Timint

Color theory

timint — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:03:39 +0000

Since I’m in the process of redesigning and adding new features to Timint, I wanted to share with you a helpful series of article about color theory on smashing magazine

Color theory – part 1
Color theory – part 2
Color theory – part 3

It’s great if you’re looking for pro tips on choosing colors for your website.

PS: new version of Timint should be live in a few weeks

How to install Ruby on Rails on Ubuntu with a single line

timint — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:26:01 +0000

Here is a minimal tutorial and yet at the end you’ll have a fully functional ruby on rails stack. I did it on Linux Mint but it also works on Ubuntu 9.10.

Open a Terminal and type this magic line:

sudo apt-get install ruby rubygems ruby1.8-dev libsqlite3-dev libopenssl-ruby build-essential && sudo gem install rails sqlite3-ruby

Done!

Rails command might not be recognized by Terminal, just add at the end of ~/.bashrc this line:

PATH="$PATH:/var/lib/gems/1.8/bin"

If it’s a fresh install and there’s no ~/.bashrc file, simply create it with a text editor.

Relaunch Terminal.

You can now try Rails, just type:

rails mytestapp
cd mytestapp
script/server

And go to http://localhost:3000 with your browser.

Have fun.

How to install Linux Mint 8 in half an hour

timint — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:39:35 +0000

Like some Ubuntu users I had a problem with grub and wubi after the recent update. While it can be fixed, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try the new Linux Mint 8 codename “Helena”.

So here is a straightforward tutorial for installing Linux Mint 8 (by the way I’ve wrote it while installing it).

For this tutorial, I’ve made some arbitrary choices and same results can be achieved through many other ways.
One the goal of this tutorial is also to show how fast and easy it is to install Linux nowadays.

Go to linuxmint.com and download main edition .iso file. (can take less than 15mins with a broadband)
Download a MD5 checksum tool, you can use winMD5sum. (3mins)
Find a 700Mb CD. (from 1minute to… a lot of time)
When the download of the iso file is finished. Check integrity of the disk image with winMD5sum and compare it to the MD5 checksum of the main edition which on linuxmint.com. (2mins)
Burn disk image to the CD. If you’re on windows 7 just right click on LinuxMint-8.iso to burn it. (5mins)
Reboot. (2mins)
Now Linux Mint should be running from the CD, click install on the desktop and follow instructions. (6mins)
Wait for Linux Mint to finish copying files to your hard disk. (6mins)
Remove CD and reboot. (2mins)

DONE! IN ONLY 35 MINUTES.

My thoughts about Linux Mint: they’ve done a really great job. Kudos to Linux Mint team.

Everything that I usually had to do after installing Ubuntu is already done in Linux Mint. This makes the user experience really smooth. So far everything is running fine out of the box:

Videos: Quicktime, WMV, even FLV… are supported
RAR archives
Flash is installed in Firefox
Windows partition is mounted by default
Java
etc…

They took an awesome distribution: Ubuntu and made it even better.

This is a good example of how clever choices made for the user can improve a lot a product.

Setting up the right development environment

timint — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:32:15 +0000

Setting up a good development environment is one of the little things that can make a big difference in the long run.

Recently, I’ve switched from Mac OS to Windows and therefore needed to explore different setups. Moreover it’s always good to make an overview from time to time.

So let’s start with the Mac.

Mac OS

I’ve worked with this environment for a few years and let’s be clear, the combo Mac OS + TextMate + Terminal is my personal favourite.

But when you don’t have a Mac, there are other cool alternatives. Let’s see what can be done with other OSes: windows 7 or Ubuntu 9.10.

Windows

Two paths one can take:

full IDE: one application fits all
lightweight combo: small specialized applications combined together

The full IDE way with Aptana RadRails.

RadRails is based on Eclipse and does integrate well with Ruby on Rails.

automatic installation of ruby through wizard
automatic download of classic gems (rails, sqlite3-ruby, etc…)
shortcut to get access to the command-line
file transfer through SFTP
cloud integration through joyent (not tested though)
and more…

Overall, for a Ruby on Rails IDE in 2009, it all feels well made and supported.

For beginners, it’s easy. The deployment feature won’t however suite every host or need.

If you like RadRails, you might have a look at NetBeans as well.

The lightweight combo

Notepad++ in place of TextMate
DOS in place of Terminal

Nothing special to say, it just works. Though, you’ll have to install ruby and rails by yourself.

Both of these solutions, full IDE or lightweight, work well but the lack of a descent shell can become tedious when you have to deploy.

Ubuntu

Finally, there’s Ubuntu, the most interesting part. It’s the closest solution to what can be found on Mac OS using Gedit + shell.

You can run Ubuntu within Windows with Virtual Box or you can install it on your hard drive for better performance.

With this setup you have a good environment for developing AND deploying really fast.

To get the best of both OSes, you can set up a shared folder for your repository. This way you can work on your code on Ubuntu, and work on your design on Windows getting the best of both OSes.

And you?

Development environment is really important to take care off. The few minutes you’ll gain by doing tasks faster will always have a huge impact in the long run. But it’s also a matter of personal taste, one should be confortable with the environment and tools he works with and there are many combinations that aren’t explored in this post.

So what’s your development environment?

Less: a css compiler

timint — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:21:48 +0000

For some days already, I’ve been trying Less for writing the stylesheets. Less is very impressive, it can be a great tool for reducing the number of lines and complexity of some styling.

Better than words, you can find code samples on their site.

One can also try Sass wich has a different approach.

Choosing a domain name: tips

timint — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:50:02 +0000

When you’ve found your project idea, choosing right away a name is a good thing.

Often, at this moment everything is clear. You know what your site should be, what it should do and how you would call it. Use this moment to choose a name.

A small check-list before buying it:

is it short? 10 letters max is good
is it easy to pronounce or write for your target audience?
is it available? use (trustable*) registrar’s domain search
have you googled it? you might have surprises

If everything’s ok, good, buy it.

If not, start the process again while you’re in a clear state of mind.

But don’t worry too much, domain name is only part of the success of a website. Concentrate on the content and usefulness.

Ruby on Rails shared hosting

timint — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:23:25 +0000

Nowadays, there’s many way to host an Ruby on Rails app. Usually, they are hosted on VPS meaning you have to do the work of setting up the system and maintaining it.

Though for small apps, you can start with shared hosting. Here’s a short list of ruby on rails web hosts I’ve stumbled upon:

Always start with a real need

timint — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:02:25 +0000

Sometimes, you find yourself working a lot for whatever reason: hard client, pressure, complicated project, etc… but at a point, working too much becomes counter productive. Often, when you’re in that situation you don’t realize it.

This situation, I experienced, was at the origin of timint. Although there are many other time management tools, timint will be tailored to help this:

keeping an eye on your time when you feel you’re starting to spend too much time on an activity