My stack of books for Tumblon.
Configuring asset hosts for an app with subdomains
Posted by Luke
on Thursday, March 13
Tumblon allows users to create blogs with a custom subdomain like mysite.tumblon.com. Today, I was working on configuring asset hosts for Tumblon to improve download performance, and I ran into a snag.
We have a list of restricted subdomains which are not available for users to register, including the default Rails asset host names: assets0.*, assets1.*, assets2.* and assets4.*. I set up a new virtual host for the asset host with server aliases for the names (we have wildcard DNS to support the app’s subdomains).
This worked in the main application, but broke with the subdomains. All the subdomains started resolving to the asset virtual host (I think because it was first).
So I went back to the drawing board. I deleted the assets virtual host and came up with this re-write rule to fix my problem:
# Check for asset hosts
RewriteRule %{REMOTE_HOST} ^assets\d.* [L]
What this does is matches any request like that starts with assets and a digit and stops it from going to Rails, thus having Apache handle it. This is above the rewrite rule for the Mongrel Cluster proxy, so any other subdomains will go to Rails.
I put this out there in case it helps anyone else who has this problem.
Announcing Tumblon - a better website for parents
Posted by Jon
on Tuesday, February 26
Over the last nine months, Slantwise has been busy with three of its own projects (in addition to our client work). FanChatter is a mobile sports chat hub, where you can talk sports via mobile phone, email, or web. Zencoder is a distributed video transcoding system. This spring, we’ll be launching our third product: Tumblon.
Tumblon is a website that allows parents to track their children’s growth, and share this with friends and family via a online blog/baby book. To do this, we’ve partnered with respected pediatricians, developmental psychologists, and authors to get clinically-tested information about child development.
Want to hear more when Tumblon launches? Want to beta test the site? Sign up with your email address, and we’ll keep you posted.
So, what does Tumblon do?
Learn about your child’s development
Add your children to Tumblon, and based on your child’s birthdate, Tumblon gives you developmental information geared directly to your child’s age. You can dig in for more info, record milestones as they happen, and discuss your children’s development with other parents.
Journal about about your kids
Write stories about specific developmental milestones, about parenting in general, or about anything you want. You can choose to keep your stories private, let your friends and family see them at your Tumblon blog, or publish them so anyone can see them.
Photos (of course)
Not surprisingly, you can upload photos to Tumblon.
Sharing – the most important part?
Finally, Tumblon makes it easy to invite friends, family, and well-wishers to stay informed of your children’s growth through email updates, a public blog, etc. If you’re a new parent, you know what this means: keeping the grandparents happy. :)
So, when can I try it?
Soon. We’re closing in on our beta site, and will be up and running for real this spring or summer. If you want to take a look for yourself, sign up for early access at http://tumblon.com.
