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Local development for external APIs

2010-08-20T09:56:10-07:00

Lately I have found myself doing a lot of development against external APIs, several of which require those services to be able to access my dev site directly. Traditionally, I've set up my dev sites on a public server (usually my personal VPS), mirrored the site locally, and used rsync to push incremental changes from my local machine to the server.

This is a pain for two reasons:

It means I have an extra step (to rsync) after each change. Yes, it's the same command over and over, but it gets repetitive. Also, if I forget, I spend a few minutes trying to figure out why the change I just made doesn't appear.
I'm also left with old dev sites (that I generally forget about) out on the public web - generally not getting proper attention for security updates, etc. This leaves my VPS open to attack.

I also spend a lot of time tweaking my local environment to be just-how-I-like-it(tm).

Recently, I had an idea that, in hindsight, seems obvious. However, in talking with a few people, it seemed just novel enough to warrant the high bar of intellect that is a blog post. So here is the magic:

What you need:

A wildcard DNS entry (i.e. *.home.example.com). I'm lucky that my home ISP allows me to have a static IP address, but a DynDNS or similar account would also work.
A linux/mac computer attached to your home/office network that is not currently running a web server (i.e. port 80 is unused) - preferably connected via ethernet. I happen to have an old mac mini that serves as my "media server" at home that I'm using.
Ports 22 and 80 forwarded from your router to the aforementioned computer. (This is left as an exercise to the reader).

The "magic":

Given the above, the rest is really quite simple (and perhaps obvious to some). A simple ssh port forward does the trick. Here's the command I use:

ssh root@home.example.com -R 80:localhost:80

For the unfamiliar, that says ssh into home.example.com as root and send all the traffic coming to port 80 at home to port 80 on my localhost.

Voila! Now all requests to home.example.com will come to my local server and I can setup vhosts, etc accordingly. Also, if I just end my ssh connection, I no longer have to worry about the big, scary Internet accessing my dev sites.

TODO

I'm not 100% happy about allowing root ssh into my home network, so I may spend a rainy Sunday afternoon and setup an HTTP proxy at home that forwards to something like 8080 on localhost (and perhaps gives a nice "we're not home" message if I'm not ssh'ed in). That way, I wouldn't need to ssh in as root (which is necessary to bind the "low number" port).

If you do much tinkering with remote services (particularly OAuth-based services or webhooks, etc.), I hope this makes life just a little bit easier for you.

One wedding and a camera

2010-05-27T08:09:37-07:00

My little brother, Chad, and the awesome Elisa got married this past weekend. It was an amazing weekend by the sea in Rockport - the weather was great, the food was incredible and I had a wonderful time.

Since my whole clan was in the wedding (Camryn was flower girl, Andrew a groomsman, and I was best man), I decided to rent a "real camera"(tm) for the weekend to capture the experience. It was my first time really experimenting with a nice camera. I'm glad I did! I had a lot of fun. Check out the results on flickr:

Feedback welcome - especially from you real photographers out there. Now to start filling my piggy bank for a real camera...

Joining StatusNet

2010-01-15T09:35:07-08:00

In case you missed the announcement yesterday, I have taken a position with the Montreal-based startup StatusNet. For the unfamiliar, StatusNet Inc is the company behind the StatusNet open source micro messaging platform.

I think StatusNet is a very interesting project and one I've been following for a long time. It's a true Open Source project that seems to be a perfect storm of technologies that interest me and a commitment to openness that I admire.

What really excites me about StatusNet, though, is challenge of federation. StatusNet installs currently ship with an implementation of a protocol known as OpenMicroBlogging. This means that you (or your company / organization or book club) can have your own real-time, micro messaging site (read: your own twitter) and if there's someone not on your site you'd like to follow, you can do so without having to register (and monitor) multiple sites.

We're currently planning a major update to the protocol to take advantage of some of the exciting new stuff like PubSubHubbub and ActivityStreams. I'm excited to get to work on the protocol and implementation and tell you all about it :-)

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-01-06T11:46:31-08:00

This year promises to be an exciting one - and one that proves to be full of changes galore. As I mentioned in my last post, much of my 2010 change began late in 2009.

Cue the Bowie...

Leaving Lullabot

Although it's been largely quiet (and really not a huge deal), before the rumours spread too far: I've left my position as the Director of Education for Lullabot. I'm leaving behind a totally awesome team and a wonderful job (in the midst of a recession). Why on earth?!

Let me be very clear: Lullabot isn't in danger, stopping Drupal training, nor is there any backroom drama. The 'bots are wonderful people and chances are very good that we'll continue to collaborate in the future (at the very least, there's still hugs).

This was a very personal decision - and one that was a long time coming. For the morbidly curious, it boils down to three things (and those of you who know me well, know it always comes down to three things):

Travel: Anyone who is friends with a 'bot on Dopplr or Tripit knows that the job entails a lot of time on the road. With over 230 days on the road in the past 2 years, I needed and my kids deserved a break. While we (Lullabot and I) largely worked around this - it's still just part of the gig.

Drupal: I stood up in front of a rather large group of Drupal folks almost a year ago and explained why I hate Drupal - so it's obvious, right? While I feel the points I tried to make still face the community at large (such as smallcore/drupal is not a product, or even rethinking the maintainer structure), I don't actually hate Drupal (as those of you who grok sarcasm might have noted).

However, Drupal has been my full-time job for 6 years. In that time, the community (and the software) has grown and changed considerably. It has been an amazing ride. As Dries mentioned to me on the phone a few weeks ago, "once a Drupal guy, always a Drupal guy". This is probably true - I have no intention of leaving the community, but I am ready for some new challenges.

Open Web: One thing people may have noticed is that when I have had the chance to hack on Drupal lately - it tends to involve "open web" or "open standards" implementations (notably, OpenID etc). Many folks have also noticed that my contributions have trailed off lately. When your "after hours" time starts including more things like "sleep" - your after hours projects take a hit.

I'd like to get back to building cool, new stuff. While I certainly get a lot out of teaching people how to make the most of the tools available, I'm passionate about building the next tools (which doesn't exclude Drupal). These are interesting times on the internets, I wanna have my nose in the middle of it.

Now what?

Officially, I will be freelancing (technically have been for a few weeks). I've already got some interesting things lined up that I'm excited to start talking about soon.

In #2010...

2010-01-01T17:50:52-08:00

It's that time of year - for reflecting and resolving - and, naturally... blogging about it.

2009 was not awesome. Not a terribly awful year, nor my worst ever. It was, however, a year full of challenges - all of which have been opportunities for growth. 2009, though, got off to a rough start and didn't end much better. As much as I've grown, I'm definitely looking forward to moving forward.

I don't know if I have resolutions this year, per se. I do have two words that have been on my mind a lot lately:

CREATE I am eager and excited to do more, to make more. I would like to write more, build more tech and (dare I say it?) write some music. I want to look back next year when doing this blog post and be able to see all the things I've created - good and bad. I'd like to have fewer ideas left swimming in my head otherwise untouched.

OPEN I've long been an advocate, user and developer of open source software. In part, it's a renewed passion for free and open technologies. Beyond that, however, continuing to move towards openness in my life, my heart and in my relationships.

2010 promises to be another year of great change for me. Lots of which is already underway (more on that soon).

Here's hoping you and that you stick to your resolutions and reach your goals and have an awesome year!

Now on Android

2009-12-28T11:43:41-08:00

Almost exactly one month ago, I made the switch from my old, 2g, jailbroken iPhone to a brand new fully legit android phone: the HTC Hero.

My reasons for the switch were varied - it's a platform I'd like to support, hack on and one I generally find interesting. I've also grown increasingly frustrated with my suite of Apple products and, in general, am looking to "live open" (more on that later).

Treats

There are some things that I absolutely love about the Hero: way more than the iPhone:

It is an aesthetically pleasing device. This is one thing that has kept me on Apple gear for a long time. I appreciate quality design - particularly in the products I use constantly every day. The Hero is a good looking device and feels good in my hand.
Multi-tasking. Yeah, this is the big "killer feature" over the iPhone, but it's really handy. I consider my phone primarily a communications device and I can see instantly and easily who is emailing, texting, IM'ing or mentioning me on twitter all without quitting the app I'm currently running.
Contacts a central. On a contact's record, I can see all phone calls, emails and texts with that person - and even their Facebook status (or birthday - nice touch).
Really great sync. Now, let me start by saying - I'm a google apps user. That said, all I did was add my gmail account information and instantly I had all mail, contacts and calendar entries seemlessly sync'ed to my phone. Oh, and (unlike "mobile me") there was no additional cost.

Frustrations

This isn't quite the ultimate phone yet. Here are my top gripes:

No paid apps in the Android Market in Canada. I'm confused as to who is really to blame here - whether it's the big US companies or the Canadian government or a combination of the two, but living in Canada can be a real drag sometimes.
Lag. It's not a blazingly fast phone and when you add running multiple simultaneous apps, the interface can get laggy after a while. A good "task killer" app on Android seems to be a best friend. (I'm currently using TasKiller, FYI).
Lots of the apps just aren't as good. Twitter apps are a significant comparison - there just is not a tweetie 2 comparable app. That said, there is a google voice app ;-)
Version lag. This seems to be particularly bad on my HTC Hero (which currently uses Android 1.5), but in general handset manufacturors seem to be slow to roll out the latest version of android for their handsets. Doing so yourself, requires rooting (how is that an advancement from iPhone?).

Conclusion

Overall, though, I'm happy about the switch. I think the Android future is bright and hopefully I'll have some spare time here and there to hack on some things in support of the platform.

Change Medium Toronto

2009-10-19T09:04:13-07:00

Calling all social web "hackers"! I've been asked to help put together an awesome event:

Change Medium Toronto

If you love hacking on emerging technologies and recognize the effect they're having on society. I'm talking about things like Activity Streams, OpenMicroBlogging, and PubSubHubbub. We'll be looking at the latest microblogging and real-time web technologies - with the very simple goal of building something new.

The truly awesome Evan Prodromou will be there representing StatusNet. You should join us too.

Toronto, let's get our geek on and make stuff! Sign up here - and I will see you there!

Living in the browser

2009-09-22T15:49:56-07:00

For a long time I've maintained that I hate web applications. It's good for a laugh (in certain circles), but has been mostly true. Web interfaces have (traditionally) been clunky, lack integration with the desktop, don't work offline, and are generally just unpleasant to use.

Lately, I've been re-testing that theory and have surprised myself with the results:

I'm living in the browser.

OK, not entirely. But my currently running applications include: Firefox, Emacs, Terminal, Adium and iTunes (sorry, songbird).

The frequent, attentive readers among you know that I've been tinkering with "Single Site Browsers" lately as part of this experiment - because, if I'm using Firefox for development - I don't want "other stuff" cluttering that. Well, a recent article on lifehacker made me rethink my approach.

The article outlines a way to have "permanent" tabs(i.e. tabs that automatically reload when you restart yoru browser) that only appear as a favicon (thus saving screen real estate). My current lineup looks like this :

That's gmail (personal and work), remember the milk, google voice and google reader.

For the last few weeks, I've been trying out this system and have found little reason to want to switch away from it. There are some properties that appeal to me: my application list is entirely cross-platform (substitute pidgin for adium) and free software. Application management, setup and configuration is minimal and I have to do very little application switching throughout the day. In fact, with my external monitor, I can fit everything on one screen where I can see it.

Ditching a desktop mail reader was obviously the biggest shift. But in the case of gmail, rtm and google reader there are a few things in common that make these "work" for me as desktop replacements: offline mode (thanks to google gears), extensive keyboard shortcuts (better than their desktop equivalents), regular updates / improvments and APIs / methods for extensions.

Here's my current list of Firefox extensions, let me know if I'm missing any great ones:

1Password
Better Gmail 2
Better GReader
Evernote Web Clipper - still determined to use evernote effectively
FaviconizeTab
Firebug (always)
Gmail S/MIME
Google Gears - offline goodness
Greasemonkey
PermaTabs Mod
Remember The Milk for Gmail - to help solve the problem of my todo list not getting enough 'focus'

How much of your life do you spend living in your browser?

The rebirth of customer service

2009-08-07T13:28:00-07:00

I am a fairly frequent traveller. As such, I have seen the worst of airline industry - an industry that has all but lost the notion of customer service. (Those of you currently hating on United - flown American lately?). For months, I have considered blogging a lengthy rant about just how atrocious the employees of the major North American airlines are to their customers. However, I'd like to try something different: A glowingly positive, upbeat blog post:

I recently (at last!) took my first flight on Toronto-based Porter Airlines. Porter operates on Toronto's Island Airport - which is already a big win (saving me a trip out to the western suburbs). Their motto, which has intrigued me since their launch, is "flying refined" : they deliver.

My trip started with frustration: due to a hectic morning (setting kids up with gramma for the week, attending a meeting, packing, etc), I was running late and decided to call a car. Said taxi service (who get no points for customer service) showed up 25 minutes late. I began dreading the potential hassle I faced by arriving last minute at the airport.

Enter Porter.

I made it to the check-in counter 35 minutes to flight time (a full 10 minutes after the 45 minute check-in cut-off for US flights). Expecting the usual condescending lecture about leaving more time before my flight, I approached the counter. I was greeted with a pleasant smile and, after showing my passport, I was asked if I preferred a window or an aisle seat. No lecture. No condescending "sorry, there's nothing I can do". No re-booking charges. In less than 5 minutes, I was all checked in for my flight to Newark.

After breezing through security, I entered Porter's piece de resistance: their Toronto waiting area. This place is everything I'd heard it to be: ample seating for everyone, comfortable leather chairs for reading, desks for those who need to get some work done, chairs with tables for eating, and power outlets everywhere (hear that, LAX?!).

I looked around in awe for a moment, before heading to the cafe which offers complementary espresso drinks, juice, water and snacks. With capucino in hand, I grabbed a seat at one of the desks and plugged my laptop in to send a few quick emails on the free wifi.

Next came the on-time boarding (you reading, ORD?), via another smiling Porter employee. In-flight, I enjoyed a complimentary Stella and meal (when was the last time you got free food on a North American flight?) and swooned.

I believe in small companies with great service. Making customers happy simply makes people happy. Porter, you made me happy. Thank you.

Open, Social for the rest of the web

2009-04-22T11:50:50-07:00

This past weekend, I had the privilege of being one of the chosen attendees for Social Web FooCamp. Needless to say, I was flattered and had an amazing time (thanks again, @daveman692 and @davemorin ) . One thing, however, became very apparent: the conversation, currently, is being dominated by the 'big players' (Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Myspace predominantly). In several discussions I found myself increasingly dropping the phrase:

... on the rest of the web

the big guys

First off, this is not a critique of the Google's and Facebook's of the internet. They are incredibly valuable to the growth of the openweb. The fact that Google, Yahoo and Myspace all three have various OpenID and OAuth initiatives in the wild and are actively pursuing additional ways to open their data is awesome (and Facebook wants to get there). It helps raise awareness and bring (slash confirm) "legitimacy".

The big guys also have resources. They can attend the conferences (and camps!) and have dedicated resources to write the standards, participate in the discussions and help shape the future.

However, they are only part of the discussion.

perspective

The issues the major providers face are different from the rest. They have a few sites with large numbers of users (hundreds of millions). Out here on the rest of the web, we have millions of websites, each with a "small" number of users (hundreds or thousands). We all understand the necessity for open data, identity, standards and protocols, but our reasoning tends to be slightly different.

The big guys recognize the benefit of exposing their data and most are providing OpenID and various levels of OAuth. How many are consuming it?

Sure, the big players want to be the primary authority for your identity and your information. In some cases, it is their business. But, rather than ranting against 'the man', I ask: have we - the rest of the web - given them a compelling reason to yet?

open source platforms for the open web

It's one thing for a major site (with hundreds of millions of users) to act like a silo, but on the rest of the web it amounts to isolation.

Those of us working on open source web platforms have an enormous potential for influence here. Implementing the various open standards "from scratch", while possible, is not realistic or even necessary. Increasingly, individuals have Wordpress blogs or perhaps their company, organization or club has a Drupal site. Web developers are increasingly turning to these platforms, or development frameworks such as Rails and Django. These platforms all have a real opportunity to bake in implementations of these open standards. The DiSo project offers a central place for co-ordination around these efforts.

We have data - gobs of it. We also, collectively, have the users and, in most cases, have more authoritative information about them (we know ourselves, our employees and our members).

We - the rest of the web - need to join the conversation: attend the events, participate in the mailing lists, and build the code to power the open, social web.