MattyBatty
Home of all things tech!
Archive for July, 2009
PHP – Your Next Steps
Jul 31st
Assuming you have read my basic introduction to PHP, you should have a fair understanding of what PHP is, how to write it, and how to assign and manipulate strings and numbers. In this tutorial, I will be teaching you about Arrays, Loops, and ‘if… else…’ statements. So, let’s get started.
Arrays
Say you had a big long list of related variables that you needed to store. For example, names of people. You could store them in separate strings, as you learned before, like this:
<?php $name1 = "Matt"; $name2 = "Harry"; $name3 = "Bill"; $name4 = "John"; ?>
However, doing this makes it difficult for them to interact with each other and makes looping through them all tricky. These problems can be solved by using an array. An array uses ‘keys’ to link the strings together in one variable. There are three types of array: numeric, associative, and multidimensional. I’ll leave out multidimensional arrays for now, and focus on numeric and associative as these are more common and easier to use. I will use a numeric array in this example, as there is only one factor linking the variables, the fact that they are all names. Read the rest of this entry »
Mario Power Tennis Review
Jul 29th
I recently bought this game on Wii as it has been updated from a Gamecube game and remade to fit Wii. The game is very energetic as you have to do different types of swings with the Wii-mote, this ranges from top-spins, slices, smashes and the all mighty power shots. The game used to be on Gamecube and at that time it was in with all the other Mario sport games, such as: Mario strikers, Mario golf and Mario superstar baseball.
I think you can all guess that I will be doing the same on this review as I did on my Mario kart review which is tell all you about my top 3 singles characters and top 3 doubles set-ups. Read the rest of this entry »
TV Wall Brackets Can Secure Your Position
Jul 28th
People are usually quick to disparage reality TV shows, but given the viewing figures and the amount of people who regularly talk about them, it is clear there are a lot of people watching. It is also clear through sales figure that many people are viewing these shows on modern televisions with aspects like high definition, surround sound or LCD plasma screens. After spending so much money on a television, it makes sense that a customer will do what they can to make it look good and stand out. In the current financial climate, a greater number of people are choosing to stay at home and make their own form of entertainment, thus making the television more important now than it has ever been before. This is all the more dramatic when you consider how important the television has been since its invention but it’s hard to underestimate its true worth and value to consumers. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Speed Up Your XP PC
Jul 27th
PC Optimisation Poster
Here are 3 really easy things you can do to speed up your PC:
Step 1 – To speed up general performance
- Right click on the My Computer icon on ether your desktop or start menu
- Go to Properties » Advanced » Performance (Settings) » Visual Effects » Custom
- Leave only the following ticked:
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Smooth edges of screen fonts
- Use common tasks in folders
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons
- (Reverse if you wish to have these visual effects turned on again; also only do this to the visual effects you wish to have turned off)
- Restart your computer
Week 1 Round-Up
Jul 26th
As you probably know, this blog recently had a complete re-design, and I have been on this new design for a week now. So… I thought I’d give you a little summary of how it has been going and how the blog will change as a whole.
As for the system itself, I am very pleased with the outcome. WordPress has exceeded my expectations and I will definitely be continuing to use it. In fact, I’m so pleased, I would love it if you tried it too!
I would like to say a personal thanks to both Christopher and Harry for being the first people to comment on my blog. I hope other people will get more involved, as this weekly round-up will also be for answering your questions and comments.
Thanks for sticking with MattyBatty.co.uk! Why not take a minute to rate my site so far…
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Loading ...PHP – The Basics
Jul 24th
PHP Logo
PHP has grown from nothing to become one of the most popular languages on the web. This is mainly because of it’s simple syntax, easy usage, and seamless integration with MySQL and other databases. It’s also free, which makes it a great tool for developers when designing interactive and
dynamic content. In fact, my blog is powered by the open-source software WordPress.org, which is written in PHP.
What is this ‘PHP’ thing?
You may be thinking “wow, it sounds great, but what is it?”. So here are a few points about PHP:
- PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (It’s a bit of a paradoxical name if you ask me!)
- PHP is a server-side scripting language, which means the scripts are executed on the server – before the user sees any output. (This is similar to ASP.net)
- The opposite of server-side is client-side. JavaScript is a client-side scripting language.
- Although PHP is free and open source, you need a server to run PHP, you can’t just access it in your browser. Common servers include Apache and Microsoft’s IIS.
- PHP files have the extension .php / .php3 / .phtml
What do I need?
To be honest, you don’t really need much at all! A simple text editor such as NotePad or TextEdit will suffice. I use NotePad++ for various reasons, outlined in my review, but mainly because of it’s syntax highlighting. You could also try NotePad2 for a more lightweight option.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, you need a webserver to parse the script. This means you will need to host your files somewhere. This could be locally, using a package such as XAMPP, or you could buy hosting, but make sure they offer PHP support. (Most hosts will, as PHP is free and open source.)
Got all that? Good, let’s start writing some code! Read the rest of this entry »
Times Have Changed
Jul 21st
Interior decoration changes over time. Tastes and fashions change, but one thing that most designs have had in common is that they aim to make inhabitants of a space as comfortable and safe as possible, whilst looking as pleasing as possible according to the tastes of the time. In the past it is likely that the most lavish decorations were used in temples or other religious structures, with people putting a lot of effort into places of worship to show dedication to their god or gods, as well as to convey messages to those who attend ceremonies. Some of the earliest examples of art being displayed are in caves, which had been painted carefully and intricately to depict scenes of animals and hunts. Evidence suggests that early humans did not, however, live in these caves, so it is likely the images had more significance than being pure ornament. Read the rest of this entry »
Using OO-PHP To Connect To A Database
Jul 20th
With OO-PHP, you can dramatically speed up the coding process, and re-use code much more effectively. OO-PHP stands for Object Oriented PHP. This means it uses objects, which are collections of properties and methods, rather that a bunch of variables and functions.
Also, as the object is stored in an external file, it can be accessed from any of your pages and used anywhere on your site. This makes objects especially useful. A good example of this is using an object to connect to and interact with a database. In this example, I will use MySQL; but the beauty of objects is that you can change that one file and all the pages will be updated, which makes changing between databases easy! Read the rest of this entry »
Mount your TV from the Ceiling
Jul 20th
Ceilings are often one of the emptiest spaces in a room – often they only have lights and sometimes smoke alarms or fans. Walls and floors, on the other hand, tend to appear quite busy. It is unusual to find homes where ceilings have been decorated very interestingly, or are thought of much when interior décor is decided, but there are ways in which people can make the most of ceiling space, and an example of this is using ceiling brackets for televisions.
In the past some buildings, such as homes owned by very affluent people, large public buildings and churches occasionally had highly decorated ceilings. Even small churches and chapels tend to have high ceilings with beams or pillars, which act as support, but also encourage worshippers to gaze upwards – the direction associated with God and heaven. It is very unusual for everyday households to have decorated ceilings, though some rooms for children may have murals which extend that far. In truth, ceilings are sometimes one of the ugliest aspects of a room. Some are used purely to attach lighting systems which are not very aesthetically pleasing, and are otherwise ignored, despite the fact that there are numerous uses for ceiling space. Some people have ingenious ways of making use of this often overlooked space, using specialist shelves to store books, DVDs or videos. This both saves space on the floors or walls, and if assembled with care, looks great. It is important to make sure any item placed on a ceiling shelf is secure so it doesn’t fall, and this is why many use them purely for light weight items. Some pin up art work on ceilings, or hang chimes, mobiles and other ornamental objects from them. Read the rest of this entry »
Nokia 6220 Classic Review
Jul 20th
My Nokia 6220
It may not be the best looking phone on the market, but the Nokia 6220 Classic has just about everything I need from a phone. This phone ticks all the boxes. A 5MP camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, 3G internet, GPS Navigation and a MicroSD slot, all squeezed into the sleek, ergonomic design. This is clearly a business-oriented smart-phone, but I believe it’s greatest strength lies in it’s incredible camera and instant photo-sharing ability, making a digital camera virtually redundant!
Not only do you get all these gadgets, you get them in a neat little package weighing only 90g and measuring just 108×47x15mm. Not bad for a smart-phone! Because of this, you won’t have a problem handling it, especially with the matt backing and logical key placement. Beware however, the placement may be logical, but the material certainly isn’t! It looked great in the box but after just one use the front of the phone was awash with smudges and streaks. I can’t imagine trying to text whilst enjoying a greasy meal! Read the rest of this entry »