I converted all the PHP code that deals with databases (which mostly means the Archive and the Books page, but some other places too) from the MySQL (procedural) way of doing things to the MySQLi (OO) way of doing things. Right now, there's no difference, but I want to eventually take advantage of some of the advanced features of MySQLi (like prepared statements). Rummaging through my code, I found a lot of other things that could be improved, but what I really want to do, when I have a good chunk of free time available, is rewrite my entire damned site. In the meantime, if you find something that's horribly broken, please contact me.
2012
I've read two Bradbury novels, Dandelion Wine and its sequel, Farewell Summer. They were sadly only moderately good. I've also done some minor janitorial work on the Books page. Nothing major, just small patches here and there. I have great plans for that page, and the way the code is structured now, I'm hoping that extending its functionality will be a breeze.
For the past few weeks I've been learning JavaScript and jQuery side-by-side, representing my first (real) foray into "Web 2.0" (I insist on using quotation marks around that and I reserve my right to do so for quite some time). I've also toyed around with AJAX, and hopefully some of what I've learned will be applied here.
I return from the dead!
Hopefully this'll be last of the long (really long) hiatuses. The reasons for my extended absence are manifold, but in short, I've suffered a serious lack of inspiration and initiative. Since the last post my plan had been to again set up an RSS feed, but I discovered that there's no set standard for it, and so I simply gave that up, not wanting to choose between several competing standards and conventions and whatnot. Besides, my web site isn't a newsletter, right?
So in the preceeding year I've actually managed to read some books. I'll simply list them:
- The Woman Warrior
- The Grand Design
- What We Believe But Cannot Prove
- Quirkology
- Revolt on Alpha C
- To Open the Sky
- The Dawkins Delusion?
- Rocks of Ages
- Lying
- Why Evolution is True
- The Fifth Essence
- Discoveries
- Cosmic View
- Time Gate
- H. P. Lovecraft Omnibus Vol. 2
This is an abominable rate, I know. I am also painfully aware of the fact that my reviews are short and not that informative. The problem is that I don't immediately review the books I read right after I've read them, when they're fresh in my mind. But then again, if there wasn't room for improvement, where would the fun be?
I've got some stuff in the works, though. Doing nothing is boring, and I'm bored of being bored.
Hello?
There are 4 posts for 2012.