Wercshop http://www.wercshop.com Intentionally Unrefined Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:17:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 en Google Search API PHP Script http://www.wercshop.com/2008/09/16/google-search-api-php-script/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/09/16/google-search-api-php-script/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:11:10 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/?p=70 I needed a simple script to display site search results using the Google AJAX Search API. However, I’m not using any JavaScript — just pure PHP. After searching, it appears that Google discontinued their standard Google Search API a few years ago in favor of the Google AJAX Search API; the major difference is that the new API returns JSON instead of XML. Thanks to PHP5 it is easy to convert JSON to a standard array and loop as required.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<?php 
function retrieveGoogleSearch($searchTerms="PHP",$searchURL="site:www.Wercshop.com") {
    $googleBaseUrl = "http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/web";
    $googleBaseQuery = "?v=1.0&q=";
    $googleFullUrl = $googleBaseUrl . $googleBaseQuery . $searchURL . "%20" . $searchTerms; 
    $curlObject = curl_init();
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_URL,$googleFullUrl);
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,true);
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_HEADER,false);
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_REFERER,"http://www.b13ed.com/");
    $returnGoogleSearch = curl_exec($curlObject);
    curl_close($curlObject);
    $returnGoogleSearch = json_decode($returnGoogleSearch,true);
    return $returnGoogleSearch["responseData"]["results"];
}
$setSearchTerms = "JavaScript";
$setSearchURL = "site:www.MercuryState.com";
$searchResultsArray = retrieveGoogleSearch($setSearchTerms,$setSearchURL);
?>
</head>

<body>
<ol>
<? foreach($searchResultsArray as $result): ?>
<li><strong><a href="<?=$result["url"];?>"><?=$result["title"];?></a></strong> <?=$result["content"];?> <em><?=$result["visibleUrl"];?></em></li>
<? endforeach; ?>
</ol>
</body>
</html>
]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/09/16/google-search-api-php-script/feed/ Page Numbers in InDesign http://www.wercshop.com/2008/07/30/page-numbers-in-indesign/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/07/30/page-numbers-in-indesign/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:17:45 +0000 adecaro http://www.wercshop.com/?p=58 I was having an issue with my page numbers in an InDesign document. I had cleared several hurdles in my path (text boxes on the Master Pages, inserting “special” characters, remove the Master Page items from cover pages) yet, I could not get the page numbers to start with 1 on page 3. You see, I was trying to keep the page numbers off of my front/back cover and inside cover pages, but still be the correct page numbers for the publication. After much digging through the Help menu and many forums, I found the answer!

The terrible thing is that you think you are going to the right place (and you are), but the option doesn’t seem to be present. So here is the magic…right here:

  1. In the pages palette, select the page that you would like to be your page 1.
  2. Then open the options menu in the top right corner of the palette and select “Numbering and Section Options.” (See, I told you you were in the right place!)
  3. Make sure “Start Section” is checked.
  4. Just below that select “Start Page Numbering at:” and make sure it is set to “1”.
  5. Then Click “OK” and you have just done the impossible!

Now go celebrate… I did.

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/07/30/page-numbers-in-indesign/feed/ Random Flash Banner http://www.wercshop.com/2008/07/29/random-flash-banner/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/07/29/random-flash-banner/#comments Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:44:56 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/?p=54 Below is a short script that will randomly load a Flash banner using UFO. All you need to do is pass it the UFO object names… and it will do the rest.

var flashBanners = new Array(ufoFlashBanner01,ufoFlashBanner02);
function loadRandomBanner() {
    randomBanner = Math.floor(Math.random()*flashBanners.length);
    UFO.create(flashBanners[randomBanner],"introductionVideo");
}
loadRandomBanner();
]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/07/29/random-flash-banner/feed/ Technical Icons for Diagrams http://www.wercshop.com/2008/06/12/technicalicons/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/06/12/technicalicons/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:57:02 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/?p=53 Created a free collection of technical icons for download. There are great for quickly explaining various networking solutions… and even handy for explaining some web development issues. I created these icons about 5 years ago and have been using them quite often ever since. Download as Adobe Illustrator CS3… for more download options check out Ben Blogged!

Icons

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/06/12/technicalicons/feed/ Yahoo! Weather RSS PHP Script http://www.wercshop.com/2008/06/11/50/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/06/11/50/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:19:27 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/ws/?p=50 I needed a simple script to pull the weather conditions for a particular zip code. I search and found nothing, so I wrote the script below. It uses CURL to pull the Yahoo! Weather RSS feed, then uses SimpleXMLElement and XPath to pull the specific elements that I needed. Since the script does return the entire RSS feed, it would be simple to add lines to pull additional information if needed. Note that it uses PHP short-tags to display the final information… I loath using PHP to generate XHTML.

And for the curious, the default location is Fullerton, California… birthplace of the Fender guitar and this script.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Yahoo! Weather API RSS</title>
<?php 
function retrieveYahooWeather($zipCode="92832") {
    $yahooUrl = "http://weather.yahooapis.com/forecastrss";
    $yahooZip = "?p=$zipCode";
    $yahooFullUrl = $yahooUrl . $yahooZip; 
    $curlObject = curl_init();
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_URL,$yahooFullUrl);
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_HEADER,false);
    curl_setopt($curlObject,CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,true);
    $returnYahooWeather = curl_exec($curlObject);
    curl_close($curlObject);
    return $returnYahooWeather;
}
$localZipCode = "92352"; // Lake Arrowhead, CA
$weatherXmlString = retrieveYahooWeather($localZipCode);
$weatherXmlObject = new SimpleXMLElement($weatherXmlString);
$currentCondition = $weatherXmlObject->xpath("//yweather:condition");
$currentTemperature = $currentCondition[0]["temp"];
$currentDescription = $currentCondition[0]["text"];
?>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Lake Arrowhead, California</h1>
<ul>
    <li>Current Temperature: <?=$currentTemperature;?>&deg;F</li>
    <li>Current Description: <?=$currentDescription;?></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/06/11/50/feed/ Compact Now http://www.wercshop.com/2008/03/26/compact-now/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/03/26/compact-now/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:46:47 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/2008/03/26/compact-now/ I learned an important lesson today: never compact your inbox at the beginning of a busy day. Yesterday, I was away from my computer quite a bit, so I decided to let Outlook archive my inbox to reduce its size (My inbox is typically over 2 GB). This morning, I figured it would be a good idea to compact my inbox to improve performance; I was wrong. Two hours later, I’m still compacting and I’m locked out of my inbox until it finishes — which may never happen.

What will I do different next time? I will backup my inbox first. Next, I will wait until te end of the day or a weekend before archiving or compacting. Lesson has been learned.

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/03/26/compact-now/feed/ Getting Started with Flex http://www.wercshop.com/2008/02/23/getting-started-with-flex/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/02/23/getting-started-with-flex/#comments Sat, 23 Feb 2008 05:44:41 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/2008/02/23/getting-started-with-flex/ I think that Flex is the next big thing on the internet; and when paired with AIR, it could be the next big thing on the desktop. Having said that, I am diving into Flex 2. Why Flex 2 when Flex 3 is right around the corner? Simple; a purchasable product and a lot of documentation. Adobe Flex Builder 2 and Adobe Flex 2 Training from the Source is my starting point.

Adobe Flex Builder 2

It’s cheap to get started. At only $250.00, it is hard to say no. The application is based on Eclipse, which is an application that I have been meaning to start using anyway. I have some experience with Microsoft’s Visual Studio, so the interface was easy to get used to. Visually, it is a bit clunky and reminds me of Linux, but functionally, I have not complaints… yet.

The installation process was smooth and included special instructions for installing on Vista that were very clear. The application runs quickly and has not crashed to date. Nothing new for Adobe users, this is menu intensive and I highly suggest a larger monitor. Save your eyes and your mind.

Adobe Flex Builder 2 Training from the Source

This is my first book from the Training from the Source series. The language is clear and the writing is good. I really enjoy the introductions to each chapter that include what you will learn, approximate time and lesson files. The lesson files are further broken done into media files, starting files and completed files — which I translate into importing, editing and creating.

My only complaint is Lesson 1; it is not a lesson. It is an introduction, history and selling the idea of Flex. I hate being sold on an idea when I already own the book — especially when it is dressed as a “lesson”.

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/02/23/getting-started-with-flex/feed/ Essential Browsing Shortcuts http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/29/essential-browsing-shortcuts/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/29/essential-browsing-shortcuts/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:45:29 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/29/essential-browsing-shortcuts/ If you frequently surf the internet, there a few keyboard shortcuts that will help you move into the power-user category. The following shortcuts will work in all browsers on all operating systems.

The first and most important is Backspace. Assuming that you are not in a text area or form field, this will function the same as the back arrow. This is very handy when going through a list of links rapidly — typically hunting for a specific piece of content.

Refresh is one of the more common actions required. Instead of placing your hand on the mouse just hit F5 to refresh the page. If you are an advanced user and you would like to clear the cache while refreshing just add the Ctrl key to the mix (Ctrl + F5).

For the sake of speed, F6 will be one of your new favorites. This shortcut highlights the URL box in the browser and allows you to start typing a new URL immediately. This is particularly helpful if your hitting several website looking for updating content or designs.

For tabbed browsers, Ctrl + T will open a new tab… and in most cases highlight the URL bar. This is handy for rapidly opening a series of tabs and websites. This is typically how I start my day.

Last but not least are our old friends Page Up and Page Down. This is the best way to scroll quickly through content. This is a flashback to the days of word processing, but is very effective.

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/29/essential-browsing-shortcuts/feed/ Linksys + iPhone http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/04/linksys-iphone/ http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/04/linksys-iphone/#comments Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:11:22 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/04/linksys-iphone/ I am surrounded by Linksys routers… by choice. However, I had a single router (WRT54GS) in my collection that would not allow my iPhone to connect. I retyped the WEP about 5 times, rebooted my iPhone, rebooted the router, and upgraded the firmware. No luck.

Out of desperation, I proceeded through each screen of the router administration panel to locate a difference between a router that worked and the non-connecting. After a lot of hunting, the only difference that I was able to locate was the broadcast type: B, G or mixed. Changing this setting to mixed fixed the issue instantly.

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2008/01/04/linksys-iphone/feed/ Stolen Gigabytes http://www.wercshop.com/2007/11/20/stolen-gigabytes/ http://www.wercshop.com/2007/11/20/stolen-gigabytes/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:40:42 +0000 admin http://www.wercshop.com/2007/11/20/stolen-gigabytes/ Recently, I purchased a 250 gigabyte hard drive. When I plugged it in, it only read as 230 gigabytes. So how stole my gigabytes? Fortunately, I have a wise friend that explained it quite simply.

The GB loss comes from a conversion. HD vendors say 1000 bytes in a Kb, when there is really 1024 and 1000 Kb in a MB, when there is really 1024.

So it is an issue of hard drive vendors bending the truth. They are using logical math and not computer math. I feel better, but I still feel robbed.

]]> http://www.wercshop.com/2007/11/20/stolen-gigabytes/feed/