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RailsConf Kicks Off »

Created at: 06.05.2009 08:28, source: Rails Dog, tagged: Uncategorized railsconf

Well today was the first day of talks here at RailsConf.  DHH kicked things off with an opening speech.  He spent some time talking about Rails 3.0 features but unfortunately it was hard to follow the slides in the back.  Somebody on #railsconf thought it would be cool if you could broadcast slides to everyoene’s laptop during the live talk.  That would have come in handy for this.

The talk was good despite the sound and slide difficulties.  I always enjoy hearing how other programmers approach the challenges of their job.  DHH was talking about how “renogiation of requirements” can ultimately lead to a huge productivity gain.  He described a time at 37 signals where he spent two weeks trying to solve an impossible task.  He ultimately came up with a much simpler solution and proposed it to the client.  Client was indifferent (”Sure, whatever”) and he was done in 48 hours.

The talks this morning have been pretty good so far.  Mercifully there is no smoking in the conference center so that is a welcome change of pace from the rest of the hotel.  My main complaint so far would be that the chairs have metal backs with no cushion so they’re extremely uncomfortable.

One last thing I would like to mention is the state of the Rails community.  There are lots of first time RailsConf attendees here this year which is a great sign.  People also seem to be mixing a lot better instead of hanging out exclusively with the people that they came here with.  The Rails community really seems to be moving in a more positive direction, despite minor flare ups and distractions along the way.

I really think the whole Rails - Merb merger sets a good example for how much everyone stands to gain when setting aside ego and just work together to write the best possible software.  Constructive criticism is fine but collaboration is even more productive.

Vegas: First Impressions »

Created at: 06.05.2009 00:20, source: Rails Dog, tagged: Uncategorized railsconf

I’ve been in dozens of airports around the world but stepping off the plane at LAS conveys the immediate impression that you have arrived somewhere different.  The first thing you see as you come out of the jetway are tons of slot machines.  I have nothing nice to say about the airport ground transportation options.  I used the 30 minute ride to my hotel (which was like 5 miles from the airport) to come up with about half a dozen ways to design a better system.  You can start by knocking down the worthless fucking monorail that they have and replace it with a proper light rail system that would actually connect people to the one place everyone wants to go - the airport!

Went out last night with @hackerchic, @tunagami and Sonny (twitter account not shown.)  Took the afore mentioned monorail to the MGM where we had a good time at the Centrifuge bar.  Every 20 minutes or so some dance song would come blasting on and the bar tenders would all jump up on the bar and start dancing.  So that seemed to be a pretty authentic Vegas experience.

Cigarette smoking is completely out of hand here.  I’m really not used to people smoking indoors and it seems to be everywhere.  My eyes and throat are really irritated from all of the second hand smoke.  On the plus side, you can drink beer anywhere you want (including in the middle of the street.)  Its kind of strange to be drinking a beer while in line to check in to your hotel (next to the guy smoking a cigarette.)  Even stranger is the notion of just walking outside with a giant 32 oz. beer in your hand.

Five Reasons To Go to RailsConf »

Created at: 16.04.2009 05:03, source: Rails Dog, tagged: Uncategorized railsconf

RailsConf is less than three weeks away now but there is still time to sign up if you’re interested in coming. With the recent reduction in the hotel price ($99) it might be worth considering. Here are a few more reasons to go this year in no particular order:

1. Excellent Speakers — Last year was my first RailsConf and I was blown away by the quality of the speakers. Pretty much every single session had both an interesting topic and an engaging speaker. Some sessions are better than others, but overall I think the speaker quality was quite high. The slides are always available online and usually very high-quality.
2. Convenient Location — This year the conference will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada for the first time. Las Vegas is easy to get to from almost anywhere in the United States. There really isn’t a better location in terms of the sheer number of direct flights other than perhaps Orlando Florida. The conference will also be held in the actual hotel where attendees will be staying. With an action-packed schedule this really adds to the convenience since you won’t be traveling back and forth from the hotel to the conference center like last year. It’s all right there under one roof.
3. Hiring Opportunities — At last year’s RailsConf there was a shocking number of companies who were interested in hiring qualified Rails programmers. Every time I sat down there was some brochure or business card laying there mentioning that such and such a company was looking to hire. So if you’re looking to switch jobs or to find out more about the kinds of jobs that are out there this is a great opportunity.
4. Creativity Boost — RailsConf is also a great opportunity to come up with new ideas and inspiration for your next 12 months of programming. With all the great talks and ideas floating around your head will soon be buzzing with exciting new ideas to take back to your existing job. It’s a great opportunity to take a break from the daily coding march and to gain some new perspective.
5. A Chance to Network — The conference is also a chance to meet all those people you have been chatting with online over these past several months. All of your favorite bloggers will be there plus those people whom you’ve been working with on your favorite open source projects. It’s fun to put a name with a face and have more in-depth discussions that are not really possible online.

So if you haven’t already signed up for RailsConf go and do it now. It’s definitely worth the time and money.  If you decide to go, make sure to say “hi” if you see me there.

Custom Bash Prompt for Git Branches »

Created at: 07.03.2009 18:04, source: Rails Dog, tagged: Uncategorized git bash

git bash prompt

If you are an active git user then you may find yourself constantly switching between different branches in the same project as you are working. If you’re not doing this, you’re probably not experiencing the full power of git. I recently added some functionality to my bash prompt that shows the current git branch in green and a yellow asterisk if there are uncommitted changes in the project.

Here’s how to do it. First you will need a copy of .gitcompletion.sh in your home directory. This script has some functions that we will use to customize the bash prompt. It also has some nice side effects like tab completion for branch names, etc. Now simply add the following to your .bashprofile

source ~/.git_completion.sh

function parse_git_dirty {
  [[ $(git status 2> /dev/null | tail -n1) != "nothing to commit (working directory clean)" ]] && echo "*"
}

function parse_git_branch {
  git branch --no-color 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e "s/* \(.*\)/[\1$(parse_git_dirty)]/"
}

export PS1='\h:\W$(__git_ps1 "[\[\e[0;32m\]%s\[\e[0m\]\[\e[0;33m\]$(parse_git_dirty)\[\e[0m\]]")$ '

GitHub Search Tip »

Created at: 02.02.2009 14:58, source: Rails Dog, tagged: Uncategorized git github

GitHub recently made significant changes to their search functionality. I often use their search to look for related projects, such as new Spree extensions. Prior to these changes I would simply search on spree. Now when you do this the default results are IMO less then desirable.

So if you’re like me and you just want to find projects containing your search term then I have a tip for you. Just add fork:false to your search and it will exclude all of the forks from your results. This makes it much eeasier for projects like Spree where there are 60+ forks that you would have to sift through in order to find what you’re really looking for.