Bash Aliases - Why you should use them and how to make them.

I will be giving a free 30 minute Google hangout session showing people why to use bash aliases, how to make them, and some more uses for aliases that you may not have thought about.

The first 7 people to email me and who can make the Google hangout time ( I will email it to you ), will be invited to the hangout session.  Bash aliases are super useful and not hard to use, once you see how powerful they are you'll be making some of your own!

I will be showing you some of my alias so you can follow along with me, you should have a Linux or Mac.  I want everyone to participate that attends, I want you to walk away with a new skill and not just have watched me type :-)

My email is:
joshuakemp85@gmail.com

Ruby Poltergeist gem the best way to scrape data

Over the years I have used several different gems to scrape data.  My 2 favorites being:
Nokogiri and Mechanize.  Both are very similar, but recently I had a challenge that neither Nokogiri or Mechanize could handle.

Here's the situation:

I needed to make a HTTP POST, passing basic auth to a login form, then go to another URL and scrape some data.  All of this can be done using the Mechanize gem.  The problem is after making the POST the site used AUTH0 for authentication, which was implemented using Javascript.  The Javascript redirects to another URL looking for the successful login code from AUTH0.

THE PROBLEM???

Mechanize and Nokogiri don't handle Javascript.  The good news is Poltergeist can easily handle Javascript, no sweat!  After using Poltergeist one time to solve this challenge, it has become my "go to" gem for anything and everything!

Poltergeist uses PhantomJS to run as a headless browser, I can still use the awesome Ruby gem Crack gem to parse any JSON or XML.  I can't show you the exact example I was working on as I am not allowed, but I can show you something similar.

There is as an old web based game called Hyperiums II I honestly don't play the game, but my friend does :-)  This isn't a post about how to cheat the game ( although you could ),  I want you to fall in love with this gem!  Once you use it, it will become the gem you grab if you need to scrape data or have a simple task that you want to automate.  Poltergeist is my secret weapon when doing any web scraping!

Here is a sample Poltergeist script of logging into Hyperiums II and navigating to build factories.  You can modify this code to do most any small task or test that you need!

Hyperiums II script

Mr. Kemp you have been Terminated

Mr. Kemp we have decided to terminate your position, effective immediately.  Sign these documents please, I will need your badge and computer, best of luck for your future.

There is something inside of every provider that freaks out when being let go.  As I said goodbye to my former co-workers and got into the elevator, tears started to well up in my eyes. I got home in record time, there is no traffic at 11am.

It didn't matter to me that the company had laid off 11 other people the past week because they hadn't landed any new contracts. The reason didn't matter at all.

What matters was figuring out how I was going to get my next job AND FAST!!! I had no clue this was coming. I was told I was doing a great job and wasn't even looking for other jobs.

I will spare you all the depressing details and stress I went through. What came out of the experience was 9 days after being laid off I accepted a job offer for a mid level position paying $11K more!

I went on to coach other people for the next 12 months. I helped get people hired in record time all over the U.S. 

You don't have to cry like me, you don't have to stay awake at night with heartburn and stress unable to sleep hoping to land a job.

You don't have to read the 2,000+ emails I've sent to coaching clients listening, understanding their story and situation.

I poured my heart and soul into this course. I made the course I wish I could have had when I was let go. I would have slept better. I wouldn't have felt like I aged a year in those 9 days.

If you need a tech job in the shortest amount of time possible, this is the course for you, this isn't a learn how to code course, this is a : "LET'S GET A JOB COURSE".

I hope to see you in class!

Tweet one of the course links below and like the ‘course’ Facebook page and I will personally send you a free copy of my book: “No Degree, No Problem”! The course officially launches Monday September 12 but the first few lectures are up now if you want to get a jump start! 

People will go to bootcamps and take coding tutorials BUT when they are REALLY ready to land a job this is it here: http://bit.ly/2czEzCv ( Tweet this )

Need a tech job fast? Check out @joshuakemp01 's new course. A proven method and fastest way ever developed http://bit.ly/2czEzCv ( Tweet this )

Anything worth having takes hustling and an effective roadmap. Land a dev job now: http://bit.ly/2czEzCv                          ( Tweet this )