Ten points if you can figure out why the below code doesn’t work as expected

$s = "$123,456.78";

if(preg_match("#^\$([,0-9]+)\.\d\d$#", $s, $matches) == 1)
{
    echo "It works!\n";
}

Yep, because I was using double quotes. PHP thought that ‘$’ meant the literal ‘$’ (as opposed to a variable substitution) not ‘$’ which was what I wanted to pass to preg_match.

I should have either escaped the back slash (’\$’) or just used single quotes (as they don’t support variable substitution).

matthewd@carbonara:~$ telnet 10.10.42.45 9090
Trying 10.10.42.45...
Connected to 10.10.42.45.
Escape character is '^]'.


This is not a rootkit or other backdoor, it's a BitTorrent
client. Really. Why should you be worried, can't you read this
reassuring message? Now just listen to this social engi, er, I mean,
completely truthful statement, and go about your business. Your box is
safe and completely impregnable, the marketing hype for your OS even
says so. You can believe everything you read. Now move along, nothing
to see here.Connection closed by foreign host.
matthewd@carbonara:~$

There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America — a revolution that is transforming the very nature … all » of the food we eat.

THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

Watch @ Google Video

Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, ‘Why, why, why?’ Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.

Cat’s Cradle — Kurt Vonnegut

Finally, a sequel to one of most unique games out there. Unfortunately the protagonists have hung up their Dreamcast’s and oversized batteries for more conventional weapons :-(

Provoking, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Part film and part movement, The Corporation is transforming audiences and dazzling critics with its insightful and compelling analysis. Taking its status as a legal “person” to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist’s couch to ask “What kind of person is it?” The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics – including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore – plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.

IMDB: 8.3 / 10 (5,212 votes)

Video @ Google:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Probably should have done this soon as the war started, but better late than never :-)

Now back to trying to break rank 100 for influence :-)

The Code Club

Charlie Epps running a deconvolution wavelet algorithm in Numb3rs episode 03x19 (19m 20s). Looks to me more like a Word HTML document, but then again, I’m not a professor of applied mathematics :-)