blog

PHP quirks: a caveat with array string keys and an 'array_shift' call

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:28:16 +0200

What do you think the following code snippet prints?

// Fill the array (each array element has the same value as a key)
foreach(array('07', '08', '09', '10') as $n){
  $a[$n] = $n;
}

// Delete the first element from the array
array_shift($a);
// Print a value of the element with a key of '10'
echo $a['10'];

If you, like me, think that the element of the array with a key of '10' has a string value of "10", then you're unfortunately wrong. But now you've got a reason to read the article further... [read more]

How to install Windows update files quickly

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:59:29 +0200

So you have a folder with Windows Update Files (e.g. downloaded from Microsoft Update Center):

...
WindowsXP-KB938464-v2-x86-RUS.exe
WindowsXP-KB944043-v3-x86-RUS.exe
WindowsXP-KB946648-x86-RUS.exe
WindowsXP-KB950762-x86-RUS.exe
WindowsXP-KB950974-x86-RUS.exe
...
... (a lot of files)

If you have such a folder, then it's logical to install all the files and it's better to install them automatically, with a single command line... [read more]

GeForce2 MX400 video drivers for Windows 7

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:26:47 +0300

I've just finished installing Windows 7 on a system with an ancient video card – GeForce2 MX400. It wasn't very easy, so I decided to write down my experience to the blog... [read more]

How to remove "Your website URL" field from comment forms in Silverstripe CMS

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:03:12 +0300

It's obvious that “Your website URL” field in Silverstripe comment forms is a plum for spammers, so let's remove this field... [read more]

Copying records from one table to another: INSERT from SELECT in SQL

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:09:59 +0300

If you find yourself writing something like the following code, try to stop and think for a while (the example uses PHP Database Objects extension)... [read more]

Silverstripe (Blog module): localisation of Tag Cloud widget

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 14:46:18 +0300

In current version of Silverstripe's Blog module it's impossible to show non-latin tags in Tag Cloud widget — you'll see garbage instead of them: [read more]

Opera 11 won't start on Windows

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:35:22 +0300

Today I've faced with a problem – Opera 11 couldn't start on Windows XP and showed the following error... [read more]

Video Camera for Skype: using a video camera as a web-camera

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:52:12 +0200

The following works also in other applications (not only in Skype) that use a web-cam and don't work with your video-camera connected to your PC through FireWire (for example)... [read more]

Silverstripe: How to insert Google Analytics code (or any other custom code) at the end of a head section?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 03:48:43 +0200

By default Silverstripe CMS doesn't have any means to place a custom javascript snippet at the very end of the head section just before "</head>" closing tag. I faced with this today because I wanted to put Google Analytics tracker code there. Of course, I know that technically one can place this code anywhere, but I had problems with my statistics and I wanted to be sure that I did everything as Google said... [read more]

Site Upgrade

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:26:07 +0200

The site has been migrated to a new engine. Now it's Silverstripe CMF with standard skin BlackCandy... [read more]