That can explain my current PHP work. I'm currently working on a page that will display the names from a database and a checkbox that denotes if a person is subscribed to a mailing list or not. After working with code and posssibly inserting JAVAScript to only make an update if a checkbox changes from the loaded status, I found out that PHP will assigned a checked box the value of on if you don't assign it a value in the HTML code. That was the break I needed for my code. Using it, I was able to determine which boxes changed values from the initial values displayed and created the code to only update those that changed in status. It's a big deal for me. This exercise also exposed me to arrays in PHP and understanding them. In short: the page I was developing works. I now have the basis for at least 2 pages of my project developed. Once I get these test pages developed, reusing the code and adapting it for my project should not be too hard.

[♪ Listening to: "I Wanna Be Free" - The Monkees]

Well, not all, but the ones in Savannah seem to be. My day today has been spent combating them and their stupidity. Why should I have to do their jobs for them? They should know account numbers and all information regarding the clients they are collecting for! And medical billers are the cause my wrath today, too. I have at least 2 billers from my car accident that couldn't do what my insurance company asked them to do in order to get paid. One bill, which is really Nicki's, seemed to have gone to collection. And when Nicki told them who was responsible for payment, they basically told Nicki it was her problem to handle! So guess who's stuck doing the complete job for the local collection agencies? Me!

I'd rant more but I don't want to. All I can say is bookmark the The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,read it, know it, and being willing to fight collection agencies! Don't let a creditor intimidate you! Also, don't let these collection agencies double dip for payment. They will do it if you're not careful with your bills and aren't willing to dispute it. Collection agencies will do everything the can short of breaking the law to intimidate you and get money. And believe it or not, some of them will break the law to do such.

And now, the Thursday Threesome:

Onesome: Optimize-- Okay, it's geek time: what do you use to optimize your computer experience? Is there a program or tool or piece of hardware that has made a difference for you? Um, not use Windows? I've got 3 computers: A desktop and 2 laptops. The laptop I'm using at the moment is my older one with Ubuntu Fiesty Fawn on it. I'm using this computer for my Senior Project. Linux seems to run smoother than Windows did on my 512 MB of RAM on this computer. At the moment, I should be working on some simple PHP coding in regards to checkboxes.

Twosome: your-- firewall, is it a hardware or a software firewall? ...or is that something you leave to someone else to worry about? ON my Windows desktop, I have ZoneAlarm. I know the router we have is a firewall, in theory, as well.

Threesome: Firewall-- appliances and programs stop some stuff, but have you ever had to use a malware removal tool because something slipped in through email or from a web site? Oh yeah, I have. I had to use a rootkit remover to get a rootkit off my laptop after I CD I bought installed a rootkit on my computer. And I did let this POS spyware on my computer once when I wasn't paying attention to what I was installing on my desktop. I tried to use the spyware's remover but it *gasp* didn't work! I finally had to hunt it down and manually remove it.

[♪ Listening to: "Last Train to Clarksville" - The Monkees]

Graysie
Uploaded by peachy92.

I am on my third attempt to write this post.

This picture is of Graysie in the box my new laptop shipped in. I got a new laptop for $670.00. It's bare bones, with my splurges on a carrying case and spare charger. It cam with Vista and 1GB of RAM.

My goal is to downgrade the computer to XP for my final semester in school. I do need to learn ASP.Net, in some ways. My Senior Project will be in PHP on my Ubuntu box, but I'd like to still work with ASP.Net so I look flexible. My belife is that is doesn't hurt to know many things. I feel by learning PHP, I might do better as ASP.Net. I got an A in my Client/Server class last fall, but I was better at theory than I was at coding.

As to what I think of Vista? I like the glossy, glassy look. Again, that's a visual thing. My fear is it being such a resource hog, as to what I have heard it is. I plan on using it for a week, so I have a clue of how it is. Maybe I'll switch back when school is over for me. However, I can get the glossy, glassy look on my Ubuntu box with Beryl. I'm really not sure what to think.

Yesterday, the Executive Council for AASU's ACM chapter met to briefly discuss a few things and schedule our planning retreat next month. Last week, Joey, the secretary, and I met up to parse through pictures for the the website. It became an impromptu idea generating meeting as well. So, the Council will have some ideas to start with and we'll see where we go from there. The main goal we have is the get the website is up. Thankfully, using the template Aric created last year, I got some content developed this month. The site should be good to go before the start of Fall semester. When I got home from the meeting, I was able to modify a simple PHP e-mailer script I've used on my site and developed it such that I have a an error page that will load content a person have already filled out into the error form. It doesn't sound like much, but it was very educational for me in learn how to transfer and load session variables.

I learn by creating small stuff first and building on top of that. Because I have been doing the small stuff, I shoul have better luck with my Senior Project, which will require more stuff. I can expand on my knowledge. So far, I have developed a small addition script and now worked on a script that passes variables onto a dfferent page. That's a good bulk of my project there that I have worked on, in theory. Once I understand the theory, the coding shouldn't be too hard.

[♪ Listening to: "Special" - Garbage]

Sunset at the Beach
Uploaded by peachy92.

It's funny how little things in life go to show you have much power you have. I had one of those things happen to me today.

My afternoon was spent working with some ASP.net and PHP coding. I have got to say that I hate ASP.net I can populate a dropdown menu from a MySQL query in a snap in PHP. I spent about an hour in ASP.net trying to do the same thing. You think it's be easy, but it isn't. I much prefer PHP.

My evening was spent with my friend, Leslie. She needed time with a friend that would just listen and not judge her. We went to Wal-Mart and Tybee Island. While on the island, we went to the beach, talked to some strangers, ate at Spanky's, had some ice cream, and posed with a Tybee Turtle. I took my camera and took some shots of Tybee in summer. I think we both needed the time away from everyone else and being goofy. However, I need to find the swimsuit I took to Washington State. The one I wore today was ugly! I had fun.

[♪ Listening to: "All That I Wanted" - Evan and Jaron]