1 post tagged “hack”

I've finally gotten the go-ahead to get CruiseControl running on our application. I was looking around for documentation and cool hacks when I found out that you can use lava lamps to signal build success or failure. Keep in mind that in some dark corners of the world, deployment is still a 15-step manual procedure, so having a cool visible cue seemed real cool.

I realize this is old news, but I hadn't seen this before, so I'm still in awe. Lavalamps! How cool is that? The hack is based on the X10 firecracker kit. It's basically a widget that hooks up to your serial port (yeah, who has those any more?), and then a few more widgets that acts like power sockets with wireless receivers. Despite the horrible look and feel I've spent too much time on X10's site the last few days.

I thought my biggest issue was deciding between the serial (proven, has drivers that work) or USB (works with my Mac, harder to get working, more expensive) interfaces, when I find out about the Orb. Man! This thing is sweet. Apparently that's what Gladys' company uses. There's even a wireless rabbit you can hook up to signal your build status. The bad part is that these things are all more than what my budget for this is, so I'm going to have to stick with the X10 kit (it's much cheaper on EBay, btw).

I'm working on getting CruiseControl working now, so as soon as I decide how I want daily, tagged builds, I just need to find some lights. I was thinking that red and green Christmas lights might be a cheap and still relatively cool way to display build status.

Really, in the end all that matters is that I get the automated builds going. Now, if I could only find a good way of doing what Capistrano does for Rails...