TouchGraph : Visualize the Related Sites

I came across an interesting tool, TouchGraph - a Java based application, which shows you the connectivity between the related websites graphically.It is somewhat similar to VisuWords.But this gets data from Google Database and renders an interactive graph.

First make sure you have the latest version of Java.Then simply type a keyword and click ‘Graph it!‘.Each URL is represented by an icon which surrounds a big circle.Each circle represents a website.The icons around the circle are the websites related to the main circle.Click on any of the circles and you can expand them to see what is in turn linking to them.
On hover over one of the icons brings up a small box with the name and URL of the site.Clicking on that box will make it the center of the graph and force more links to form from that point.Choose the options,whether you need just the title of the website or the URL.

TouchGraph also offers Amazon browser to explore related books or albums and a Facebook browsers which lets you see how your friends are connected.

The idea is really cool but you can use it only to enjoy your spare time.

Sun’s JavaFX to take on Silverlight???

Sun Microsystems unveils a Java-based product family called JavaFX , which covers Java development from the desktop to the Web to mobile devices. It features a new scripting variant of the Java, called JavaFX Script. Formerly referred by the codename, F3, the JavaFX platform could draw attention from AJAX programmers.

JavaFX Script is a scripting language that is designed to be more productive and easier than Java, but also closely integrated with it. Developers can use JavaFX Script and write applications that run on Java-equipped PCs or mobile phones. It is focused on opportunities in the consumer communications market, including desktops, mobile clients, and TVs.

With JavaFX Script, Sun is trying to revive the use of Java on small devices, like set-top boxes, and in PC Web browsers, which the language was originally designed to do in the 1990s. JavaFX Script leverages 2D graphics APIs in the Swing GUI toolkit.

Sun officials acknowledged that JavaFX bears a similarity to enhanced graphics capabilities offered in the new Microsoft Silverlight platform. But Gosling said that Silverlight differs in that it is mostly focused on video-streaming.

Applications written with JavaFX Script can run on the JRE, software that’s installed on millions of PCs and regularly updated. Like Adobe’s Apollo, developers can use the same tools to write Web browser-based applications or cross-platform desktop applications.JavaFX differs from Sun’s Project Flair, which also proposes an alternative to AJAX, in that Flair is based on JavaScript but JavaFX is not.

The current release of JavaFX is only an alpha release. No date has been set for a general release. The first product release is JavaFX Mobile, a software system for mobile devices.

Several smaller companies like Laszlo Systems and Nexaweb, specializes in programs for creating these rich Internet applications.

Jetty:Web Server

Jetty is an open-source, standards-based, full-featured web server and servlet container implemented entirely in java. It is released under the Apache 2.0 licence and is therefore free for commercial use and distribution.First created in 1995, Jetty has benefitted from input from a vast user community and consistent and focussed development by a stable core of lead developers.

Jetty can be used as:

• a stand-alone traditional web server for static and dynamic content
• a dynamic content server behind a dedicated HTTP server such as Apache using mod_proxy
• an embedded component within a java application

 The Jetty 6.1.0 release is now available. It represents both a stabilization of the features already released in 6.0.x, plus a raft of new features.With the new release, the core protocol engine of Jetty 6 has been further optimized and refined in 6.1, plus it has been extended to support asynchronous SSL and a future HTTP client API.

Nokia Launches WidSet-Widgets For Mobiles

WidSets is a mobile widget platform available for Java MIDP 2.0 phones and is completely manufacturer and browser independent. Like widgets on a computer, WidSets provide immediate access to information for everything from RSS feeds to blog posts to photo-uploading sites. Nokia has filled the library with a rather large variety of options to add to your phone. Templates are available for creating your own, too. Just go to the site, register, download the install client, and load up–they’re free.

Loopt-Makes your Mobile a Friend Finder

Loopt was found in June 2005 by friends from Stanford and MIT.The developers used emerging mobile and web technologies to develop a new way to connect to the friends, events and places around them.Loopt includes a Java mobile client and an ajax access point for non-mobile browser use.Loopt turns your cell phone into a friend finder with detailed maps that show exactly who is where.

• You can see where your friends are & what they’re doing.
• You can show your friends where you are and what you’re doing.
• Get Alerts when friends are nearby
• Chirp Friends when you find them on the map
• Send Messages to a group of friends
• Send Web Messages - just like email
• Send Proximity Messages to your friends that are near you

Not yet tried.I will try it and post more about it soon.

SaneBull

SaneBull provides you with live RSS feeds from MSN, Yahoo, and The Street; to give you the upper hand in the stock markets. The interface of the live stock markets and market updates provides a showcase of what is possible using AJAX frameworks. Which, besides giving the site its appearance; facilitates in minimizing, maximizing, and closing un-needed windows. The homepage flaunts live RSS feeds from MSN, Yahoo &The Street.They have also incorporated builder modules in multiple places to provide browser interoperability; they proudly claim to support all of them!It’s a custom implementation of an Ajax solution with a Java powered back end. SaneBull is powered by well known javascript frameworks. using

• dtree
• prototype
• prototype windows
• script.aculo.us

Velocity

Velocity is a open source tool for web applications which allows as to easily create and render documents that format and present your data. It focuses on two Main areas:
Servlet-based WWW development.
General application use.
Velocity provides a Class called VelocityServlet by which the developer can use it as a super class for the servlets in his web applications which provides additional support and offer a utility class to help with application development.
Primarily used to develop dynamic, servlet-based Websites, Velocity’s clean separation of template and Java code makes it ideal for Model 2-style Model-View-Controller (MVC) Web development. As a general template engine, Velocity suits many other purposes, such as code generation, XML generation and transformation, and textual stream processing. Velocity is useful in any Java application area that requires data formatting and presentation.
You should use Velocity for the following reasons:
It adapts to many application areas.
It offers a simple, clear syntax for the template designer.
It offers a simple programming model for the developer.
Because templates and code are separate, you can develop and maintain them independently.
The Velocity engine easily integrates into any Java application environment, especially
servlets.
Velocity enables templates to access any public method of data objects in the context.
Velocity can be used with Servlet based technologies such as servlet,jsp for manipulate and presents the data to the end user effectively.
Velocity lets us to write the code and design the template in parallel. The
designer integrates the data into the nondata presentation content (like images, text, and so on) in the template.
Velocity has built-in mathematical functions that can be used in templates with the set directive.
Velocity Features:
It’s easy to use, both for designers and programmers .
It separates your presentation formatting from your code.
It lets you use your existing classes as they are.
It’s portable and works in any Java application.
It’s free and the source code.
Represent the same data with different Template(Views).

Hibernate

Hibernate is a popular open source object relational mapping tool for Java platform. It provides powerful, ultra-high performance object/relational persistence and query service for Java. Hibernate lets you develop persistent classes following common Java idiom - including association, inheritance, polymorphism, composition and the Java collections framework. The Hibernate Query Language, designed as a “minimal” object-oriented extension to SQL, provides an elegant bridge between the object and relational worlds.

* Hibernate can be used to develop/package and distribute the applications for free.
* Hibernate is Scalable.
* Less Development Time: It greatly reduces the development time.
* Generate Keys Automatically: Hibernate Generates keys Automatically for the primary key fields in the relational database.