Joshua's Thoughts

having just seen john ziegler’s new documentary (thanks to michael graham of 96.9 wtkk for the free tickets), i think i have some perspective on how and why his recent msnbc interview with contessa brewer (see below) went down.

this guy, in my view, is doing an extraordinary job at trying to bring back some of the balance to the media.

if you like watching two interviewers have at it with each other (i sure do), check this one out:

mass voters overwhelmingly decided to NOT eliminate our state sales tax last november for fear of “retaliatory tax increases.” well guess what mass voters? as i predicted, a tax increase has happened anyways. last night, the mass senate voted to increase the state sales tax from 5% to 6.25%. did i mention that we’re in a recession with record-high unemployment?

oh, it doesn’t stop there. the state also decided to lift the sales tax exemption on alcohol. so when you go to buy your 6-pack, you won’t only be paying for ridiculously high sin-taxes the state already has in place, you’ll be paying a TAX on top of a TAX. yup – mass. is taxing a tax.

when asked about the tax, senator candaras said “… this sales tax will fund a lot of very important programs, at least in part for some of the most vulnerable citizens.”

vulnerable citizens, eh? what exactly is a “vulnerable citizen.” it CANT be the welfare recipients getting free cars with AAA and free insurance, can it? it CANT be the ones getting free cell phones, can it?

i guess it can.

surprise: i got another credit card offer in the mail today. this time, it was from valero, a gas company that i have a gas card through.

so what’s the gimmick this time? they sent me what looks like a flyer with big letters telling me to IMMEDIATELY RESPOND or else! but wait, what’s that in fine print below my signature? ah: “If your address is correct and you do not wish to become a Protected Cardholder, then no response is necessary.”

but wait! I WANT to be a “Protected Cardholder” don’t I? If I don’t sign this, does that mean somehow I’m not protected.

oh – here it is. Let me just flip the offer and read where it clearly states what I’m signing myself up for.

Ohhh – there’s where the fee is. In those easy to see tiny little paragraphs.

Silly credit card company. You allllmost had me.

i’ve had a few requests for examples of how to use the quickbase php api wrapper. so here goes:

setup the quickbase object with login info

include the library and setup the object by passing in username, password, true/false (xml/http), and dbID of the db/table you’ll be transacting with.

include_once('../includes/qb.php');
$quickbase = new QuickBase('username','password', true, 'dbID');

do a quickbase query

here, we setup a query to return field 3 where (field id 15 is equal to somevalue).

$queries = array(
			array(
				'fid'	=> '15',
				'ev'	=> 'ex',
				'cri'	=> 'somevalue')
			 );

$results = $quickbase->do_query($queries, '', '', '3');

adding a record to a quickbase

this one is super easy. create an associative array with field id’s and values and then use the add_record method.

$fields = array(
			array(
				'fid'	=> '1',
				'value'	=> 'some value'),
			array(
				'fid'	=> '2',
				'value'	=> 'some value'),
			array(
				'fid'	=> '3',
'value'=>'some value')
						  );
$quickbase->add_record($fields);

edit a quickbase record

almost identical to add_record, setup the array and use the add_record method.

$fields = array(
			array(
				'fid'	=> '1',
				'value'	=> 'some value'),
			array(
				'fid'	=> '2',
				'value'	=> 'some value'),
			array(
				'fid'	=> '3',
'value'=>'some value')
						  );
$quickbase->edit_record($fields);

do a quickbase query

here, we setup a query to return field 3 where (field id 15 is equal to somevalue).

$queries = array(
			array(
				'fid'	=> '15',
				'ev'	=> 'ex',
				'cri'	=> 'somevalue')
			 );

$results = $quickbase->do_query($queries, '', '', '5');

catherine and i spent today in gloucester, mass – home of the nations oldest seaport. it’s a pretty nice quaint new england fishing town. we had some great seafood and stumbled upon a superb antiques store. here are two panoramas i shot (catherine is located in both if you can find her):

stage fork park

hammond castle museum (it was closed today so i shot this by reaching over the bushes)