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Scraper::Reader::HTMLParseError: Scraper::Reader::HTMLParseError: Unable to load /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/scraper/../tidy/libtidy.dylib
from /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/scraper/reader.rb:216:in `parse_page'
from /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/scraper/base.rb:865:in `document'
from /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/scraper/base.rb:749:in `scrape'
from /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/scraper/base.rb:347:in `scrape'


it may be because the scrapi gem ships with a compiled version of the HTML Tidy library, which is probably compiled for 32-bit linux setups. the only other hit on Google for this type of error is in Japanese, from a poor soul apparently trying to use this library on FreeBSD.

my hacky solution for our debian setup (as root):

apt-get install libtidy-0.99-0
mv /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/tidy/libtidy.so /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/tidy/libtidy.so.old
cp /usr/lib/libtidy.so /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/scrapi-1.2.0/lib/tidy/libtidy.so


simple enough for now.

Three quick tidbits for those on the internets that are dealing with upgrading to rails 2.1 / 2.1.1.

ActionController::Base#render

If you’ve overridden the ActionController::Base#render method, you might run into issues with a RenderError or ArgumentError, with an error message like “You called render with invalid options.” That would be because the function signature has changed — see here, for example.

The call changed from:

def render(options=nil, deprecated_status=nil, &block)

to:

def render(options = nil, extra_options = {}, &block)

and the function now raises an exception if extra_options isn’t a Hash.

ExceptionNotifier plugin

The ExceptionNotifier plugin accesses @controller.filter_parameters, which is now protected under Rails 2.1. about the subject — the gist is that you need to use the send method — but if you’re running the same version of the Notifier as I am, you might need to change @controller.filter_parameters in two places: filter_sensitive_post_data_parameters and filter_sensitive_post_data_from_env. The calls will look something like:

@controller.send(:filter_parameters, arg1, arg2...)

Of course, because the plugin is broken, you won’t get any emails notifying you of its brokenness (or any other exceptions on your site, for that matter). Fun times.

method_defined? asks not what you think it does

So. Module.method_defined? doesn’t do what you might think it does. You might think it compares its argument to all methods on the module/class. You’d be wrong — private methods aren’t included. There’s a separate function, private_method_defined?, which has what you’re looking for. So if you want to test all methods — public, protected, and private — you’d write something like:

self.method_defined?(str) || self.private_method_defined?(str)

I understand there is some reasoning behind this — but to me, as a still-somewhat-novice rubyist, it violates the principle of least surprise.

That’s all for now. Hope this helps someone out there on the interwebs.

Purchase Relafen

One of my biggest peeves about Facebook went away sometime earlier this year — at the bottom of every page, it said “a Mark Zuckerberg production.” If every iPod had “a Steve Jobs production” written on it, or if Windows flashed “a Bill Gates production” as it loaded, I’m sure some percentage of people wouldn’t ever use them.

Still, M. Zuckerberg’s presence lives on in Facebook, this time in their mail headers (please don’t ask me why I’m looking at mail headers):

X-Facebook: from zuckmail ([75.61.130.168])
by www.facebook.com with HTTP (ZuckMail);
X-Mailer: ZuckMail [version 1.00]

Though I’m sure 0.01% of people will ever see this (Google gives 193 results mentioning “ZuckMail”, and 98,600,000 mentioning “facebook”), it still seems weird to me.

I don’t think “ZohrobMail” has a nice ring to it, but maybe “DaveMail.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/europe/26greece.html

There are a few passages which are oddly lyrical for a news piece:

Desperate people called television and radio stations pleading for help that they feared would not arrive in time.

“I can hear the flames outside my door,” one caller from the village of Andritsena told a Greek television station, according to Reuters news service. “There is no water anywhere. There is no help. We are alone.”

And:

Among the victims in the area were a pair of French hikers who were trapped in a flaming ravine. Their charred bodies were found locked in an embrace, the authorities said.

Not as evocative on a computer screen, perhaps, but striking nonetheless.

so what now?  a confluence of factors have given me the motivation to give it another go: first, i’m starting a web startup with a good friend of mine, and i’m sure that there are going to be plenty of experiences that i’d like to record for my own purposes.  second, i think that those same experiences might be helpful for other entrepreneurs to see.  moreover, i’d like to participate every now and then in one of the “hot” tech conversations going on, and this is a decent way to do that.

the tone will definitely change, and i’m sure i’ll be writing about esoteric nerdy stuff reasonably often, but i’ll try to put a disclaimer on them (or use this fancy “category” business) so that regular folks can steer clear of the geekery.  overall, it’s been quite nice to be writing again.  and there’s plenty to write about, from computery things to music and tell-all records stuff, to ideas about cities and family and whatever.

so, um, welcome to blog v6.1?

i’ll do my best to avoid drawing wild conclusions about brazil in general from my week in rio, but i think i can safely say that brazil is a whole different world than chile and argentina, in terms of language, culture, people, food, music, beaches, everything.  rio’s beautiful setting among mountains and rock formations and the atlantic makes me slightly less boastful of san francisco’s environs.  everything is just beautiful.  

the vibe — the way that people enjoy their time on the beach or on the street or at a concert or in a club — is far more wild than anywhere i’ve ever experienced.  and this was one week after carnaval, what was “supposed” to be a quieter weekend.  i went to a great dance club playing brazilian funk on thursday night, a huge and incredible concert on friday night featuring one of the more popular bands that played at carnaval (20+ people on stage, 15 of them drumming), hung out at a bar on saturday night, and went to a crazy funk dance party in a favela on sunday night.  oh, and i also went hang gliding on sunday — an impulse decision which i’m glad i followed through. 

it was an amazing, tiring, wonderful week, and i’ve spent most of my final week in buenos aires in much quieter situations — gift shopping, seeing a movie or two, hanging out and having drinks at doug’s place — with the exception of friday night, when i got home at 8am.  that friday night was enough to carry me through till now. 

though i’m in my final hours in south america, i didn’t feel the urge to cram any extra experiences in for my “last weekend/night in town.”  i’ve done and seen so much over the past 4 months that one night, or one weekend, can’t really pull as much weight as it would on a 2-week trip.  it’s been an amazing trip, more amazing than i could have hoped for or expected, and i think it’s a good time for me to be coming back home.  i’ll be back in san francisco on wednesday afternoon, and i’m looking forward to it.

after my “recuperation” stay in resistencia (though i wasn’t entirely recuperated when i left), i headed over to puerto iguazú, on the border with brazil.  iguazú falls strides the argentina-brazil border, a collection of some 250 waterfalls.  totally amazing.  (i do have photos from this section of the trip, which will hopefully be up on flickr shortly).  the following evening, i hopped a “cama total” bus back to buenos aires, which was by far the most luxurious bus ride i’ve taken all trip.  my seat folded completely flat into a bed, i was given a blanket and pillow and dinner and champagne, and we watched quality films for much of the 18-hour ride.  really excellent.  i’ve been back in buenos aires since last wednesday, and doug and i have been relaxing, eating well, seeing movies, and “taking care of business.” 

for a lot of reasons, this week i decided to purchase a ticket home for the middle of March (leaving BsAs on March 13th, arriving SF the following day).  a lot of it is simply the inability to absorb much more on this trip.  in an ideal world (ie one in which i could travel whenever and wherever i want), i would make another trip, probably to china or japan or india, in 6 months or a year or something.  but really, these past 3 1/2 months have been absolutely amazing, and full of incredible experiences that i hope to remember and relate often.  plus, i just miss my friends, san francisco, and my family.  and i’m ready to do productive things again, like work, and make music.

i’m heading to brazil on tuesday for a week-long tour of rio de janiero and its surrouding environs, and then i’ll probably spend a couple of days checking out uruguay before my final weekend in buenos aires.  now that i’ve got a definite return date, i’ve been able to approach 2 more weeks of travel with a renewed interest, because i know that it’s all i’ll get for awhile.  and it’ll make getting home that much better.

it’s weird to begin talking about this trip in the past tense — there’s still quite a bit to come — but that’s how i’ve begun thinking about it.  and it feels good, to look back on all the things i’ve seen and done.  and to think about the things i’ll do before i come home.  and, finally, to come home.  it’ll be amazing.

i spent most of yesterday in bed again, and today doug and i decided to part ways for a few days while i rest up… that way he doesn’t have to stick around in some kinda boring town while my body fights whatever’s ailing it.  so i’m here, in a crappy hotel (with a/c, my biggest requirement), hoping that i’ll get better.  then i’ll head over to iguazu and back down to buenos aires.

it’s incredible how much we’ve seen in the past few months… really, it’s amazing to think back on it all.  i think getting back to buenos and getting an apartment will make me feel more like a normal person again, and i’ll be able to take weekend trips and such.  but till then, i’ll be here in resistencia, drinking a lot of fluids and relaxing.  sorry there’s not much more to say… but that’s how it goes sometimes.

yesterday, after spending the day on the beach in viña del mar, we went back to the same bar, where it was 80’s night.  the weekend vibe was a bit different – there was a bigger cover charge, which i think changes the mood of things.  it was still an amazing time, and very nice to dance all night.  we left the bar at around 5am and the party was still going strong. 

we had planned to go to mendoza, argentina this morning on an early bus, but we got back to our place at around 5:45am and slept way, way later than we should have.  which should have been expected, but i can’t say that i had all of my decision-making abilities available to me at the time i fell asleep.  so now we’re back in santiago awaiting a night bus to mendoza, with a border crossing at 4am. 

valparaíso and viña del mar are often compared to san francisco and los angeles, respectively — valpo is supposed to be more “bohemian” and has a lot of hills, and viña is a beach town and has lots of palm trees and such.  the comparison isn’t quite right, but the idea is there.  both are beautiful towns with crazy nightlife.  our hospedaje was very close to a public market in valpo, which was much crazier and dirtier and probably more stereotypically “south american” than anything we’ve seen in chile.  people crowded the streets and sidewalks around the market selling just about anything… and the top floor of the market was filled with cool restaurants.  really, really delicious food — chilean specialties and seafood — and really cheap.  we spent more than 3 hours there during our first lunch because the atmosphere was so nice.

and now, mendoza — delicious food and winery tours.  we’re still not sure where we’re going to go after that, but we’re probably going to arrive in BA a bit early and (maybe?) put off the brazil trip till later.  the extra time in BA will allow us to find an apartment earlier and, for me, will provide some much-needed rest from travel.  then i’ll probably do a bit of travelling, maybe a couple of weeks, before i finally return to the US.