.: the bojicas

I would like to introduce my latest project w2task - a web application written in Rails.

Wow, getting long with this post. However, for the future, I have a lot to say and I hope it will be of interest for my blog readers, as I will fly along the Rails.

The third edition of DemoCamp Dubai is now over. It was a beautiful evening, with four different presentations:

1. Jawaker - online card games
2. Twffaha - women recruitment portal
3. Untiny - expand tiny urls
4. industrials Directory - self explanatory title

Dial:

*#MAC WLAN#

or

*#62209526#

Yes, I admit, I am on a Mac, but still I am envious on my first love
- Linux with an Ubuntu flavor.

Here is a Ubuntu 8.10 countdown icon. Enjoy!

Rappin’ about CERN’s Large Hadron Collider!

All we need is to type this in Terminal

sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr 00:00:00:00:00:01

or

sudo ifconfig en0 ether 00:00:00:00:00:01

Just change 00:00:00:00:00:01 with the MAC address we need.

It seems that for older versions of Mac OS X (prior to Tiger – OS X 10.4) we will need this patch:  http://slagheap.net/etherspoof/ .

Yes, I have been there, and I really enjoy it.

What is all about? Presentations of web applications (a total of four on this edition) plus a session of question and answers at the end of each presentation.

This way I could learn about trends in web development, I could figure out which platforms are in use, and I have been carefully listening to the answers of “What is your business model?”. This is because I am myself involved in such a project called Dine In UAE (dineinuae.com), and I am looking for effective solutions to bring it back to life.

But to my surprise the most applauded project didn’t have any business model behind (http://www.wasfati.com). It was created with passion, evolving from a simple blog gathering Middle Eastern food recipes, to a food and nutrition portal, with plans to become a social website, whilst keeping its main purpose.

The other projects presented are:

• http://darrb.com – delivery by third party, users register and request for some items, and darrbers are delivering those items. Business model – a planned darrber fee.
• http://logta.com – presenting hot deals in UAE, a portal where you can find out where are best prices for selected items. Business model – classified – which provoked some protest whispers – reminding that we were in a “democamp”, not a “marketingcamp”.
• Swalifcast – an interesting concept, YouTube like, but focussing on educational screencasts (arabic only).

In the end, we had some food and could make friends. This is how I met the guys behind places.ae and spinbits.com. I like their way of thinking and hope we can become friends, especially because we are embracing now Ruby on Rails technology as our favourite development platform, and should be in contact via Ruby on Rails Dubai Groups: rails.ae and the Google Group.

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) :

avatar

1. An image representing a user in a multi-user virtual reality (or VR-like, in the case of Palace) space.
2. (CMU, Tektronix) root, superuser. There are quite a few Unix computers on which the name of the superuser account is “avatar” rather than “root”. This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term “superuser”, and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at Tektronix.

[Jargon File]
(1997-09-14)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

Avatar \Av`a*tar”\ ([a^]v`[.a]*t[add]r”), n. [Skr. avat[^a]ra descent; ava from + root t[.r] to cross, pass over.]

1. (Hindu Myth.) The descent of a deity to earth, and his incarnation as a man or an animal; — chiefly associated with the incarnations of Vishnu. [1913 Webster]
2. An incarnation, embodiment or personification of a principle, quality, or attitude; — used of people, mostly in a positive sense as a manifestation of a behavior or character worthy of admiration. [1913 Webster +PJC]

Martha Stewart, the home-and-hearth avatar whose products are now available at Kmart stores, is making upscale design touches like 200-thread-count cotton bed sheets something that most every American can aspire to. –Leslie Kaufman (N. Y. Times, May 7, 1999).

[1913 Webster]

Source: dict.org