Blog
Get out of your own way
It happens to the best of us, you’re faced with a seemingly simple problem and you can't figure it out to save your life. On the surface it's easy but you start to get wrapped up in hypothetical situations and…
The cost of convenience
Convenience is rarely economical. Shredded cheese tends to be more expensive than a block of the same type. Pre-chopped vegetables are the same way. But when you spend that little extra, you gain that back in time that you don't…
Sort an array in reverse order with PHP
Arrays are a great way to store / work with data. In PHP, arrays are one of the most powerful data types of available. From time to time, you need to sort an array in reverse order. Of course, PHP…
Pull random values from an array with PHP
Like most things, you can solve this problem with a number of different approaches. Without knowing about array_rand in PHP, you could end up doing something like this to pull a random value from an array: $array = ['one', 'two'…
Portable grits
Now that it’s starting to get cold out, which is anything below 70 degrees here in Florida, I have began searching to find a nice warm breakfast that is quick to prepare as well as portable. I tend to just…
Putting the “SH*T” in Joshtronic
You may remember last December when I discussed my first impressions of the Nintendo Wii U system. Overall, I was pleased with the system with one small exception, the fact that “joshtronic” was deemed as inappropriate by the filters in…
Difference between dates with PHP
Prior to PHP 5.3 the act of calculating the difference between two dates was a bit more manual than it is now. By manual, I mean there wasn't a function that existed to aid in the process if by nothing…
Why I still use and maintain my own PHP framework
I consider myself a PHP developer first and foremost. I don’t tout myself as a Pickles developer (my own framework) or a WordPress, Laravel, CakePHP, Django, Flask or Meteor developer even though I have working experience with all of them…
Benchmarking PHP code
Have you ever asked yourself, "I wonder which of these blocks of code will run faster?" I know I have and I use a very basic template for setting up these benchmarking experiments. The gist of the script is to…
Never run out of “firsts”
If you know me, then you’re probably aware of my recent desire to move away from my hometown which is quite possibly just me going through a quarter-to-mid-life crisis. Before we can get the hell out of dodge, I have…