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[ Page 40 of 76 ]
From: Abigail
Date: 00:51 on 21 Sep 2005
Subject: File::Copy
--wRRV7LY7NUeQGEoC
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Another of those Perl modules that should never have been made.
A favourite of the perlmonks crowd (perlmonks is to Perl what slashdot
is to computer geeks in general -- the shine attracts the teenagers,=20
but it ain't very useful); it has worked itself into the main Perl
distribution, and someone has had a lot of success in passing the kool-aid.
Nowadays, if you dare to write:
system cp =3D> $src, $dest;
on most Perl forums, Perl nitwits pop up their heads from under their rocks
and flame you for not being 'pure perl', and for writing code that doesn't
run on their Billware. No, they say, you ought to use File::Copy.
Now, this rant isn't about File::Copy's rather limited capabilities
compared to 'cp'. Using a directory as a destination is beyond its
capabilities, and
File::Copy::copy ($file1, $file2, $dir)
will complain, but destroy your $file2 anyway. Not to mention it doesn't
have support for equivalences of 'cp -r', 'cp -p' or any of the other
options you'll have with 'system'.=20
Nor is this rant about the fact File::Copy also provides a 'syscopy'
routine, but doesn't actually export 'syscopy'.
No, I hate File::Copy because when copying a executable, it loses the=20
execution bit. Having been bitten by that 'feature' in the past,
I haven't used File::Copy for a long, long time. But I'm not the only
person using Perl at the company I work for. Had a long debugging
session today -- which ended with replacing File::Copy with 'system "cp"'.
Abigail
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nmqNlNg+wjFgXMGCshb3WaU=
=kj08
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--wRRV7LY7NUeQGEoC--
From: Michael G Schwern Date: 01:05 on 20 Sep 2005 Subject: eBay email: 1 pound of content, 500 tons of legal This email from eBay really says it all. Note that in all that crap they didn't think to quote my original question back to me. ----- Forwarded message from "eBay Member: etrade168" <member@xxxx.xxx> ----- From: "eBay Member: etrade168" <member@xxxx.xxx> Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 06:43:58 -0700 To: stupid@xxxxx.xxx Subject: Re: Question for item #8219304226 - PS2 REZ Trance Vibrator import Japanese 2 New Reply-To: etrade168@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx ---------------------------------------------------------------------- eBay sent this message to Michael?Schwern?(schwern). Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more: http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/name-userid-emails.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- eBay sent this message on behalf of an eBay member via My Messages. Responses sent using email will go to the eBay member directly and will include your email address. Use the Respond link below to send your response via My Messages (your email address will not be included). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Important Marketplace Safety Tip: http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter --------------------------------------- Always remember to complete your transaction on eBay -- it's the safer way to buy. Please do not offer to buy or sell this item through this form without completing the transaction on eBay. If you receive a response inviting you to transact outside of eBay, you should decline -- such transactions may be unsafe and are against eBay policy. ====================================================================== Response to Question about Item -- Respond Now ====================================================================== Response from etrade168 Item: PS2 REZ Trance Vibrator import Japanese 2 New (8219304226) This message was sent while the listing was active. etrade168 is the seller. --------------------------------------- vibrator only ====================================================================== Respond to this question in My Messages: http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?M2MContact&item=8219304226&requested=etrade168&qid=1250502888&redirect=0 ====================================================================== Item Details --------------------------------------- Item name: PS2 REZ Trance Vibrator import Japanese 2 New Item number: 8219304226 End date: Sep-21-05?22:37:05 PDT View the item description here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8219304226&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1 --------------------------------------- Is this email inappropriate? Does it violate eBay policy? Help protect the community by reporting it. -- eBay policy: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/rfe-unwelcome-email-misuse.html -- Report URL: http://cgi1.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ReportEmailAbuseshow&emaildate=2005/09/17:06:43:58&emailtype=3&trackId=1250502888 Thank you for using eBay! http://www.ebay.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn how you can protect yourself from spoof (fake) emails at: http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial This eBay notice was sent to stupid@xxxxx.xxx on behalf of another eBay member through the eBay platform and in accordance with our Privacy Policy. If you would like to receive this email as HTML, change your notification preferences at: http://cgi4.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?OptinLoginShow See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have questions about eBay's communication policies. Privacy Policy: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/privacy-policy.html User Agreement: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html Copyright ??2005 eBay, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. eBay and the eBay logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of eBay, Inc. eBay is located at 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125. ----- End forwarded message -----
From: Nicholas Clark
Date: 23:31 on 16 Sep 2005
Subject: perforce file type metadata
$ p4 sync ...@24049
//depot/perl/opnames.h#16 - updating /home/nick/p4perl/perl/opnames.h
Can't clobber writable file /home/nick/p4perl/perl/opnames.h
//depot/perl/reentr.c#17 - updating /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.c
Can't clobber writable file /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.c
//depot/perl/reentr.h#19 - updating /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.h
Can't clobber writable file /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.h
$ p4 edit opnames.h reentr.c reentr.h
//depot/perl/opnames.h#19 - opened for edit
//depot/perl/reentr.c#23 - opened for edit
//depot/perl/reentr.h#25 - opened for edit
$ p4 revert opnames.h reentr.c reentr.h
//depot/perl/opnames.h#19 - was edit, reverted
//depot/perl/reentr.c#23 - was edit, reverted
//depot/perl/reentr.h#25 - was edit, reverted
$ ll opnames.h reentr.c reentr.h
-rw-r--r-- 1 nick nick 9378 Jun 9 10:43 opnames.h
-rw-r--r-- 1 nick nick 16323 Jul 8 17:22 reentr.c
-rw-r--r-- 1 nick nick 78393 Jul 5 19:21 reentr.h
$ p4 sync ...@24049
//depot/perl/opnames.h#16 - updating /home/nick/p4perl/perl/opnames.h
Can't clobber writable file /home/nick/p4perl/perl/opnames.h
//depot/perl/reentr.c#17 - updating /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.c
Can't clobber writable file /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.c
//depot/perl/reentr.h#19 - updating /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.h
Can't clobber writable file /home/nick/p4perl/perl/reentr.h
Hello. You mean you can't cope with VERSION CONTROLLING YOUR METADATA?
No. No. No. That would be non-hateful.
So instead, if I attempt to sync back before this one:
$ p4 describe 24775
Change 24775 by nicholas@ship-in-a-bottle on 2005/06/09 09:22:18
Change perforce filetype from text to text+w (so regen.pl is happy)
Affected files ...
... //depot/perl/opnames.h#19 edit
... //depot/perl/reentr.c#22 edit
... //depot/perl/reentr.h#24 edit
Differences ...
==== //depot/perl/opnames.h#19 (text+w/text) ====
==== //depot/perl/reentr.c#22 (text+w/text) ====
==== //depot/perl/reentr.h#24 (text+w/text) ====
you bleat. FUCKING SHUT UP and JUST DAMN WELL WORK.
Please?
Is that too much to ask?
Nicholas Clark
From: Earle Martin Date: 13:19 on 14 Sep 2005 Subject: Adobe Acrobat Reader As of version 7 or something, there now exist editable PDF forms. And of course, what Adobe invents, people will slavishly follow, so these forms are starting to crop up on websites when there exists the need for a form for you to print out, fill out and mail off somewhere. What was wrong with plain old HTML? Nothing. Morons. But of course, this is a version 7 thing. So I had to upgrade the Acrobat Reader on my Win98 box, because I only had version 5 installed. And can I? No. Adobe won't let Win98 users go past v6. So unless I upgrade my entire operating system, I can't use forms on some websites. How hateful. More hateful still is that one particular form I could not avoid having to print out, so I actually had to go out and print it from an internet cafe. Only, every internet cafe in the entire world only has Acrobat version 5 installed. So when I picked a place I had to upgrade Acrobat myself. Thus not only paying richly for the paper I was printing on, but the time I had to spend upgrading someone else's computer. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.
From: Rafael Garcia-Suarez
Date: 19:03 on 13 Sep 2005
Subject: byacc
In the perl makefiles, there's this rule somewhere :
check_byacc:
@$(BYACC) -V 2>&1 | grep 'version 1\.8\.2'
So far so good. But on my system I've byacc 1.9 installed by default.
And recompiling a2p.y works fine with byacc 1.9 too. So I thought,
let's change this makefile so it allows byacc 1.9 too.
But you know what ? In 1.9 they've removed the -V option. Worse,
nothing else works: -v, -h, --version, --help,
--just-give-me-your-version-you-bloody-piece-of-junk, etc. Even worse,
strings(1) can't find the version of the binary.
Hate. You know what, I'll just use bison instead.
From: Earle Martin Date: 12:25 on 13 Sep 2005 Subject: Limewire Title: [ Four of Two ] Artist: [ They Might Be Giants] Result: "Error: Your search is too specific. Please make your search smaller and try again." WTF?
From: Juerd Date: 10:51 on 10 Sep 2005 Subject: restart iTunes wanted me to reboot my Mac mini after upgrading. Reboots on security upgrades are bad, the reboot dialog that doesn't go away after upgrading is bad (though it can be killed), that there is always at least one application that doesn't respond and needs to be force quitted (You know, "kill" works much better as a verb) is bad. But rebooting to upgrade my music player. COME ON. And they exchanged the Brushed Metal look for a new Cheap Silver Plastic interface. The how manyth different graphic design is this? Juerd
From: Juerd Date: 17:13 on 09 Sep 2005 Subject: Fw: (bearman@ssrc.org) Out of Office AutoReply: Colors Suck. ----- Forwarded message from Ben Bearman <bearman@xxxx.xxx> ----- From: Ben Bearman <bearman@xxxx.xxx> Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 12:03:48 -0400 To: Juerd <juerd@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx> Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: Colors Suck. I will be away from the office until 9/14. ----- End forwarded message ----- Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Dear Ben, I did not mail YOU, I mailed a mailing list that you subscribed to. I do not care about your current being away from the office. Regards, Juerd
From: Smylers Date: 22:00 on 08 Sep 2005 Subject: Perl FindBin Module Perl comes with a module called FindBin, which generally finds the directory in which the currently executing script is located. It comes with this caveat: If there are two modules using FindBin from different directories under the same interpreter, this won't work. Since FindBin uses a BEGIN block, it'll be executed only once, and only the first caller will get it right. This is a problem under mod_perl and other persistent Perl environments, where you shouldn't use this module. That's fair enough -- if I use FindBin in mod_perl, the directory it provides may not be what I want. What it doesn't say is that if under mod_perl I use a module which in turn loads FindBin, that will make 'Apache' non-deterministic, such that I will spend over 3 hours wondering why sometimes my code just fails with a 500 message to the browser yet nothing at all in the 'Apache' error log; sometimes it fails with a 500 and a log message about not being able to find a method that blatantly does exist; and sometimes it manages to find an execute the method but does the wrong thing because a package variable in the module that loaded FindBin is mysteriously empty.[*0] All this just from _loading_ FindBin! I'm not even giving it a chance to return the wrong directory because the module that loads FindBin only uses it in one method, and I'm not calling that method. Hate Hate-Hate-Hate HateHateHate hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate. And while I'm here, can I also hate 'OTRS', a ticketing system which runs under mod_perl yet tries to make use of FindBin anyway, despite its being documented as not working (and talking of not working, the 'OTRS' website has been down for at least the past several hours, so I can't even channel my hate into a patch or bug report) in that environment. This conveniently allows 'OTRS' to surprise you by suddenly breaking at a moment when you weren't anywhere near it. [*0] Also sometimes it appears to fail by completely locking the server such that it needs power-cycling to do anything. But our sys-admin's current hunch is that was caused by dodgy memory, so I'm excluding that from the hate at the moment. Smylers
From: Smylers Date: 21:45 on 08 Sep 2005 Subject: Windows VPN A VPN connection is down on a Windows server. I look for where the thingy is to reconnect it. It isn't in 'My Computer'. It isn't in 'My Network Places'. It isn't in 'Routing & Remote Access'. It isn't in 'Services'. Feeling too much like I'm in a picture book for toddlers, I give up looking everywhere I can think of and ask a colleague, who points out 'Settings' > 'Network Connections'. I marvel at how many different places Microsoft manage to put network-related config. I choose 'Connect', and then the subsequent thing, which is also labelled 'Connect'. After a few seconds the connection fails. The resultant dialogue box has the offer: If you continue to receive error messages, you can enable logging for analysis. Sounds like a good idea. I check the 'Enable logging' box. Underneath is the advice: For logging options, see _diagnostics_. That last word is a hyperlink (in a dialogue box? hmmm), so I click it. Another dialogue box appears, but the one I already saw conveniently jumps on top of it less than a second later, obscuring whatever the new one is asking. I bring it back into focus. It's asking for 'Location Information': Before you can make any phone or modem connections, Windows needs the following information about your current location. It wants my country, area code, access number, and whether I use tone or pulse dialing. This for options about logging for a VPN connection? What? The server doesn't have a modem in it, so I feel justified in clicking 'Cancel'. Windows then pops up a message: Windows needs telephone information about the location from which you will be dialing. If you cancel without providing this information, this program may not function correctly when dialing. In addition, some applications respond to your canceling this dialog box by immediately re-posting it. Are you sure you want to cancel? But I won't be dialing! What on earth is it on about? And nice of it to tip me off about the potential infinite loop -- I'm sure offering a 'cancel' option but warning me about the loop is the right way of dealing with his. I proceed anyway, after double-checking which of 'Yes' or 'No' means 'Cancel' in this situation. Another window appears, 'Remote Access Preferences' (though seemingly no relation to the 'Routing & Remote Access' I found earlier). It has 3 tabs. The 3rd tab, 'Diagnostics' is currently selected. Absolutely everything in the tab is greyed out, which isn't much help. The greyed-out text says: If you are disconnected from a network, autodial attempts to connect to a network whenever you try to access remote information. Then there's a big greyed-out box and some greyed-out checkboxes. This isn't much use. I wonder why Windows has brought me here. I have a quick look at the other tabs to see if they do anything. The 1st is 'Autodial'. Everything there is greyed out too. In fact, it's identical to the tab I've just left, with the same greyed-out text and controls. Why have 2 tabs that contain the same stuff? The middle tab is 'Callback'. Still everything is greyed out, but at least this is different stuff. I absent-mindedly click on the 3rd tab again. It's changed! This time it contains completely different content, and none of it is greyed out! An interface which changes when you go away and come back to it -- how exciting! Now there's checkbox labelled 'Enable logging'. This is already checked, presumably because it's actually the same checkbox as on the first dialogue box. There's also the text: To view or save log files as one report or send them in one e-mail message, click Generate Report. So I do. Many options appear. I choose to view the report, rather than having it mailed to me, then: This process can take several minutes. Do you want to continue? I do -- I've waited this long, what's a few more minutes? A progress bar appears. It takes less than 2 seconds to get to 78% complete; that's a good sign. A few seconds later it's at 90%, but it seems to have stuck there. Did somebody make percentages logarithmic while I wasn't looking? At some point later I notice the progress bar has disappeared. I can't spot the report anywhere. I give up. Even later I stumble across the report -- it's in HTML and had opened in a new tab of the 'Firefox' I already had running. It had never occurred to me that a VPN log might come in HTML. The report is thousands of lines long. It contains many things I wouldn't expect to find in a log (the contents of this server's 'phonebook', for instance). It is far from apparent when giving a list including many items such as 'IASACCT.LOG' and 'IASNAP.LOG' which of them might pertain to the failed VPN connection which directed me here. I search for the VPN's connection by name. Other than the phonebook entry the only occurrence is in NETSHELL.LOG, which seems to be logging whenever something in the system tray pops up some balloon help. It complains that the icon for this VPN connection is missing but that it should be there. So I still don't have a VPN connection, and now I'm lost in a twisty maze of log files, all alike. I think I'm now beyond hate. Smylers
< mari
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Generated at 10:28 on 16 Apr 2008 by mariachi