Elizabeth's Blog

I’ve been using Google Reader for a while, and I’ve found it to be one of the most stable and easiest to use readers out there. My only (well not only) complaint, and I’m sure the complaint of many others, was that there was no search function embedded within it. Oh the irony.

Well now I can rest easier at night, and actually find crap I’ve been looking for… they finally have added the search function for us all to revel in.

“What’s your name?”
“It’s Jean… but some guys call me Shawna.”
“Nice to meet you Jean.”

Some people take their names very seriously. Others, like me, have spent a lifetime of answering to various and sundry nicknames. I’ve been called Betsy, Betty, Bet-head (long story, not what you think!), Beth, Liz, Lizzy, and of course Elizabeth. Maybe it comes from having an easily nicknamed-name like Elizabeth, but I really have no attachment to one over the other. I’ve got coffee mugs with all different names - personalizing something for me is usually a nightmare. For a while back in ‘95, my online nick was NtrplntJnt so I was often called Janet, as well. And then of course there were the fake bar names I’d give out, because it was easier than saying “I’m Elizabeth” in a super-loud, super-crowded bar. In short, asking me what my name is, is sort of a can of worms you don’t wanna open.

After thinking about it, I rarely call those close to me by their real name in return. My kids only get their real name if I’m scolding them or if I need their attention. Otherwise it’s “Willer,” “Willarina,” “Willeroo".. instead of “Will” or “William". Hell, I can’t even call my dogs by their real name either, which in hindsight must be really confusing for them.

At any rate, I bring this up because for a while now, there has been a bit of confusion between me and Elizabeth Marie Smith, and now I’ve been told there’s at least one more Elizabeth in the PHPWomen mix. Since the NtrplntJnt thing, I’ve kept my online nick as “Elizabeth” or “ElizabethN” usually, but perhaps I need a new nick for differentiation purposes. So I beseech you dear reader, send me your ideas for a new nick… and as long as it isn’t “bigfatslut07″ or something similar, I’ll consider it.

I’ve been intrigued by Ruby and Rails for a while now but I’ve only really tested the waters out of curiosity. If time was of no consequence, I’d probably have gotten a lot further in my Programming Ruby book, but dabbling with Rails and Ruby both are as far as I got. I was tempted by the quick deployment of rails, but also uncomfortable with the so-called Golden Path.

I also lurk on an agile programming mailing list (which are mostly made of RoR guys). One of them recently sent around this article by Derek Sivers on O’Reilly Net: 7 Reasons I Switched Back to PHP After 2 Years on Rails. Of course my opinion on this is biased, but I think he makes a few interesting points. The first of which is basically that PHP can do anything you want it to do. This is my favorite reason for using PHP - it thrills me that I can basically just make it do what I want it to do. And if I can’t get something to work right, nine times out of ten, it’s my own fault for not using the language properly or my own faulty logic- not something I can blame PHP for. PHP really does free your mind to create whatever your imagination can dream up.

The second point I wanted to highlight was regarding integration. This is a huge benefit that I use on a daily basis. There are so many third party apps, libraries and code snippets that can easily be integrated to your current PHP systems - it really can make things seamless. I love this - everything just plays nice together. (Well, most times anyway).

It’s an interesting opinion article, so if you haven’t seen it and you want to annoy your RoR pals, send them the link: http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2007/09/7_reasons_i_switched_back_to_p_1.html