James Sullivan

James Sullivan http://jamesrsullivan.com Most recent posts at James Sullivan posterous.com Thu, 27 May 2010 01:12:07 -0700 Recursive Upload with cURL http://jamesrsullivan.com/recursive-upload-with-curl http://jamesrsullivan.com/recursive-upload-with-curl I found myself trying to migrate files from a client's server to a rackspace cloud sites account. Unfortunately, the server that was the source did not have lftp, ncftp, or any other ftp client I could use to recursively upload files. I wrote a script in php then realized that php-cli didn't have ftp compiled. Here is the line that I used to upload the data to the rackspace cloud site using a find statement and curl: find -type f -exec curl -v -u myusername:mypassword --ftp-create-dirs -T {} ftp://ftp3.ftptoyoursite.com/www.mynewwebsite.com/web/content/{} \;

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:50:00 -0800 My First Blog Post http://jamesrsullivan.com/my-first-blog-post-16381 http://jamesrsullivan.com/my-first-blog-post-16381

Posting to a blog by email... this may be more my speed.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Fri, 01 May 2009 14:13:53 -0700 Microsoft Silverlight told me to buy a new mac http://jamesrsullivan.com/microsoft-silverlight-told-me-to-buy-a-new-ma http://jamesrsullivan.com/microsoft-silverlight-told-me-to-buy-a-new-ma A site my wife needs for work recently overhauled their site using Microsoft Silverlight (didn't say "upgraded"). My wife's iBook G4 works perfectly for streaming video, email, calendar, and basically everything else a personal trainer would use. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided the new version of Microsoft Silverlight should not support G4 macs.

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It sounds to me like Microsoft Silverlight is telling me to buy a new mac, which I did.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:32:16 -0700 ExactTarget Developers http://jamesrsullivan.com/exacttarget-developers http://jamesrsullivan.com/exacttarget-developers I created integrations with ExactTarget for a client and found it was an up-hill battle to get information about their web services and rest interface. The only way to get the documentation is behind lock and key, a private forum and knowledge-base called 3sixty that is slow, has no user participation, and if you are a freelancer it's just another layer of overhead to get an account to talk to people there - probably the reason why there is virtually no user adoption. :) Since I see no merit in contributing code to a private forum that you have to buy in for the sake of that company, I bought a domain and put up a punBB forum to give people a public space to talk openly (like the Salesforce.com forums): http://ExactTargetDeveloper.com

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:10:42 -0800 Suspicious Mint.com Transactions http://jamesrsullivan.com/suspicious-mintcom-transactions http://jamesrsullivan.com/suspicious-mintcom-transactions Today I noticed these transactions appearing on mint.com: Looks like a pregnant lady at the mall. :)

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:00:21 -0800 Salesforce.com Button to Create a New Record http://jamesrsullivan.com/salesforcecom-button-to-create-a-new-record http://jamesrsullivan.com/salesforcecom-button-to-create-a-new-record I was answering a question in the Salesforce.com developer forums today and someone asked if the solution I offered was documented anywhere. I couldn't find the documentation for the option - so I may as well post it here. The function URLFOR() creates a link to somewhere in Salesforce.com without having to hard-code your server name and worry about links breaking later. You can use this function to create another record automatically and have the system automatically press the save button too. Simply append "save=1" at the end of the array of field values you are passing. Here are some example uses: Create a button that updates a hidden workflow field on the record you are in. To use custom fields you must find the field ID (open the object, under fields, and open the field detail page, use the ID in the url).


{!URLFOR($Action.Account.Edit, Account.Id, [retURL=URLFOR($Action.Account.View, Account.Id), 00N300000030Ea1 ="TRUE", save=1] )}

Have an Account and you want to have 1 button that creates a renewal opportunity. You can add more fields that are important to you (close date+1 year?).


{!URLFOR($Action.Opportunity.Edit, null, [Amount = Opportunity.Amount , AccountId=Opportunity.AccountId , OwnerId = Opportunity.OwnerId,  save=1] )}

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:47:18 -0800 PHP Calling SOAP [Encoding] with Exact Target WebServices API http://jamesrsullivan.com/php-calling-soap-encoding-with-exact-target-w http://jamesrsullivan.com/php-calling-soap-encoding-with-exact-target-w Nerd Factor: 8 I am trying to call an Exact Target Web Services (SOAP) API via PHP and there is this problem where the __getLastRequest() is showing that my data isn't actually being put into the request. It looks like I'm not passing any data aside from the basic XML showing the method name. It has been a while since I ran into this issue and so I wanted to make note of it on a blog, somewhere indexed more thoroughly by Google, so the next person who ran into the problem would save a little time. The skinny: You need to explicitly encode the objects that are being sent to the service. If you want to pass no data:


$sfs = new ExactTarget_SalesforceSend();
$sfs->Email = $e;
$sfs->Targets = array( $t );
$sfs->FromName = "Lead/Contact Owner Name";
$request = new ExactTarget_CreateRequest();
$request->Options = NULL;
$request->Objects = array($object);
$results = $client->Create($request);

If you do indeed want to pass data:


$sfs = new ExactTarget_SalesforceSend();
$sfs->Email = $e;
$sfs->Targets = array( $t );
$sfs->FromName = "Lead/Contact Owner Name";
$object = new SoapVar($sfs, SOAP_ENC_OBJECT, 'SalesforceSend', "http://exacttarget.com/wsdl/partnerAPI");
$request = new ExactTarget_CreateRequest();
$request->Options = NULL;
$request->Objects = array($object);
$results = $client->Create($request);

That bolded line tells php/soap that it needs to encode based on a specific element in the wsdl schema. In other languages you can use wsdl2java and end up with classes that you can just pass along and they get serialized the right way. PHP and other languages of that group (Perl, Ruby) need to explicitly encode the data that is being passed. You would expect that passing an array/dictionary/object into the function expecting that element would work - but no - it just needs to be told ever so gently which data type it should use. Of note: I belive this may just happen when inheritance is used in publishing the web service (.Net and Java) which is represented in the wsdl file like this: <extension base="tns:APIObject"> For Google, the error I was getting was: Requested value 'APIObject' was not found.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:22:27 -0800 User Interface Engineering, Well Done http://jamesrsullivan.com/user-interface-engineering-well-done http://jamesrsullivan.com/user-interface-engineering-well-done I love when people proclaiming to do it right do it so wrong. This website which is focused on "User Interface Engineering" has an RSS feed, but not one that you can subscribe to via the normal meta tags. They require you navigate all the way down the page and look on the right side and they call it an XML Feed. I just thought it was funny.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:16:32 -0800 Handy Tool: ColorSchemeDesigner.com http://jamesrsullivan.com/handy-tool-colorschemedesignercom http://jamesrsullivan.com/handy-tool-colorschemedesignercom If you are making a website - and who isn't lately - you need to make a theme for the site. I an not stylistically inclined and am also colorblind, so I have a couple tools that I use when building sites that help me with that side of things. One of them is ColorSchemeDesigner.com - a really great tool to help you get your colors right. Previously, most of my sites were "yellow", "green", and "red" to add color. Now they are shades of all different colors that actually jive together. I don't recognize much of the improvement but people say it's better.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:07:16 -0800 The Arts Are Important http://jamesrsullivan.com/the-arts-are-important http://jamesrsullivan.com/the-arts-are-important Watching a video like of "Improv Everywhere" doing an escalator high-5 and seeing the smiling faces of the people getting off the train convinces me that arts have a place in every day life.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:16:03 -0800 Excel 2003 - Office Live Add-in http://jamesrsullivan.com/excel-2003-office-live-add-in http://jamesrsullivan.com/excel-2003-office-live-add-in The last truly usable, well-performing version of Excel is obviously Excel 2003. It has all the features you need without the needlessly redesigned UI and massive bloat. Plus, it works nice and quickly in my XP virtual machine on my MacBook Pro. Unfortunately I made the mistake of using Windows Update on automatic mode. It installed some garbage called "Office Live Add-in" which will not go away. Even when you disable the toolbar, delete it, whatever... it comes back every time you restart Excel. Here's how it works: Click here to watch the flash web recording

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:37:27 -0800 Battery Indicator in Ubuntu in Virtualbox in OSX http://jamesrsullivan.com/battery-indicator-in-ubuntu-in-virtualbox-in http://jamesrsullivan.com/battery-indicator-in-ubuntu-in-virtualbox-in This is funny, I thought to myself. The virtual image of Ubuntu I just installed shows a partially drained battery. Then I noticed that it's the actual battery level...

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:16:59 -0800 Merlin Mann: Towards Patterns for Creativity http://jamesrsullivan.com/merlin-mann-towards-patterns-for-creativity http://jamesrsullivan.com/merlin-mann-towards-patterns-for-creativity I read 43folders until a year or two ago and I am a huge fan of GTD. This video is a succinct motivational and informative explanation for those of us who feel like we could be getting more out of our organization systems and really just do more:

Specifically, there are two books here which have made it onto my reading list due to Merlin's recommendation: On Writing by Stephen King

and The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:20:28 -0800 Fresh Wordpress Setup http://jamesrsullivan.com/fresh-wordpress-setup http://jamesrsullivan.com/fresh-wordpress-setup The first blog post always sounds awkward and pretentious. For me, the best part is that they usually exclaim how they'll post every day for a year and first one is the only post published. Here is my summary of every blog's first post:

Oh my god. This crazy thing happened this week and I haven't told enough people! Hey internet, listen to this!
Oh, hi, this is my first blog post and I'm going to talk about me... and stuff... vague... stuff...
This is my first blog post! Yay, I installed my blog software.

Until there's relevant textual material for consumption, I give you this grand vision:

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:55:15 -0700 New MacBook http://jamesrsullivan.com/new-macbook http://jamesrsullivan.com/new-macbook I picked up the new MacBook. I have been realizing over the last few weeks that the Eee PC, though fun and little and catchy - has halved my productivity! OSX is the primary driver for getting the new computer.

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It feels really sturdy. Typing on the keyboard is as sturdy as the flat aluminum keyboard that Apple produces and the trackpad is incredibly usable!

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I called the Boston-area Apple Stores at 10:30 and nobody said they had them. Varying stories were told, like they weren't sure if they'd have them or that they would have them tomorrow. Then, on the second round at 11:45, Cambridgeside Galleria confirmed they had a few. I jumped in the car with some co-workers and hauled ass through the back roads to get there. None were on display and they had to go into the back to grab the item for me. Checkout was as easy as always. Now I have the computer... Unix power + hardware support + really usable + solid feeling laptop at good weight and size.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:07:01 -0700 Eee PC http://jamesrsullivan.com/eee-pc http://jamesrsullivan.com/eee-pc I Picked up the Eee PC 1000h, a 10" little netbook with a suggested battery life of over 7 hours for $475 shipped. At this price, I can get a new netbook every year and I'm better off than my previous habit of buying a workstation class notebook every 3 years.

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It is running Ubuntu, and can't turn off the webcam, bluetooth, and USB, so my battery life isn't as nice as Windows but it's an amazing little computer. One of the most amazing things was that I used the Ubuntu 8.10 live CD and had a working desktop with visual effects comparable to Vista, modern coding tools (Eclipse), and a web development environment with working WiFi, Bluetooth, Webcam (for Skype), Audio, etc... Ubuntu/Debian is my server operating system of choice, and I feel like it is quickly becoming my desktop operating system of choice as well. Something of note is that there is an amazing trend of people running Mac OSX on netbooks with really great results. It is tempting to run OSX on my netbook as well since I run Macs for my workstations, but at the moment I feel very comfortable with Ubuntu.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:51:58 -0700 Group Edition AppExchange http://jamesrsullivan.com/group-edition-appexchange http://jamesrsullivan.com/group-edition-appexchange Due to the number of Salesforce companies we've dealt with using Group Edition and missing out on apps like MintFly, Vertical Response, and Jigsaw, we've created an "idea" on the Salesforce IdeaExchange: Why limit AppExchange applications to Professional and above? Some applications like MintFly, Vertical Response, and Jigsaw would be a great help to the Group edition customers. Please allow AppExchange and other partner applications to work with Group Edition.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:02:06 -0700 Staples Print Shop Online http://jamesrsullivan.com/staples-print-shop-online http://jamesrsullivan.com/staples-print-shop-online It's amazing that so many people in this day and age (of rising mac popularity, iPhones, Firefox usage) would choose to limit their web site and require only Internet Explorer. For instance, with the virtually unlimited number of online print shops, Staples requires a Windows computer running Internet Explorer.Here is the error page:

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Interestingly enough, I would expect the message to say something like "Sorry, we still have our web development team from 1990 who is really good at Visual Basic." Instead, they're taking the "act natural" approach, as if this is something you should expect from using the internet.VistaPrint seems to be at least mostly in touch with this whole "internet thing". They require at least Firefox:

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Does anyone know of good print shops online that let you use Safari?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:42:57 -0700 Salesforce.com for your iPhone… NOW! http://jamesrsullivan.com/salesforcecom-for-your-iphone-now http://jamesrsullivan.com/salesforcecom-for-your-iphone-now

Too many times we have tried to look up a contact or account in Salesforce.com on our iPhone and give up after waiting 10 minutes for each page to load. The reason is that the iPhone is just not capable of loading the 50+ images, 10+ javascript files, 5+ CSS files, and then process all the javascript code in the user interface.

We are putting the finishing touches on MintFly.com - a system that creates iPhone friendly pages from your Salesforce.com account. This way, we can look up an address, update a record, or search our database within seconds instead of minutes.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:24:12 -0700 Open Source Code Contribution Visualization http://jamesrsullivan.com/open-source-code-contribution-visualization http://jamesrsullivan.com/open-source-code-contribution-visualization

This stunning visualization of of code contribution to an open source project (Python) is not only a stunning display of colors and motion. The video starts with one contributor for the longest time. The code is completely circling him and there is no other input. There is so much effort put into the project over such a long period of time before any other contributors were introduced. Once other contributors come about, their additions are few and far between. The little contributions slowly start to build up and accelerate until they become a full stream and eventually eclipse the original person who started the project.

The fact that one person took so long to build it is a testament that open source projects are in fact very similar to our businesses. Someone out there is putting in a lot of effort, working toward a vision, and is dedicated to the goal. Businesses aren't an over-night success with a grand opening event, they are a consistent challenge to the owner to acquire customers and keep the bottom line low.

code_swarm - Python from Michael Ogawa on Vimeo.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/36uesAY3Aupb James Sullivan James James Sullivan