I just finished project number 2. The database app is finished, but of course you guys won't be able to see any of the coolness until they put some cars up for you to look at. Or if you got a job there. Either way, it feels great to have accomplished a new task. I'm feeling super stoked right now, and it'll probably be a few days before I come down off of this cloud. Let me know what you think about their new site! (There are links below, as I made sure to mention it several times... haha)

Project #2 is well under way and nearing completion. I have written many PHP programs now to automate some database features of the AAA Website. I'm starting to impress myself, haha! As soon as the webhosters setup the database account name and information, I think the new features will be ready to go live.

I went to Barnes and Noble on Tuesday and bought some new books. I got some great books for an even better price. I got (2) O'Reilly books and (1) PHP book put out by Barnes & Noble themselves! Evidently, Barnes and Noble has their own cheap line of computer books out, and I can say that this one is one of the best books I've ever seen. Alright, book titles:

• $9.95 PHP: in easy steps
• $6.98 Webmaster in a Nutshell (How did I get in this bloody nutshell?!)
• $3.49 Web Design in a Nutshell

The last two books did not actually come in a nutshell, which was very disappointing, but since they are regularly $29.99 each I was pleased with the price. I think I might sue for false advertisement. For people who are interested in actually building and running their own website one day, I recommend that you run out to Green River Rd. and buy the Webmaster in a Nutshell book (it has a spider on the cover). It covers literally everything.

Happy New Year!

Time for an update I suppose. Today I got paid for my recent website development project. I paid the mortgage, banked some cash, and bought a cute little wooden pantry for the kitchen. Tomorrow (today technically), I plan on stopping at AAA Auto to get the full-blown requirements on the next project they want me to do. This one will be an online database that has pictures of cars for sale, accessible from their website. It will realistically take a little bit more work than the website, but should work out well financially for everyone since I've mentioned the possibility of a potential trade or cash/trade offer for services.

USI will be starting up again soon, I guess I should figure out when that day will be. Not to mention the fact that I still have to: get my books, try to sign up for ANOTHER class, and look for a job. Although if I can bang this database out fast enough, the job search could wait a week or two. One thing is for sure, I'm gonna need a job that's 2nd or 3rd shift since I'm taking day classes this semester.

I just finished playing with some homebrew PS2 stuff. It was cool running programs that other people like me made on the Playstation 2. I just finished downloading the tools to write some of my own programs, but there's a steep learning curve for programming a console system, so don't expect anything too soon. In other related geekitude news, I wrote a few programs to "hack" at some PS2 files. Apparently, Karaoke Revolution globs all of the graphics and sound into one huge file which I, in turn, hack at until I find something interesting... like the gzipped picture files contained within the archive. If I can figure out the exact system, I'm going to write a utility to extract all of the files.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday (the 29th), so Kristina and I took her out for Lunch at Applebee's on the west side. It was good stuff, and if Kristina happens to forget that she has half of a Chicken Fajita Roll-Up tomorrow, she can kiss it goodbye. I love those ... and Apple Chimicheescake. Right now, I'm pining for gyros from the mall. This is bad because it is 12:55am, I am full, the mall is closed, and I'm about 85 lbs overweight. I found an ancient Kool-Aid Slushie Mix packet today, so I made it and ate some. It was so sweet that I now have a stomach ache.

Today, I should really get myself out to Barnes & Noble to buy a couple of books. I need more ammunition for my programming arsenal of books. It's like reinvesting money back into yourself. I should make that some kind of rule or something; like everytime I do computer work for somebody, I'm supposed to go buy something that keeps my skills honed and broad.

I must go now, sleep beckons.