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October 31, 2005
October 27, 2005
Programming Cheat Sheets
When I’m coding or generating MySQL queries or using an editor like vi, I often can’t remember the exact syntax for a function that I don’t use very much. It’s a pain to crack open a book to look it up, and I have to wade through search results if I Google for the word. As a result, I have lots of cheat sheets hanging up on the walls around me. These sheets simply list all the functions or commands with single-sentence descriptions, and provide me with the hint I need to get it right. Here is a fantastic list of cheat sheets available around the net.
PAJAJ: PHP Asynchronous Javascript and JSON
Just as much of the Internet has lately, I’ve started taking closer notice of AJAX. I’m a big PHP fan, which concentrates on the server side versus AJAX’s emphasis on the client side, so I’m having to learn a whole new skill set. I came across a very cool PHP library that makes adding AJAX functionality to a PHP-heavy site very easy. Check it out.
October 25, 2005
Not Lovin' It
When McDonald’s runs their Monopoly promotion every so often, I have fun collecting the game pieces to see how many I can get before they run out and the game ends. I don’t go out of my way to eat there, but someone in the family usually blows through the drive-through a few times a week, so they can add up pretty quickly.
I was just perusing the rules page, and made it down to the table at the bottom of the screen that lists your odds of winning something. The instant-win prize odds look about as you’d expect, with the chances in the range of one in a few thousand to one in a few hundred thousand. Get down to the big prizes, though, and yikes! You’d do better playing Powerball. Your chances of winning a movie package by collecting the yellow properties or an electronics package by collecting the green properties is one in two billion. You want to win the Dodge Viper by collecting all four railroads? Prepare for one in 17 billion!
I can’t imagine McDonald’s spends much on prizes for this game, because the chances of anyone winning anything are nearly zero.
Human 2.0
When I hear the Kurzweil name, I always think of the wonderfully advanced voice recognition and OCR systems from the 1980s and 1990s. The company continues its cutting edge technology march, and at its helm, founder Ray Kurzweil continues his forward thinking. In this essay I found, he looks at how technology has progressed over the past century and, given its exponential growth, where it could go in just the next few decades. Fascinating and exciting stuff.
October 24, 2005
Leaked Via Media Minutes
Here’s an excellent essay examining the leaked Via Media USA minutes. The document supposedly reveals this ECUSA-supported organization’s plans for doing damage control after General Convention 2006 should ECUSA not go far enough to heed the warnings in the Windsor Report. Well thought out and balanced.
October 20, 2005
St. John's Bristol Elects New Vestry
Wow. Here’s a new twist. When Connecticut’s Episcopal bishop Drew Smith took over St. John’s Bristol claiming that their rector had abandoned the parish, he also dissolved the sitting vestry and assigned a new rector. The die-hard members of St. John’s started calling themselves “St. John’s in Exile” and are worshipping at nearby Trinity Bristol. When members of the “Connecticut Six” filed a lawsuit against Drew, the diocese, and the state, members of St. John’s in Exile were listed among the plaintiffs.
Now, the members of St. John’s who stayed behind have elected a new vestry that canonically speaks for the parish of St. John’s in all day-to-day matters. They have officially withdrawn from the AAC and the Anglican Communion Network, and have distanced themselves from the lawsuit. It should be interesting to see what happens now that you have two disparate groups claiming to represent the same parish. Many have claimed that Drew overstepped his authority in taking control of St. John’s. I’m sure similar charges will be levied claiming that he put a “puppet” vestry in place to do his bidding. I’m anxious to see what a court has to say.
October 19, 2005
QuickTime upgrades
I came across a very “timely” blog entry chronicling what it’s like to install Apple QuickTime on a Windows machine. There is something satisfying about knowing I’m not the only one annoyed by the whole process.
October 5, 2005
Making Money from Spam
Have you ever wondered just how much money you’re missing out on by not acting on all those hot stock tips you receive in your e-mail inbox? Someone decided to find out. He started tracking what he’d spend if he purchased 1000 shares of every stock recommended by incoming spam, then how much he’d make or lose on that stock over time. I thought about doing this myself a few times, but he was able to automate it so anybody can check it in nearly real time. The results are just about as you’d expect.
Episcopal Church Split?
Being involved with the vestry at my church, I’ve had a front-row seat watching what’s been happening in the Episcopal church since the approval of Gene Robinson as the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. Things are starting to heat up again as some of the more conservative parishes and dioceses begin to push back against the church hierarchy. I figure I’ll post links here as I come across interesting articles.
The first is an interesting read about some larger parishes breaking away from ECUSA completely. The writer may be using a bit of hyperbole, though, since I know something of the six parishes involved in the Connecticut lawsuit, and I wouldn’t exactly call them powerful.