I’ve created a Wordpress plugin to create and manage lists of frequently asked questions. Currently its a work in progress but you can download the beta if you want a preview. If you want more information or to download a copy then check out the Easy FAQ page above.
Screenshot:
I’ve set up SMS Server Tools on my Mac Mini so that I can send text messages from my PC and I thought someone might be able to use the Applescript I’ve created or even suggest a better way of doing things.
If you’re not familiar with SMS Server Tools it’s a really great utility for sending text messages from your PC (I use the term generically) it works on (almost?) all UNIXs and Windows too. It works by having folders which it monitors for text message files and then sending them via the phone. It was very easy to set up just download the source, make, make install, edit the config file and away you go.
A while ago I had an old Nokia N-95 plugged into a Gentoo box and I was using SMS Server Tools to send myself text message alerts. I got rid of that sim and so stopped using it. The phone has been sat in a drawer since then along with a couple of others.
I recently decided I wanted to set it all up again, this time on my Mac Mini. I was trying out different phones and settings but I couldn’t get the N95 or an old Motorola V series phone to do anything even after plugging them both in! Read the rest of this entry »
One of the ways I like love to combat spam is by using email aliases. Basically I have one real email address that I do not give out to people but that I use to check my email with my provider. Then what I do is create any number of virtual or alias email addresses in my provider’s admin interface. So the scenario is that everytime I need to provide an email address for membership or to interact with a company I create a new email address (alias) for them and then give them that address. The beauty is that I only have to check one address and all my mail from all of those alias addresses gets sent to it automatically.
So if I ever get spam then I know exactly where it’s come from because each company / person has their own email address alias. It’s easy to stop them too, just delete the alias and no more spam! Not only that but the company or person who either spammed or allowed you to be spammed has just lost some credibility with you. Read the rest of this entry »
Last night I was working on determining how long a user had been logged into a PHP application but was having a problem with subtracting timestamps and this is how I solved it.
I was storing two timestamps (as a UNIX timestamp) in the database. One designating the date-time the user logged into the application and the other the date-time of the last activity the user performed. Because I was using UNIX timestamps, which are just the number of seconds sine the UNIX epoch, I subtracted one from the other and used that difference as the input to the PHP function date().
I couldn’t for the life of me work out why the date function was saying that I was logged in for an hour longer than I should have been and it was driving me crazy. It turns out that the reason was that my timezone locale setting in PHP is ‘Europe/London’ and that this causes the date function to adjust for British Summer Time (GMT + 1) thus when I used my timestamp difference in the date() function it translated the difference into a readable format but also added an extra hour.
The solution is to use gmdate() which is identical to the date() function except that the time returned is in Grenwich Mean Time format.
If you’ve ever used opera or other browsers like konqueror then I’m sure you like the way you can search from the address bar by typing a custom shortcut and your search query. to search for ‘Premium Bonds Checker’ on google using Opera I’d just hit F8 (to get to the address bar) and then type ‘g Premium Bonds Checker’ and hit return because g is my shortcut for searching google.
This morning after I finally found it I checked my Premium Bonds holder’s number to see if I’d won (better luck next month). I thought to myself wouldn’t it be nice if I could tell Opera to check my holder’s number for me without having to go find it once a month.
The way I did it was to edit one of Opera’s custom search records. Read the rest of this entry »
The other week I found the NASA site for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory through someone else’s blog (cannot remember who though). Anyway I think it makes a good bookmark especially the real time images and movies.
I thought they were neat and so might you.
If you like risk then you’ll probably already have come accross the java version written by Yura Mamyrin. If you havent well its a java implementation of the classic board game Risk where the objective of the game is to conqueror territories to achieve an objective, either world domination or some other mission, as well as these great features:
I’ve upgraded my contract phone to the Samsung Giorgio Armani (P520) phone because I thought it was nice and small and sleek. I wanted to be able to use other sim cards in it though so after a bit of searching I came across an unlocking clip on eBay. I’ve never used one of these but after watching some guy on YouTube do it I thought I’d give it a go…
Some time ago I signed a petition in support of Unicef’s ‘Born free from HIV’ campaign. I dont remember who I spoke to, it was someone on the streets of Manchester, but I do remember them explaining that the campaign was to apply pressure for funds promised at the G8 to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child. Ok I thought nobody is asking me for money which I’m not really in a position to give. As a student I’ve been steadily adding to my student loan debt but that doesn’t matter this person doesn’t want money and I’m getting off track.
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