I don't know what it is with college students these days. They were pretty illiterate when I went to school, but, today, they're displaying their ignorance online.

The Bank Implode-O-Meter is an interesting way to learn captialism: by watching it fail. This sector blog/news/community is crazy.

This is a nice little example that will show you how to do something really useful and cool. It'll also show you how PHP kinda sucks:

<?php

function f( $x )
{
        say("function f called with $x...");
        return create_function( '', " return quote('$x'); ");
}

function quote( $s )
{
        say('quote called...');
        return '***'.$s.'***';
}

say('starting...');

$x = f( 'hello, world' );

say('$x defined as '.$x.'...');

print $x();

///// utility funcs
function say( $s ) { echo $s.'<p>'; }

The results look like this:

starting...

function f called with hello, world...

$x defined as �lambda_6...

quote called...

***hello, world***

There was a thread on TR lionizing Bill Gates. As usual, a lot of incorrect information was being spread about the Richest Man On Earth. I had to post this corrective:

Gates and Microsoft have had some legal problems.

In the late 90s, there was the "permanent independent contractor" problem, when ICs and temps were working at MS for years, inside their offices, during regular business hours. This was against the law. (If you're in this situation, your "client" aka "boss" is breaking the law.)

See Vizcaino v. Microsoft.

Stolen from tje Washington Post

Portsmouth, Va.: An Olde but a Goody

By Diane Daniel
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, March 26, 2008; Page C02

My Aunt Margaret was aghast. A couple of years ago, I introduced her to a friend and mentioned that she and my mother had grown up in Norfolk.

"Portsmouth!" Aunt Margaret barked. She was used to people getting the two confused or, more often, simply overlooking Portsmouth for larger and wealthier Norfolk. But her own niece?