2005 March Archive at ask-mark.com

Monthly Archive for March, 2005

phpMyAdmin finally works! - kind of

Published

on Tuesday 8th March 2005

. Closed

I’ve been working on and off on getting php, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin working on the web server at work since I migrated our webs to IIS 6 on Windows Server 2003 (I’d link these, but what’s the point?). I finally got the three teaming with IIS more or less successfully in the past week. I’ve been able to secure phpMyAdmin from general users, both with NT authentication for the folder in which phpMyAdmin is found, as well as cookie/MySQL authentication for the site itself. I’ve eliminated the root user, opting for an alternate administrative account instead.

Now I’m in the process of learning more about MySQL and phpMyAdmin, all the while creating several databases for various tasks, from informative and dynamic web pages to an online election for a video competition. My hope is to get the latter up and running by the end of the month, and then port over all of the Access/ASP (probably not the cleanest VBScript, at that) I programmed in the past two and a half years to MySQL and php. After that change, I’m hoping to get a good chunk of our site web standards compliant and accessible to those with special needs.

I know it’s going to be a hell of a lot of work, but it’s something I’m mostly enjoying (exporting Access databases to a format importable by MySQL - or making ASP/PHP pages that do the copying for me - is not all that fun). Wish me luck!

Ministry of Thought anyone?

Published

Mark

on Sunday 6th March 2005

in News

. Closed

Grant pointed this out to me. From the story:

Winchester police say William Poole, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Investigators say they discovered materials at Poole’s home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students, teachers, and police.

Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding. He claims that what his grandparents found in his journal and turned into police was a short story he wrote for English class.

This reminds me of when I read (parts of) George Orwell’s 1984 in my freshman English class with Mrs. Modelski. I can’t help but think that this kid’s grandparents may have jumped the gun when they turned him in. I wonder if they talked to him about the contents of his journal, or if anyone has asked his English teacher to see if this is the kind of work he’s turning in for class.

I often times wonder where the lines should be drawn between art and garbage, between expression and inciting a riot, and between freedom and censorship. While this kid is still in high school, and I would have definitely reported his story to a counselor, what makes him different from the plenty of authors who have written similar horrific stories and received praise for their creativity?

As an aside, what about this kid? A lawsuit lays blame for the killing of three officers on the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series because it "trained the now-18-year-old Devin Thompson to kill cops." What a ridiculous idea! First off, where is the lawsuit against the parents for allowing Devin to play GTA in the first place when he was obviously too stupid to separate fantasy from reality? I have played the latest three volumes in the series, and, like the article’s author, I have not gone out and shot a police officer. Neither have I thought it would be a good idea to carjack someone, nor would it be a good idea to create a stockpile of automatic weapons and grenades. So ends my rant on more people being stupid.

The search is over

Published

Mark

on Saturday 5th March 2005

in News

. 2 Comments

I am disappointed to post that the Chicago Police have recovered Laurie’s body from Lake Michigan. From www.laurieboncimino.com:

Early this morning (Saturday, March 5th), Buffalo Grove Police shared with us a letter that Laurie had left in her Jeep on Wednesday. The letter provides clear and definitive evidence that Laurie has chosen to take her own life. This afternoon (Sat, March 5th), the police shared with us the information that Laurie�s body has now been located. Chicago Police have removed her body from Lake Michigan, near where her Jeep and personal items were discovered. There is no evidence of any foul play; this decision appears to have been made by Laurie alone.

My heart goes out to her family and friends in this difficult time.

Laura Boncimino is missing

Published

Mark

on Friday 4th March 2005

in News

. 1 Comment

I walked into Starbucks this morning and was surprised and saddened to see that Laura Boncimino, one of the employees, has been missing since Wednesday. From the Buffolo Grove Police Department’s On The Beat:

Laura Boncimino
Age: 20
Sex: F
Race: White
Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue
Height: 5′4"
Weight: 115lbs
Missing From: 921 Belmar Ln Buffalo Grove
Missing Since: 03/02/05

Details: [The Buffalo Grove Police] department is looking for Laura Boncimino who has been missing since 3/2/05. She was last seen at Starbucks in Hoffman Estates, where she works, at 10:00am on 3/2/05. Laura is driving a black, 1998 Jeep Cherokee, IL plates of 6897531. Laura did not report to her classes, at Harper College, and has not spoken to or called anyone since 3/2/05. Anyone having any information please contact the Buffalo Grove Police Dept at (847) 459-2560.

BUFFALO GROVE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Investigator Andrea Wiggins
847-459-2560
Fax 847-459-0201

So, if you’ve seen Laura in the past couple of days, please contact the above numbers. My thoughts are with her family and friends.

Updated by Mark on 4 March 2005 @ 6:00 PM

I just found out from an article on NBC5.com that a website was created to help find Laura. You can find out the latest at www.laurieboncimino.com.

Updated by Mark on 5 March 2005 @ 12:00 AM

An article on CBS2Chicago.com states that Laurie’s car was found near Navy Pier Friday:

The Harper College junior was last seen wearing blue denim bib overalls, a long-sleeved white sweater and a red and black Columbia jacket.

Boncimino is described as blonde, with blue eyes, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing about 115 pounds.

"We’re hoping the description will help us locate her and make sure she’s okay," Reed said.

The family said the Jeep had several Chicago Cubs stickers, a Cubs novelty front license plate and a Cubs rear license plate. The Illinois license plate number is 689 7531.

Chicago police searched Lake Michigan Friday near the Alder Planetarium after receiving a call of a possible body spotted in the water at around 3:40 p.m., police said.

Six police and fire department divers searched the water unsuccessfully, and the search was called off around 7:15 p.m. because of darkness. The search will resume early Saturday.

No connection has been made between the possible body and Boncimino’s disappearance, police said.

If you live in the Chicagoland area, please be on the lookout for Laurie. I hope for her safe return, as do her friends and family.

Show me the money

Published

Mark

on Thursday 3rd March 2005

in Uncategorized

. Closed

I just looked at my AdSense stats, and I’ve made 12¢ on Wednesday! If I keep this up (1 click every three days), I’ll make $12.24 by year’s end. PIMP!

French spam?

Published

Mark

on Thursday 3rd March 2005

in General

. Closed

Of all things, I’m starting to get spam in French!

BONJOUR,

VOUS RECHERCHEZ UNE ACTIVITE INDEPENDANTE ET SERIEUSE, A DEVELOPPER DEPUIS VOTRE DOMICILE ?

Recherche personnes a temps choisi ou complet
Secteur d’activite en pleine croissance
Possibilite de travailler depuis son domicile
LOCAL - NATIONAL - INTERNATIONAL

For those of you "qui ne parlez pas français," go ahead and feed it to the fish. I’ve tried translating this myself, and I only loosely get that they’re trying to scam you from your house. And I still don’t quite understand why I’m getting French spam. I’ve had about a dozen of these in the last day or two! And they’re all at ask-mark.com addresses!