http://simondownes.co.uk random verbiage Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:25:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As a programmer, I've often needed to generate random data of one kind or another, whether it be names, addresses or just random text. Such a task is usually very boring and tedious, and I've thought on several occassions 'I should really write a tool to automate this'. Well now ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/11/random-data-generator-class/ Storage engines are responsible for storing and retrieving all the data stored "in" MySQL. Each storage engine has its own strengths and weaknesses that determine its suitability in a particular situation. MyISAM MyISAM is the default storage engine in MySQL and provides a good comprimise between performance and features. Pros: ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/11/mysql-storage-engines/ If I spent as much time writing posts for this site as I do redesigning it... After reviewing the previous design over a period of time, and listening to comments made by some of my friends, it was time for some design tweaks. Gone are the rounded corners and grey headers. Now ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/10/yet-another-redesign/ My first solo web design gig is now live! Ayerst Environmental are an asbestos consultancy based on the outskirts of London. They wanted a revamping of their original (and very dated) site along with the ability to modify the content themselves. After investigating a couple of different approaches, I decided on using ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/10/deployed-ayerst-environmental/ For those of you that haven't already heard, there a new player on the search scene. Cuil (pronounced "cool") is taking on the Big 3 (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft) and claims a larger search index (120 billion web pages) than any of them. Comparisons with Google are inevitable, especially given the ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/07/cuil-is-not-so-cool/ The other week I was discussing the issues I have with my knees when running and it was suggested I buy a knee support. So being the web-literate and lazy person that I am, I did a quick Google search in order to find a purveyor of said items. Every ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/07/number-1-error-made-by-online-retailers/ An entire Calculus 1 course in 20 minutes. I even vaguely understood some of it as well... Part 1, Part 2 http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/06/calculus-in-20-minutes/ PHP 5 included a new error reporting directive, E_STRICT, which according to the manual allows PHP to "suggest changes to your code which will ensure the best interoperability and forward compatibility". Basically it catches things that have been deprecated (such as call-time pass-by-reference) or are technically incorrect (such as calling ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/06/open-source-php-projects-and-e_strict/ Yesterday saw the release of my latest project, 1343 (East Grinstead) Sqn, a website for my ATC squadron. Seeing as there are already a ton of sites that provide information on the Air Training Corps generally (not least the main Air Cadet website), I wanted to go for a more local ... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/06/deployed-1343sqn/ After three years of stagnation and neglect, and a week of designing, coding and writing, the new website is finally here. A showcase for me, my projects and my opinions on the hot topics of the day. Now all I need to do is think of something interesting to say... http://simondownes.co.uk/2008/06/hello-world/