Only Network

Where’s my jetbib?

2010-03-12T16:21:32Z

If I were more of a geek, I’d get myself one of these. Well, actually, I’d get them for the kids not for myself. It’s a bib with landing lights and a plane-like spoon. How’s that for making feeding time more fun?

I shouldn’t need any life insurance to fly this one, so what’s stopping me? Well, I guess with 2 babies we’ll need 2 of them, and while Alexander would enjoy one, I’m not sure if Aristea would think it’s up her street. I’m pretty sure she’d try to eat the bib the way things are going …

I must say, I do like the things ThinkGeek has on sale, what do you think?

Drazbi open for Beta Testing

2010-03-10T22:38:45Z

: Image via Wikipedia

Looking for somewhere to host an auction? Why don’t you come and try our new site Drazbi – an online auction space built on WordPress and WP Auctions. It’s a place where you can set up shop, meet with friends and auction your stuff without having to pay for listing, for selling, for pictures or pretty much anything. You can use it to sell just about anything, from ballet shoes all the way to Toto toilets

Beta testers will be given a free account on the site for quite some time, so please check in and help us build a better service. Feel free to leave any comments you wish, we’re looking to improve things and your suggests are the best way to do this.

Gowalla – Where are you?

2010-03-03T22:46:55Z

: Image via CrunchBase

An interesting location-based service I came across today is called Gowalla. It looks quite similar to FourSquare but I’ll give it a try over the next few days and see how it compares. The interesting dimension of these location based social networks is that they use gaming techniques to encourage people to check in wherever they are and share their location.

When using applications that broadcast your location you should always be aware of the risks of what you’re doing. But if you’re not afraid of being stalked, or don’t really need an insurance quote to figure out there’s nothing of value at home, then go ahead and play!

Picnik: Edit your photos the easy way

2010-03-01T21:29:06Z

: Image via CrunchBase

I came across an interesting service today called Picnik, a website that helps you edit your photos. It’s a doddle to use and doesn’t even require you to sign up. If you do sign up, you have access to further functionality, and there’s even a Premium feature to unlock all the good stuff. But if you’re looking for a quick way to edit your photos, it’s works a treat.

I like the fact that you can use the service for free without even signing up. Companies use a variety of ways to get you to try their products, from money off coupons all the way to promotional products. This works better for me though; and with a service as excellent as Picnik, I’m sure to come back again.

Need a connection string?

2010-02-24T00:15:28Z

: Image via Wikipedia

Ever been stuck trying to figure out a connection string for a system you need to code against? It’s usually not a problem because once you figure it out, everything just works, but when you’re working on something new you could find yourself stuck. This is where ConnectionStrings.com comes in. It’s a reference site with connection string samples for any database you can image (and then some). Worth bookmarking in case you need it in the future. It’s great that you can find references to anything you want online. Whether you’re looking up catalog printing or just price options for different products, you can pretty much find what you need online.

This is a must-have for developers of any online system. Book mark it now.

Solving Large MySQL Imports

2010-02-22T22:46:04Z

: Image via Wikipedia

I had a bit of a problem today trying to get an 8Mb backup uploaded into MySQL. The problem was caused by the fact that phpMyAdmin was timing out when I tried to import the database. I tried breaking it down into smaller sections but a couple of the tables just had too many rows in them. Just as I was about to bang my head against the wall, I came across BigDump, a MySQL upload tool that staggers the uploads allowing you to upload dump files up to 50Mb in size.

Now that that’s done, I can go back to looking through Disney vacations to see where we may be going on our next holiday. This was holding me up, but now that my MySQL restore is done, I have the evening to myself.

Hone those search skills

2010-02-20T23:25:11Z

I came across a great post that helps you become a search master by suggesting 12 quick tips to search Google like a pro. Here are some of the tips:

Exact search: If you’re after a specific item, then enclosing it in quotes will make sure you come up with the exact match. For example, if you’re searching for xenadrine rfa x, then make sure you enclose it in quotes to make sure you get an exact match.
Word Definitions: If you’re searching for the meaning of a particular word, put the word “define” at the front and you’ll be given the exact meaning.

Some interesting ideas there huh? Read all the tips here

Carpal Tunnel?

2010-02-20T17:38:09Z

You may have read from my recent tweets that I have a slight numbness in my left hand that might be due to carpal tunnel syndrome. Well, I’ve been reading about it online and there are a whole bunch of other things that can cause the same thing, but they’re mainly linked to some sort of nerve problem (whether inflammation or something similar). I did pull something in my shoulder at the gym a couple of weeks back and I’m wondering if it may be related. I’m not one to suffer from joint pain or anything like that, but this is getting really annoying now. I spend most of my day typing and it’s weird that my left hand feels different to the right!

Online PHP Functions

2010-02-19T23:05:16Z

Did you ever need to quickly run a particular PHP function to see what the result would be? Well, you could always create a quite test file, upload it to your web server and run it. Or else, you could pop onto the Tools 4 Noobs Online PHP Functions, fill in a form and get your answer. Here are some of the functions your can use:

base64_encode
base64_decode
htmlspecialchars
ip2long
long2ip
md5
crc32
nl2br
sha1
str_rot13

There are others, but those are the fun ones. So, instead of staying up all night and ending up with dark circles around eyes, just bookmark the site, and you can pull it up when you need.

So many TLAs

2010-02-18T11:52:22Z

Have you noticed how the many computer terms tend to get abbreviated into what are called acronyms (where you just take the initials of a word and use them to describe the word). Well, if you’re stuck for what they mean, here’s The Ultimate Computer Acronym Archive (or TUCAA). It lets you dig into what an acronym really means and even download the whole database if that’s what you really want to do. So, if you don’t know your ROM from your EEPROM or your CLA from your CLI, just check it out in the TUCAA.