07-17-2002, 05:53 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Bring on the contests!
The first of my PHP Samurai has completed his mission, and it's a Samurai death blow! We now have a PHP script that will help us do software contests in 1/50th the time it took before. I kid you not - our manual process involved (take a deep breath Jason) going to our membership list, getting the total number of members at that moment in time, going to a web site with a random number generation script, punching in the number of items we were giving away, taking those random numbers, then manually going through the membership list, page by page, matching up the numbers with the users, looking up the email addresses for each user, and finally sending an email to each user informing them that they won. This is why we haven't had contests more frequently - the time involved in doing each one was painful, and the more generous the developer was with the number of copies that he gave away, the worse it was for us. I still wake up at nights screaming because of this process. 
At any rate, Maciej Rutkowski was one of the Thoughts readers who responded to my plea for PHP developers. In the space of a few hours over the past two days, he put together a PHP script that completely automates this process! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have this script, because now it will allow us to do more contests than ever before - which means it's all the more reason for you to register today and become eligible to win prizes. Developers - do you have a product you'd like to seed with our readership through a contest? We now have an easy mechanism to do so. One caveat to all this: we're sending the winning messages to whatever email address you have on file, so make sure your email address is up to date in your profile.
A few words about Maciej: he was an absolute delight to work with, and if you read Polish, there's no better site for your Pocket PC news than PocketPage.pl. He has single-handedly saved the Thoughts team hours of time, and made it easier for all of YOU to win free software. For that, we all owe him a big round of thanks! This task earns him the title of PHP Samurai - thanks Maciej!
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07-17-2002, 06:41 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 64
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I shall perform my duty of defending my master Jay San Dunn from pain and suffering. :werenotworthy:
It was a pleasure working on the script. If you need me, you know my nickname. 
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07-17-2002, 08:44 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 68
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Thanks MacBirdie - I love to win stuff, I usually don't but I like it all the same. I figure with your help, I may actually have statistically increased my chances of getting lucky.
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07-17-2002, 09:14 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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MacBirdie - love the user description! 
So Jason - get us some stuff to win then! :wink:
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07-17-2002, 09:27 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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Ah so what, big deal! All I want to know is....Did I win!
Dave
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07-18-2002, 12:32 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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MacBirdie, thank you so much. As one of the people "fortunate" enough to use the former method of selecting and notifying winners, I am looking forward to using your new tool.
Thanks again.
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07-18-2002, 01:38 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Are we sure that MacBirdie didn't rig it so that he wins more often than everyone else? :lol:
Just kidding, MacBirdie. It's nice to see the PPC Thoughts community step up. PHP4 is on my short "to-learn list"...
--bdj
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07-18-2002, 02:05 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 179
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by MacBirdie
I shall perform my duty of defending my master Jay San Dunn from pain and suffering. :werenotworthy:
It was a pleasure working on the script. If you need me, you know my nickname. |
I can relate! Nice to have this stuff automated.
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07-18-2002, 02:19 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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:werenotworthy: I just wanted to do that.
Dave
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07-18-2002, 12:35 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 64
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by topps
I can relate! Nice to have this stuff automated.
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Afterall computers are here to make our lives easier, aren't they. 8)
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