Older blog entries for xach (starting at number 86)

I've been trying to use prototypes to make new utility functions in perl. The "perlsub" documentation says this:

Perl supports a very limited kind of compile-time argument
checking using function prototyping.  If you declare

     sub mypush (\@@)

 then "mypush()" takes arguments exactly like "push()"
does.

But that doesn't seem to be my experience. I wrote a function called linsert. The definition is:

sub linsert (\@$@) {
    my ($aref, $index, @elts) = @_;
    splice(@{$aref}, $index, 0, @elts);
}

Then I tried to write mypush using linsert:

sub mypush (\@@) {
    my ($aref, @elts) = @_;
    linsert(@{$aref}, $#{$aref}, @elts);
}

It doesn't work; the original array is not altered. But if I use the built-in push instead of linsert, it magically works. It seems that this makes it impossible to build a pyramid of utility functions, as the base functions don't seem work as expected unless they're built in.

I also found out that $a and $b are special when "strict" is concerned. I had good luck making a "foreachpair" utility function, but I got tripped up when making "foreachtriplet". Ugh.

vab: I mailed you about converting the Gazetteer data to the format Zipdy uses. How did you do it? The file format consfuses me.

I just finished reading Catton's Army of the Potomac trilogy. It's pretty cool. I also read Robert Rodriguez's Rebel Without a Crew, which more than ever makes me want to rush out and buy a DV camera and start filming. Well, until I realize that Rodriguez is both intensely creative and obsessively hardworking, and I am neither. Ahh well.

My Togo thread got mentioned in a comment on slashdot, and it's since been spread around. Also mentioned were a bunch of funnier pranks played on scammers. I particularly like the three dollar scam.

My sister recently got back from a missionary trip to the Dominican Republic. Before she left, I gave her my old Nikon 6006. She really put it to good use, taking 20 rolls of slides. I scanned her selection of favorites.

In other news, I get to write perl all day for my job. Then I go home and read about nicer languages and wish I was smart enough to apply them at work. Sigh.

Every time I think I've gotten too ridiculous for Dr. Abed Solomon, he replies. I wonder how far I can go.

I recently started a discussion with a Togolese about helping him retrieve USD$15million from a bank account so he and I can become rich. It has been interesting so far.

raph wrote:

I got an exciting email a couple of days ago. Somebody smart (you probably know the name) is working on the spam problem, and asked me about trust metrics. I'll post more as soon as it's clear the person wants this info public.

Paul Graham's www.ArcHub.org says:

When you design a new language, you have to write programs in it to know whether it's any good. We decided to use Arc to write a new, free, programmable, spamproof Web-based email service.

I wonder if the two are related!

The USGS's Volcano Watch page is fascinating. From the most recent issue:

When lava meets the sea, large steam plumes (dubbed "laze" for lava haze) are created as the more than 1100°C (2012 °F) lava boils and vaporizes seawater. A portion of this steam recondenses and rains out of the plume as acidic precipitation that has been enriched with seawater salt, and contains tiny glass fragments generated by the intense physical interaction of hot lava and cool seawater. The pH of the plume precipitation is between 1 and 2, or between that of battery acid and pure lemon juice.

Acid mist suffused with glass fragments. Sounds like fun!

I really liked Signs. It was fun to see it in a crowded theater, where everyone gasped and jumped and laughed together.

I miss most of you. You know who you are.

I'm visiting my sister in Virginia this week. She has some cool stuff; she just dug out a 1923 American Type Founders Specimen Book and Catalog. It has all the classics; Gothic, Goudy, Hobo, Caslon, Bodoni, Copperplate Gothic, so many more. They're beautiful.