Furthered my professional development today, by getting some nice chunky web programming books. This was made possible by work who pay out for such things 🙂

Beginning XML from Wrox Press & PHP 5 Unleashed from Sams Publishing.

This is carrying on from the two courses I did last week. Databases on the web, which covered PHP & ASP, and Exploring XML.

Databases on the web covered pretty familiar territory in the afternoon (the PHP half) but the morning was usefully since it covered ASP which I’ve only really cut and pasted before and I need to do for work soon (The Clinical Index for the placements office). It also re fired my interest in web programming in a major way.

Exploring XML was very interesting. I covered XML on my masters course, but only as far as what is it, how to write fully formed XML and validate it against DTDs. None of the useful and fun stuff that this course covered, i.e. how to do searches on XML documents, how to out put XML into nice formatted web pages. When I first looked at XML in 2001 it was very much an emerging technology. Now it has come of age.

PHP5 is the new version of PHP. Looks like the world and his dog are still running PHP4, but I thought it would be nice to beat the pack and get ahead with the new version, which is 80% backwards compatible. I pretty much pushed the language to the limit when I did my masters dissertation, when PHP 5 was merely a features list in Zend’s eye. Now its here, so I’ll be curling up with my book reading up on the new features (proper Object Orientated Programming, native XML functions & its own inbuilt database called SQLite) and then writing the dynamic parts of my home page in PHP5. This makes me feel rather giddy. I like learning things but I ran out of ground with PHP4 quickly. Having a new release of PHP gives me something fun to do.

I previously used LJ as a personal blog in 2000/2001 when I was doing my Masters in Software Development. It allowed me to have a break from my studies for five minutes make sense of my life and have a bit of fun with the internet. Also in those days no one I knew read it or even used LJ. When I restarted using LJ as a personal blog back in November of last year it was as an experiment. After two months I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to use LJ as a personal blog.

Here’s the reasons why

The gaps between entries are becoming longer and longer. This is because life is getting more hectic.

Last Friday went to see my brother George in Sheffield. Had a good time and drunk way too much and stayed up way too late (3:30am). Like you do when you are 25,The night ended with me barking at a 40 year old drama queen, called Michael, who was winding me up something rotten. A twit of the magnitude of Marcus, for those of you who remember that loser. Good to see George, but less beer and more quality brother time next visit.

The rest of the weekend was pretty duhhhh because of Friday’s late night malarkey, but I wrote some HeroQuest, chilled with Rach who like George had her birthday on Sunday.

I’ve recently thrown myself into work, which is nice but a bit sudden, so this is one of the reasons I’ve been quiet on the LJ front. Had a change of pace today and yesterday when I went on a marvellous web programming training course, which has really fired me up to do some coding.

Right must bugger off and catch the train home.

Talk to you later.

Reading this story about Leeds that dr_misrule pointed out on Chav Towns about Leeds made me stop and think.

There are elements of truth in what this person rants on about, for example the crass commercialism of the city centre which parks high class shops like Harvey Nicks alongside the budget pound shops, but overall its as bad as he makes out. I’ve lived all over England, and encountered dick heads wherever I’ve gone. Chav seems to be an anthropological progression from the tribe of Trendy in my yoof, except now people go on about like a broken record.

When me and Rachel move house, it won’t be to Leeds. Leeds was great for me personally up until 2 or 3 years ago, when I got a tremendous buzz out of living in a City. Now as Hanibal Lector says in the silence of the Lambs “What I want is a view. I want a window where I can see a tree, or even water.” I’m not moving because Leeds is going down market or becoming “Chav central”. Its just not for me any more.

So I get into Manchester Piccadilly train station and troll across the platform to the main foyer. Once there I am bombarded by adverts for this filth Michelob Ultra, a beer that sells itself on being low on carbs low on calories. Yuk!

WARNING The Rev Newt gets upon his beer crate for a good rant

My overall exuberance began to get a bit coloured over the last couple of days.

Had a bit of a disaster last Friday, in that I left my wallet on the traiin home!! Doh, so of I rush home to cancel all my cards. Once that was out the way I was relieved but knackered.

The weekend was relaxing but over way too soon.

Yesterday, felt slightly blue. For no apparent reason. Didn’t really feel myself until I had a nice refreshing bath.

This morning out of nowhere I was angry. Partially because I’m getting back into webprogramming, which is immensely frustrating when things don’t work out. However i’ve got the patience to see it through and the sense to bugger off and go and do something else. Quite offen this approach works magically with the problem being solved as soon as I look at it. Calmed myself down by reading Rock Sound in WHSmiths at lunch, and laughing at the sad rock stars who’s shenigans are detailed within its pages.

Rach has finally got her exam and essay out of the way today (in fact she should be at home dozzing away as I type this), so things should be happier at home.

Can’t beleive its Friday again and the second week of January is over. Hell it doesn’t even feel like January, in part because its been very mild appart from the howling gales over the weekend. In part because I’m still on this crazy high. I’m usually looking at my shoes this time of year. Definatly going to have to write up a plan of things to do, to channel all this productivity.

Wednesday went out to Bella Italia with the Foz’s. Young Danny is the spit of Calvin of Calvin and Hobbs fame. He spent the whole evening pulling faces, eating crayons,drinking milk with a fork and generally being the centre of attendtion. This is very strange since Foz used to be the attendtion hog, now he cheerfully lets his Danny take centre stage. And all the Foz’s talk about these days is is the two lads while me and Rachel happily smile and nod. Mike Patton wasn’t jesting when he wrote the lyric’s to Faith No More’s Zombie Eaters

Last night got in late and then humped about 4 boxes of Rach’s books down from the attic. Yes a mighty blow against the clutter was struck last night, since only one box returned upstairs. The rest are going to charity tomorrow. The offensive continues tonight with the last of her books (another three stack and stores) coming down and being sorted while I look through mine.

This is all part of the sort out house prior to moving, hopefully in the last quarter of this year if finances are straight enough.

I tell you big things are afoot at the Newport house.

I’ve set up a mailing list, a good old email bounce, on my webspace. Its a friends only affair for chat and general sillyness.

If you want to join up goto

http://newtus.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/ardvark_newtus.co.uk

and fill in the form.

Well yesterday was fun. A really quick day at work. More important stuff got out of the way.

Also had the nice one of discovering that work’s canteen has reopened at the other end of the floor. Had a cracking bowl of tomato soup and a bread roll for 60p, which surprisingly filled me up.

Trains turned into a complete nightmare on the way home though. Points trouble at Stalybrigde, 20mins out of Manchester, meant all traiins to Leeds from Manc Piccadilly were cancelled/held up. So I trudge over to Manchester Victoria, second choice for trains home because its the local route which takes one and a half hours as opposed to one. Problem is so does everyone else, and trains start getting held up there, to get all the whining people on. So over a pint of Guiness in the rather nice Victorian bar I make the strategic decision to catch the train over to Rochdale and stay at the inlaws. Ring Rachel who starts driving over. Eventually three hours after leaving work get to Rach’s parents only to find out that Rach is stuck in a traffic jam. After one hour of sitting in slow traffic, she knocks it on the head and comes back to Leeds and the Cats. So I had the nice one of spending time with her parents without her being there. Had fun watching “Grumpy Old Men” (Will Self’s monologue about Ikea tickled me the most) and chatting over a couple of beers.

Got up early and caught the train from a windswept Rochdale station.

Work more of the same productive ease that its been this week. Heading home early, just in case there’s more delays, to spend a quite night in with Rach.