Here's the details:

Opening at AdventCreative
Hardcore Programmer // Urgently needed for our creative agency

Advent Creative is a group of 12 uber-creative designers, developers, videographers and marketers. We are young, innovative, and constantly striving to push the envelope. We have clients across the globe, from Marriott hotels in Hong Kong, to USAID projects in Sudan. Advent is growing faster than ever and wants only the best talent.

We are in urgent need for a superhuman (or at least very skilled) programmer for our team. This position would primarily involve working together with two other web developers to create killer websites and unreal custom apps.

REQUIREMENTS:
1. Java/C++/C# experience
2. HTML/CSS/Javascript
3. ColdFusion experience is ideal but not necessary -- as long as you are willing and excited to learn it
4. Database experience is a huge plus
5. Desire to build custom apps
6. Experience with Wii video games, or willingness to undergo rigorous training, for lunch break competitions
7. Desire to quit workin' for "the man" and grow with a company

PHP Consultant:
Essentially we need someone that knows linux and specifically is familiar with working on linux from a remote location through the various available services. Even better if they are familiar with CPanel which is what is being used to manage the linux webserver. What needs to be done is fix the newsletter app (php ready made app). I think there is something wrong with the database which is where we got stuck because I couldn't get access to look at it.

The a backup of the databases needs to be done and the new software Julie requested needs to be installed (I believe it's all PHP based). Really not terribly complex, we just need someone who has the time to sit down and figure things out and communicate with Julie to see if they can get all the credentials they need to make headway.

Consultant for System Integration and Crystal Reports
MWA is a integration problem between three different systems.

The first system interfaces with MWA billing and then calculates compensation on a point system for each of the anesthesiologists. This system is powered by an Oracle database and runs reports using Crystal Reports 8.5 and a custom Delphi application to generate PDF compensation reports. Our application is a ColdFusion 8 based application that needs to recieve these reports. I've discussed with Ryan Pulley at MWA how we might go about recieving these reports and there are a couple of ideas. If they send us PDF reports through a secure connection then somehow we are going to have to access or have access to a database table on their end which will help us translate who each of the PDF's belong too. The presents a problem cause either we maintain a syncronized table on our end or we someone need access to their database to run queries against it. The could be done either through a secure VPN connection or by implementing a server to host the MWA site inside their firewall.

The second system is a MAS 90 fincial reporting application which interfaces with the MWA system to recieve the compensation repots and then do further calcuations for taxes and that kind of stuff which then out puts pay stubs. MAS 90 uses and OEM version of crystal reports 8.5 (meaning it is customized by them) and may present some of it's own integration problems as a results. We will also need to research how to connect with the MAS 90 system to run those repots by anethesiologist from our system based on ColdFusion 8.

At first I tried:

sudo gem install mysql


which of course didn't work because it never works. You have to tell the complier where to find stuff. Do this:


sudo gem install mysql -- --with-mysql-config=/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config


Anyone that knows me knows that I don't get up at 6:30. Sometimes I stay up and work until 6:30, but I don't get up at that time. That is unless God wants me to. Thus, on the 'day of rest' I drag my butt out of bed way to early in the morning so that I can go and do something else I never do - take notes by hand. I have used a computer for so many years now that I can type like mad, but I can barely use a pen. My signature is just a bunch of loopy lines and no one and I mean no one can read what I write. However, I take notes because that is my religious duty.

Truthfully, I don't mind it so much. I get to associate with people who are far more righteous than me. I keep thinking some of that spirituality will wear off on my, but it doesn't really so I have decided on a new course of action.

The latest trend is outsourcing. It started with programming. Get guys in India or various other countries to do your work for pennies on the dollar and stop paying these expensive local boys. It will work just like it did in manufacturing. (I'm not bitter). I heard that you can outsource a personal assistant. Heck, if you are willing to travel heart surgery in a foreign land is like a luxury vacation - except for that one part where they cut you open, but then again maybe that makes your journey more like an Indian Jones movie. Hopefully, they use something more sterile than their bare hands.

I would really like to spend my Sunday mornings in bed. After all, I am a very lazy person. However, I really need the spiritual benefits. Call them credits in heaven.

In this United States land of box stores, outlets, big cars, and urban sprawl we get what we want. I am simply unwilling to accept that I can't have it all so starting today I will be outsourcing all my religion. Call my effort modern day indulgences advanced. Instead of just buying away sin I will be having various kind hearted souls in foreign lands deal with my volunteer work, salvation and other spiritual matters. I even plan on offering this service to others so that they may reap eternal rewards while sleeping in, reading the paper or just enjoying a Sunday afternoon in the park.

Package pricing is as follows:

Pretty Good: $49.95/month
All activities will be performed by a novice spiritual outsourcing agent. They are just in training but no less righteous. They might have a few sins to work out, but what do you expect when you purchase salvation on the cheap?

10 minutes of scripture reading a day.
5 minutes repenting of your choice of wrong deeds.
2 minute prayers twice a day.
1 Sermon per year (optional) in case you need to speak in church or just for impressing friends when it comes to your new level of spirituality.

Note: This package is not guaranteed to get you into heaven, but at least it will keep your parents off your back.

Righteous: $69.95/month
All spiritual matters will be handle by one of our intermediate advisers. This package might get you into heaven, but you will still be required to put in a little effort.

15 minutes of scripture reading a day.
10 minutes repenting.
5 minute prayers twice a day.
2 sermons + spiritual quotes + emergency scripture/spiritual thought via SMS in case you really need to impress someone.
Monthly attendance at church.

Angelic: $99.95/month
One of our experience, mostly sin-free intermediate advisers will handle the majority of your spiritual needs. We're pretty sure this one will get you into heaven.

20 minutes of scripture reading a day.
15 minutes repenting of specific sins you send in (no adultery or murder accepted please. You'll need one of our advanced options to cover those).
10 minutes of prayer twice a day with moments of spiritual thought scattered through the afternoon.
3 sermons + daily spiritual quotes (who's looking righteous now?) + unlimited emergency scripture/spiritual thought via SMS to your phone or to another of your designation (really impress your girlfriend's dad!)
Weekly church attendance.

Saintly: $199.99/month
This package comes with our unconditional money back guarantee. You will get into heaven*. This package is handle by a team of our advanced advisers. These individuals will have engaged in various religious ceremonies and have been certified as 'meek' and 'humble'.

1 hour of daily scripture reading.
30 minutes of desperate repenting of specific sins you send in (again no adultery or murder please).
20 minutes of prayer three times daily with continued spiritual thought.
4 sermons + daily spiritual quotes + unlimited emergency scripture/spiritual thought via SMS + emails containing uplifting message automatically sent to family and friends.
Weekly church attendance.
10 hours of weekly volunteer work + dedicated 1-800 number for anyone relying upon your newfound spiritual greatness.

Call today or tomorrow or something. Operators will be standing by as soon as I can figure out how to setup a call center overseas and get people to speak with an American accent.

*Please note that money back guarantee is only valid for individual procuring the plan. Proof of non-ascension into heaven or casting into hell must be provided by the individual for all money back claims.


acts_as_state_machine :initial => :new, :column => :mode


Then you can get your object's state thus:


obj.mode


If you don't follow these steps ActiveRecord will override acts_as_state_machine and try to give you the geographic state (Utah, Idaho, etc) instead of the object state (new, edit, tired, etc). (In my case the value was always nil no matter how many times I tried to obj.next! to transition the states of my object. You will cry and scream and be in a very bad mood for a long time if you forget this fact.

Here's more info on the acts_as_state_machine plugin.


test: Lookup should belong_to lookup_status. (LookupTest):
NameError: uninitialized constant LookupStatu


The Shoulda test looks like this:

should_belong_to :lookup_status


Nothing to complicated there. Should recognizes the relationship just find but when it tries to find a class it goes looking for LookupStatu. I fixed this by adding the the class name to the relationship thus:


belongs_to :lookup_status, :class_name => 'LookupStatus'


Here's the test I was trying to run using Shoulda:

context "reset password for user that has not been activated" do
setup do
@email = users(:not_activated_user).email
@emails.clear
# this code should send out a reset password email after setting up a password reset code.
post :create, :reset_password => {:email => users(:not_activated_user).email}
end

end


Here's the yml file I was using:

quentin:
login: quentin
email: quentin@example.com
newsletter: 1
notify_of_events: 1
terms_of_service: 1
salt: 7e3041ebc2fc05a40c60028e2c4901a81035d3cd
crypted_password: 00742970dc9e6319f8019fd54864d3ea740f04b1 # test
activation_code: 8f24789ae988411ccf33ab0c30fe9106fab32e9b
activated_at: <%= 5.days.ago.to_s :db %>
password_reset_code: 8f24789ae3484122cf33ab0c3ffe9106fab334de

not_activated_user:
login: not_activated_user
email: not_activated_user@example.com
newsletter: 0
notify_of_events: 0
terms_of_service: 1
salt: 7e3041ebc2fc05a40c60028e2c4901a81035d3cd
crypted_password: 00742970dc9e6319f8019fd54864d3ea740f04b1 # test
activation_code: 9f24789ae988411ccf33ab0c30fe9106fab32e9a
password_reset_code: 8f24789ae3484122cf33ab0c3ffe9106fab334de


For some reason the email part of the test failed every time. I finally changed my code to this:


context "reset password for user that has not been activated" do
setup do
user = create_user
@email = user.email
@emails.clear
post :create, :reset_password => {:email => @email}
end

end


create_user creates a user in the database instead of using the users from the users.yml file. Using this method everything started working. I have found that frequently I have better luck with my tests if I create real users. I am sure there is a good reason for this, but I am stopping my research at knowing that I need to create users or other object when the tests don't work as expected.

This is due to this line in test.rb found in the environments folder:

config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :test


Now here's the tip. You might think you are really smart if you take advantage of the fact that Rails has a very handy initializers folder and put a file in there called mail.rb that contains all your email settings.

DON'T do it. That initializer will override your test settings and the email specific tests will always fail.

I will probably never race. It looks like a lot of hard work. However, for some reason whenever there is another person on the road something screams out to me to overtake them. I have frequently felt ashamed by my selected targets - an old guy on a bike, a girl on a mountain bike, etc. These are not Tour de France types of targets. To my credit I usually pick a distance, I am a mile back and I have to overtake them before the next stop sign - that sort of thing. On occasion my target will be a fellow cyclist that looks like he is a worthy opponent. I love it when I can overtake those guys, but then I am forced to continue to ride hard so they can't pass me. I don't want to look like an idiot.

Of course I am an idiot because all of this is pretty stupid and foolish, but then again when you ride the same road every day you need something to do.

I have been watching the Tour de France off and on even though it is lame that they won't let Alberto Contador or Levi Leipheimer ride which means Le Tour is Le unfair sucky sporting event of the year. Anyway, I can't help but think of Lance Armstrong every time the tour rolls around. I love to see the old clips with him riding in truly spectacular fashion. To come back from cancer and then win the most difficult sporting event in the world seven times is an unmatched accomplishment. His sacrifice is an inspiration that has been heralded many times.

Last night when I was riding home I spotted another target. This guy was moving at a good pace so I could resist. I figured I could catch him without any problem. There was a hill coming up that slows down most people and I figured I could push it at 20 mph for a bit and blow him away.

When I got to the hill he was already gone. I could have given up, but ... no I couldn't give up. I rode hard and fast. It took a few miles but I managed to get pretty close. Then he dropped his water bottle and kept on going. He obviously didn't notice. I thought about stopping to pick it up, but then decided if I did I would never catch him to give it back. I sprinted like crazy and managed to come up beside him. I told him that he had dropped the bottle. He politely replied, "thanks" and immediately turned around to retrieve the water bottle. I noticed that he was disabled. In the past I have complained about my back giving me problems and how that hurts. However, I noticed this gentleman had difficultly holding his head so that he could ride and had other disabilities. I also noticed that his calves were something to be jealous of. He was fast and strong. That speed had come at a much greater price than most of us have to pay. It probably wasn't easy to navigate his bike, but he did so with grace and speed.

There are many well known inspirations - Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador. They are very abstract to most of us. Among the rest of us live others who are no less an inspiration in their own right.

Last night I was inspired not by a cycling great, but by a guy who, in spite of difficulty, was great at cycling.

Now?

Meh, I could take it or leave it. I just spent half an hour browsing through the applications. I downloaded some because they are there, but really who is going to pay 10 bucks for Tetris? I have to believe that the platform is going to provide an opportunity for some killer app that hasn't been thought of as of yet. I would really love a shell so I can ssh into my servers. Until then all I have to say is what's the big deal eh?

The :dependent option expects either :destroy or :delete (:nullify)

I posted to the Salesforce forums and didn't get any response so I did some more investigation. Turns out there is a bug and a patch:

http://rubyforge.org/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=19960&group_id=1201&atid=4729

Lucky for me the latest version of Rails has a feature that unpacks all of your gems into your vendor directory. I unpacked activesalesforce, made the code changes by applying the patch (which just removes :dependent => :nullify) and viola.