January 15, 2005
I have set up a local development environment with Apache 2.0.52, PHP 4.3.10, and MySQL. I can't believe I haven't done this before. It eases development that much. Goodbye, pointless uploading!
I have also been working on my new and improved infrastructure which I've nicknamed NaI. It's already beginning to show its merits. Most of the stuff being done is purely for my own ease and comfort and will remain invisible to everyone else, but some things will be visible on the front-end. For instance, all my news posts will eventually be put into a database and assembled on the fly and you will be able to, for instance, select how many news posts will be visible on the front page.
Books are now starting to consume my time. I've always been used to reading tons of stuff on the computer, dwelling into specifications for this and that, or just kicking back and reading articles on whatever happens to interest me at the moment (mostly from Wikipedia). But holding a book in your hands, sitting quietly by yourself, and getting sucked away by it is a truly amazing feeling. I am currently reading the omnibus edition The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide which includes The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and Young Zaphod Plays It Safe. Unfortunately, it doesn't include Mostly Harmless; I will have to get a hold of that at a later time and when I've finished this book.
Once I've read these, I'll have to get a hold on some of Isaac Asimov's novels. I've heard from several people that they rock.
I have been reading online comics for a while, and have made links to the ones I enjoy and read regularly on the Links page.