These are two ideas that I try to live by in my everyday life. Firstly, I try to make all of life a learning experience. Every interaction with a person is something I can learn from. Every minute of the day can be spent either consuming information or processing information I already have. Even when I’m physically busy doing something else such as exercising, that time can be spent in deep contemplation and learning.

The other idea that I thought was especially important is that idea that people limit themselves with their own preconceptions. I am someone who believes in the infinite possibilities of the human mind, and try to live to that ideal. I have often heard acquaintances and friends idly wish that they possessed some knowledge or a particular skill, and then lament that they cannot do so. There is often some made up reason that they cannot reach their goal or be what they want to be.

It was a great talk and I hope to hear from many great minds during my time here.

Assume that the strDate variable contains your date. On the server-side, you may use IsDate(strDate). On the client side, !isNaN(new Date(strDate)). I don’t know for sure if the client-side code is the best way to do it. There are RE-based techniques, but these are the most concise.

CFML:

    <cfoutput>
      <cfset strDate1 = "2001 Fazuary 1"/>
      <cfset strDate2 = "2001 Feb 1" />

        #IsDate(strDate1)#<br>
        #isDate(strDate2)#

    </cfoutput>

    <!---

    Outputs:

    NO
    YES

    --->

Client-side Javascript:

    <script>
    // This creates a function to test the string.
    // What is this function doing? It takes the
    // strDate string and attempts to convert it into
    // a Date object using the Date constructor.
    // When the Date constructor cannot convert the
    // string, it returns NaN (not a number).
    // So, we wind up testing for NOT NaN using
    // !isNaN. Don't ask me why the Date constructor
    // returns NaN and not NaD (not a date)! =D
    function isDate(strDate) { return !isNaN(new Date(strDate)); }

    var strDate1 = "2001 Fazuary 1",
        strDate2 = "2001 Feb 1";

    alert(
        isDate(strDate1) + '\n' +
        isDate(strDate2)
    );

    //
    // Brings up an alert window that says:
    //
    // false
    // true

    </script>

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I’ve only tested it in Firefox 3.6. I do not know whether it will work in other browsers.

Demo
Project site

bubble breaker 13x13

bubble breaker 30x30

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Gawande talks about US Airways Flight 1549 and its emergency landing in the Hudson, which was a triumph of the pilot checklist, rather than a single heroic victory of the captain.

All professional occupations have three elements in common:

• selflessness
• skill
• trustworthiness
• pilots also have: discipline

Maybe we should all strive for more dsicipline? Systems are an integral part of the complex system of heath. The way the health system is designed now is piecemeal. There needs to be more integration. Checklists can be the tool to improve this integration.