8:01a

I got a lot done last night! I mean, mods to Greymatter, the Toxic Waste shirts… stuff I’d been meaning to do for a long time, and it finally got completed. I think it’s amazing how much more energy you have when a) you’re not working four peoples’ jobs at the same time; and b) you aren’t spending an hour each way commuting to that four-in-one job. Got home yesterday and felt… like I could still accomplish something at home besides getting ready to pass out on the couch in front of the TV. It was good.

I did forget to schedule my next test for next week, but I can do that tonight after my haircut when I get home.

8:17a

My hair stylist called and moved my appointment to Thursday, so I guess I’m going home right after class. Fine by me.

8:29a

There are grounds floating in my coffee. Mmmmm.

9:55a

I’m going to try to merge my mods from last night (Greymatter) into the latest version of Greymatter (1.21d) since I’m not on it right now (I’m at 1.21c). However, the proxy server here doesn’t seem to allow FTP through, and my HTTP-based file manager didn’t get set up right in the transition, so I guess I’ll wait until I get home. Bah.

10:02a

Break time. We’re working on “events” in ASP.NET, which are pretty straightforward, especially now that I’ve already taken the Windows Applications programming course. Pretty much the same thing, actually, which is good - standardization appeals to me. It seems that it’s a hard concept for some folks in here, though, but I suppose never having written anything web-related will do that to you.

10:40a

Thank goodness for WWW2FTP. Fileman is up and running.

11:14a

Got the first lab of the day done, and we’re starting to get into some stuff I’m interested in. That’s good.

I’m going to go through (if I can) and see what’s different in the different versions of Greymatter. I think it’ll be minor stuff, but we’ll see.

11:36a

Well, I just went through the Greymatter source and compared my modified version of 1.21c to the latest version, 1.21d, and merged all the changes into one primary version, which I’d like to think of as 1.21e.

I noticed while going through the code that whoever put together 1.21d actually removed a bunch of security-related code (the encryption of passwords, etc.). I left that in my build, though I can see how it might stop it from being used on Windows-based servers that don’t have the “crypt” command available.

The 1.21d primary change was a small security fix where folks on using a PHP exploit could somehow corrupt your Greymatter site. Not sure what that exploit is, but I left the security fix in place.

So my version, the unofficial 1.21e, has:

• All of the features of Greymatter 1.21c
• The PHP security fix from 1.21d
• An updated comments posting routine such that when a user posts a comment (and you choose to be notified by email), the email will actually come FROM the user (if they provide an address) so you can potentially reply to the comment directly (the email layout is a little nicer, too)
• Updated configuration so you can specify your Amazon Associate ID
• Updated add/edit entry screens so you can use CTRL-SHIFT-E to add an Amazon Associate link, just by entering the item ASIN
• Updated the CTRL-SHIFT-A link hotkey (when adding/editing an entry) to automatically add a **clause (more often than not, I want that)

I am considering modifying it slightly so it will write an RSS file when you add/edit entries, but I’m not sure if I want to do too much more work with this if I’m just going to migrate to Movable Type anyway.

12:04p

Lunch. I’m not sure what I’m going to get yet, but I’m thinking I may chance Zupan’s (the market) again and see what sort of funky stuff they have that might NOT taste like Chef Boyardee.

12:38p

Back from lunch. Went to the market again, but this time looked around a bit more before I settled on their deli fettuccine alfredo. That was pretty good, actually, so if they have it tomorrow, I may get that. Also picked up a Tazo Lemon Ginger iced tea, which is tasty.

While I was there I saw a couple of interesting things. First, I saw a four-or-five ounce bottle of balsamic vinegar that costs $130. I’m not sure how you can justify paying that much for vinegar, but some people have money to burn. Second, I saw Natural Cheetos - Cheetos with supposedly no preservatives, artificial flavors, or artifical colors, flavored with white cheddar. They looked sort of like little cheesy larvae in the bag, sort of white and poofy. How can you have Cheetos without the orange fingers?

1:30p

Just finished an interesting lab involving tracing the execution of ASP.NET pages. A few things clearer there, and learned a couple of things I didn’t realize you could do.

2:02p

We’re looking at validating input, which is all well and good, but my brain has checked out. I’m remembering why I was never a fan of school; I can’t concentrate on any individual thing for this long. Plus, lecture/classroom learning, while better than just reading the book, isn’t the best way for me to learn.

I don’t know what the best way for me to learn is. Maybe I should avoid it altogether.

2:30p

Another lab down. Learned a bit about some of the functionality of the validation controls you can use. Don’t get me wrong, it’s neat stuff, but man… it’s programming. Ugh.

2:56p

Last lab of the day…

3:06p

Done. Yeah, boyeeee.

3:11p

There must be some stupid email thing going around again, because I’m getting spammed with all of these virus-laden mails with the subject lines “Re: Approved,” “Re: Thank You!,” and “Re: Re: My details.” To all the morons out there: Stop opening up attachments from people you don’t know.

3:12p

I guess that’s it for the day. I’m outta here. YAY, ME!