ow do you run a J2EE client application on a remote machine?

[Robert Double]

Hi,
I am using the J2EE 1.3 RI, and trying to run a client on a remote machine accessing the Reference Implementation J2EE server. I can get the application to run fine if I start it from the command line like :
java -Dorg.omg.CORBA.ORBInitialHost=hostname class
But I want to be able to set the environment variable from within the application. So I done the following, and reading the documentation it should of worked.
Hashtable hash = new Hashtable();
hash.put("org.omg.CORBA.ORBInitialHost", "hostname");
InitialContext ctx = new InitialContext(hash);
But it doesnt work. Can anyone suggest to me why it doesnt work?? The JNDI constructor for InitialContext states that it can be passed additional environment variables?
Thanks in advance.... as its probably something really stupid I have done.
Rob