use Perl

I was encouraged by chaoticset's entries on CGI::Application & HTML::Template, two modules I've been using myself over the last 6 months, since I've stumbled on Jesse Erlbaum's excellent article on CGI::Application. My only beef with this "paradigm" of developing a Web application is limitations with HTML::Template and the start-up dev-cost of at least 3 files (instance script, CGI::Application perl module and an HTML template file) before you actually see any output. When I say limitation, I mean it'd be nice to be able to do Perl code within the template, BUT this is actually a good thing and enforces a proper M/V/C uhh ... paradigm! ;) So that limitation and my only complaint keeps me from polluting the application's proper architecture.

Let's see ... what else? There's a lot here, so I'll just resort to a bullet list here:

• YAPC::NA: Well, I came & went to the conference and it was an ok conference, though I imagine it would have been even better if I chose the right sessions to take. I went to Abagail's Regular Expression talk, which was way too basic for me and I should have instead attended Randall's Perl Objects talk. It was also an interesting study on the geek stereotypes, which merits its own journal entry to expound on.
• Intern: My boss let me hire an intern from a local university, which I found a Comp Sci. major from UNC-Chapel Hill. He knows how to program, but I had to catch him up to how we do things in our environment, which meant he had to learn databases & SQL, Perl (which includes DBI, HTML::Template, CGI::Application, etc) - all of which he's done pretty well. I had to sit down with him earlier this week after I came back from vacation and light a fire to get him more productive. I should mention this is my real first managerial role (no, I don't plan on growing my hair out to points), but I believe the best mantra for any manager is: Lead By Example.
• Vacations: Just came off a week at the beach (Ocean Isle), renting a beach house with some friends. Good times were had by all. I'm also about to head up to NYC, to catch the MU/Juventus match at the Meadowlands on the 31st. Really looking forward to that, as well as plunkin' around in NYC. Sites on my checklist: Ground Zero, PB restaurant, Times Square, Central Park, National Design Museum ... did I miss anything?
• New Servers: My boss approved a budget on some new server hardware after our last security situation. So I have 4 new servers and I've been pretty busy getting them all setup. Hard work and I'm finding myself having to do a lot of research to understand the software and OS, diving into the sysadmin side of things, which to me, isn't as fun as coding. Can't wait to get these servers deployed and their systems running smoothly.

Peace,

Jason