BBC NEWS | Business | Google sued by nude photo website: "Perfect 10, which Mr Nada said are posted without permission.
He said his company had sent nearly 30 formal requests to Google, asking it to remove the photos and password lists from its search results, but was dissatisfied with the company's response. "
My Response :
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA...
Among other news ....
Enterprise Security Today (Online Security): NewsFactor Network - Mobile Security - Skulls Trojan Prompts Security Firms To Protect Smartphones
I like to build stuff that is useful and solves problems. This blog contains things that I find interesting enough to write about.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Barcodes and Cellphones - A Commentary
So what are barcodes ?
Found this definition of a linear barcode in the glossary section of Barcodesinc .
"Information encoded into a pattern of varying-width parallel bars and spaces. The most common symbologies used in the retail environment are UPC-A for merchandise marking and Code 128 for shipping containers. Other symbologies include Plessey Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5 and EAN/JAN. "
This is the best definition I could find on the web that wasnt biased to a particular type of barcode. To most people barcodes are a series of black lines on a white background that are present on the packaging of almost everything worthwhile that they buy from a retail store.
Although, these barcodes ( referred to as linear barcodes) are the most commonly seen there is another breed or class of barcodes - the 2-dimensional barcodes. You can get the complete lowdown on 2D barcodes by doing a simple search on google. If you want just a basic understanding then this page at barcodeman should be of interest.
Barcodes and Cellphones ... ?
There are 2 main models that I can think of where barcodes can and in some sense are playing a important role.
- Handset to World
- World to Handset
1) Handset to World model.
This model includes applications that exchange information between the handset and a remote server. The aim here is to use the value encoded in a barcode to avoid the user having to enter data on the constrained keypad of the handset. Linear barcodes usually contain a small string of data and need to be patched up to a datastore on the back end. This can be a limiting factor in some applications that cannot afford synchronization with a data store all the time. 2 dimensional barcodes come into the picture here. These barcodes can encode relatively large amounts of data and thus eliminating the need of a data store in some cases.
Enterprise applications like inventory management apps or time tracking applications on the handsets fall into this category. There are 2 ways you can scan a barcode on the handset.
- Use a laser scanner connected to the cell phone/PDA.
- Use the camera on the new cell phones to capture and decode the barcode.
There are quite a few firms providing solutions that enable you to incorporate barcode scanning capability - Symbol, AirClic , Scanbuy, Gavitec, Semacode, Mediaseek, etc ... Personally, I do believe that the best way to go about incorpoting barcode scanning is to go with the camera cell phone approach. Yes, the decoding is not as easy as laser scanners but when you consider the flexibility in the number of devices available and also the cost, laser scanner based solutions kinda fall behind. But, this just my opnion.
2) World to Handset.
This model includes applications that require remote servers to initiate the trasactions by sending information to user's mobile handsets. Marketing, info on deals and coupons are just some applications that fall in this category. There has been a lot of literature published on the web regarding sending coupons etc to cell phones. The basic functionality of the system is very simple. The server(world) sends a barcode and some text describing the deal or the coupon to the users handset. To redeem the coupon the user walks in to the store and the attendent scans the coupon barcode directly from the handsets screen. There are some variations to this basic model available in the market today, a quick search on google will reveal a lot of firms offering this solution.
Found this definition of a linear barcode in the glossary section of Barcodesinc .
"Information encoded into a pattern of varying-width parallel bars and spaces. The most common symbologies used in the retail environment are UPC-A for merchandise marking and Code 128 for shipping containers. Other symbologies include Plessey Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5 and EAN/JAN. "
This is the best definition I could find on the web that wasnt biased to a particular type of barcode. To most people barcodes are a series of black lines on a white background that are present on the packaging of almost everything worthwhile that they buy from a retail store.
Although, these barcodes ( referred to as linear barcodes) are the most commonly seen there is another breed or class of barcodes - the 2-dimensional barcodes. You can get the complete lowdown on 2D barcodes by doing a simple search on google. If you want just a basic understanding then this page at barcodeman should be of interest.
Barcodes and Cellphones ... ?
There are 2 main models that I can think of where barcodes can and in some sense are playing a important role.
- Handset to World
- World to Handset
1) Handset to World model.
This model includes applications that exchange information between the handset and a remote server. The aim here is to use the value encoded in a barcode to avoid the user having to enter data on the constrained keypad of the handset. Linear barcodes usually contain a small string of data and need to be patched up to a datastore on the back end. This can be a limiting factor in some applications that cannot afford synchronization with a data store all the time. 2 dimensional barcodes come into the picture here. These barcodes can encode relatively large amounts of data and thus eliminating the need of a data store in some cases.
Enterprise applications like inventory management apps or time tracking applications on the handsets fall into this category. There are 2 ways you can scan a barcode on the handset.
- Use a laser scanner connected to the cell phone/PDA.
- Use the camera on the new cell phones to capture and decode the barcode.
There are quite a few firms providing solutions that enable you to incorporate barcode scanning capability - Symbol, AirClic , Scanbuy, Gavitec, Semacode, Mediaseek, etc ... Personally, I do believe that the best way to go about incorpoting barcode scanning is to go with the camera cell phone approach. Yes, the decoding is not as easy as laser scanners but when you consider the flexibility in the number of devices available and also the cost, laser scanner based solutions kinda fall behind. But, this just my opnion.
2) World to Handset.
This model includes applications that require remote servers to initiate the trasactions by sending information to user's mobile handsets. Marketing, info on deals and coupons are just some applications that fall in this category. There has been a lot of literature published on the web regarding sending coupons etc to cell phones. The basic functionality of the system is very simple. The server(world) sends a barcode and some text describing the deal or the coupon to the users handset. To redeem the coupon the user walks in to the store and the attendent scans the coupon barcode directly from the handsets screen. There are some variations to this basic model available in the market today, a quick search on google will reveal a lot of firms offering this solution.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Monday Night Mayhem
Watching the Monday night game as i write this .. KC Cheifs are playing really good tonight... its a pity they are out of playoff contention.
Still havent been able to find the programming zone at home. I started working on a RSS reader for cell phones in J2ME. There are several versions available already but I thought of building one myself just to get me fingers dirty with RSS formats. The plan is to build a MIDlet that can read both 0.91 and 1.0 formats and if my preliminary research is correct then version 2.0 should be no problem once I can read these formats. Plan to use kxml library to do the XML parsing stuff. Will post the source code on my programming blog once its done, should be sometime this week.
Still havent been able to find the programming zone at home. I started working on a RSS reader for cell phones in J2ME. There are several versions available already but I thought of building one myself just to get me fingers dirty with RSS formats. The plan is to build a MIDlet that can read both 0.91 and 1.0 formats and if my preliminary research is correct then version 2.0 should be no problem once I can read these formats. Plan to use kxml library to do the XML parsing stuff. Will post the source code on my programming blog once its done, should be sometime this week.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Issues with installing Hello World Applet on the phone
Well .. I am nearly at the end of the development cycle in my project. Have all the GUI and logic figured out. Now, all that’s left is the Camera module. Unfortunately the ICamera interface cannot be instantiated on the emulator. I have tried with the V625 ( the device I am developing for) emulator and it doesn’t work.
So the next step will be to port my app on the device and test and debug from there. I found this excellent thread at the BREW forums with all the info required to create the mod file. Hats off to Tyndal.
You can access the thread here.
The only thing stopping me from actually deploying a Applet on the phone now is the drivers for the data cable for the Moto v26x series. The OS detects that it’s a device from the V26x series but just doesn’t find the drivers anywhere. I haven’t been able to find them anywhere on the web either.
Just cant wait to have a complete BREW applet run on the device. They say it gets easier after the first one. Its been three weeks since i started coding in BREW and though the programming part is something that i have gotten used to (its really just C) the other part about the device and stuff is a royal pain in the A**.
So the next step will be to port my app on the device and test and debug from there. I found this excellent thread at the BREW forums with all the info required to create the mod file. Hats off to Tyndal.
You can access the thread here.
The only thing stopping me from actually deploying a Applet on the phone now is the drivers for the data cable for the Moto v26x series. The OS detects that it’s a device from the V26x series but just doesn’t find the drivers anywhere. I haven’t been able to find them anywhere on the web either.
Just cant wait to have a complete BREW applet run on the device. They say it gets easier after the first one. Its been three weeks since i started coding in BREW and though the programming part is something that i have gotten used to (its really just C) the other part about the device and stuff is a royal pain in the A**.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Saturday ...sleepy Satuday
Well as usual another Saturday gone and no work done. I am getting good at being unproductive. Maybe next time I will not make ambitious plans for a saturday. I got up at 1:30 pm in the afternoon (whole morning gone) thanks to a call from a freind. Then I decided to clean up my place .. its been neglected for some time now and it took me the whole afternoon to early evening to do that .. I finally got my desktop out of the box and set it up. All I have to get now is a longer ethernet cable and that baby is gonna rock and roll.
As for the other stuff I had planned for .. just cant find the zone these days .. Had plan to research on a RSS reader that i wanted to make for my cell phone.. but I just cant find the programming zone state of mind .. been sitting in front of the PC for clost to an hour now .. but havent coded anything .. hope i find my programming ways tomm morning .. have a lot of stuff to do .. as for now .. will return to watching Godfather on cable ...
As for the other stuff I had planned for .. just cant find the zone these days .. Had plan to research on a RSS reader that i wanted to make for my cell phone.. but I just cant find the programming zone state of mind .. been sitting in front of the PC for clost to an hour now .. but havent coded anything .. hope i find my programming ways tomm morning .. have a lot of stuff to do .. as for now .. will return to watching Godfather on cable ...
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