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Archive for September, 2007

Need help with XSLT ???

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

Hi there,

I have a simple REST request that uses a Style attrib that points to an xsl file. The response I keep getting is not formatted at all.

REST Request:
http://ecs.amazonaws.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSECommerceService
&AWSAccessKeyId=[Dev ID]
&Operation=ItemLookup
&ItemId=0142002267
&ResponseGroup=Medium,OfferSummary,SalesRank
&ContentType=text/html
&Version=2007-07-16
&Style=http://www.thewritersquery.com/test.xsl

TEST.XSL:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<xsl:stylesheet
xmlns:xsl=" http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" Version="1.0"
xmlns:aws=" http://webservices.amazon.com/AWSECommerceService/2007-07-16">

<xsl:template match="/">

<html><body>

XSLT Results
<hr />

<xsl:template match="aws:Items/aws:Item">

<xsl:apply-templates select="aws:Items/aws:Item"/>
</xsl:template>

ASIN: <xsl:value-of select="aws:ASIN" />

</body>
</html>

</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Response I get:

1FSKGNN3JPDAGHKR4D9E0.0468161106109619True0142002267MediumOfferSummarySalesRank0142002267 http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=0142002267%26tag=ws%26lcode=xm2%26cID=2025%26ccmID=165953%26location=/o/ASIN/0142002267%253FSubscriptionId=1A88SK73MX6J49JRKQG238067http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/11C8RRZ3SQL.jpg7548http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ZWMENWZKL.jpg160103http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J74GMSMKL.jpg500322http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/0199Q86HGGL.jpg3019http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/11C8RRZ3SQL.jpg7548http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/11C8RRZ3SQL.jpg7548http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/11YW4055S4L.jpg11071http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ZWMENWZKL.jpg160103http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J74GMSMKL.jpg500322Stefan FatsisPaperback79497801420022610142002267Penguin (Non-Classics)1500USD$15.00Penguin (Non-Classics)13849083075540BookABIS_BOOK2002-07-30Penguin (Non-Classics)2002-07-30Penguin (Non-Classics)545USD$5.4590USD$0.901500USD$15.00448220Amazon.comLikea cross between a linguistic spy and a lexicographic Olympic athlete,journalist Stefan Fatsis gave himself a year to penetrate the highestechelons of international Scrabble competition. WordFreak is the account of his journey. It's a wacky grab bag oftravelogue, history, party journal, and psychological study of themisfits and goofballs whose lives are measured out in Scrabbletiles. Fatsis gives us all the facts about Scrabble--from thestory of the down-on-his-luck architect who invented the game in the1930s to the intricacies of individual international competitions andthe corporate wars to control the world's favorite word game. He keepsthe reader turning the pages as we get involved in the lives of theScrabble obsessives: men and women who have a point to prove againstthe world and have chosen Scrabble as their playground and theirpulpit. As Fatsis goes on his own quest to attain the coveted 1600rating, we actually get obsessed with him as he lies awake at nightpondering moves and memorizing lists of words. For anybody who isinterested in words, Word Freak provides anentertaining and absorbing read. --Dwight Longenecker,Amazon.co.uk 0Book DescriptionScrabblemay be truly called America's game. But for every group of "living-roomplayers" there is someone who is "at one with the board." InWord Freak, Stefan Fatsis introduces readers tothose few, exploring the underground world of colorful characters forwhich the Scrabble game is life-playing competitively in tournamentsacross the country. It is also the story of how the Scrabble game wasinvented by an unemployed architect during the Great Depression and howit has grown into the hugely successful, challenging, and beloved gameit is today. Along the way, Fatsis chronicles his own obsession withthe game and his development as a player from novice to expert. Morethan a book about hardcore Scrabble players, WordFreak is also an examination of notions of brilliance,memory, language, competition, and the mind that celebrates the uncannycreative powers in us all. "Fatsis . . . writeswith affectionate zeal about the game and the fraternity of brilliant,lonely, and otherwise dysfunctional oddballs it attracts."(The New York Times) "Word Freak has an impassioned subtitle, and itlives up to every word." (People)0

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated :-)

thanks Jo

[this Is Good]: September ’07’s Most Popular Posts

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

Miss out on the best of Lifehacker this September? Here’s a list of our most-viewed posts of the month:

Transform Your Classic Xbox into a Killer Media Center
“Don’t ditch your classic Xbox just because you can’t play Halo 3 on it: nowadays it’s easier than ever to transform that old neglected console into a Unix-based media command center.”
Find Out If Your Computer Is Secretly Connecting to the Web
“If you are trying to track down why your computer is running so slooowwwly, try using this simple DOS command to uncover a possible problem.”
Yahoo Mail Innovates, Gmail Stagnates
“Less than two years after their beta release, Yahoo Mail has begun rolling out of beta after releasing an onslaught of innovative feature improvements along the way.”
Turn Your Windows PC into a Media Center Powerhouse On the Cheap
“If you’ve purchased a new Windows computer in the past few years that’s running Windows Media Center Edition or Vista Home Premium or Ultimate and you aren’t taking advantage of its baked-in DVR Media Center software, it’s time we change that.”
Top 10 Wikipedia Tricks
“Without a doubt, Wikipedia is one of the most useful and amazing sources of information on the internet–but chances are you aren’t using it to its full potential.”
Install Third-Party Applications on Your iPhone
“In less than two-months time, a persistent and merry band of iPhone hackers have been pushing out application after killer application for the iPhone, and hacking your iPhone to install those applications has become dead simple.”
Best Free Software to Unlock Your Favorite Hardware
“It sucks that your favorite gadgets have more functionality than their default software exposes, but it rules that several software applications are built to unlock that potential for free.”
Top 10 Ways to Put Your Remote Server to Good Use
“An always-on server can come in all kinds of handy for running automated tasks, syncing your data, remote controlling downloads and acting as a proxy.”
Soup Up Your Xbox Media Center
“So you’ve turned your classic Xbox into a full-blown media center (or you’re thinking about it) and now you want to add the finishing touches–like games, album art and streaming video–to your setup.”

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URGENT NEED HELP!! DELETED IMPORTANT BUCKET BY MISTAKE

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

URGENT NEED HELP!! DELETED IMPORTANT BUCKET BY MISTAKE

I may have just screwed up a six month project. Is there anyway to restore a bucket and files that were deleted by accident? Is there a phone number for support at Amazon for web services? Someone please help my job depends on it!!

Thanks,
Brian

Telephone: Get Global Calls for Local Rates With Maxroam

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

Good news for anyone who makes global calls on a regular basis. Cubic’s Maxroam, a SIM card that works on any unlocked mobile phone to make drastically discounted (up to 90%) country to country calls. The New York times has more:

So get this: For $40, you can buy this card without the phone. Cubic says that you can slip it into any GSM phone — even your regular T-Mobile or AT&T phone, as long as it’s an “unlocked” phone (one that works with other companies’ SIM cards). Then your own cellphone behaves exactly like the Cubic phone described up to this point.

You’ll want to read the fine print because there’s a lot of information to digest here, but it looks like the real deal. If you’re familiar with global long-distance rates, you know that $40 is a drop in the bucket compared to what you might normally be paying every month.

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Getting Results: Cancel Services Quickly

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

Sometimes, canceling a service that you don't want or need anymore can be a giant pain in the behind. However, calling outside of regular business hours might turn the tide your way:

The biggest tip is to call well outside of normal business hours -- in my company, customer service was open 24/7, but the retention department closed in the evening. If you call, say, before bed, or during the middle of the night, you'll just be talking to a regular CS rep who has no incentive whatsoever to keep you as a customer. It can turn a twenty minute phone call into a two minute phone call.

If you've ever had to deal with pushy reps this could be a lifesaver. What's your best tip for getting out of services you don't want? Thoughts in the comments.

Cell Phones: How to Block Your Number

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

If you want to block your cell phone number from showing up on other phones (for whatever reason), you can do it temporarily simply by dialing *67 before the number you’re calling. According to tech how-to site How To Do Things, you won’t have any way to tell this is working (it does), but if you want to reassure yourself just call another phone number that has caller ID to double-check that your number, indeed, is blocked.

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Weight Loss: Set Precise Goals To Lose Weight

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

If you're trying to lose a few pounds, self-improvement site Better Life Forum suggests that you'll want to make your goals as definite as possible:

A simple statement like, "I want to lose some weight," is an ambiguous and an indefinite statement. What is important is to be precise on your goals. It would be better if you will set some detailed amount of pounds that you really want to lose. Envisage yourself what you will look like after reaching your desired weight. Doing this will inspire you to lose weight. In fact, maybe even more than what you have planned in mind.

Anything that helps with the difficult process of losing unwanted weight is a good deal—if you've successfully managed to lose pounds, please share what made you successful in the comments.

Creating an Effective EC2 Backup Strategy

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

It's 11:30pm on a Friday night and you're ready to settle down, maybe watch some Leno. You check your email for the last time and realize to your horror that your EC2 cluster has just stopped responding. Your first thought, maybe my Internet connection is down, but that's not it. Maybe my Apache is down, no I can't ssh in. Maybe Amazon is down, no, some of my machines are responding. Lastly, you check the forums and there has been a hardware failure on several EC2 machines and all your data is gone.

If this sounds familiar, this discussion is for you. While I can't help you restore what is already lost, I'd like to give an overview of several different approaches to backing up and recovering your data on EC2 to ensure it never happens again.

The afore mentioned scenario is exactly what happened to Enomaly earlier this year and lead us to create ElasticDrive, a continuous data protection server application for Amazon S3. You can learn more about ElasticDrive at http://www.elasticdrive.com. Please feel free try our Public AMI or VMware appliances.

S3 Based Backups
Backing up your data to S3 is probably going to be the easiest and most cost effective solution for most EC2 users. S3 provides virtually limitless storage at a relatively low cost. The amount of data you want to backup is an important factor when planning the perfect strategy. Other variables such as the amount of lists/puts will also become a key factor. File systems typically work on a block level meaning that data is written and read on a frequent basis.

Creating a S3 based file system can be the simiplest solution but may also be the most costly if you're writing heavy amounts of data. Dumping files may be the cheapest but may require a lot of work upfront. Each have their own pros and cons. In building ElasticDrive we decided that a file system approach offered the least up-front configuration and setup for the typical consumer. Rather then having to re-design and develop an application to take advantage of the S3 API, all our customers need to do is install ElasticDrive and point their existing applications to either the new file mount or configure a hard drive mirror using RAID. We also felt that giving our customers the choice of several remote storage solutions allowed for the most flexibility now and in the future - after all technologies change very quickly.

One of the typical starting points for using S3 is a periodic dump of data. For example, an SQL dump can happen on an hourly or daily basis. This is a simple yet effective way to backup key data and using various S3 applications such as ftp-based transfers. A popular solution has been jungledisk for S3 data transfer.

For more intensive or highly dynamic applications like databases or websites, a more broad data mirroring may be more efficient. This is a use case we at Enomaly have the most experience with using our ElasticDrive.

Continuous Data Protection
We created ElasticDrive for the purposes of continuous data protection. Wikipedia defines continuous data protection (CDP) also called continuous backup, as backup of computer data by automatically saving a copy of every change made to that data, essentially capturing every version of the data that the user saves. It allows the user or administrator to restore data to any point in time. This becomes very important if you lose an instance in the middle of a transaction and you want to roll back to a point before the transaction had started, such an hour or two in the past. You could even roll back days, weeks or years if needed - any point in time before the corruption occurred.

ElasticDrive is a service that captures data changes to a separate storage location. There are multiple methods for capturing the continuous changes that serve different needs. CDP-based solutions can provide fine granularities of restorable objects ranging from crash-consistent images to logical objects such as files, mail boxes, messages, database files and logs.

For Enomaly the simplest solution is to run ElasticDrive in the form of a mirrored RAID drive (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) where all data is automatically written to a S3 backed virtual drive. In order to restore all our previous data we simply need start a new AMI with ElasticDrive automatically mounted at startup, which prepares us in case of such an emergency. If an instance is lost, a new AMI can be launched and downtime is kept to a minimum. If you assume the AMI's are going to be lost, you could even create a monitor to automatically repair or rebuild lost instances with little to no human intervention. This is also very handy when using both local and remote server resources inside and outside of AWS.

Virtual Tape Library & Off-site / Remote Backups
Another option is to create a virtual tape drive where data is backed up to look and act like a tape similar to a traditional enterprise but instead to a virtual storage environment.

There are literally dozens of commercial and open source applications dedicated to tape based backup. One such application is Zmanda which allows for an easy to manage environment with a web based graphical interface and various other features. Amanda provides the unique capability of writing backups to tape and disk simultaneously. The very same data can be available online at EC2 for quick restores from a local disk and off-site (low cost dedicated server host or S3) for disaster recovery and long-term retention. http://amanda.zmanda.com/

Using traditional dedicated hosting providers is also a popular trend among EC2 users and may be a solid approach for long term low cost data protection. A number of third party vendors offer API based S3 alternatives. For instance AOL xdrive offers 5GB for free.

Network File Sharing & Virtual SAN
Creating a virtual storage area network is yet another option. This allows for either a master / slave type environment to be configured or even a hybrid where both a S3 backed drive and distributed storage engine can be used.

A recommendation for this type of solution is dcache and is ideally suited for use with EC2.The goal of this open source project is to provide a system for storing and retrieving huge amounts of data, distributed among a large number of heterogenous server nodes, under a single virtual filesystem tree with a variety of standard access methods. Depending on the Persistency Model, dCache provides methods for exchanging data with a variety of storage systems as well as space management, pool attraction, dataset replication, hot spot determination and recovery from disk or node failures. Connected to a distributed storage system, the cache simulates unlimited direct access storage space. Data exchanges to and from the underlying HSM are performed automatically and invisibly to the user. Filesystem namespace operations can be performed through a standard nfs interface. http://www.dcache.org/

Distributed / Replicated File System
Another option is to use a Google style replicated file system. One such system is GlusterFS. It enables a clustered file-system capable of scaling to several peta-bytes. It aggregates various storage bricks over Infiniband RDMA or TCP/IP interconnect into one large parallel network file system. GlusterFS effectively allows users to create a google style cluster with data distributed amount multiple EC2 nodes. This is great when working on large EC2 clusters as the chance of all cluster nodes failing at the same time is slim so additional S3 storage may not be needed. Although for most users I would still suggest some kind of secondary backup regardless of the amount of EC2 redundancy.

My concern with glusterFS is its lack of data security so be careful.

MySQL Backup and Recovery
Most modern web applications depend heavily on a database. The most frequently used database for Enomaly is MYSQL. Having an effective database backup and recovery plan can save you time and money. There are a number of third party applications devoted to helping manage SQL backups ranging from ruby or java libraries to full turnkey solutions such as Zmanda's MYSQL backup.

The Zmanda offering is free and extremely user friendly. Features include; Schedule full and incremental backups of your MySQL database. Start immediate backup or postpone scheduled backups based on your needs. Choose to do more flexible logical or faster raw backups of your database. Perform backup that is the best match for your storage engine and your MySQL configuration. Backup your remote MySQL database through a firewall. Configure on-the-fly compression and/or encryption of your MySQL backups to meet your storage and security needs. Get e-mail notification about the status of your backups and receive MySQL backup reports via RSS feed. Monitor and browse your backups. Define retention policies and delete backups that have expired. Recover a database easily to any point in time or to any particular transaction, e.g. just before a user made an error. Parse binary logs to search and filter MySQL logs for operational and security reasons http://www.zmanda.com/backup-mysql.html

In conclusion, there are various security measures you can take to make sure you don't lose important data. The best bet is to save your information in more then one place and plan for the worst.

---------------------

You can learn more about ElasticDrive at http://www.elasticdrive.com

About Reuven Cohen
Reuven Cohen is the Founder and Chief Technologist at Enomaly Inc, a Toronto based open source technology firm. Reuven has extensive experience working with emerging enterprise technology and has developed in excess of 500 websites for companies including John Hancock, Intel, Alliance Atlantis, 20th Century Fox, Best Buy and Business Objects.

To Learn more about Enomaly, please visit http://www.enomaly.com or http://www.enomalylabs.com

Household: Make Your Vacuum Cleaner Last Longer

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

Your vacuum cleaner doesn’t need much to keep it going, but if you want to keep it around for as long as humanly possible, you’ll want to read wikiHow’s detailed list of tips for maintenance. Keeping the various removable parts clean as well as replacing parts before they break is a biggie, as well as dumping the filters/bags/bins periodically. Your vacuum is definitely not the most sexy of the household appliances, but you might as well keep it running at top speed.

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Office Culture: Cover Your Butt At Work with Thorough Notes

30 Sep, 2007 No Comment

You may not be a troublemaker, or someone who raises hell in the workplace. But
sometimes trouble has a way of finding even the best employee. Workplace
miscommunication and conflict can add stress to every day and make your life
miserable. But there's an easy way to protect yourself from accusations, blame
and disrespect at the office: by keeping great notes.

Why does conflict happen?

In a work environment, most conflicts arise due to miscommunication. Either expectations weren't clear or they changed when you weren't looking. The best way to avoid conflict is to understand what you are being asked to do. The next best way is to have proof that you're doing what you were asked. That proof is complete and accurate notes. Of all the ways to keep yourself out of trouble and get ahead, your notes—if thorough and detailed—can provide you a clear path.

What do butt-covering notes look like?

First, all your notes should be dated. Date the top of each page and when someone makes an important statement, put a time next to it when you write it down. Dates and times become difficult to argue against when one person says one thing and you say another. Time and date specifics trump general claims in verbal arguments every time.

They say: "The other day I asked you to clean fish"
You say: "On September 15th at 9:45a.m. we did talk, yes. But you asked me to
send the fish out to be cleaned—which I did. They are at the fish cleaners right now."

After you refer to your notes a couple of times, your manager and co-workers
will become aware that you document everything thoroughly. In turn, they'll rise
to the occasion and communicate with you more clearly.

Build a file on your boss

Before we get to deep into this, Sherlock, let's set a few ground rules. First, I am not suggesting you spy on your boss. You aren't going out of your way to gather information. You are simply observing behavior during meetings and one-to-one interactions and keeping detailed notes.

Don't feel bad about keeping a file on your boss, because your boss keeps a file
on you. If all employees kept files on their bosses, lots of them would clean up
their act. I hear complaints about various bosses getting away with murder for
years. If these maniacs knew their employees kept files on them, detailing their
every move? They might act differently, knowing their behavior was being
documented. Instead writing down every single thing he or she says, I like to
record particularly good or bad things. Sometimes you'll see the boss do
something great or say something offensive. Write it down, date and time stamp
it and put it in the file. Consider keeping a copy of your boss file off-site so
you'll have access to it no matter what happens at work.

Your notes will get you out of trouble

Have you ever had the situation where a boss told you to do something, and you did it, but then it failed, so you were blamed for doing it? Picture an employee trying to explain this without notes to back them up. "I thought you said to do it!! I remember you telling me to do it."

Compare that with someone who takes copious notes. He simply pulls out the
original request. "Hmmm. Let's see here. Your request was AND I QUOTE to do 1,
2, 3... Are you changing your mind?"

Your notes will cover you

When you write down the request with a date and time, it is like building a shield. Poor managers learn they cannot lie about you thus will keep away. Good managers will respect your thoroughness.

Your notes will keep you on track

The older I get, the easier it is to forget details. As project managers know, small details can make or break a project. Therefore, by keeping good notes, you can always go back and remember those niggling details. This makes you more efficient and effective because you can do the job right, with no hand holding.

Your notes will get you a raise

Have you ever had your boss peek their head in your office and say "what have you been up to the last week, month or year?" If you don't have good notes, how can you possibly remember? IT people fall into this trap all the time. They are used to doing and doing, but not recording what they do. So employers can get away with granting meager pay raises and outright disrespect. Put good notes behind a good IT person and then what happens? He or she becomes indispensable.

Notes as butt-covering protection

I hate to tell you this, but in even the very best companies, a competitive vibe of us versus them can arise. Everyone is trying to get ahead, and sometimes people will see you as a stepping stone to get there. Protect yourself. Get a thorough understanding of what your job is and do it. Don't bleed your efforts into other areas until your job is done. Finally, build up your notes. Don't skip along hoping that everything is going to be ok. It might not be.

So use your notes as your get-out-of-jail-free card.

Brad Isaac is a lead software programmer and blogger. You can read his motivational strategies every day on his goal setting blog, Achieve-IT!