Playback is an application for Mac OS X that allows for easy streaming of movies, music and pictures to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms. The software integrates with iTunes and iPhoto, supports HD content, and performs growl alerts. For more information check out the developer page here.
After upgrading an application to Rails 3 everything seemed slow. Requests were taking a few seconds - even when connected to the local development machine. To verify, I created identical demo Rails 2.3.8 and Rails 3.0.0 applications for benchmarking (found here). To run the tests, first install RVM by following the instructions found here. Then feel free to experiment switching between Ruby 1.8.7 and 1.9.2 (or whatever Ruby version you have on hand).
Switching to Rails 3 for a recent project wasn’t an easy decision. On an initial investigation, too many GEMS lacked support for the latest offerings of the community. However, the excellent new router and ability to integrate more easily with a variety of JavaScript frameworks made switching worth the costs (thus far). If you are interested in switching, be sure to http://www.railsplugins.org/ and see if compatibility will be an issue for you. Otherwise, go for it!
GIT out-trumps SVN in almost every way. The decentralize repository is better, the branching is better, and the social aspects (through github) are incredible. However, I can’t make the transition because I am hooked on Versions and Kaleidoscope. Having a great GUI to show changed files, and side by side comparisons is more important than having an amazing command line tool. Until someone writes a great GIT client (and no, none exist right now) I probably won’t move my repositories. However, the ability to use SVN to commit to GIT Hub (here) might sway me.
Most web app ideas fall under an advertisement model or a freemium model. In the later case, a great application to simplify recurring billing is Chargify. The software lets developers link to a payment form or integrate custom forms with the service through a RESTful API (or a gem).
Once integration is done, administrators can track and update subscribers through a gorgeous web interface.
Overall, the application is easy to use and offers many features over ActiveMerchant. The support team for the application is generally quick to respond and the pricing is reasonable. Looks like a big time saver.
