I can't believe it's been so long since my last diary entry.
It's been one of those weeks.
PHP
I'm having a lot of fun learning PHP and getting
proficient with it. It has some quirks that make it not act
like I expect, but it was great getting an answer from Rasmus in 7
minutes that explained the philosophy behind include files.
Open source is so cool that way.
The syntax is enough like server-side Javascript and C
that it's mostly intuitive (to me), but there's a few things
here and there that I find jarring. Mostly, after a whole
bunch of Python coding, I forget a lot of semicolons. I
indent everything the same though. :)
CottonBale is coming along nicely, with only the quirk
that my box at home is having trouble installing MySql to
develop further with. I really really really need a third
box to plop stuff from my existing two so I can upgrade
Rockhopper. It's beginning to grate.
Books
Looks like my coauthor and I will get our next book deal
after all, and I may wind up doing chapters for another
book, also cool. This requires writing a sample chapter,
quickly. Argh!
Obviously, since the deals aren't signed, I
can't really say anything about what books or for whom. I
found my box of my author's copies of SuSE Linux
Unleashed the other day -- I received it right before I
moved and never unpacked the box. It was HEAVY. It wasn't
glorious writing, but I always seem to learn something, no
matter how much I think I know, when I'm doing some digging
to write a book.
The new stuff should be MUCH less dry to write and,
hopefully, to read.
Office Environments
What Elise said.
Except both she and Brett, probably because it's "not
corporate," missed what I find even more useful: a recliner
with a monitor suspended over the chair. Something that
supports the head. This eliminates a whole bunch of stress
of keeping the head in position, which is where huge chunks
of stress in shoulders and the neck come from. Fortunately,
I work in an office where there is a wonderful, wonderful
benefit: biweekly massages paid for by the company. I'm sure
it will save money in the long run.
Misc.
Martin's posting
about disemvowel.py
reminds me of the time I walked into a friend's house and
they were playing Wheel of Fortune -- in Welsh. I asked why
and my friend Joyce replied, "The Welsh were a poor people.
They couldn't afford any vowels."
Fscking NT mail server at work. ::rolls eyes:: It's been
hours and they still haven't "gotten it up."