6/27    Now that ilyas is gone... tell us about the city, ausman
        \_ http://preview.tinyurl.com/9aatryf -a
        \_ Whither ilyas?
           \_ http://www.southampton.ac.uk/maths/about/staff/is1d12.page

2/13    Prototype based programming/delegation (not the pattern).  anyone
        use this at all in real world?  Does it really solve the problem of
        OOP brittleness?

5/25    The warranty that the 2pir and Syzygryd code will ship with.
        It's hilarious: http://bit.ly/bqowSx
        -dans

6/30    Javascript, I love you:
        var b = new Boolean(false);
        b;        // false
        !b;       // ALSO false
        !b == b;  // But this is true!
        !!b == !b // Negate both sides and it's false again. FUCK.

        if (b) {
          //  Better fucking believe this will get executed. FUCKING FUCK.
        }
    //  Better fucking believe this will get executed. FUCKING FUCK.
  }
        \_ what are you trying to do?  Use b.valueOf() or b = false;
          \_ I don't think it was intended as a practical example.
             More of just a big JS WTF.  --!OP
        \_ I take it you've never been bit by java autoboxing?  This
           isn't unique to javascript.  I'm not sure about c# but I wouldn't
           be surprised if it had the same kinds of issues.
           \_ c# will do what you would expect. Boxing has performance
              (not logic) penalties and only occurs when you try to use
              intrinsic types as objects (ex. ((bool) foo).ToString()).
              I agree, javascript is whacked. Give the Date object a
              spin for more fun. -- saarp

4/27    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8023341.stm
        SCOTUS upholds FCC's zero-tolerance obscenity policy.

4/27    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8023341.stm
        SCOTUS upholds FCC's zero-tolerance obscenity policy.

        4/27    Nice:
        For all you crusties out there itching to come back and troll with
        wall and motd, but whose accounts are still sorried from a few years
        back, I'd like to remind you that it's not hard to un-sorry your
        account. We just need some way to connect you to your name, to make
        sure we're reactivating the accounts for the right person. A scan/
        photo of your old student ID, or a driver's license will suffice, or
        anything stronger if you really want to. It would also be nice to have
        a timeframe for when you signed up, as an additional sanity check,
        though it's not required.

        Alumni, we want you back!
        Andrew Toulouse
        CSUA President
        \_ translation: also don't forget to DONATE to poor students!
        \_ is there an alumni mailing list we should be on for announcements
           like this and the bbq?
           \_ This was an email I sent to announce@csua which an alumni kindly
              reposted to motd. Perhaps your .forward is out of date, or you
              requested to be removed from announce@csua. We don't keep an
              alumni mailing list, since it'd be too hard to track, and since we
          have a record of members with somewhat ambiguous enrollment statuses
          ;).
              have a record of members with somewhat ambiguous enrollment
              alumni mailing list, since it'd be too hard to track, and since
              we have a record of members with somewhat ambiguous enrollment
              statuses ;).
              P.S. I usually sign my posts on motd with --t.
              --t
              \_ Is that pretentious or merely annoying?
             \_ Dunno. You sound like an expert on annoying. I have my reasons
                for doing it. --t

11/19   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7737375.stm
        right after
        http://tinyurl.com/6oocct
        so i guess the saudis can tell who is terror and who isn't.
        lolz.

11/19   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7737375.stm
        right after
        http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081118/twl-uk-somalia-piracy-saudi-20a4dd5.html

so i guess the saudis can tell who is terror and who isn't huh

3/28    Possibly the first computer attack designed to cause physical harm
        to the victims
        http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/03/epilepsy
        http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/5548

8/23    Update your life scores, you twinks!
        \_ Not unless life-god gets a clue and quits classifying co-op rooms
           as dorms.  Maggot.           -john
                \_ Dear Maggot Infested Peon:
                        Nowhere was it said that a co-op was a dorm.
                        Rather, the life god sayeth: "CO-OPS count not.
                        They make the dorms look nice."  Perchance we shall
                        allow you to return to the hallowed halls of life
                        when you have mastered the difficult art of clue.
                        The life god requests that you not reproduce at
                        this time.
                        \_ Good thing I have the life god's mother hogtied
                           in my closet to prove my points.  -john
                            \_ That's gotta be worth at least a G, if not C.
                \_ What about those 4 to a room co-op rooms? Dorms like
                   mighty nice compared to them
        \_  There's a lot of graduates in the wrong section of the life file,
            too.
        \_ I lost so who the fuck cares.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Welcome to John's special half-assed life point section.  This section of
the life file exists specifically for those who have it all.  Sort of.
Well, maybe not really.  But we won't get into that right now.

John            .3C+.7G+.7H+.6J+172.3U  174.5   C's a '63 Mercedes in SF
                                                    with a busted carb
                                                G's in Switzerland but hot
                                                H's a coop, what do you
                                                    want, and
                                                J's the fixing stuff I do
                                                    for it, while
                                                U's almost there, all I
                                                    need is a CD drive.
                                                    That, and I own soda.
                \_ the tank should should for an extra life point

John Update:  I'm not getting the tank, because I found out they wouldn't let me
shoot anything with it anyway, thus making the whole exercise pointless.
What counts is that I had convinced them to give me a tank.  I work
for a company called Bull, which is neat, because if they fail, they can
easily change the logo to "Bull", or if they get bought by Microsoft, they
can change it to "Bill".
FDSFSDF

7/17

6/18    Is this the end of the line for Chomskyan grammar?  The strange
        language of the Piraha
        http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto
        \_ Their notion of color makes more sense than ours, I think.
           Daniel Dennett talks a lot about this phenomenon, how seemingly
           atomic concepts in our language aren't really. -- ilyas
        \_ Chomsky: brilliant, or just good at getting on the rolodexes of
           anyone needing a linguistic expert?
           \_ dunno, but I read the article, I don't think you did.
           \_ You should read the article, it's really interesting.
              \_ I did, sorry! I thought it was really interesting, too.
        \_ Amazing article.

5/10    Let's say I have the following DOM:
        node1 - (contains divs with name="subject", name="author", etc)
        node2 - (contains divs with name="subject", name="author", etc,
                 and contains other recursive nodes too)
        ...
        ...
        Yes, 1 node can encapsulate other nodes. Is there a way in
        js/DOM to say "From nodeX, I want to fetch all of my immediate
        (non grandchildren) children with name='subject'"?
        \_ this looks like a job for xpath
        \_ You can look at the nextSibling property and look for the name
           yourself.

4/13    Why I wouldn't use prototype.js -- it makes your javascript
        program 3-4X slower due to Array hogs and other bloated stuff.

4/6     What webcam does this?  Is this fake?
        Crazy image processing software?  Help!:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cWzYVJQRdM
        \_ The comment says "its the logitech quickcam orbit MP with a robotic
           camera head thats also really cool, because it actually moves and
           follows you and keeps you zoomed in if you move around the room."
           I counted the comments. 70% of the comments say "Nice tits"
           20% says "nice smile."
           \_ Nice tits indeed!

3/8     Say you have a javascript object, how do you list all the elements
        in the object?
        \_ If memory serves: for (var prop in object) { ... object[prop] ... }
           - ciyer
           \_ I think that's basically correct, but you should verify in a
              book.  One gotcha to be aware of with this: you can use this to
              iterate through the elements in an array, but it's a really bad
              idea because it will break if anyone ever modifies the base
              Array prototype object.  prototype.js the popular AJAX library
              does just that. -dans

3/4     So I'm new to AJAX and I have a few concerns. Let's say I include
        an iframe to a completely different website, say, one of the Yahoo
        or Google plugin (game, fortune) or something. Isn't it possible
        that we'll have variable name space collision between the different
        iframes? My understanding is all iframes and frame variables
        are shared but then again my understanding sucks.
        \_ Yes, this is a problem, though it's a smaller problem in practice,
           than you might expect.  By and large, it's solved the same way
           that the problem of name space collisions in C code is `solved'.
           See: http://www.google.com/apis/gadgets/gs.html and search for
           __MODULE_ID__ for an example.  There are actually some clever
           things you can do with scope in Javascript to more or less
           eliminate this problem.  If you're playing around with Javascript,
           you might want to check out IGMonkey, a library I wrote to make it
           easier to do web mashups:
           http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~dans/igmonkey
           It's largely targeted at the Google Gadgets API, and I haven't had
           time to work on it in months, but there's still some useful stuff
           in there. -dans

2/9     How do I add a simple "Back" button to a .html web page?  I've seen
        some web pages with that button, and I vaguely remember that the source
        looks something like "javascript(back)".  How should it look exactly?
        Thanks.
        \_ quick google search says http://tinyurl.com/2wm5bw

2/9     Looking for a Javascript slider bar example. The first example
        on Google is horrible-- initialization code all over the place,
        global variables, method conventions suck, etc. Thanks!
        \_ I don't have an answer for you, but what do you think of this
           article?  http://ajaxworldmagazine.com/read/333329_p.htm
           \_ From the article:
              "Although it's gotten significantly better with ECMAScript
               standardization, I would still rather program with Java than
               JavaScript, the main reason being inconsistency. Maybe in
               eight years the current version of ECMAScript will be standard
               across almost all browsers. But the current version of
               JavaScript, despite the random implementations, is already
               available, and there are zero installation issues. I think
               that's a fairly good proof that the reason Java hasn't taken
               over as the RIA language of choice is the installation
               problem."
              This doesn't lend much credence to the author's argumentation or
              critical reading skills.  That said, I think it's an
              interesting read, particularly some of the resources it links
              to. -dans
              \_ Whoa, didn't realize the author was Bruce Eckel.  I'll chalk
                 the bad quote up to a goof as opposed to overarching
                 incompetence. -dans
                 \_ Christ dans, you're an asshole.
                    \_ Yeah, but I stand behind my words. :) Though, it does
                       beg the question, why does pointing out a flaw in
                       someone's argument make me an asshole?  Or is it
                       because I believe flawed arguments are a sign of
                       incompetence?  Or is it because I excuse Bruce Eckel
                       the occasional goof in light of a long history of
                       insightful commentary? -dans
              \_ I think he's saying that Java is a better language but
                 Javascript is easy to install.  Since Javascript is where so
                 much RIA action is, that suggests the installation difficulty
                 as being very important.
                 \_ Yes, I get what he's saying.  He's just saying it badly.
                    Also, having read the entire article, I think it would be
                    more accurate to say he's saying that the available
                    implementation(s) of the Java language are better than the
                    available implementations of Javascript.  Having written a
                    fair amount of both, I feel that Javascript is a *far*
                    better language. -dans
                    \_ Really?  I'd be curious to know why. (not disagreeing,
                       genuinely curious) -emarkp
                       \_ The short version: JavaScript is Lisp with Algol
                          (for the non-language nerds reading this, C) syntax.
                          A bit of elaboration on the short version: Lisp
                          (and functional languages in general) have a lot of
                          powerful tools (e.g. lambda/anonymous functions,
                          closures) built in that many procedural languages
                          lack out of the box.
                          On top of that, Javascript is a *really small*
                          language.  There's something counterintuitive there,
                          which is that, in my opinion, JavaScript, which is a
                          much smaller language than Java (I mean the core
                          language, not the libraries) somehow has line for
                          line/operator for operator more expressive power.
                          Note that I'm not bagging on Java because it's
                          procedural; I love C.  In general, I've come to the
                          opinion that a small (but complete) language is a
                          sign of good language design.
                          -dans
                          sign of good language design. -dans

8/29    I hate javascript, I always disable javascripts. However, lately,
        I've been running into critical sites I need (information, banking,
        etc) and have had to enable javascript occasionally. Even popular
        programs like gmail and <DEAD>maps.google.com<DEAD> use javascript. If javascript
        is here to stay in the next decade or so, the WWW world would be a
        very dark place to be. Imagine all the incompatibility issues for
        users, write-once debug everywhere nightmares for developers, unwanted
        pop-ups, unwanted browser auto resize, and other things going out of
        control as a result of our addiction to javascript. -javascript hater
        \_ You, sir, are a luddite
        \_ I hate it too, mainly because of its use for popups, premercials
           etc. So I use a firefox extension that adds quick on/off buttons
           at the bottom. It's as good as you can get unfortunately. It's
           just a few sites where I need it anyway.
           \_ http://www.noscript.net/whats  That's better.  You just register
              those few sites.
              \_ Ah, cool. Seems obvious in retrospect. Thanks.

3/27    Howdy, I just released the first beta of iGMonkey, a powerful
        javascript framework designed to make it easy to query, retrieve,
        manipulate, transform, and compare HTML and XML documents.  Right now
        iGMonkey targets the Google Homepage API
        platform (http://www.google.com/apis/homepage but I plan to extend
        it to support others, such as Firefox's Greasemonkey
        plugin (http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org  If you hack javascript or
        Google Homepage Modules, please check it out and let me know what you
        think:
        http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~dans/igmonkey
        P.S. OB Dieter says, ``Touch my monkey!  Touch him!  Love him!''
        -dans
        \_ Re: map() and foreach(): did you ever look at prototype.js?  A lot
           of this sort of functionality is in there already.
           \_ Yes, I have.  I plan to push some of my code back to
              prototype.js.  prototype.js' map function is a crippled map that
              only takes a one argument function and one list.  iGMonkey's
              map is a true generalized map that takes an n argument function
              and n lists.  Don't get me wrong, I like prototype.js.  Also,
              prototype.js' goal seems to be to make javascript work like
              ruby, which is fine, if that's what you want.  Furthermore,
              prototype.js is monolithic, as far as I know, there's no way to
              pick and choose just the bits of functionality you want from it.
              I am working on a real #include function for javascript to make
              iGMonkey more component based.  Hopefully the prototype.js folks
              will find this useful. -dans
        \_ That's it?  That's your "I'm going to change the world" project?
           \_ I don't believe I said I was working on a world changing
              project.  That said, most change is a gradual thing.  Sure, if
              you're the leader of a major world power you can demolish a
              country on the other side of the world for shits and giggles
              (oh and because its leader was a bad man), and do it in days.
              Notably, the real change, i.e. the reconstruction effort usually
              takes longer.  If Linus declared that the aim of Linux was total
              world domination in his original 1993 usenet announcement, I'm
              sure you'd have written him off as a kook.  But here we are 13
              \_ You've already been written off as a kook.
              years later, and Linux has changed the world.  To me, starting
              small is the only sensible way to single-handedly launch a
              project.  With hard work and a lot of luck, ambitious small
              projects grow up into big world-changing projects, which is to
              say that big projects and big ideas don't pop out of people's
              heads fully formed like Athena.  And to respond to the snark in
              your comment, what have you written lateley? -dans

2/2     Is it just my imagination, or it seems like web sites these days
        are taking longer and longer to load? I used to be able to load
        http://weather.com in less than 1 second, now it takes 5-6 seconds.
        Ditto with http://cnn.com or other common sites.
        \_ Ditto with Yahoo Maps.
        \_ one word: flash
           \_ related, the flashblock extension for FF/Mozilla is wonderful
              \_ yeah, it's great, but i wish there were a way to say
                 "load all movies on this page" or quickly "add this site to
                 allow list"
              \_ Actually, it doesn't keep flash from downloading; you'll note
                 sometimes you see the flash for a brief moment before the
                 (i assume) flashblock onload takes over and replaces it with
                 the blank play thing.  It just keeps you from seeing it.
        \_ Sites these days expect a larger chunk of users to have broadband.
           \_ Sigh.  I switched to DSL in order to load simple pages faster,
              not to deal with pages becoming complicated.
        \_ All that javascript and the style sheets that make the weeb purty
           take a long time to d/l.
           \_ good stylesheets should make the pages load faster.  Probably
              does have something to do with the common use of rollovers and
              the fact that most sites don't have much time spent on
              optimization/valid html.

11/28   Any recommendations for a provider of unmanaged dedicated servers.
        My current provider is 2 hours into a network outage today. and they
        don't have an ETA yet.
        \_ Check http://www.webhostingtalk.com and see the offer section.  Then
           do a search to see if any of the company you are interested
           in has any bad review.

11/12   Is there a way to create a javascript pop-up window using
        window.open() where the content of the pop-up doesn't have
        a URL (i.e. it's just text not contained in a file/URL)?
        If not, how can I create such a pop-up? Thanks.
        \_ Something like
           foo = window.open("", "foo","");
           foo.document.open();
           foo.document.writeln("...");
           ...
           foo.document.close();
           \_ Try using a data: url for the url to open.
              Here's an example: http://bushong.net/dave/popup  --dbushong

10/31   Javascript newbie question:
        appType2 = new Array("IESSALLO++3A - Manual EE - Single Department Input\
 for ACES Group and Business", "....", "....")
        Trying to do some simple Javascript modifications, but don't know anything
        about it.  What does the ++ in the string mean / do?
        \_ Nothing.  It's just a ++ in a string.
           BTW, you can just say:
           var appType2 = [ '...', '...', '...' ];
           which is much more pleasant.  --dbushong
           \_ thanks!

7/28    How easy/hard is it to use Google Map's interface? Do you have
        to be a JavaScript expert? How many lines of code to write
        something simple?
        \_ http://csua.org/u/cus
           You have to know a little JS, but their examples in the docs will
           give you the general idea.  --dbushong

7/12    HAHAHAHA...
        In Javascript, null == undefined is true.
        However, Number(null) != Number(undefined)
        Number(null) is 0
        Number(undefined) is NaN
        HAHAHAHAHAH
        \_ Now is that across all Javascript implementations?  Or is this
           one of those happy joy joy non-standard windows things?
           \_ This is ECMA spec.  Below poster is correct about ===.
        \_ Programming language equality is rarely the same thing as
           mathematical equality.  This is actually a fairly complex
           issue (seeing how lisp treats something is a good way to tell --
           lisp has 4 or 5 different notions of equality). -- ilyas
                \_ All equality is equal, but some are more equal than others!
                   \_ This is more accurate than you might think. In particular,
                      null === undefined is false in Javascript. -gm
        \_ String(null) is also different from String(undefined).  So?

4/21    When I go to the http://www.yahoo.com page, it displays a current time
        that's PST.  How does it know I'm in Pacific time zone?
        \_ Are you signed in?  if you are, it uses whatever timezone in your
           profile.
           \_ No, I don't even have a Yahoo ID.
              \_ javascript or other client side scripting knows your tz
        \_ It reads the transponders in your laptop.
        \_ It uses GPS to bounce signals off of your tinfoil hat
        \_ use the source, luke.
           <script language=javascript>d.getElementById('nw').innerHTML=time;</script>
           (see elsewhere for where the time variable is set)

12/29   I love using text based browser but neither links nor lynx understand
        javascript.  What else should I try?
        \_ try facing reality.
        \_ LOL, so what do you need the javascript for, allowing popup
           windows rendered in ncurses? bahahahahaha...
           \_ You should pose this question to those who designed
              websites with javascripts when they could do without it.
           \_ Often buttons, fields, etc. use Javascript to check the inputs
              and submit them.  -not op
        \_ w3m has some patches for javascript:
           http://w3m.sourceforge.net
           http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~hsaka/w3m
           http://abe.nwr.jp/w3m/w3m-js.html

10/8    Is there any way to do multithreading (or even just dual-threading) in
        javascript?
        \_ you can try using a delay call to spawn another javascript function,
           but javascript isn't really designed for real applications, you
           know.

7/12    Is there a cross-browser way to have javascript build me some
        prototype elements, perhaps like
        document.parse('<div class="foo"><p>blah blah blah</p></div>')?
        I'm getting sick of building up all this stuff via DOM calls.

4/12    I'd like to create a web page with javascript that pops up a small
        help window when you go over certain URLs, where do I start? I've
        googled but there were too much crap out there. ok thx.
        \_ google onmouseover
                \_ thank you. I got it now: http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex5/popinfo2.htm

10/25   To the guy who was trying to do weird slant-box effects with CSS
        (phuqm?): http://www.complexspiral.com/publications/rounding-tabs
        \_ cool, thanks. -phuqm
        \_ YMALTR http://www.alistapart.com/articles/slidingdoors  --gabriel
           \_ WTFDTASF?
              \_ You Might Also Like To Read...   Just a guess.     -mice
             \_ HMWWAWCIAWCCW?
                \_ dont you mean HMWWAWCCIAWCCCW? --gabriel
                   \_ You fail. And even worse, everyone knows you failed.
                   \_ I gave it some thought and decided it should be 1 word.
                      \_ I think this is the correct dictionary usage. -mice
                      \_ Ahh, of course.  My bad. --gabriel

8/26    Can someone recommend a free quick and dirty Javascript tutorial on the
        web? Sorry, I don't have time to go through the 900 page ORA book
        just to implement this silly little bookmarklet.
        \_ http://devedge.netscape.com has a decent reference. just stfw for some
           little examples. javascript is a fairly straightforward language.
           \_ yes, but not the various very broken implementations.
              \_ true, but a "free quick and dirty tutorial" wouldn't help
                 you with this either.

3/18    How do I put my e-mail address in my home page and avoid being picked
        up by spammers?  Do spammers scan for "mailto:" links or do they scan
        for all text in the .html files?  Thx.
        \_ Don't worry so much about the scan part...it is too hard to
           maintain. I just use spamassassin now, and sometimes give
           out user-tag (or user+tag) type addresses.
        \_ put up an image of your email address. The spammers aren't going
           to bother taking the image file and trying to OCR it to get the
           email address.
           \_ Cool!  Thanks!
        \_ Make a form that posts to a cgi script that sends you mail
        \_ post your email address to usenet then everyone will have it and
           you won't need it on your web page.
           \_ This is like that entry on the multiple-choice test your
              teachers warned you about.
              \_ "E"!  It's always "E"!
        \_ Someone deleted my post about JavaScript obfuscation, which is
           probably the best way to keep the functionality of a mailto: link
           while hiding from spammers.  ObGoogle.  -tom
        \_ I wouldn't use a mailto: link. I'd rather just post my email
           address in html using '@' for '@' and '.' for '.'.
           This will prevent the vast majority of spammers from harvesting
           your email addr from your webpage.
           \_ This sounds good too.  Thanks.
           \_ Thanks! -spammer

11/26   Can anyone point me toward a javascript that checks for the existence
        of a directory every X seconds and jumps there when it becomes
        available?  I stfw but I don't think my script-describing fu is up to
        snuff.
        \_ checks for the existence of a directory on a web site?  I doubt
           it's possible, since you'd have to be able to differentiate the
           error page that the web server generates from the real page.
           on the other hand, you probably could have a script that reloads a
           page every X seconds, which have the same net effect.
           \_ I thought perhaps that the 404 return code would be visible
              to javascript, but I have no idea how to do it myself.
                \_ Why Javascript?
        \_ You want perl.
                   \_ It's a web app that people upload files to.  They're
                        given an "upload successful" page that should
                        redirect them to where they can d/l the finished
                        product when it's finished.  Is there any other
                        way (besides a time-delayed meta redirect, which
                        I've got) to do this?  That's why javascript
                        sounded good.
                        \_ Does the upload script have to be javascript?  Look
                           at something like PHProjekt for another way of
                           placing files online.  -John
                           \_ The upload is entirely normal HTML plus PHP
                              on the server side.  Javascript is solely
                              for the upload confirmation page, and it
                              should take them to the download page when
                              the download page is created.  ANYTHING that
                              would solve this problem well would be
                              appreciated.
        \_ do it on the app side. i.e. keep the browser happy by sending
           some <!-- crap --> to it; at the same time keep checking your
           url (HttpUrlConnection). you can get a return code from that
           call. once the file is there, redirect the user - gosha
           \_ It's a public server so I'm running the processing function
              infrequently and at low priorites, meaning wait times of
              several minutes.

8/28    Is it possible in a *nix browser to turn on javascript for certain urls
        and to be able to enumerate those urls?  For instance i want to turn
        it on at http://bearlink.berkeley.edu but i want it off for
        <DEAD>www.microsoft.com;<DEAD> and i don't want to have to keep clicking
        on the preferences menu to do it.
        \_ No. Get Zone Alarm and do it that way.
        \_ Konqueror, the KDE browser is really good in this respect.
           It has a really clean interface that allows you to turn
           javascript on/off on a per site basis.  As a bonus, it lets
           you do this with cookies too.  Opera may do this, though I
           have not personally used it.  I know both run under Linux,
           though I don't know what support is like on other unices. -dans
           \_ I agree with dans.

8/7     Is there a way to add elements to a form with javascript?
        (eg, I click a button and a textbox appears.)  Thanks.
        \_ You can use css to set textbox so it doesn't appear on the
           browser (couple ways to do this), and then use javascript
           to toggle.
        \_ yes, with DHTML.  You do something like <SPAN ID="foo"></SPAN> and
           then dynamically set the contents of it to be whatever you want
           with document.all["foo"].innerHTML = "bar";
           you will have some problems getting this to work across different
           browsers, though, since IE and Netscape have a different object
           model for all this DHTML stuff.
           \_ This won't work in Netscape for two reasons. As you point out
              document.all["foo"] (foo is an id) is IE specific code.
              On top of that, Netscape 4 (may be fixed in 6) won't reflow
              a page, so you can't dynamically modify the content of
              span/div elements.
              If you need cross-browser compatibility, I think your best
              bet is what the first poster suggested -- create all the
              elements you want statically and use css to toggle them
              visible/hidden.
              \_ if you really care about cross-browser compatibility, you
                 wouldn't be doing anything dynamic in the first place.
        \_ Don't do it on a production page.  It's bad from usability
           standpoint.

5/14    In Acrobat 5.0 Javascript, how do you break out of an if statement in
        a particular mouse action? 'break' does not seem to work. Thx - jthoms
        \_ can't you restructure it so you don't need to do this? like a while
           loop around it or nested ifs?
           \_ Let me rephrase the question. Suppose I have a button-pressed
              event that has the following code in it:
                if (some_field < 0) {
                   app.alert ("Please enter some_field that is >= 0");
                   <break>;
                }

                if (some_field2 < 0) {
                        ...
                }

                What should <break> be? In VB, you can simply do an 'Exit Sub'.
                \_ if it's in a function or method or whatever, can you just use
                   a return?
                  \_ No, that's the thing, it's not really a function. It's an
                     event. I did try 'return' and it says 'return undefined'.
                     \_ I'm not familiar with Javascript in Acrobat, but how
                        about something like:
                           do
                           {  ...
                              if (...) { break; }
                              ...
                           } while (false);
                        Also, how about putting all your event code in a real
                        function instead?  have the event call the function,
                        where you should then be able to use "return".
                        where "return" should be valid.
                  \_ does your stupid language not provide an else construct?
                     if(cond1) { .. }
                     else if(cond2) { ... }
                     else if(cond3) { ... }
                  \_ First of all it's not MY stupid language. Second of all,
                     you're missing the point... I have no problem breaking out
                     of an if statement; the problem is to break out of the
                     entire event. Thx.
                     \_ it would be easier if we better understood your problem.
                        what do you mean break out of an event?  how is that
                        different from, say, having Foo() called in response to
                        eventX, and then having Foo() return prematurely under
                        your specified conditions?  is there some other event
                        handling code that will be run afterward that you want
                        to avoid?  are you trying to prevent subsequent events
                        from being generated (like preventing a mouseup after
                        a mousedown)?
                        postprocessing you're trying to avoid?  are you trying
                        to prevent subsequent events from being generated (like
                        preventing a mouseup after a mousedown)?

10-04   is it possible to learn javascript without knowing java?
        if so, any recommended books?  thanks.
        \_ Yes. Try JavaScript HandBook. BTW, javascript and java
           are not related, except that the both have the string java
           in them.
           \_ javascript syntax is loosly
              \_ ......?
        \_ JavaScript = LiveScript, or something equally dumb, originally.
           check http://irt.org first, then O'Reilly's 1000-pg. DHTML
           monster.
        \_ Aren't some of the JavaScript features implemented underneath
           with Java in the browser? This would shed some light onto
           Netscape's naming decision... and also why I get what seem like
           applet errors sometimes from what I'm pretty sure is Java*Script*.
           \_ AFAIR, the only thing that they share is the security stuff.

7/12    dans startup got funded.
        \_ so was pixelon. so?
           \_ but we're much hipper and sexier than they are.
        \_ cool.  is he looking for a ceo?
           \_ ksinger is the ceo.
           \_ http://www.adjectivity.com - apparently they're doing cell
              phone shit, too.
        \_ infoP(lease)
           \_ http://www.adjectivity.com -
              \_ From the Web site:
                 "They believed that consumer software, long been (sic) a
                  hostage of computer scientists, needed to be designed by
                  consumers themselves. Setting a course that would eventually
                  lead to the creation of Project Voyager, the founders formed
                  Adjectivity Corporation to guide the project to market."

                So what are they saying? That they invented the focus group
                and user testing as part of their heroic drive to PROJECT
                VOYAGER? Or that software *really* needs to be written by Joe
                Six-Pack using Javascript or Visual Basic for Word (languages
                for the "common man"), rather than by crusty old bald guys
                like bh, hacking away with Common Lisp in their ivory towers?
                \_ i think it mean that computers aren't for just a bunch
                   of lame ass, 4 eyed, nerds anymore.
                        \_ Like that'll ever happen when most people have
                           trouble with the TV remote or the 2x/4x switch in
                           their SUV.
        \_ when is it going to IPO?
                \_ Donate stock to the csua!   -John
                   \_ It will be a good tax-writeoff for the csua

5/19    Full time entry level javascript programmer opening at San Fransisco
        e-commerce startup; senior level openings too.  Email for info --phr.
        \_ class Fool { static { System.err.println("I hate Java"); } }
           \_ Javascript, not Java.  It's even lamer.

2/26    Help, someone keeps subscribing me to mailing lists. It is
        overly easy to sign someone up on these web mailing lists.
        How do I keep from getting these mailing lists? Thanks.
        \_ Maybe someone as a personal vendeta against you. Have you made
           enemies with anyone recently? I'm not sure how possible this
           is but I've heard web browsers being able to transmit certain
           information stored on your machine via javascript or cookies
           or something like that (don't know much about it myself). My
           advice is that if the mail comes from a legit source email
           them back asking them not to mail you anything anymore. But
           usually it's illegit spam mail in which case you should
           complain to that person's ISP's postmaster or just ignore it.

8/11    Is there a way to check to see a certain function is defined
        in JavaScript?  Thanks.
        \_ If hasClue($programmer) return true else useRealLanguage();
           \_   Personally, I find embedding "Real" languages into HTML
                just the type of invaluble experiment in futility that one would
                expect suggested from JUST ANOTHER ASSHOLE LOSER PREACHING HIS
                IMPOTENT CASE BECAUSE IT MAKES HIM FEEL LIKE A BIG MAN TO WAVE
                AROUND HIS ROMANTIC SENSE OF HIS OWN INTELLIGENCE IN
                OVERCOMPENSATION OF HIS OWN PATHETIC TINY NEEDLEDICK.
                        - my name is (fucker)
                        \_ fucker, will you marry me?
                           \_ You're too late. Get in line. -(fucker)
                        \_ Cool.  Caught you.  --trolling for flames
        \_ The question was not asking for an alternative.  If you
           don't know the answer, why bother posting?
                \_ Exactly.  You don't know the answer so why bother posting?