I have an Open Source solution that might meet your needs.
We captured signatures using J2ME and off-the-shelf Palm devices. We persisted the sigs as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics, an XML dialect -- http://www.svg.org/) in a local datastore. Later, we used a custom JSync Conduit to slurp the data off the devices and upload it to a waiting server during the HotSync process. The server (Tomcat -- http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat) ran Apache Batik (http://xml.apache.org/batik) to convert the SVG into JPEG for web presentation.
We used Apache HTTPClient (http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/httpclient/) and Jason Hunter's com.oreilly.servlet (http://www.servlets.com/cos/) to do a MultipartRequest file upload. This allowed us to provide a more traditional HTML form to upload the sigs as a backup if the conduit failed. You could just as easily use Apache Axis (http://ws.apache.org/axis/) to catch the upload as a web service.
All of the technologies involved are open source, so you can string them together yourself.
Or, you can grab some rough source code as a jumping off point. I was very clear about my intentions to open source the J2ME app from the start of the project. I named it "Scratch" (as in "what was itching me at the time...") Your post motivated me to get it online (https://gen4j.dev.java.net/servlets/ProjectDocume ntList?folderID=0). Long term, the project should be accessible at http://scratch.dev.java.net.
Currently, I just have the client app posted. Sadly, there is no documentation at this point (but there will be soon, I promise!). It's only 5 classes, so I hope that their roles will be self evident.
The conduit needs some serious refactoring. That will get posted w/in 30 days. I am presenting a case study/how-to on this very subject at two different conference in Sept, so this code will be at the top of my list of ToDos...
The best I've found is iDSL with 5 static IPs. I'm using Concentric -- they resell Covad, who has about 6-8 other providers as well. I posted the ugly details in a new thread.
My house is 19,200 ft. from the central office. US West's version: "We cannot provide you xDSL."
Concentric's version: "We can provide you with iDSL for $125/month."
My question to Concentric: "How is it that you can provide me service when US West cannot?" Concentric's reply: "Cannot or *will* not, Grasshopper?" You need to be really close to the CO to qualify for the "good" stuff (aDSL). US West has decided to go for the low hanging fruit and leave the less desirable stuff (iDSL) for the other providers in town. iDSL is an ISDN/xDSL hybrid -- 144k speed vs. 640k+ aDSL speeds. Hey -- you get a fraction of the bandwidth for twice to three times the price!
To make matters more interesting, I find out later that Concentric is not a full-fledged provider -- they resell Covad's services. A visit to Covad's website shows about 6-8 other providers in my area (Denver) that will provide me essentially the same service for a wide variety of different prices, perks, etc.
The iDSL service Concentric provides is a business account, not a home account. I get 5 static IPs, a true router that I can plug into my hub, and official approval to run a website, mailserver, etc. from my basement. They provided the hardware and installation for free. That's the good news.
The bad news is, when I'm dark, I'm DARK. My last outage lasted 10+ days. I could not call Covad directly, so I had to start w/ Concentric. Then they talk to Covad. Then Covad talks to US West. Finger-pointing abounds. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I started install discussions with Concentric in March. Service went live in July. Don't even get me started with the 8-hour delivery windows, the no-shows, the rookie installers, etc.
I wouldn't recommend this service to anyone who absolutely needs rock-solid, fully redundant, true business-quality service. I'm paying "business" prices, but getting "residential"-quality service and support. But at this point it's the only game in town (in terms of what I can do from my location). US West won't touch me, and I'm guessing that any one of the Covad resellers are going to run into similar service issues.
I had a residential cable-modem in Omaha (provided by US West). It's tough to compare the two services (the cable modem was a single-PC solution vs. the more robust iDSL package's offerings), but I never had an outage w/ the cable-modem. Never.
I'm writing servlets for my current project. The "Powers That Be" had concerns about Java support on Linux (no official release, etc., etc., etc.), so they went with HP-UX. (Don't ask.)
If they would've known the amount of time I had to struggle with getting GCC loaded and config'd for the HP, just so I could then compile Apache, just so after that I could compile JServ, just so I could *then* use an "Officially Sanctioned" JDK....
I've got no feelings towards Ford one way or the other, but this is a company that is *giving away* 350,000 PCs and Internet connections. ($5/month is a pittance, so yes, I consider it to be "free".) I know of no other Fortune 500 company that has offered anything vaguely similar to this (the subsequent Delta offer notwithstanding). My father worked for IBM for 20+ years, and his employee discount didn't come *close* to free.
Something about "gift horses" and "mouths" comes to mind as I read post after post complaining about the choice of OS (or lack thereof), the modest hardware specs, the ISP, the Draconian Conspiracy Theories, the impact on stock/auto prices, wanting the money instead, etc. etc. etc. This is a free PC and Internet connection.
If you already have a better rig at home, consider yourself fortunate. If you don't want to accept the gift, then don't. (Would you honestly turn down a free PC? In all actuality, I might -- I'm pretty comfortable with my setup. I can't imagine that all 350,000 Ford employees share my circumstances.)
Does Ford have ulterior motives? Absolutely. Is their intent malicious? No one can answer that definitively. But at the end of the day, it is still a *free PC and Internet connection*.
I grew up with PCs in the house, so I've always taken them for granted. 98% of all houses in the US have a phone. 54% of all houses have a PC. (Stats half-remembered from Wired a couple of months back...) Half the country doesn't share my sense of entitlement. Ford and Delta are chipping away at this disparity.
Am I alarmed about the Northwest Airlines travesty? Absolutely. But let's not lose site of what Ford is offering. At this point the two are completely unrelated. I'll be just as outraged as many of you are *if* Ford decides to abuse this.
In the meantime, I'm having a hard time seeing how this could be anything but a Good Thing(tm). Would you be here now without a computer?
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I have an Open Source solution that might meet your needs.
e ntList?folderID=0). Long term, the project should be accessible at http://scratch.dev.java.net.
We captured signatures using J2ME and off-the-shelf Palm devices. We persisted the sigs as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics, an XML dialect -- http://www.svg.org/) in a local datastore. Later, we used a custom JSync Conduit to slurp the data off the devices and upload it to a waiting server during the HotSync process. The server (Tomcat -- http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat) ran Apache Batik (http://xml.apache.org/batik) to convert the SVG into JPEG for web presentation.
We used Apache HTTPClient (http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/httpclient/) and Jason Hunter's com.oreilly.servlet (http://www.servlets.com/cos/) to do a MultipartRequest file upload. This allowed us to provide a more traditional HTML form to upload the sigs as a backup if the conduit failed. You could just as easily use Apache Axis (http://ws.apache.org/axis/) to catch the upload as a web service.
All of the technologies involved are open source, so you can string them together yourself.
Or, you can grab some rough source code as a jumping off point. I was very clear about my intentions to open source the J2ME app from the start of the project. I named it "Scratch" (as in "what was itching me at the time...") Your post motivated me to get it online (https://gen4j.dev.java.net/servlets/ProjectDocum
Currently, I just have the client app posted. Sadly, there is no documentation at this point (but there will be soon, I promise!). It's only 5 classes, so I hope that their roles will be self evident.
The conduit needs some serious refactoring. That will get posted w/in 30 days. I am presenting a case study/how-to on this very subject at two different conference in Sept, so this code will be at the top of my list of ToDos...
Good luck, and hope this helps.
Good luck...
My question to Concentric: "How is it that you can provide me service when US West cannot?" Concentric's reply: "Cannot or *will* not, Grasshopper?" You need to be really close to the CO to qualify for the "good" stuff (aDSL). US West has decided to go for the low hanging fruit and leave the less desirable stuff (iDSL) for the other providers in town. iDSL is an ISDN/xDSL hybrid -- 144k speed vs. 640k+ aDSL speeds. Hey -- you get a fraction of the bandwidth for twice to three times the price!
To make matters more interesting, I find out later that Concentric is not a full-fledged provider -- they resell Covad's services. A visit to Covad's website shows about 6-8 other providers in my area (Denver) that will provide me essentially the same service for a wide variety of different prices, perks, etc.
The iDSL service Concentric provides is a business account, not a home account. I get 5 static IPs, a true router that I can plug into my hub, and official approval to run a website, mailserver, etc. from my basement. They provided the hardware and installation for free. That's the good news.
The bad news is, when I'm dark, I'm DARK. My last outage lasted 10+ days. I could not call Covad directly, so I had to start w/ Concentric. Then they talk to Covad. Then Covad talks to US West. Finger-pointing abounds. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I started install discussions with Concentric in March. Service went live in July. Don't even get me started with the 8-hour delivery windows, the no-shows, the rookie installers, etc.
I wouldn't recommend this service to anyone who absolutely needs rock-solid, fully redundant, true business-quality service. I'm paying "business" prices, but getting "residential"-quality service and support. But at this point it's the only game in town (in terms of what I can do from my location). US West won't touch me, and I'm guessing that any one of the Covad resellers are going to run into similar service issues.
I had a residential cable-modem in Omaha (provided by US West). It's tough to compare the two services (the cable modem was a single-PC solution vs. the more robust iDSL package's offerings), but I never had an outage w/ the cable-modem. Never.
Good luck to you...
Hell, at this point I'd settle for "already installed"... (grin)
If they would've known the amount of time I had to struggle with getting GCC loaded and config'd for the HP, just so I could then compile Apache, just so after that I could compile JServ, just so I could *then* use an "Officially Sanctioned" JDK....
As I said, long overdue...
I've got no feelings towards Ford one way or the other, but this is a company that is *giving away* 350,000 PCs and Internet connections. ($5/month is a pittance, so yes, I consider it to be "free".) I know of no other Fortune 500 company that has offered anything vaguely similar to this (the subsequent Delta offer notwithstanding). My father worked for IBM for 20+ years, and his employee discount didn't come *close* to free.
Something about "gift horses" and "mouths" comes to mind as I read post after post complaining about the choice of OS (or lack thereof), the modest hardware specs, the ISP, the Draconian Conspiracy Theories, the impact on stock/auto prices, wanting the money instead, etc. etc. etc. This is a free PC and Internet connection.
If you already have a better rig at home, consider yourself fortunate. If you don't want to accept the gift, then don't. (Would you honestly turn down a free PC? In all actuality, I might -- I'm pretty comfortable with my setup. I can't imagine that all 350,000 Ford employees share my circumstances.)
Does Ford have ulterior motives? Absolutely. Is their intent malicious? No one can answer that definitively. But at the end of the day, it is still a *free PC and Internet connection*.
I grew up with PCs in the house, so I've always taken them for granted. 98% of all houses in the US have a phone. 54% of all houses have a PC. (Stats half-remembered from Wired a couple of months back...) Half the country doesn't share my sense of entitlement. Ford and Delta are chipping away at this disparity.
Am I alarmed about the Northwest Airlines travesty? Absolutely. But let's not lose site of what Ford is offering. At this point the two are completely unrelated. I'll be just as outraged as many of you are *if* Ford decides to abuse this.
In the meantime, I'm having a hard time seeing how this could be anything but a Good Thing(tm). Would you be here now without a computer?