Ever since that purchase, I’ve been reading the manual whenever I got free time as I thought how am I supposed to be a better photographer if I don’t know the full potential of my camera ? I also managed to get some pirated book about the camera such as Canon EOS 40D Digital Field Guide. I was actually preparing myself for my uncle’s engagement event on the 3rd day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. However, another event added to my list which is my cousin’s wedding event. I’m pretty happy that I finally had the chance to try whatever I learnt to the real world since using the chair in my room as a model is getting boring.

So, fast forward to my cousin’s wedding day. The main event that day was “Akad Nikah” which took place at a mosque near her house. Sadly, on my first try out as a photographer using my new camera, I made a lot of mistakes, lots of them. These are the mistakes that I knew (there are definitely more):

1. I didn’t identify the main characters for the event thus there are only a few photos of them.
2. Overuse of f/1.8 resulting a very bad group photos.
3. Always beware with the additional characters such as children playing around which spoiled my shot with their blur movement.
4. Wrong setting for shutter speed whenever I want to capture a candid moment such as hugging, shaking hands and so on.
5. I need to ask them to look at me whenever I want to take photos (yes, I forgot to ask them to do that every time there are other photographers around).
6. I need to know in advance the settings for the indoor and outdoor. Almost all of my outdoor shots after the event (which took place indoor) were overexposed as I didn’t have the time to test the correct settings.
7. Always test other flash exposures even though the initial setting is OK at the first try.
8. I should’ve known the limitation of my 50mm lens.
9. I should not feel shy whenever I want to get close the subject.

So, what about the mistakes that I’ve done during my uncle’s engagement day ? This is the list:

1. All the previous mistakes ;)

However, one thing for sure, I really need to start saving and buy a wide angle lens. 50mm is great for portrait shots, but not for group shots or even two people at some distance in a cramp room. *Sigh*, there’re still so many things to learn.

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Out /home/${USER}/Desktop
Label 1

11. The first line actually tell CUPS to print your file to the Desktop and the second line will make sure your file won’t be overwritten by the newer one.
12. Restart your CUPS, for Slackware users, you can type this command /etc/rc.d/rc.cups restart
13. So, that’s all and good luck !

Tested on Slackware 12.1, CUPS 1.3.7

However, for people who uses non gui environment such as Fluxbox, Openbox and etc (Gnome and KDE user can use these steps too), you can fix it by editing your CUPS printers configuration file. You can get edit the file at /etc/cups/printers.conf

<DefaultPrinter Printer>
# Printer configuration file for CUPS v1.3.7
# Written by cupsd on 2008-09-08 11:24
.
.
.
Option orientation-requested 3
</Printer>

Make sure you add line 7 to every configuration for every printer you’ve installed. If you cannot find the file, you probably haven’t configured any printer yet.

This fix is simply to make sure CUPS will provide a page orientation setting to Java.

The exception:

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: null attribute
        at sun.print.IPPPrintService.isAttributeValueSupported(IPPPrintService.java:1147)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog$OrientationPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:2121)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog$PageSetupPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:1263)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.updatePanels(ServiceDialog.java:437)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.initPrintDialog(ServiceDialog.java:195)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.(ServiceDialog.java:124)
        at javax.print.ServiceUI.printDialog(ServiceUI.java:188)
        at sun.print.RasterPrinterJob.printDialog(RasterPrinterJob.java:855)
        at sun.print.PSPrinterJob.printDialog(PSPrinterJob.java:421)

Refer to some of the discussions here:

• Ubuntu Bugs Report
• Java Bugs Report

UPDATE: I forgot to add, you need to restart your CUPS after editing the configuration (Thanks to Brandon Bell)

Tested on Slackware 12.1, JDK 1.6 Update 7, CUPS 1.3.7

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    public JTable autoResizeColWidth(JTable table, DefaultTableModel model) {
        table.setAutoResizeMode(JTable.AUTO_RESIZE_OFF);
        table.setModel(model);
 
        int margin = 5;
 
        for (int i = 0; i < table.getColumnCount(); i++) {
            int                     vColIndex = i;
            DefaultTableColumnModel colModel  = (DefaultTableColumnModel) table.getColumnModel();
            TableColumn             col       = colModel.getColumn(vColIndex);
            int                     width     = 0;
 
            // Get width of column header
            TableCellRenderer renderer = col.getHeaderRenderer();
 
            if (renderer == null) {
                renderer = table.getTableHeader().getDefaultRenderer();
            }
 
            Component comp = renderer.getTableCellRendererComponent(table, col.getHeaderValue(), false, false, 0, 0);
 
            width = comp.getPreferredSize().width;
 
            // Get maximum width of column data
            for (int r = 0; r < table.getRowCount(); r++) {
                renderer = table.getCellRenderer(r, vColIndex);
                comp     = renderer.getTableCellRendererComponent(table, table.getValueAt(r, vColIndex), false, false,
                        r, vColIndex);
                width = Math.max(width, comp.getPreferredSize().width);
            }
 
            // Add margin
            width += 2 * margin;
 
            // Set the width
            col.setPreferredWidth(width);
        }
 
        ((DefaultTableCellRenderer) table.getTableHeader().getDefaultRenderer()).setHorizontalAlignment(
            SwingConstants.LEFT);
 
        // table.setAutoCreateRowSorter(true);
        table.getTableHeader().setReorderingAllowed(false);
 
        for (int i = 0; i < table.getColumnCount(); i++) {
            TableColumn column = table.getColumnModel().getColumn(i);
 
            column.setCellRenderer(new DefaultTableColour());
        }
 
        return table;
    }

Example:

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// Must pass the model
DefaultTableModel model = new DefaultTableModel();
jTable = autoResizeColWidth(jTable, model);

Tested on JRE v5 and JRE v6

CSI: Las Vegas

Season 6 Episode 1: For Warrick (Thursday October 9, 2008)

The ninth season begins with Nick discovering Warrick slumped over in his car after hearing the gunshots. The entire team grieves for their fallen friend while unknown to them the killer, the Undersheriff, investigates the murder. Also an old friend returns when they hear the news.

Desperate Housewives

Unknown

Gossip Girl

Season 2 Episode 1: Summer, Kind of Wonderful (September 19, 2007)

Summer in the Hamptons!! In the second season premiere, our favourite Upper East Siders endure the Summer heat in the Hamptons. During the trip in the Hamptons, Blair meets a charming new boy hoping to make Chuck jealous, Nate gets involved in a steamy relationship and Serena questions her past relationship with Dan. Meanwhile on the other side of town, Dan gets a job at a local library. Though things don’t go according to plan.

Heroes

Season 3 Episode 1: The Butterfly Effect (September 22, 2008)

House M.D

Unknown

Kyle XY

Season  3 Episode 1: It Happened… (January 12, 2009)

Restrained and weakened, Kyle awakens inside a Latnok building. Despite his predicament, Kyle must escape and rescue Amanda—who is being held in the same building.

Lost

Unknown

Prison Break

Season 4 Episode 1: (September 1, 2008)

Sarah Wayne Callies is returning to Prison Break: “Prison Break is bringing back Dr. Sara Tancredi, Sarah Wayne Callies, as a regular character for season four. Olmstead makes it clear that isn’t Sara’s head after all, and she’s been alive, although not necessarily well, this whole time.”

Smallville

Season 8 Episode 1: Odyssey (September 18, 2008)

Green Arrow calls upon fellow heroes Black Canary, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter to locate the missing Clark Kent, last seen in the Arctic.

Supernatural

Season 4 Episode 1 (Thursday September 4, 2008)

Sam and Bobby have an old friend of Bobby’s, a psychic, help them try and find the missing Dean.

* Will update when I got more information

“In this word, there are three types of swindlers. Those who defraud other people’s money, Shirosagi. Those who deceive others by manipulating their feelings, Akasagi. And then, using the Shirosagi and Akasagi as his only source of food, is the ultimate swindler in history. His name is Kurosagi” Pretty cool eh ? That’s the opening text of this drama.

Kurosagi is the latest JDrama I’ve watched. I’m actually not really a fan of JDrama since most of the stories are more about relationships. I haven’t known any drama that focuses more on action and stuffs, but maybe that’s because I’m just not exposed enough to the world of JDrama ;) I think the last time JDrama I watched was Friends (god damn Kyoko Fukada looks so cute in this drama).

Anyway, enough of Friends, I wanna talk about Kurosagi. The drama is about how a victim of a con case which in turns became a con artist himself. The main difference between him and other swindlers is that he only cons from bad swindlers. That storyline alone got me hooked to this 11 episodes drama. The story kinda like Matchstick Men by Nicholas Cage. So, if you like this Comedy/Drama/Thriller/Crime/Romance (just a little bit), go grab the DVD, totally worth it, but of course, I just downloaded it from the net :) Oh yes, you can get more information about the actor and the actress from DramaWiki. Enjoy the drama!

View the discussion
Download the code

In case you didn’t know, HUSM stands for Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia and I’m currently working there. Early this year, my head of the department got invited by MDeC to this event. The event took place at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center from 18/5/2008 to 22/5/2008. You can read all the information about WCIT here. Read more for further information about this event.

To my surprise, we were the only hospital that manages our development software all by ourselves. Even though Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia started developing their own, they still rely on vendor in terms of the hardware and the database (they’re using Oracle). Other hospital didn’t actually bring their own IT Department people, instead they sent their vendors. However, they’re some from Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia who brought their own IT people even though the application they brought was coded by the vendor (the only difference is that they own the code, not the vendor).

The event was a really an eye opener for me. I saw lots of new technologies that has been integrated into our daily lives. It’s pretty cool to see the advancement of IT industries in Malaysia. I managed to meet some interesting developers, managers and others who has a lot of experience in the industry itself. Not to forget, I also managed to come close to our Prime Minister and also Yang di Pertuan Agong. It was almost as I could actually slap their back, but of course I didn’t do it, hey, I still love my job :)

However, I’m a little bit disappointed with the technology used. Lots of people/developers/vendors in the government still rely on non-open source software. Why should you pay when you can get it free? That’s what HUSM is trying to say in the event. We’ve developed our own software and save millions of ringgit, but of course, other managements don’t care, they think as long as they have the money, they’ll just spend it the max. What they don’t realize is that the money that shouldn’t be spent in the first place could be used for other things. Now, imagine that mindset in each and every head of the department (including non-IT) in Malaysia. We could actually save billions and our IT people will gain knowledge more than ever.

I’m also surprised other IT Department didn’t bother to ask us much about the technology that is used in our applications. I mean, it’s not that weird if the end user didn’t ask what database that we use, but IT people ? Come on, it’s like a chef is not interested in asking about the recipe (ok, maybe bad analogy here, but you get my point, right ?).

Even though we just got small booth (read: very very small), I think we somehow manage to tell the people that HUSM is different. I’m looking forward to another event like this. Till then, enjoy the photos taken using Canon A710 at my Picasa Web Albums.

p/s: Thanks to MDeC for the invitation, we really appreciate it :)

UPDATE: Problem solved and we know have 3 ways in printing using Zebra S4M

New Version

Thanks to Oleg for pointing out on how to print using Zebra S4M connected either via USB or network.

The solution is pretty simple, all you have to do is do not install Zebra S4M as a Zebra S4M (sounds weird, I know), instead, just install it as a local raw printer (Linux) or generic text printer (Windows).

For CUPS user in Linux, this is the example for the correct configurations:

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#/etc/cups/printers.conf
<Printer Zebra>
Info
Location
DeviceURI socket://10.1.1.5:9100
State Idle
StateTime 1223445299
Accepting Yes
Shared Yes
JobSheets none none
QuotaPeriod 0
PageLimit 0
KLimit 0
OpPolicy default
ErrorPolicy stop-printer
Option orientation-requested 3
</Printer>

You can always add the printer using the web interface, just make sure you choose the RAW as the Make/Manufacturer and Model/Driver.

For Windows user, please take a look at Oleg comment.

Test this Java code, it should print out a barcode:

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import javax.print.Doc;
import javax.print.DocFlavor;
import javax.print.DocPrintJob;
import javax.print.PrintException;
import javax.print.PrintService;
import javax.print.PrintServiceLookup;
import javax.print.SimpleDoc;
import javax.print.attribute.PrintServiceAttribute;
import javax.print.attribute.standard.PrinterName;
 
public class SimplePrint {
 
    public static void main(String[] args) {
 
        try {
 
            PrintService psZebra = null;
            String sPrinterName = null;
            PrintService[] services = PrintServiceLookup.lookupPrintServices(null, null);
 
            for (int i = 0; i < services.length; i++) {
 
                PrintServiceAttribute attr = services[i].getAttribute(PrinterName.class);
                sPrinterName = ((PrinterName) attr).getValue();
 
                if (sPrinterName.toLowerCase().indexOf("zebra") >= 0) {
                    psZebra = services[i];
                    break;
                }
            }
 
            if (psZebra == null) {
                System.out.println("Zebra printer is not found.");
                return;
            }
            DocPrintJob job = psZebra.createPrintJob();
 
            String s = "^XA^FO100,40^BY3^B3,,30^FD123ABC^XZ";
 
            byte[] by = s.getBytes();
            DocFlavor flavor = DocFlavor.BYTE_ARRAY.AUTOSENSE;
            Doc doc = new SimpleDoc(by, flavor, null);
            job.print(doc, null);
 
        } catch (PrintException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }      
    }
}

Old Version

So, I started looking around for other methods. I even tried posting on java’s forum and offered 10 duke points, but no one seems to answer my question. After googling around, I found out that I could upload a file containing the ZPL II to the printer, so, I tried and it did work. But another problem arise, Two people cannot ftp simultaneously due to the limited access set by the printer.

Printing using FTP (I’m using Apache Commons Net library)

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import java.io.FileInputStream;
import org.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTP;
import org.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTPClient;
 
public class FtpPrint {
 
    public static void main(String[] args) {
 
        try {
 
            FTPClient f = new FTPClient();            
 
            f.connect("10.1.127.3");
            f.login("anonymous", "");
            f.setFileType(FTP.ASCII_FILE_TYPE);                            
 
            FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("/path/to/file");
            if (f.storeFile("filename", in)) {
                System.out.println("Upload ok");
            }                
 
            f.logout();
            f.disconnect();
 
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

In the end I had to find another solution. After 3 days of searching the internet up and down, I found out that Zebra’s website offered a piece of code in Java to print using ZPL II using socket programming which automatically solve all of my problems, I was like, what the.. Note to myself, always search for the manufacturer site before googling around. However, a few modifications needed for the given code such as the printer port and the language sent. You can get the codes below:

Printing using socket (Got it from Zebra website)

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import java.io.DataOutputStream;
import java.net.Socket;
 
public class SocketPrint {
 
    public static void main(String argv[]) throws Exception {
 
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            Socket clientSocket = new Socket("10.1.127.3", 9100);
            DataOutputStream outToServer = new DataOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
            outToServer.writeBytes("^XA^FO100,40^BY3^B3,,30^FD123ABC^XZ");
            clientSocket.close();
        }
    }
}

Download guide to ZPL II

UPDATE: This only works on S4M with a PrintServer attached to it. I still don’t know how to print directly using USB cable. If anyone has an idea, please contact me or put your link in the comment box. Thanks :)

You may ask, why not CSI Miami or CSI New York ? Simply because it’s the first and the leader, Gil Grissom. is actually a scientist (in the show, not in real life) which to me is so freaking cool. Compared to other CSIs, others are not scientist. But don’t get me wrong, I do like CSI Miami (due to the coolness of Lt. Horatio Caine), it’s just that I like Las Vegas more. Cases presented are much more mysterious, weird, and complicated than the others. Remember last season criminal, the Miniature Killer ? The one who killed people and then send a miniature model of the crime scene to the CSI team, totally wicked.

Desperate Housewives

I still remember the first time I heard about this TV Series, I was like, the only reason I would watch a TV Series displaying old housewives together is because Teri Hatcher is in it. I became one of her fan due to her act in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. So, I decided to watch the first episode and then, I’m totally hooked to the TV Series not just because of Teri Hatcher anymore, but also because of Eva Longoria and of course, the storyline which is also interesting. Who would have guessed, a beautiful neighborhood got so many secrets hidden inside their houses and that’s what make Desperate Housewives so interesting.

Gossip Girl

I didn’t pay much attention at all when this TV Series was launched. I did read about its review on how Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars narrates the show as the “Gossip Girl” herself, the story which is somehow almost similar to The O.C (my favorite too). One day, my friend recommended me to watch it, so, I thought since I don’t have any teen drama to watch at that moment, I decided to give it a try, of course, I got hooked up to this one too. The first thing I noticed is one of the actor, the beautiful Leighton Meester which appeared before in House as one of her patient that fall in love with House just because she got disease that can fool her emotion. She definitely act very well for her character as a classy, beautiful, manipulative and rich. But, it’s not just about her, others act very well too.

Heroes

I don’t think I need to introduce this one, one of the most popular TV Series at the moment. Even though, it’s more like The 4400, only it’s so much better. This show got everything, flying, mind reading, bending space and time, invisible, fast healing, nuclear bomb, you just name it. My favorite character is definitely Peter Petrelli, the one who can absorb any abilities, that ability is just so freaking cool.

House M.D

I never like E.R much, House is the only medical show that interests me specifically because it deals with weird deseases and solve it like it’s a puzzle. Even though my friends from medical departments said that House is a stupid show since it shows how the doctor do all the work, from MRI, to X-Ray, to Lab Testing and others which is totally a lie since no doctors can do all that stuff alone. But, who cares ? I’m so glad I’m not in the medical field, coz, if I do, I won’t be able to enjoy this show. The most interesting part of this show is not about the medical itself, it’s about Dr House himself. The way he talks is just way too cool. I definitely like the way he being sarcastic to others around him. I also learned about a few weird deseases after watching this one.

Jericho

The storyline is indeed interesting. Some people said the show became worse at the end of Season 1. But seriously, you people just hold on and watch till the end of this TV Series. The ending is so well done that I felt I don’t care anymore if this show discontinued, simply because it has been ended very well. This is one of the show when it was cancelled, people got angry and started to send tons of nuts to the tv station just to show how many people are supporting this show.

Kyle XY

This is only show for people who likes to science fiction series. But of course, if you watch this series just because of the ‘cute’ main actor, Kyle himself, or maybe the heroin, the beautiful Amanda, I won’t blame you. The story got better when Kyle’s secret being exposed one by one. This is more like Heroes except there’s only one Hero where he can perform multiple extraordinary capabilities due to his powerful mind.

Lost

I seriously don’t understand why people would watch a TV Series displaying a bunch of people living on a remote island. I mean, what story could they possibly make ? So, I tried the first episode, oh my, I was so wrong about this one. The mystery about the island itself is enough to get me hooked. But if you don’t like waiting for the answer of everything happening on that island, you should just skip this one. It’s a very torturing moment waiting for the answer :(

Prison Break

The first season of this show is definitely the best. I was so addicted to this show, just to know what will happen in the next episode. Of course this is an interesting show, put a genius in a prison and watch him escape, that’s just so insanely cool. But it got worse in the second season, however, the third season became better, but still can’t beat the first season. By the way, every time I recommend Prison Break to anyone I know, they all seems can’t get enough of it, so, maybe you should try it if you just heard about this one for the first time :)

Smallville

Who don’t like Superman ? If you like Superman, you’ll definitely like this one, at least for a while. Getting a little boring from time to time due to the storyline. The only reason I’m still watching this one is because the current season likes to talks about the Superman’s secret. Thank god the heroin is in the coma right now (in the show), if not, this one will suck more.

Supernatural

Put ghosts, funny and cool guys, hot girls crying for help and black magic into a story, you got a good TV Series. Supernatural is more like a Ghostbusters except that it’s better and most of the ghosts are based on the real one from around the world. It’s always cool to watch Dean and Sam do some hocus pocus to destroy the ghosts, which usually boils to the same thing, either cremated the dead body or recite some weird words.

I guess that’s all, so, what about you, tell me a little bit your favorite show :)