May 11, 2001

Crypt on Win32

ok in order to work around the security problem running on win32 (for lack of a crypt module in php4) use the following lines of code to shell out to perl. // mbowen 2001.05.10
function encode($encode_str, $salt) {
// this replaces $cryptString = crypt($plainString, $salt);
$command = "d:\perl\perl -e \"print crypt('$plainString', '$salt');\"";
$cryptString = exec($command);
return $cryptString;
}

crypt() is called from user.php i don't know where else from...

Posted by mbowen at 07:44 PM | TrackBack

May 10, 2001

Assimilation

there are many echoes of the ocean hill - brownsville school board controversy in contemporary black/white conflicts over education. it resonated powerfully with me when i first learned of it. my take on the substance of the argument is this:

"give us [blacks] control, and if we fail our children (which is your presumption for not relinquishing control) then let us do it on our own. your racist presence represents your own parents failure, and you can't even see that."

what is good for black children, educationally speaking, is almost always done in the context of what the mainstream of america demands, rather than in the context of what black parents want for their children. it's a very tricky question. decentralization of school boards might result in greater hypersegregation. but it seems to be the fundamental necessity of public school reform.

i think the nature of color prejudice in america forces blacks to assimilate in a different way than jews, who appear to assimilate, yet often keep certain traditions rigidly distinct. blacks do not assimilate in appearance but often mirror domestic practices. the ritual of the seder brings to mind secret societies and a certain inscrutability, much of which never sees the light of popular culture.

this is one of the reasons i so much enjoyed 'keeping the faith' with ben stiller and ed norton. it revealed so much more about jewish traditions than one would expect popular hollywood films to do.

btw. make sure you check out damon wayans' 'my wife and kids' on the tube tomorrow night on abc. very much like august wilson, this is witness. critics have called it the replacement for 'home improvement'. i'm enjoying the hell out of it, and for the first time since 'the cosby show' and 'roc' i'm seeing something on television that makes me think about the way i run my house.

Posted by mbowen at 02:15 AM | TrackBack