This may be a little quick and dirty, but if you know your date string format is going to always be in a particular format, it is easy to convert that date string into a string that could be interpreted by the Date object constructor. Here is an example of such an effort:

I was having problems with the Java library that I was using to DEFLATE the authentication request before I sent it to the IdP. I found a great SAML debug tool that helped me out immensely.

Here it is below:

I have been spending the past day working with OpenID an getting it to work on a couple of different portals/web applications. OpenID works really well and I highly recommend it as an alternative method of authentication.

In order to get started accepting OpenID credentials in your authentication model, or even to get started using OpenID at all, you need to follow some of these steps. I’ll also mark some of the tools that might be helpful.

First, get an OpenID yourself. Whether you are going to write an authentication module or just use OpenID, you will need to get an ID. OpenID is a type of protocol or method. There is not any one place that you can get an OpenID. There are many providers of such ID’s. You can also be your own provider. I happened to create an openID at myopenid.com. However you can search through a number of providers in this openID providers list.

Once you have an OpenID, you will notice that it is not your typical username. An openID is a URL. For example, one of my test openID’s is: http://ttest123.myopenid.com.

Now you can try using your OpenID. One great resource to finding OpenID enabled sites it to browse the following OpenID site directory: http://openiddirectory.com/.

If you are going to enable one of your web applications to use OpenID, I would recommend a site that lists many already created libraries for OpenID in a number of languages. The best resource I know is this OpenID Library list.

Use the examples in the libraries that you download to understand how to easily integrate OpenID into your own Authentication System.

John Andersen performed research on OpenID and implemented an OpenID solution to his testing ground SEO portal that he maintains. His portal now accepts OpenID as an alternate authentication method.

I recently pulled my hair out for a couple of hours on a problem that was really simple…I just was overlooking a setting. To help other people save time on this exercise I wanted to share my experience.

I have OpenSuSE 11.1 virtual machine. I installed the NXServer on that machine so that I could control it from my Mac laptop and Windows 7 Desktop. I needed to change the ports to allow me to communicate from outside of my home. In order to do this, I knew that I needed to change my SSH port as well as my NX Server port.

Here is what you have to do:

• Edit your sshd_config file
  Edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file changing the line that says “Port 22″ to “Port {your_number}”
• Edit your ssh_config file
  Edit the /etc/ssh/ssh_config file by changing the line that says “Port 22″ to “Port {your_number}”
• Edit your server.cfg file
  1. Edit the /usr/NX/etc/server.cfg file by changing TWO lines. This is where I messed up and had a hard time figuring out my problem.
  2. The first line you need to edit is: ‘#SSHDPort = “22″.’ You need to change that to (first, remove the # sign to make it active instead of being a comment): ‘SSHDPort = “{your_number}”.’
  3. The second line you need to edit is: ‘#SSHDAuthPort = “22″.’ You need to change that to (first, remove the # sign to make it active instead of being a comment): ‘SSHDAuthPort = “{your_number}”.’ If you don’t change this line, your NX Client will give a error saying: “Authentication failed for user {username}”.
• Edit your node.cfg file
  Next, edit your /usr/NX/etc/node.cfg file by changing one line: ‘#SSHDPort = “22″.’ You need to change that to (first, remove the # sign to make it active instead of being a comment): ‘SSHDPort = “{your_number}”.’

• Restart your Services
  Restart SSH by issuing the following Command: “/etc/init.d/sshd restart”
  Restart the NX Server by issuing the following Command: “/etc/init.d/nxserver restart”

There you have it. You should be able to connect via a non-standard, non-default port with the nxclient.

Service-now.com is a power service desk administration tool. With it’s vast arms of flexibility, it can be a bit daunting to set up for a deployment person.

Besides the Service-now.com wiki that is full of information, there are a couple of places where you get get some training materials or user manuals.

Two places that I learned of today are:

• A Process User’s Guide for Service-Now
• The Admin Training 101 Manual – used in the Admin Training Courses

When you are in their script editor you will often get a smaller box than you like. For example, see the picture below of a really small box.

The textbox can be enlarged (or shortened) by clicking on the resizing icons in the upper right portion of the text box. The text box below was enlarged by clicking the plus sign.

While this is great, when I am editing a long script, it is difficult to keep expanding the text box by clicking the + (plus) sign repeatedly until it reaches the entire size of the script.

I was recently told of a key board shortcut that, when used on a script field, will automatically resize the script text box so that it is the maximum size of the script. To so this simply type: “<CTRL><SHIFT><M>”

To bring the script field back to its normal size, type “<CTRL><SHIFT><N>”.

As of January 18, 2010, John Andersen started employment at the leading provider of ITSM as a SaaS solution. Service-now.com is headquartered in Solana Beach, California. John will be working remotely from his home in the capacity of a Senior Consultant specializing in Professional Service Integrations.

John will be using his skills in programming using a variety of programming languages. John is excited to be working with a number of IT technologies in the industry as he works with customers to integrate their Service-now SaaS instances with their current IT systems.

John Andersen decided to take a challenging job opportunity with the Professional Services team at Service-now.com. John’s title changed from Engineering Manager to Senior Consultant. He will specialize in product integrations.