For some reason, my counter was saying I'm getting hits from 37express.
Holy moly. I wonder if they'll take me up on that.
May 2003 Archives
There's this great public radio station here, KXJZ, which airs NPR news programming throughout the day and then jazz music during the evening. While I'd prefer more jazz programming, KXJZ's combination works very well, which is probably why it's usually on while I'm driving. This led to my discovery of Marketplace, an excellent program that recaps the days business news and offers in-depth analyses of the economic impact of global events. Yeah, it sounds nerdy, but it's actually pretty entertaining and educational.
You know how watching any movie staring Rob Schneider feels like a self-lobotomy? Marketplace has a similar but opposite effect: you can almost feel your IQ expanding exponentially, and quite nearly feel comfortable expounding on how recent developments in Kyrgyzstan's wool industry will affect the wholesale price of Ugandan bananas on the world market.
Today they featured a commentary by former Texas governor Anne Richards on corporate public relations in the post-Enron era. Favorite quote: "Today corporations are under more scrutiny than a drunk at a temperance conference." She threw out a couple more colorful analogies, and had this great, grandmotherly voice, the sort you'd hear from behind a screen door, calling kids inside for cold milk and cookies on a lazy summer afternoon.
Random thought, really, but the only reason why I wrote this entry.
*The odd title for this entry is an inside joke for anyone who suffered through the "Economics U$A" video series during high school.
For you non-webby types, please excuse yet another geeky entry.
As many of you know, I've been using two Content Management Systems to keep my site updated: Movable Type for the news/journal and Blogger for the Linkathon. While these CMS's have allowed me to frequently update those respective sections, many of the other sections of the site have lagged behind, as Nathan pointed out to me the other day.
The main reason for that is, well, laziness. Or inconvenience, whichever you prefer. Blogger and Movable Type both provide nice GUIs to update content, without messing around with FTP and a minimal amount of coding. This made them great for what they do, but wholly unsuited for the other sections of my site. Many times, an update requires editing a text file locally and transfering it to my site with an FTP client. Not really that time-consuming, but for large updates it could get inconvenient. It also made editing from computers other than my home computer a hassle.
In this day and age, convenience is mother of invention. So I decided to roll my own CMS in PHP.
For those of you who don't know, PHP is a free, server-side language that's really easy to learn and really flexible. I already use it to streamline a lot of the processes to run this site. I've only dabbled in PHP, but that's about all it takes to throw a simple CMS together.
I knew most of the functions I needed for the CMS, and for everything else I used the top-notch documentation at PHP.net, which is geared toward someone looking for functions on an "as needed" basis. Users are also free to post additional comments on the official documentation, and it was in those little practical snippets of code that I learned the various quirks of the language.
The result is the Alpha Build of TheThousand.net Content Management System (aren't I great with names?).
For security purposes, I won't say where I've uploaded the system. I've also password-protected the directory where it's located. However, I've got a screenshot available for anyone who's interested. Not much from an aesthetic viewpoint, and still very rudimentary, but it's a start.
Erm, yeah. So I kinda got too busy on Saturday to take a ton of pictures. Oh well.
Got ONE today. I've always admired the Mikes (Young and Cina, that is), so it was kinda disappointing when they took a lot of stuff down to make way for WWFT.
37Signals, one of my dream companies to work for, is actually hiring. I'm wondering if I should apply...I don't quite fit two criteria they're really desiring (namely Chicago area and full-time), and...yeah. Random post today, folks.
The long-awaited Spring Break 2003 photo gallery is now available for public perusal.
Just found out about The May Day Project from The-RI. Think I'm gonna participate. Turns out it actually starts today, so I'm a couple pictures behind and still need to throw a site together. Once I build one and start posting, I'll update this entry with the URL.
Thanks everyone for the sympathy...I feel compelled to follow-up and say that my birthday turned out alright: my partner and I busted out our programs in less than ninety minutes, so I got to go out to dinner with my mom and my brother.
What did I order? Honey Walnut Prawns. Mmmm...
And when I got home, I found out that the sorority left me some of the tastiest birthday cookies ever.
And then Saturday night we had a birthday thingy for me at Baker's Square. Christian fellowship and a long overdue slice of French Apple Cream Cheese Pie. I'd call that a darn good birthday.
Ever have one of those mornings?
You know, the kind where you sit down in the CoHo with a blueberry bagel and cream cheese, ready to finish some homework, only to realize you left it at home?
So then you go out to catch the next bus, only to realize ten minutes later (and five minutes too late), that you're waiting at the wrong stop?
So you wait for the next bus, realizing that you'll be late for work and will have to shorten lunch. And when the next bus comes, it lets off its passengers, and immediately closes its doors and leaves. Apparently, the driver didn't notice you waiting, nor did she notice you waving your arms.
And so you stand there in the rain, mouth gaping and arms spread out in disbelief.
Yeah, one of those mornings.
It's nice having a good friend who can sympathize turn up unexpectedly.
So, you open up your umbrella, and decide to go to work early. You'll have to miss lunch entirely, won't be able to get the work in on your homework that you were planning on, and now will likely spend Friday evening finishing up.
But, hey, it's your birthday. That's got to count for something. And even a brief prayer brings much needed peace. And listening to Norah Jones at your desk...
Yeah, one of those mornings.
