Easy version management for Rails apps using VersionMaster and Capistrano

Working on the new version of subdelay.com I came up with a couple of plugins for Rails that although functionality-wise are dirt simple turned out to be rather useful. Therefore I have decided to open source them on GitHub and also do a little writeup here on the blog. VersionMaster

First up is VersionMaster. I needed a simple way to manage a version number (eg. "v1.0.8" etc) for the site, in order to keep track of minor and major updates as I changed things around and added new features. More importantly, I wanted to have this happen automatically whenever I deployed a new release using Capistrano. I first took a look at toland's app_version but it didn't quite do what I needed so I came up with my own little implementation.

Using VersionMaster

Install the plugin using

script/plugin install git://github.com/balvig/version_master.git

The file "version.yml" will be copied into the config directory:

You can edit this file to manually set the version number or use the rake tasks below:

You can also use the built-in Capistrano recipe to update versions when deploying (which is how I use it):

You can then use the constant APP_VERSION in your views or elsewhere to display the current version.

Get VersionMaster from GitHub.

I am in monitor heaven

Just couldn't resist this beauty from Apple...Too bad it won't work with a Windows PC! :/ In other news, my camera seems to have broken...you know it's bad when the only advice you can find online for a particular problem is "try hitting it or dropping it on the floor to see if it fixes it!" (which I for the record tried but it didn't help). Maybe I somehow crossed the limit of how many gadgets are allowed on my desk or something...:(

You bastards.

BalvigRealtime

Just wanted to point out the addition of that "thing" over there on the right (or upper right, depending on when you see this post...)  to the site. Yep, "BalvigRealtime": A DIRECT link between my brain and Ze World through the magic of Twitter, Google Maps, TinyURL, TwitPic, my iPhone and some nasty php regular expressions. Using my phone's GPS and camera capabilities I will from now on be able to do little "mini updates" to the blog, whenever I get the urge, regardless of where I might be in the world. (Everyone: "Boooh, way to be the LAST PERSON ON EARTH to get on the Twitter bandwagon")

My underwear is on Google Maps

Yup, those are my orange Goofy underwear from Tokyo Disneyland. Does that make me famous?

Don't walk

Testing my new camera! After having struggled for about 3 years now with cellphone cameras and a crippled Konica, I thought it was about time I finally got myself a new camera and started taking some pictures again!

New phone!

After almost 3 years of faithful service I've finally retired my blue Vodafone in exchange for a spanking new, knight-rider black Willcom!

Well, it's really more PC than phone which sadly also means the "phone" part of it has to some extent been neglected (it takes forever to reply to a short mail, the reputation of my previously world famous high-school girl-like speed replying skils are at stake!). However, with promises of lower calling charges and free e-mailing I simply couldn't just let a device with such a high Geek Factor pass me by. It's definitely the first phone I've owned to bear this logo:

I've fitted it with a 2gb miniSD card and am using it to play MP3s during the morning commute to work, and I've even found music composition software for it too! You can browse the internet with it and it also comes with a stylus and this really neat slide out keyboard, which comes in handy for writing blog entries when on the move:

My cell phone is dying

...either that or there's an error in the matrix. This is what the screen looks like in video-recording mode these days!

You are here

Wow, this is pretty amazing. "Google Earth" allows you to fly around the world in 3 dimensions while looking at surprisingly detailed hi-resolution satellite images. The picture above is where I used to live in Denmark. Sadly, for some reason the maps around Kanagawa in Japan are not very detailed, so I wasn't able to find my humble abode in Hiratsuka, although I was able to vaguely pick out its location from looking at city names.

Kanji watch

Check out this pretty sweet wristwatch from Fossil. It has Chinese kanji characters instead of arabic numbers and displays seconds using scrolling digital kanji. I want one.

That's me on the (infrared) telly

Apparently this infrared camera was set up to illustrate some point about parts of your body cooling down if you don't have the right...desk lamp or something. To be honest I'm not sure, but in any case it was entertaining watching people pass by while pretending to be The Predator.

Sony Vaio U

Man. This thing arrived at the research-lab at Tokai the other day, and I had a bit of time to play around with it. This would be so cool to have for live-performances and composing music on the train. The Vaio U is basically a Windows PC crammed into a small hand-held device about half the size of a video-tape. It works like any other PC running XP with a touch-screen and you can connect external devices to it using USB. Too bad I had to return it to Tokai the following day...

Ubiquitous Viewer Software

This is so cool, WHEN can we get it!?

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_01/pr1801.htm

Feel it!

Check out this van I saw in Yokohama yesterday. It was parked next to a stage where two DJs were performing, pretty cool! Oh, and now that we're on the subject, have a look at this thing too. It's a concept-car from Toyota that transforms into a DJ-stage fully equipped with speakers and video screens.

Audio-blogging

Okay, her er en meget cool ting: Audio-blogging. Med det system kan man ringe op til et nummer fra sin mobil, indtale en besked, og den vil derefter blive posteret som lydfil p? ens hjemmeside. Bare ?rgerligt at telefonnummeret man skal ringe til indtil videre kun findes i USA.

Den rette ISP?

Eh, jeg ledte p? nettet efter internet-udbydere i Japan og s? fandt jeg denne her:http://www.spinnet.jp/indexe.html

Translation cell phone in the making for 2007 release

A groundbreaking cell phone that automatically translates the speaker's language from Japanese to English and vice versa could be on the market by 2007, it has been learned. Researchers are also reportedly working to develop similar systems for translation between Japanese, Chinese and Korean. The phone is the first in the world to come equipped with an automatic translation function. With automatic speech translation, when Japanese is spoken into a microphone embedded in the cell phone, the sentences are translated into natural spoken English and transmitted to the person on the other end of the line in 10 seconds or less. Similarly when English is spoken, it is automatically translated into Japanese.

Major electronics firms have already put portable miniature translation devices on the market, but these have generally been limited to basic travel conversations. With the latest translation system, a level of daily conversation equivalent to a score of 600 in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is possible, with the addition of basic business conversation.

For example, the Japanese question "Shichaku dekimasu ka?" whose subject and object are unclear, is smoothly translated into "Can I try it on?" It is also reportedly the first system in the world to realize automatic translation to a practical conversation level. Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, March 22, 2004

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi...

Viewers gaze at a live three-dimensional image produced with groundbreaking technology unveiled by electronics giant Hitachi Ltd. on Tuesday. Hitachi's device is the first in the world that can record and instantly display three-dimensional images from 360 degrees.

The circular viewing device stands about 2 meters high and is 40 centimeters in diameter. The image of the person being filmed is portrayed onto a high-speed spinning screen from angled mirrors. When viewed from the side, the person's face can be seen and their back is visible when viewing the object from the opposite direction.

The person or object being filmed is surrounded by 24 mirrors and recorded with a camera. This recorded image is instantly transmitted to a projector in the viewing device. Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Feb. 24, 2004 (redigeret)

Meowlingual

Du VED du altid har haft lyst til at forstå hvad din kat siger...

Grib knoglen

Lidt om den nye mobil fra Tu-Ka som transmitterer lyd til ?ret via kraniet(!):

"You no longer have to press those small cell phones to your ear. The new Tu-Ka phone is equipped with a "Sonic Speaker" which transmits sounds through vibrations that move from the skull to the cochlea in the inner ear, instead of relying on the usual method of sound hitting the outer eardrum. If you hold the handset to the top of your head, the back of the head, cheekbone or jaw and plug your left ear, the call will be heard internally on the left side."

http://www.tu-ka.co.jp/tokyo.html