Rails 3.1 Gemmable Plugins with RSpec

I’ve had a bitch of a time lately getting the new Rails 3.1 plugin architecture to play nicely with RSpec. I actually gave up and coded an entire plugin with Test::Unit before finally figuring out a decent way to do it. Currently, the new Rails 3.1 mountable plugin architecture will not work with RSpec. There’s a gem called Enginex that will work with RSpec, but it won’t work with Rails 3.1. So it...

Wrestling ActiveResource Associations

I need to state up front that I don’t have a solution to this problem. Hopefully, I can iterate toward a solution- using this interim solution (discussed at the end). The basic problem that I’ve found is that ActiveResource is a great Rails model to inherit from, except when it isn’t. And it seems that “when it isn’t” basically means “anytime you are using...

Ruby, Chef, and Tilde- Home directory shortcut #fail

This should have been obvious to me, but wasn’t, so I want to make sure that it’s in the Googleverse in case someone steps into the same pit of idiocy that I did. The problem is that Ruby and Ruby-based tools like Chef are becoming so natural that they feel like they’re just part of the BASH shell. It took me a while to figure out the following error: % knife cookbook create...

Creating a Robotic Secretary with Hazel, Automator, & Ruby

If you’re on a Mac, and have to do a task more than once, then you need to use Hazel and Automator, full stop. I’m a consultant, and that means I work on multiple projects, and have to bill those projects. Recently, I began working on a contract that required weekly billing, using an Excel spreadsheet that can’t be modified, and a signature from a project manager in another city. Talk about...

Using Github as a Small-Scale CDN (w/Rails)

I love Github. Like tomato sandwiches, Celtic music, beer, and programming- Github is something that, try as I might, I just can’t make myself sick of.1 Recently, I took the Git survey, and it contained an interesting question along the lines of “What do you use Git for?” The answers were things like “configuration files” and “large binary files.” I use Git and Github for a...