I’ll Tell You What…

When I was self-learning C, Pascal and C++ I always did very well until the section on pointers came along. I'm not sure what the aversion was to those things but now they present themselves, with even more nifty little symbols, in Perl. I know they aren't the exactly the same thing but they work very similar in practice. Here's one of the review questions.

What is x in these expressions? ("hash reference", "array of scalar references", etc.)

1. $$x
2. ${$x}[0]
3. %$x
4. ${$x[0]}
5. @{$x[0]}
6. %{$x{"java"}}
7. @{$x}{"perl", "c"}
8. ${${$x{"perl"}}[0]}{"rules"}

Oh boy! Here's a quote from today that is so very true:

Objects will not save the world nor will it save a failing project.

Here's one from the slides:

Perl's OO is fully buzzword compliant

• single inheritance, multiple inheritance, delegation, polymorphism, encapsulation, operator overloading, persistence, multiple dispatch, ...
• every buzzword is optional

The following are all equal:

sub new {
    my %object;
    my $class = shift;
    bless(\%object, $class);
    return \%object;
}

sub new {
    my %object;
    bless(\%object, shift);
}

sub new {
    my $objref = {};
    bless($objref, shift);
}

sub new { bless {}, shift }

Whew!

The State of Maryland is the Buffoon of the Week.

This is a pretty good summary of a state that has lost touch with reality.

First day of Perl training and I must say that Tom Christiansen is most impressive. I’ve never seen anyone push vi to the limit as he does. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with what he’s doing because he’s so fast.

He’s a funny guy, too. Here’s one of his quotes from today:

The answer to all Perl questions is “yes.” The more disturbing answer is “yes, but…”

Maybe you just had to have been there.

He called a lot of stuff “icky” today such as the weather. I’m not sure he intended to or not but after a bit it started to get a little humorous.

Icky little cmd.exe in Windows.

Remember, printing a Perl POD is as easy as typing

$ pod2man mods16 | groff -Tps -man | lpr -P


This can sometimes be your friend:

$ cat -v -t -e -n

where -v displays non-printing characters, -t displays tab characters as ^I, -e displays $ at the end of each line, and -n numbers the lines starting with 1. I find it to be a lot faster than typing

$ vi

and then typing “:set nu” and “:set list” when I just want to see what’s going on in a certain line. YMMV.

I travelled up to Sugar Loaf Community and drove around for a long time taking pictures. Checking a topographical map, I think reached an altitude of ~8,000 ft. I could start to feel the effect of low oxygen in the air but it wasn’t too bad. It was just a little distressing when my breathing rate increased subconsciously and yet I still could not get a satisfying deep breath.

According to the Navy, there’s a decrease in oxygen between 18 and 19% in Boulder alone. And at 8,000 ft, there is an oxygen deficiency of 19.5%. That 0.5 to 1.5% decrease in oxygen was very noticeable to me. Maybe that’s because I live at an altitude of 30 ft

Hopefully, I’ll some pictures up on my photo website soon.

The seats on a Super 80 just aren’t as comfortable as they used to be. My left leg feel asleep a number of times on both legs of my flight and because of that I only got about an hour’s worth of sleep. Oh well. At least I made in one piece, thank you, Lord.

The Denver airport is at least 45 miles away from Boulder and it seemed like much more since I wasn’t sure where I was going. To make things a little more anxious, I’d forgotten to bring my map that had the route to the hotel. But, again, the Lord was guiding me it seemed. Once I found myself just coming into Boulder I started thinking that I should take this exit or that exit. But the over-riding thought was to just stay on my present course. The interstate I was on turned into the main thoroughfare (28th Street) which made me to really start second guessing my earlier decisions. But I stayed on 28th and just about the time I was about to turn I found the street I need, Valmont. I found it hard to say it was all just luck so I quit trying.

After I found the hotel and checked in I went to the Olive Garden for some lunch. I think I left there around 2 PM MST and went straight to bed. After a good seven hours of sleep, I got up took my nighttime medicine and went back to bed. Nothing eventful happened that day.

In just a few hours, I’ll be on a plane heading for Denver. After touchdown, I’ll drive north-west to Boulder, CO. This time I’m off to study Perl at the Tom Christiansen Perl Consultancy for a week. This should be an interesting trip because I’ve never been to Colorado (except to catch a connecting flight to San Diego many years ago). Taking lots of photos of the Rocky Mtns. is on my agenda. I’m hoping to get to Pike’s Peak and Garden of the Gods!

Ok. Who are these two men? Are they the same?

Well? Any ideas?

From an email I received from the ACLJ:

American Center for Law and Justice
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005

He was not acting combative or shouting obscenities.

He had not hurt anyone or caused any disturbance.

And yet Daniel Heenan, a college student from northern Virginia, was attacked and wrestled to the ground by a security guard outside of a Washington, D.C., Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Because the guard was behind him, he never even saw him coming.

What was Daniel doing there? Exercising his free speech rights - participating in a prayer vigil and offering a message of help and hope to women approaching the facility.

Now, the ACLJ needs your help to bring the Planned Parenthood security guard to justice and fight the ongoing battle for the sanctity of human life. The lawsuit has been filed, so please make a secure online donation today to protect pro-life demonstrators and unborn children. Donate today.

Daniel Heenan had not provoked the security guard in any way. He never said or did anything that would indicate he was going to enter the clinic … never expressed aggression or intimidation. He was simply taking a stand for unborn babies - and attempting to save a baby from the horror of abortion through a peaceable demonstration.

It is unacceptable for citizens of the United States, who are on public property, to be tackled and knocked to the ground by security guards!

And to make matters worse, several officers of the Metropolitan Police Department witnessed the altercation and refused Heenan’s request to press charges. No police report was made concerning the incident. This is a blatant free speech violation, and those involved MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

Last week in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, our Washington, D.C., legal team filed the lawsuit on behalf of this courageous young man against Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, Inc., and Harry James, the security guard. It contends that James and Planned Parenthood committed battery against Heenan which resulted in both physical and emotional injury to him. It asks that Heenan’s constitutional rights be protected against the defendants in the future.

We must fight this battle in the courts for Daniel Heenan … for everyone who peaceably demonstrates in front of abortion clinics … but also for those trying to protect life. If we do not, who will be next to face unlawful discrimination for standing up for their beliefs? You? Your loved ones?

WE MUST STOP THIS NOW! We must send a strong message that violence against peaceful pro-life demonstrators will not be tolerated! We must stand up for our First Amendment rights to speak freely. Today, we urge you to give as generously as you possibly can online to help us fight - and win - this significant pro-life case. Donate today.

The ACLJ’s team of skilled researchers and lawyers will work tirelessly to see this case through to a victorious end. But we cannot do that without your prayers and financial assistance.

Please give an online donation today to protect unborn babies. Donate today.

Thank you.

American Center for Law and Justice
P.O. Box 90555, Washington, D.C. 20090-0555
Phone: (800) 296-4529

Which Incredibles Character Are You?


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You are Ephesians.

Which book of the Bible are you?

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I think I may actually need this new Calvin and Hobbes collection set. It’s not too late to send that late birthday present. Hint, hint.

American Cities That Best Fit You:

65% Austin

60% Seattle

55% Denver

50% Atlanta

50% Honolulu

Ooooo… I can live with that!