No matey, YOU don't have a new laptop, THE TEAM has a new laptop. Infact, THE COMPANY has a new laptop. Though it does whoop ass, as you say. You sure I can't "borrow" it this w/end? Someone's gotta test the frame rate of the NVidia GeForce4.... :-)

You'll take it from my cold, dead fingers.

How about from your desk drawer about 5 mins after you leave tonight?

Remember that anti-car-theft device from RoboCop? ;-)

Haha - funny stuff.

It is not the syntax that you have to worry about as it is similar to Java in that regard..

it is the differences between browsers by vendor and version that you have to worry about

if you have some free cash pick up the book title Pure Javascript by Sams publishing..

You will wnat the current edition..:)

In my experience, Javascript (the language) is pretty constant these days. The problems come from differences in the DOM between different browsers. Luckily, the following site has a fantastic table showing which DOM methods work in which browsers and what is most reliable for cross platform code:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ppk/js/index.html?/~ppk/js/version5.html

It's worth looking round the rest of the site as well - it's the best overall javascript tutorial style thing I've seen (although it does assume some previous knowledge). Be warned: most javascript tutorials and books are hideously out of date and will spend the whole time teaching you ways of getting round the differences between Netscape 4 and IE. This stuff just isn't relevant any more - if you code proper standards compliant javascript using the DOM it will Just Work on almost all modern browsers.

Incidentally, javascript is a much more interesting language than most people give it credit for - I've seen it described as "Lisp with C syntax". You can create new function objects, return them from other functions and so some very funky things with object prototypes. These entries in my blog should give you a good starting point:

http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2003/04/02/javascriptPower
http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2003/03/19/javascriptPrototypes
http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2002/11/02/sexyDhtml

Oh, and check out document.getElementsBySelector as well (pimpage):

http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2003/03/25/getElementsBySelector

More importantly... a week in Amsterdam *jealous sigh*

Three days - I'm on a six o'clock flight (that's six *a.m.*!) tomorrow, and back on Thursday. It might end up being semi-regular, though.

Trouble is, if it's anything like my recent week in Madrid, I won't see anything other than the office and the hotel...

Apparently the nightlife in Amsterdam is rather good but the coffee shops serve crap coffee. Oh, and watch out for the dykes!

You lucky, lucky bastard. In the past few months you have managed to score Madrid and Amsterdam. I, meanwhile, have scored Accrington and Yeovil.

Still, the beer in Amsterdam is rather good, and they should serve a couple of decent brews in your hotel.

I have O'Reilly's "JavaScript: The Definitive Guide" now. Definitive it certainly is - well up to O'Reilly's usual excellent standards. I'm pretty nearly an expert already! ;-)

Recommended.