za3tar

For some reason, i could not find this information easily at one location, so i am dumping it here.

Running Ubuntu 7.10, i found myself re-installing ruby and rails on my system. Although prepackaged solutions containing both ruby and ruby on rails, i usually prefer to install ruby, and RubyGem, through my system’s package manager, and have gem freshly grab and install rails and all its dependencies.

So, here it goes:

1. sudo -s … (this sends you to an admin mode so that you do not have to type sudo over and over again … do not abuse it and exit as soon as you are done)
2. apt-get install ruby rubygem … should take care of installing ruby and rubygem on your system. (Debian system assumed, On SuSE Yast does that as well).
3. gem install rails --include-dependencies … oh oh … Gem::GemNotFoundException … no rails !!!
4. gem env … should show you your “GEM PATH” (in my case /var/lib/gems/1.8). In that directory, there is a source_cache file.
5. rm /var/lib/gems/1.8/source_cache …. Delete that file!
6. gem update … update your gem cache file
7. gem install rails --include-dependencies … yaay it works
8. exit … you must do this … do not abuse your root priviliges

This is it! The problem is that the stupid source_cache file is out of date and it needs to be resynchronized.

For some reason, after the successful installation i could not run the commands rails and rake directly from the console (without specifying the full path). This was because they were not added to /usr/bin. I didn’t bother googling for this because the solution is simple. If that happens with you, simply do the following:

1. cd /usr/bin … this directory contains links to all your executable … do not mess with it … baby pandas will die if you do.
2. sudo ln -s /var/lib/gems/1.8/bin/rails … this creates a symbolic link to rails … notice that the bin directory is in gem path specified by gem env.
3. sudo ln -s /var/lib/gems/1.8/bin/rake … do the same for rake … it is useful.

This is it … i hope somebody finds it useful.

I don’t know the exact classification of this type of art … i guess it is abstract art. … regardless … here are some very beautiful pieces by Yazan Khalifeh. I found these at RamallahUnderground.com.

Chain Free

Flesh in Harmony

The Nest

I am trying to describe this, or give it contextual setting … but i can’t. All you need to know is: new building, under construction, highest point in Ramallah (..i think).

That open window ruined the shot

I am currently in Jordan for a while … however, let’s examine how one would get there.

Moving between the West Bank and Jordan is almost always a dreadful trip. The whole experience is usually referred to as: “crossing the bridge“. You set out at the Palestinian Istira7a which takes a bit more time than it should, and is not quite an Istira7a. Then you set out on your first bus, and wait at a stopping point where the Palestinians will check your passport and ID.

After that, you are done with the Palestinian side …. onto the Israeli side. The bus moves a couple of hundred meters and then it stops, everybody exits and goes through a metal detector. Then everybody gets back onto another bus that takes another 300 meters or so to enter the “bridge facility building”. Before you enter that building, everybody lines up, and goes through another metal detector. At this metal detector you can actually see the second metal detector, which is only 15 meters away!!

After going through yet another metal detector (the third one), you get your papers checked (speed varies). Then, you get into another bus, and go to the area where you’ll meet your bags. This is an open area, where your bags are dumped on asphalt in the toasting hot weather. The surprise is that your bags will be traveling in a separate truck that will arrive about 30-45 minutes after you get there.

You get your bags and get on yet another bus that will finally cross that bridge and go into Jordan. After that you get into the Jordanian facility, get your papers checked after filling out that white sheet of paper, and then off you go. ….. By the way, the fixed the Jordanian facility so that everybody is issued a number upon entrance, and is served in order. This is good because it fixes all the shoving, pushing, and line cutting.

This trip takes an average of 5 hours (depending on the number of travelers). The frustrating thing is that Amman is geographically close to us. My grandfather tells us that it used to take him only 45 minutes to an hour to get to Amman in the good old days!!!

Eh … anyway ….. i am in finally in Amman after this long trip … i guess i should enjoy my time and get enough stamina for the trip back

The daily events of this common “hard-worker”. Ya3teek el-3afyeeh Sob7ee

This clip was created by the creative folks at Zan Studio in Ramallah.

The team at Zan Studio