Dogbert: barking up the wrong tree

Do you do any PHP development? If so, you’ll be aware of the LAMP acronym. LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP: all open source development tools available under the GNU license. The Open Source community has fully embraced the LAMP set of technologies and this combination is rather robust and has also been used to implement commercial-grade web solutions.

I’ve wanted to implement one of the client-server applications at my workplace into a web application but since we run Windows Server 2003 on our servers, I couldn’t quite use LAMP. But guess what I just found: WAMP Server .This is Apache,MySQL,PHP on Windows platform. One of the first hurdles to cross with these tools is installing each one. It can easily take a working day to install and configure MySQL to work with PHP and Apache. Especially if you haven’t done it before.

With WAMP, you download one exe installation file, run it and you have all the tools installed and all the services running in 3 minutes flat! Morever, you get a little icon in your task bar that allows you to stop start the services. Here’s a screen shot:

[Courtesy of WAMP]

OnLAMP is an excellent resource for LAMP developers.

I watched “Crash” last night. What a great flick. I spoke to friends who also saw the movie and everyone viewed it differently. Some found it inspiring, some depressing and others just tragic. I think it just accentuated the mood you were in before you watched the film. So if you were feeling depressed, it’s only going to make you more depressed once you’re done watching.

If I had to sum up the emotions in the movie in one word, ‘bittersweet’ would be it. ‘Crash’ shows you the different, often contradictory, facets of human nature. Everyone in the star-studded cast gave a stellar performance including the lesser-known actors. Special mention should be made of Shaun Toub and Michael Peña. Peña stars in the most gripping scene of the movie as he delivers an intense performance that just floors you.

If you liked Magnolia, you’re going to like Crash. I liked Crash better.

I like to change my desktop wallpaper once in a while to avoid the monotony of my otherwise mundane life (I know, Dogbert needs to go out more).

Anyhow, what I wanted to say is that MacDesktops is an amazing place to get really great wallpapers. What’s really sweet about MacDesktops is that all wallpapers are free, high-resolution and most of them are available in 1920×1200 resolution that is perfect for my widescreen Inspiron 8500

So MacDesktops is my one-stop-shop for wallpapers. Screensavers are a different story though. I’ve seen some stunning screensavers on TV programs that would make maximum use of the GL capabilities of my graphics card but I just can’t seem to find them online.

If anyone has a good site for OpenGL screensavers, then drop me a line.

Ever wanted to know the worth of your blog in terms of money value? Well, now you can see your blogs being traded online in a fantasy “blog stock-exchange”: BlogShares

You can also check out the your blog profile. Here’s KuwaitBlogs.com, Miskan.com and your’s truly

Really cool! Check it out:

Transparent Screen slideshow

I’m going to try to come up with some of these myself (right after I get that digital camera!—I gave my last one to my folks). If any of you guys take pictures like these, send me a copy at dogbertq8@gmail.com and I’ll post them here.

I’ve noticed that lately there are several highschool kids working at the Sultan Center in Shuwaikh. Actually ‘working’ wouldn’t be the right thing to say because usually I just see them loafing around. If it weren’t for their name tags, I could easily have mistaken them for just regular customers.

I am all for letting kids learn about the workplace but they should be properly trained and tuned in to give some quality customer service. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they’re too keen on learning or taking orders. I hope they go away before I change my opinion about SC and their great Customer Service.

PS: Looking at their website, shows that there’s some kind of summer program going on in partnership with the ‘Lothan Youth Achievement Center’.

I always knew that snopes.com was the place to go when you wanted to check out whether a particular story going around (usually on the internet) is a hoax or true. Little did I know that they actually have a section where they’ve listed photos circulating on the net that may or may not be doctored.

Here’s the link: Snopes Photos
(Note: Some of the pictures on this site are not for the faint-hearted)

I would never have believed this one and totally fallen for this one. I guess that shows you believe what you want to believe.

I really enjoy reading Saudi Aramco World. I first came across this richly-decorated bi-monthly online magazine over an year ago and I have been hooked ever since.

Each article is so in-depth and written in such expressive language, that it livens up even the dreariest of topics. For instance, I didn’t know learning about dates and their history could be this interesting. The article also confirmed my suspicion that the Medjool dates that I used to enoy from fruit section of the San Francisco Safeway was Arab in origin:

The medjool comes from the Boudenib Oasis in Morocco. Its name—from the Arabic verb jahal, “to be ignorant”—means “unknown,” a surprising choice for what is now probably the best-known “boutique” date widely available in the US and Europe.

This month’s edition contains an article on Imam Siraj Wahhaj and his success in transforming one of the drug-ridden precincts of Brooklyn into a better place:

One man, Siraj Wahhaj, has led this transformation. He is Masjid at-Taqwa’s founder and imam, or spiritual leader. Praised as one of the most dynamic and charismatic Muslim leaders in the United States, Wahhaj travels widely, lecturing and preaching at Islamic centers, conventions, fundraisers and universities. In 1991, he became the first Muslim to lead a prayer before the us Congress.

I first saw him at a comparative religion discourse at Georgia Tech and the thing that really struck me about him was his humbleness and modesty.

So if you enoy reading topical articles about the Arab-Muslim world, then don’t miss Saudi Aramco World

At DefCon 2005 – that Mecca for ubergeeks and power hackers – Adam Laurie hacked common hotel room TVs to gain access to free p0rn, beer and competitive business secrets.

Using a simple infra-red scanner and a Linux PC with a TV tuner card, Laurie accessed premium TV content, remotely unlocked the minibar and snooped in on his neighbours WebTV connection sitting in comfort of his undies at his hotel suite.

Too bad he is not making his hack available to the public.

Read more in this Wired article.

Most people like to read blogs that have pictures on them. I think it’s the same as a kid wanting to read a book with lots of pictures on each page.

But as a child matures and learns to appreciate proper reading, this love of illustrations grows weaker and weaker until you have your adult who reads novels, digests etc. that have little to no pictures.

I’ve experienced the same “maturing” process as a blog reader. I used to enjoy blogs with a lot of pics and flowing illustrations of people and their crazy adventures. But over time I’ve moved to reading blogs with lots of textual content, or atleast bloggers who don’t sacrifice text narrative for graphics.

With blogs popping up at blog-per-second speed, it’s going to be interesting to see whether quantity will come at the price of quality.