Does a Tomcat ride on a Mustang?

Not always out of the box... on a couple of servers (and, obviously, in the worst time possibile) we experienced the total impossibility to start the Tomcat service (both the 5.5.17 and the 6.0.18) on a Java SE 6, and all we got was a "[2009-04-21 13:59:37] [924 prunsrv.c] [error] Failed creating java C:\Programmi\Java\jdk1.6.0_11\jre\bin\client\jvm.dll" message.

Googleing around, we only found references to endless updates to the Windows registry (no mickey-taking on the OS please... choosing it has never been a choice, bearing it is already hard enough). We were almost beginning to have an axe to grind with people supposed to solve this problem, but as this typically leads nowhere - and a wonderful scapegoating tournament always begins - we chose to stick to Tiger.

Today I stumbled upon a very short post with the solution to our problems: fiendish and hidden as it may seem, there is a dependency on the msvcr71.dll file that does not work properly. We then just copied it in the System32 directory, changed the target JDK with the configurator and everything ran so smooth that I was almost deluded by the utmost simplicity of it.

Rita Levi-Montalcini blows 100 candles out

It's not enough what I did in the past - there is also the future.

Ho perso un po' la vista, molto l'udito. Alle conferenze non vedo le proiezioni e non sento bene. Ma penso più adesso di quando avevo vent'anni. Il corpo faccia quello che vuole. Io non sono il corpo: io sono la mente.

Mowing the lawn? pun(s) intended

Here in Italy a funny commercial for chips presented by Rocco Siffredi was (foolishly, IMHO) banned. I can only wonder what would happen to this hilarious spot...



...even if, after all, nobody said anything to Gianluca Grignani...

Lost Generation

A simple yet very interesting way to deliver an important message

Oracle to buy Sun

Rumors about a sale have been heard for a while, but this one comes directly from www.sun.com...

The miracle of rugby

...is when you bring your four years old child to try and play for the first time with other children and he comes out saying "I've played rugby with my friends".

Scrum in Under 10 Minutes

Another nice video on Scrum, particulary focused on backlogs and burndown charts.



Though I would have liked a little more on roles, planning and reviews the video is very clear and practical.

A Tale of Two Teams

Take a look at this interesting video that compares the traditional waterfall method with the agile approach.

Anybody can have an opinion, right?

Since MS Access is THE best application on the planet, you can right-click your way to happines...

I swear I really read it...

Back in action

After a couple of idle weeks, due to a motorbike accident, I came back to work. It's so nice to see your peers after such a long time, and everybody gave me a very warm welcome - more or less slight variations on the "and it was about time, you bearded tramp!" theme.

On the subject, I would like to thank the commune of San Donato Milanese for the perfect state in which they hold the streets. I'm sure holes, bumps and gravel have their usefulness. Only it is quite hard to understand what it is, except for tossing motorcyclists off their bike.