General

Since I run two PHP-Nuke based sites, MacMegasite and WorldBeatPlanet, I’ve been looking for ways to improve the performance of PHP Nuke, since it can be slow at times.

One very easy improvement I found was in the file sql_layer.php. Nuke uses that module as a wrapper to interface with several different databases. Every SQL call goes through a switch statement which tests the database type and executes the appropriate code. Since I’m only using MySQL, I’ve eliminated all of those switch statements and each function now just calls MySQL directly.

I’ll be looking for other places I can optimize the code.

Spreading by the Web, Pop’s Bootleg Remix. Mash-ups, which combine songs without adding any original music, may represent the first new musical genre to be lifted out of the underground and spread via the Web. [New York Times: Technology]

John and I talked earlier today, about a bunch of things, including the Pim Fortuyn assassination, and Adam Curry’s role in the reporting. John said that Adam had nailed it. Fortuyn was not a clone of France’s Le Pen, although that’s how it’s being reported in the US. He was against immigration, but had a solid reason for being against it. The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe and is singular in its liberal philosophy. Fortuyn was openly gay. Many of the immigrants are Moslem. Holland is a democracy. If the electorate gets more conservative due to immigration, there goes what makes it so special. John points out that in some Moslem cultures they kill homosexuals. Other things to consider. Adam was a supporter of Fortuyn, and in the Netherlands, I understand that Adam’s support means something. I think of him as a friend, not so much a celebrity. I can’t say what it means to the Netherlands, it sure sounds scary, and I bet it’s got Adam pretty freaked, is he next, and that gets me freaked, as his friend. Anyway, I’m trying to figure out how to approach this. I sent Adam an email earlier (it’s 3AM in Europe as I write this), offering to run his essay through DaveNet. We’ll see where this goes.  [Scripting News]

via Wired News: What’s going on? Apple Ousts Coder for Being Young What is this all about? It seems like 15 year old Finlay Dobbie has had his access to ADC blocked. It seems that Apple does not cotton to the idea of having minors in the group. Surely there is a way of allowing minors to participate. A parent or guardian should be able to sign-off for them. What a great learning opportunity for young people, to be part of a computing virtual lab? Apple reconsider, get Finlay back on board and start recruiting others! [Radio X Neophyte]

The Beginning of the End for Microsoft?. Two decades ago, Microsoft made a name for itself with its cutthroat business style and

extremely influential marketing force. Having innovated very little, instead copying

several aspects of UNIX, DOS and Mac OS, the company elevated its position through shrewd

business tactics more often than through the merits of its software. [osOpinion]

Morons in the News: Do as I Say, Not as I Do (It). Now this takes me back… two winners of a sexual abstinence essay contest are pregnant… [Morons Dot Org]

Random: Excellent Editorial About Religious Right Revisionists. I came across this today while doing some routine news searches; it’s an editorial about the religious right already working to revise history that’s only a few months past… [Morons Dot Org]

Compulsory Windows: for Macs, and people without PCs?. Outstanding new MS educaiton (sic) initiatives… [The Register]

Cody is now laying in front of the patio door and making the weirdest sounds, not quite a meow, not quite a chirp. It’s so cute.

A little while ago, I walked behind my building to the river & I saw a racoon swimming. Too bad I didn’t have my camera with me – I never know what birds or animals I’ll see there.

16943 ª May 6 5:24 PM. Can gay sex succeed where Colin Powell failed? Great story about Jerusalem’s first gay pride parade, planned for June 7. Orthodox deputy mayor Shmuel Shkedi is incensed: “The very existence of these people is a provocation, their existence is uncivilized…This thing must be condemned.” Meanwhile, the organization behind the march, Jerusalem Open House, continues to host meetings of Israeli and Palestinian gays and lesbians on the same street where suicide bombers killed 11 and injured 188 last Dec. And here’s a report of Arik Sharon telling g/l leaders, “I think everybody should live their lives as they choose to” at a Feb. 26 meeting — the first-ever between an Israeli Prime Minister and representatives of the lesbian/gay/bi/transgender community. Commence group hugging now. (more links inside) [MetaFilter]