September 2005
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Date Displays with PHP
Just a few minutes ago, a friend asked about displaying a future date on his web site. In this particular example, he wanted the name of the next month. In other words, he'd like the word "October" displayed, since it is currently September. Next month it should change…
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Aruba Has Been Busy
No, not busy with solving crimes or anything useful like that. But in their credit-card processing department. You see, we went to Aruba in June of 2004. For those keeping track, that is roughly 15 months ago. One of the last stops on the trip was at Iguana…
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Gas Prices Drifting Down
In the course of about four hours yesterday, I passed not one, but two stations twice (that is to say, I passed them in one direction, and later in another) and by the return trip, prices had dipped by $0.05 per gallon for regular. That means we're seeing…
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A Bit Too Jumpy
Yesterday Los Angeles lost power either because someone connected a cable incorrectly or cut the wrong cable (I've seen both reported). Now I understand there was some suburban white guy on TV the day before saying that Los Angeles was the target of a terrorist attack, but really…
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Should New Orleans be Rebuilt?
Nearly a week ago, I made some comments about the levee system in (around) New Orleans. Today, I read this piece that talks about the same issue, but takes it one step further. Notably, they wonder if New Orleans should be rebuilt at all. I don't pretend to…
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Financing Limbo
I've longed believed that the "same as cash" finance deals that are so prevalent are really just mecahnisms for the stores to get people sitting so long on their new sofa that they forget they haven't paid for it, then get socked with massive interest payments/penalty fees since…
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A Correct Response?
Apparently a convoy of rescue vehicles finally arrived in New Orleans yesterday. Some cheered. Some talked about how the relief effort wasn't much more than being treated suspiciously and tossed a 20-ounce bottle of water. Still others regale us with their wisdom by proudly declaring "We've been sleeping…
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New Orleans is Sinking
National Geographic has a video clip about the problem with New Orleans. In a nutshell, wetlands help defray the effects of the storm surge. Wetlands are being removed at a rapid rate – about 1 acre every 25 minutes, according to the video (presumably by development). This, coupled…
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Will N'awlins be the Same?
As reports continue to flood in (pardon the pun), it looks more and more to me like the catastrophe that is New Orleans isn't going to get better anytime soon. While on the road this morning, I heard a report that gunfire was reported in the city, which…
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The Price of Freedom?
Americans love their cars. I don't know about too many other cities, but this is especially true in Charlotte. Charlotte has buses, and we're even building a multi-billion dollar light rail system that no one will ride. This is so we can be World Class, because that's important…