Harmonypark | API

Junkarama Greatest Hits - A Collaborative Super-Filter For HOT Links On The Web

For many years we've been part of a private ongoing Skype conversation on a thread named Junkarama. Junkarama is the place where we post all of the best links and content we come across during our travels on the internet. 

Think of Junkarama as a collaborative super-filter for HOT links on the web.

During a recent Sandpark hack session we created an app to extract the links that get posted on the Junkarama thread and then to post them into a live publicly available stream for all to see and share. We call this new stream Junkarama Greatest Hits.

You can either visit the Junkarama page (which is now live), or pretty soon you can follow Junkarama on Twitter and receive your dose of all the webs best links that way (still to be implemented...).

Currently submission rights are by invitation only. 

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The Junkarama Greatest Hits public stream was created during Sandpark, which is our 10% time initiative for playing around and hacking new apps and services together; The content however is powered by many. 

It was made using a script (written in ruby) that talks to Skype through Applescript and extracts content from the Junkarama thread. This returns a list of the new messages, and sends them off to a web app that posts the links online. When possible, the content is automatically embedded from the links via the embed.ly API. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find new cocktails with Kindred Spirit

 

We love cocktails at Harmonypark. Every Friday night we drink a few while we talk about stuff we found on the internet during the week. 

We were having trouble coming up with ideas on what cocktail to make each week, so we created Kindred Spirit, a new cocktail suggestion app.

The idea behind Kindred Spirit is that you input the ingredients you have, and it suggests potential cocktails you could make with what you've got.

We've tried a good proportion of the cocktails on the site - so I can guarantee at least a modicum of quality control.

Check it out at http://kindredspir.it

Some my favourites:

• The Manhattan
• The Negroni
• The Margarita

If any of your favourite cocktails aren't on the site, let me know at chris@harmonypark.net

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Kindred Spir.it was created during Sandpark, which is our 10% time initiative for playing around and hacking new apps and services together.

 

Easy continuous integration with RunCodeRun

At Harmonypark we love writing automated tests for our code - our main weapons of choice being RSpec and Cucumber.  Something that goes hand-in-hand with good unit testing practices is continuous integration.

Continuous integration is a fancy way of saying that at any given time, your source code (also known as 'the build') should work. In order to verify that the build works, you need to have an automated system to run all of your tests.

This is good for a couple of reasons:

1) You can have faith that the code is always in excellent condition, and good enough to deploy.

2) It ensures that developers are running the automated tests as often as possible.

Because at Harmonypark all the servers we use are in the cloud, setting up a continuous integration server would prove to be a bit problematic.

Enter RunCodeRun.

Whenever we check in our code, RunCodeRun runs all of our specifications and features to make sure the commit didn't break anything.

If RunCodeRun runs the tests and finds a failure, an email is sent out to everyone at Harmonypark.  This leads to much derision and good-natured name-calling - sometimes tears.

Once the build is fixed, RunCodeRun sends out another email notifying everyone of the fix, and the offending developer breathes a sigh of relief.

Setting up RunCodeRun was pretty straight forward too, as it supports github straight out of the box. You just need to tell RunCodeRun where your github repo is and...BOOM!  Instant Continuous Integration!

RunCodeRun is free for open source projects that are on github.

We’re looking for a brilliant Rails Developer to come and work with us.

We make apps, mostly. Sometimes for the web, the iPhone, mobile devices and/or social platforms such as Twitter & Facebook; but generally we like to think of our ideas as being platform-agnostic.

Above and beyond having exceptional Rails skills, we are keen to meet someone who is a great communicator and comfortable with scoping, building and demoing apps to end users, clients and investors.

More pointedly perhaps, we want to work with people who see solutions rather than problems and are self-motivated to make ideas a reality.

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Technically, you will possess most or all of the following skills:

• Many years of professional web programming experience (Java, ruby, PHP, python, Perl…)

• 18 months of professional experience with Ruby and Ruby on Rails

• Standards based XHTML + CSS experience with cross-browser compatibility

• Rails application deployment and tuning experience on *nix servers

• A passion for good design and a proactive outlook toward usability and testing wouldn’t go astray either.

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Why you might want to work with Harmonypark:

We started this company because we like working without the red tape that large corporates often find themselves entangled in, and we plan on keeping our team small and focused.

We like it when people can switch between different roles and understand a project from more than one area of knowledge. If you can give us a strength we may not have had previously, even better.

You'll get to work on start-up companies (internal and external), global innovation projects for global brands; and the increasingly common situations when all of these elements are magically combined.

We work from an office by Old Street which has loads of natural light, comfy Aeron chairs and many options for both lunch and and afterwork drinks. Ideally we are looking to work with someone based in London.

We work pretty hard, as anyone trying to create something new will do; but it's normally on something that is interesting enough to not feel too much like work at all. We also do our best to encourage everyone to develop new skills, both creatively and technically so hopefully you're someone who isn't afraid to start on a project where the solution isn't already pre-packaged and pre-prepared.

If you think you could be the person we are looking for, then drop us a line with some links to your work.

and NO AGENTS / AGENCIES PLEASE.

Who's Making The Coffee? {ruby script}

Geeks of the World UNITE! We've created a ruby script to decide who makes the coffee. Literally nano-seconds of fun to be had.

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#!/usr/bin/env ruby
require "net/http"
require "uri"

class Array
  # randomise the shit out of it
  def randomize
    size.times { insert_at_random pop }
    self
  end
  # insert object into a random location
  def insert_at_random *obj
    insert(rand(size+1), *obj)
  end
end

# Array of people with a quick randomisation
# to make it (possibly) even more random
people = %w(Andrew Mike Ebony).randomize

# Make a paired array for counting totals
totals = people.map { |person| [person, 0] }

# hardcore random number blah:: http://www.randomnumbers.info/content/Press.htm
uri = URI.parse("http://www.randomnumbers.info/cgibin/wqrng.cgi?limit=#{people.length - 1}&amount=100")

completed = false
while !completed
  puts "Fetching random numbers..."
  src = Net::HTTP.get(uri)

  # Extract the numbers from the HTML source
  numbers = src.match(/<hr>(.*?)<\/td>/m)[1].strip
  puts numbers
  numbers = numbers.split(/\s+/).map { |x| x.to_i }

  # Iterate over numbers and increment the totals
  numbers.each { |x| totals[x][1] += 1 }

  # Check that no two values are the same
  # Unique totals should match length of people involved
  if totals.map { |person,total| total }.uniq.length == people.length
    # Get the max total and loser
    person = totals.max { |a, b| a[1] <=> b[1] }
    puts "And the loser is #{person[0]}"
    # ...and we're done!
    completed = true
  else
    puts "Uh oh, there was a tie."
  end
end

Do you code good? Come and work with us then!

Harmonypark is a London-based company that innovates and incubates products and services that help simplify and personalise an increasingly complex and impersonal world.

We're looking for a brilliant Senior Rails Developer to come and work with us on various products and projects.

By products we specifically mean web/mobile apps, but if you are the kind of person we're looking for you would probably have figured that much out anyway.

You must be a good communicator, who's comfortable with presenting and demoing applications to end users, clients and investors.

Technically, you will possess most or all of the following skills:

• Many years of professional web programming experience (Java, ruby, PHP, python, Perl...)
• 18 months of professional experience with Ruby and Ruby on Rails
• Standards based XHTML + CSS experience with cross-browser compatibility
• Rails application deployment and tuning experience on *nix servers
• Experience with agile methodologies
• An interest in development for mobile devices

About us

We started this company because we like working without the red tape that large corporates often find themselves entangled in, so if you can’t function without a "team leader" holding your hand and a 100-page project scope telling you what to do then maybe wait 10 years and call us up once we’ve all swapped our stock options for middle managers and the school-run in Chelsea.

We also work with some of the worlds most forward-thinking brands to create experiences that people want to share, so a passion for good design and a proactive outlook towards usability wouldn't go astray either. All we need really is a simple, everyday polymath.

You'll get to work from our office in Shoreditch, and we do our best to encourage each other to develop new skills, both technically and creatively, so hopefully that should tick your 'keeps me happy and inspired' box.

If you think you could be the person we are looking for, then drop us a line with some links to your work on: icodegood [at] harmonypark [dot] net

(and sorry but no agents please...)