Lowter - New Articles

Photoshop: Apple-style Glassy Reflections

Ethan Poole — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:18:33 -0400

Apple's design and style has permeated throughout the web development world. It is apparent in the current web design trend, especially in the Web 2.0 movement. The current Apple-influenced web trend includes excessive gradients, glassy reflections, spinning pinwheels, and more. In this tutorial, I am going to guide you through creating Apple-style glassy reflections in Adobe Photoshop. This effect can add a nice, sexy touch to your website if done in the appropriate locations, such as a large banner or a logo.

Quickstart Guide to SQLite in PHP5

Matt Oakes — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:14:27 -0500

PHP5 includes a built-in SQLite extension that allows you to store data in a database without a standalone database server! Say good-bye to the pesky accompanying MySQL database server that you had to run alongside PHP. SQLite can help you to make your applications more portable, to avoid pesky file-based storage, and more! In this article, Matt goes through the basics you need to get started using SQLite in your PHP applications today!

Utilising Twitter for Your Website

Ethan Poole — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:40:56 -0500

Twitter has taken the web by storm and has become the latest-and-greatest communication tool. Whilst you may not use Twitter yourself, you cannot deny that millions of people are now using Twitter and where there are millions of users, there is an opportunity to market yourself, your website, and your business. Learn how to utilise Twitter to drive more traffic to your website and to increase your visitor loyalty. Getting started with Twitter is simple, fast, and effortless!

Technology in the '08 US Presidential Election

Ethan Poole — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:28:06 -0400

In the mists of the potential collapse of the entire world economy, we are going to compare Obama's and McCain's policies on ... technology! We're geeks, what would you expect? We all supported Ron Paul, so we already knew about the impending economic doom... Anyhow, here we take a look at each ticket's policies on net neutrality, broadband availability and speed, promoting research, online privacy, intellectual property and patent reform, and incorporating technology into the government.

Web Browser Testing 101

Ethan Poole — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:12:52 -0400

The web browser market has grown: Opera, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Seamonkey, Konquerer, K-Melon, Netscape... and the list goes on. So many browsers! How are you going to test in all of them? Wait, you don't even have IE6 on your computer anymore! You don't have a Mac, how do you test in Mac browsers? Don't worry! There is a sensible way to approach browser testing. Read on to find out!

Why Open Source?

Miranda Marquit — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:32:40 -0400

Open source software is uprooting the long-held software markets of proprietary vendors to provide businesses of all sizes with affordable, practical software solutions. Powerful CMSs, such as Drupal, Joomla, and Wordpress, are becoming increasingly practical software solutions. Here Miranda discusses the advantages for a business to use open source software. Make open source part of your future!

Net Neutrality: Preserving the Free Internet

Ethan Poole — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:15:15 -0500

The freedom of the Internet is under attack by the telecommunication companies of the world, but particularly in North America. Net neutrality is essential in order to maintain the frontier-aspect of the Internet, allowing everyone to play on a level playing field. Without net neutrality being mandated by law, the Internet as we know it will cease to exist.

Digital Rights Management

Ethan Poole — Thu, 24 May 2007 17:03:00 -0400

Your tracks do not play on your iPod, your car stereo will not play your music from your subscription service ... nearly all of us have experienced the criminalising restrictions of DRM. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a growing technology that is having a huge effect on the technology world. But is there any alternative that provides a fair deal to consumers and to record companies? Of course!

Interview: Greg Lubbelinkhof of BudgetHost

Ethan Poole — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 21:04:34 -0400

Ethan interviews Greg Lubbelinkhof of BudgetHost, a Canadian web hosting company. Greg has owned a web hosting company in the past and has extensive experience in the hosting field. He advocates reliable servers, quality support, and focus on customer relationships.

Global Variables

Ethan Poole — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 22:55:06 -0500

Globals are variables that can be accessed in any context of an application. Globals present the risk of creating complex and mutual dependencies, making your code twisted and tangled. Learn here about the dangers of using global variables and why/how you should dismiss them entirely.

SQL Injections

Douglas Brunner — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 22:10:10 -0500

Allowing users to input unescaped data into your application can lead to the dangerous vulnerability of a SQL injection. SQL injections can completely cripple your database, making them a major security risk. Here Doug discusses what SQL injections are and some practical methods to prevent them.

Four Cool Development Apps for OS X

Ethan Poole — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 06:35:30 -0500

OS X developers, if you are looking to break into web development or continue your saga, you are going to need certain applications to assist you. Learn about four cool development applications for OS X: Smultron, MAMP, GIMPshop, and Cyberduck. All free. All open source. All useful.

Top Ten Don'ts of Usable Web Design

Ethan Poole — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 09:33:37 -0500

What makes a website unusable? Large media files? Complex navigation? Inconsistency? How about all this and more! Find out here as Ethan tells us the top ten don'ts of practical usability.

Interview: Heath Row and Gil Hildebrand of Squidoo

Ethan Poole — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 16:09:20 -0500

Squidoo is a Web 2.0 project created by Seth Godin, where everyone is an expert. Learn more about this new publishing platform in this interview with Heath Row and Gil Hildebrand of the Squidoo team.

Using the PHP Manual

Matt Oakes — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 14:07:32 -0500

While programming, have you ever needed a function to carry out a certain task, but you did not remember it? Where could you have found it? Learn how to navigate the function pages of the PHP manual to the fullest extent, so that you will never experience this problem again!

Search Engine Positioning Index

Sergio R. Samoilovich — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 21:02:23 -0500

Measuring the difficulty and merit of a given positioning status is extremely useful for search engine optimizers. With no published index to measure search engine positioning results, what do you do? Here Sergio provides you with an easy to use search engine positioning index!

Choosing a Domain Name 101

Gary Mardell — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:54:03 -0500

Are you purchasing a domain any time soon? Learn how to pick the perfect domain name, from the length, relevancy, hyphenation, and extension. Do not make the mistake of choosing a poor domain!

Too Easy JavaScript - Event Handlers [7]

Ethan Poole — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 08:57:25 -0500

Learn how to make your code react and respond to user triggered events in Too Easy JavaScript Part 7. DOM event handlers allow you to portably listen and respond to events, such as mouse clicks and focusing on an element.

MySQL Windows Download Packages

Ethan Poole — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 19:59:59 -0500

Looking to install a database on your development server? MySQL for Windows has three different download packages. Which one do you use? Lowter editor, Ethan, gives you the lowdown on the MySQL download packages.

Too Easy WAMP Setup

Matt Oakes — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 13:36:58 -0400

Have you setup a personal development server? If not, then this guide is for you! Easily setup a WAMP on your computer, using Apache 2, PHP 5, and MySQL 4. Make more use of your Windows computer today! Make server setup Too Easy!

Three Tips for Usable Search Forms

Ethan Poole — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 18:53:08 -0400

Does your search form lack usability? Ethan Poole, Lowter Editor, guides you through three simple tips towards creating a more usable search form. Eliminate any excess thought your users may have with these three helpful tips.

Too Easy JavaScript - Basic DOM [6]

Ethan Poole — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:35:17 -0400

Advance your JavaScript knowledge by learning about the Document Object Model and manipulating a webpage's DOM. Learn how to create elements, to change attributes, and to work with text nodes.

Four Quick CSS Tips

Matt Oakes — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 22:10:05 -0400

Matt Oakes, Lowter Editor, shows you four quick CSS tricks to help improve your website. Learn how to set up printer friendly versions of your content, assign two classes to an element, deal with Internet Explorer rendering bugs, and tolerate Mac Internet Explorer.

Relational Databases Introduction

Frans de Jonge — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 21:43:32 -0400

SQL, a language for communication with databases, is a need to know skill in order to effectively understand and use databases to the full extent. Begin your SQL venture as Frans describes the background and theory of SQL and relational databases.

Photoshop: Liquid Flush

Kristoffer Aronsson — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 18:21:42 -0400

Need a cool effect for that latest graphic you've been working on? Create a quick and easy liquid flush effect in Photoshop in this easy to follow tutorial.