South Pole Steve

Transferring Data Between Heroku Applications

2011-12-09T11:32:00-06:00

Today I found myself needing to move data between two heroku apps. If you have the pgbackups addon installed, it turns out this is really easy:

heroku pgbackups:restore DATABASE `heroku pgbackups:url --app myapp` --app myapp-staging

Heroku covers the process more in depth in their documentation

Heroku rocks!

Rails is for Beginners

2011-12-08T11:09:00-06:00

This morning I came across an article on hacker news titled Rails Is Not For Beginners. The article is actually about Sinatra, but the link-bait title is dead wrong. Rails is perfect for beginners and here is why …

A friend of mine with zero programming experience recently asked me to help him learn web development. We setup rails together, and I pointed him to some online tutorials. When he called me the next evening, he could barely contain his excitement:

“Rails is awesome! I can edit, add, delete! This is a real web app and I made it!”

In Rails, with only a few commands you can have a fully functioning CRUD app built on scaffolding. No experienced Rails developer I know uses scaffolding. So why is it still in the source code? Because Rails is for beginners.

The best way to teach anyone web development is to inspire them to learn on their own. My friend is a long way from being a productive web developer, but because of Rails he is excited to learn more.

If you are a beginner and looking for a place to start, I recommend railstutorial.org. It is a fantastic resource, and best of all the online version is free.

Moving to Octopress

2011-11-19T21:47:00-06:00

I’m moving the blog from dreamhost+wordpress to heroku+octopress (which is built on jekyll). Anything before this point in the blog has been imported and might be a little off. You have been warned!

Radio Interview for GeoHuddle

2010-09-06T21:52:51-05:00

Last Friday, I did a radio interview on 1670 AM for my startup - GeoHuddle. The full audio is available here:

[wpaudio url=”http://www.southpolesteve.com/wp- content/uploads/GH_interview.mp3” text=”InBusiness with Jody and Joan - Interview with Steve Faulkner”]

Just click the little play button to listen

Vote for GeoHuddle in the GE Ecomagination Challenge

2010-07-25T10:03:59-05:00

As some of you might know, I am working on a new startup company these days called GeoHuddle. We are developing a new style of community geothermal energy system. Check out our website at www.geohuddle.com

More importantly, we need your help! GeoHuddle is making a bid in the newly announced $200 million dollar GE Ecomagination Challenge. Please take a few moments and go vote for our startup!

Sailing Through June 4th 2010

2010-06-06T12:47:17-05:00

Total Distance: 92.58 miles Max Speed: 14.7 mph Average Speed: 4.75 mph

Click on the picture for a bigger version

Practicing Landings

2010-05-16T23:29:29-05:00

Can’t help but post about this again. GPS tracking for sailing is pretty awesome! Today I sailed 25 total miles and had a max speed of almost 10 mph. Thats pretty quick for a sailboat. Also, I did a bunch of practice landings while under sail. You can see on the map below how I kept circling around and landing at the pier and a pin in the mooring field. At the end of the season I think I’ll do a big summary that gives all kinds of interesting statistics about my sailing this summer.

View Sailing Summer 2010 in a larger map

Iceland Volcano Time Lapse

2010-05-15T20:38:28-05:00

I ran into this video today and just had to pass it along. Sweet video time lapse of the volcano in Iceland. Make me want to go to Iceland so bad, and also to buy a super nice video camera.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Sailing - Summer 2010

2010-05-14T15:28:39-05:00

Used the GPS to track my sailing today for the first time. Of course I only remembered to turn it on for the trip back. But its a start!

View Sailing Summer 2010 in a larger map

About Steve

2010-05-09T22:39:52-05:00

Some of you adventurous types may have clicked the little “about” link at the very top of the page. If you did, you quickly realized there wasn’t much there. But… change is here! Now when you click that link you will be redirected to Steve’s new personal landing page: http://flavors.me/southpolesteve

I made it using this awesome site called Flavors.Me. It is a dead simple way to create an “About Me” page. It also automatically integrates accounts from a ton of social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, etc). Highly recommended.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Tax Brackets [Infographic]

2010-04-26T13:58:25-05:00

I am a sucker for well done infographics. I found this one particularly interesting. Click the picture for a larger version

Source: Cool Infographics

Ultimate Sailing Cooler

2010-04-19T13:13:14-05:00

I’m in the process of creating the “Ultimate Sailing Cooler”. The motivation for this is just to have the most technologically advanced cooler that ever existed. It will be used mostly for sailing small dingy boats. It will be completely ridiculous and over the top.

Phase 1: Install Stereo Equipment and Electronics Compartment (In Progress) I completed this over the weekend. Bought some cheap marine speakers and an amplifier online. Hooked up to a 12v battery. The electronics are partitioned off from the rest of the cooler by a modified cutting board. Everything is sealed with silicone. All connections are just soldered and heat shrinked for the moment. Later, as it gets more finalized I will probably add connectors. Sounds great to far, but nothing to too technologically advanced. Input is from a small MP3 player.
Phase 2: Heads Up Display, GPS, Temp Monitor (Parts Ordered)
An Arduino will run the whole thing. I have never done Arduino work before, so I am excited to get my hands dirty. Inputs will be a couple temp sensors and a GPS module. Outputs are to a 20x4 character LCD that will be mounted on top of the cooler. GPS data will also be logged to an SD card so I can overlay all my sailing this summer onto google earth. LCD display will be heading, speed (knots), outside temp, cooler temp, battery life, and….. anything else I can think of. Maybe roll angle if I was adventurous and installed an accelerometer.

Phase 3: Solar Charging (Planned) Adding a 10 W solar panel to the top. There isn’t really a need for this, so of course it is a requirement for this cooler. It will also up the visible ‘cool’ factor
Phase 4: Connectivity (Out there) I will probably add bluetooth, wifi, or cellular connectivity. Maybe I will set up a tether to my phone so the cooler becomes a wifi hotspot. I need to come up with some more ideas here.
Phase 5: Mobility (WAY out there) If there is anyway I could make this move on its own, I might try. It will float, so I could add a propeller and a rudder system. Maybe some wheels and steering.

Iceland - Feb 2011

2010-04-15T10:02:44-05:00

As some of you might know, I am probably going to move to Iceland next February. I’ll be studying geothermal energy at the Renewable Energy School which is a private school that works in combination with the University of Iceland and the University of Akureyri. More details will come as Febrauary gets closer.

Right now, I just want to assure everyone (mostly my mom) that I won’t end up in the path of the recent volcanic eruptions. Akureyri is almost 150 miles from the eruption site and on the other side of the island. See the map:

View Iceland Volcano in a larger map

What is "Disruptive"

2010-04-12T08:07:13-05:00

Today’s post inspired by: http://blog.asmartbear.com/not- disruptive.html

I normally like the Smart Bear blog. His advice is very sound and seems more in touch with the common folk than some other blogs written from the clouds above Silicon Valley. But I didn’t quite agree with Smart Bear’s words of wisdom today. I’ll agree that the “disruptive” label is overused, but I actually think that some of the examples he gave are quite disruptive. Changing the landscape of an entire industry, or drastically altering the lives of XXX million users are not required criteria for being disruptive. Anytime you can make a successful company from just an idea, that is being disruptive.

Networking

2010-04-10T12:12:21-05:00

Building a network of contacts is one of the most important things you can do. My friend Jusitn Beck did a great post about this here. I agree with pretty much everything he said. As for me, almost every job I have worked was a directly result of networking. The only job that I got without “knowing someone” was my first job - cashier at Best Buy.

This post was inspired by what happened to me yesterday. I went to a clean tech presentation given by the former CEO of Virent and the Current CEO of ZBB batteries, Eric Apfelbach. After the talk, I met an angel investor from Milwaukee and we talked about business, entrepreneurship, and GeoHuddle for almost 3 hours. I don’t know if he will invest in GeoHuddle anytime soon, but he is a great contact to have and I am sure well be talking again soon. It would have been so easy to leave when the presentation was over, or not to go at all. Bottom line: Talk to EVERYONE. You never know who might be standing right next to you.

The Paradox of Choice

2010-03-28T17:13:05-05:00

A really interesting talk on how too many choices is a bad thing.

Goin South

2010-02-14T17:01:55-06:00

Currently in Mississippi headed to MS State for the Kentucky basketball game. Pretty excited because I get to check a few more states off the list. I’m also trying out posting to the blog from my phone. Hopefully it works out!

Send Me to Haiti

2010-01-23T12:11:45-06:00

Today’s post is simple. Go here: http://bit.ly/8kbVjX and follow the donation instructions

I have been given a spot on the second plane this organization wants to send, but currently they only have enough funding for one.

What if an Earthquake Hit My City?

2010-01-19T21:30:24-06:00

After seeing some of the horrific images coming out of Haiti, I started asking myself this question. Actually, the first question I asked was, “How do I get on a plane to Haiti?” After some research, it turns out experience is usually required before they will put you on a plane and air drop you into a disaster relief effort. Then I found myself wondering what I could do the next time something like this happens. It turns out there is a great book that answers a lot of these questions!

I read Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss earlier this year and its a great resource for anyone looking for more information about what to do when all hell breaks loose. In the book, Niel highlights Community Emergency Responder Training (CERT). CERT was developed by the Los Angeles disaster management office and now is used by FEMA to train local emergency responders all over the country. My friend Will and I are now signed up for the local CERT class over the next two weekends. I’m really excited about this and I’ll have to do a post about how it goes. I might be a long way from drop shipping to a international disaster relief effort, but at least it is a first step. If you have a couple free Saturdays and are interested in finding out about how you can register for CERT click here.

Google vs. China

2010-01-13T20:27:47-06:00

CNN.com: Google vs. China)

This is starting to make some mainstream headlines. It’s not entirely benevolent on Google’s part, but the idea of a single company taking on an entire government is interesting. I think it’s with good intentions this time, but what is to say this kind of pressuring can’t happen when the company has less noble motives. The truth is that it probably does happen but rarely makes the evening news.