amazon-fps-ruby version 0.1.0 has been released!
http://code.google.com/p/amazon-fps-ruby/
Provides a simple wrapper around the Amazon FPS SOAP web service.
Supports all features in the WSDL from Amazon:
http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/kbcategory.jspa?categoryID=125
0.1.0 / 2008-11-07
So, I just upgraded one of my projects to use Ruby on Rails v1.2.1 and it turns out I was using a lot of deprecated statements in my code (especially in testing code). As a pragmatic programmer, I didn’t want to update each of these files manually, so I created a group of conversion scripts that can be used to update several major problems I had to the Rails 2.0 way of life.
Since it seems hard to edit files by hand and easy to write programs in Ruby, I did the latter and have build a few little scripts to convert deprecated statements in Ruby on Rails to their new precated (why isn’t that a real word?) equivalents. As with any script that modifies your code in-place, be sure to have high quality backups at your disposal!
Download the scripts now: Fix Deprecated 2.0
For a more complete list of deprecated statements, see:
Ruby on Rails Deprecations Part 1: ActionController
Good news!
The SharedLunch system is “finished” and the beta users have been alerted. Anyone wishing to give the system a try is welcome to, but be warned that you will probably find bugs.
So far, so good. The user interface bits went quickly and I’m really pleased with how it looks (simple, elegant). I’ll try to get a few screenshots (and maybe a screencast) up on the site pretty shortly.
Once the beta users have had a few weeks to play with it, I’ll launch for real and start trying to drive some traffic to the site. That is actually one of the things I’m looking forward to. I’ve never had an application before with such potential to go completely viral. Since users simply add their friend’s email addresses to invite them to meals, it stands to reason that if this is found to be useful to people, the number of users could grow very quickly.
I’m wondering if there is a social networking component of this application that I’m missing. The initial release is supposed to be bare-bones, but I’m now wondering if hooks to LinkedIn or other sites might be beneficial in the future. One thing that nearly everyone has asked about is, “Can I pay with Paypal?” The answer is, “not yet”, but I think that’s going to be one of the first new features that will go in after the beta users have had a little time to play.
So far, the responses have been positive. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks…
I haven’t posted in a while, but it’s for a good cause. I just finished up the controller of SharedLunch. There’s still a fair amount of work to do before the UI will be completed, but it’s getting there.
So, it’s that time of year again. I’m beginning to start to put together personal and professional goals for the next year. I tend to do this process every fall so I don’t get lost over the winter and watch too much television.
Everyone keeps telling me that I need to have SMART[1] goals, but I don’t believe it. Anything really great that I have ever undertaken has started with a goal that was COMPLETELY INSANE at the time. There was no possible way to measure it and that was because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
Clearly, I was naive when I attempted these feats, but I’ll let you in on a little secret…
I didn’t fail at all of them!