday at the Verizon Center. The Patriots are the first no. 11 seed to reach the Final Four since 1986. The next game is 6:07 p.m. on April 1 in Indianapolis, where Mason will face the University of Florida Gators. More...


Members of the Patriots basketball team and coaching staff storm the court after Sunday's thrilling victory over the University of Connecticut.

Mason Advances to the FINAL FOUR

Jim Larranaga - Head Coach

Mason Makes the Sweet Sixteen

Fresh off its historic win over sixth-seeded Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament, the George Mason men's basketball team met and faced another challenge, toppling the defending national champions, the no. 3 seed University of North Carolina Tar Heels, 65-60.

The Patriots now face no. 7 Wichita State University in the Sweet Sixteen on March 24 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

George Mason (25-7) became the first Colonial Athletic Association team to reach the round of 16 since 1988, when Richmond went. More...


Senior guard Tony Skinn, who sat out Friday's game, gets a hug after the Patriots victory over Michigan State.


A happy coach faces the media after the Michigan State win.

Mason Makes the Sweet Sixteen

My Google Page

Check out my Google page at thekhuc.googlepages.com.

From Google's website:

Create your own web pages, quickly and easily.

Google Page Creator is a free online tool that makes it easy for anyone to create and publish useful, attractive web pages in just minutes.

• No technical knowledge required - Build high-quality web pages without having to learn HTML or use complex software.



• What you see is what you'll get - Edit your pages right in your browser, seeing exactly how your finished product will look every step along the way.


• 
  Don't worry about hosting - Your web pages will live on your own site at http://yourgmailusername.googlepages.com

My Very First AJAX Application

The application shows how the XMLHttpRequest object or the Microsoft.XMLHTTP ActiveX object is used to load and display a simple text file in the browser.

Check it out here.

Mr. Bill Gates Calls It the “Knowledge Economy”

In his speech to about 300 political, business and academic leaders from Canada, Latin America and the United States at the company's Government Leaders Forum, Mr. Bill Gates sketched out his vision for the future. He said we're transitioning towards the "knowledge economy". In this so-called knowledge economy, a cell phone will become a "digital wallet", able to receive e-mail and even scan business cards, while computers and TVs will merge.

Bill Gates is my idol, and I must say it would be really cool to see his vision comes true.

Read more on his speech at BusinessWeek.com.

Jogging Routine: Days 3 and 4 Recap

Day 3 (3/15): Didn't feel like jogging today. Thought it was too cold outside to be jogging. Body still sored from jogging the days before. Went to bed at 12:30 the night before; thus, not enough hours of sleep.

Day 4 (3/16): Was able to jog today. Body felt better, even though still a little sored. Was able to jog a little longer without stopping. It was cold today; had to put on a hoody and sweatpants. Also practiced a few Taekwondo techniques to work out upper body. Progressing slowly and steady. Can't wait till tomorrow morning.

Goal: Working toward jogging around the neighborhood without stopping.

Display and Hide DIVs Using Javascript and CSS

Suppose I have some text within <div id="div1"></div> tags, it's easy to display and hide this block of text with the help of some Javascript code and CSS.

To hide the block of text, do the following:

<script language="javascript">
document.getElementById('div1').style.display = 'none';
</script>

To display the block of text, just remove the word 'none' from the code above as follows:

<script language="javascript">
document.getElementById('div1').style.display = '';
</script>

To further extend this capability, we can put the code above in a Javascript function, which can be called using the OnClick event. This can be easily done with a form checkbox as follows:

<input type="checkbox" id="CheckBoxID" OnClick="ShowHideDIV();">

function ShowHideDIV()
{
var blnCheckbox = document.getElementById('CheckBoxID')
if(blnCheckbox.checked)
{
document.getElementById('div1').style.display = 'none';
}
else
{
document.getElementById('div1').style.display = '';
}
}

Jogging Routine: Days 1 and 2 Recap

Day 1 (3/13): Woke up at 6:30 to get ready. Started jogging around 6:45. Practiced a few Taekwondo techniques. Done at 7:30 to get ready for work.

Day 2 (3/14): Body sored from jogging the day before. Thought it was going to rain so just walked around the neighborhood in smaller loops. Practiced a few Taekwondo techniques. Done at 7:30 to get ready for work.

Goal: Working toward jogging around the neighborhood without stopping.

Top 10 Richest People in the World

Here is the list of the 10 richest people in the world according to Forbes.com:

1. Bill Gates - 50 B



2. Warren Buffett - 42 B



3. Carlos Slim Helú - 30 B



4. Ingvar Kamprad - 28 B



5. Lakshmi Mittal - 23.5 B



6. Paul Allen - 22 B



7. Bernard Arnault - 21.5 B



8. Prince Alwaleed - 20 B



9. Kenneth Thomson - 19.6 B



10. Li Ka-shing - 18.8 B

This year the list of billionaires grew to a record 793, compared to just 140 billionaires 20 years ago. They're worth a combined $2.6 trillion. Read more on this story at Forbes.com.

Are We Nearing a Virtual PC?

With the introduction of GDrive by Google, a Virtual PC is very possible in the nearing future. Soon enough what we can do on a PC can be conducted over the Web. In order for this to happen, applications and plug-ins will need to be created to work with this GDrive technology. There were also rumor that Google is creating an OS to be run on the Web. If this is true, then I say: "We need to be ready for a Virtual PC pretty soon."

Read more on this at Playfuls.com.

AOL to Charge Mass Emailers Fee to Send Emails to Its Members

AOL has just announced that it will be charging mass emailers a small fee for each message sent to its members. Their intention is to eliminate spams and junk emails, but it could a hard blow to the face for some legitimate groups who do mass emailing, because they cannot afford to pay the fees. I am not AOL email user, but I'm curious how current AOL email users will react to this announcement. I personally do not like the idea that my email provider would do something like this, because I can take care of junk emails myself. This is going to be better off for some people and bad for others. I guess we just have to wait for the results.

Read more at CTV.ca.