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Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

railshotline.com

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Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#51

Post by jrockway »

stevefink wrote: post #10
swombat wrote: post #5

So, I guess this is like going to Freenode#RubyOnRails, but for people who don't know what IRC is? You should absolutely, totally, utterly figure out a way to charge for this service.

The major distinction here is voice is much more personal and one on one than IRC. IRC can be intimidating for a novice, and let's be quite frank, many times people's IRC persona does not reflect who they are in real life. As someone who's been contributing to major networks such as EFnet for many years now - I've learned IRC can be a great tool for learning, but it can also be downright aggressive and humiliating, p…

EFNet and Freenode are quite different, however.

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#52

Post by _chap »

weehuy wrote: post #45

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not (to grab attention) but the blue text with drop shadow on that red background hurts my eyes.

Nope, suppose to be white.

I'm guessing you're browser is automatically creating a link to that phone number and using some default stylesheet. What browser are you seeing that?

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#53

Post by GFischer »

_chap wrote: post #52
weehuy wrote: post #45

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not (to grab attention) but the blue text with drop shadow on that red background hurts my eyes.

Nope, suppose to be white. I'm guessing you're browser is automatically creating a link to that phone number and using some default stylesheet. What browser are you seeing that?

I see it as white, but the Skype plugin for Firefox changes phone numbers to highlight them.

I have it installed at home, will try it and then get back to you. Maybe some phones do that as well?.

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#54

Post by JoshTriplett »

dpkendal wrote: post #49
JoshTriplett wrote: post #34

Reading this and pockethotline.com, and thinking about your offer to help set up other community hotlines: what about a Founders Hotline? Call to talk to a real live business founder, whether to get some advice, get a recommendation or opinion for a particular service, bounce an idea or pitch off someone for feedback, or just get a different perspective. And the "experts" would get the benefit of hearing from some in…

The only issue I forsee with this is that such a hotline would get spammed up with idea-mongers who refuse to share anything without signing an NDA, and who equate a TechCrunch link with a guarantee long-term success.

So say "no" and hang up. :) Easy enough to add a FAQ making expectations clear.

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#56

Post by eof »

Ygor wrote: post #43
_chap wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, some questions are more easily answered through chat and #RubyOnRails on freenode is a great place to get help. However, I think the cool part is that it's not text. Personally I've find it to be really helpful when I'm stuck just to talk through the problem with somebody else. Often just the act of vocalizing dislodges the log jam.

"Often just the act of vocalizing dislodges the log jam." Hence the rubber duck debugging method: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

I don't think it's the vocalizing per se.. it's really about thinking through your problem with enough depth to explain it to someone else.

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#58

Post by jamesbritt »

jamesbritt wrote: post #55

Has Rails become so complex that people need a hotline?

Seriously, downvoters, I'm curious as to what motivated this. What's the need for a hotline? If there are problems, is a hotline really the best approach, or does it suggest that there's some larger underlying issue that makes it necessary?

People used to tout Rails as being stupid easy to use. I.e. http://www.amedias.org/img/java_vs_rails_books.jpg

So, just how complex has Rails become? What are the difficulties people run into?

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#60

Post by GFischer »

GFischer wrote: post #53
_chap wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, suppose to be white. I'm guessing you're browser is automatically creating a link to that phone number and using some default stylesheet. What browser are you seeing that?

I see it as white, but the Skype plugin for Firefox changes phone numbers to highlight them. I have it installed at home, will try it and then get back to you. Maybe some phones do that as well?.

Just tried it, it doesn't look blue, but it does look awful with the Skype plug-in.
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