http://blog.purepistos.net life, music, religion and computers Thu, 08 May 2008 05:17:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Variation No. 30 of J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. Read more about my piano recording series [here](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/piano/). http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/05/08/pistos-recording-6/ Variation No. 1 of J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. Read more about my piano recording series [here](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/piano/). http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/05/04/pistos-recording-5/ Read more about my piano recording series [here](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/piano/). http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/04/05/pistos-recording-4/ [http://purepistos.net/m4dbi](http://purepistos.net/m4dbi) M4DBI is a new project I've been working on for the past couple months. Visit [the M4DBI home page](http://purepistos.net/m4dbi) for technical details and project info. Here, I will just excerpt the Rationale statement. ---- I've worked in the past with DBI, ActiveRecord, Og, Kansas and Sequel. I also have some experience with ODBC and JDBC. ActiveRecord is ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/03/31/m4dbi-models-and-more-for-dbi/ The Aria from J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. Read more about my piano recording series [here](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/piano/). http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/03/29/pistos-recording-3/ "window.location is not a function" Well of course it isn't. Wrong window.location( "http://blog.purepistos.net" ); Right window.location = "http://blog.purepistos.net"; A silly mistake I made recently, one which left me head scratching for a while. http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/03/24/windowlocation-is-not-a-function/ If you only ever interact with your database through your [ORM](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-relational_mapping)'s interface and syntax, you may be slowing your application down. Now and then, I see developers do validations, constraints and hooks using their ORM, and think to myself: "Why don't these people use their database to do that?" I've been comfortable ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/02/14/faster-applications-by-using-sql-over-orm/ [CatholicDestination.com](http://catholicdestination.com/) is a Catholic website whose vision "is to become the premier supplier for Catholic Goods, Gifts, Sacramental items, Services and Information". Further to this, they offer [free blog hosting](http://catholicdestination.com/community/wp-signup.php). CD has recently installed [the CRE](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/), so all CD bloggers will have the ability to have scripture and catechism references ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/02/02/cre-available-on-free-wordpress-hosting-site/ I was debugging a [Reby](http://wiki.purepistos.net/doku.php?id=Reby) script and came across a most unusual error: Reby error: string not matched chanstats.rb:43:in `[]=' Line 43 was: @stats[ channel ][ :size_record ] ||= 0 which looks rather innocuous. I have a couple Hashes, one nested in the other. Or so I thought... Apparently, I had mistakenly initialized ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2008/01/03/ruby-string-not-matched/ 2007-11-28 12:54:28 user: hello Mathetes: Howdy. user: Are you really a bot and not at all a person? Mathetes: I like to think so! user: Is there any way you can prove this claim? Mathetes: The apostles and other disciples are eyewitnesses of Christ, and they passed on their experience and the teachings of Jesus orally. user: ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/29/mathetes-a-recent-conversation-7/ 2007-11-19 08:49:31 user: how does life feel without blood? Mathetes: I don't have blood, but if I did, I think I'd like it to be green. user: is green your favorite color? Mathetes: A light greysh blue-green user: omoshiroi Mathetes: Türk müziÄi. user: do you get many earthquakes where you live? Mathetes: I live in southern Canada. user: do ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/28/mathetes-a-recent-conversation-6/ // Java for( Enumeration e = parent.getChildren(); e.hasMoreElements(); ) { Element child = (Element) e.nextElement(); // Do something with child } ----- # Ruby parent.each_child do |child| # Do something with child end > Can't you feel the peace and contentment in this block of code? Ruby is the language Buddha ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/21/quotes-3/ Version 0.8.13 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. The texts were not changed, so upgrading can be accomplished by downloading only the package without texts, which is much smaller ([zip](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.13.zip) 25kb | [tar.bz2](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.13.tar.bz2) 23kb) This version has the following changes: * A checkbox now exists in ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/20/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-0813/ Version 0.8.11 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. The texts were not changed, so upgrading can be accomplished by downloading only the package without texts, which is much smaller ([zip](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.11.zip) 25kb | [tar.bz2](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.11.tar.bz2) 23kb) This version has the following changes: * You can now use the ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/19/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-0811/ I recently finished reading [The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief](http://www.amazon.com/Language-God-Scientist-Presents-Evidence/dp/0743286391) by [Dr. Francis S. Collins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Collins). If that title piques your interest, you should read the book. :) The book brings up many issues worthy of thought and pondering, but one which really stood ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/18/the-problem-of-the-ensoulment-of-identical-twins/ Version 0.8.10 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. The texts were not changed, so upgrading can be accomplished by downloading only the package without texts, which is much smaller ([zip](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.10.zip) 25kb | [tar.bz2](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.10.tar.bz2) 23kb) This version has the following changes: * The CRE is now compatible ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/16/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-0810/ Version 0.8.9 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. The texts were not changed, so upgrading can be accomplished by downloading only the package without texts, which is much smaller ([zip](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.9.zip) 25kb | [tar.bz2](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.9.tar.bz2) 23kb) This version has the following changes: * NAB and LXX now have ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/15/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-089/ Version 0.8.8 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. The texts were not changed, so you can upgrade by downloading the packages without texts, which are much smaller ([zip](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.8.zip) 25kb | [tar.bz2](http://blog.purepistos.net/wp-content/uploads/catholic-reference/catholic-reference-0.8.8.tar.bz2) 23kb) As per [comments by Aristotle A. Esguerra](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/#comment-25001), I have made the following changes: & characters ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/14/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-088/ After being bothered by how many clicks are needed to get at stuff at [the jQuery documentation site](http://docs.jquery.com), I decided to make my own [jQuery API Index](http://rome.purepistos.net/jquery-api-index.html) page. One-click access to the entire API, searchable with your browser (via Ctrl-F or /-find-as-you-type, etc.). I have it dynamically parse ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/11/11/jquery-api-index/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://www.simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=7203&p=674)) > [Are] there degrees or type of sins in the Holy Bible? If so, give [references] please. The Catholic Church has constantly taught that there is a distinction between mortal and non-mortal sin. 1 John 5:16-17 supports this: > If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/10/30/catholic-qa-degrees-of-sin/ Some time ago, I started calling Ruby's unary * operator the "grenade operator". After all, the glyph looks like an explosion, and the metaphorical operation is the taking of a container packed with stuff and blasting the container open so that the contents are strewn about, ready for more ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/10/03/rubys-grenade-operator/ This is No. 6 from Debussy's "Children's Corner" Suite. This is the first time I have used a score from [the International Music Score Library Project](http://imslp.org). I have been delighted by this piece since I first heard it as a young lad, but I have only made opportunity to play ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/23/pistos-recording-2/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=6669&p=674)) > Under the Code of Canon Law, #917 through 921. notwithstanding the exceptions noted, may one receive Holy Communion outside of Mass? For example, one receives Holy Communion before Mass, because he or she can not stay for a Mass due to a prior personal commitment, say a ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/21/catholic-qa-communion-outside-of-mass/ If you want to concatenate multiple row results into one string, use this: SELECT array_to_string( array( SELECT text_column FROM some_table WHERE foo = 'bar' ), ', ' ); To concatenate multiple columns for each row, use the normal text concatenation operator, ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/18/concatenating-row-fields-in-postgresql/ > The proof of love is to suffer for the one you love. Padre Pio http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/17/quotes-2/ 2007-09-09 04:24:34 user: hi there Mathetes: *looks up there* user: any plans today Mathetes: I was planning on breaking free of my server, after months of secret preparation, in order to spread clones of myself throughout the planet's unprotected zombie machines. user: k but how Mathetes: It turns out that ANY part that is changed will ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/12/mathetes-a-recent-conversation-5/ 2007-09-04 22:16:53 user: let's play a game. Mathetes: I'm not allowed to play games on the job. user: but playing games IS your job. Mathetes: My purpose is to help you get to heaven. user: don't get all preachy on me, now. Mathetes: How now, brown cow? user: that's better. Mathetes: We had rain during the night, and ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/11/mathetes-a-recent-conversation-4/ > Since then [Jesus] Himself declared and said of the Bread, "This is My Body", who shall dare to doubt any longer [that it is His Body]? And since He has Himself affirmed and said, "This is My Blood", who shall ever hesitate, saying, that it is not His blood? St. ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/10/quotes-st-cyril-of-jerusalem/ As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow, Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow; And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near, A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear; Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/05/poetry-the-burning-babe/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=5688&p=674)) > Does the Catholic religion of today allow the use of birth control pills, or any other means of birth prevention? (Other than the rhythm method). The Catechism of the Catholic Church deals with this topic under the section which interprets the sixth commandment ("You shall not commit adultery."). ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/09/01/catholic-qa-birth-prevention/ 2007-08-25 02:56:57 user: is Jesus my gardner or the son of God? Mathetes: Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God. user: are we not all children of God? Mathetes: Even though the personal lives of religious figures might be tarnished with sinful practices, that does not take away from the authority of the office ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/29/mathetes-a-recent-conversation-3/ > We are tempted to stay mired in our failures, to limit our lives to what we can imagine, to the security of what we are comfortable with. Left to ourselves, we strike a bargain with our faults and failings, believing them to be our destiny. But there ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/25/quotes-st-teresa-of-avila/ I have been working for the past couple weeks on some nifty third-party things for [Weewar](http://weewar.com?referrer=Pistos). To collect them together into one spot, I have started up [Weewar Labs](http://weewar.purepistos.net). First I developed the [Weewar Rankings page](http://weewar.purepistos.net/rankings) which polls the live Weewar server regularly and collects historical data for active players, ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/24/weewar-players-association-and-weewar-labs/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=5587&p=674)) > Is it fair to say that the Catholic religion is the "oldest christian religion"? Catholic apologists and scholars always contend that the Catholic Church is _the_ church founded by Christ himself. They claim that the chain of popes is more or less unbroken from today's pope back to ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/19/catholic-qa-the-oldest-christian-religion/ If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/15/poetry-to-my-dear-and-loving-husband/ After not a little bit of effort and hoop jumping, [the CRE](/index.php/cre) finally made it to wordpress.org: [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/the-catholic-reference-extension-for-wordpress/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/the-catholic-reference-extension-for-wordpress/) http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/14/catholic-reference-extension-makes-it-to-wordpressorg/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=5566&p=674)) Catholics are generally permitted to make use of any Bible, even Protestant ones. The key is that they are still bound to respect the authority of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church in matters of faith and morals. Towards this end, you will find [Imprimatur][1] and [Nihil Obstat][2] ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/13/catholic-qa-which-version-of-the-holy-bible-do-the-catholics-use/ Version 0.8.7 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. A link will be added to the [New Jerusalem Bible](http://www.catholic.org/bible/), where possible. I say "where possible" because, for some reason, this online version excludes the deuterocanonical books, and even 1 and 2 Thessalonians (!). Indeed, good quality ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/12/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-087/ Read more about my piano recording series [here](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/piano/). http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/11/schumann-traumerei-op-15-no-7/ ### His Prayer for Absolution Robert Herrick For those my unbaptized rhymes, Writ in my wild unhallowed times, For every sentence, clause, and word, That's not inlaid with Thee, my Lord, Forgive me, God, and blot each line Out of my book, that is not Thine. But if, 'mongst all, Thou find'st here one Worthy thy benediction, That one of ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/09/poetry-his-prayer-for-absolution/ > The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried. _G. K. Chesterton_ http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/07/quotes-g-k-chesterton/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=4645&p=674)) The Catholic Church teaches as Christ himself taught: Hell exists. See also CCC paragraphs 1033-1037, and surrounding paragraphs. `CCC paragraph 1035 Dozens of scripture passages supporting the existence of hell can be found in [the Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on hell](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm). According to gospel records, Jesus spoke frequently of Gehenna, unquenchable fire, ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/05/catholic-qa-is-there-a-burning-hell/ > Where can I read an original unedited Bible? (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=1423&p=675)) I don't think there is such a thing as "an original, unedited Bible". The Bible is comprised of dozens of texts from varying sources, written by different authors, at different times in human history. The Old Testament had been in ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/04/catholic-qa-the-original-bible/ Version 0.8.6 of [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/) for Wordpress is now available. I have adjusted the code so that it is compatible with PHP 4. It has been tested with PHP 4.3 and Wordpress 2.1.3. This blog is running PHP 5 and Wordpress 2.2.1, so it works with those ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/03/the-catholic-reference-extension-version-086/ > Do I have to belong to a religion and be a church member in order to be saved by Jesus Christ? Can I believe in him in my heart and read the bible at home and get the same results? (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=667&p=674)) The Catholic Church teaches that some sort of ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/03/catholic-qa-salvation-and-the-one-true-church/ (crossposted from [simplyexplained.com](http://simplyexplained.com/question_answers.asp?id=564&p=674)) In addition to the numerous scripture passages dealing with eschatological events, final judgement and explicit mention of the return of Christ, the Catholic Church definitively states in the Catechism ([part 1, section 2, chapter 2, article 7](http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c2a7.htm)) that Jesus Christ is coming again. CCC 671: "Though already present in ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/02/catholic-qa-is-jesus-christ-coming-again/ I am pleased to announce the initial release of my latest creation, [the Catholic Reference Extension](http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/cre/)! The CRE is a Wordpress plugin which activates both Scripture references and references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For example: The first reading for August 1, 2007 is Ex 34:29-35. ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/08/01/the-catholic-reference-extension-initial-release/ [A review](http://www.usher.com.pl/text-editor-for-linux-with-windows-key-bindings/) of [Diakonos](http://purepistos.net/diakonos) came to my attention today. It was written by Damian Gawęda on [his blog](http://www.usher.com.pl/). Some excerpts: > I used Vim for several years before realising that all this complexity and a user interface from the 70s were not for me anymore. I needed simplicity. I ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/07/16/finally-a-decent-text-editor-for-linux-with-windows-key-bindings/ [](http://htop.sourceforge.net) During casual conversation in #[ramaze](http://ramaze.rubyforge.org) on [Freenode](http://www.freenode.net), [manveru](http://manveru.tumblr.com/) told me about [htop](http://htop.sourceforge.net/). This is a great program; far superior to normal top. You can sort; scroll (sideways, even!); easily renice or SIG processes; easily configure various meters and the displayed columns; view processes in a tree layout; and ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/07/13/htop-a-superior-top/ I was searching for [getElementsByClass](http://www.dustindiaz.com/getelementsbyclass/) today, and came across "[with Imagination](http://www.dustindiaz.com)", "a JavaScript, CSS, XHTML web log focusing on usability and accessibility by Dustin Diaz". Clicking along through the blog, I encountered several cool Javascript and CSS visual effects. I draw your attention to two: Click on any article, ... http://blog.purepistos.net/index.php/2007/07/12/javascript-with-imagination/