Phil Manser

I know I’ve let my feelings be known on PHP before, but I just thought of something that made me laugh. PHP is the slut of the internet. No really, think about it — it likes it fast and dirty and it will pretty much do it anywhere. It’s not as pretty as the others. And then of course it’s cheap…

But I’m not gonna touch the security holes.

I was working on something tonight that I thought would be fun to post on. It was, How I used Automator to extract addresses from Mail.

But I didn’t. Then I thought it was going to be, How I used Applescript to extract addresses from Mail.

But it wasn’t. Want to know what I used? PHP. Yep, no kidding.

Let me back up and explain my situation. My company has a client who is interested in details about his users as (naturally) most clients are (especially those spending a nice amount on ad campaigns). Anyhow, one key piece of information was overlooked while developing his database - user registration time. For those who might not realize the implications immediately, without this bit of information, certain queries would be impossible. Say your client wanted to know how successful his last ad campaign went and how many more users than average signed up. You’d be screwed.

In comes Providence. (Some people demand proof that there is a God, I just take a look at my life and know the answer.) For some silly reason, I set it up so that I should get a copy of each confirmation of registration message that the site generates. I didn’t think it would be too much, but over the past few days, I’ve been getting one every couple of minutes. That’s a lot of data that’s missing. And when I realized that all the data was there, I tried to think of the best way to get to it.

But the best way is not always the way you expect. I tried the apple solutions, and I’m sure I could’ve made one of them work, but I would probably be up for a couple more hours just to learn how to make them work. I even thought of trying Ruby or Python ’cause I really don’t like PHP, but in the end, it was the best solution. It was the best solution because:

• It did what I needed it to (directory listing, file reading, document creation)
• I knew how to use it

This is new to me. When I tackle a job, I’m ready to start all over from scratch. Relearn everything if necessary. This whole using the bottom of your shoe to hammer a nail thing is weird.

But it works, and I like that.

This may just be the sleep deprivation talking, but I feel especially happy this morning. I don’t know why exactly; I got a few things done during the night, but not a whole lot. I’m just feeling good and deciding to enjoy it.

I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning. It seemed like a nice day, so I grabbed my coffee cup and strolled around. I don’t know exactly why I enjoy looking at houses so much. My dad has the same like, and I guess it’s a little strange. I particularily like seeing the unique ones. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just different. A house doesn’t feel like a home unless their’s something that sets it apart from the other places, in my own opinion.

As I walked a little further and passed by one particular house, a reason as to why I enjoy looking at houses formed. The house I passed that inspired this was one I had seen built while still a child. I remembered that when we took walks past it, I would let my mind wander and imagine that I lived in it. I still do that occasionally. I didn’t just imagine that I moved into though. I would actually imagine that I had grown up in it, that I woke up in the mornings and descended the spiral staircase to the kitchen.

It never surprised me until today that everything was changed just because of that small alteration. Displacing your past a block and a half away from where it actually occured should probably not alter its outcome so much, but it my imagination, it always does. Perhaps it is the influence of my feeling that everything in this life lies in delicate balance with everything else, so that if you were to alter just one little thing, everything would feel its effect. Or perhaps my imaginings formed this opinion in the first place.

Maybe you have a path that runs to nowhere in your yard. Maybe you sing anything but on-key. Maybe your neighbor has this crazy art deco thing in their front yard. Maybe you have a collection which defies explaining. But its yours. Treasure it, cultivate it, use it, grow it, but never be ashamed of it simply because it’s unique.

I saw a big, ornate house under construction and next to it, a dumpster with the words “All Waste” on it. I completely agreed.