We found this little guy on a jetty in Cocoa Cay. He was friendly enough to pose for a few pics.
Author Archives: Seth Cardoza
Cocoa Cay Hermet Crab
Javascript Explode and Implode
This is a really simple problem that many PHP developers come across when working with Javascript. Some common tasks in PHP are to explode a string or implode an array. While there are no methods in Javascript named explode or implode, the same functionality is very easy to accomplish.
First, let’s tackle PHP’s explode. To do the same thing in Javascript, you would want to use the string method split() as follows:
var myStr = "Hello World";
var myArr = myStr.split(" ");
The resulting array myArr would contain [‘Hello’, ‘World’]
Next on to PHP’s implode. To do the same thing in Javascript, you would want to use the array method join() as follows:
var myArr = [“abc”, “def “,”ghi”, “jkl”];
var myStr = myArr.join(‘,’);
The string myStr now equals ‘abc,def,ghi,jkl’
There you have it, simple, effective Javascript equivalents for PHP’s implode and explode
Lego Christmas Village
I stitched together a picture of my Lego Christmas village. It consists of the four sets that are currently available.
From left to right, Winter Village Cottage (10229), Winter Village Post Office (10222), Winter Village Bakery (10216), and Winter Village Toy Shop (10199).
WordPress Migration
I got sick of having to reinvent the wheel with CakePHP every time I wanted to make a post with some feature I was missing. So, I finally migrated my site to WordPress. There will be missing functionality for a while, but I wanted to at least get the site up and running. Over the coming weeks/months, I will work on replacing any missing functionality on the site.
One Reason Why I Continually Shop Wtih Amazon
In short, their customer service.
Companies are bound to make mistakes. Orders will be misplaced, packages damaged during shipping, and products will malfunction or break. It’s how a company responds to those problems that makes them great, and I have consistently had a great experience with Amazon.
Most recently, I had an issue with a DVD I purchased. I had bought the I Love Lucy Complete Series (affiliate link) for my then fiance in October of 2010 (over a year ago). Well, since it’s 34 discs, we weren’t able to watch it all right away. In fact, we are just now getting close to finishing it. The second to last disc of the set gave us problems. It would not play properly, getting stuck in a loop on one of the production logos. We were unable to navigate to the menu or any other part of the disc. I checked the disc, and there were a couple scratches, which I know we didn’t cause because this was our first time handling it.
Since it was purchased over a year prior, I figured we were screwed, but I would try to contact the manufacturer. I checked the packaging, and found www.paramount.com/entertainment, so I try to bring up the page, but it doesn’t exist anymore. I can’t find any sort of useful link on the Paramount home page. I search for the CBS Home Entertainment website, which does have a contact page, but no contact form on it. They do have links to Twitter and Facebook, so I contact them through Twitter, and wait for a response.
In the mean time, I figure it won’t hurt to contact Amazon, since they are often very helpful, and maybe can at least get me in contact with the manufacturer. I explain the issue with the disc in an email, and ask if they are able to replace the single disc. I get an email within a couple hours letting me know that they cannot replace the single disc, but are willing to replace the entire set for me. They sent me a replacement, and are paying for the return shipping on the defective set. Their service is much more than I asked for, and certainly more than I expected, but why I continue to buy with confidence from Amazon.
DC Comics Sea World Ad from 1977
I thought this old ad from one of my comics was neat. There’s a coupon to save $0.75 off each Sea World park ticket. It might not seem like a lot, but remember tickets were probably $20 a piece or less at the time.
Walt Disney World Orlando VS Universal Orlando Resort
I was browsing Google Maps recently and noticed how large Walt Disney World Orlando is compared to Universal Orlando Resort. In the image below you can see Disney in the purple, and Universal in the red. To be fair, the purple is only the land Disney owns, and not necessarily their entire resort. With Universal, all that red is the entire resort. As you can see, they have no room to grow. Good planning on their part.
SVN Ignore
Telling SVN to ignore files and directories is crucial to keeping your repository clean, and to prevent it from needlessly bloating. It’s rather simple to tell SVN what you want it to ignore with svn propset/propedit svn:ignore.
If you want SVN to ignore all files in a directory, you’d simply enter the following command:
svn propset svn:ignore * /path/to/directory
Often times, you only want SVN to ignore a specific type of file, say .jpg uploads in your user profile pictures directory:
svn propset svn:ignore *.jpg /path/to/directory
As you can see, it’s easy to tell SVN what to ignore with propset svn:ignore, but what if you want to know what you or someone else has told SVN to ignore? It’s simply:
svn propget svn:ignore /path/to/directory
Often times, you will want to edit what you’ve already told SVN to ignore. This can be achieved with svn propedit svn:ignore.
svn propedit svn:ignore /path/to/directory
This will allow you to edit your svn:ignore property in your default text editor. Multiple ignores can be added one per line. You can even run this command to setup the initial svn:ignore rather than using svn propset svn:ignore. I much prefer this method because it’s cleaner, and I don’t have to remember the syntax for the command line.
Samsung Fascinate Screen Capture
With the recent update to Android 2.2 Froyo, the Samsung Fascinate has the ability to take screen shots. There’s no need to root your phone, or even install other programs. Simply hold down the back button and push the power button. You will see a message stating “Screen captured. Saved as image file.” At this point, if this is your first time taking a screen capture, a folder will be created on your micro SD card labeled ScreenCapture.
USB Hub Guy
Since I use a computer at work, I’m the resident computer guy in my family. Yes, simply using a computer on a regular basis makes me the go-to guy for anything computer related. While I am a web developer, and know a decent amount about computers, I don’t know everything about every computer, far from it actually. One of the more difficult things is trying to help a family member over the phone. Whether it’s trying to hook up a new gadget, or troubleshooting an issue, descriptions are always as vague as possible. “My computer won’t turn on” can mean the monitor won’t turn on, the actual computer won’t turn on, or a number of other things.
Something I found to ease my pain was this USB hub in the shape of a little man (Amazon affiliate link). I got it for less than $5 shipped online one day. I’ve set it up on the desk of several of my family members. I connect it to the computer for them. Now, any time they call me needing help connecting their camera, mp3 player, Kindle, or any other of the plethora of electronics that use USB, I simply tell them to plug it into the “little guy”. It’s made everything easier on everyone. Depending on who I was talking to, connecting a USB device sometimes meant climbing under the desk and finding the port in the back of the computer, finding the right port on the front of the computer (sometimes concealed by a door to hide all the “ugly” ports), or finding it along the sides of a laptop. Now, if the device doesn’t work after they’ve connected it to the “little guy”, I don’t have to guess whether or not they’ve connected it to the right port or not.