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• Photoshop: Apple-style Glassy Reflections

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Fri 20 Mar 2009 at 19:18

  

  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

  Author

  Matt Oakes

  Date

  Sun 1 Mar 2009 at 16:14

  

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Tue 20 Jan 2009 at 22:40

  

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Mon 6 Oct 2008 at 9:28

  

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Thu 4 Sep 2008 at 9:12

  

  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?

  Author

  Miranda Marquit

  Date

  Tue 1 Apr 2008 at 20:32

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Sat 29 Dec 2007 at 12:15

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Thu 24 May 2007 at 17:03

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Tue 25 Apr 2006 at 21:04

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Sun 26 Mar 2006 at 22:55

  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

  Author

  Douglas Brunner

  Date

  Sun 5 Mar 2006 at 22:10

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Tue 21 Feb 2006 at 6:35

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Sun 29 Jan 2006 at 9:33

  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

  Author

  Ethan Poole

  Date

  Sat 7 Jan 2006 at 16:09

  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

  Author

  Matt Oakes

  Date

  Thu 29 Dec 2005 at 14:07

  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!