Marc-André Cournoyer’s blog

Are you using e-mail to share links with your friends and coworkers ? Soooooo 2006 !

But you don’t want to use digg, reddit or delicious because you want to keep it private and pertinent. Sadly none of these are open-source.

Enter Linkr!

Linkr is…

1. built on Camping, the 4K framework by _why
2. open source
3. about 400 LOC, so easy to hack
4. easy to install
5. tag, rss, ajax buzzword compliant
6. easy to use (has a one-click-submit shortcut that you can put in your toolbar)
7. relying on your own Apache/LDAP/Whatever authentication (no extra login)
8. cool because I said so!!!

Quick install

gem install camping --source http://code.whytheluckystiff.net
svn co http://code.macournoyer.com/svn/linkr/trunk linkr
cd linkr
rake server

Installing with FastCgi is pretty easy too, check the README file.

Happy Linkr-ing!

[EDIT] Due to popular request (heri), a demo version is now live at http://linkr.macournoyer.com. But it runs on CGI, so super slow, I didn’t manage to install it with FastCGI on my DreamHost account. But I swear, It was a lot easier on our dedicated StandoutServer™ with the one line ScriptAlias directive! Plus, note that because it’s designed to be used in your intranet there’s no login page, it usually uses Apache environment variable to set the current user, so the demo version will stay as anonymous.

Another sign Montreal is becoming a central point in tech startup ?

DemoCampMontreal3 on JuneJuly 26th. I’ll be there sans faute! If you’ve missed the first two ones, you have to come to this one! This is a real casual and fun event, you can just come, sit, watch the demos and leave or talk with cool people like you, it’s as you wish!

The first Web Dev Book Club Meetup on the 25th. Sadly I won’t be there, but Heri is organizing it, he’s a real great guy, so I’m sure it’ll be plenty of fun!

I’m sure there’s still plenty of other stuff happening in the Montreal tech scene next week. I’d like to know about it, just drop a comment if you know of anything else.

After I made it to the digg.com front page yesterday
at our Standout(Temporary)Office™, we stared at this screen laughing:

That’s when I’m glad I didn’t chose to host my blog!

Thanks to all of you who digged the story and welcome to all the new readers. I’ll send you a mug with my face on it when I get rich… someday… maybe… well maybe not, welcome anyway!

If you’re bored at your next family party or are looking to light up a late night party with friends you should try installing RMagick on your Mac. It’s so rewarding when you finally go trough it 6 hours later, exhausted, hungry and with a sense of relief that make you feel like you could fly even after eating at Schwartz.

So here’s a little help to get the party started with installing RMagick on Mac OS X from source.

To setup this stuff at StandoutJobs, my starting point was the Hivelogic tutorial. Everyone seem to have the same error: Bus error. After a couple hours banging my head against our StandoutWalls™ I ended up bleeding from the ears and with this reviewed script:

curl -O http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/\
 freetype/freetype-2.1.10.tar.gz
tar xzvf freetype-2.1.10.tar.gz
cd freetype-2.1.10
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
cd ..

curl -O http://superb-west.dl.sourceforge.net/\
 sourceforge/libpng/libpng-1.2.10.tar.bz2
bzip2 -dc libpng-1.2.10.tar.bz2 | tar xv
cd libpng-1.2.10
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
cd ..

curl -O ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz
tar xzvf jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz
cd jpeg-6b
ln -s `which glibtool` ./libtool
export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.4
./configure --enable-shared --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
cd ..

curl -O ftp://ftp.remotesensing.org/libtiff/tiff-3.8.2.tar.gz
tar xzvf tiff-3.8.2.tar.gz
cd tiff-3.8.2
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
cd ..

Now this part was missing from the original tutorial, ghostscript fonts are needed, get the package from http://sourceforge.net/projects/gs-fonts/ and

tar vzxf ghostscript-fonts-std-8.11.tar.gz
sudo mv fonts/ /usr/local/share/ghostscript/fonts/

Another missing was the oh-so-obvious (!) exporting of the variables: CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS, summed up here for your own pleasure:

curl -O http://easynews.dl.sourceforge.net/\
sourceforge/imagemagick/ImageMagick-6.3.0-0.tar.gz
tar xzvf ImageMagick-6.3.0-0.tar.gz
cd ImageMagick-6.3.0
export CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include
export LDFLAGS=-L/usr/local/lib
./configure --prefix=/usr/local \
 --disable-static --with-modules --without-perl \
 --without-magick-plus-plus --with-quantum-depth=8 \
 --with-gs-font-dir=/usr/local/share/ghostscript/fonts
make
sudo make install
cd ..

Now cross your fingers, get your rabit paw, make a little prayer and

sudo gem install RMagick

You’re done (or back to first step)!

Digg this or reddit it if it was useful to you!

Tim Lister is one of my favourite author and speaker. He’ve found the perfect sweet spot between humorous and informative speech and writing. You can feel his passion when he talks and in his books. Just read any of Peopleware’s chapter and you’ll be more energized then after drinking a pack of Red Bull.

Today while going to work, since I haven’t synced my iPod for ages, I was browsing some old podcast and bumped onto this gem:

APLN06 - Tim Lister - Introduction to Agile Leadership

Some quotes:

Nobody has tough about the system as hard as you when you start building it. Nobody, not even the customer.

That’s why no spec of contract should be set in stone. And why BDUF is so wrong.

Great project have emotions

No doubt jumping between several projects feel so bad, it’s playing with your emotions!

He points out that software team are more like music group, not like sport teams. You can’t expect to perform as an individual if the whole team is not performing too. A singer don’t tell himself: I hope the altos suck so I’ll sound better, they perform as a whole.

Thanks Tim

Look at the bottom right, 10000 visitors, wow!

Thanks to all of you who read my blog and take the time to comment. This means a lot to me!

Now on to world domination!

Today at the office, I setup my new workplace and computer. Thanks to Fred and Ben, they even let me use the bathroom every 2 hours! And they said I might get a chair when we ship!!! Awesome!

Apart from that, we received some fruitful deliveries.

That’s right! A bran new MacBook Pro (I know the picture is mirrored…)!

What’s the big wire in the back you might ask ?

Ho! that’s just a gigantic Apple Cinema Display for my poor eyes.

How many apples can you count ?

(HIN! wrong! I was taking the picture with my MacBook, so +1, and that’s the reason for the crappy and mirrored pictures, sorry). The office smells more the apple then a grocery!

And look what’s waiting for the next mysterious Ruby Guru!

See the whole flickr set for more.

Ah startup life… so hard!

Oh what a catchy title! Notice I’ve used “simple steps” not “easy steps”. Getting your dream job is hard! If it wasn’t, everyone could do it and every good position would be filled, worlds would collide and I would have an iPhone in my pocket right now.

So, since I’ve just landed my dream job and had been in the hirer side for a couple of years now, I tough I’ll share some of my personnal tips.

1. Be remarkable

Being remarkable does not mean being perfect. It means doing something that is worth making a remark about. So do just that! Have a colourful resume, a singing presentation letter or have your CV delivered in a golden box by flying elephant man. The point is, don’t be afraid to do remarkable things to get noticed. It’s always better to have the employer find your resume cheesy then boring. Boring and average are career killers! Seth Godin’s blog and books are a great source of inspiration on how to be remarkable.

2. Invest in your knowledge portfolio

This one is from The Pragmatic Programmer. Your brain is your most valuable tool, but like your wallet if you don’t invest in it properly you won’t grow it’s value.

1. Serious investors invest regularly - as a habit.
2. Diversification is the key to long-term success.
3. Smart investors balance their portfolio between conservative and high-risk, high-reward investments.
4. Investors try to buy low and sell high for maximum return.
5. Portfolios should be reviewed and rebalanced periodically

- The Pragmatic Programmer, p.13

Read books, listen to podcast, fill up your feed reader, you can’t learn too much. If you’re still no convinced, Eric Sink wrote an amazing article on why knowledge is the only thing you truly control in your career.

3. Showcase yourself

Even if you’re the best programmer, graphist, sys admin in the world, if you can’t prove it, it’s worthless. Not having any portfolio, showcase or work sample is like a tree falling in an empty forest. Action speaks louder then words, so you got to prove yourself to be a great doer ratter then a great talker. Good employers (and Joel’s readers) always look for two things: smart and get things done. Be proud and care about what you’ve done!

4. Aim for the best

Don’t spam employers with unpersonalized cover letters. Focus on the one you really like and show them you care. Jobboom and Workopolis job spamming was dead the day it started. Looking for a job is marketing yourself, so think about it the way you’d like to be approached for a product: intrusive phone call at lunch time, spam or personalized funny email ?
When interviewing with the employer make it clear you think they are the best and that’s why you’re applying. In return, they should make you feel that they’re looking for the best candidate and care about finding the one. If you get the feeling like they only want to fill a position with anyone that can fit the mould, run! Employees are not commodities but investments. When you’re about to be hired you should feel like the best in the world not like being fooled.

5. Be passionate

Actually this is not really a step as it’s a requirement. If you’re passionate about what you do, doing all this will be a breeze and so much fun. If you’re not, maybe you should start thinking about changing career path…

And when you can standout as a candidate you can get any job you want! Really!
(Conditions may apply, see small invisible footprint for details).

What are your tips on finding your dream job ?

If you liked this post, please digg it!

Just came back from my first Montreal Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast. I had a really great time and lots of interesting talks with James Golick of ZipLocal, Philippe K. Chrun of of MyCarpoolStation.com, Adrien O’Leary of Ines, Mitch Cohen of ClixConnect, Heri of MadMedia, Guillaume Thoreau, Alok from FonoMe and Frederic Brunel who’s doing some crazy stuff with animation.

I’ve never been to one of those networking meetup before. I’m not a fan of PR events, but this one makes it really easy for tech people to just talk and exchange about things they love. You don’t really need to be that much of a PR person neither to come, but you do need to be passionate about the Montreal tech scene! I strongly encourage anyone interested in new technology to join us on the next one and have talk with me or anyone. Follow Ben’s blog to know more about the next date.

If we met and I haven’t put up your name here it’s because I’ve lost your business card or I just forgot your name, please drop me a note or link me in:

Picture stolen from Heri’s flickr photostream, I’m the one in the striped green shirt.

That’s right! I’m StandoutJobs new Ruby Guru!

If you’ve been living under a rock for some time, StandoutJobs is one of the hottest new Montreal startup about to change to whole recruiting experience!

Three months ago I would never dreamed about having a job like this in Montreal. I though that things like this only happen in Boston, New York, Silicon Valley and stuff. It was Fred’s DemoCamp that opened my eyes to the whole local scene and was the first event that started a series of amazing meet with brilliant and passionate people. Since then, I’m starting to believe Montreal is becoming a central point in tech startup. looking at Heri’s Montreal Tech Watch was too an amazing eye opener.

If you’re in the same mind-state as I was, maybe you should give a look at some of StandoutJobs video posts.

Thanks to Ben, Fred and Austin for taking me on the team even tough I’m heavily handicapped (I got really tiny ears and can’t eat peppers)