Category Archives: programming
Securing Cloud-Based Ruby on Rails Applications: Why I like Engine Yard.
A customer of mine referred me to an article on Cloud Deployment on Amazon Web Services’ EC2 platform that discussed common security holes users are leaving in their instances. The article, Amazon’s Cloud is Full of Holes, warned that poor … Continue reading
JQuery-UI verus SimpleForm for Rails Forms processing
Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague about using JQuery UI to layout form processing for a Ruby on Rails application. I cautioned them against it. In general, I’ve found more success using the simple_form library for generating form … Continue reading
Interview with Eric S. Raymond – “Who Owns Unix?”
[This is a reprint of an interview I did with Eric Raymond a number of years ago that originally appeared in LinuxWorld Magazine (LWM, the initials you see in the article). I was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine at the time. … Continue reading
Interview with David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), Creator of Ruby on Rails.
[This article originally appeared as the cover story Linux Journal Issue #147, published in July of 2006 -- back when I was still just learning Ruby on Rails. -- Kevin Bedell] Kevin: For our readers who are unfamiliar with Ruby … Continue reading
Open Source Developers Are Rock Stars!
When I was a kid, all I wanted to be was a rock star. I wanted to play guitar, get up on stage, and have everyone scream while I cranked out some hard rockin’ tune. I wanted to see lighters … Continue reading
BarCamp Boston 6, April 9-10, 2011 Cambridge, MA
Make sure you don’t miss one of the best tech events of the year in the Boston Area: Barcamp Boston 6, April 9-10 in Cambridge, MA. From the site: “BarCamp Boston is Boston’s geek unconference, organized on the fly by … Continue reading
Example code for storing environment-specific configuration variables in rails
Here’s some example code I’ve used for storing configuration variables using Ruby on Rails. This code allows for defaults as well, so you only have to specify variables per environment if they override the default value. This first file should … Continue reading
How to validate an email address using regular expressions
Anyone who writes web applications has likely built forms for users to enter their e-mail address. It’s considered a part of our basic identity now – like our name and address. It’s expected we have them. But then, inevitably, once … Continue reading
‘seed’ data versus ‘testing’ data (and custom rake tasks) for Ruby on Rails
I’ve been a part of discussions on how to define ‘seed’ data versus ‘testing’ data on a Ruby on Rails project. Here’s a summary of what I’ve seen work well — please comment if you have anything to add. Data … Continue reading