AkuAkuAre ya having it??!?weird mysql date issues- April 30, 2008 We got a new Continuous Integration box from Pivotal Labs yesterday and I ran into some weird MySQL time based issues when trying to get our tests to pass on it. It turned out that the CI box was running MySQL v 3.0.38, but all of our dev boxen were running v 3.0.45. Here's some difference between these two versions: v.45 will happily take a clause of the format SELECT FROM a_table WHERE end_date < '07-12-31' while v.38 isn't so happy with it. In this case, I have to hand it to v.38,...http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/weird_mysql_dat.shtml Upgrading to Rails 2.x from 1.2.6- April 30, 2008 One of the first things I needed to have done at my new job was to convert the application from the Ruby on Rails 1.2.6 to the latest 2.x version. This wasn't the first time I've upgraded a 1.x app to Rails 2, but it's the first time with a significantly complex application. Some issues we ran into: The dreaded "Expected X to define Y" error message. This message can come from a few places in the rails code, and it is a usually useless message that obscures the real problem. In this case I...http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/upgrading_to_ra.shtml 30 of 52: Coachella Explorer- April 21, 2008 As I've mentioned before, the Coachella web site helpfully provides one or two tracks for most of the 100+ artists at the festival so you can hear samples of the bands you don't know to help determine if you want to go see them or not. They even have a scheduler page where you can select the bands you want to see and hide the ones you know you don't. The user experience is poor though. While listening to the provided tracks you can't easily make note of which ones you like or not, and there is.http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/30_of_52_coache.shtml Test Driven Recruitment- April 19, 2008 I need to hire some Rails developers at Lumos Labs, so I decided to write a spec for the position: http:sfbay.craigslist.orgsfceng646385102.html require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '..spec_helper' describe Developer do before(:each) do developer = Developer.new(ideal_developer_qualities_ hash) end it "should test drive" do developer.should be_test_driven end it "should know rails 2.x" do developer.experience.should include(:rails2) end it "should know REST patterns".http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/test_driven_rec.shtml 29 of 52: Exquisite Corpse- April 16, 2008 While on Chicken John's bus trip to Death Valley, I participated in a couple of exquisite corpses. From wikipedia: "a method by which a collection of words or images are collectively assembled." Kind of fun. Can you guess which parts I did of these three-part doodleshttp://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/29_of_52_exquis.shtml 28 of 52: Coachella 2008 Media Download Script- April 7, 2008 Coachella is three weeks away, and just like last year the lineup is mostly bands I've never heard of. Also, just like last year, the Coachella website provides 1-2 tracks for most of the artists scheduled so you can get an idea of what they sound like. However the website interface doesn't make the aural exploration easy. It only lets you listen to the songs, not annotate them with your opinions. I was resorting to scribbling down artists I liked by hand last year. So I've been working on a...http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/28_of_52_coache_1.shtml More Data vs More Clever Algorithm- April 3, 2008 An interesting post titled More Data Usually Beats Better Algorithms shows how two teams using the different approaches fared in the Netflix Challenge. Here is the gist with a corroborating analysis of Google success: But the bigger point is, adding more, independent data usually beats out designing ever-better algorithms to analyze an existing data set. I'm often suprised that many people in the business, and even in academia, don't realize this. Another fine illustration of this principle..http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/more_data_vs_mo.shtml Timing Your Email Marketing- April 1, 2008 Josh, our VP of Marketing at Lumosity, was featured in an article over at Marketing Sherpa. Josh goes over the efforts he initiated to determine the optimum timing for marketing emails that convert free trials to paying customers. The industry tradition is to send the emails Tuesday through Thursday. The gist of Josh's findings: send the email at the same day of the week that the customer first signed up for the free trial. Read more: Best Day to Convert Trial Signups: Test Resultshttp://www.akuaku.org/archives/2008/04/timing_your_ema.shtml |