Radixhound

One of the best things about using a Mac is the quality of applications that are being written for it by the development community. Nowhere is it more apparent than with the iPhone, with over 50,000 applications that have been written in the last year.

Mac Software Bundles

Over the last year, I’ve taken advantage of several bundle sales for Mac software. With these bundles, you can buy a whole bunch of applications for one low price, which is typically the price you would pay for one of these apps, and usually much less than the price of some of the apps that are included.

The Benefits

After taking advantage of three bundle sales over the last year, I now own dozens of handy applications for my Mac. The reality of the situation is that I only use a few of them, but the ones that I do use, I find indispensable. Some of them I use occasionally, but it is so great to know that if there is anything I need to do on my Mac, I can do it. Here’s some of the kinds of apps I’ve received as part of bundles:

• Sound editing (Amadeus Pro)
• Photo editing (Pixelmator, Graphic Converter, Acorn)
• CSS Editing (CSSEdit, Esspresso)
• FTP (Fetch)
• Repair and diagnosis utilities
• Handy tools
• ... and much more

The Current MacUpdate Bundle

I’m about to purchase this one because it’s undeniably valuable. Parallels Desktop alone is worth $80. I have version 3 and use it all the time. The whole suite of tools for saving DVD movies to your Mac is another big win.

I also signed up as a promoter of the bundle so I can get some benefit from telling all my friends and family to buy it! Click the image below to check out the bundle and purchase it!

There’s only 3 days left in the huge MU Bundle, so grab it before June 12th!

My daughters, who are five years and three years old, did some finger painting today. I used my little Canon SD1000 on time lapse mode to film them painting. Unfortunately I didn’t have my large camera card on hand so the video stopped before the painting was finished.

I find it amazing what my digital camera was able to do. It’s also a fantastic way to capture this moment! I could have taken a picture of the final painting, but now I have so much more captured. You can see the creative process and that’s so awesome!

Here it is, enjoy. I hope it inspires you to capture some moments like this with your kids.

I have just helped a client put the finishing touches on his new website. It’s exciting because there doesn’t really appear to be anything like it out there, and the topic is so important. Larry is a driver rehab therapist and has been doing that here in British Columbia for over 20 years.

When I talked to Larry about his website and what he wanted to do with it, it became clear instantly that this man really knows what he’s talking about. He’s also passionate about what he does, it just flows out of him as part of who he is. Basically what he does is he works with disabled people to assess their ability to drive, teach them to drive if possible and to use special modifications to their vehicle to help them drive.

I helped Larry with the concept for his website, encouraging him to put his valuable expertise onto the internet to help people as much as possible rather than just a basic business website that lists his services. We built the site on Radiant CMS so Larry can update it regularly.

I added the following plugins to the Radiant install:

• mailer
  • I modified this slightly with a table tag so that the layout would go into a table automatically and I would have to do way less typing
• paperclipped
  • this is a great image extension, it can be slightly confusing for end users though
• reorder
• settings
  • I’m so glad I found this..
• textile_editor

I have to say that the state of the nation for RadiantCMS is looking pretty darned good. There is a lot of activity and great new extensions arriving all the time.

If you know someone who has become disabled recently and wants to know about getting back behind the wheel, let them know about Larry Bowen’s website. It has some useful information in there now, and Larry will be adding to it. The goal is to make it the best resource for disabled driving!!

If you have suggestions on what kind of things Larry can add to his site to make it more relevant and useful, please feel free to mention the ideas in the comments.

The bad user experience that turned a curious click turns into a maniacal rant…

I just have to post something about this insanely stupid campaign created by Futureshop and Intel. I help lots of people decide on computer purchases because I am the neighborhood ‘computer guy’. I think I have an idea what people want to know and what just confuses them. This so-called ‘computer buying guide’ on the Futureshop website is useless, confusing and, worst of all, is just a thinly veiled Intel advertisement. If I wasn’t an Apple user, I’d be inclined to swear off Intel just because of the smarminess and stupidity of this ad. Unfortunately, Apple is married to Intel now I can only complain about the spouse’s annoying behaviour.

It all begins with an innocent click…

I’m not a tech-fearing computer purchaser who needs help deciding on what to buy. If I were, I can see how it would be appealing to click here. Instead I’m just curious about what results they’ll give. Here’s my thought process:

• This seems a great idea. I wonder what kind of results it will give me. Will is suggest specific products like Apple or HP?
• If they do this right, it would a handy little tool.

Now let’s walk through the process and see what the results are…

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The Easy Way

I previously posted my script for transferring from SQLite3 to MySQL here with involved step by step instructions. I’m going to mention it again with ultra simplified instructions to make it easier to digest and to save time for people who know what they are doing.

Here they are:

1. Set up a development DB using SQLite3 (presumably you already have one from working locally)
2. Set up a production DB using MySQL
3. (optionally) Make sure they work
4. Install the plugin in the vendor/plugins folder
5. Run the script with rake db:backup:to_db TARGET_DB=production

Tip If you don’t have a development DB and set up your local install as production, just change your database.yml file to say that production is development…

Tip I typically bootstrap my production DB before I migrate over. It works and all the bootstrap data gets wiped.

Tip Use this carefully and please back up your original DB before you transfer over. If you get the syntax backwards you will wipe your data.

Tip Both databases have to be the same structure before doing the transfer. So you have to migrate your extensions and make sure your source DB is using the same version of Radiant as the destination DB.

Link to Script…

• radiant_db_backup.zip
• radiant_db_backup.tar.gz

How to Transfer from SQLite to MySQL

I noticed something while working on a couple Radiant sites. I found that when I was building them locally, I prefer to work with SQLite3 databases. Then when I deploy them they use MySQL. Since so much of the configuration and site template lives in the database, I wanted an easy way to go from SQLite to MySQL. In the end I built it!

Wouldn’t it be Nice… to Backup from MySQL to SQLite? And vice-versa?

At the same time, I always thought it would be nice to be able to create a backup of the live database in SQLite. That way, if a client ever wanted their site ‘packaged up and portable’ as it were, it would be easy, just dump the production DB into a SQLite development DB, zip up the radiant folder and you have the whole site ready to run.

My ‘Plugin’ – Installation

I created this as a plugin for Radiant. Just download the package (at the end of this entry), uncompress into your plugins folder and you’re ready to go.

How to Use it

It’s fairly simple. Make sure you have SQLite and MySQL set up and running. Then configure your installation to use a SQLite DB for development and a MySQL DB for production.

development:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/development.sqlite3
production:
  adapter: mysql
  database: myradiant_production
  username: radixhound
  password: paSSwerd
  host: localhost

Then make sure your target DB is pre-created. So if you don’t have a production DB up to this point, you can do this.

rake db:migrate
rake db:migrate:extensions

Then when you want to transfer from development to production, you can do this…

rake db:backup:to_db TARGET_DB=production

To do the reverse, you will do this…

rake production db:backup:to_db

Or Backup to another SQLite DB altogether…

You can also configure a third, fourth or fifth DB in your database.yml file and use that to back-up to, in case you don’t want to wipe out your development DB. Just add something like this to your database.yml file…

backup:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/development.sqlite3

Then you can do this..

rake production db:backup:to_db TARGET_DB=backup

Download the Goods

radiant_db_backup.zip
radiant_db_backup.tar.gz

PS: I also have a version that works for Mephisto sites. you only get it in zip format ‘cause I have somewhere to be right now.

PPS: I figured this out from someone else’s script that did something similar-ish but not quite this. I don’t remember who or what though, sorry.

Calendar after the jump.

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I just transferred over from a nice little Mac Mini to a Macbook Pro, and found that my Ruby on Rails installation is goooone. No problem! I’ll just re-install.

I’m following the instructions over at Hivelogic. The only problem with the instructions is that with the rapidly changing world of open source development, it’s bound to be out of date. So, since comments are closed on the article, I’ll just write my own entry with the latest versions as of today.

To get the latest versions, follow the instructions at Hivelogic and I’ll provide updated code to copy and paste only for the sections that have changed.

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... or Burnaby

I love martial arts, and if I’m going to do something for exercise, nothing works as well to get me motivated to go and exercise. I just need to feel like I’m learning and growing and not just strengthening muscle group x and y. The thing about martial arts training is that it’s always offered in the evenings around dinner time or just after dinner. I don’t know how people with families can train at those times.

Wait. I bet they don’t.

... why not in the mornings?

I just don’t get this, really. It seems like a no-brainer that there would be some people interested in training in the morning before they start their day. Here’s what you do: you get up, go to your dojo or whatever, get the oxygen pumping, and start your day. This works for fitness classes. Why can I not find a single martial arts club in my area that has morning classes?

... are you up for it?

There can’t be that many people in the world that love their pillows so much that they are unwilling to get out of bed to start their day off with a bang. What do you think? If you had the opportunity, would you go for some early morning training?

I want to find a group of interested people and approach an instructor about starting some morning training. If you happen to be interested too and live in the Vancouver / Burnaby area… drop me a line! radixhound by way of gmail.com

For a while now, one of my indispensable tools for working with CSS has been Xyle scope

This application saves me so much time when it comes to editing CSS. I can immediately see the changes I’m making, I can tweak everything until I’m happy, and then save my changes. Often, I will try out different ideas and scrap them. I’ve been very happy using Xyle scope.

The one major gripe I’ve always had with it though, is that I could only edit CSS properties that were already there. If an element did not already have a margin property defined, then I would have to fire up my text editor and add that property before I could tweak it in Xyle scope. I lived with that because I was happy enough with the app otherwise.

I no longer have to live it! I’m thrilled with the new 1.2 version of Xyle (currently in beta). The developer has added a bunch of features that make it soooo much better. I’m loving it! Let me tell you about the new features that I’m loving. It’s kinda like a review, but not really.

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I watched Canadian Idol last night. I hadn’t seen it since the first one in 2003 and I have to say I quite enjoyed watching it. This morning I found myself reflecting on the show and what I can learn from it.

The short version? Be grateful and generous and grab your truth strainer!

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In working with non-technical people who are not familiar with all of the different acronyms and codes that are used in the technical world, it is a common challenge to be able to communicate on the most basic level. One example is in setting up email servers.

“In the outgoing mail server field, type in smtp.yourdomain.com.” “Type in what?” “Ess emm tee pee” “Ess emm pee tee?” “No, as in SEND MORE TOILET PAPER” “ohhh”

I’m going to propose the development of a standardized list of alternate, memorable, meanings of acronyms for the non-techie. Why should we explain to them that SMTP means “Simple Mail Transmision Protocol”? I mean, who really cares? Even half of the techie people would have to look it up.

If this development of a standardized list of alternate memorable meanings (SLAMM) takes off, then we can look forward to fewer typos when communicating techie. If you happen to stumble upon this blog entry in your travels, drop a comment and suggest a SLAMM for your most frustrating acronyms.

Here’s a start on suggestions.

• DNS : Drinking Numbs the Shenshes
• IMAP: I Make Armpit Poots
• SMTP: Send More Toilet Paper

I guess the usefulness of SLAMM will be limited to things that people have to communicate verbally. It’ll be fun to work on though, and useful to remind techies that they don’t have to explain the meanings of these cryptic concepts to people, they just have to pass on the data in a fun and friendly way so that they make their audience feel comfortable.

I think the iPhone is going to stir up a revolution. Maybe it will just start a revolution—maybe it will be the revolution.

I keep reading about what people are saying about the iPhone and in a way I just want to laugh. The funniest thing to me is how many people get stuck in their boxed-in way of thinking. So many people in todays left-brained society are just unable to grasp things that are a whole new way of thinking or attacking a problem. Of course, when the idea has been around a few years, they’ll accept it and will quickly forget their old objections.

Here’s what I see happening with the iPhone—it’s going to be the only device you’ll need to take with you when you leave the house and it will revolutionize personal organization. Really, the music player is cool, but the time- and life-management options are the ones that are going to be really exciting!

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Your website’s information should be the equivalent of fast food, but how good is that, really?

Let’s talk about food—fast food. Modern culture is in a love-hate relationship with fast food. We don’t have enough time to prepare slow and nutritious foods so we end up eating fast foods. The result is that our bodies crave the processed sugars. It gets to the point where we simply don’t consider healthy alternatives in our quest to find food.

I think it’s the same story with information. Just as hordes of people will file through a fast food restaurant for food while a select few will sit down at a restaurant serving healthy foods that involve serious chewing—hordes will visit websites with fast information and entertainment while few will visit and dwell at sites with deep and complex information.

It’s simply a fact that if you want a successful website you need to pre-process your content so it’s easy to chew and goes down easily. What I wonder about is how healthy that is for the future of our culture. I wonder if anything could be done to stop or slow that trend so that future generations dwell and deliberate more rather than flitting from idea to idea. It is something worth thinking about because a society full of soft and inactive bodies is one thing, but soft and mushy minds is another thing—a sad and frightening future.

I just spent a bunch of time fiddling with what should have been a simple change to a filter plugin for Mephisto. It’s the Lightbox Filter. If I can save anyone else from this annoyance, this blog entry will be worth it!

Basically, all I wanted to do was to change the filter so that it generated the markup <div class="gallery"> instead of <div id="gallery">. Should be darned simple. So I went into the filter and changed one litter word. Great! I then spent far too long trying to figure out why that didn’t work. I could do nothing to coerce Mephisto to NOT generate the code the old way!!

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