quick update: some vids that are definitely worth watching

Here’s a couple of vids that are definitely worth watching:

I’ve already memorised all the lyrics.

Here’s a dragonfly eluding a frog attack:

I’m a bit crook today, so I’ll post properly tomorrow, and catch up on formatting and posting tutorials too.

quick update: the best “rick roll” video yet

I have to say this is very well done – it’s a God roll…..enjoy!!

a new semester begins

Today is Tuesday (duh!), and uni started back yesterday. I am lucky enough to start my week at 8am on a Monday, so no easing into the lecture schedule for me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my papers has already released the first assignment. This means that I will actually be able to get onto it in a timely manner. Normally they all wait until third/fourth week to all release them at the same time, and then are all due at the same time. I’m a bit sick today, so I’ll be starting on this assignment tomorrow and trying to get it done by the end of the weekend.

Also discovered that one of my other papers get to play with Windows source code (WRK). Very cool!! It’s only the WRK for Server 2003 but, as they say, that’s pretty much the same as XP, which is almost the same as Vista; so there we go. My schedule isn’t too bad for my – touch wood – final semester before returning to the real world, so I’m not stressing over possible time issues at all. I’m doing mainly CompSci papers to finish off, but most of them are network related, so I’m really weighing towards mainly InfoSys in reality. I’ll also be completing my CCNA semesters 3 & 4 as part of one of my InfoSys papers which is a bonus. And, I believe my other InfoSys paper allows me to sit an Oracle certification at the end too. Look at me the uber-student.

Check this link out for a bit of a laugh when you get the chance (make sure you have sound!). It is safe for work. Also, notpron.com is classic. It’s also safe for work, but the url my cause filters to trigger, so best to do it at home. I have to put in the following video, just because I hadn’t seen it for ages, and I re-watched it again over the weekend. It’s still as ridiculously funny as it was when it first came out!!

As you’ll soon see, I’ve been going through my favourites folder on YouTube, and I went right to the very back end for the oldest (possibly forgotten) vids I could track down. Here’s Best Baby Break Dance:

and this one of a guy catching glasses with his face:

I’ll end the queue of videos with this one. It’s actually quite heart-touching, so enjoy and be happy for him:

I’ll be doing some more tuts this afternoon, or tomorrow. Something to do with XML and HTTP now that I’ve had a bit of fun setting that up for my site (launch will be within the next two weeks I think!!) and coordinating it with JS so that other sites can call to mine and get responses back. I’ll also look at something to do with dynamic JS creation from PHP.

things I learnt today….

Muchness was learnt today, but it’s all quite fluid really. I played alot with PHP stuff for the website, got reCAPTCHA working, went through all the SQL to make sure it was secure, and went through a lot more of the PayPal API stuff. I’ve just got to confirm the return calls from PayPal and that’ll all be good. All the other flow of the payments is lovely (now it’s jinxed, eh what?). The main fiddle to go is the generation of the attachments for the emails to clients. It’s someting REALLY simple (like all code is), but I keep missing it. I’ve got the file generation happening for download (.pdf, .xls, and .csv) but not the connecting to the email….I’ll probably fix it in 5 minutes tomorrow. 

I’ll be posting a big tutorial on dynamic .pdf generation over the weekend, or early next week, because I’ve finally got all of that sussed. I have to say, the biggest help with getting that side of it all figured out was all the 3D graphics and such from CS373. By the time I’d finished working in 3-space for those assignments, 2D for an A4 page was like being at the beach. The biggest thing is remembering to double-check the order you print to the page, and that you reset colors during loops for dynamic data printing.

Other stuff….one of my CompSci lecturers has proven himself to be above-and-beyond a wonderful and dedicated man. Burkhard from my CS373 paper, not only was answering assignment questions throughout the night in a lucid and coherent manner (answering questions at 1am, and then being back up to email the class at 7am!) but, in my humble (??) opinion, provided the most outstanding set of model answers for an assignment I have ever seen. Not only were they legible, but they were beyond comprehensive, and provided full explanations and detail! It is not the most common of things to happen, as most model answers require clarification….

I’ve got my 40% CCNA Semester 2 final exam tomorrow, so I’d best get some rest now.  I’ll leave you with this bit of excellence: 

and this shows just how brilliant a real Rickroll can be!! Gives new meaning to AWESOME!!!