Category Archives: Programming
Problems with PHP’s get_browser() on openSUSE 11.2
I just spent way too much time trying to debug PHP’s get_browser() on an openSUSE 11.2 server. All I wanted to do was display a funny little note about what web browser a user was surfing with, as in, “You … Continue reading
Volume discounts with PayPal Merchant Services
You’re probably not going to like this solution very much. To set the scene, PayPal’s “Merchant Services” contains a fairly straightforward webapp to generate “Buy Now” and other such buttons. When we needed to sell a product at work, I … Continue reading
jQuery: disable the submit button, but still send the button’s value
Solving the old user-hits-the-submit-button-twice problem is fairly easy using JavaScript and even easier using jQuery. Setting up a sequence like the following is no problem: User clicks the submit button Button becomes disabled The values of the form’s inputs are … Continue reading
Mediawiki extension WTFs
Had a number of WTF moments when looking for a wiki2pdf type of Mediawiki extension. I came across Pdf Export which seemed to be what I wanted. But as I looked over the extension, the WTFs began to pile up: … Continue reading
How to check if a variable exists in PHP
Go ahead, look at the PHP type comparison tables and snicker over how the language is a cobbled-together hack. I still love it, but I did run into a little bit of confusion today. Here is the basic issue: $a … Continue reading
Using the QuickBooks SDK via JACOB Java-COM Bridge
So you want to be a hero? You had better be prepared for a little heroics if you want to use the QuickBooks SDK with Java because it isn’t exactly straightforward. I saw a few mentions of people having done … Continue reading
Loving PHP in a hostile world
Reading the comments and blogs that pop up on reddit, I’ve found that a furious animosity exists towards the good ol’ PHP Hypertext Preprocessor. Any mention of PHP is met with a firestorm of derogatory remarks; the community consensus seems … Continue reading