Apple Introduces the iPad

So you have heard of the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iTouch. Well, Apple is at it yet again with the introduction of their newest hybrid of Mac and iTouch rolled into one. Introducing the new iPad! Shipping in March, this unit is supposed to have 3G technology (wireless anywhere) and will handle the latest apps from the app store. What’s more, is Apple has simultaneously released an SDK (Software Developers Kit) with it. This means we will be seeing new applications developed specifically for the iPad.

The iPad will be built with WiFi so it will make for a great media device around the house or office. Maybe even your favorite hot spot where WiFi is available. Since they are touting it as the “best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. Hands down.”

Price starts at $499. It comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models. It also appears to have the ability to connect an external keyboard. Want to learn more, you can visit the Apple website to find out all the details.

Hidding Table Row While Preserving Colspan

Someone asked me today how to write the CSS for a <TR> so that the <TD colspan”2″> would still maintain the colspan when the display was changed from none to show. It turns out the solution is easier than you might think. He actually came up with the solution, but I took it a step further and updated it so include a toggle. Now you can repeatedly change the row from hidden to visible. Keep reading to see the solution. Read more

Source Code Management with Git

Linus Torvalds is the man who started Linux. Known in it’s early stages as the Open Source Unix. Since then, it has evolved into something even bigger than I think he even imagined. Maintaining the source for a project that large can be time consuming and difficult. Linus said that he would maintain revision control with tar balls and it was easier than using CVS. But he needed something that would work in a distributed fashion and allowed for easy merging. But there were no open source options available.

This, GIT was created. It is designed from the ground up to be a true distributed repository. Think of torrent source coding. There is no one central location, but everyone has the master branch at any one time.

I have been a big fan of subversion, but after listening to this talk, given by Linus at Google, I am considering switching to GIT. And to think, I recently paid $60 for a Subversion application to run on my mac. Ouch!

Facebook vs Gmail – Winner? Both!

Do you ever get an email that looks legitimate, only to find out later that it wasn’t? I hate that! Just like this email I received from someone I THOUGHT was facebook.Just by looking at the email itself, you cannot determine that it is in fact NOT from facebook. Aside from the red warning label that gmail attached across the top.

Good thing I was using gmail as my provider. One of the great benefits of using gmail is they filter your mail for spam and imposters (aka phishers)to protect you from potential harm. If I would have clicked through to this website and entered my login information, the phisher would instantly have access to my facebook account to do whatever they wanted. Could you imaging the destruction they could do? Not only to your information but to your reputation and relationships with everyone connected to you. Read more

Real World Email Validation for PHP

Have you ever gone to a website that asks for your email? You really want to get in to the portion of their website that has the information you want, but the only way they let you in is by giving them an email address. So you are faced with a moral dilemma. Do you give them your real email address, do you give them your friends email address, or do you make one up? If you are like me, you probably make one up like a@b.com or noway@example.com. Most of the time this will get you in where you want to go without the hassle of being bombarded with all of their junk mail. Now I don’t worry about giving them my really email since I use gmail. I can just filter it. usually google filters it for me, so I am good. Read more

Hosting At Home on DHCP with Comcast

So you have a Comcast connection as home and you want to run a server? The problem is your IP Address is  DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) assigned so it is constantly changing. In order to do this I will be assuming two things: 1) you are using linux on the server you want to setup as your local web server and 2) you already have your domain name registered from somewhere like godaddy.com. Once your domain is registered, you will also need to make sure to set your DNS records to point to ns1.everydns.net, ns2.everydns.net, ns3.everydns.net, and ns4.everydns.net.

If you have these in place, we are ready to move on. Read more

Parsing Comma Separated Value (CSV) Files with PHP

I hate trying to parse CSV with PHP. I get PO’d ASAP because everyone should be using TSV instead. I know, it can be as difficult to comprehend all of the acronyms as it is to figure out the comma separated values. Not impossible, just very time consuming.

I have had multiple occasions where someone gives me a file and asks me to parse it. The issue is its in CSV format. CSV Sucks! The problem is when you get someone trying to be cute so they put a comma (,) in one of the records.

So let me back up. CSV started out as a basic format to make data portable. A CSV file is basically a database in a way. Each line in the file represents a record. Each field within the record is delimited by a comma. Or so it is suppose to work. So typical CSV looks like this: Read more

Fire Comcast, Direct TV, or DISH Network!

Are you tired of paying for TV, DVR, PVR, on-demand, TiVo, etc.? So am I! One of my resolutions this year is to find ways to reduce spending. I mean, we are all complaining that the government is spending too much. I should do my part too. So I have been looking for ways to cut costs. While doing my research, I found a way that I can get rid of the TV (in terms of broadcasting expenses) and substitute it with something else. So what is it? Read more

The Shortest “Shorten URL” URL

Wow! Try saying that 5 times real fast. I have been doing a lot of research lately on domains and what makes them valid. I have been reading the RFC documents and searching the Internet for information. It’s amazing what you can find.

With the the proliferation of users on the Internet, domain names are getting longer and longer. It is estimated that all available 3 letter domain names are now taken. From the looks of it, this is only going to get worse. That said, long domain names can be difficult to use. It wouldn’t make sense to put my-new-company-domain-name.com on your business card would it? And certain social networks limit how much space you have. Like twitter only allows posts of 149 characters. If you have a long URL, much of what you want to say will have to be left off just so the link will fit within the 149 character limitation.

This is where “shorten url” websites come in really handy. By far, I would submit that bit.ly is the one I prefer over any other. The reasons are:

• it’s a shorter domain name than tinyurl.com
• it tracks traffic on the URLs I shorten

That being said, what if you are looking for the shortest “shorten URL” website possible. Do you know what it is? Well, you heard it here first. Read more

Domain Name Validation Class for PHP

By the time I finish writing this, there will probably be 10 new domain validation routines uploaded somewhere on the Internet.  The only problem is, the majority of them are incomplete. Incomplete would be the equivalent to wrong, depending on what you are looking for in a validation routine. The problem? Most developers don’t read the requirements / specifications. The majority of developers do not take time to RTFM (read the freaking manual) for anything. What makes you think we will spend time reading the ever so boring RFC documents?

Domain validation is a common issue as evidenced by the more than 42,000,000 results on Google when you search for domain name validation php. But who can you trust to do it right? If I were to ask you what makes a valid domain name, do you know? Do you know how long a domain name can be? Do you even really know what a domain name is? Continue reading, and I bet you will be enlightened. Read more