Pursudo is the #53 startup in Toronto!

posted by pete on April 18th, 2008

From the totally strange department: I was just alerted to The Toronto Startup Index which apparently ranks Toronto-based technology startups based on their traffic rankings. As a general rule, I don’t pay any attention to indexes OR page rankings, because these numbers are subjective and easily gamed.

However, I officially love this index, because it lists Pursudo (a fun weekend project we did several years ago as a way to demonstrate the endless pageless pattern I wrote up) as the #53rd most popular startup in Toronto.

This blows my mind! The project is dead in every possible context (I didn’t realize it was still running) but also our follow-up “fun project” Looking Real Good got a lot more publicity and traction, and it didn’t make the list. And for good reason; neither of these sites qualify as a startup.

I think this is my cue to set up a listing on eBay, so that we can capitalize on our success. I smell a liquidation event!

19 Ruby template engines! (and Haml is one)

posted by pete on April 16th, 2008

We’re proud of Haml, and it warms our cockles every time we see how far it has traveled.

Vidar in Oslo just posted an exhaustive rundown of every Ruby template engine he could get running, as well as why he apparently hates each one. Impressive if for no other reason than concatenating so many strings in his controllers must take serious dedication.

That’s one seriously righteous path to Ragnarok, Norway dude.

Anyhow, Vidar explains why he won’t be touching Haml with a ten foot pole: he believes that whitespace as syntax constitutes an EPIC FAIL. This is a big reason why lots of people are turned off Python, and as Rubyists we understand this hangup.

However, it’s really neat to see how many people chime in to say that they love using Haml. We have found that it’s quite common for people to say that Haml cured them of their whitespace aversion; yet, they are clearly not switching to Python.

This apparent contradiction suggests that perhaps Hampton’s self closing, logically indented block syntax is exactly what the world of view templates needed. Having borrowed syntax from CSS, it becomes the connective tissue that creates a meaningful link between the markup and styles used.

Before Haml, separation of content and design was an oft-preached and poorly executed mantra. Haml connected the dots and made it easier to write kick ass XHTML that salsas with your CSS. Skaal!