Sandarenu's Blog

Few days back I came across this presentation at InfoQ site regarding "Eclipse, Mylyn and the TFI". I've seen the Mylyn view in the Eclipse and my idea about that was like some kind of a task management tool that comes with Eclipse IDE. After watching the vide my idea about Mylyn changed a lot and I was really exited about Mylyn and wanted to give it a try.  Mylyn is an open source product, there is a commercial version as well, which is called TaskTop. In task top there is a free version called "TaskTop Starter" which has some more features like Time Tracking.

Installing Mylyn and TaskTop

Mylyn comes by default with many of Eclipse editions. I was using Eclipse JEE Developer edition and it already had Mylyn. So most probably you also having it already. If you don't have Mylyn pug-in already installed in your Eclipse you can get it from Eclipse site. It has all the instruction you need to install it.

Once you install Mylyn you'll get a new view called "Task". If it is not already shown you can get it from Window -> Show View -> Other.

To install TaskTop starter edition follow the instructions given in TaskTop site. Before installing TaskTop you should do a complete update of your Eclipse. Otherwise you'll get some errors regarding incompatibilities.

Some Interesting Features of Mylyn/TaskTop

Mylyn is all about task focused programing. It allows you to do multitasking with ease. When you create a task all the editors you open are attached to that task. So when you move to another task you can see all the file which you had opened already there. You don't need to waist time on opening and closing editors when switching from one task to another.  Trust me this can improve your productivity many times. I personally experiences this during last tow days

I used mylyn.

 

You can also integrate bug reports from common bug tracking systems like bugzilla and Jira. Most interesting thing about this is that you can share how you fix the bug with other developers as well. Lett's say you had to open 5 files and do changes in order to fix the bug. When you mark the bug as Fixed you can also attach Mylyn context as well. So when other open it, mylyn will automatically open the files you have opened when you fixed that bug.

Another interesting thing is you can see how you have spent your time on various tasks you have performed during the day. This feature comes with the TaskTop Starter.

There are many more interesting things regarding Mylyn. This is only an enlightment article. If you are interested you should watch that InfoQ video.

 

• Labels:
• Eclipse
• Productivity
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• Tips and Tricks
• Utilities


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This is nice presentation by Robert C. Martin posted at InfoQ. Here he talk about things that makes us professional. He talk about lot of important topics which help us to do better programming. If you are interested in programming this a going to be really really helpful for you.
In my point of view it is a MUST read for every programmer.

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If you are a someone interested in computer programming, at some point of time you may have created a DB driven website. If you have done that you may know how difficult it is to create even a small website. Even with code generation facilities provided by IDEs and ORM tools like Hibernate you have to do quite a lot to get your web app running.
This is where OpenXava (OX) comes in handy. It is really easy to create DB driven web app using this framework. With OX to create Db driven web app only thing you have to do is to define your business entities. Yes, that is the only thing you have to do, and OX will create you nice AJAX driven website with all CRUD operations implemented and also with reporting capabilities with PDF and Excel. It is amazing right....

How much time do you think will take to create above simple web app?, an hour... Actually it only took me 10 minutes to create it with all those features, what I did was implemented simple pojo class Customer and everything else was done by OX.
OX provides you lot of customization capabilities as well. So I think this is a good time saver tool.
Download OX from here and see for your self....

• Labels:
• Java
• Productivity
• Programming
• Utilities


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Year 2008 has almost came to an end. This is the best time to get started to welcome new year. As with last year I created a List of Sri Lankan holidays, which you can add to Outlook, Thunderbird or Google calendar.

Outlook Holiday List

– – – – – – – – – Start Copy – – – – – – – – –
[Sri Lanka] 26
Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/1/10
Tamil Thai Pongal Day(BPM),2009/1/14
National Day(BPM),2009/2/4
Navam Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/2/9
Mahasivarathri Day(BP),2009/2/23
Medin Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/3/10
Milad-Un-Nabi (Holy Prophet’s Birthday)(BPM),2009/3/10
Bak Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/4/9
Good Friday(BP),2009/4/10
Day Prior to Sinhala & Tamil New Year Day(BPM),2009/4/13
Sinhala & Tamil New Year Day(BPM),2009/4/14
May Day(BPM),2009/5/1
Vesak Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/5/8
Day following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/5/9
Poson Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/6/7
Esala Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/7/6
Nikini Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/8/5
Binara Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/9/4
Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramazan Festival Day)(BP),2009/9/21
Vap Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/10/3
Deepavali Festival Day(BP),2009/10/17
Il Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/11/2
Id-Ul-Alha (Hadji Festival Day)(BP),2009/11/28
Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/12/1
Christmas Day(BPM),2009/12/25
Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day(BPM),2009/12/31
– – – – – – End Copy – – – – – – –

Please follow the instructions given in one of my previous posts to add holidays list to Outlook.
Note: If you have last year’s list under Sri Lanka you will need to replace it with this year’s ones


Google Calendar

Just click on the link to add the Holiday Calendar to your Google calendar.
http://www.google.com/calendar/render?cid=trbsm3c2ek1f1l3500qr4muejs@group.calendar.google.com


Thunderbird
In order to add calendar to Thunderbird you have to have Lightning add-on installed. Follow the instructions given here if you haven't installed Lightning yet.

After installation go to Calendar view. and select Calendar -> New Calendar from main menu. From the Create New Calendar window select >On the Network, click >Next, select >Google Calendar as the format and insert the following URL into the >Location field. http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/trbsm3c2ek1f1l3500qr4muejs%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Click >Next, eventually enter your Google >User Name and >Password and click >OK, >Name your calendar, give it a >Color, click >Next and finally >Finish to complete the procedure.


Hope this will help you.....

• Labels:
• Productivity
• Time Management


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Well, what do you think about this....being punctual?

I’m not sure about you, but I hate people coming late and not doing things on time. Especially in here most of the people don’t take this seriously, they never come on time. As an undergraduate I have seen lot of my batch mates coming to lectures, group meetings late. They are the most selfish people; they don’t think that they are wasting time of others. As professionals I think we should learn about how to do time management and being punctual.

I found these two articles at lifehack about the importance of being punctual and most importantly how to do that. Hope this will encourage you to be punctual...

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When we are writing programs it is important to keep track of important locations in the code. Using Bookmarks are the easiest way to do it. But in Eclipse that feature is some what hidden. By default there is no shortcut for that as well.

To add a Bookmark chose the code fragment you want to bookmark and from Edit menu select Add Bookmark. Once the bookmark is added there will be a small blue rectangle in the left hand side of the code window and a green rectangle in right had side of the code window. To view all the bookmarks that you added you have to bring in the Bookmarks view. Select Window > Show View > Other… from the main menu. Type "bookmark" in the filter box of the Show View Dialog box and select Bookmarks view.

 

To make the process of adding bookmarks easy you can create a shortcut key combination for it. To do that choose Window > Preferences from the main menu, which brings up the Preferences dialog. Then type in “key” in the filter box, which takes you to General>Keys. Then selects the Modify tab. Select “Edit” from the Category drop-down. Then choose “Add Bookmark” from the Name drop-down. Then click in the Key Sequence > Name text box. Then hold down the keys you want to use for your keyboard shortcut. I selected Alt+B for this. You can selects any unassigned key combination for this. Finally click Add.

Now you can use this shortcut to add bookmarks very easily. Cool isn't it?..............

• Labels:
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• Productivity
• Tips and Tricks


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This is a very nice article I saw at lifehack.org. Hope it will be useful to you.....

Make Failure and Frustration Your Friends: A History Lesson

We all experience failure and the subsequent frustration. But how you handle those tormentors makes all the difference in your final outcomes. Oftentimes the peak of frustration comes right before a major breakthrough. That's if you don't quit. So don't quit! Instead use the energy behind that frustration to break through to a new level of strategy. Make failure the friend that brought you to breakthrough's doorstep! Let frustration be the energy that propels your leap across the chasm!

What follows are several success stories from history where failure was a frequent companion throughout these great people's lives. Let's all take some inspiration from their stories.

Read the complete article >>>

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Are you using the Windows Key in your keyboard? It comes very handy on occasions. Followings are some few useful short cuts that can be used with Windows key.

W = Windows Key

W: Opens Start Menu
W+ E: Opens up Windows Explorer
W+ R: Opens the Run command.
W+ U: Opens Utility Manager
W+ L: Log Off
W+ F: Search files on your computer
W+ D: Show Desktop [will switch back and forth from all minimized and back again]
W+ F1: Help Menu
W+ Pause/Break: System Properties
W + Ctrl + Tab: Cycles through Tabs in your current app [eg. Firefox’s last focused tabs]
W+ Tab: Cycles Through Buttons in Taskbar
W+ M: Minimize all open windows.
W+ Shift+M: Maximize the windows you had open before minimizing
W+B: Set focus to the first System Tray Icon [which is the arrow if you enable the Hide Inactive Icons option]
CTRL+W +F: Search for computers

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How hard it is to say no to someone?... For me it is a very difficult thing. How about you? I think most of you also have the same problem.
Today I came across a nice article on Lifehack.org on "The Gentle Art of Saying No". It explains 10 tips on how to say no.

1. Value your time. Know your commitments, and how valuable your precious time is. Then, when someone asks you to dedicate some of your time to a new commitment, you’ll know that you simply cannot do it. And tell them that: “I just can’t right now … my plate is overloaded as it is.”
2. Know your priorities. Even if you do have some extra time (which for many of us is rare), is this new commitment really the way you want to spend that time? For myself, I know that more commitments means less time with my wife and kids, who are more important to me than anything.
3. Practice saying no. Practice makes perfect. Saying “no” as often as you can is a great way to get better at it and more comfortable with saying the word. And sometimes, repeating the word is the only way to get a message through to extremely persistent people. When they keep insisting, just keep saying no. Eventually, they’ll get the message.
4. Don’t apologize. A common way to start out is “I’m sorry but …” as people think that it sounds more polite. While politeness is important, apologizing just makes it sound weaker. You need to be firm, and unapologetic about guarding your time.
5. Stop being nice. Again, it’s important to be polite, but being nice by saying yes all the time only hurts you. When you make it easy for people to grab your time (or money), they will continue to do it. But if you erect a wall, they will look for easier targets. Show them that your time is well guarded by being firm and turning down as many requests (that are not on your top priority list) as possible.
6. Say no to your boss. Sometimes we feel that we have to say yes to our boss — they’re our boss, right? And if we say “no” then we look like we can’t handle the work — at least, that’s the common reasoning. But in fact, it’s the opposite — explain to your boss that by taking on too many commitments, you are weakening your productivity and jeopardizing your existing commitments. If your boss insists that you take on the project, go over your project or task list and ask him/her to re-prioritize, explaining that there’s only so much you can take on at one time.
7. Pre-empting. It’s often much easier to pre-empt requests than to say “no” to them after the request has been made. If you know that requests are likely to be made, perhaps in a meeting, just say to everyone as soon as you come into the meeting, “Look guys, just to let you know, my week is booked full with some urgent projects and I won’t be able to take on any new requests.”
8. Get back to you. Instead of providing an answer then and there, it’s often better to tell the person you’ll give their request some thought and get back to them. This will allow you to give it some consideration, and check your commitments and priorities. Then, if you can’t take on the request, simply tell them: “After giving this some thought, and checking my commitments, I won’t be able to accommodate the request at this time.” At least you gave it some consideration.
9. Maybe later. If this is an option that you’d like to keep open, instead of just shutting the door on the person, it’s often better to just say, “This sounds like an interesting opportunity, but I just don’t have the time at the moment. Perhaps you could check back with me in [give a time frame].” Next time, when they check back with you, you might have some free time on your hands.
10. It’s not you, it’s me. This classic dating rejection can work in other situations. Don’t be insincere about it, though. Often the person or project is a good one, but it’s just not right for you, at least not at this time. Simply say so — you can compliment the idea, the project, the person, the organization … but say that it’s not the right fit, or it’s not what you’re looking for at this time. Only say this if it’s true — people can sense insincerity.

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From the recent challenge on DRM, to the iPhone hype from his presentation, and the popular iPod madness, we know Steve Jobs is a marketing genius. But that’s not the only it, he has his own view of what’s successful and the view of leadership and career. Ririan Project selected 10 quotes from Steve Jobs and describe them in details how you can learn Jobs’ way to be successful:

• “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
• “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
• “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
• “You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.”
• “There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.”
• “We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”
• “I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”
• “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.”
• “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”
• “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

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• Labels:
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Have you ever walked into a room and wondered why you are there? Have you ever faced someone you've known for years and couldn't remember his/her name? I don't know about you, but these things do happen to me sometimes.

Today while I was surfing the Internet I came across a very good article about how to keep our brain alive and active.
The article I read points out few things that we have to do in order to healthy brain;

• Run Up Your Brain Cells
• Exercise Your Mind
• Ask Why
• Laugh
• Be A Fish Head
• Remember
• Cut The Fat
• Do A Puzzle
• The Mozart Effect
• Improve Your Skill At Things You Already Do
• Be A Thinker, Not A Drinker
• Play
• Sleep On It
• Concentration
• Make Love For Your Brain
• Play With Passion!
• Cycles Of Consciousness
• Learn Something New
• Write To Be Read
• Try Aroma Therapy To Activate Your Brain
• Drugs To Increase Brainpower
• Build A Brain Trust.

You have probably heard that we use only a fraction of our brain's capacity. By practicing at least few of those methods we may be able to increase the percentage we are using.
Read the complete article 22 Ways To Overclock Your Brain...

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Everyday we send number of emails to our friends, colleagues, lectures, etc.... Little details that we left out or inadvertently included can suggest that we are lazy, incompetent, inattentive, mistrustful, or unprofessional. Today, while I'm surfing the net I came across an interesting article by Paul Glen which gives some important points that we have to consider when sending a email. Those are;

1. Spelling.
2. Grammar.
3. Signature Block.
4. Subject Line.
5. Format.
6. Length.
7. Urgent Indicator.
8. Bandwidth Usage.
9. Delivery Receipt.

Read the complete article.
So before clicking the Send button there are lots of things to be checked.

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Time management is one of those skills no one teaches you in school but you have to learn. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t organize information well enough to take it in. And it doesn’t matter how skilled you are if procrastination keeps you from getting your work done.
Penelope Trunk, a columnist at the Boston Globe, summarizes some great tips that coming from the blogosphere. She lists ten important tips to get a better handle for your work and focus to achieve productivity:

• Don’t leave email sitting in your in box.
• Admit multitasking is bad.
• Do the most important thing first.
• Check your email on a schedule.
• Keep web site addresses organized.
• Know when you work best.
• Think about keystrokes.
• Make it easy to get started.
• Organize your to-do list every day.
• Dare to be slow.

Read 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world for more details...

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