Installing the Java plugin for Firefox 3.6

I'm running Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) and the Sun JVM. When I updated Firefox to 3.6 I lost my capability to run Java applets and launch Java applications using JNLP. A quick check with “about:plugins” confirmed that the browser wasn't loading the Java plugin.

A quick search on the Ubuntu forum pointed me to http://buck-nasty.blogspot.com/2010/02/installing-firefox-36-and-java-618.html. I quickly realized that the browser plugin recommended on most of the search results is wrong: it's not libjavaplugin.so nor libjavaplugin_oji.so.

If you've installed the Sun JVM (jdk6u18) in /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/ then you should create a symlink to /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so in your .mozilla/plugins/ directory.

cd ~/.mozilla/plugins
ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so .

Yes, I know about the /etc/alternatives scheme. I don't understand it very well yet (and any education is welcome) so I didn't want to obscure what worked for me with misunderstood concepts.

Hibernate, DB2, and executeQuery

If you're using DB2 with Hibernate make sure that the use_sql_comments Hibernate option is false.

I spent a good part of the day wondering why org.hibernate.Session.get() and org.hibernate.Query.uniqueResult() were failing because DB2 (v8.1) was throwing an exception saying "executeQuery method cannot be used for update".

I had set the use_sql_comments option to true in my Hibernate configuration file because I wanted to see the correlation between my HQL and the generated SQL. It appears that DB2's SQL parser checks the first word of the generated SQL to find out if it's an INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or SELECT. Since Hibernate puts the comment in front of the generated SQL the DB2 parser assumes that it's an update statement and throws an exception when Hibernate calls executeQuery().

Well, that took a while...

The silence is deafening around here. I have a much more profound respect for people who are able to blog consistently. And even more for those who are able to write with substance.

There are many more blogs like this that engage in navel gazing. I'm going to try and break away from that mold. I will very likely end up ranting and appear as just another net nut. So what, the world isn't going to cut a trail to find this information lode.

So, first rep done. I'll keep some in the tank for the next.

Photographs of what?

Two thoughts come to mind as I look at pictures on photoblogs: there's something to be said for taking public transportation to work; and, do these people work?

Everyday I get into my car for a short 15 minute commute to work. I'm inside a building for the next 10 hours, at least. It's gray and dreary as I leave the house and dark when I return. Clearly, I have to buy yet more photo gear...

Which reminds me, I just got my first dud from eBay. A Pentax ME dead-on-arrival. The seller was gracious enough to offer to return my money and now I have an item that I can use for my first eBay listing: Pentax ME for repair or parts.

Day 1

First entry, nothing special. It's 1:36AM EST and I'm sleepy.

I just posted two pictures to Flickr <http://www.flickr.com>. I'm getting restoked on photography. Perhaps it's the anticipation of finally having a real darkroom built. And a promise that I can buy a DSLR in the not so distant future.

Life is good; at least until Monday...

--bong