Some Useful PHP Libraries

PHP already comes with a wide range of libraries, including database access, zip files and emailing. Sometimes though, you need something beyond these or would like more functionality, more power or more … something else. The libraries presented here could be very useful in certain areas. Swift Mailer A general library for emailing that goes far beyond the capabilities of the built-in libraries. FPDF A library for creating PDFs. Good for creating things like dynamic product catalogues or invoices. Read On →

Meta Tracker: The Ultimate File Organiser?

I just stumbled upon the software [Meta Tracker][1] and I'm quite excited by it. On the surface it's a cross-desktop (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, etc) desktop search engine. Looking at the features, though, is what makes me want to give it a more thorough inspection. First off, it's written in C and is designed for memory-limited systems, stating typical RAM usage of 3 – 9MB. Awesome! It also indexes in real time as the filesystem changes (using inotify? Read On →

Web Site or Web Application?

Recently I've been thinking about what the differences are between web sites and web applications, if any, and what would be some examples for each. I know that many people, myself included, tend to use the two terms synonymously but after thinking on it, I believe this is a real difference there which hinges on the purpose of the thing and what it is used for. A web site is something that focuses on content. Read On →

Google Desktop for Linux: Google Search In Linux!

I've been using Google Desktop for Linux for almost a week now so I thought I'd write little review on it for people wondering what it's like. I think the simplest thing to say about it is that it's Google Desktop. It's roughly the same as it is for Windows, so if you were expecting something dramatically different then you're not going to get it. So if you're not a fan of the software as it runs on Windows then there's a high probability that you're not going to be a fan of it on Linux either. Read On →

How To Download YouTube Videos In Linux

I know there are probably tons of ways to download a copy of a YouTube video but this is the method I prefer and I thought I'd share. The basic idea is that we have a simple shell script that extracts the Flash video information from YouTube and uses ffmpeg to convert it into an XviD AVI file with MP3 audio. First of all, this will only work on a UNIX-like system that is capable of running shell scripts. Read On →

Thinking Outside The Textarea

Quick little tip from me today. In the last week I've run into this problem twice: when using a to form the basis of a content management system, you have to pay attention to whether or not forms will be entered into it. If you don't you might come across a strange problem where the content that is currently being edited (entered into the textarea) will itself contain a . A browser will interpret this as the closing of the original textarea tag and run the rest of the content as the rest of the content editing form, which is clearly going to cause problems. Read On →

Transformers

I saw Transformers earlier tonight and I must say that I was highly impressed with the movie. I'm sure you've heard the hype surrounding it and I'm happy to report that it's almost entirely true. Whilst it does run a little long it's almost unnoticeable as the film seems to run from one action sequence to the next, pausing for breath every now and then. If you're a fan of Transformers, an action movie buff or just looking for some escapism then I recommend you go see this! Read On →

Doujicon: Melbourne Doujinshi Convention

If you're looking for something to fill the time until Manifest in September then you might want to check out [Doujicon][2] on July 28th at Monash University's Caulfield campus. The convention has a special focus on local dōjinshi but also includes screenings, panels, classes and all the usual otaku convention stuff. Best of all, it's really cheap at $5 entry fee! [2]: http://doujicon.oztaku.com/

Arguing Semantics: HTML

Continuing on, sort of, from my previous post about semantics, I have come to a topic I deal with a lot. Semantic HTML. This is not a new idea by any means but it is something that many, many people seem not to care about at all. Even people claiming to care about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), something to which semantic code makes a rather large improvement, often end up making very non-semantic pages. Read On →

Site Update: WordPress 2.2.1

I have just finished updating the site to WordPress version 2.2.1. The upgrade was pretty quick and painless, mostly due to me using version control for all the site files, and I haven't noticed anything broken yet. If you do find something that doesn't work, please let me know!