14 Apr 2000 deirdre   » (Journeyer)

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."

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