Okay, it's like this: I'm ignorant, not stupid. The difference in definition is that ignorance can be cured by education - stupid involves a willful refusal to admit ignorance.

To the point: I wish to learn how to write scripts: scripts that will replicate web pages; scripts that will force information input into a database into a multi-level market style matrix; script that will deliver multiple automatic responses via email on a set schedule; script that will batch payments to be processed via PayPal - all automatically (except the pay script, I want a one-button approval for that one) - It's a tall order - I've shopped around online, the providers of these items want upwards of $1200.00 for a packaged setup that (they say) will do what I'm imagining.

Other than A BAD Place for wanting to do these things, where exactly should I start in order to be learning as I actually do the above? Any solid beginner-plus books/online references/freeware (please, not trial-ware) alternatives I'm not finding?

Thank you!!

This post:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=306735&cid=20733021

Demonstrates it beautifully.

Although I hate to fan the flames of paranoia, the article I read this morning disturbed me greatly:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12370498/

It looks very much like someone is trying to justify adding Iran to the "U.S. Gov is at war with" list openly.

I'm shocked I beat Jeremiah to the punch on publishing the link to it.
Sorry folks, no matter how much we might like to hide our heads under local sand, our gub'mint has other ideas.

I want to create back-ups of several of my audio cassettes for use as CDs and/or digital files: I have most of the minimum tools: an audio cassette player, a PC with CD burner (running WinXP), and the blank CDs: My question is, will any of the so-called "conversion" softwares be required, or even desired? If so, which one(s), keeping budget in mind?
Thank you!

How's life? For me, pretty darn good at the moment: My angel and I celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss this weekend, went to Emerald Downs and watched the horses run - due to weather the crowds weren't too bad, the last race the rain had stopped, we got to stand right next to the rail, only eight feet from the starting gate... Her eldest and his wife gave us a 30+ gallon aquarium, kit, 7 African Cichlids and a Placostomus...
          Finished a drawing that'd been giving me fits: with benign essential tremors, I had been unable to get into the visual arts at all until I discovered digital: As it is, the works (due to my taking so long to learn the programs) take too long to be anything more than a hobby...
          The piece I did finish will be useful as part of the fund-raising efforts for our (Darla and my) non-profit foundation: Once our board accepts their nominations, we'll be filing all the paperwork, then I'll be able to devote a JE to what we're doing and planning on doing...
          Still employed, although being a long-term temp feels less secure than I'd like, it's not a difficult job in terms of physical labor or intellectual capacity, but it most definitely *is* challenging in terms of dealing with people...
          Back-shelved my book project in favor of yard-work during the warmer months - The goal is to get this property dealt with this year so that future years are "maintenance only" until we're ready for our last planned move...
          Bit off more than I could chew with reading: Having read several NLP books, I had put Mssr.s Bandler and Grinders' books about Ericksonian Hypnosis on my birthday wish list - now I have to go back and re-read "The Structure of Magic" I & II - odd coincidence, a TV show, "Mind Control with Derren Brown" came out shortly after I got the Ericksonian book - seeing the principles described in the book put into practice on un-suspecting individuals is somewhat unsettling...
          Unless I win the lottery or something else equally unlikely, retirement is now approximately 5 years, ten months away...
          How's life? Pretty darn good, thank you!
          How's yours?

I finally finished one, *and* joined deviantart! Adobe Photoshop might be great for mangling existing images, but it's a dirty mother to draw with! Anyway, y'all go look:

http://rm6f9.deviantart.com/art/Perfection-Sri-Yantra-Mandala-62863687

And let me know what you think, gently, please?

Although I don't necessarily want to agree with some of Daedalus' points (Given sufficient perspective, all human action is futile), I do enjoy discussion with obviously bright people: The measure of an edge is the heat of the forge and the strength of the stone upon which it's been ground.

231 years ago, a group of men faced the ends of their lives on earth in order to procure for us their posterity the blessings of liberty... Today, regardless what we may think of the idiots who ordered and have kept them in harm's way for no valid moral purpose, please take a moment to be thankful for those among us still willing to make that sacrifice.
As an aside, I fully intend to vote my favorite presidential candidate this next election as every election since I was eligible to run: ME! Please write in my name, Ross W. Murker, on the "President of the United States" write-in line on your ballot - if true to form, 2008 will garner me somewhere above 100 votes, and I'm only 6 orders of magnitude away. (1 per election = 24 years, I'll become POTUS by popular vote in 2032 at age 69 - Reagan was older when he swore in) - one of these days, I'm going to have to establish a website, electronic petitions to run in the states that don't do write-ins, and ask for volunteers - the only requirement is a sense of disgust with the status quo political scene.
If at all interested, I wrote an essay for an MSNBC contest...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6275862/#entry5
I wonder if that will net me more or less votes?
Anyway, y'all have a great 4th, even you Canadians, eh? (That noise to the south is your uncouth neighbors partying while their idiot-in-chief counts the time until he can escape impeachment via being replaced...)

The guy makes sense - of course, this means he's/we're doomed, but at least we'll be hearing things that sound sensible while the band plays and the cold water looms ever nearer...

Someone said "Be careful what you wish for - it says too much about you." - I feel fairly safe with these.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2MLCC8W5O00MV/

My wife's hair is growing back, she loves her two new miniature horses, I'm employed full-time, A-N-D, I'm working on building a non-profit, 501(c)(3) incorporation so that when I launch its website, everything will be aboveboard as far as donations being tax-deductible for the kind folks who donate. In my *copious* spare time, I'm looking into admissions to an online university (cityu.edu) to finish my Bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology.
          Anybody know any good US tax attorneys looking to get some pro bono hours logged?

I met Shadow Wrought live and in person today: I had planned a trip to Powell's as a consolation mini-vacation (my wife went to AZ for the week to see her youngest graduate High School; I had to work). Remembering that he is in the Portland area, I set up a meeting, we discussed across a wide range of topics, I enjoyed the day, the meeting, and the conversation very much. Maybe someday when I'm wealthy I'll set something up to meet all of my slashdot friends in person...

A mutual friend requested it, and haven't seen anything worth denying my /. friendship yet.

My wife is better. Better enough to be off the chemo, better in a 90% by volume tumor reduction sense, better enough to get the bilateral uretal stents removed (don't schedule ANYTHING for the 36 hours immediately after that - smooth muscle spasms make childbirth a walk in a park by comparison - her words), better enough to start the long climb back toward average healthy energy levels, better enough to feel new hair returning in the places it's s'posed to. Better.
          I am still employed, she is still employed (an aside: she had 6 chemotherapy treatments - she missed 7 days of work, total, during this regimen), and we're starting to see just how far her medical and my unemployment have set us back on our path to freedom, but we're once again making steps in a forward direction toward that goal.
          I have no internet access at work and am devoting more time to other projects, so perhaps am not posting as prolifically as before, but I still read just about everything.
          Movies of note: If you haven't seen "Deja Vu", don't bother - they take an awesome concept and smother it.
          Other wastes of time: I've been weaning myself off of TV - am down to UFC shows, and not watching all of them, although I'm occasionally guilty of listening to what my wife watches (CSI, Lost, Deadliest Catch) while I work at the computer.
          It's good to reflect every once in a while, and as I've got a birthday coming next month, this is as good a time as any, to look back, celebrate my/our successes, and be truly grateful for who we are , all we have and all we will become.
          Good call on the hungry summer/kid thing, Nizo, not a lot of people think about stuff like that.
          Here's wishing for everyone the opportunity to feel a similar sense of contented gratitude very soon.
Peace.

It seems odd to look at such a simple thing: I need to contribute. I need to contribute in order to receive without attending feelings of guilt. I have within me skill sets that, when applied, others and I can negotiate an agreed-upon exchange rate as far as one hour of my application of skills is exchanged for x dollars, which can then be exchanged for items I wish or services from others. In short, I successfully found conventional employment for myself!
Nor will I stop with one: I told the Mrs. I'm going forward with a second position, and will continually be looking for better while working both - never again will I allow my complacency with a single employer to create a position where our resources were so threatened by such a common-place occurrence as a lay-off: From here forward, I will exert efforts consistent with creating the situation where she and I can be *responsibly* free of the need for conventional employment.
          I am working a customer service position full-time, and will be working as a youth case-aide part-time, re-acquiring my counselor's registration, following up on finishing my degree and going forward as a counselor/psychologist with certification/licensing/educational requirement i's dotted and t's crossed.
          How grateful I feel, and how shamed I am by my 'spoiled child' huge lack of gratitude prior: I am in health much better than my lifestyle might deserve, I am loved by an angel of a wife, I am capable and have resources within me to offer, and the will to offer them regardless of whether some (most) have chosen to reject the offers, I have a mind and intellect consistently bringing forth ideas to keep trying until one or more in combination sticks in such a way as to realize the abundance we so clearly deserve. (I have friends willing to help explore these ideas, too!)
          Ever had any severe physical pain? Or a low-level nagging chronic pain? Do you know the relief when the ache is gone? How do we forget to be grateful for being pain-free???
          I will not pretend to know any answers around "Grateful to (W)whom/(W)what?" - There may very well be an Infinite Consciousness of some kind, it's an extreme form of arrogance to claim there is not based on lack of definitive evidence of One that fits into any narrowly-defined human-built box, regardless of the label placed on said box.
          After all this drought, not one job, but two. Maybe if I hadn't been so stubborn I wouldn't have suffered the increasing fears associated with ever-lengthening periods of unemployment. Maybe if I wasn't so stubborn, I'd've given up, though - it all comes out in the wash. I shall remember, and do my best to demonstrate my gratitude in continued actions.
          Peace.