prog | (no subject)

Dara just test-drove my ICCB project around the block a couple of times. Actually, she would like to take it around the block; with my dummy data, it was more like driving around an empty parking lot. But still, it worked without a hitch, and her feedback has made my next step clear. I am really happy to have gotten this far -- so far nobody except me has "used" it, and I certainly don't count -- and am hopeful that this is my first major application developed under salary, at any job, that will stand the test of time. (None of the MINT/Adelphia e-commerce projects I worked on lasted beyond my employment there, and I think O'Reilly flushed poor Fox for good when they laid off Erik. (I note, anyway, that my name doesn't appear in the colophon of The Book, as it did for all colophon-enabled ORA titles published in 2002.))

Boss rewarded me by tossing me an interesting combinatorial chemistry problem to solve, maybe (he suggested) with the Perl tools I was last seen working on a few months ago. The problem more involves general math and puzzle-solving than it does specific science, though the science makes it more interesting. There may be a paper in it if I can wring some significant results out of it. Neato.

I am going to take the weekend off, if that makes any sense. Andy is arriving for a visit tomorrow, and on Sunday thru Monday we'll be at SF28. Tonight I think I'll play Civ, and watch at least one of these Netflix DVDs I have been ignoring. Mr. Show!