Posted
Tue, 08 Nov 2005 00:27:40 GMT
to Posted in Projects
Tags rails, ruby, tigerevents
One month after the first official release of TigerEvents and we have achieved the following:
- 31 downloads on Sourceforge
- 20 downloads on RubyForge
- 17 downloads directly from TigerOnRails
- Currently Ranked 3,682/105,551 projects on Sourceforge (Top 5%!)
- Currently Ranked 83/999 Projects on RubyForge (Top 10%!)
- One individual (from the Netherlands) actually testing out trunk and submitting tickets
Wow, this totally, totally exceeds expectations.
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Posted
Thu, 03 Nov 2005 18:44:40 GMT
to Posted in Programming, Projects
Tags rails, refactoring, ruby, usability
Today is World Usability Day. A day to work towards better user experiences in products and experiences. I also decided to use this day as a deadline for the next release of TigerEvents, one of the software packages I work on. 39 closed issues later…............... a brand new release. All that remains is to migrate my.dsu.ca to a new server, upgrade to the new version, and then all users can revel in…..... well….... errr…....... actually, I must admit there isn’t anything major in a regular user’s perspective.
Removing that pesky sidebar proved troublesome (due to Javascripting and CSS issues), and is unfortunatly pushed back (I’m working on it!). You will see that events actually have their formatting preserved, so no more giant block paragraph that is a pain in the ass to read. There are also some more subtle rearrangements and additions to some options, which I think will make posting events easier for people. Admins get a little more, mostly avoiding huge lists of groups and users when trying to navigate (pagination helper is your friend).
And the backend stuff is where most of the changes occured. I personally refactored the code so that the authentication stuff is easier to drop into other code (important since we want to use it in multiple projects. Additionally, I refactored the code to make the entire system database neutral, and to have as much as possible done through ruby. This includes important things such as setup and schema migration. This was the longest and largest changeset I have done in a while, and I am glad it is over. Of course, I need to pass this on to several budding developers so they don’t make the same mistakes, so…....... check back at some point in the future.
What however, is the future of this project? The individuals working on it (and by that I mean myself and Oliver) have decided we want to refocus on putting the ‘my’ into the ‘my.dsu’. Upcoming, expect to see new skins, a better actual interface devoid of those confusing multiple columns, and other things that will help the USER kick ass. So think of this World Usability Day not as a day for which we bring out a ton of usability fixes, but a day where we begin to devote more attention to where it is needed.
You know, after we take a much needed break.
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Posted
Sat, 08 Oct 2005 21:37:06 GMT
to Posted in
Tags humor
As I am typing this, the weirdest thing of the last while is occuring. You see, I have these wireless headphones, which I use for most of my music listening. A few minutes ago, while I was attempting to listen to said music, instead, what I got was a conversation in french. “Wait!” I said to myself, “I don’t have anything french on my computer!” Hitting the stop button in Winamp, the conversation continued. Eventually, I got static again, and then heard the sound of beeping and ringing (dialing and ringing), followed by hearing instructions for what I assume is a long distance payment plan service.
At around this point, I adjusted the frequency of my headphones to get my music back, but the experience was odd, amusing and unexpected.
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Posted
Fri, 07 Oct 2005 10:42:09 GMT
to Posted in Programming, Projects
Tags rails, ruby, tigerevents
Finally, after long hours, little sleep, and lots of work, the 0.5.0 release of TigerEvents, code named “It’s Finally Our So I Can Take A Break” was released the other day on both Sourceforge and Rubyforge.
The focus of this release was getting all the proper administration interface stuff working properly (sorry front end only users) and trying to document it enough so a person can take the code, set it up, and run it on another machine.
Now that the initial file release is out, all I have to do is upgrade my.dsu.ca (merging is going to be a pain in the ass), work on 0.6.0 (which involves merging my development branch back into the trunk, ugh), and redo that ugly, ugly interface.
Regarding the interface, I plan to do something even more minimalistic than some people’s ideas (the one’s I am getting are awesome though, don’t stop). It will, at the very least, grant more open space, as opposed to cramming everything important into a small area. A primary advantage of starting out small is that it will be simple (except for all the XMLHTTPRequest stuff I need to do), and if people want more, I just add more, instead of scalling back and forth.
Oh, and I will do my best to get rid of that blinking text box.
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Posted
Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:16:23 GMT
to Posted in Geek, Programming, Projects, Work
Tags rails, ruby, tigerevents
As already mentioned I have been working on a project called TigerEvents, which powers the my.dsu.ca website.
This project, written entirely in Ruby On Rails, took 4 part time students 2 months to code a working, publicably usable beta. Pretty sweet, since some of us had other, paying, supposedly full time jobs on the go as well, and all of us had other responsibilities.
The my.dsu.ca website has gotten 102430 requests since Aug 25. Not bad I suppose, but I think we can do better than that.
The main problems? I know it, you know, it’s the visual layout. Sure it sucks. A layout like this is when a graphical artist that is supposed to do work totally flakes out and techies are left in charge. Also high up on that list is usability. Some things work well, some things…...... not so well (hey, it’s beta). So how do we fix this? Well…..... I am hoping that you, the public, the intended audience, the actual, non-involved USERS could give me a hand here. Let me know what you like, let me know what you don’t like, let me know what YOU would like to see.
Go ahead, chew me out, rip it to shreds, praise it, stomp it, love it, hate it. Just give me something I can use.
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Posted
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 08:40:19 GMT
to Posted in Life
Tags dcsi
The 4th Annual Dalhousie Computer Science In-house Conference (DCSI) was held last Thursday and Friday. How was it? In theory, it was packed with speakers, including a distinguished keynote speaker. In reality? I can’t say much about the talks, as I didn’t have time to attend any.
Why was I so busy? Well, I agreed to do some stuff as Social Rep for DCSI, such as running BBQs and receptions. However, I also expected to be helped by the DCSI volunteers. Unfortunatly, since the Volunteer Coordinator did nothing, there were next to no volunteers. This resulted in the BBQ starting up late, and me setting up the reception stuff all by myself (note, this meant that sound equipment stayed in storage, no way in hell was I dragging that out and putting it back in, especially since they probably hadn’t even thought about music).
Read more...
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Posted
Tue, 27 Sep 2005 12:07:09 GMT
to Posted in Life, Geek
So now we are definatly into the start of term. First batches of assignments done, or near completion, schedules laid out, various meeting held, summer projects finished, and most importantly, the first Geek Beer has been held.
For what was the first geek beer, there was a pretty decent crowd. Lots of new faces, lots of old ones. Lots of good music (and not so good music). Plenty of entertaining acts (those that left before 10 missed out). Hell! I even made a profit at the bar!
The last part is fairly important right now. Last week, I found out that I have a massive bar bill from over the summer to pay off because a) for some reason the bar bills were not being payed and b) they somehow lost money at every single geek beer, and didn’t correct that in any way.
But I am sure I will be able to come up with something. If things work out like I expect them to, there will be Geek Beer all term still, and a kick ass Snowball too. All my other plans however…....... yeah, let’s scrap all those other things I was looking forward to doing. Ah well, you can’t have it all.
Maybe next year I should become VP External, so all I have to do is go to DSU meetings and everyone else’s social events.
But come to Geek Beer. The more people that are there having a good time, the more worthwhile all these ‘technical difficulties’ that I have to deal with become. Besides, it’s Geek Beer, do you really even need an excuse for cheap alcohol?
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Posted
Wed, 14 Sep 2005 16:27:32 GMT
to Posted in Entertainment
Tags humor
Considering my frequent problems with individual Dell machines, is it any surprise I find these amusing?
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Posted
Wed, 14 Sep 2005 15:32:28 GMT
to Posted in Life
Tags aliant, inform, school
So I had a few days off before classes started. As this was 4 more days than I usually get, I decided to sleep in, play video games, and hang out with people before things got back into full swing.
Right now, I have various things I need to get done and am working towards doing them all. Work term report (just needs a little spit and polish now), TigerEvents initial public release (I’ll have a big story on that later), planning the social events on the term (the more I get done now, the sooner things fall into place), various other things…....
But I have decided to cut down. A chair position I was nominated for? Sorry, no time. The Inform stuff I was doing, which included a proof of concept, two presentations, and a DCSI abstract (which reminds me, I need to rework that abstract just a bit before this Friday)? Well, as interesting as it was, I am not interested in the joining it with a 3D engine. As all my work was pro bono, I have decided I can no longer give it the proper attention and would like to redirect my efforts elsewhere.
Classes are good so far. Networking and Crypto are so far just a review of Network Security, but the syllabii DO say they will be covering more. Initiating the Technology Venture (revamped Entrepreunership class) I don’t have an opinion for yet. But having no tests is a plus. Intro to the History of Science? I need to remember to arrive early and get a seat near the front to aid in comprehension.
I’m still stuck with Aliant. Due to wiring Eastlink can’t put high speed internet in my building. No internet = no Sean. But Aliant is slowly getting on the ball. I mean, when people call me, they hear ringing, as opposed to a ‘this number is no longer in service’ message. Too bad I don’t have a dial tone in my apartment. Doubly so as my buzzer is supposed to be tied into my phone. Aliant has assured me that a technician will be by tomorrow and I will be able to make calls. Will my internet be working, or will they have forgotten to connect that again?
All in all, once the above problems are taken care of, this should be a really awesome term. I am looking forward to it.
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Posted
Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:01:04 GMT
to Posted in Life
Tags moving
So at the moment, I am basically all moved into my new apartment. Everything is unpacked and/or put away in their respective places. Looking around, I realize I still have more room than I need, and feel the desire to fill it. Maybe I will get a futon or something.
I would just like to take a moment to thank my helpful and professional moving crew, for without them I would probably be sleeping on the streets; and those visitors who helped motivate me into putting everything away NOW instead of over the course of a month.
The phone thing still isn’t resolved, but I want to ask the landlady a few questions before making my ultimate decision. In the meantime, hey! Unsecured wireless accesspoints! Who said Microsoft never did anything for me?
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