Archive: February 20, 2003
Check out these crazy dance moves!!
Hey, also check out this narcoleptic dog.
Question: Is it possible to find out if two references point to the same thing in PHP and Python?
I know in Java you can just compare the references directly: a == b will tell you.
I know in C/C++ you can just compare pointer memory addresses: a == b will tell you.
I know in Perl you can stringify a reference and compare the resulting strings, since a stringified reference contains the memory address.
Ruby has object.equal?, etc. etc. I'm not quite sure about things like VB/VBscript and Javascript right now.
Anyway, the point is, references are pretty seamless in Python and PHP. Is there any way to find out that two variables aren't just equal, but point to the same thing?
Brent has an awesome rant about why I've always hated Windows XP.
I finally gave XP a try on my new machine.
The bold primary colours, the fonts and pictures, the icons and widgets that look like alphabet blocks, the condescending tone of the prompts, the wizards that assume you're an imbecile, the Teletubby landscape background, the automatic password-free signon, the invitation to hold on to the MSN rope so you don't get lost - it's a FUCKING KINDERGARTEN.
Yes, I know it's essentially Win2k underneath, if you can dig through all the sugar and crap to get to it. And even then, I'd never be quite sure that some handholding automaton isn't going to come along and readjust my environment "for my comfort and convenience" after I've set things up Just So.
That partition only lasted 35 minutes. Buh-bye Tinkywinky. Buh-bye Po. Good morning Windows 2000, thanks for not trying to wipe my ass for me.
Via Simon, a rah rah Python article.
Let's play a little game of deduction. I'll give you a description of a certain high-level, object-oriented programming language, and you tell me what it is. It's been around since the early 1990s and is free to use and currently in hundreds of open-source applications. Platform independence is one of its big hallmarks. Improved readability and reuse are natural benefits of the language. It's sometimes seen as a major improvement on an older language that was used as its basis. An exhaustive standard library is included that covers everything from I/O to data structures. A number of extension libraries are also available for strategic business applications such as Web development, database interactions, CORBA, GUIs, and even Web services. And last, organizations such as BEA Systems Inc., IBM, Google Technology Inc., Yahoo Inc., Disney, Red Hat Inc., and even Industrial Light & Magic all use it.
Now after all those clues, your answer is probably the Java language. Wrong. The answer is Python.
I wasn't going to link to this (via WHEDONesque), but this part made me laugh out loud so I had to.
Writing Star Wars references into Buffy - Like Fury, Drew Goddard doesn't go out of his way to make Star Wars references. "No, they just come naturally, especially when we're writing Andrew and Jonathan, or Xander. Star Wars is just such a benchmark for every male that age, so when you're writing these characters, it's just natural."
Writing for the three nerdy villains is particularly easy, he says. "If I need something for them to talk about, I stick my head out of my office, and I listen to whatever Doug and Drew are arguing about, and I just write it down."
You also have to read these 100 questions asked of Joss (via WHEDONesque again).
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Thursday, February 20, 2003
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new⇒Quantum physics and free will
I knew you were going to say that....
Tom Massey: Mar 15, 9:26pm