Ever in Flux My mind...flash-filtered for smooth consumption

Installing the Ruby/MySQL gem on Snow Leopard server

This is a follow-up to the last post about installing the Ruby/MySQL gem on Leopard Server.

Following the steps for downloading and installing the MySQL headers provided by Apple, I was able to compile and successfully utilize the mysql gem without having to resort to third-party software like MacPorts or Sun's MySQL. This was done because of a project I am working on.  I wanted to keep the server as close to stock as possible.

While that worked for Leopard, I needed to do the same for Snow Leopard Server since the project may move to a newer server.  So, I followed the steps in Technical Article 25017 and retrieved the MySQL binaries for Mac OS X 10.6.1 (last version to have changes to MySQL).  After untarring the binaries and installing the gem, Rails would fail every time it had to access the MySQL database.

A combination of FLAGS and command line switches is necessary to get the gem to compile properly:

sudo env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install mysql


Having done that, the gem compiled and installed, my Rails app functions correctly and I didn't have to install any additional software beyond the gem itself.  Downside of this method, however, is that MySQL is still frozen in an older version and there is no way of telling when Apple will update it.

Also, the Apple-supplied documentation for Deploying Rails Applications on Mac OS X Leopard is incredibly out-of-date and should be avoided until it's updated for Snow Leopard.

The further adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Wannerbob

On December 24th, 2009, my beautiful girlfriend and I legally bound our lives to each other. It was a private ceremony and family wasn't even told until after the event. This wasn't because we wished it to remain a secret, but more a matter of convenience. Just like a good bank heist, the fewer people involved the smoother the operation works out.

While researching options for name changes, Jen came across "The Name Equality Act of 2007." It's the document that spells out your options for changing your name after being legally wed.

I discovered two things that night:

1. The California Department of Health has a Genetic Disease Branch
2. You can change your middle name when you're married

Neither of these are earth-shattering, but still revelations to me. Turns out you can also use a combination of both last names in whole or segmented. The act doesn't state whether you can use only a single segment or multiple, so I anagrammed our names and thus we are now Mr. and Mrs. Wannerbob.

Allow me to present…

Mr & Mrs Wannerbob.

Best of 2009? Really?

Ok. What is up with this? 64 million? 64 MILLION sites with "Best of 2009?"

Results of 'Best of 2009' search on 12/15/2009. 64,700,00

Recently, friends have been sending me links to "Best of 2009" lists. Best of 2009? Really? I believe it's still the year 2009. How can anyone be deciding what's the best of anything for this year when it's not even done yet?

Winners aren't declared in sporting events until it's done. Movies don't start rolling credits 5 minutes before the end although some should. Your torrent is not marked as completely downloaded when you've only got 95% of the file(s).

I understand we're only a few weeks from the end of the year, but no matter what category your list covers, there is still a chance that something or someone could happen to change your feelings about any items on it. Patience, people.