Category Archives: Web Development

Rails 3.1 Beta

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So Rails 3.1 beta just came out recently, a fact I found out as I watched the RailsConf 2011 keynote. Also a new Railscast (ASCIIcasts is really what I prefer) on the subject was posted.

I guess I’m taking a break from all the JavaScript diving I’ve been doing in the past two days. So many programming challenges… argh. I do hope that the next time I’m in this situation, I have enough source code available online so that I don’t have to wade through this process, but right now it’s completely understandable on the part of my prospective companies to ask me to do these things.

Three passes already, but plenty more companies left. Gotta keep rolling. SF Ho!

Google I/O

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At least watch the keynotes.

I’m getting more and more excited about the web. And I’m incredibly happy that Google is going in the directions that they are going.

And with that, I just bought a first-gen 3G iPad. (I’m almost certain it’s my 4th.) I still don’t know of any browser that works as well on a tablet as the iOS Safari. I also love that there is no contract that I have to deal with. And since it doesn’t seem like Chrome is coming to tablets anytime soon, I guess this is just how I’m going to have to roll for now… or until Android comes up with a better browser.

Enough With The Tool Sharpening Already

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I think Linux let’s me do this a lot more. And I think to some extent, a lot of web devs that favor Macs are doing this out of sheer ignorance (which is totally okay… it let’s you focus on the parts that should be getting the focus, like shipping stuff) or having been bit in the butt with this tool sharpening process before.

// This isn’t to say I wouldn’t mind using Linux (Ubuntu) or Mac OS X. But no, no Windows for web dev. Ever.

In my early days of vim, after learning how to get around in documents, I started diving into the world of .vimrc’s and plugins. This would be the start of a very dark time, since nothing would ever get done in this tool, other than me just poking around all the wonderful lovelies of the text editing software.

Unless I was going to start a compendium on how to become even better at vim (yes… there’s a project somewhere in my head for this…), this wasn’t going to cut it. I wasn’t getting anything done.

Another example: window management. I still want to learn tmux like a crazy person. I want to be able to move windows with as few keystrokes as possible. And all the while this desire grows, my desire to sharpen my skills on vim grows just as fast.

Ugh. Stop it. I know you want to be super productive, but seriously, what’s the point of being super productive, Balkanizing time and space to make it super neat and organized if nothing ever gets done.

And so marks the glorious return of the all-too-pensive JK.

And I guess, that’s what all this down period was supposed to be for: To sharpen the tool known as English, to be able to construct better blog posts at a faster speed, to talk on subjects that interest me all the while that list of interest grew and grew…

This need to sharpen my mind to categorize those topics… too much was done on this front and too little was done on the diving into the topics themselves.

“No such file to load” error using Sinatra?

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Having issues with your config.ru, getting the “no such file to load” error for your app.rb/hello.rb?

Over at stackoverflow, we see the general answer.

By default, a script should not know what the current directory is. Think namespaces.

To fix it, just add ‘./’ to the .rb file you’re trying to include in your config.ru. Easy.

require ‘app.rb’

becomes

require ‘./app.rb’

Heroku problem? Make sure you’re running the right version of Ruby. This issue will come up with Ruby 1.9 and later.

Master Foo And You

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Go read Rootless Root. It’s by ESR, so you know it’s good.

Some favorite snippets that I need to come back to later.

“Which one will reach the other side of the river: The one who dreams of a raft, or the one that hitchhikes to the next bridge?”

Master Foo and the Old Hand

“When you are hungry, eat; when you are thirsty, drink; when you are tired, sleep.”

Master Foo and the Shell Tools

“A man who mistakes secrets for knowledge is like a man who, seeking light, hugs a candle so closely that he smothers it and burns his hand.”

Master Foo and the MCSE

// Easy annotation. Easy linking. Easy sharing.

Livereload: 1.4 Issues, Haml and Sass Files

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Haml and Sass files are not included by default for livereload. I found this out as I was working on a static site mockup using Sinatra.

Take a look at the .livereload file in the directory you were running livereload in. Add this line to make the magic work.

config.exts << 'sass', 'haml'

Also, be sure to not be using livereload 1.4 right now. Make sure you’re using the 1.3 version of the extension also, as per this thread on github. Don’t delete the extension after you’ve installed it to Chrome, because Chrome doesn’t copy over the files into its own plugin folder somewhere. (This is, of course, from experience.)

// The problem I’m having right now when I want to share about all the lovely little issues and solutions I find is that I don’t like to blog it. I’m working on a different journaling system entirely. This post only happened because I’ve been in a blogging mood recently on multiple Tumblogs. Goes to show, keep doing it, whatever it is, daily, and it’ll become a part of your daily process.

Domain Registry of America? Scam.

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Summary: DROA is a scam.

I got an interesting letter today, you know, the paper kind. It was telling me that one of my domains were going to be expiring, and that I should “Act today!”

The fact that my domain was expiring was not incorrect, but I know for a fact I’m not registered with this company. Doing a bit of research, I ended up promptly shredding up the spurious document.

I guess these people are infamous enough to get a Wiki page.

And really, they’ve been in business since 2001? Why are they still in existence?