In this HOWTO I will explain how to use AjaxAgent and PHP to create an Ajax Auto-Compltete box with a drill-down list of data. Although the state of this Ajax Framework is questionable it is so far the simplest and easisest framework I have found.
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*updated - 2006-09-11*
I recently bought a replacment BIOSTAR M7VIG400 Motherboard for $26 at newegg.com. This board normally selles for $46 but I got it for $26 because it was an “Open Box” item. This MB was a replcement for an emachines T2825 that died a few months ago. It was my cousins’ computer so in payment for recoving her files she gave it to me for free. So there I was with a brand new pc case, a 120GB HD, a CD-RW Drive, a DVD Drive, and AMD 2800+ (1.25Ghz) CPU, 512RAM and a dead MB. Great more junk for my office.
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It is very concering that so much OSS is not mature or it may be mature but it’s still in beta. What I find dishearting is when I see a version number like 0.8.2-rc1? This is telling me that this is the first release candidate for a beta version of software. What makes this discouraging to even use is the line in the GPL that reads, “THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED…”. Adding a disclaimer to a beta release is not very conforting. Or how about v0.3 with a no warranty disclaimer? Is something that is v0.3 even worth looking at let alone using?
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Over the past few months I have been toying with Ajax and .NET via the Ajax.NET Professional Library and my first few attempts left me feeling that Ajax was not very useful. Then I recently had a specific task to complete and it seemed to be a perfect candidate for Ajax. The task was very simple, get a list of Albums by an Artist. This functionality is of course part of a much larger on-line music app I was constructing but I needed to start with something small. The UI was very simple a TextBox to enter an Artists’ Name and a Table to display the Albums. Since this was such a simple task I decided to spice it up with some AJAX.
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Posters -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/glagla/sets/1177687/
reddit.com comments -> http://reddit.com/info/65fc/comments
Comment A: So why wouldn’t you just use Debian if you want a server linux distro? What will Ubuntu provide over Debian for a server?
Response A: A GUI, so that MSCEs can use it.
Response to Response A: Thanks asshole! Now how am I supposed to get those half-chewed potato chips and spit out of my keyboard!
Why would I want to migrate from Windows to Linux?
This is a very good and legitimate question and the answer is different for each person. The reason that I want to migrate from Windows to Linux is for the fun of it. I need a mental challenge. Oh sure I could play Sudko all day and in the end I am flexing my brain but I get nothing tangible out of it except for scraps of paper with numbers on them. I like the mental challenge but I also like quantifiable results. I want to get something out of my effort so that I may step back and say (to myself), “look at what I have created.” This is my idea of model making or craft making and such. So like I said you may have your own reasons or you my be just like me; in search of a mental challenge.
There is another reason I am doing this and it’s political. Microsoft is releasing Vista in Jan 2007 which misses an X-Mass release date. Computer makers will not be able to sell any new PC’s with Vista during the X-Mass Shopping season. Low PC sales will hurt retailers thus causing a slight economy blip at the end of the year. Those that do buy new PC’s with XP on it will then have to fork out an extra $200 for Vista and then they violate their manufacture’s warranty.
I am sure the reasons for the delay are valid like fixing potential security issues but come on. We weren’t born yesterday and we have all learned how marketing works. People will think Vista is more secure because MSTF delayed the release in the consumer’s best interest. Oh f’ing sure. The other thing is the rumor that Vista is going to be a hardware hog. Meaning you can’t upgrade XP because your 2 y.o. PC won’t meet the minimum spec.