Just looking into my options for setting up java web applications, not wanting to give them root to run on port 80, but obviously wanting the world to think they run on port 80. After looking at the various java solutions (mod_jk, mod_webapp, etc), I ‘found’ mod_proxy in Apache 2.0, specifically the ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse.

Since I am using JBoss 3.0, I will use it as an example. JBoss ships with a JMX management web application, bundled as jmx-console.war. This means if you start the default JBoss, by running bin.run.sh, you get a working Java application server at port 8080 on that machine. Lets assume that you are running Apache 2.0 on the same machine. This means if you want to access the jmx-console.war application, you will navigate your browser to http://localhost:8080/jmx-console/. This is going to be terribly inconvenient to some people who have never used a port number in a URL before.

So, we modify the Apache config as follows:

ProxyPass /jmx/ http://localhost:8080/jmx-console/
ProxyPassReverse /jmx/ http://localhost:8080/jmx-console/

Now, when you restart Apache, you get your jmx-console webapp ‘hiding’ on port 80, such that when you navigate to http://localhost/jmx/, Apache secretly forwards the requests to JBoss, then proxies them back to you. The ProxyPassReverse line allows your webapp to throw a redirect, and even that will work. This Apache stuff will catch on some day You can even get Apache to cache all the static files!

Popularity: 16%

In San Mateo, hidden just off of El Camino, lies a culinary diamond. Too bad no one saw it…

Just came to find out that the Dining Room has at least temporarily closed. This is a shame. The Dining Room was without a doubt, the best food that I have had anywhere. Quite expensive, but worth every penny.

Chef/Owner Jon Sears would create the oddest combinations that would taste spectacular, if only you dared try them. The wine pairings; to die for. The service, with first Mark, and then Ed, unsurpassed. My only wish is that more people knew about it, so that they could stay in business. The Dining Room was the type of place that if discovered, would have quickly been a place that would be impossible to get into.

I have gone there over the past four years, first with Amanda, Catherine and Jason, and later with Evie, Don, Roger, Arlene and John. But sometimes we would just go as a couple, and immerse ourselves in the 4 hour dining experience that just left you wanting nothing. The only thing wrong is that they wanted you to leave so they could go home.

And don’t get me started about the bathroom. Nicest in the country.

I wish Jon and Asa the very best, and hope that the Dining Room can re-open and succeed in the way that I think it deserves.

Popularity: 10%