Save money on your SMSes with your friends that are using WhatsApp. Android users can now download WhatsApp.

Noticed this familiar application running. Now what about other operating systems like the Symbian OS from Nokia? It’s also now available for beta testing.

No mentioned on the website of WhatsApp as to where to download the Android version, unless you’re following their twitter at @whatsappinc.

Android users please download them by browsing using your Android browser at http://www.whatsapp.com/android/

Note: As of now, WhatsApp for Android only supports Android 2.2, so Android 2.1 users and below would have to wait for upcoming support for WhatsApp for Android 2.1.

From the website if using Android 2.1 from my HTC HERO.

>>> Sorry, your current Android OS is not supported yet. Only Android OS 2.2 is supported at the moment. Support for Android 2.1 is coming soon.

Minimum Requirements

• Android OS 2.2 or above
• Unlimited internet data plan

Let’s cross our fingers for those using the older OS.

So the text is now in Katakana mode, so how to change it to Hiragana mode or vice versa using Keyboard Shortcuts?

Method

Follow the method below with 2 simple key presses.

Press Ctrl + Caps Lock for Hiragana
Press Alt + Caps Lock for Katakana

Simple isn’t it? Now you can avoid using the mouse.

One of the aims of this report, is to clearly show which part of the world this site was being frequently visited. As Nuffnang are targetting South East Asia market including Australia, TechieDan would like to share his statistical change from the previous record with the current one this time.

Here is TechieDan’s latest visitor count for August 2010 using Nuffnang Statistic Report.

Keeping a constant 50 visitors and above everyday is what TechieDan.com is trying to achieve and this is a good sign for years to come. As mentioned, technical sites usually get more traffic from the States rather than my home country based on my previous post here. So it seems so.

At least now there’s a shift in visits from Malaysia which makes it the 2nd largest visit to this site. Due to this increase in visitors from Malaysia, Nuffnang ads are coming in on TechieDan.com, though not as significant on my personal blog, it still rakes in the advertisements. Of course US based ads would do very well here.

As of now TechieDan.com has only raked in RM7.09 with 2 ongoing ads (not calculated). Will Nuffnang be a major source of income?

Do tell me if there’s any need for improvement on this site, and

What is QlikView? View more of it at it’s original website. Sort of a reporting tool as it gathers the information from a csv file or a database table.

How to start? In every new installation of Qlikview, there’s a tutorial to guide new users. What they didn’t teach though is further specific connection to a specific database with other drivers and configuration.

To create a new connection, Open File > Edit Script (Ctrl + E)

A screen will appear before you to choose desired connection. Click ODBC and Connect and a Connect to Data Source screen will appear. Choose Create ODBC Source… if the desired Data Source is not available.

Click Machine Data Source and Click New.

Choose Oracle Instant Client (or any name like that) to be able to connect to an Oracle DB.

How to get Oracle Instant Client? The steps are laid down below.

• Go to Oracle InstantClient Download site and download the InstantClient available to your Operating System.
• Download also the Instant Client Package – ODBC too.
• Unzip the packages to a directory name “instantclient” or any other desired name.
• Set the library loading path in your environment to the directory in Step 2 (“instantclient”). On many UNIX platforms, LD_LIBRARY_PATH is the appropriate environment variable. On Windows, PATH should be used.
• Go to instantclient folder and run odbc_install.exe

Now let’s proceed to the next step.You will now be at the Oracle ODBC Driver Configuration where you will enter your Data Source Name, TNS Service Name and click Test Connection to input username and password and to determine the connection is successful.

There might be an error though for users if they’re connecting to a database in another server. TechieDan has faced with this error where the TNS Service Name was showing gibberish or garbage names on the drop down menu.

After enquiry and searching on the Internet, it was found that with multiple Oracle installation, the situation may arise. So go ahead once again to your Set Environment Variables and do the following.

Create TNS_ADMIN with value [oracle path]\network\admin (example – a:\oracle\network\admin)

This is where one has to change the tnsnames.ora which can only be found in an oracle installation or created the file itself. My tnsnames.ora was found at my A:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_2\network\ADMIN so it might not be the same for you.

ORCL =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = IP Address or HostName)(PORT = 1521))
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = SID Input)
)
)

EXTPROC_CONNECTION_DATA =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC1))
)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SID = PLSExtProc)
(PRESENTATION = RO)
)
)

Finally now after you’ve done all these, Qlikview should be able to connect to the Oracle DB and you’re able to generate views and reports for yourself or your client. If you would like to connect to Oracle using OLE DB in QlikView, do view the next post regarding this.

Update Sept 1st 2010 : Remember to avoid delete any obstructing space at the beginning of the TNSNAMES.ORA file as it might result in having an unsuccessful connection

Tested with one of the test users for the db with the username scott. Looks like it came out with this message.

User Account Scott is Locked

Seemingly, though, Oracle 10G has an administration website and it’s just easy to change the settings for this user.

This is the main screen for the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10G. On the Internet there are loads and loads of instruction to modify the username using SQL which is indeed confusing to the a certain few, so why not something straightforward to just modify the user direct from the administration panel.

From that screen scroll down some more until one finds the User & Privileges Menu options.

The next screen will bring a display of the many users of the Oracle DB, and the one we’re interested in now is the username Scott. Click the radio button next to it and click on Edit.

By doing this, you will now be on the next screen, which is the most critical and important part to modify it’s privileges and also to finally unlock this user.

By following the steps above, you have finally unlocked the user Scott. Finally one can access their DB using scott.

On the Android platform, this is how the Welcome Screen of the Cardio Trainer looks like. A little bit about this application.

CardioTrainer is a free application for Android smartphones that let’s you track and record all of your fitness activity

Here are the functions of this application.

TechieDan has reviewed this application and has been using this application for nearly half a year and to think it’s impressive. One of it is the integration with Facebook that enables one to share their timing and route of the run.

Earlier versions had an error in determining the GPS, but the latest update from Worksmart Labs for Cardio Trainer has ensured that it’s good to use. This application is free to use and one can keep records of their fitness activity.

Special Note

This is how it looks on Facebook when Cardio Trainer is set to auto published the running time on Facebook.

Simple summary and definitely good to know. But what if one wanted to share out the whole running event and their race. As mentioned there’s this new integration and one can actually link Cardio Trainer with their Facebook profile. Here’s how it looks like.

With details of the date, distance, duration, map and also a chart below, this describes how usable this application is on an Android device.

Ratings

For the record, for usability am giving it a 9/10 for it’s ease of use and there are many more enhancements that could be done. Still not the perfect one yet. One of the best fitness app in the Android Market for now.

Rumors

Upcoming features planned for this application would be to integrate it with Twitter. Something every social networker would love.

TechieDan had this installed on his machine for awhile and finally got to use it as previously access to Twitter was blocked. Updating TweetDeck is easy and remember to have Adobe AIR installed to get the updates.

It only takes awhile to update. Good to know that TweetDeck supports multiple accounts. How to add these accounts?

Go to TweetDeck Settings and under Accounts > Add New Account. There will be options to add what type of account ranging from Facebook, another Twitter account or others like LinkedIn, MySpace and Foursquare.

Advantages of Using TweetDeck

Another superb function for TweetDeck is the option to schedule your tweets before posting them up. Ever wondered how some people can tweet the whole time at certain time and period, that’s where Tweet scheduler is for.

Now you can just be like someone who would want to tell out something at a certain time period or one can annoy your followers with multiple instances of the same messages which could caused one to unfollow (highly recommended not to annoy your followers)

Amazing application, definitely a first 9.5/10 from TechieDan for this amazing application. Many more functions to explore, if you have any trouble using this application, you may enquire here. Now where to get this amazing application?

Just get it from TweetDeck official website. TweetDeck not only comes in as a Desktop Application, they also have it for the iPhone and iPad variety. Why not get this wonderful app then?

Here’s the screenshot of the new update being announced at http://www.htc.com/sea/support.aspx.

In our commitment to providing you with the best user experience, we are pushing out a new firmware update to your HTC Hero. Your phone will receive a notification of this update when it is made available. Simply press OK to accept the update via a data connection such as Wi-Fi or GPRS/3G. After installing the update, you can confirm a successful update by confirming the Build number (From the Home Screen go to MENU> Settings> About Phone> Build number). The new Build number after the update will be 2.73.707.91 (Singapore) & 2.73.728.91 (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia)
Update Information: Firmware over-the-air (FOTA) client update & YouTube player Update.
Note：Please back up your data first before upgrading your phone. We recommend using a free Wi-Fi hotspot or an unlimited data plan to apply this update. If not, standard data connection charges may apply. For any questions, please contact us via http://www.htc.com/www/CA_Hotline.aspx

Looks like a good thing after all the users of HTC Hero are waiting for a new update.

One way to try to overcome this problem is to run Firefox in safe mode. Somehow that didn’t work too.

1. Go to Task manager and end process “firefox.exe”
2. Go to programs -> Mozilla Firefox -> open in safe mode.

Firefox in safe mode doesn’t seem able to run too. The best option now would be to reinstall Mozilla Firefox.

Strangely, Firefox is now back in order and ready to run. What a strange phenomenon. But what’s the cause of this problem? Looking through the web, one such cause would be due to an infinite loop in the script running either through the add-ons or certain extensions.

Thus, the option I took was to reinstall Firefox and you will still be able to keep all your bookmarks on the tab.

TechieDan has got his latest bargain, in order to further strengthen his hold on Spring MVC, he got himself a book. Yes, a book bought straight from the store. Published by APress and written by Seth Ladd, Darren Davison, Steven Devijver and Colin Yates. The book is titled Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow.

Some people may mentioned why did I get the book instead of looking for resources online? Well, nothing beats the old school in me, reading anywhere I wanted, and flipping the pages and being in places where there’s no signal or internet connection. Also another reason, is that I got this book at a bargain price. It’s only RM40 (that’s like US $12++). The original retail price on the book is US $44.99. Not everytime you’ll have this bargain.