Older blog entries for heschong (starting at number 2)

I added an incredible amount of flexibility to the template functions in Pecos today. Template designers can now set properties, call methods, etc, on objects. In fact, the new capabilities are such that templates could theoretically be thought of as a (very) primitive scripting language. If I get all excited and add control structures, I might have something useful. More useful than DTML anyway.

Christ, since I've returned from work today, I've apparently escalated to about 30 SPH (sneezes per hour). If my calculations are correct, I've drained approximately 12 gallons of mucous out of my head today, with no end in sight. I've taken various types of cold medicine over the last few days (Nyquil Cold and Tylenol Allergy, an armful of vitamins, etc.) just to see if any would help. None have.

If anyone is in the mood for a great pop album to listen to when your sunroof is open, pick up Tahiti 80's Puzzle.

So I have a choice. Speed, simplicity, or power. Why do they have to be exclusive? Maybe I should learn Python?

Since I have several work-related deadlines looming, I had decided to go to work today. Now that it's almost 6:00pm, and I still haven't made it into the office (which is, I am ashamed to say, directly across the street from my apartment), I'm considering taking the day off. Looks like I have another hour or so before my girlfriend gets home and I have to start looking like I've been doing something productive.

I've realized why I am marginally proficient at web application programming. It's because I can digest the small chunks that it doles out to me. <click>(program starts, program stops). <click> (program starts, program stops). My short attention span fits in nicely with this model. Perhaps one is the result of the other.

I love/hate OS X. It's so fast/slow, and all the apps are incredibly stable/flakey.

Last week, Nicole asked me to take two days off to go to a bed and breakfast in Butler. Butler is the town that the TVA bought in the 30s for the express purpose of turning it into a big lake. They picked up all the houses and moved them elsewhere, but the people who live there still point out into the lake at the place that their old homestead used to be. It's slightly spooky.

So I agreed to go, and I set about trying to figure out a way to work from my laptop with no Internet connectivity. I discovered that getting Apache, PHP and MySQL installed and working under OS X was fairly simple, and so I moved my entire development environment onto my laptop. Is this a good idea? Probably not.

Of course, I did all of this for no reason. Between the peace and quiet of the inn and a strange attack of allergy/cold symptoms, I never even cracked the lid of my notebook open. Instead, I took a few naps, finished reading the Rudy Rucker *ware books, and played with a swarm of domesticated carp.