Dreamweaver - PHP: I'm loving it!

I feel like a giddy fan boy.

I resisted using Dreamweaver for some reason.  The only help I really need is an editor which will color code some components of the language.  Make the comments chartreuse, key words blue, character strings purple, etc. and I'm satisfied.

It only took a brief exposure to Dreamweaver whining that I hadn't closed an open quote - Hey!  I'm not finished typing - that I realized the real power of the application.

Just that nagging is enough to get me to do what I usually do, but more consistently.  In my configuration Dreamweaver puts a red bar in the margin when there it detects an error on a line.  This means that if I start to type a quoted string, I will see the red bar within a few seconds of typing a quoted string unless I have already typed the closing string.  Good practice is to start writing the quoted string by typing the opening quote, then the closing quote, and then filling in the actual text.

Is is so affirming to not see the red bar that I've found myself coding more carefully.  And of course the predictive features where potential variables are listed in a popup makes it even easier.

And PHP?  Ask and the documentation returns clear explanations and easily understood examples.  What's not to love?

Contrast that with Python's documentation.  Language boosters hurl invectives at any perceived slight of their one true language.  I do not want to do anything like that here.  If I spent the time to study Python I'm sure it would take less than a week for me to speak rapturously of Python's glories, but I would still whine about the official documentation.

For years I've told students how much better their technology is than the stuff we learned on.  Unfortunately it now means that instructors can demand more from their students  (Students rarely win.  Just recently I saw a student turning in a hand drawn graph.  When I asked him why he didn't - I didn't get a chance to finished the sentence before the student answered that that the instructor wanted it hand drawn.  I can understand that.  Hand plotting gave me a feel for data.  But after doing several, why not give the kids a break?)

I on the other hand am just enjoying writing in PHP because the documentation has clear examples and, because I haven't yet run up against the limitations of the language, loving it.

Coding is fun once again.

Passives, Pandas, and Dangling Modifiers

This is about a post, "Passives, Pandas, and Dangling Modifiers", to the The Chronicle of Higher Education Lingua Franca blog discussing a mistake about the passive voice and dangling modifiers.  The post contains a joke told by presenter Sandi Toksvig, presenter of a Radio 4 comedy news program:

“Though overweight, uninterested in sex, and notorious for their very poor diet,” she said, pausing for exactly the right fraction of a second while we took this in, “they were still very glad to see the pandas arrive.”

I originally thought the "they" would be the Scottish Conservative party, but it was actually the Scots themselves.

Kuduro

Kuduro is a type of African music I first saw mentioned in an interview with a tailor originally from South Africa.  Figuring that youtube would be be the best place to look I came across a video which featured a number of stunning dance/acrobatic moves.  (As I write this I suspect that the "stunning dance/acrobatic move" may be just ho-hum ordinary for those in the know about the culture, but just new to me.)

About 1:23 seconds into "Buraka Som Sistema - Sound of Kudur"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CkXhtw7UNk a young man takes a step, seems to kick one leg out from under him with the other leg and taking a silent screen worth prat fall twirling his legs as his body spins in mid air so that he lands face forward.  (Looking at the sequence over and over the timing varies from 1:23-1:28 minutes into the video.)

While one part of my mind is marveling at their physical ability another part is wondering about monetizing their skill.  After watching the sequence over and over a more accurate description is that he seems to be executing a weird low level pole vault where he walked past the bar, and then threw himself backwards over it.

The price of spending an eternity as a moth

Starting from "'It' Girls Work Both Sides of the Camera" in the Thursday Styles section of the February 16^th 2012 NY Times about fashion models taking up the camera I learned about web sites/blogs streetfaces (part of Flickr), Face Hunter, Sartorialist (actually TheSartorialist) and took to the web to see for myself.

One of the first pieces of advice a novice photographer gets is to determine the point of interest.  With people, that generally means getting in close.  Looking at these fashion sites, I was struck by the fact that most of the photos are full length shots and the photos do not have the "Instamatic look" of amateur photos. 

Duh, well the photographers know what they're doing. Perhaps it's just that the subjects aren't full face facing the camera with their hands rigidly by their site, a corpse propped upright.

 For some reason this image (http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-the-street-most-chic-paris/) caught my eye.  I didn't find the person or the style particularly appealing, but the comments drew my attention, especially this response to a previous comment:

Do I detect a twist of envy in some of these comments? From a Buddhist perspective, I would gladly pay the price of spending an eternity as a moth for the pleasure of being reincarnated as her boyfriend, even if just for a day. ~ j. crisp October 22, 2007 at 12:11 pm

While most comments related to the fashion I was surprised that one photo (I can no longer locate) of a young woman on a bicycle in London drew considerable criticism because she was riding without a helmet.

Worried the Kardashians are giving trash a bad rep?

Thrillists subject line was "Kickflip These Onto Your Face", but their lead, quoted above, was clever I thought: the email promoted JackThreads's salvaged wood frame eye glasses.

Recyclers should appropriate the phrase for their own use: "Giving trash a good name".

The Queens SK8 with "vintage ebonised arms" and special hinges for a "highly satisfying skull grab" is shown below.

I remember a snippet of a Sanford and Son episode where Red Foxx, playing the older Sanford dismisses the stuff in the back of his son's truck with, "This stuff gives garbage a bad name."  (Maybe it was trash getting a bad name, but you get the idea.)

Body Double for Video

I stumbled over Roger Penwill, a cartoonist who has some CAD and computer related cartoons www.penwill.com/ and (http://www.cadcartoons.com/cadcartoons_cartoons.html).  I'm not sure If I'm violating the terms of service by linking to an image on his site.

This cartoon displays raises the level of deception far above removing zips from images posted to a dating site.

More Quotes, Turns of Phrase, and Jokes

" I knew that the actual objectives of war were always camouflaged by well-designed lies that exploit collective fear and perpetuate national myths." -  by SINAN ANTOON "Fifteen Years Ago, America Destroyed My Country" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-anniversary-.html

"... Canonical is still committed to pushing envelopes others are only now learning to lick and fold." From http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-things-the-linux-desktop-can-be-proud-of/3093.

She: I want to get drunk and do something stupid.
He: I'm something stupid.  Do me.

Paraphrased and stolen from Prairie Home Companion:

• What he took for a gleam in her eye was only her special contacts.
• Marriage is like bridge: you start with a heart and a diamond and end with a club and a spade.
• If the going gets tough look for the nearest exit.
• Multi-tasking means reading on the toilet.
• The difference between death an marriage is that when you're dead you don't wish you were married.
• A paranoid schizophrenic though he was following someone
• Did you hear about the paranoid schizophrenic? He always thought he was following someone.
  

From Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me:  Rick Santorum has nothing to boast about.  Caligula's horse was also a senator.

From http://www.jokesplace.com/joke/mentalhealth.html:

• If you suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call. 
• If you have obsessive compulsive disorder, press 1 repeatedly.  
• If you are hearing voices, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press.
• If you are dyslexic, press 96969696969696.

From Car Talk: The difference between death and marriage: When you're dead ...

"the only consolation I can receive"

Vatican secret archive opened in EMC-sponsored exhibition

From yesterday's ComputerWorld:

EMC said its sponsorship was part of its Information Heritage initiative, in which it has been digitizing historic documents and making them publicly available.

The letter by Marie Antoinette is thought to have been addressed to Louis XVI's brother Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, who in 1824 became Charles X, King of France.
The letter, which is only 10 lines in length, reads, "The sentiments of those who share my pain, my dear brother-in-law, are the only consolation I can receive in this sad circumstance." The letter is then signed, "Your loving Sister-in-Law and Cousin Marie Antoinette.

Sentiments being the only consolation is universal. What can others do about our sorrow? (If this were the 60's drugs would be answer proffered for any situation.)

A Cold Call

A few days ago I received a call at the office. A female voice asked me if I remembered our previous conversation. "No.", I said. "I have no recollection of ever talking to a female stock broker."

It's true. She went on to relate the date she called, her recommendation, and some personal information intended to convince me of her veracity, probably the first car I drove. (In her sales training they probably use the word "truth" instead of "veracity", but that's the way I speak.  Also, I usually lie about the car,  claiming to drive a much cooler car than I ever drove and because that information is frequently used online to establish identity. )  Would it be possible to pass along contact information from one broker to another?

"Go ahead." I said,  "Do your stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Your sales pitch."

She didn't get all huffy, but, like the pro she was, she asked, "Are you familiar with ARM Holdings, ARMH?"

I said I didn't, but just as soon as she started to explain why she thought I would make a killing because Apple was rumored to want to buy the company I interrupted. (A bad personal habit, but beating someone to the punch line to jokes is a blood sport around here.)

"Oh the ARM processor?  Yeah it's in cell phones, netbooks, and ..." I went on a bit and then asked her if she knew what percentage of Apple's income came from cell phones.

She didn't know.  (I've got a small 3-ring binder with sales calls scripts.  Scenarios where the mark has fun with the caller isn't covered.)

Only a few days before I remember seeing a pie chart of Apple's income sources (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-apple-and-google-where-does-the-money-come-from/4469).  I spent a few minutes giving her the benefit of my minimal analysis of Apple's finances and the limitations of the ARM processor.

 

Anyway she wanted to establish a relationship right there and then.  I suggested that she trust in the Postal Service.  (I was once advised to have those things sent via the Postal Service instead of FedEx because sending fraudulent material through the Postal Service is a federal offense.)

I'm waiting.

Andrew Breitbart Dies at 43

My first thought when I saw the headline yesterday was "How nice."  Reading that he had a wife and 4 children only made me wonder if he'd bought enough life insurance.

Charles Krautheimer said, "And you know when people die, you say they are irreplaceable as a cliche. But I think in this case, it's true."  (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/03/01/krauthammer_breitbart_is_irreplaceable.html)  Let's hope he's correct.

There was an obituary some years ago about a guy who'd worked on Wall Street, been convicted of some financial malfeasance, and then spent the rest of his life after prison working with the poor, people with AIDS, and the homeless.  The obit had a quote from former New York City mayor Ed Koch saying that the guy had nothing to apologize for.  The same could not be said about Breitbart.

Contrary to those who would comfort me with expectation of Breitbart's retribution in the afterlife, he went too quickly for the pain he caused.