Checkpoint VPN and Snow Leopard using IPSecuritas

I was finally able to get Checkpoint VPN running with IPSecuritas. Here is a log of the settings that I used:

Exception handling in Weblogic 10.3

So who else hates checked exceptions as much as I do? As much as I like Java, this is one of the things that has always driven me nuts. So, my first goal is always to eliminate throwing checked exceptions in any project that I write. Doing this in Weblogic 10.0 and 10.3 was not such an easy feat.

First, I created my exceptions that extended RuntimeException. This resulted in all EJB methods that throw any unchecked exception wrapping the underlying exception in a EJBException, leading to lots and lots of ugly ejb.getCausedByException() calls, which I found to be flaky at best.

Finally, I found documentation on the @ApplicationException annotation in EJB 3 and figured this would be my savior. No such luck, they were still being wrapped in the base EJBException. After much head-scratching and googling, I came across a JBoss bug report saying that @ApplicationException is ignored in the cases where you build your EJB components into a separate jar file (which is about 98% of the time). Their solution was to add an ejb-jar.xml file with application-exceptions defined in them. So, trying this in Weblogic, still no worky. Grrr... One last thing, not sure why I did it, but out of pure stubbornness and inability to reconcile with those awful getCausedByException() calls, I made my exceptions extend EJBException instead of RuntimeException. Presto! No more wrapping.

So, in summary, to create an unchecked exception that will NOT be wrapped in an EJBException, do the following:

1) Create your exception class that extends EJBException.
2) Create an ejb-jar.xml file that looks somewhat like this to declare your application exceptions that you do not want to be wrapped in an EBException:



And there you have it.

Displaying a popup over a drop down in IE6

So here is one thing that no matter how many times I solve it, it always seems to bite me over and over again. In IE6, if you attempt to display a dynamic overlay over the page (i.e. calendar, lightbox, etc) any drop down elements will show through that overlay. I finally found a working solution somewhere (I forget exactly where, so please forgive me if I do not give credit where credit is due). You need to have an iframe that you place underneath the dynamic element you would like to display, moving it underneath the element when you display it.

Here is the code for the iframe:





Little bit of CSS to go with it:



And here is the code that you can invoke when you hide/show the dynamic element:



This has made my day more than a couple of times.

FiOS and VPN woes...

No sooner had I transitioned from third world-esque comcast modem to FiOS that I realized my VPN connection was not working. Seeing as on occasion I am lucky enough to be one of those people whose morning commute invovles rolling out of bed, donning a pair of pajama pants, some fuzzy slippers and firing up the VPN connection; VPN is extremely important. After talking to the FiOS installation tech, he told me there is a known issue with packets becoming intermingled with their video on demand services as it all travels through the same pipe. He was not sure how to fix it, but assured me he would put me in touch with his supervisor. Being the impatient technophile that I am, I hit the interwebs to see if they had a solution. After some incessant googling, trial and error, forwarding ports, etc. I came across an answer.

So, here it is. My solution to VPN on FiOS with the Actiontec router. (This may not work for everyone, but if it you can reach just one person... and all that) So, I fired up the admin console for the router, go to advanced, and go to "Quality of Service". Under "QoS Input Rules" => "WAN PPPOE Rules" click add, then set the Priority to 7 - Highest. That should do it! No crawling back to comcast on my hands and knees!

TiVo HD is awesome!

So I upgraded from crappy comcast CSRs, billing fiascoes and compressed HD signals to Verizon FiOS (more on this later). First thing I do is go through the process of repeating the guided setup so that my channels are right. I go into my season pass manager as I expect to have to re-add all my season passes due to the new channels, but lo and behold, TiVo has found all my season passes on their new stations with no intervention on my part! It had even found the programs on HD channels and scheduled those to record. It still displays the old station number on the season pass, but this is a minor detail and who cares if it records correctly? TiVo never ceases to impress me.

Hello World!

Yeah, I know it is trite and probably every computer nerd in the world uses this phrase for their first app, but here it is anyways: The "Hello World" for my blogging alter ego. I have no idea what will actually show up on this blog, but I hope it will end up being a chronicle of an uber-nerd struggling with technology on a day to day basis, and eventually, how he beats the technology into submission. We will see what actually makes it up on the interblags though .