Getting ProjectPlus to work correctly with Git OS X installer on Leopard

Published on September 7, 2008 in General. 1 Comment

I'm giving Git a shot after attending Leaky's great introduction to it at BarcampBrighton3.

Getting up and running with it was simple enough using the Git OS X installer.

I also installed the awesome ProjectPlus plug-in for TextMate (put it into ~/Library/Application Support/TextMate/Plugins, creating any of the folders that don't already exist) which gives TortoiseSVN-style overlay icons for Git and SVN. Although it worked off the bat for SVN (via the built-in SVN in Leopard), I didn't get the icon overlays for Git repositories.

The problem, according to this comment, on the ProjectPlus announcement post, is that ProjectPlus expects Git to be in a certain place (/usr/local/bin/git) whereas the OS X installer installs it in /usr/local/git/bin/git. In order to fix this, just create a symbolic link:

ln -s /usr/local/git/bin/git /usr/local/bin/git

Restart TextMate and bring up a project that's under Git and you should see your lovely iconic overlays. (This shouldn't affect you if you used Macports to install Git.)

Today is the last day for Flash on the Beach tickets!

Published on September 5, 2008 in Community, Conferences and Flash. 1 Comment

Flash on the Beach conference (FOTB) 2008

Ticket sales for Flash on the Beach (FOTB) close this Friday (September 5th) so if you haven't yet, get your ticket while you still can!

Flash on the Beach is a wonderful Flash conference in our very own Brighton.

If you need any convincing, read Jens's top 5 reasons to go to Flash on the Beach.

Hope to see you all in Brighton at the end of the month.

Get your new <head> badges here!

Published on September 4, 2008 in <head> web conference. 2 Comments

New <head> badges

I've just put up a whole bunch of new badges for the <head> web conference on the conference site.

If you've already got a badge up from before the name change, you don't have to do anything and the new badge should load automatically. Otherwise, just copy and paste the code to add the badge to your site.

Thank you all in advance for helping us get the word out. Your blog posts, tweets, etc., are invaluable!

Here are some popular sizes to get you started:

88x31

Singularity

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_88x31.gif" width="88" height="31" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

120x60

<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_120x60.gif" width="120" height="60" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

120x90

<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_120x90.gif" width="120" height="90" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

120x240

<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

125x125

<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_125x125.gif" width="125" height="125" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

234x60

<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_234x60.gif" width="234" height="60" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

468x60

<head> web conference: October 24-26, 2008

<a href="http://www.headconference.com/"><img src="http://www.headconference.com/images/buttons/button_468x60.gif" width="468" height="60" alt="&lt;head&gt; web conference: October 24-26, 2008"/></a>

If the above don't fit your style (or site), we've got the whole gamut of IAB recommended sizes, including 728x90, 180x150, 250x250, 300x100, 336x280, 350x250, 720x300, 120x600, 160x600, and 300x600.

Adobe Acrobat wants to “repair” Safari

Published on September 4, 2008 in Adobe. 0 Comments

Acrobat Repair

Fired up Adobe Acrobat Professional today to sign a document for my lawyer and got this sneaky little dialog pop up.

Sorry, gov, but it ain't broken.

(If Acrobat has "repaired" your Safari, follow the instructions here to revert it.)

We haven’t changed the name of the conference to “Over Quota”

Published on September 3, 2008 in <head> web conference and google app engine. 14 Comments

Google app Engine Over Quota

Update: The quotas have been reset, the site is back up, and engineers at Google are monitoring them and working closely with me until we can figure out what the issue is and fix it.
Continue reading 'We haven’t changed the name of the conference to “Over Quota”'

<head>s up: Singularity Web Conference becomes <head>

Published on September 2, 2008 in Singularity. 23 Comments

head conference new web site screenshot

<head>line news: the Singularity Web Conference is now <head>™.

So you don't think that we're out of our <head>s for <head>ing in such a radically new direction just two months before the conference, know that we didn't take the decision lightly.

You see, we came <head> to <head> with a company called Singularity Limited when their lawyers sent us a letter stating that they had registered Singularity as a trademark for, among other things, conferences. Although it doesn't appear that Singularity Limited currently runs any conferences, we decided to keep our <head>s and proactively change the name of the conference to <head> off a potentially lengthy, complicated, and costly legal conversation.

Once we took the decision to change the name at the end of last week, we launched <head> first into a rebranding effort and made great <head>way, completing the process in just over two days.

We're <head> over heels in love with our new name and our new look (Alvin was especially ecstatic when he saw the new site) and we hope that you will be too.

In the midst of all these changes, we thought that a little stability would be good to have so we're keeping one thing the same: the price. We're extending the early-bird discount until the end of September, so tell your friends — blog, vlog, tweet — and let the world know that tickets can still be had for $99.

And just how are preparations for the conference itself coming along? It's full steam a<head> at conference <head>quarters, with daily announcements of excellent new sessions from our stellar line-up of over seventy speakers.

<head> over to our newly-redesigned web-site to check out our new look and get your ticket today to attend this seminal global web conference for just $99.

Changes are underway at the Singularity Web Conference…

Published on September 2, 2008 in Conferences and Singularity. 1 Comment

... expect a major announcement later today!

A quick guide to domain name setup on Google App Engine

Published on September 2, 2008 in google app engine. 0 Comments

Getting domains (both www, and naked domains) setup properly on Google App Engine is not a straightforward affair; it has several gotchas. This quick guide summarizes the process I use with the following four actors: Enom (domain registrar), DynDNS (DNS provider), Google Apps (domain management and other apps for your domain), and Google App Engine (your actual app).

Get the necessary accounts

  1. Make sure you have a Google App Engine app setup and note its app id from the dashboard at appspot.com.
  2. Register your domain name with Enom
  3. Get a CustomDNS service from DynDNS.
  4. Get a Google Apps account.

Domain configuration (Enom)

  1. Configure the DNS servers to point to DynDNS. Under Manage Domain → DNS Server Settings set name servers 1 - 5 to point to ns1.mydyndns.org, ns2.mydyndns.org, etc.

DNS configuration (DynDNS)

  1. Add four Hostnames for the naked domain (i.e., yourdomain.com without the www) and have them point to IP addresses 216.239.32.21, 216.239.34.21, 216.239.36.21, and 216.239.38.21.
  2. Add CNAMES for all services you want to use Google Apps for. If you just want to use your Google App Engine app, create a CNAME ("Add Alias (CNAME)") for www.yourdomain.com and point it to ghs.google.com. I also add CNAMES for all the other Google Apps (docs, mail, start, etc. as docs.yourdomain.com, mail.yourdomain.com, etc.)
  3. Add the following three Mail Exchangers by clicking the Edit MX List button: ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM, ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM, ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
  4. Under preferences, make sure you force activate your zone.

Google Apps configuration

  1. In Google Apps, make sure that your Control Panel is set to "Current version" under the Domain Settings tab. This is important. Your control panel version must not be set to "Next version".
  2. Go to Dashboard → Add more services (the link next to the Service Settings title) and enter your Google App Engine App ID under Other Services → Google App Engine and click the Add it now button.
  3. On the next screen, add the following URL: temp.yourdomain.com (do not enter yourdomain.com).
  4. Repeat Step 2 and this time click the Add new URL link and add yourdomain.com
  5. Repeat Step 2, click the Add new URL link again, and add www.yourdomain.com
  6. Repeat Step 2, and delete temp.yourdomain.com

(Special thanks to Robert Little and Akash Xavier for the information in this section.)

Google App Engine configuration

  1. Sign in to your application via appspot.com.
  2. Click the Administration → Versions link.
  3. Click the Add Domain... button under the Domain Setup section
  4. Add yourdomain.com in the domain name box and click the Add Domain... button

That's it, having followed those -- oh, nineteen or so simple steps -- you should now have your domain setup properly for Google App Engine. Not only that but your mail and other apps should be working properly through Google Apps.

Backing up and restoring your local SDK datastore (Google App Engine)

Published on August 31, 2008 in google app engine. 1 Comment

Backing up and restoring the datastore in your local SDK can be very useful for several use cases. Personally, I find that I alternate between running the local SDK with a restore of data from the deployment environment and with an empty or test datastore.

The local SDK slows down painfully when you populate it with real amounts of data so sometimes I test with an empty datastore while developing. Restoring data, however, takes a long time too so I don't want to run my restore process all the time. And I don't have to, since I can simply backup the local datastore and restore is by copying it back.

Just do a search for django_[app_name].datastore and django_[app_name].datastore.history, replacing [app_name] with the name of your app from app.yaml and then back these two files up.

You can then flush your datastore, test, and then restore the two files above when you want to work with a pre-populated datastore.

ActionScript 3, Flex 3, and AIR training

Published on August 31, 2008 in ActionScript, Adobe, Flash, Flex and Training. 3 Comments

Comtaste are offering a unique series of training courses in London called Meet the Guru, covering ActionScript 3, Flex 3, and Adobe AIR.

The courses are:

  • Programming ActionScript 3 - Peter Elst (Oct 13-15)
  • Flex 3 and Flex Builder 3 - Developing Rich Internet Applications with the new Flex 3 SDKs - Marco Casario (Oct 20-23)
  • Developing desktop applications with Adobe AIR, Ajax and Flex - Koen De Weggheleire (Oct 27-30)

For more information and to sign up, see the Meet the Guru web site.

Full disclosure: Comcaste are advertisers on Pistach.io, which I co-founded, and Peter Elst and Marco Casario are both members of the Pistach.io Flash Pack.

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