Author Archives: DocDock

computer programs in the 21st century

Posted on September 16, 2016 by DocDock

The app I downloaded just doesn’t work.  I am missing a lot of the photos that I took. Great!  I am at home and it looks like work has somehow followed me. That great application that my wife was bragging … Continue reading →

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“lp” and the automation of printing PDF’s

Posted on September 13, 2016 by DocDock

Apache FOP is actually really neat.  With a few jar files, an xslt file and a xml file it is possible to create PDF file which can then be viewed or printed on any PC without any loss of formatting.  … Continue reading →

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Security through obscurity – pdf removing passwords

Posted on September 7, 2016 by DocDock

Initially I was not planning on writing about how to crack pdf passwords.  After all, that would be irresponsible much in the way giving a knife to a small child is irresponsible – right? Well, simply typing in the following … Continue reading →

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better logging than printf – using log4j – part III

Posted on September 4, 2016 by DocDock

Log4j is a very convenient tool to have in your programming arsenal.  This is true even if only the very basic functionality is being used.    The basic functionality of log4j2 was covered in my previous example. To be honest, … Continue reading →

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better logging than printf – using log4j – part II

Posted on September 1, 2016 by DocDock

However, Just like with computers, cars and women there is always a faster, bigger, or better model on the horizon. Version 1.2 of log4j has reached its end of life on August 5th 2015 but there is a version 2 … Continue reading →

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better logging than printf – using log4j – part I

Posted on August 29, 2016 by DocDock

The old way Log files or debugging can be done using print statements.  It is a very rudimentary way to see some of your internal variables or to have a log of how the program run went. This printf sample … Continue reading →

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she said … he heard an office tale.

Posted on August 17, 2016 by DocDock

I want to give 50 euros a year to Microsoft until I die. I after taking a few minutes to parse the sentence I believe that it actually sounded more like. All of my friends are using Microsoft 360 and … Continue reading →

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blindsided by timezones

Posted on August 5, 2016 by DocDock

I recently got back from a holiday from another timezone.  It was a yearly pilgrimage to visit my parents in the Midwest.  The food was great, the weather was great, family was great but technology was on par with last … Continue reading →

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safe computing – strengthening passwords

Posted on July 27, 2016 by DocDock

A password is simply a method of verifying who you are.  When a good password is selected it is both easy to remember but not easy to guess.  It should contain both upper and lower case letters, numbers and if … Continue reading →

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When all you have is a hammer …

Posted on July 18, 2016 by DocDock

I was speaking with a friend the other day and he was telling about this crazy thing that was being done in his department.  There was a task that needed to be done usually once a day and it was … Continue reading →

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