Ben Kudria » Weblog

Have you ever wished you could sort all of the people you follow on Twitter by how frequently they update? Here is a Ruby script that will do that for you. It asks Twitter for your friends, and uses Gene Smith’s Tweeterboard.com to determine update frequency. (Follow tweeterboard to let it know to track your stats).

To use the script, simply download it below, edit the constants at the top of the file, at run: ruby friendstats.rb. (Optional step: unfollow your boring-but-prolific “friends”).

Feedback appreciated. Usual disclaimer applies: beware, may kill your cat, I’m not liable, etc.

I’ve just released Snippits 0.5.2, my Ruby text expansion program for Linux. This version contains mostly bugfixes and documentation updates. The full changelog is below. I also have put together a roadmap of future versions of snippits, and what they might entail. Take a look; any feedback is appreciated.

• Bugfixes
  • Updated README on how to use GPG-encrypted files. Please try it and report

About

This is Ruby text expansion program – it will type text for you. It uses ‘snippits’, small text files with a simple syntax to determine what to type. However, snippits can be very powerful, since they can contain embedded Ruby, special keys (Control, Shift, Up, etc), and can contain a cursor placement instructions.

Install

Install by running: sudo gem install snippits

Screencast

Below is a demo of how snippits works…

I have whipped up a short script to update Facebook’s status, Twitter, and Kopete’s status all at once. The Facebook portion of the code comes directly from Kerry Buckley’s script

Finally, someone has written beginner’s guide to Unit Testing that I can understand. James Edward Gray’s “Unit Testers Get More Chicks” is comprehensive, easy-to-follow, and overall helpful. I was a fan of unit testing and TDD the first I heard of it, but I was unable to get started because I couldn’t find any helpful guides. Thanks, James.