Philip John

Category: Help & Advice

  • Convert PHP arrays to short array syntax in seconds

    Convert PHP arrays to short array syntax in seconds

    Having just had to look this up, I thought I’d share how I did it. It’s really really easy. 1. Require code sniffer in your project (you are using composer, right?) 2. Run CBF using the DisallowLongArraySyntax sniff That will apply to everything in the current directory, so simply change the . to whichever specific…

  • Remembering things is hard. Or is it?

    Remembering things is hard. Or is it?

    As someone who has a terrible memory I was fascinated to learn about a method of Spaced Repetition via this amazing web comic-style thing. If you struggle to remember information, or just want a better memory, give it a go. Image credit: Image credit: Marco Verch

  • Learning by doing, and more…

    Learning by doing, and more…

    Last night my brain interrupted my enjoyment of Time Trap to make me ponder why I’m not particular motivated to learn new things. When there’s so much New to learn in web development all the time, it’s pretty important to keep up, but I haven’t been feeling up to it. Thankfully I remembered that I…

  • MA Online Journalism: Law for bloggers and journalists with Paul Bradshaw

    Warning: this is a long post, get yourself a cuppa before you start…. Last week I popped along to the Coffee Lounge in Brum for one of Paul Bradshaw‘s open MA Online Journalism sessions. This one was about the law & blogging, something I obviously need to be aware of with The Lichfield Blog. As…

  • The Twitter settings update as a lesson in web usability

    Twitter went a bit potty today over a change made to the services settings. Yesterday, Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, blogged the change saying, “Based on usage patterns and feedback, we’ve learned most people want to see when someone they follow replies to another person they follow… however, receiving one-sided fragments via replies sent to…

  • The internet will make you accountable for your actions

    I wouldn’t normally advocate reading The Sun, but as much as it pains me to do so I need to make a point. A woman has apparently initiated divorce proceedings against her husband after spotting his car outside another woman’s house, on Google Street View. “Top media laywer Mark Stephens” was quoted saying, “I suspect…

  • Reasons to use Twitter: Real life user experience feedback

    This is the first of (hopefully) many posts highlighting ways in which businesses can use Twitter. I’ll be trying to use examples whereever possible. First: Real-life user experience feedback. Frustration at Google AdSense led @tonypiper to tweet, Adsense has got very confusing recently. A great opportunity for the AdSense team at Google to get instant…