Well here's an interesting thought. Having done some work in biometric identification, there are a couple of questions I'd like to see Borders answers before snappng my photo. First, who owns the data of my image ? Second, having never committed a crime more than perhaps checking out a book there before buying it from Amazon.com, are they entitled under the law to scan and process my image without my permission ?
As for the pre-online buy purchase, those of us in the D.C. area can now save a trip Borders altogether with our local ReadMeDoc.com. THough anyone, anywhere can still enjoy their steep discounts. I know, because I'm good for at least 1 book a month from them. And the only facial scan I get is the smiling young lady at the cash register who makes everyone feel welcome.
Certainly, there are limitations, but to say there are very few cases ignores situations where programmers are migrating from thick to thin clients, using the same query between various languages and is unsure or not satisfied with client-side performance.
Just a very quick example. Let's say you wrote a database application using, oh, I dunno, Sybase and Powerbuider about 4 years ago. Now the client wants everything web-based. Guess what ? Your stored procedures work just fine in the JDBC and the PERL DBI. Problem is, all your code is in client-side/inline sql.
Not as a troll, but rather from the perspective of the fly on the wall... I wonder what Chandra Wickramasinghe and Daisaku Ikeda have to say about Hoyle's passing.
charities and schools and students and such
on
Linux Win In Schools
·
· Score: 2
My first experience with Linux was almost 10 years ago, while in grad school. I had a choice. Hump up to the campus at night, and slug it out with DEC Ultrix on a system shared by a zillion others, or code my projects using SlackWare in the comfort of my own home on a machine that was all mine.
More recently, I've seen several churches and charities make the switch. Again, it's an issue of licensing. Such organizations usually get 2 or 3 year old hardware donated to them, Linux fits the bill in that it doesn't necessarily need to be the bleeding edge to do the "office stuff".
As other applications, such as attendence, inventory and other fun stuff get up and onto sourceforge & freshmeat, and as long as Linux to get friendlier and friendlier, more and more charitable organizations will make the switch.
I noticed in this release they're still bundling the slower, buggier PHPNuke. Does anyone know if they'll ever to to a more stable, faster CMS like their mortal enemy, PostNuke ? Or perhaps add to this a PERL solution like the new and improved Slash ?
If you're not sure what the heck I'm talking about, here's a recent article in Linux.com that goes into some gory detail.
Good thing "warp speed" or "light speed" only happens in the movies and on TV. Could you imagine the peril of traveling in space at hyper space speeds using navigational constants that aren't ? OUCH !
In an article ZDNet entitled Linux takes Hollywood by storm, it is reported this past May 17, that credit for the success of the summer box-office hit Shrek, was in a large part to the animators' use of the free Linux operating system instead of software from the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Silicon Graphics Inc.
I don't know if there is a short answer to your question. To understand what the deal and difference is, requires several levels of knowledge.
For example, think of what it would take to organize your files. Then think of what it would take to automate the organization of files.
In other words, not only do you need to know what a relational database is, but also you need to understand it within the context of a database system. The article does an adequate job of keeping the discussion mostly on the former.
In other words,
some of your confusion may be over how databases view the world.
AND/OR
Some of your confusion may be how database systems implement databases.
It's boring, it's expensive, it's long winded, but it explains just about every aspect of a datase ad.nauseum, "An Introduction to Database Systems" by C.J.Date.
Bah ! I remember in the early 80's when big iron buddies used to point ant laugh at dBase II. What they didn't understand, and what some of the big database boys and users don't understand now, is that larger isn't always better.
Databases like MySQL make it very easy for webhosting companies to offer free databases without loosing their shirts or minds. They make it very easy for students to learn SQL. They're also much kinder on resource.
Yes, I'd love to be able to roll-back pooched transactions, but then I have to commit everything as well. Certainly cascades would be slick, but poorly written, they can shoot your foot clean off. Likewise, I can see all the lame support calls coming in because users don't understand the triggers are attempting to maintain referential integrity on foreign keys.
Within a given context, sometimes smaller is suits the purpose better.
Man, at $550k, whatta deal. But if I'm going to go bonkers in space then I'm going to need some features. Problem is, I couldn't find specifications that would list any of the following necessities built in:
8 Track Player (with at least one tape of either Elvis or Parliment... or at least Bowie playing Major Tom)
Tang dispenser (already mixed & ready to go.. not that powdered crap)
Year's supply of space-food sticks (vintage 1971)
Booster system activated with the clapper
Computer equipped with neat female voice like that of the Enterprise
A little clicking sound that'll altert me to if I've left the right turn signal on
Yeah, I can see it now. A small, fast Chinese satellite of questionable commercial value is "struck" by a slow moving and very expensive U.S. Spy satellite. The Chinese demand an apology for our malicious act.
What's next, a slow moving propeller driven spy plane taking down a faster, more maneuverable fighter jet ?
What happens when such "accidents" occur just while some hostile nation is amassing large amounts of troops and tanks on neighbor's border ?
Using the 'an accident might happen' line of reasoning, wouldn't the U.S. also then be compelled to disclose the locations of submarines, ships, armored vehicles and planes so they also don't collide with commercial vessels ?
Other nations hate it, but then they're inclined to hold disdain for any super power. It's the nature of power politics and warfare to be suspicious of the guy with the big gun. It's their purgative to try and get the information, just at it is the U.S.'s to say NUTS.
A few years ago, I took the the tour of NCAR's computing center, a true nerd mecca if ever there were one. After I got done bowing to all the raw power, I noticed something about the Crays that disapponited me, the same thing that disapponts me about the Cray SV1-32.
They pretty much looked like all the other big iron in the room. Gone was tht distinctive C-shaped tower. So was the need to hire a plumber to help install the water or freon based cooling system.
Granted, these big guys are impressive, but they've lost that certain "soi de vie" (sp?) that once distingiuished them from the other iron in the room.
Gad, 20 years ?! Who would have thought that a machine, built on something so lame as a 16-bit program counter, a 16-bit ALU, four 16-bit general purpose registers, along with a few 16-bit index registers, and oh yes, that all important 8-bit external bus, would have so forever changed teh face of computing ?
Personally, while the PC is significant, I believe it was the... and please forgive the bad joke, the attack of the clones in the 80's, that finally put the brain-damaged 80n86 PCs over the top of superior personal computer architectures.
I was wondering what that wet stuff was getting into my eyes here in the mid-atlantic states... now if I can just figure out why these turkeys are drownding.
BAH ! Figures, nothing but blazing heat and humidity for a week, and the one night that it might be neat to look up in the sky, we get much needed rain. Oh well, would rather have the later than the former. Guess I'll wait till November.
You make a good point when you ask "Why is it it The religious extreme and The scientific community? "
I know several individuals working in the scientific/medical community, including some who do work in genetics, and some who work for Govt' organizations like NIH & NCHS.
I can assure you, several of them, religious or otherwise, don't like the idea of unabridged embryo research. I know of some who are dead against it.
Drawing lines and affixing titles will not make this issue go away. Working together will.
The problem, at least as this knumbskull programmer type person sees it, boils down to the simple question:
Where does life begin ?
Unfortunately, the answer isn't so easy. Some would argue that it's an inviable tissue mass that was going to be thrown away anyway. The other side contents that it is life, and therefore entitled to all rights, protections and privledges.
And just as if this issue wasn't divisive enough, add to this the assertion that use of such cells/lives helps save others who are fully developed cells/lives.
Unfortunately, this is not an issue that's going to be resolved either here in/. or in the press. Moreover, while I understand there is an urgency to save those who are fully developed lives/cells... I think we need a bit more time to apply the hard answers the simple question before we move on, as the ramifications go far past medical solutions as they trancend deep into the very core of our culture and our values.
Okay, here's a wild hare of an idea that'll probably klobber my karma...
Perhaps we could get users to read the manual if they were in comic book format ? And it doesn't have to be anything cheezy... I remember spending hours sitting on the edge of the couch pouring over Classic's Illustrated renderings of this novel or that.
Okay, perhaps the issue here is what computers can and can't teach. Here is a list of things I shamelessly stole and modified from Ray Stedman:
Science - the name & nature of things
Mathematics - counting & reasoning
Philosophy - relationship of cause & effect
Art & Humanities - to enjoy creativity, imagination & life
Sports - to enjoy themselves & teamwork
Social Sciences - the proper way to win friends & influence people
And as the article from which this list is derived, this training should begin at home. Perhaps one of the problems is, we just toss the kid in front of the computer to learn, the same as we toss them in front of the TV to babysit ?
One other thing, and it is the one thing a computer cannot teach (though it can be a source of)... how to deal with life's hard knocks, including failure, guilt, sickness, disappointment and death.
And it is in that above category, I have no problems getting the attention of the teenagers I work with.
I have a master plan to raise my little nerdlette into a good enough programmer where I can compel her to slave away at my computer while my bosses are impressed with my bump in productivity since I've started telecommuting.
But back to reality, and to the article. I don't see the widening gap. At least not with the 15 and 16 year olds I deal with on a bi-weekly basis.
One of my favorite stories is when on a youth retreat I was giving a short talk on "life'd dirty little secrets"... which includes one of my favorites... sometime, between the age of 25 and 30, you wake up one day.... and much to your horror, you realize... mom & dad were RIGHT!
No lie, when I said that, one young lady put her hands on her ears and screemed "NNOOOOOOOOOO!".
Now I'm no expert. Heck, I'm a coder. But I'm at least cogent enough to recognize the following three things.
I'll say things, and/or give advice that their parents give... but because it came from lips, and not that of their parents... they are more likely not to roll their eyes and moan. Not because I'm some great sage, but because I'm convinced teens that age are wired that way so they don't wind up living in the basement when they're 45.
Second, 15 and 16 year olds get bored real fast. I've done some computer projects with them, for Boy Scouts, church groups, you name it. Alot of energy at first, but when it comes down to the maintenence phase of a project... hello ? is anyone out there... ? Nope, they're all at the Taco Bell snarfing down things that now keep this old fart up all night.
Third... they do listen... they just pretend they're not so they look cool in front of their friends.
The point is, teenagers are great, fun and a pain all at once. What I enjoy, and what I get out of them is their energy and their enthusiasm and hope for the future. While I would never want to be that age again, I do enjoy being around them as it keeps me a bit younger at heart.
The problem is, in many respects we ask teenagers to grow up too fast, especially when it comes to marketing and merchandising.
We all do it, that is, create a throw-away HotMail account for those times we need to register online somewhere with an e-mail address. I even go so far as to turn on the SPAM Filtering and limit the use of the account for said registrations.
Even so, these accounts always manage to get overrun by a flood of SPAM. I've even set up one account to throw away EVERYTHING. Then again, that's the account I used to sign up with SpamCop
So I'm thinking, perhaps it's not a bad thing for all those nasty SPAM'rs to get hundreds, if not thousands of messages bounced back (not like they don't already). One can only hope that their stupid harversters removed bounced addresses from their lists.
At least in this way, maybe CodeRed will have done us a favor. Even for a short while.
On July 17, Verizon sent out the following e-mail to it's customers regarding the use of SMTP. Basically, if you own a domain and run a website, you can use that POP3 and SMTP for e-mail addresses that don't end in verizon.net, bellatlantic.net, gte.net, banet.net.
- - - - -
Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 1:42 PM
Subject: Please check your email settings
Dear Verizon Online Customer:
If you are sending email using an email address other than one
provided by Verizon Online, this message affects you. Effective,
August 8, 2001, you will no longer be able to send email from any
email address other than the one provided by Verizon Online (this
includes privately branded domains and secondary ISP accounts).
We are taking this action as a result of our continuing efforts to
improve the quality and reliability of Verizon's mail system and is
one of several steps to help reduce spam. The effect of this change
is that Verizon Online email will no longer support sending email
from other ISP accounts or privately branded domains that are not
hosted by Verizon Online.
WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE?
This change to Verizon Online's email will not affect you as long as
you use your username or alias, and one of the following domains
(the part after the "@") is included in the "From" address of each
email you send (ex: john.smith@verizon.net):
verizon.net
bellatlantic.net
gte.net
banet.net
If you are a customer who has changed your domain name to something
other than those listed above (ex: betty@mycompany.com), you will be
affected by the change and your email will not be routed after August
8, 2001 unless you change your "From:" field to a valid address using
one of the above domains.
For information on how to check and change your email domain, visit
our Online Help. https://support.bellatlantic.net/index.cgi
WHY ARE WE MAKING THIS CHANGE?
To improve our email services for all Verizon Online users. Reserving
the use of the mail system for only authorized users is a critical
component to ensuring a quality, reliable service and one that is
less susceptible to spam.
WHAT DO I DO IF I AM AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE?
The following are suggested alternatives for customers impacted by
this change:
Use the messaging (email) services (both for receiving and for
sending email) that are provided by the company that hosts your email
domain. Enter that company's outgoing (SMTP) mail server name rather
than Verizon's SMTP server name (smtp.verizon.net for @verizon.net
addresses or smtpout.bellatlantic.net for @bellatlantic.net
addresses) in your email settings. Some hosting companies have
affiliated Web-based email services from which you can send mail
using the domain provided by that company. Please contact your
hosting company for assistance in using their SMTP service.
Change the "Reply To:" field in your email program to your private
domain address; keep your "Verizon" email address in the "From:"
field. (Example: Reply To: username@privatedomain.com and From:
username@verizon.net).
Consider one of Verizon Online's business products such as Managed
Messaging, Outsourced Email, or Web hosting solutions; all of these
solutions will accommodate the sending and receiving of non-Verizon
domain emails. For additional information, visit
http://www2.verizon.net/pands/business/outsourced. html or
http://www2.verizon.net/pands/business/hosting/web hosting.html
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause.
Sincerely,
Verizon Online
- - - - -
Notice that last suggestion. One wonders if anti-spam is the sole motivation here.
Okay, let me understand this. To harness the vast power of my client-side CPU (just sitting there idle, itching to get into the Internet game), I need to install the Surge(TM) plug-in 1.1 or the Surge Lab(TM) IDE Beta 5. The result, rich Web content.
Which I wouldn't mind, except I think I already have something like that called the MacroMedia Flash Plug-in, well in my case Flash.
Only with Flash, I don't have to worry about too much about the learning curve that comes with Curl's seven different integer primitives because ActionScript is a weiner'd down version of ECMAScript.
Moreover, I can leverage Flash & ActionScript on the client side with languages I already know, and are usually available on the server side, such as PHP, Ruby, Perl... along with the vast libraries associated with languages (fun stuff).
Similarly, MacroMedia has opened up it's file format that has given rise to a variety of UNIX, Win and MAC development solutions.
Slashdot Mirror
Well here's an interesting thought. Having done some work in biometric identification, there are a couple of questions I'd like to see Borders answers before snappng my photo. First, who owns the data of my image ? Second, having never committed a crime more than perhaps checking out a book there before buying it from Amazon.com, are they entitled under the law to scan and process my image without my permission ?
As for the pre-online buy purchase, those of us in the D.C. area can now save a trip Borders altogether with our local ReadMeDoc.com. THough anyone, anywhere can still enjoy their steep discounts. I know, because I'm good for at least 1 book a month from them. And the only facial scan I get is the smiling young lady at the cash register who makes everyone feel welcome.
Certainly, there are limitations, but to say there are very few cases ignores situations where programmers are migrating from thick to thin clients, using the same query between various languages and is unsure or not satisfied with client-side performance.
Just a very quick example. Let's say you wrote a database application using, oh, I dunno, Sybase and Powerbuider about 4 years ago. Now the client wants everything web-based. Guess what ? Your stored procedures work just fine in the JDBC and the PERL DBI. Problem is, all your code is in client-side/inline sql.
Gee, makes me wonder about CIHost's 99% guaranteed up time. Code Red knocked them loopy for over a week.
Not as a troll, but rather from the perspective of the fly on the wall ... I wonder what Chandra Wickramasinghe and Daisaku Ikeda have to say about Hoyle's passing.
More recently, I've seen several churches and charities make the switch. Again, it's an issue of licensing. Such organizations usually get 2 or 3 year old hardware donated to them, Linux fits the bill in that it doesn't necessarily need to be the bleeding edge to do the "office stuff".
As other applications, such as attendence, inventory and other fun stuff get up and onto sourceforge & freshmeat, and as long as Linux to get friendlier and friendlier, more and more charitable organizations will make the switch.
If you're not sure what the heck I'm talking about, here's a recent article in Linux.com that goes into some gory detail.
Nothing like having a wide-variety of standards.
In an article ZDNet entitled Linux takes Hollywood by storm, it is reported this past May 17, that credit for the success of the summer box-office hit Shrek, was in a large part to the animators' use of the free Linux operating system instead of software from the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Silicon Graphics Inc.
For example, think of what it would take to organize your files. Then think of what it would take to automate the organization of files.
In other words, not only do you need to know what a relational database is, but also you need to understand it within the context of a database system. The article does an adequate job of keeping the discussion mostly on the former.
In other words,
some of your confusion may be over how databases view the world.
AND/OR
Some of your confusion may be how database systems implement databases.
It's boring, it's expensive, it's long winded, but it explains just about every aspect of a datase ad.nauseum, "An Introduction to Database Systems" by C.J.Date.
Bah ! I remember in the early 80's when big iron buddies used to point ant laugh at dBase II. What they didn't understand, and what some of the big database boys and users don't understand now, is that larger isn't always better.
Databases like MySQL make it very easy for webhosting companies to offer free databases without loosing their shirts or minds. They make it very easy for students to learn SQL. They're also much kinder on resource.
Yes, I'd love to be able to roll-back pooched transactions, but then I have to commit everything as well. Certainly cascades would be slick, but poorly written, they can shoot your foot clean off. Likewise, I can see all the lame support calls coming in because users don't understand the triggers are attempting to maintain referential integrity on foreign keys.
Within a given context, sometimes smaller is suits the purpose better.
What's next, a slow moving propeller driven spy plane taking down a faster, more maneuverable fighter jet ?
What happens when such "accidents" occur just while some hostile nation is amassing large amounts of troops and tanks on neighbor's border ?
Using the 'an accident might happen' line of reasoning, wouldn't the U.S. also then be compelled to disclose the locations of submarines, ships, armored vehicles and planes so they also don't collide with commercial vessels ?
Other nations hate it, but then they're inclined to hold disdain for any super power. It's the nature of power politics and warfare to be suspicious of the guy with the big gun. It's their purgative to try and get the information, just at it is the U.S.'s to say NUTS.
They pretty much looked like all the other big iron in the room. Gone was tht distinctive C-shaped tower. So was the need to hire a plumber to help install the water or freon based cooling system.
Granted, these big guys are impressive, but they've lost that certain "soi de vie" (sp?) that once distingiuished them from the other iron in the room.
Personally, while the PC is significant, I believe it was the ... and please forgive the bad joke, the attack of the clones in the 80's, that finally put the brain-damaged 80n86 PCs over the top of superior personal computer architectures.
We've all seen the usenet post in the coffee room or on various websites. Usually under some title like:
- Shooting Yourself in the Foot
- How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot using:
- TASK
:- To Shoot Yourself In The Foot
So how does one go about shooting themselves in the foot with Ruby ?BAH ! Figures, nothing but blazing heat and humidity for a week, and the one night that it might be neat to look up in the sky, we get much needed rain. Oh well, would rather have the later than the former. Guess I'll wait till November.
I know several individuals working in the scientific/medical community, including some who do work in genetics, and some who work for Govt' organizations like NIH & NCHS.
I can assure you, several of them, religious or otherwise, don't like the idea of unabridged embryo research. I know of some who are dead against it.
Drawing lines and affixing titles will not make this issue go away. Working together will.
Where does life begin ?
Unfortunately, the answer isn't so easy. Some would argue that it's an inviable tissue mass that was going to be thrown away anyway. The other side contents that it is life, and therefore entitled to all rights, protections and privledges.
And just as if this issue wasn't divisive enough, add to this the assertion that use of such cells/lives helps save others who are fully developed cells/lives.
Unfortunately, this is not an issue that's going to be resolved either here in /. or in the press. Moreover, while I understand there is an urgency to save those who are fully developed lives/cells ... I think we need a bit more time to apply the hard answers the simple question before we move on, as the ramifications go far past medical solutions as they trancend deep into the very core of our culture and our values.
is my view abit askew because the youths I work with are blessed with good parents ?
Or are more parents like those in your situation, where your parents "were wrong about just about everything" ?
Perhaps we could get users to read the manual if they were in comic book format ? And it doesn't have to be anything cheezy ... I remember spending hours sitting on the edge of the couch pouring over Classic's Illustrated renderings of this novel or that.
Sure, it'll have it's limitations, just the same way trying to use a Classic's for a book report on Moby Dick is ... but at least the user will have a clue.
And as the article from which this list is derived, this training should begin at home. Perhaps one of the problems is, we just toss the kid in front of the computer to learn, the same as we toss them in front of the TV to babysit ?
One other thing, and it is the one thing a computer cannot teach (though it can be a source of) ... how to deal with life's hard knocks, including failure, guilt, sickness, disappointment and death.
And it is in that above category, I have no problems getting the attention of the teenagers I work with.
But back to reality, and to the article. I don't see the widening gap. At least not with the 15 and 16 year olds I deal with on a bi-weekly basis.
One of my favorite stories is when on a youth retreat I was giving a short talk on "life'd dirty little secrets" ... which includes one of my favorites ... sometime, between the age of 25 and 30, you wake up one day .... and much to your horror, you realize ... mom & dad were RIGHT!
No lie, when I said that, one young lady put her hands on her ears and screemed "NNOOOOOOOOOO!".
Now I'm no expert. Heck, I'm a coder. But I'm at least cogent enough to recognize the following three things.
I'll say things, and/or give advice that their parents give ... but because it came from lips, and not that of their parents ... they are more likely not to roll their eyes and moan. Not because I'm some great sage, but because I'm convinced teens that age are wired that way so they don't wind up living in the basement when they're 45.
Second, 15 and 16 year olds get bored real fast. I've done some computer projects with them, for Boy Scouts, church groups, you name it. Alot of energy at first, but when it comes down to the maintenence phase of a project ... hello ? is anyone out there ... ? Nope, they're all at the Taco Bell snarfing down things that now keep this old fart up all night.
Third ... they do listen ... they just pretend they're not so they look cool in front of their friends.
The point is, teenagers are great, fun and a pain all at once. What I enjoy, and what I get out of them is their energy and their enthusiasm and hope for the future. While I would never want to be that age again, I do enjoy being around them as it keeps me a bit younger at heart.
The problem is, in many respects we ask teenagers to grow up too fast, especially when it comes to marketing and merchandising.
We all do it, that is, create a throw-away HotMail account for those times we need to register online somewhere with an e-mail address. I even go so far as to turn on the SPAM Filtering and limit the use of the account for said registrations.
Even so, these accounts always manage to get overrun by a flood of SPAM. I've even set up one account to throw away EVERYTHING. Then again, that's the account I used to sign up with SpamCop
So I'm thinking, perhaps it's not a bad thing for all those nasty SPAM'rs to get hundreds, if not thousands of messages bounced back (not like they don't already). One can only hope that their stupid harversters removed bounced addresses from their lists.
At least in this way, maybe CodeRed will have done us a favor. Even for a short while.
- - - - -
Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 1:42 PM
Subject: Please check your email settings
Dear Verizon Online Customer:
If you are sending email using an email address other than one provided by Verizon Online, this message affects you. Effective, August 8, 2001, you will no longer be able to send email from any email address other than the one provided by Verizon Online (this includes privately branded domains and secondary ISP accounts).
We are taking this action as a result of our continuing efforts to improve the quality and reliability of Verizon's mail system and is one of several steps to help reduce spam. The effect of this change is that Verizon Online email will no longer support sending email from other ISP accounts or privately branded domains that are not hosted by Verizon Online.
WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE? This change to Verizon Online's email will not affect you as long as you use your username or alias, and one of the following domains (the part after the "@") is included in the "From" address of each email you send (ex: john.smith@verizon.net):
If you are a customer who has changed your domain name to something other than those listed above (ex: betty@mycompany.com), you will be affected by the change and your email will not be routed after August 8, 2001 unless you change your "From:" field to a valid address using one of the above domains.
For information on how to check and change your email domain, visit our Online Help. https://support.bellatlantic.net/index.cgi
WHY ARE WE MAKING THIS CHANGE? To improve our email services for all Verizon Online users. Reserving the use of the mail system for only authorized users is a critical component to ensuring a quality, reliable service and one that is less susceptible to spam.
WHAT DO I DO IF I AM AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE? The following are suggested alternatives for customers impacted by this change:
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause.
Sincerely,
Verizon Online
- - - - -
Notice that last suggestion. One wonders if anti-spam is the sole motivation here.
Which I wouldn't mind, except I think I already have something like that called the MacroMedia Flash Plug-in, well in my case Flash.
Only with Flash, I don't have to worry about too much about the learning curve that comes with Curl's seven different integer primitives because ActionScript is a weiner'd down version of ECMAScript.
Moreover, I can leverage Flash & ActionScript on the client side with languages I already know, and are usually available on the server side, such as PHP, Ruby, Perl ... along with the vast libraries associated with languages (fun stuff).
Similarly, MacroMedia has opened up it's file format that has given rise to a variety of UNIX, Win and MAC development solutions.
Considering all this, do I really need CURL ?