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I have spent yesterday and today putting together a plugin to display a random fortune cookie. The fortune cookie program has been around for a while now. If you had unix account you would most probably have heard of it.

A user would typically add the fortune program to their login scripts so that whenever they logged onto a terminal, a short random quote would be displayed. This plugin is based on the same concept and is nothing spectacular, but it adds a bit of fun and variety to a page.

To install the plugin all that needs to be done is to upload the files, maintaining the directory structure. Just add “kfc();” anywhere you want a fortune cookie displayed. At the moment the plugin comes with some fortune files I have collected from around the place. If you have fortune cookie files of your own that are in the right format (i.e. unix text file format, with % separating each quote on a line of it’s own) , then you could also drop the file into the wp-content/plugin/jfc directory. The plugin will extract fortunes from any fortune compatible unix encoded text file. The new file needs to be indexed however, and I haven’t found out an elegant way to do this just yet. Right now you can only manually index all the files at once.

For now, the plugin will work as it is, minus the fortune file administration aspect. I will post a link to the download as soon as I have added indexing and a user quote file feature. There is a working demo at the top of every page. Refresh the page for some more fortune cookies.

Updated here.

Planning for a holiday is not an easy task. After accumulating enough annual leave, you want to have the best holiday you can, within that amount of time, on budget.

First you need a destination. I like anywhere warm and tropical, especially after the cold Melbourne winter we just had. So, after hearing good things about Vietnam I’ve decided to go there.

I’ve decided to take the scenic route from north to south, doing the grand tour by train. I look forward to it with some excitement and some apprehension. I can see myself there taking in all the sights, sounds and smells, while at the same time not knowing what to expect. You see, I’ve never been back there since I left there as a 6 year old boy. It would be an eye opening experience to say the least!

I will also be travelling to Cambodia to see the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat at Siem Reap, before heading into Thailand. Hopefully I get to do some rock climbing in Krabi down south with some friends that I’m supposed to rendezvous with.

Well, that is the plan. I have booked my annual leave, the tours and the flights. Now, all I need to do is fill in the details. Arrange when and where to meet with friends. What to buy overseas? Anywhere/anyone to visit that I have overlooked? Arrange all the travel documents and innoculations. Details, details…important details.

Yesterday was one of the rare occasions when I actually went out to the movies. We saw Hero, which was produced by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Zhang Yimou. The movie belongs in the fantasy kung fu genre, with plenty of fighting as well as death-defying anti-gravity moves.

First impressions were it was a grand film with vivid colours, picturesque landscapes and spectacular fight scenes. The storyline was good, in that you never quite knew what was going to happen next. It had a certain Tarantino feel to it, with the jumping around from one scene to the next reminiscent of Pulp Fiction.

The whole movie was in Mandarin, so having talent in reading subtitles (quickly) while following the action would handy. I was glad they didn’t dub it. I can’t take a dubbed movie seriously.

So, what was the movie about? Before I ramble on like the incompetent critic that I am, maybe you should have a read of some of these diverse reviews.

Overall, I highly recommend seeing this movie for it’s beautiful cinematography. 4/5 stars.

I was doing some research for my Wordpress plugin when I came across a blog with a reference to an interesting article on dieting. The lengths (no pun intended) that people will go to in order to lose weight! It’s disgusting if you ask me. Ingesting larval tapeworms is just plain insane. What do you think?

I’ve always thought dolphins were smarter than what most people give them credit for. I’ve heard stories of dolphins helping people at sea ever since I was a kid. They are fascinating creatures and it would take some kind of intelligence to assess a situation and act upon it in order to save another creature.

Recently, in New Zealand, a pod of doplhins managed to save a group of swimmers from a shark attack. The dolphins were swimming around the humans when they suddenly began to “herd” the humans into a close group. The group of four, comprising of mainly life savers, were swimming about 100 m offshore at the time. One of the swimmers started drifting away from the group when he spotted a nine-foot great white shark swimming towards them. He was promptly herded back into the group by two of the larger dolphins. This formation lasted 40 minutes, with the shark circling not more than 2 m away, until they were safe enough to swim ashore after it had left.

After reading the article I couldn’t help but wonder what drove the dolphins into such a selfless act of courage, in order to protect the swimmers.

If only dolphins were as protected…from us.