February 2006 Archives

...all the PHP code I’ve seen in that experience has been messy, unmaintainable crap. Spaghetti SQL wrapped in spaghetti PHP wrapped in spaghetti HTML, replicated in slightly-varying form in dozens of places. -- Tim Bray

I've done a bit of PHP coding and I have to agree. I was lost trying to structure my code in some clean and reusable way. The PHP code in MT using Smarty isn't too bad, but its hardly the norm. I think ultimately the problem is that PHP makes it easy for people who don't know what they are doing to achieve results even at the expense of good solid development practices and methodologies.

How could I pass up a t-shirt featuring Anil Dash? Best part is its purple. (Anil is a HUGE Price fan. Get it?)

Douglas Bowman of Stop Design writes about sleek new Mac app called High Priority:

Leveraging the power and simplicity of iCal, Apple’s calendar software bundled with Mac OS X, High Priority allows you to create, edit, and remove your To Do items directly from the menu bar, without having to have iCal open.

I downloaded and installed it because it sounded like my type of tool. After testing it out a bit I must say it lives up to its billing. I like its approach as a faster similar interface to the To Do interface in iCal. That's really smart. I haven't worked it into my daily workflow yet though. I find this is the norm for any new tool I try. What can I say, I'm a high cycles guy that has little room for drag.

Try out High Priority. At $6 for a license ($12 for a family license and wallet busting $60 for a business license) you can't go wrong.

Some time ago I set a goal for myself to write a book. Looking over Amazon UK at Ben's upcoming book I noticed my name listed on the site. Given my aspirations it made me smile and wince at the same time. I've been involved in two[1] book efforts now, put a lot of work in only to have them cancelled. Both times I've been told its been for unfavorable market conditions and not my writing. At least that is their story and they're sticking to it. I was compensated for my efforts so it wasn't a complete personal loss, but I really wasn't in it for the money to begin with. (Never go into writing a book for the money.)

I did get to write a manual which is I suppose that's pretty close, but not exactly what I had in mind. (It would have been nice to have finished it.)

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

[1] Technically it's three if I count the Blog Hacks book that I was contributing a great deal to.

I was recently catching up with Ben Hammersley when he mentioned he was finishing up a book. Really? I said. Do tell.

Octet: The Eight Big Ideas You Need to Understand in the 21st Century.

The eight big ideas that will dominate the 21st century are: 1. Zero distance 2. Information wants to be free 3. Mass amateurisation 4. Metcalfe's Law - more is much more 5. True Names and Robust Identities 6. Everything is viral - the art of spreading 7. Personalisation of everything

Sounds good. Ben has quite a talent for blessing the mundane with wit and charm so I'm sure this will be an interesting read even for an alpha geek like myself. Alas, the publish date is February 8, 2007 so I guess I'll have to wait awhile.

In related news, DL Byron and company are said to be wrapping up their book Publish and Prosper : Blogging for Your Business due out much sooner and here in the US.