I thought the yellow bag turned out nicer, it was my second attempt. This one has the red bias tape around the edges and I thought the handles came out a little nicer. I think if I do another one, it will turn out even nicer. Nonetheless, I think they both turned out all right. I really like how you can put them in the washing machine to clean them, unlike most of the cheaper reusable bags you can buy.

Install Node.js
This will install Node.js v0.4.12, currently the latest stable version. Remember even-numbered versions of Node.js are stable, while odd-numbered versions are considered unstable.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install git-core curl build-essential openssl libssl-dev
$ git clone https://github.com/joyent/node.git && cd node
$ git checkout v0.4.12
$ ./configure
$ make -j2
$ sudo make install
$ node --version

Install NPM

$ curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sudo sh
$ npm --version

Install CoffeeScript

$ sudo  npm install -g coffee-script
$ coffee --version

Set up NODE_PATH
This step will let you use/include all your Node libraries (including CoffeeScript) in Node.

Add this to your ~/.bashrc file:

export NODE_PATH=/usr/local/lib/node_modules

$ gem install rails --no-rdoc --no-ri

But there’s another way to prevent documentation from being installed. Create a .gemrc file in your home directory with the following:

gem: --no-ri --no-rdoc

Now you don’t have to worry about supplying the command line options, this will give you no documentation by default.

Here are the pieces I had to work with. The top and middle sections broke. Also notice how weathered and worn it looks.

Some of these fractures were from the last time it broke and I didn’t fix it properly. This time, I used Liquid Nails to glue it back together. I also used a cement caulk to fill in the gaps and cracks.

I used a textured spray paint from ColorTex called Quarry. It’s meant for interior applications, so I sprayed it with some clear coat spray paint as well. Here how the pagoda looks finished.

I think it turned out pretty good and it only cost about $20 in materials.

First I wrapped the handles with some old telephone cord to give them more girth.

On the bottom handle, I used some smaller cord for finger grips. I also secured the cords with duct tape.

Finally, I dipped the handles in Plasti Dip to give them a nice rubbery grip. Notice how the bottom handle has a slight curve to it.

My grass shears still look old and worn, but they work solidly and the handles are very plush and comfortable. In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t have wrapped the handles with duct tape as this made them somewhat lumpy after I plasti-dipped them. Also, I probably would have picked the red Plasti Dip, the black one is a bit dull to me.

First, add the Window Buttons to each taskbar, right-click on your panel:

Panel –> Add New Items –> Window Buttons

After this, right-click on each Window Buttons item in the taskbar (panel) and click Properties. You’ll find the option in there:

Un-check the option: Show windows from all monitors

(Another useful property to be aware of is Sorting order: None, allow drag-and-drop. This will let you drag your windows around in the taskbar around, but then you lose the default sorting, too bad you can’t have the best of both worlds.)

Took me a while to figure this one out, hopefully it will save someone some time or save me some time if I have to do it again.

  $ sudo /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-set-defaults --session xubuntu

Thanks to this blog post for showing me the command.

Get Vim

First, download/install your flavor of Vim: http://www.vim.org/download.php

Create a vimrc file

Now, before you start editing any files, you’ll probably want to do some customizations first.

Create a vimrc file: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Open_vimrc_file

In your vimrc you’ll want to add some basic settings such as the ones below:

" The set nocompatible setting makes vim behave in a more useful way
set nocompatible
 
" Enable filetype-specific indenting and plugins
filetype plugin indent on
 
" Turn syntax highlighting on
syntax on
 
" Highlight search results
set hlsearch
 
" Turn on line numbering
set number
 
" Make backspce behave more normally
set backspace=indent,eol,start
 
" Turn on automatic indenting
set smartindent
 
" Insert space characters whenever the tab key is pressed
set expandtab
 
" Set tabs
set tabstop=2
set shiftwidth=2

Create Vim sub-folders

Inside your .vim (vimfiles on Windows) folder, create some sub-folders for plug-ins and color schemes:

mkdir -p ~/.vim/autoload
mkdir -p  ~/.vim/bundle
mkdir -p  ~/.vim/colors

Set a default color scheme and font

After you have your vimrc file, you can customize the look-and-feel of Vim by picking a default color scheme and font.

Here are some good color themes I have found:

• jellybeans: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2555
• railscasts: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2175
• vividchalk: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1891

The color theme files go in ~/.vim/colors or ~\vimfiles\colors if you’re on Windows. Then you in your vimrc file you can set your default color scheme:

" Set default color scheme
colorscheme jellybeans

It’s also nice to have a good programming font in Vim. Here’s a list of preferred fonts and also how to set a default font in your vimrc file:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/485174/programming-fonts
http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Change_font

Install plug-ins

Next, it’s time to install some plug-ins. Here are some good ones that I have found:

• https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen
• https://github.com/tpope/vim-rails
• https://github.com/tpope/vim-endwise
• https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
• https://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree

I’m using pathogen to manage my Vim plug-ins, so after that’s installed, to install a new plug-in, you just navigate to your: ~/.vim/bundle (~\vimfiles\bundle on Windows) directory and run git clone commands to install the new plug-ins:

git clone git://github.com/tpope/vim-rails.git
git clone git://github.com/tpope/vim-endwise.git
git clone https://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree.git
git clone git://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive.git

Summary

That’s my rough guide on setting up Vim for Ruby on Rails development. Like I said I just got start using Vim for Ruby on Rails myself, so I know there’s a lot of plug-ins and settings I haven’t discovered yet.

Here are some links to the resources I used to setup Vim for Ruby on Rails and also how I’ve been learning how to learn Git:

• http://www.derekwyatt.org/vim/vim-tutorial-videos/vim-novice-tutorial-videos/
• http://oldwiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/HowtoUseVimWithRails
• http://net.tutsplus.com/sessions/vim-essential-plugins/
• http://vimcasts.org/
• http://blog.interlinked.org/tutorials/vim_tutorial.html

Also, the vimtutor command line program and O’Reilly Vim book came in handy.

I’ve learned that keeping your Ruby methods well named, short and focused makes them easier to read and also easier to test.