September 2007
51 posts
RubyEast ~ Obie Fernandez #1
The controller is what sets Rails apart from everyone else.
The dispatcher is a class in Rails. It figures out which controller and action to execute. Load the controller file and instantiate the controller. Invoke the requested action.
Web server provides request info, HTTP method, URI, parameters
Prevent double render by redirecting, then “and return”
sake routes
RubyEast ~ Hal Fulton
The three main takeaways:
1) Keep an eye on Rubininus
2) Prediction - Ruby 1.9 will be released on Christmas 2007
3) keyword arguments are currently a major debate, are ordered parameters are a “legacy” problem?
Cameron Moll ~ Good vs. Great Design →
Azamnig
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteres are at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.
Secrets to Amazon's succcess →
Start with a press release of what features the user will see and work backwards to check that you are building something valuable.
End up with a design that is as minimal as possible. Simplicity is the key if you really want to build large distributed systems.
Take it for granted stuff fails, that’s reality, embrace it. For example, go more with a fast reboot and fast recover approach. With a...
Convert Test::Unit tests to RSpec →
Automatic converter.
Social graph: concepts and issues →
Our society spawns one gigantic social graph. In this graph, each one of us is a node. There is an explicit connection, if we know each other. For example, two people can be connected because they work together or because they went to school together or because they are married.
Users want to own their personal information. When any social network starts, it is hungry to leverage other networks....
Opening the social graph →
~ You should own your social graph
~ Privacy must be done right by placing control in your hands
~ It is good to be able to find out what is already public about you on the Internet
~ Everyone has many social graphs, and they shouldn’t always be connected
~ Open technologies are the best way to solve these problems
The Fighting Monks of Burma →
I dig the idea of hundreds of peaceful Buddhist monks engaging in non-violent protest against a cruel military regime:
“The monks are the only ones who really have the trust of the people,” says Khin Omar, an exiled dissident now living in Thailand. “When they speak up, people listen.”
Then I read this:
On September 5, protests by clergy members in the holy city of...
La dolce morte di Papa Wojtyla →
“The sweet death of Karol Wojtyla” … TIME magazine explores whether Pope John Paul II was euthanized.
180,000 U.S. Private Contractors Flood Iraq →
The United States has assembled an imposing industrial army in Iraq larger than its uniformed fighting force. More than 180,000 Americans, Iraqis, and nationals from other countries work under a slew of federal contracts to provide security, gather intelligence, build roads, forge a financial system, and transport needed supplies in a country the size of California.
That figure contrasts with...
Stopping the Next War →
Speaking to the American Legion, Bush used rhetoric against Iran equal in bellicosity to anything he used on Iraq before invading.
Iran “is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” Iran “funds terrorist groups like Hamas. … Iran is sending arms to the Taliban.” Iran’s pursuit of nuclear technology threatens to put the Middle East and Gulf...
Petraeus the Politician →
“Is everything you are doing over there making America safer?” Sen. John Warner asked. Petraeus tried to evade the question, but Warner wouldn’t let him off the hook. “Is it making America safer?” he persisted.
“I don’t know,” Petraeus replied.
Computer in the Cloud →
Online desktop systems could bridge the digital divide.
Computer Programming as Art →
Right on.
Complete Ruby on Rails security guide →
Very thorough job from the QuarkRuby guys… excellente.
Yap →
Translates voice into text. Can use your mobile phone.
Mint →
Coming out of beta, getting lots of press.
“It’s the relationship that is valuable. It’s the relationship that is...”
– Jeff Jarvis on the death of NY Times’ TimesSelect. The lesson, as always? A media company makes money because of the subscriber’s value to advertisers.
ffmpeg documentation →
Use this to fiddle with best video transcoding options for video upload app.
The Challenger explosion ~ an information disaster →
Arrr.
The Achaemenid (Persian) Empire →
Interesante.
Gnus are African antelopes that inhabit the...
Male gnus (bulls) reach up to 52 inches in height and 500 pounds inweight. Bulls are very territorial and tend to live alone. They have the most lethal horns of any of the antelopes. Gnus are the favorite prey of lions.
“Much like Xerxes, ruler of 7.5 million miles’ worth of the Persian...”
– Me
Free CSS templates →
Is there licensing around these?
Using Amazon S3 from Amazon EC2 with Ruby →
Doesn’t look pleasant…
Using the Facade Pattern to test rake tasks →
Jay Fields is the man.
Webistrano →
Looks promising. I wonder how easy it might be to extend with information about the status of message brokers and the length of time it might take EC2 to do processing tasks so you know when to extend it…
Deploy a Rails app on Amazon's Elastic Computing... →
from http://elasticrails.com
Change the style on a choose file button →
Style magic.
Kiva ~ loans that change lives →
Wicked cool.
“Yesterday in the Meadowlands the Patriots presented Brady with his new toy - a...”
– Dan Shaughnessy
“You just want to head for that end zone. I always try to find that sixth or...”
– Ellis Hobbs, New England Patriots cornerback and kick returner.
UnitRecord ~ test models without the database →
Wow. This is one of the more impressive things to come out of the Rails community in the past couple of months, in my opinion.
“The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a...”
– Wikipedia
U.S. Justice Department opposed to net neutrality →
Boooooo … hissssss.
“The Justice Department on Thursday said Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic.
The agency told the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing high-speed Internet practices, that it is opposed to “Net neutrality,” the principle that all Internet sites should be equally accessible to any Web...
Openmoko →
Open source mobile communications platform.
“The amount of unnecessary care delivered in this country isn’t 5 percent....”
– Shannon Brownlee, Washington Monthly
eBay technical architecture →
At one point, Dan Pritchett says, “I’ve questioned at times, even the need for relational databases at all.” Interesting…
Rake source code →
Read through it. Smaller library than Rails, good example of well-written Ruby.
Video conversion ~ Rails →
Convert video uploads with Ruby on Rails into a format playable via a Flash player.
Flash media player in Rails →
Research on custom YouTube-like solutions in Rails, part one.
Google: do not be afraid →
The Economist argues that Google is not a threat to individuals.