dustinfluke.com

Over at BetaNews, (via Slashdot) I was reading about AOL’s new Netscape web browser. Basically, it’s a clone of Firefox 0.9.3 with some Netscape specific extentions. More interesting however, is the ability for this browser to switch rendering engines from Gecko to Internet Explorer via Active X controls.

Why is this?
It’s because web designers or developers (whatever you call them) are generally lazy. And AOL is stupid. Check this out:

A source close to the company said AOL opted to include IE engine support in order to offer users more choice, as some sites are optimized for certain browsers. But to avoid security vulnerabilities found in IE, Netscape “gives the user the choice through Site Controls of what sites they trust and don’t trust by allowing them to turn off Web functionalities that expose security holes on a per site basis,” the source told BetaNews.

After I read this paragraph, I was finished reading the article. I was even going to consider downloading the trial version just to see what it was like.
I mean, give me a freaking break! “…gives the user the choice through Site Controls or sites…” If I had a link on my page that said “Win 1 Million Dollars” I’m sure I could get people to commit. That is, if I had many visitors. My point is, the users that are given the choice wont know what to do with it, and get infected with even more malware. I especially liked the part, “… expose security holes on a site by site basis. Horray! A buffett of hijacked computers to choose from!

I don’t know about everyone else, but it seems that if certain sites were designed for certain browsers, then we’re back to square one as far as I’m concerned. If this browser catches on (which I doubt), you can kiss your web standards goodbye, as more and more “designers” will be coding in Front Page for Internet Explorer.

Today we got some family photos taken, as well as photos of Gaby for her 3rd birthday. I graciously agreed to do the “pregnant” shot with Laura. We ended up going to Sears, just because we have a membership there and a coupon!

In this issue:

• An update
• Happy Birthday Gaby! ? 3 years old!
• Congrats to the Goselands! Baby Bryant is here.
• Half-Life 2 review
• The Home
• Work things

An update

This last week I reinstalled Windows XP to fix a random rebooting problem I was experiencing. It may not have fixed the problem, we?ll see. It may be related to hardware. With homework and everything else going on in life, I just haven?t had much time to dedicate to dustinfluke.com. Hopefully I?ll get back on track soon. I?ve already missed too much. Here?s a brief recap of things going on.

Gaby is three

This last Saturday, Nov. 20 Gaby turned 3. I don?t have pictures yet, but will update as soon as I can. I?ll have to scan these in. She had a spiderman birthday at the local gymnastics spot we go every Thursday to have tumbling classes, a.k.a. ?exercise.? Gaby loves it. She had seven friends show up to participate, as well as all the family.

Congrats to the Goselands

Jeff Goseland(nice starwars font) and family had their baby boy, Bryant on Nov. 18. I got an e-mail tonight from Jeff with the report. My opinion, looks like Jeff! Congratulations Jeff and DeAnn. (I?m sure I misspelled her name).

Half-Life 2

So, I took November 16 off for one main reason ? to play Half-Life 2. I?ve been looking forward to this game for a long, long time. I ended up taking some poker winnings and purchased the silver package off of steam. I got all the old games, a few more I?ve never played, as well as Counter Strike: Source. As I played Counter-Strike, I couldn?t help but grovel at the features I was expecting for Half-Life 2. The graphics, and realistic gravity were all the features that make the game so lifelike. This is even expanded in Half-Life 2 with the assortment of weapons one can use.

My review of the game isn?t going to be in depth, nor scientific. I?m running it on an AMD 1.7Ghz, Radeon 9500 pro, w/ 512MB ram. It?s not rocket blazing fast, but it does the game justice. As soon as I win my next poker tournament at Harrahs, I?m getting an upgrade. :)

So, the game rocks. It kicks more ass than I could have imagined. I was stoked playing CS, but now I?m in heaven. I don?t even care about World of Warcraft. It?s not really my type of game anyway. I don?t have the time for it. Everyone said they thought DOOM 3 was the almighty game. Don?t count me wrong ? I love DOOM 3. I still haven?t finished it. I?ll have to say that I like Half-Life 2 more than DOOM 3 There, I said it. I like DOOM 3 for different reasons. Its super scary and gets my heart pumping. It?s a great game. What sets HL2 apart from DOOM 3 is that HL2 is more fun to play. The gravity gun is amazing. When you get to Ravenhold, you?ll know it too. Do yourself a favor. Get this game so I can frag you over and over!

The Home

My time at home gets eaten up by homework and family. Recently, I finished up Gaby and soon to be sister Kadyn?s rooms. I?ll have photos soon. I?ll likely mix them with Gaby?s birthday photos. Laura is doing fine. She?s due Jan 28. Gaby opted for the pretty princess Disney room. I got a new Bullseye lazer level from Black & Decker, and absolutely love it. It makes hanging that border super easy. Not to mention, it?s really fun to play with in the dark. On a personal note, I?m currently taking Visual Basic .Net and Sociology. I hate sociology. My teacher is a weird deviation of Mr. Rogers. He calls everyone ?neighbors?, ?onliners?,? and puts everything in quotes?. I only have 2 more classes and one petition for credit before I?m done with my Associates in Web Design! Horray!

Work things

This last Friday, we had an open house over at Washburn?s ITS Bennett building. It was great. Patrick and J.D. served up some live music, and we had a good time conversing. Kevin and I created a collage out of old magazines. It was fun. Our new WebTech starts on the 29th. I?ll be doing some intensive training over the next couple of weeks.

I just wanted to say welcome to all the other students that are taking Perl/CGI with me who may be visiting this site to look at some Sidebar goodness that is my final project. It isn’t anything fancy. Nothing on my site ever is – I don’t have the time.

Take a look around. There isn’t much here, but if you have any questions about the sidebar items please let me know. The site is best viewed in Firefox.

What does a “Premature end of script headers” perl error message and 3 1/2 hours of time equate to?

A slash

Sometimes, I hate programming. Make that most of the time. I suppose practice makes perfect.

While working on a project for school, I had (on the first line) of my cgi script:
#!/usr/bin/perl/
Little did I know, it should have been #!/usr/bin/perl
GRRR!