I wrote my first Perl script today after three hours of fumbling around in a totally alien syntax. Score one for goal-directed action. I generally avoid Perl like the plague, but it was the only way I could find to do a bulk import into the MT email DB_File notify database. I’ve also written a script to export posts from a SQL/MS Access based database into the MT import format. Let me know if you want either. The scripts are for Mises.org Blog, which I’ve been configuring and tweaking the last two days.

I’m also working on the re-release of ObjectivismOnline.net, which should go live sometime in early February. I scrapped the old PostNuke CMS for Mambo, a clean, fast, and powerful CMS. The new website will feature a meta-blog, for which I am currently seeking writers. Here is the “official” announcement:

Do you want to take a leading role in America’s intellectual renaissance? Then consider joining the team at ObjectivismOnline.net. We are looking for contributors to a new pro-reason, pro-capitalism meta-blog. (A meta-blog is an aggregate web log consisting of original content and links to content at other sites.) We are also accepting essays, editorials, letters to the editor, and reviews to include in other parts of our website.

Interested individuals should contact .. me. The website is still a work in progress, but the forum is growing rapidly and being frequented by several Objectivist philosophers, notably Amy Peikoff, Greg Salmieri, and me :-)