Tohir Solomons

Weekend Hiking Pics

Posted on the August 3rd, 2009 under South Africa by Tohir

Starting from Constantia Nek, we went up to Devillier’s Dam and past Camel Rock

De Villier’s Dam

My Mom Said I Could

Posted on the July 17th, 2009 under Humour by Tohir

Awesome advert!!

ExtJS Books coming soon

Posted on the June 24th, 2009 under HTML, CSS,JavaScript,Software and Technology by Tohir

Here is a list of some of the ExtJS Books, one is already published, others should be out later this year:

	Learning ExtJS This book has already been published and is available for purchase. As the first and currently only book available, it is quite a useful reference. What you will learn from this book? Create responsive forms Look at Web Applications from an entirely new perspective Learn to use the major UI components available in Ext JS Understand how external data can be consumed by Ext JS Query and process remote data into your application Use Layouts to bring all of the Ext JS pieces together Use Ext JS effects to manipulate the DOM in exciting ways Provide a consistent look and feel to your application using Components Change the visual style of Ext JS using theming support Find Custom Community Extensions to expand your applications Create your own custom library extensions
	Practical ExtJS Projects with Gears This promises to be an exciting book focussing on practical case studies, and also integrate offline usage with Google Gears. Expected in July 2009 What you’ll learn Get an understanding of one of today’s hottest JavaScript frameworks and libraries, Ext JS. Develop interesting Web 2.0 “front ends,” RIAs (Rich Internet Applications), and more. Create a number of applications from the projects or pragmatic case studies that the author gives you. Create an organizer, timekeeper, a code cabinet, and more. Get back to basics and back ends using a SQL workbench, Google Gears, and Ext BASIC. Pull it all together by designing a game using Ext JS. And more…
	ExtJS in Action Expected in January 2010, although some chapter are available with the Manning Early Access Program http://www.manning.com/garcia/

Appreciating Mozilla Prism

Posted on the June 15th, 2009 under Internet,Reflections/Thoughts,Software and Technology by Tohir

When Mozilla Prism was first launched, I honestly never gave it much thought as to it’s usefulness, or why anyone would want to use it. Today, it is such an essential tool for me. Let me explain.

Installing a PDF Printer on Ubuntu

Posted on the June 15th, 2009 under Linux by Tohir

Getting a printer installed on Ubuntu is easy, plug-and-play generally works. Getting a PDF printer working is also easy. To install it, one has to open a terminal or Synaptic (System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager).

In a terminal, enter:

sudo apt-get install cups-pdf

It will ask you for your password when you press enter. Or in Synaptic, do a search for: cups-pdf.

Now one step that has to be done manually otherwise it doesn’t work. In your home directory, create a folder called PDF (all in caps).

After this, you’ll see an option for PDF in the printer’s list, and printing to PDF.

Buying a laptop off an auction site

Posted on the June 15th, 2009 under Humour,Reflections/Thoughts by Tohir

My current laptop is a DELL d630 which I bought through an auction site Bidorbuy.co.za. Purchasing such a pricey product weighed heavily on mind. What happens if I’m conned? What happens if it is not up to spec as advertised? Fortunately, mine was a very pleasant experience, and went through quite smoothly. Here are a few tips I’ll share…

Back on Ubuntu

Posted on the June 15th, 2009 under Linux,Windows by Tohir

About a month ago, I decided to ditch Windows Vista, and move back to Ubuntu. It was kind of a reluctant decision since:

1. I sometimes develop on Visual Studio which requires Windows
2. DELL’s  software management is awesome, and one just has to enter your service tag to get a list of driver’s you need, etc.

However, Vista’s sluggish performance and slow boot-up times, became too irritating too bear.

I also have to admit that with my previous UWC laptop, I kind-of had it tuned up as a developer machine, nice-and-fast, great apps, removal of non-essential features. It’s a journey and adventure to rediscover that. Follow my next blog posts as I attempt to retrace those steps, the things they don’t tell you, and stuff I’ve just plain forgotten! Also some of my notes on getting VirtualBox working.

Reasons why People who work with computers seem to have a lot of spare time.

Posted on the June 11th, 2009 under Humour by Tohir

So true, I’ve used these excuses before!

Partaking in Medical Research Test

Posted on the June 11th, 2009 under Humour by Tohir

Last night, I attended a function where a doctor mentioned an upcoming hepatitis research project, an encouraged participants to volunteer when it came up. Significantly, he said, that they expect hepatitis to become a major issue/problem amongst people, and performing the test now would give them some insight as to how prevalent it is.

The following comment he made stood out: “The research test might not benefit you much, except for you to discover whether you have it or not. But it will make a huge difference to future generations. It will help us understand it better and to take steps now that can help future generations.”

Free Flex Builder 3 Professional for the Unemployed

Posted on the April 21st, 2009 under Flash, Actionscript, Flex,Internet by Tohir

Adobe launched a program earlier this month whereby it is giving its Flex Builder 3 Professional software free of charge to developers who have been hit by current economic conditions and are out of work. To participate in the program, unemployed developers must attest that the software will be used only for personal use and skill-building—not for any production or commercial purposes. In exchange, they get a free copy of Flex Builder 3′s Professional version, which is normally priced at USD 699.