Concurrency pattern: Concurrent multimaps in Java

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:19:17 +0000

Preamble Maintaining state is one of the most important ways in which we can increase the performance of our code. I don’t mean using a database or some goliath system somewhere. I mean local memory caches. Often they can be more than adequate to allow us to maintain state and provide a dramatic improvement in [...]

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API Pattern: Exception transformer

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 23:42:49 +0000

Exception transformation is an API pattern that I came across some time back, originally from an able colleague of mine, that although very simple has proved to be immensely useful to me on a couple of occasions. Checked exceptions are widespread in Java. Imagine the situation where you are calling numerous methods on a class [...]

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RSA SecurID compromised

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:58:51 +0000

I’ve been using RSA SecurID for a number of years now to login into banks remotely. It appears they are now compromised – ArsTechnica, WSJ. That’s adverse publicity on a very large scale.

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JDK7 Project Coin Primer

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:57:41 +0000

Although I knew about the small language enhancements going into JDK7, named Project Coin, quite some time back it was only today that I got around to actually coding and trying them all out primarily due to prior laziness and poor editor support. Yes I know – there’s plenty of docs on Project Coin out [...]

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London’s Bubble Teas

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:43:10 +0000

I recently got back from a trip to south east Asia where I was introduced by a friend to what was to become my favourite drink of all time – milk tea or as we call it in the West – bubble tea. Now I see, to my great surprise and delight, that this predominantly [...]

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WWDC June 2011 expectations

Tue, 31 May 2011 22:39:54 +0000

Bloomberg has quite tastefully summarised our expectations of what Steve Jobs is likely to announce at this year’s WWDC conference on 6th June. We’ve all become so accustomed to hardware revolutions every 12 months that it comes as a massive heartfelt let down that no such hardware announcements are expected this time around. A new [...]

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Foreign exchange hiring and trading rising

Tue, 31 May 2011 22:02:26 +0000

Foreign exchange hiring and trading are reported to be rising. Efinancial careers reports on hiring that: … a lot of the current opportunities are within the more established FX houses. BarCap is hiring Java and C++ developers for its 250-strong FX IT team, Citi has openings for developers and connectivity specialists for its front office [...]

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Microsoft Mango: Windows Phone 7 Previewed

Wed, 25 May 2011 16:14:21 +0000

BBC has provided a preview of Microsoft Mango, the new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system, adopted by Nokia to replace their aging and rendered obsolete Symbian operating system. It certainly looks like a worthy competitor to iOS and Android with the usual incorporations such as threaded conversations, unified inboxes, social networking support and seamless [...]

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Moody’s Lists U.K. Banks for Downgrade Review

Tue, 24 May 2011 15:24:07 +0000

Just as government support helped to raise UK lenders’ credit ratings previously, now, the withdrawal of government support prompts Moody’s to review their credit ratings with a view to downgrade them. Regulators are also attempting to devise rules whereby banks will be allowed to fail without resorting to the taxpayer for help.

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Installing subversion using subdomain on Apache and Debian

Mon, 23 May 2011 15:59:02 +0000

Here’s a quick reference on the basics of installing Subversion on Debian using an Apache subdomain both for my own reference and others too. There were a couple of bits I had to search around for so I thought an all-in-one guide might be useful for others. Install subversion. apt-get install subversion Install Apache and [...]

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