inbetween

Seventeen working hours later, I can now parse the hand-coded database. There was even more information hidden in the database than I realized, as some of the sections were to be sorted in a special way (1Gateways comes before Gateways -- don't forget to remove the 1), and some of the fields contained incorrect information, like the "sort" column which contained a mix of numbers and "on" and off (note the use of quotation marks).

But its all ok. Its in a proper database now, waiting for more normalization, and more "business logic" to be applied to it. Hurray. I even managed to whip up a quick PHP script to access the database and pull structured objects from it. I'm surprised how easy it was. I even wrote a couple iterators for it.

And did I mention I hate PHP? I don't think I did: I HATE PHP!

Objects don't have private variables. Strings don't interpolate method calls on objects properly. You can create objects willy-nilly just by refering to them. Oops, you created an object, and accessed the private variables: bbye encapsulation. isset(), is_float(), is_integer()... Why the hell doesn't isset() have an underscore like the rest of them?

Oh well, it won't be too bad. It won't, right? RIGHT?

Hello?

Tim Bray is from Vancouver, writes an interesting blog, and posts his photos. This ongoing · The Island Rose Trip: Day One entry really caught my attention.

Twenty after ten this morning: My van was found by the police.

No really.

Apparently, it was stolen and parked in some building's lot. The tow truck driver noticed that the ignition was broken (dangling really), and the door lock was dinged up. So he called the police, who called me and asked if I knew where it was.

Fabulous.

There wasn't any evidence. My tripod and insurance papers and my coat were stolen from the van. And the fuckers moved the rear seat around, probably to fit something big in it.

ICBC will probably, maybe, if they feel like it, pay for the damage.

Looks like the Shakespeare database is coming to fruition.

The sections are in place, in their own table. The hierarchy is good and simple, maintained with the sections table. I think that might change, dealing with hierarchical data in SQL is never easy. The links are all there, in the correct section. Getting here wasn't easy.

The previous database is a perfect example of the need for normalization. The section names had varying degrees capitalization (Gateways and gateways), even though they are the same section. On a first run through, there were two sections created: a bad thing!

I've put up a test page, to view the database structure and information in it. PHP seems to handle simple recursion quite well, which makes dealing with trees a lot easier. The test page even has some fancy-schmancy javascript to make browsing easier. It can show and hide sections of the page to make navigating down the tree much easier.

All things considered, I'm surprised by how easy it has been to put this database together thus far. KNOCK ON WOOD and all that. I might have to rethink my eternal hatred of PHP, and dislike of javascript.

First off, you need the MacPython Additions for 10.3 (MacPython Downloads) -- that isn't mentioned in the cvs2svn documentation anywhere.

Then, you need to install the Berkeley DB module, described at 7.13 bsddb -- Interface to Berkeley DB library. Download it from Mac OS X Python Packages -- it's called _bsddb. No really, the underscore is a part of the name.

That will be enough to get cvs2svn --help to run, but doesn't necessarily mean that the damnable thing will actually work. If you download and install cvs2svn from the website cvs2svn.tigris.org, it will be installed at /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.3/bin/cvs2svn, which isn't anywhere near the PATH environment varriable. Oh, and you have to unset your DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable before most of the python stuff will actually run, it seems to conflict with OpenOffice.Org.

How will you vote? Will you vote? I hope so.

With around fifty (yes, really) political parties registered for tomorrow's big shin-dig at the ballot box, how will you vote?

In BC, there are really only two or three important parties, BC Liberals who seem to be doing well, although I won't be voting for them, the New Democratic Party (whose leader will recieve my vote), and the BC Green Party (too conservative and single-minded for my liking). I'm tempted to vote for The Sex Party, but that'd be silly.

So, dear readers, who did you vote for? (anonymous comments accepted on this entry). Why?

I've always been curious about one specific voting question: Do you vote for a mainstream party because the alternatives don't have chance? If that's the case, how does an alternative party get votes?

Have you heard of Usha Uthup? I sure hope so. She's all full of Bollywood pop, and has a crystal clear voice. Go download her Usha Uthup-Discography, and tell me how much you love it. Especially Sunny, and Lemon Tree. So much fun to code to.

Speaking of coding, the new drafts of the template pages are beautiful. There are

Posted some new photos over on the gallery. Some interesting stuff, really makes me wish for a better camera. Mabe by the end of the summer I'll be able to afford one.

My favourites of the new stuff: one and two.

Go look, and offer comments.

Have you read it yet? Don't you think you should. Canadian charter of rights and freedoms

So... Quick quiz...

1. What are your fundamental rights and freedoms? By fundamental rights and freedoms, I mean those that are granted to you by your existence, not legislated, not reckognized by the government. What rights and freedoms do you, as a Canadian Citizen (or as a member of the human race) have?

2. Does a religion have the right to determine the validity of another?

3. Can we gather, in a peaceful assembly, to protest the actions of our government? (hint: see Charter clause #1).

4. If the Arnold Schwartzennegger was a Canadian citizen, could he be Prime Minister?

5. Do you have the right to work in Quebec? What if you don't speak French?

6. Do I have the legal right, under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to marry Ben? (hint: see 15, and 28.) Bonus question: What affect does 15 (2) have? What about the Not-Withstanding clause (number 33).

7. (Real Bonus Question) Why does New Brunswick get special mention in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

Answers and opinions in the comments please.

I think it is time for some changes to the site. I'm tired of seeing a lurg and a punt all over the place. Blogs won't be dropped, but maybe moved to the bottom.

And it is time to get away from a table layout to something... better...

I'm not sure what'll be better, probably something using XHTML/CSS. Maybe even XML, although that's a bit sketchy.