David Gustafsson

Some photos

David Gustafsson — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:14:45 +0000

Here are some photos from the last days. I am finally finished with my exams; it has been a lot of studying. Today we have been to the Rocks and bought some souvenirs and had lunch.

Back on the web!

David Gustafsson — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:02:43 +0000

My domain has been down for several days. It really worried me. The cause was however an unpaid invoice, not an hacker. I did not receive the invoice which was the root cause of the problem. It takes one month after a domain has expired until someone else can reregister it. This is a good thing to know when something like this happens.

Configure Grails AcegiSecurity Plugin with GMail

David Gustafsson — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:37:34 +0000

I have just got the mail plugin working with Grails and GMail. The plugin can be configured to send an e-mail when for example a user registers. To get this to work with gmail use the following settings:

useMail = true
mailHost = ”smtp.gmail.com”
mailFrom = ”admin@yourdomain.com”
mailPort = ”465″
mailUsername = ”username@gmail.com”
mailPassword = ”password”
javaMailProperties = ["mail.smtp.auth": "true",
"mail.smtp.socketFactory.port": "465",
"mail.smtp.socketFactory.class": "javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory",
"mail.smtp.socketFactory.fallback": "false",
"mail.smtp.starttls.enable": "true",
"mail.debug": "true"]

A few forums discuss this topic but I could not find a solution in either of them. The standard settings the plugin authors give does not work. This Wordpress post discusses how to add asynchronous mail to the mail-plugin and brings up the setting that have to be made to the underlying mail plugin. He uses almost the settings I use for his purpose in the asynchronous plugin, however I adapted these to the mail plugin. Give it a try!

AcegiSecurity Plugin

Groovy Grails SpringSource – I loove it!

David Gustafsson — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:59:05 +0000

Last semester I took the course in web applications engineering and learned a lot about Servlets, J2EE, Tomcat and JSP. I also got into two more advanced frameworks. For object relational mapping I found Hibernate and for flow control, authentication and security I used the Spring Framework. Today I did some research on what to employ for Brisk. Hibernate and Spring are two great technologies. One reason for this is that it takes years to make a web application secure on its own, time you save by using the framework. However Hibernate and Spring can on their own also be complex and hard to configure. Once you get a problem it is also amazingly hard to find where the problem is. Some errors, such as ContextListener errors are impossible to debug!

I spent 4 hours this morning trying to solve a listener problem on the old web project I made last semester. I grew angrier and angrier; I could not find the problem. So, is this really the mess I would like to get into again and start to build Brisk on? I would prefer not. So what alternatives are there?

Well I have looked at google app-engine and google web toolkit. This ”system” seams to be rather easy to program to. But, there is a problem. What company want to build their value in the hands of google? The service is free today for developers and costs $8 per user and app for businesses, but not even google knows the full price they are going to charge tomorrow! See for example:

You will also use App Engine for Business to run publicly accessible apps, such as your company’s website or service. We’re still working out the details on pricing for that, so stay tuned. (source google).

So what is the solution?! I think I have found the holy grail! The solution is Groovy Grails from SpringSource. A framework/software/program that does all I want automatically! How about building a secure authenticated web application with object relational hibernate mapping in less than 5 minutes! Try this tutorial on How to create a secured web app with Grails.

Other Resources

http://www.grails.org/Installation
Netbeans plugin for Grails: http://netbeans.org/kb/docs/web/grails-quickstart.html (install the plugin from tools->plugins in Netbeans. You will also need to install Tomcat, or another web server, and WebApps).

Exotic positioning, Swedish Wood-fired pizza in Coogee

David Gustafsson — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:48:07 +0000

When you walk up from Coogee and turn down onto Carrington Road you soon pass by Sven’s Swedish Wood-fired Pizza. So what is this? Swedish Viking Pizza? Is there really something like that? Maybe, but I would say that Sven’s Pizza is a brand of something that is not really a concept. At least not in Sweden. Isn’t pizza form Italy?

A Pizza package from Sven's pizza

Sven is of course not stupid. In fact the concept seams to be successful since another restaurant has opened in Bondi. Sven does exist. He is from Sweden and he sells pizzas with names such as Ragnarrök, Hugin and Tor. The pizzas are thin, which is uncommon in Australia where American pizza is the norm. Prices are rather high: $25 dollar for a Ragnarrök is one example. However I definitely feel better paying for something Swedish than McDonalds.

I hope that Sven continue to grow in Australia and the world. I do believe there is a potential for a franchise. The product beats the competition. The promotion is distinct, odd and cool enough. The price is low enough to be close to competition, however you get the feeling that Sven’s Pizza might be a little more high end. The place is perfect. Swedes are well renomed in Australia, especially in Coogee and Bondi.

A Pizza package from Sven's pizza containing Ragnarrök.

Backup and update your web page

David Gustafsson — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:08:48 +0000

Have you ever backed up your web page or blog? To be honest I am not the best at doing it myself. Before upgrading your Wordpress installation it is however smart to take a backup. Something might go wrong with the installation and you might end up loosing the entire content at your domain!

Why update to Wordpress 2.9?

I just installed another Wordress site for Brisk and noticed how much faster the 2.9 version is compared to mine. Speed is productivity so upgrading is definitely worthwhile.

How do I backup my database?

One good way to do it is to follow the steps in WordPress Backups. This only instructs you how to update your database. It might also be smart to take a copy of your Wordpress installation. Ftp into your server and copy the content of your domain before you install the new version. One reason for this is that all your themes and pictures are located on the web server and can be lost when updating.

My 23rd Birthday

David Gustafsson — Sat, 29 May 2010 07:52:36 +0000

Suddenly I am one year older; 23 feels however just like 22! I celebrated my birthdays at a Tapas restaurant together with Sofia. Tapas has been common practice at our birthdays down under; probably since it is so good!! Here are some pictures from yesterday!

I am having Sofia's cheese cake. So good!

Update

David Gustafsson — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:20:57 +0000

Today I had two lectures; Negotiation Skills and Management of Risk. I presented the last weeks negotiations outcome and we got a final take home exam. The last negotiation was very hard. We negotiated a union contract between an American school and its teachers. It is amazing how different values we have in Sweden compared to America. Americans prefer lay-offs the bottom percent to get salary increases. One semester week per year is perfectly normal. To negotiate as an American is, for natural reasons, therefore not very easy.

Tomorrow will be my last lecture of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. We will be presenting our business idea (briskis.se) in front of a jury. Time goes by fast… It is going to be good to get back home, but when I think about it, I have really had a great year down under. Going to study in Australia is one of the decisions I won’t regret when I review my life in the end.

Snapped this photo on my way back from school:

UNSW logo on upper campus

A thought I got on my 30 minute walk back home: Why don’t more stores use time based prising? Today’s technology creates the possibility for supply to exactly match demand. Shouldn’t it be more rational if 7eleven charged 2 dollar 100 gram chocolate 12.00 and 4 dollar at 24.00?

UNSW 2010-05-24

David Gustafsson — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:14:59 +0000

UNSW May 2010

Friday dinner

David Gustafsson — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:01:41 +0000

Just finished the week with a Friday dinner and some wine. We (95% Sofia) made pork fillet stuffed with sun dried tomatoes and apple pie for dessert. The port fillet was very tasty; it was 8 month since I had it the last time. One reason for this might be that it is three times as expensive in Australia, beef is cheaper. Another reason is that we have it to often back home. However, it is a great dish!

Some pictures form tonight:

A good photo of Frida and Ida

The dinner table