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Optimize your Rails Code with Bullet Gem and Speed Up your site!

by Kevin

Why Bullet Gem?  For this Rails optimization, we'll focus on optimizing repeated SQL calls to retrieve objects associated with many relationships: N+1 queries problem. The solution to such an issue is an eager loading association.  Unoptimized N+1 affected code takes a significantly longer time as N times additional SQL calls are needed.  But, we should be careful when using that eager loading approach. This because unused eager loading can deteriorate our Rails app performance instead of improving…
Score: 4.96

Implement Two-factor-authentication in Rails with Devise, ActiveModel::Otp, and Google Authenticator

by Kevin

Background  There are many gems for implementing two-factor authentication for Rails app out there. But, most of them don't work properly with Devise out from the box.   Some gems offering seamless integration with Devise gem never work smoothly with our existing Rails app. This is why we share our experience and strategy to implement two-factor authentication using Devise and ActiveModel::Otp gems.  This implementation, based on our experience, works very well with the latest Google Authenticator app…
Score: 3.57

How to create Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) in rails website

Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) is a framework for creating a fast and light-weight mobile website.  There are not many ruby gems for creating AMP pages for the existing Rails website.  We find one like rails_amp. But it doesn't fit our needs. That's why we come up with our solution. It's a simple but powerful one. Here's how we create AMP pages for our Rails website.            Add custom Mime::Type  We add custom Mime at config/initializers/mime_types.rb       It's only one line code. The code registers amp as a new…
Score: 3.46

Freelance Writing in a Post-COVID-19 World

    How long will the shadow of the Corona Virus pandemic darken future history?   We do not know. Therefore, there's no way to know how much I should exposit COVID-19 in this here paragraph. Obviously, if I'm talking to readers in the short term, you're all sick of hearing about it. But did the pandemic gets cured by, say, 2021? Do I have to go back over what it was like for audiences in the 2030s? Or is it indelibly ground into the pages of history textbooks like the 1918 Spanish Flu was?  Just from…
Score: 3.16

No More White Silence

  I keep grasping for words, but I know better - there are none. There is only grief, rage, and anguish. Would you expect anything less from so much senseless loss of life?    I don’t have words for the losses of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless others whose lives have been taken simply because of the color of their skin. No words of mine can fill the space their lives once held.     I can, however, speak out against the systemic racism and white supremacy that is still…
Score: 2.32

Crochet

How to crochet a hat for babies, kids, and adults

Hats are fun  I love to crochet  I am always looking for new patterns or ideas of what I can make. I have crocheted blankets of many different sizes, Mostly baby blankets, but some full-size blankets. I have also crocheted a scarf and several different hats. I discovered that I really enjoy crocheting hats, once I figured out the pattern.   Hats are fun because I can make a hat in about 5-6 hours, or one to two days. Some hats take longer if I chose to add faces, and ears to give make them look like…
Score: 1.19
Star Wars

Leave The Star Wars Holiday Special Alone!

  It's a Christmas tradition in geek culture as ingrained as Magic: the Gathering booster pack stocking stuffers: making fun of the Star Wars Holiday Special.  And well we should: It has definitely not aged well, to damn it the faintest.  Reviewing it is a guaranteed hit on YouTube, so every major reviewer has a shot at it.  Let's get a few out of the way:    The Nostalgia Critic has the funniest review, hands-down:        The Cinema Snob has a great runner-up:        Dark Corners has a shorter, sweeter review:        Even…
Score: 1.1
The real person behind the hero

Jackie Chan may be more unpopular than you think

by Dominus

Jackie Chan is an internationally recognized actor. He has one of the most impressive careers in terms of the number of movies he starred in. He is almost universally loved around the world because he used to portray the capable but clumsy type that has to fight his way out of a predicament, usually with hilarious and spectacular results. The man is a perfectionist and over the years he has developed his own style of shooting a movie that has yet to be matched by his contemporaries. He is known…
Score: 2.41
Men and Beauty

A Man's Skincare Guide: Beginner

Let’s be honest guys, asking and thinking about skin care is probably usually the farthest thing from your minds. Though you may take time on your overall appearance with your clothing or how you wear your hair, it may be difficult to know where to start in the realm of skincare - mostly because most skincare brands, products, and overall content seems to be geared almost exclusively towards women.   However, starting your very own skincare routine does not have to be super complicated, convoluted…
Score: 1.49

Beauty isn't just for Women

Dealing with skin care and beauty in general has been female dominated for pretty much all of time. Part of that goes back to the “olden days” or “good old days” as many a millennial has heard their older relatives refer to the past, where women ascribed to a certain image and lifestyle because that is what society told them they were supposed to do. Though this statement still rings true to this day, many women and men have begun pushing the boundaries and bringing what was once a taboo or…
Score: 1.06
Linux

The Top Linux Distros for Everyday Use for Everyone

  Those of you elder Ents who still remember the pioneer days of the web may remember that once upon a time your Present Author blogged about Linux. There was a Linux blog; I was well-known in the Linux community, I posted lots of tutorials, HOWTOs, some GPL'ed code, scripts, and the occasional distro or application review. That's where the "Penguin" in my name came from was Tux, the Linux penguin mascot.  Then the great mobile apocalypse happened.  Suddenly, what operating system ruled the desktop…
Score: 4.65
Music Ratings

What Counts as a Platinum Album in the Age of Digital Downloads?

  It’s More Complex Than You Think. And it gets interesting. Traditionally, albums achieve platinum when they sell a million records. But few people buy albums today. Few people buy music in general.    With digital downloads ubiquitous today, what meaning do platinum and gold have? And do they still have a purpose in today’s music world?    Well, it turns out that these questions are more complicated than they seem.     RIAA and the Expanding History of Music Certifications    What is the RIAA?    It’s the Recording…
Score: 1.9

The 10 Most Underrated Overlooked Hip-Hop Rap Albums of the 2010s

In a landscape where hip-hop has been under the shadow of Drake, Kendrick, Migos, and Kanye, it is very easy to forget the hundreds of talented acts that left a mark on the genre and culture.   Many of the artists on this list also run around the lines of sex, guns, and drugs but it's in the way they deliver it that set them apart from the mumble rappers of the 2010s. Likewise, some of the albums also include artists who fit that "woke" label that feel more genuine than their mainstream…
Score: 1.56
Grief

Thoughts On Grief

While sitting in my favorite spot by the water, the last beams of sunlight warming my skin, I read these words (written by Lisa Gungor in her book The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen) -    “But I’ve found my life is built on ordinary days of going in and coming out… This is where I’ve found grandness. This is where I’ve found what I believe about life and where I’ve found myself applauding others instead. It’s in long nights on a good porch, letting the silence sit next to you. It’s the hard things…
Score: 1.01
Birth Control

8 Things To Know About The Birth Control Shot

Most people are familiar with the birth control pill, but there are also other birth control options like implants and intrauterine devices. There is also a birth control shot. The shot uses Depo-Provera which is the brand name for medroxyprogesterone. It must be given once every three months. It prevents pregnancy by preventing ovulation. It also causes your cervical mucus to thicken which helps keep sperm from reaching an egg. Here are some things you might need to know about this shot if…
Score: 1.23
Societal Pressures

On the Subject of Empowerment

  I recall the first time a guy thought he had some unspoken right to my body, as he tried to force me into bed with him. I was able to get out of the situation before it escalated, but that moment haunted me for years. I was angry with him, but my anger did not come close to the shame I felt. I blamed myself, though the situation was entirely out of my control. I did not tell anyone about it for almost eight years   Instead, I let the shadows of shame creep in and set up residence. I began to have…
Score: 1.23

Why I'm Not Getting Married

The year is 2018, but for some reason I still feel as if I’m trapped in 1918. I am a woman working three jobs and pursuing my master’s degree on a track towards my Ph.D.; and yet for my family, somehow that still isn’t good enough. When I go home I am hit with a barrage of questions:   “When are you going to stop and settle down? Men don’t like it if you are too smart, you know.”  “You are not going to be able to have children forever you know, the clock is ticking!”   “Aren’t you dating? I know some…
Score: 1.06
Alternative Religions

Best Devotional Items For Alternative Religions

    > "Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen." -- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Lord of Montaigne  What a strange topic for a product recommendation list, and yet what strange creatures we are. We do indeed invent gods by the dozen, so let's pour one out for Montaigne, arguably history's first "blogger." Not only do we invent gods and ways to worship them, we even do it for a goof, just to be silly. Even the joke deities tend to get taken seriously over time…
Score: 1.1