I Dream of Code

Intro to Ruby on Rails Workshop

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:47:04 -0700

I’m happy to announce my first free “Intro to Ruby on Rails” workshop at Florida International University.

This is meant to be for people who have never touched Ruby on Rails before and have been looking to get into it. I hope that from this I can gauge the RoR needs and wants from the South Florida community so we can develop more advanced (and free!) workshops in the future.

Please register to attend: http://tinyurl.com/railsworkshop

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Rewriting old domain to new with nginx

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:46:28 -0700

As simple as:

if ($host ~* "domain.old$") { rewrite ^\/?(.*)$ http://domain.new/$1 permanent; break;
}

Introducing FIUWiki.com

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:47:00 -0700

I’ve been meaning to do this for over a year, and all it took me was a couple minutes.

The students and community need a centralized place for information about FIU and this will hopefully bring it. Through a collaboration with students and staff, we can build something great here.

This will be very similar (if not, identical) to what students have done at Duke for a wiki. Professor bios, class information, FIU history, administrative information, and more.

This will be exactly what it looks like: A Wikipedia for FIU.

Please join and contribute!

IRC channel for FIU on Freenode

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:18:46 -0700

I set up #FIU on Freenode for us geeky Golden Panthers

Check it out

If you need an IRC client, here are my recommendations:

Windows: mIRC
Mac OS X: Colloquy or Linkinus
Linux: Irssi

How to connect to FIU's Cisco VPN natively in Snow Leopard

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:09:00 -0700

Hate Cisco’s clunky and useless VPN client invading your personal desktop space? Of course you are!

Luckily, if you’re running the latest beta for Mac OS 10.6, you can connect to the FIU (or another organization’s) VPN natively, along with Mac OS’s great VPN user interface. And it all just takes a few easy steps.

First, you need to request your Cisco VPN profile file for your environment. Ask the people who manage the VPN in your IT department for your respective PCF file.
Once you acquire the PCF file, visit http://tinyurl.com/cisco-decrypt for an online version of Maurice Massar’s cisco-decrypt tool. Upload your PCF file, and note down your Server Address, Group Name and Shared Secret.
Go to your System Preferences and click on the Network icon.
Under the list of network interfaces on the left, click the “+” sign to add a new connection.
Select “VPN” for the “Interface” drop-down menu. Then select “Cisco IPSec” for the VPN type. Put “FIU” or the name of your organization as the “Service Name.”
For the “Server Address,” enter the server address that the online cisco-decrypt tool gave you.
Enter the proper credentials for the “Account Name” and “Password.”
Click “Authentication Settings…” and fill the “Shared Secret” and “Group Name” tools with the results given by the online cisco-decrypt tool earlier. Click “OK.”
Click “Apply” on the bottom right corner. Then click the “Connect” button under the “Authentication Settings…” button. Optionally, but recommended, you should check “Show VPN status in menu bar” for quick and native access to FIU’s, or your organization’s, VPN.

You should now be set up and a much happier camper with your organization’s proprietary Cisco VPN. Enjoy!

Opinion by me: The students' voice will change a flawed administration

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:07:45 -0700

Opinion by me: The students' voice will change a flawed administration

Iris: I hate Megan Fox

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:24:04 -0700

Iris: I hate Megan Fox
Rick: Come on, Iris
Rick: You know you'd do her if you had a penis.... or do you :O
Iris: Well
Rick: THE PLOT THICKENS
Iris: Yeah, I'll tell ya, SOMETHING THICKENS
Iris: ZIIIIIING

FIU Cheer and Marching Band Press

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:01:01 -0700

Hey, FIU Athletics. Get the point?

In case you didn't notice...

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:16:24 -0700

I suck at scheduled posts. But I’ll get better (probably not).

#takebackfridays: Tweetie

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:29:50 -0700

I’m about two weeks and a few days late but it’s all good. Here’s my first #takebackfriday… on a Monday.

From the makers of the best Twitter client on iPhone comes a version of the app for Mac OS X. Acknowledging that a different platform requires a revised client, Tweetie for Mac comes with its own logo, completely different to the one used in the iPhone, and a very simple and sleek look and feel.

It’s support for multiple accounts is very well done. A navigation bar on the left contains icons for each Twitter account added, and “sub icons” for the different feeds under each account (timeline, replies, direct messages, etc.). This is especially useful when you’re running multiple Twitter accounts and you quickly want to post between them. This is something we do often for the @FIUSM and @RadiateFM twitters.

It’s simple interface makes it a breeze to teach others how to use. We have Tweetie installed in the FIU Student Media newsroom so that reporters can go in and update our Twitter accounts with ease and without having to remember (or reveal) passwords as Tweetie can keep you logged in.

Tweetie is an easy replacement for TweetDeck and Twitteriffic (I was using both before switching). The only thing the new client lacks is notification of new Tweets for searches. I like being notified whenever there’s a new Tweet about FIU. It’s particularly useful for breaking news. Unfortunately, I have to go in and check the saved search every couple minutes (if I remember) to stay up to date.

Tweetie was one of the best purchases I made for iPhone and now it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made for Mac. Tweetie is written by atebits, created by Loren Brichter in Berkely, California. If you don’t have the cash to spend $19.95 on Tweetie for Mac, you can still operate Tweetie free of charge with ads by downloading it here. I do suggest you shell out the $3 for Tweetie for iPhone, though.

They Took 'er Economy!

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:49:00 -0700

There’s no better way to learn about how to save the economy than by watching, of course, yet another educational episode of South Park.

One of the biggest things I’ve been trying to promote is buying U.S.-made software to support new startups and new businesses. I have to say that I do believe that entrepreneurship will save the U.S. economy and allow it to compete as the Internet forces economies to move more and more towards globalization.

So in order to make this a fun little habit, I’m officially declaring #takebackfridays where we fight whatever it is that took ‘er economy, invest in a little U. S. of A., and take ‘er economy back.

Every Friday I’m going to highlight a piece of software I will or plan to purchase every Friday, at least until I run out of money (I am, of course, still a college student).

I encourage you to do the same, whether it’s a $0.99, $19, or $199 purchase. Every little bit will help someone who is trying to make it in this economy and trying to make better software for you.

Check out the site this Friday when I make my first #takebackfridays purchase!