Yak Shaving

channam@pearl:~/Code/Locker$ npm install
npm WARN mongodb@0.9.6-15 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']
npm WARN xmlbuilder@0.1.2 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']
npm WARN wrench@1.1.0 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']
npm WARN async@0.1.9 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']
npm WARN request@2.1.1 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']
npm WARN htmlparser2@1.0.0 package.json: bugs['web'] should probably be bugs['url']

> daemon@0.3.0 preinstall /home/channam/Code/Locker/node_modules/daemon
> node-waf configure build

> clucene@0.2.3 install /home/channam/Code/Locker/node_modules/clucene
> node-waf configure build

Checking for program g++ or c++          : /usr/bin/g++
Checking for program cpp                 : /usr/bin/cpp
Checking for program ar                  : /usr/bin/ar
Checking for program ranlib              : /usr/bin/ranlib
Checking for g++                         : ok
Checking for node path                   : not found
Checking for node prefix                 : ok /usr/local
'configure' finished successfully (0.020s)
Waf: Entering directory `/home/channam/Code/Locker/node_modules/daemon/build'
no such environment: default
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/node-waf", line 16, in 
    Scripting.prepare(t, os.getcwd(), VERSION, wafdir)
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Scripting.py", line 145, in prepare
    prepare_impl(t, cwd, ver, wafdir)
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Scripting.py", line 135, in prepare_impl
    main()
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Scripting.py", line 188, in main
    fun(ctx)
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Scripting.py", line 386, in build
    return build_impl(bld)
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Scripting.py", line 399, in build_impl
    bld.add_subdirs([os.path.split(Utils.g_module.root_path)[0]])
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Build.py", line 981, in add_subdirs
    self.recurse(dirs, 'build')
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Utils.py", line 634, in recurse
    f(self)
  File "/home/channam/Code/Locker/node_modules/daemon/wscript", line 17, in build
    obj = bld.new_task_gen("cxx", "shlib", "node_addon")
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Build.py", line 335, in new_task_gen
    ret = cls(*k, **kw)
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/Tools/ccroot.py", line 162, in __init__
    TaskGen.task_gen.__init__(self, *k, **kw)
  File "/usr/local/bin/../lib/node/wafadmin/TaskGen.py", line 118, in __init__
    self.env = self.bld.env.copy()
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'copy'
npm ERR! error installing daemon@0.3.0 Error: daemon@0.3.0 preinstall: `node-waf configure build`
npm ERR! error installing daemon@0.3.0 `sh "-c" "node-waf configure build"` failed with 1
npm ERR! error installing daemon@0.3.0     at ChildProcess. (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/exec.js:49:20)
npm ERR! error installing daemon@0.3.0     at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:67:17)
npm ERR! error installing daemon@0.3.0     at ChildProcess.onexit (child_process.js:192:12)
npm ERR! daemon@0.3.0 preinstall: `node-waf configure build`
npm ERR! `sh "-c" "node-waf configure build"` failed with 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the daemon@0.3.0 preinstall script.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the daemon package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR!     node-waf configure build
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR!     npm owner ls daemon
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
npm ERR!
npm ERR! System Linux 2.6.32-35-generic
npm ERR! command "node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "install"
npm ERR! cwd /home/channam/Code/Locker
npm ERR! node -v v0.4.9
npm ERR! npm -v 1.0.106
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
Setting srcdir to                        : /home/channam/Code/Locker/node_modules/clucene
Setting blddir to                        : /home/channam/Code/Locker/node_modules/clucene/build
Checking for program g++ or c++          : /usr/bin/g++
Checking for program cpp                 : /usr/bin/cpp
Checking for program ar                  : /usr/bin/ar
Checking for program ranlib              : /usr/bin/ranlib
Checking for g++                         : ok
Checking for node path                   : not found
Checking for node prefix                 : ok /usr/local
Checking for library clucene-core        : no such environment: default
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR!     /home/channam/Code/Locker/npm-debug.log
npm not ok
Traceback (most recent call last):

This seems to be caused by having installed a new version of Node (0.5 or 0.6 instead of 0.4) at some point. Find the directory where you built the newer Node version and run:

sudo make uninstall

This will remove all the files installed by the newer version. Now reinstall your 0.4 version and everything should be fine. I got the idea from here https://github.com/joyent/node/issues/1716.

I have been interested in social networks for a while and have been struck more than once that my updates (and those of my friends) are stuck in silos.

These silos are perfectly understandable, if you use foursquare its only logical they want your data to themselves. Nearly every big social network now has an API to provide access to this data and this got me thinking. A list of Facebook updates isn’t that interesting on it’s own but when combined with other updates to other services say your last.fm scrobbles suddenly a world of data mining and analysis opens up.

I loved the idea of being able to mine my updates and find out new things by playing with the raw data. This idea took and root and with the help of @1stvamp www.projectcausal.com was born.

Working with @1stvamp and our ever patient and brilliant designer for hire Matt (you should hire him to do stuff) we created Gargoyle Me.

This is a hosted version of Project Causal code which you can find over at GitHub. We made the decision to open source the underlying platform to allow people to help and improve how we fetch and work on the data. Gargoyle Me is a hosted version of this code base, created mainly top show off the platform.

Go and give it a try and if you like it follow us on @gargoylme, @projectcausal. All comments and patches gratefully accepted.

There are number of similar projects that are kicking off in a similar vein: Locker Project and ThinkUp App. These projects are aimed giving the user the ability to backup their history on these social services.