Iron Man 2 - A good watch

Iron Man 2 introduces Robert Downey Jr as an industrialist Tony Strak, owner of Stark Industries. He refuses to divulge secret behind the suit of iron man to even the US government. But then a Russian Ivan Danko whose father apparently suffered pain because of Stark's father get on his journey to take revenge. He builds technology which can tackle the powers of red suit.

Firstly Ivan hits the Iron Man during a grand prix. The action sequence shown here would definitely amaze all action lovers with electrically powered whips from Ivan ripping the cars.

Secondly Ivan is befriended by a close competitor of Stark Industries (dnt really remember the name of the guy but he is owner of hammer industries). This guy then provides all the resources to Ivan to build suits for Us government. But then Ivan has other ideas and he uses all the resources to wage a battle against the Iron Man.

The action sequences at the Expo have been done very well although nothing great. The technology used by Iron Man i.e. the digital grids and all are repetitions from old movies but at the same time it brings good effect in the movie. Scarlett Johansson is added attraction with her martial arts and witty comments.

All in all I loved the movie as I am action freak.

Worth Watching

Rating: 3.5/5

Jai Ho !!

BPEL 11g – Hello World Tutorial/Sample

Goal: Create a Asynchronous BPEL Process which will invoke a Web Service passing some name. The Web Service will return the output to the BPEL with Hello prefix to the name passed.

First of all you need to develop a WebService which can be invoked using a partner link in BPEL process.

Developing a WebService using Annotations:

1.       Create a Java Project in Eclipse (or any other IDE)

2.       Create a class TestWS with a method sayHello which will take a String as input and add Hello to string and return the new string in output.

3.       Add annotation @WebService to class and @WebMethod to method

4.       Write simple piece of code in main method which can be used to publish the web service. Note that the port used should be free and no service should be running on the port.

Endpoint.publish("http://localhost:7002/TestWS", new TestWS());

5.       Now execute the main method. You will have to add weblogic.jar in the classpath.

6.       Once executed goto url => http://localhost:7002/TestWS?wsdl  to get the WSDL. Save the WSDL as TestWS.wsdl on your PC.

7.       WSDL will have the link to schema generated i.e. http://localhost:7002/TestWS?xsd=1. Save the XSD as TestWS.xsd on your PC.

Developing BPEL process:

1.       Create a project with a default asynchronous process in JDeveloper

2.       Copy the TestWS.wsdl & TestWS.xsd in the project

3.       In the TestWS.wsdl modify the schema import to point to TestWS.xsd

4.       Open the bpel design view

5.       In the partner link swim lane right click and select “Create Partner Link”

6.       In Create Partner Link dialog box choose TestWS.wsdl

7.       Click Yes to dialog for generating Ref WSDL

8.       Selected the default role in Partner Role drop down

9.       Place an Invoke node between receiveInput and callbackClient node. In the Invoke node choose partner link as TestWSService. Choose operation as sayHello. Create input and output variable by clicking on ‘plus’ button.

10.   Place an Assign node in between receiveInput and Invoke node. In Assign node copy from input variable of the BPEL to input string attribute of the input variable for sayHello call.

11.    Save the project and deploy on server by right clicking on project.

Testing BPEL process: 

1.       Go to em console
2.     Select the project under soa-infra folder.

3. Click Test button.
4. Select operation as process (operation for launching BPEL), give input in input arguments as Abhishek and click on Test Web Service button.

5. Select the Project under soa-infra list. You will find a new instance created (Instance ID 2002 in my case).
6. Select the instance link to open the message flow

7. Click on the BPEL process (BPEL Process1 in my case). You will find audit trail and flow tabs.
8. Click on Flow tab to open the message flow. 

9. Click on Invoke node to see its input and output.

I hope the post will be useful for new developers of BPEL.

Future of Indian IT Industry: Be Innovative !!

Recently I read an article in McKinsey quaterly site discussing the future of Indian IT Industry. According to the study done by McKinsey, India can continue to enjoy the upper hand in IT sector only if the Indian companies are ready to be innovative. Most of the Indian IT service providers are involved in maintenance and development projects and very few of them focus on Innovation. Even in the current portfolio they are facing increasing competition from big MNC's like IBM, Accenture, HP - companies which are increasing thier foothold in India. Financial year ending March 2010 would give fresh opportunities because contracts of many big ticket clients are going to expire and MNC's are ready to poach such clients at lower rate than being offered by Indian IT companies. In such a scenario Indian IT companies would have to be innovative similar to what say Apple has done. The decade ending 2010 also ended the supremacy of Microsoft, the two big software giants Apple & Google emerged as leaders banking on their innovative products and marketing strategies.

India is also facing growing challenge presented by small countries like countries in South African continent, Phillipines etc. These countries are now promoting the IT sector in big way. Many BPOs are now flourishing in these small countries because of tax holidays, competitive pricing and sound infrastructure. The Indian Government will have to look at matching the benefits provided by such small countries. The infrastruture needs to ramped up to match the levels provided by these countries. China which was known for hardware exports is strengthning its position in software markets thanks to their improved education system. Till now China was a laggard in this field because of the langugage issues. But Chinese government was quick to realize this and they took relevant steps to overcome this problem. English was introduced as mandatory subject in their education system leading to growth in number of engineers who know English.

It's high time that Indian government takes precise steps for future of its IT industry. The thinking of people will have to changed. The education system will have to be changed to focus on developing creative solutions to complex problems rather than learning the existing solutions. We will have to also focus on quality rather than quantity. Once the creative thinking enters the blood of Indian people, definitely things will change and we would strengthen our dwindling position once again.

A trip to Italy

After coming to onsite on 20th Feb I was waiting to plan a trip together with Trupti. It came with little bit of delay but with loads of fun. This trip was different from my last trip to Italy (when I was bachelor J) in the obvious sense of being a romantic trip plus getting the real taste of Italian cuisines... pastas, pizzas and what not. The food was amazingly very good. Here is the day wise description of the awesome trip.

Day1 (Venice):

After watching the beautiful view of Alps from Bergamo airport we went to Venice via train. The train ride was real fun… like tht of DDLJ J….we didn’t find the seat and had to stand in corridor for half of the time. We watched beautiful green fields, wooden houses etc from train waiting for ultimate water filled destination.

We grabbed some pizza pieces at “L’Angelo della pizza” corner... which apparently turned out to be my fav pizza place ever.. J That was a real yum pizza.. (no wonder they don’t like if ask for sauce when you order pizaa.. and they consider it as insult… It’s just not needed anyways...)

Plan was to cover Grand Canal, st marks square (AKA Piazza San Marco) etc..

Grand Canal was too crowded… like everyone else even we took necessary snaps everywhere …Grand canal in night looks amazing!!  Finally we reached the famous Piazza San Marco… nice ambience… central landmark and gathering place for Venice.. Again looks like extremely popular site in the company of loads of tourists, photographers (budding ones like us), pigeons… St Mark’s Clock tower… good one..!!! Hey we also witnessed a very giant cruise (named MSC Magnifica) …

Target was covered and so we then decide to explore night life in venice (if any)…Tried some more pizzas…and spent some quality time at a night club!! (These night clubs were little different as you will find all people standing and enjoying drinks…looks like buffet arrangements...J…One more thing which was an update for us was at any food/drink joint rates on table and standing were different..So if you want a table you pay almost double…J)

By end of this day we realized that we are eating almost every 1.5hours…with this rate all our desire for Italian food will be definitely fulfilled in next 3days. I had parked Day2 for pastas.

Day2(Venice + Rome):

Starting a day with Gondola ride (or for that matter any boat ride) is so joyous that you end up thinking to have your own gondola one day… J

Do you think Gondola ride is little expensive? Please still try it as its worth spending 60-80 Euros.

While you relax on a sofa, the gondola rider behind you will tell you the story and anecdotes about nice, indicating the palaces that belonged to celebrities, and tips that only Venetian people know. We got to know about water traffic signs and whistle indicators while entering a canal etc…

This ride made me nostalgic about my Kerala trip…as attractive as Venice..!!!

Time to shop followed by pastas/pizzas!!! Well we looked at almost everything that could be tagged as souvenir, gift etc. Shopping of Masks was quite a fun.

It took 4hrs to reach Rome by train. Once again we chose to walk and take a feel of Rome instead of catching a taxi to Apartment…true travelers we are, isn’t it? My first feel about the place was like as if I am at an ancient place…You just can’t ignore the way Romans build their homes…!

Apartment was specious, well equipped and the most important 1 KM away from colosseum. (Credit goes to Nakul again) There was an Indian restaurant just below apartment. J

As Colosseum was just nearby, we planned to capture it in night mode!!! J Gladiator scenes got rewound as we were approaching Colosseum. It’s a stunning site to take a look at night. We kept on discussing and wondering about big holes in this so called largest and greatest works of roman architecture. Its partially ruined look was remarkable…the slanting halfway broken wall in front was revealing some details of the Amphitheatre inside while concealing brutality and many executions behind.

With all such hidden questions about this mystique place we ended the loooong Day2.

Day3(Rome):

Happy Easter!!! This day was not as hectic as we initially thought of it. Tour buses will take you to the desired location and audio guide will help you understand almost everything around on the wheels. It was a very convenient as connectivity and availability of these buses is great. Frequency is 10-15min at every stop (including Vatican) plus you can get a traveler pass for 12 hours, 24hours etc. It was an eventful Easter (my first festival) for sure!!

Colosseum:

We took a guide (named Paula…A smart roman lady in her late 30’s knowing so much about Rome) to excavate roman secrets in better way!!! She answered all the questions we raised a day before. There were gate numbers were distributed among civilians to attend any game show). Needless to say game holes in the structure as the large iron/bronze rods in the wall were stolen for making weapons.

The place was too large to accommodate around 50 to 70K people at a time. There was a systematic arrangements for entering Colosseum (like there were N numbers of gates and wooden coins marked with respective shows include animal hunts, trained gladiator fights with condemned/slaves. She also showed us how it was before destruction (like the one shown in Gladiator) and that it was constructed over a lake which belonged to Emperor named Nero. Height of all was that this place was constructed in 8 years and they started these dreadful contests and mock battles as a part of continuous celebration of around 150 Days! Roman The place was a classic example of management of burial around 1500 dead bodies and huge crowd. It’s said that slaves were given mercy at times depending on public opinion. How can this place be in the wonders of the world? This question of Paula made me rethink about the whole structure as an example of brutality but with great administration. I am still confused if it should be in the list of wonders of world...looks debatable topic!! This place was later used for religious orders etc. This place can never be considered as sacred place ever…that is for sure!!

After this heavy dose of history time for a logical and Italian food break again..!! This time we tried some special pasta types like cannelloni pasta..Vegetarians can find a wide variety for snacks and deserts in Italy. Unusual is that you will find brinjal and cucumber used in pizzas but it’s lip-smacking.

After well deserved and well “deserted” break we observed and appreciated aesthetic magnificence of various squares of  Rome namely Piazza Venezia, Piazza Novena, Pantheon, Piazza colonna, Fountain de trevi, Piazza di Spagna etc

We call it a Day3 now…!! Moving on…

Day 4(Rome + Vatican):

Bocca della Verità: It is a marble mask called Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verità). According to popular belief it was said that one putting his hand in the mouth and saying falsely could not pull it out then. Our Rome sightseeing ended here as now we started towards another country called Vatican.

Vatican City:

During visiting of this place I was astonished all the time. The kind of history and background this place carries I believe I really under estimated it assuming we will be able to cover it in 4 hours. You do need at least a day to understand what’s happening and what had happened at this place. We took a guide tour here (recommended) who explained some basics as below before we enter this small but still vast country.

Smallest country in the world having their own transport, post, government etc…

Dome of Vatican City st. Peter’s church is not the largest as it was not allowed to build any dome larger than Pantheon. But smart move was to build it the tallest one.

Open space is in front of the church depicts arms of god himself spreading love and heavenly feel.

In this amazing construction there is only one mistake that obelisk (tower) and the church’s dome center are not in the same straight line.

Every pope has his own emblem signifying a message.

Swiss guards serving Vatican for 3 consecutive years will be paid 5 times for any job they do later. (4 parts being paid by Vatican).

Guide explained complete history of Sistine chapel, Michel Angelo and his frescos in Sistine chapel. Story of this painter turned sculptor, architect was stirring specially his smart answers given time to time and revenge taken through art was stupendous.

We didn’t get enough time to visit church..Yes the main place at Vatican City. No regrets though as there always next time and other side of Vatican was equally exciting.

We shopped fridge magnets as souvenir of the Rome and Vatican and Also Vatican stamps.

With these wonderful memories we returned back to Mechelen… It will always cherish in my reminiscence.

In LoVe WiTh LoNdOn

Maya Raj In Uttar Pradesh

Finally the wait is over. Mayawati or i should better call 'UP ki Rani' is back in power against all the predictions in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and fifth largest state in Republic of India. It is the state where since 1993 no single party has gained the majority in elections but this time the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, the so called party of Dalits has has broken the record by gaining the majority in the elections.

Since 1993 UP has seen only coalition government with a mix of President's Rule with Mayawati and Mulayan Singh Yadav, the Smajwadi Chief becoming the Chief Minister for short duration. It was after long time that Mulayam Singh Yadav completed full tenure of five years from 2003 to 2007.

The victory of Dalit Queen becomes important because the party which is known to be supported by Dalits was able to draw votes from Brahmins as well. This was somewhat different from what has been seen in last few elections. But hats off to tactics by Mayawati for attracting not only lower caste people but also the middle & upper class Brahmins.

A majority of people were expecting the BJP and SP to improve and form a coalition government but Mayawati had some other ideas. But there is a twist to this story as well. Its not only the Mayawati or her party's effort which helped BSP to win the elections but it was also the lack of voters (nearly 46% people voted in UP) which were majorly from lower caste and who voted against the incumbents.

India has already seen people voting against the incumbent government when UPA came to power and again the story repeated in UP. Many people might think why is this idea gaining so much momentum. According to me it is the change which is becoming part of everyone's life be it upper class or lower class. Everyone having seen false promises which do not get fulfilled after the party wins an election and the shoddy indian politics feels the need for change. Then there are people who want to engage in strategic voting and vote against the incumbent government.

But all in all this has been a thumping win by Mayawati. Lets us wait and watch for what lies in store for UP whether its rapid development in one of the most backward states or its again the repeat of what has been happening in UP uptil now.