Eric Tarn

Quick way to tell if a bot or something is hitting your site too many times

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 10:24:00 -0400

Run this on your access.log file:

tail -n 10000 access.log|cut -f 1 -d ’ ’|sort|uniq -c|sort -nr|more

It will show you the number of times an IP Address appears. If one particular IP appears way too many then add this to your iptables:

-A INPUT -s 000.00.00.00 -j DROP

Or run this to see if any IPs are currently hitting your server a lot:

netstat -ntu | awk ’{print $5}’ | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -n

I asked my friends what advice they would give 20-somethings

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 12:58:25 -0400

Here is what they said:

Avoid debt at all costs
Learn about your finances as early as possible
Start saving and investing early
Try to live cheaply
Stop trying to impress people all the time
Have a five year plan
If you’re going to coast through something, try to get something lasting out of it.
Don’t take advice from someone in their 30s.

In-depth Cost Analysis of Buying Lunch at the Korean Deli Everyday Instead of Bringing Lunch

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:51:00 -0500

Buying Lunch Costs

Turkey sandwich at deli - $6
Inevitable impulse snack buy at the counter because you never get out of the office until you’re starving - $3
Internalized guilt trip from mom for buying lunch every day - $9
Discomfort caused by unorganized line at the deli counter where the guy yells “next!” and everybody looks around apprehensively trying to figure out who was next while the assertive person who was definitely not next places their order - $4

Bringing Lunch For The Week Costs

2 lbs. Turkey - $11.98
1 loaf of bread - $2.99
2 tomatoes - $1.45
1 head lettuce - $1.99
20 minutes/day @ $50/hr - $83.33
Guilt of throwing out groceries when x of y are starving in z - $1.60
Rotting hands from doing dishes - $2.10

Gumroad blog: Onepager Partners with Gumroad to Help Businesses Easily Set Up eCommerce Websites

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:17:18 -0400

Gumroad blog: Onepager Partners with Gumroad to Help Businesses Easily Set Up eCommerce Websites:

gumroad:

This is a guest post by Yin Yin Chan, Co-Founder of Onepager. Onepager is a New York-based company dedicated to helping small businesses build great-looking websites and stay connected with their customers.

At Onepager we are all about simplicity, from our easy website builder to the …

How I installed MySQL, RVM, Ruby, and Rails on Mountain Lion OS X 10.8

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:24:00 -0400

Install the command line tools for Xcode here. You don’t have to install Xcode if you don’t need it. It doesn’t even come with the command line tools automatically anymore anyway.

Install the 64-bit version of MySQL for OS X.

Add the following lines to your ~/.bash_login file:

export PATH=“/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH”
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=“/usr/local/mysql/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH”

Now you should be able to install RVM using their install instructions and then rvm install 1.9.3.

If you need to install 1.8.7, you have to install XQuartz first and run:

export CPPFLAGS=-I/opt/X11/include
rvm install 1.8.7 –with-gcc=clang

Check this out if you need to install ImageMagick and RMagick.

Photo

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:38:29 -0400

itsandynotandrew: If I ever put out a rap album, this is the...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:29:58 -0400

itsandynotandrew:

If I ever put out a rap album, this is the cover.

If you double your price, then offer a 50% discount, is that dishonest pricing or just exploiting human psychology?

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:35:00 -0400

Gilt offers 10 Omaha Steaks 6oz. Filet Mignons at 40% off $165 for $99.

Omaha Steaks offers 10 Omaha Steaks 6oz. Filet Mignons at 33% off $165 for $109.00

Not much of a sale, Gilt.

Rails path vs url helpers

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:15:46 -0500

Manually re-blogged from http://ianlotinsky.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/rails-path-and-url-helpers/

Sometimes I forget the simple differences between Rail’s helpers. This mini post is so I don’t forget.

*_path
Generates relative URLs: /users
Used in views by link_to, form_for, etc. (per DHH)
The browser maps relative URLs to absolute URLs based on the current page’s protocol and host (/users on the page http://domain.com/new translates to http://domain.com/users)

*_url
Generates absolute URLs: http://domain.com/users
Used in controllers by redirect_to (per DHH) because RFC 2616 states that redirects must be absolute URLS. This is true, however, modern browsers can handle relative URL redirects now too

Remember when the entire MTA shut down for Hurricane Irene?

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:26:41 -0500

Remember when the entire MTA shut down for Hurricane Irene?

Photo

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:06:56 -0500

RandoNum.com - The Place To Get Your Daily Number

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:14:00 -0400

In today’s modern society, how often do we find ourselves logging into websites and obsessing over the numbers that come out? Logging in to check our Twitter followers, our 401k portfolio, our pay-per-click advertising campaign click through rate, our bank accounts, how many people are occupying Wall St., how many jobs we’re losing, your Klout score, how many votes Obama is gonna get.

Do these numbers really matter? Do they improve our lives somehow? Do they improve the lives of our family and friends? Do they make us happy?

I introduce to you a piece of Web Application Software that exemplifies the vacuous, meaningless implications of the numbers we obsess about.

RandoNum, the place to get your daily number. Sign up for daily numbers today!

http://randonum.com

marksbirch: datavis: Most Popular Infographics Pretty solid...

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:45:21 -0400

marksbirch:

datavis:

Most Popular Infographics

Pretty solid summary of Infographic cliches…

Which is sexier?

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:37:00 -0400

Mercedes-Benz SLK350 Roadster

Bertelli Lugged Steel, Single-speed Bike

from Mike Monteiro’s Stupid Drawings

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:21:39 -0400

from Mike Monteiro’s Stupid Drawings

“Fuck You. Pay Me.” The rallying cry for anybody...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:18:00 -0400

“Fuck You. Pay Me.” The rallying cry for anybody who’s done client services in their life.

Onepager: Take That First Step and Start Your New (Side) Business Today

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:32:53 -0400

Onepager: Take That First Step and Start Your New (Side) Business Today:

onepagerapp:

Millions of people* sit at their desk jobs, bored, dreaming up side businesses they can start while “working” to make a little extra cash. These people aren’t greedy or trying to screw their company over, in fact they’re usually the most clever and hardest working.

This was me a few years…

Onepager, the simplest way to create a small business website

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:17:00 -0400

The history of my life (in bulleted list form):

Born in the Heartland of ‘merica
Lived in Queens
Lived in NJ
Graduated college
Worked as a Microsoft developer, first VBScript ASP, then C# .NET
Freelanced as Ruby on Rails and PHP developer
Started a service company, Simande

And as of this month:

Started a product company, Onepager

How I installed MySQL, RVM, Ruby, and Rails on Lion

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:47:00 -0400

Install MySQL on Lion (Mac OS X 10.7)

Download the 64-bit .dmg of MySQL and install everything it comes with.

Add the following lines to your ~/.profile file

  export CC=/usr/bin/gcc-4.2
  export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/local/mysql/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH"

Go to the MySQL panel in System Preferences and start your MySQL Server

Then run these commands in terminal:

  cd /usr/local/mysql
  sudo ./scripts/mysql_install_db
  sudo ./bin/mysql_secure_installation

Install RVM, Ruby, and Rails on Lion

Open up terminal and run this command:

bash < <(curl -s https://rvm.beginrescueend.com/install/rvm)

Add the following line to the end of your ~/.profile file

[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" # Load RVM function

Restart terminal, then run the commands:

  rvm install 1.9.2
  rvm use 1.9.2
  rvm gemset create rails3
  rvm use 1.9.2@rails3 --default

You can now gem install rails, gem install rails -v=3.0.4, bundle install, etc.

Interesting Convo between DHH and Obie over Twitter

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:40:55 -0500

DHH: “It’s a sure thing unless you’re the fool left holding the bag when the road comes to an end. And the road will end.”, http://bit.ly/gb8pfl

Obie: @dhh Why do you care? You do your thing well and mint money. What fools are doing with their money should be the least of your worries

DHH: @obie Are you serious? So nobody should care that suckers bought worthless inet stock in 2000 or CDOs in 2007? Destruction of wealth sucks.

Obie: @dhh Sounds like you’re railing against human nature with that one. Seems better to ride the cyclical waves and profit

DHH: @obie @fowlduck Everyone hurts when bubbles inflate and burst. Whether they’re in tech or housing. Shame on those who see, but don’t tell.

DHH: @obie That’s depressingly cynical. So the banks that rode the CDO/CDS engine for all it’s worth were doing the right thing? Fuck the losses?

Obie: @dhh Let’s see you break out from your comfort zone at 37signals and create something new for some of those millions to flow into ;)

DHH: @obie How about we focus our energy on sustainable businesses that actually produce real wealth? There are enough con men. Don’t join them.

DHH: @obie I’m content producing real, sustainable wealth through 37s for the next 20 yrs. I have zero interest in chase a ride on a VC dragon.

Obie: @dhh That’s a strawman. I can work on sustainable biz (and have a track record doing so) regardless of what the market does. Bubble or not

Obie: @dhh What I was getting at is that you might be better off starting something new instead of coasting at 37s and tweeting about bubbles

DHH: @obie How exactly am I, 37signals, or the market going to be better off if I quit a growing business to chase VC millions?!

DHH: @obie If you can work on a sustainable business, why would you ever consider joining the con game of flipping shit to the ignorant?

Obie: Millions slosh around markets no matter what. The ?? is whether entrepreneurs like me and @dhh that “get it” create opps or sit on sidelines

Obie: I probably miscalculate what growth stage 37signals is currently in. Seems like a pretty stable mature operation to me

DHH: @obie Bubbles aren’t immune to criticism and once the opposition voices roam loud enough, they often implode. The faster, the better.

Obie: I’m interested in what @dhh can do “next” if he sets his mind to it. (I admit it might have a lot to do with my own situation.) #fckthbbl

DHH: @obie I think the obsession w/ “next” is partly why we have this flipper bubble. So few are willing to stick it out for the long term. I am.