Team Member Blog
November 13, 2007 · by Kevin Runde
NEW SITE AND NEW BLOGGING SOFTWARE
As I’m sure you noticed we now have a new web site at http://www.QWANtify.com. This post is mainly to test the new blogging software. If you see this then that means I can now write up my messages on Google Docs and then post to my QWANtify blog. AWESOME!!
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So in my last Blog post I mentioned I converted the mongrel_cluster Capistrano recipes to the new Capistrano 2.1 format. Since then a new version of mongrel_cluster came out (1.0.3). I read the read me and sure enough they had just done the same. Well sort of. I was eager to see how my conversion compared to theirs so I went looking for their newrecipe_2.rb file. Problem is it didn’t exist! They forgot to included it in the new gem. So I entered a bug and also offered advice how they could make the mongrel_cluster recipe file auto detect Capistrano 2.x. In case anyone is interested click here to see the bug entry.
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I think I’ve finally started to figure out Twitter.
It seems that the key to Twitter is knowing other people who use Twitter. Chalk one up to BarCamp. Many of the people I met and worked with at BarCampMilwaukee use Twitter. It’s a real interesting method of seeing what everyone is up to. I think I’m getting the hang of it.
I do see a real benefit in hooking it up to your cell phone’s text messaging. Being out and about and being able to update Twitter with what’s going through your head at any moment is great. But, unless I can convince my cell phone provider to give me unlimited SMS messages for less than 20 bucks a month it won’t be something I’ll be doing.
I’ll make do with checking out what everyone is doing and making updates at night.
Follow me on Twitter: sfradkin.
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This made me laugh: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevron/1572812750/
Just an example of the sleeping arrangements at BarCampMilwaukee2. It’s part of the charm.
The missing pillow wasn’t BarCamp’s fault… BarCamp didn’t steal it or anything.
Check out the Flickr photostream from the BarCamp at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/barcampmilwaukee2/
There are nearly 1500 photos tagged barcampmilwaukee2.
Filed in: Team Member Blog barcampmilwaukee2
So this weekend I started a new sample application for Rails. I decided I was going to use the most recent version of all the tools, such as Rails 1.2.5 and Capistrano 2.1. I how they upgraded Capistrano. First all of my 1.x tasks still worked, even with out going through the upgrade process.
Then there is a great upgrade guide on the Capistrano Website. It is very short because upgrading is very straight forward.
BUT
I was getting warning from the mongrel_cluster tasks. So I decided to dive into Capistrano Task definitions. I was surprised by how easy they are to understand. I was expecting something like Ant or worse Maven, but the DSL created for Capistrano is so easy to work with I was able to do learn it and convert all of the mongrel_cluster tasks to Capistrano 2 in just a few hours. There was one very confusing and tricky part. When you have a task in one name space calling a task in a different name space you do it by using dot instead of colon. Thats right if you wanted to call mongrel_cluster:start from your deploy:start task you would add a line that says mongrel_cluster.start. I just don’t like that syntax. Every where else you use the colon.
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A full recap of the BarCampMilwaukee2 event is forthcoming. I’m currently parsing through the details in my head in an attempt to create as thorough a writeup as possible.
My computer is still in a state of flux. I had to go out and purchase a notebook cooler (which works fabulously! Running on low speed the CPU is around 50 C… a little bit high, but at least it isn’t self-destructing) in order to use it. At some point I’ll need to invoke a service call to Dell to either get it fixed or to get the computer replaced.
In short, the BarCamp was a blast. There were a lot of really great people there, great discussions, good food, and good video gaming.
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The event has started. Food is flowing. Sessions start at 1pm.
I hope my computer makes it. For some reason, it doesn’t seem like my fan is running.
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BarCampMilwaukee2 starts tomorrow morning at 10am. I’ll be up long before the crack of dawn to finish getting all my stuff together and drive over to Milwaukee.
If my health holds out (of course I’d come down with a nasty cold the afternoon before the event!) I’ll remain semi-coherent and be able to give some presentations, enjoy some food, good company, and learn lots.
I’m going to attempt to either semi-liveblog here or on Twitter. It depends upon whether I can find time to fix my command-line Ruby Twitter sending program so that I don’t have to use the Twitter website to post.
There’s still time to come on out. It runs until Sunday at 4pm. The official website is www.barcampmilwaukee.com. If you’re not pre-registered you’ll have to show up during the day to get registered, otherwise you won’t be able to get into the venue in the evening.
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