Blog
How to Setup a LEMP Stack on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Last week I covered setting up a LAMP server on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS but for my money, it's all about LEMP stacks. The "E" actually stands for Nginx (pronouced Engine X) and it's an altnerative to the Apache web server [...]
The pros and cons of being accessible to your users
How accessible I am to my site's users is something that I've went back and forth with over the last few years. When I say "accessible" I don't mean venturing into offline interactions or anything like that, just in regard [...]
How to Setup a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
The newest long term support release of Ubuntu (Trusty Tahr) is finally here! I just spun up a droplet over on DigitalOcean to walk through setting up a LAMP stack for this post. I also recommend making sure that your [...]
Reducing Redis used memory by moving back to MySQL
If you know me then you know I fucking adore Redis. Over the last few years it's slowly worked it's way into the majority of the things I have built. Unfortunately, recently I ran into a problem that Redis could [...]
Compressing and uncompressing a string with PHP
Today I went on a mission to find a PHP function that I've never used before and knew nothing about. The mission was such a success that I have two functions to discuss and honestly, I'm pretty sure I'll never [...]
PHP's /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead
I've discussed the use of preg_replace_callback in the past in regard to passing variables to anonymous functions but never touched on how to use preg_replace_callback or the fact that the /e modifier has been deprecated in PHP 5.5+. Even though [...]
Migrating from WP Engine to GitHub Pages
After giving it nearly a full calendar year, I have decided to migrate my PHP blog (PHP Avenue) off of WordPress via WP Engine and on to GitHub Pages. The decision ultimately boiled down to WordPress having way more available [...]
Transactions with PHP Data Objects (PDO)
PHP Data Objects (PDO) is arguably the best database abstraction layer available in PHP. It provides a consistent interface across multiple datasources (MySQL, PostgreSQL, et cetera) and helps boost your site's security by way of prepared statements. It even supports [...]
The dirtiest thing you wear
Not only is it the dirtiest thing you wear, it's quite possibly the dirtiest thing you own and it's fucking disgusting. What is it, you ask? It's your belt, your dirty disgusting belt. Why is your belt so disgusting? Because [...]
The importance of code editor proficiency
Hi, my name is Josh and I am a Vim addict. I have been for quite a while now, nearly 15 years by my estimates. I love everything about it but in all honesty, I have only really started to [...]