February 2010
1 post
On Google Buzz
Summary: In this post I attempt to rationalize the creation of Google Buzz.
How I see it Google Buzz is a subset of email, optimized for sharing information and discussing said information amongst a network of followers. I’m sure Google noticed that a large number of users send short messages, occasionally accompanied by a link or an attached image, to the same people over and over. I know...
November 2009
1 post
On PHP Frameworks...
My Friend: I never realized there were so many PHP frameworks...
Me: That's cause they aren't smart enough to realize it's impossible to build abstractions without lambdas
July 2009
1 post
3 tags
Using Rack applications inside GWT Hosted mode
This guide will show you how you can use JRuby to run any Rack application inside Google Web Toolkit’s (GWT) hosted mode server so your interface and your backend are of the Same Origin. Background GWT has two ways of interacting with a server: GWT Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and plain HTTP (XHR). GWT-RPC is a high level library designed for interacting with server-side Java code. GWT-RPC...
January 2009
1 post
Useful Rails Routing tips
Even though I have been using Rails for fun and profit for about 2 years now, I felt I never really used it’s routing engine to its full potential. So I checked out new Rails Routing from the outside in guide and discovered bunch of useful tricks that I (and maybe you) had no idea you could do. Here they are:
Multiple resource definitions on a single line
map.resources :photos, :books,...
October 2008
3 posts
So you want to click that button?
I stumbled upon http://clickthatbutton.com during my routine lurking of hacker news. After being amused for about 10 seconds, I decided to take it to the next level; I wanted to click on it really, really fast. After going through a few solutions (simple js while loop in firebug, then curl/wget) and failing, the idea of using selenium popped into my head. So I went off to their site and installed...
1 tag
Arrow key navigation for text fields
Here is a class for enabling the use of arrow keys to navigate through a grid of input fields: (using mootools)
var FocusMover = new Class({
initialize: function(sel, col_num){
this.sel = sel
this.col_num = col_num
this.inputs = $$(this.sel)
this.current_focus = 0
var self = this
this.inputs.each(function(item,...
1 tag
Tabbing through fields vertically
Sometimes it’s useful to switch the browser’s default tabbing behavior (left to right) to the opposite (top to bottom) when your input fields are in a grid layout instead the of the usual single column layout. Having to do this manually is a real pain, especially for large grids; So here is a solution in javascript, using mootools:
window.addEvent('domready', function(){
var trs =...
September 2008
6 posts
1 tag
Why MooTools (or Why not JQuery)
I’ve been toying around with MooTools a bit lately, and I’ve found the experience quite enjoyable and refreshing. Naturally, I twittered about it and went along my merry way. Moments later (and much to my surprise), I had a direct message from John Resig himself asking “Why, what’s wrong with jQuery?”. I was pretty taken aback that he would take time from his surely...
1 tag
Highlight link based on current page in rails
This is common pattern in website navigation, where it highlights the link (usually by setting class=”active”) that took you to the current page while you are on that page.
First, define a helper:
def is_active?(page_name)
"active" if params[:action] == page_name
end
Then call it in your link_to’s in your layout as such:
link_to 'Home', '/', :class =>...
Git Server tutorial
good git server tutorial, http://blog.commonthread.com/2008/4/14/setting-up-a-git-server
No way.
I’m sure we’ve all been in a variant of this situation…
Me: I'd like to talk to you about something...
Him: Let me guess - you want to use Smalltalk.
Me: Er, no...
Him: Lisp?
Me: Right.
Him: No way.
Taken from here
August 2008
11 posts
The difference between a computer scientist and an... →
I try to keep this article in mind whenever I’m designing anything…
Why I am excited about JRuby/Rails
There are some new developments ripening on the JRuby/Rails front that’s going to make things awesome in the coming months:
Thread safe rails in 2.2, see announcment and what it means here
JDBC Connection pooling, see here
Can’t wait…
Domenico DeMarco and pizza as art →
Sivers/Ferriss interview that will make you think →
3 tags
YUI 3 Preview Release →
Chockful of awesome.
Gearheads don't get it →
1 tag
Hooray, tumblr now works in webkit
If you are having any issues using tumblr with webkit, make sure you are running the latest nightly and everything should work fine.
Now I can go back to using webkit full-time :)
1 tag
I need to look at Sinatra...
The concept of combining routes and controllers makes alot of sense:
get '/user/:id/bio' do User.find(params[:id]).bio end