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9 Useful PHP Functions and Features You Need to Know

Even after using PHP for years, we stumble upon functions and features that we did not know about. Some of these can be very useful, yet underused. Not all of us have read the manual and the function reference from cover to cover!

HTML5: Worth the Hype?

HTML5 has been getting more and more buzz as it is almost ready for launch. The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) last month declared HTML5 in a “last call” phase. Since it has been around a decade for any real upgrade in HTML, it is no wonder computer programmers everywhere are eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Quick Tip: HTML5 Features you Should be Using Right Now

ith all this talk about HTML5 not being complete until 2022, many people disregard it entirely – which is a big mistake. In fact, there are a handful of HTML5 features that we can use in all our projects right now! Simpler, cleaner code is always a good thing. In today’s video quick tip, I’ll show you a handful of options.

Integrating the Piecemaker 3D Gallery into your WordPress Theme

This tutorial will show you how to successfully integrate the Piecemaker 3D Flash image rotator into your WordPress theme. We’ll also discuss setting up a custom admin panel which will make it super easy for your users to make customizations to the rotator.

4 Ways to Create Web-Based Data Visualisations

Charts and graphs are an excellent way to dig deeper, tell a story and get to the information behind the numbers. As more and more data sets are becoming publicly available, we want to convert this dull tabular data into something more visually appealing. In this article I’ll walk you through 4 different ways to take a data set and convert it into a chart that’s suitable for display on a website.

How to Avoid Sucking

When I was a kid, there were several words that we were forbidden to use. Stupid was one. Jerk was another. There are seven other words that were strictly on the “you’d better not say” list as well…these words were also never heard on television, either. But there was another word we’d get scolded for if we used in any sentence.

That word was suck.

Let me clarify: we could use it when referring to the vacuum in a positive light or in terms of what said device was supposed to do. We could also use it to describe what we did with a straw. However we were not to use it to illustrate the performance of any person, place or thing. It was verboten.

Pushing Through Urgent to Get to Important

In an earlier article, I alluded to the notion that everyone should give themselves the gift of time. Coming off a long weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to do just that. I’ve had the time to reflect and get in the right headspace going into a week of work – a short week at that. Problem is, I’d almost set myself up to fail in that regard. After giving my head a shake, I put myself in a position to elevate my weekend and make the most of my time, not the least of it. I had a ton of baggage that was weighing me down. I had to cut some of it loose.

I did it by pushing through the urgent and getting to the important.

Turning Your Knowledge into Products

One of the big downsides of the freelance world is that when you’re not doing billable work, your income goes to zero. So, there’s a lot of talk about creating income streams that aren’t dependent on your selling your time.

Turning your knowledge into a product – or a product line – is one way to go about this. And, for some insight on how this is done, let’s track down an old college friend of mine.

Your first contact with him may well involve voice mail, which shows his enthusiasm for all things iPhone: “This is Mark Knopper’s phone! Please leave an iMessage!”

Coworking: Stop Sharing Your Office With Your Worst Critic

After experimenting with coworking for a short time, I wrote about how I had gone from skeptical about it to a convert. Since, though, then I’ve realized there’s something else that makes coworking even more appealing.

Build a jQuery Tabbed Widget for WordPress

This tutorial will walk through creating a tabbed widget area for Wordpress, enhanced with jQuery for smooth animations.