Developing the Backend of veerMe

The development of veerMe required not only the writing of client-side Javascript fo the more obvious funtionality and communication with the Google Maps API but splatterings of server-side code in the form of PHP to save and retrieve different types of data.

This post is just a quick reflection on the methods used to achieve the necessary functionality.

Saving Routes

Once a user has created their journey they can save it as a link to then access again at a later date.

Click here to view commented PHP for this action.

Viewing Routes

eg. http://veer.me.uk/r/?route=pneakv

To retrieve the route information I use the GET super global variable function to retrieve the ref value from the URL the user entered then et up a database query to get the information before feeding it into JS. This page was rushed (it was close to hand-in!) otherwise the JS would not be inline. I’m unsure as to whether or not there might be a better way of dynamically setting JS variables using PHP, if there is please let me know.

Click here to view commented PHP for this action.

Rating Suggested Locations

I previously blogged about finding a solution for a discreet location ranking system. My solution was to generate a rating for each location that was essentially just a percentage of times a place was added to a route compared to how many times it was suggested.

For example, once a user decides to add a point of interest to a route a JQuery AJAX function posts to a seperate PHP page the id of the point of interest and a boolean indicating whether or not it has been used.

Click here to view commented PHP for this action and see how it then deals with the posted information.

Third Party APIs

Because of security restrictions it is not possible to connect to XML files on different domains. The easy workaround for this is to use curl. Click here to see code.

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That’s all for now, its probably the most interesting PHP use from veerMe but there are a few more examples.

Screengrab 09

Hello fans/casual readers (ha ha ha),

This is my first blog post in quite a while, there is a lot to talk about. To summarise here are some things that have happened to me in the last few months:

• I completed and submitted my dissertation. Huzzah!
• Ditto with regards to my major project.
• I helped to organise the Interactive Media Production graduation showcase at Free Range (London) and at the Un (Bournemouth).
• The Modern Beardsmiths (of which I am a part of) completed their first festival appearance at BeachBreak Live 2009 (well, there wasn’t a beach but nevermind). This involved talking to a lot of people and selling face-painted-beards. A lot of fun and a bit of a tan is the result of this. A couple of other beardsmiths are doing a similar thing at Glastonbury this year, unfortunately I am not, so go check them out at the Shangri La area and GROW A BEARD!

Now, I am looking for a job so if anyone knows of any front end web developer roles going free please do get in touch!

Expect more indepth blog posts covering each of the above bullet points at a later date.

Peace out, enjoy the sun and festival season (if you’re going to any!).

Idioms

Got my hands on a copy of the O’Reilly “Head First Into” book for Javascript. I was expecting it to, you know, throw me in at the deep end but it didn’t. Maybe I could have hedged my bets and started in the middle somewhere, but fuck that.

I thought that seeing as the googlemaps API used Javascript then I would (in the long run) have less trouble with it if I properly understood javascript and how the browser runs it on load depending on where it is on the page etc. I’ve explained this before in a post. I also thought it would just be good to learn it, something new and all that. Anyway, bollocks to it that book was shite and I’m just using W3Schools.com as a reference now.

Idioms are great. “Went Down Like A Lead Balloon”. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. “The whole nine yards”. You know the deal, phrases that most English-speaking people don’t understand the rationality of, and try explaining them to someone trying to learn English! Anyway, you have properly heard of Johnny Lee, the creater of the great Wii head tracking software hack, well he also has this addictive little site made called “___ Will ___ You“. The idea being that you fill in the blanks and his site displays the results.

Anyway the site’s use of javascript is pretty cool. It pretty much redefined what I thought of javascript, initially I thought it to be horrible popups and clunky and obtrusive. Obviously, these kind of fades etc proove me wrong!

So, new idea. Tonight I’ve made a page where I can add idioms to a database, and then another that converts this submitted data into some javascript arrays. I’m going to take make a site letting people add idioms, then also modify the idioms that are being displayed. I’ve got ideas of folksnomies as well but we’ll just see, eh?

The idea is simple, the only static language is a dead one. So what phrases are popular today, and how can we twist them (and keep twisting them) to keep them interesting. I want to use this idea as a continuing work in progress, using the development to solidify existing skills, as well as developing new ones. I’ve already stopped using the built-in Dreamweaver PHP/MySQL applications in favour of handwriting it all (probably to the benefit of exploitative hacker bastards everywhere) so thats one benefit to me, and I’m dynamically creating javascript, which is, y’know, something I don’t think I’ve done before.

Once there’s something up to actually look at I’ll let you know. Obviously, I might get distracted by the inane, or the boring, or the major project, or the dissertation, so it might never happen.

Drink of choice = gin and tonic.

Twitter

I signed up to Twitter. Suppose that will probably negate my facebook status updates (or at the least, over ride them). Follow me here: http://twitter.com/danatello

Maybe one day I’ll get round to amalgamating all of my various online presences onto danatello.co.uk.

Cray Ate TV Tea

Even if I haven’t been doing stuff actually directly relevent to the minor project or my dissertation I’ve still tried to remain a little bit creative/productive and develop new skills along the way – maybe they will come in useful some point in the future, or maybe if I stay in the “zone” long enough I will be able to smash out a metric ton of certifiable bonafide work.

First off, the notice board I mentioned a few blog posts earlier – useful, cheap (free, more or less), and recycled. Win.

I also started designing a generic flyer for a club night I am involved in that runs weekly at ibar in Bournemouth. I mostly book bands and other acts, sort out the majority of online promo, and then do a bit of face-to-face flyering at the AIB. Any who, these are two variations of essentially the same idea/design but I couldn’t decide which I prefered – what do you think?

The one with the name at the top (as opposed to down the side) was a little rushed, sort of like just a proof to see how it might look so bear that in mind!

Generic Flyer One

That one is probably my favourite, but I had to try and see how it might look if I changed the composition slightly:

Second Go

I learnt about making tiles, then bastardising them to make the pattern you see as the background. Quite a useful skill, I suppose!

If anyone had any opinions or suggestions it will cool to hear them! I’ll probably post something else I’ve made (or ‘found’) tomorrow.

Finished A Website

I have been working on a website for an Architectural Design company based out of Essex. The guy who owns the company is a mate from Southend’s music scene and basically just wanted a presence on the web for his company but other than that didn’t offer too much in terms of direction initially. That led me to want to make a site that looks awesome and fits generically with similar companies whilst offering something unique.

Turns out that is bloody difficult and I should have just tried to offer something a little more generic and delivered it much, much, sooner than I have. Saying that, though, I am really pleased with how the site has turned out. There’s not much in the way of interaction but I like how the flash parts intergret with the rest of the site without being too distracting or a burden to load. There is still some meta tag stuff to be done, but it is pretty much finished!

Skills used: Actionscript 3, Flash, HTML, CSS, PHP.

Have a little look, here: Richard Morgan Associates Ltd

Safe, I’m actually getting stuff done!

VIVE LE REVOLUTION!

Russell Brand is someone who always struck me as someone who was an attention seeking fanny and whilst this might be true this week I have really came to respect his quality as an entertainer. In an attempt to line my pockets with gold and silver I have been doing a bit of an attempt at decorating (‘attempt’ being the operative there) and vacate myself from the mindlessness of such activities I have been occupying myself with podcasts – Adam & Joe; Stephen Fry; Ricky Gervais; BSM Records; Danny Wallace; Russell Brand. These have all been my company this week, and special attention given, surprisingly, to the off-centre humour of Brand et cohort Matt Morgan.

He speaks of Revolution – albeit in a narcissistic, comedic, self-serving way – and other podcasters often seem to fall back on discussing their childhood thoughts and imaginations. Both of these things have literally just reminded me of something I went through a phase of doing.

Rebellion ran thick through my veins like Nitrogen in a diver suffering the benz, I wanted change. From what I knew not, and to where I could only imagine. But the lure of the encircled A (ANARCHY!) held a promise of freedom and fun that would be thoroughly unrivalled. So in an attempt to inspire rebellious thoughts and deeds, and probably to show a strong third-digit to that figure head of our fascistic state that Bitch The Queen (OK, that is probably hyperbole but I’m trying to communicate the naivety and optism of youth), I used to scratch an ‘A’ the size of the coin over the Queen’s head on coppers thinking that when they go back into circulation people will see them and it would make a difference.

Obviously that was an idiotic thing to do, and for pretty idiotic reasons. I didn’t have any clue what Anarchy actually really meant (NO RULES, MAN!) and still don’t, to be honest.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s stark idea that “All Property Is Theft” has come, about ten years later, into my consciousness via University assignments and Wikipedia providing me with a better understanding of where that little A had originated from. I think I quite like the idea of opposing profiteering organisations that don’t really work for their vast vast profits. Hello British Gas and various money-lending institutions. I’m thinking something along the lines of “Nationalise them all and keep pricing fair to the consumers who actually fuel the economy”. Does that make me Anarchist, or socialist?

Also, we need free electric trams or a monorail to ease congestion/traffic pollution for shorter journeys within suburbs/towns.

I don’t subscribe to global warming but a monorail sure would be fun.

The Ramblings Of Undependable Drunk.

I finished reading Fury by Salman Rushdie (just before my birthday, the 21st… natch) and it was brilliant. The language and some of the references a bit out of my league (I think if I was to read Gulliver’s Travels and then re-read Fury I would sit back astonished at the genius in the Rushdie’s narrative minutiae). It was a bit of a step up from Bukowski’s Women and really dark to boot. Some of the twists literally (or should I say “literary” and see if anyone notices the pun?) knock me back, aghast at what could possibly happen next. I reccomend it. I might try and read his more acclaimed book Midnight’s Children soon.

I didn’t have quite the same Problem with Fury as I did with the previous book (the Not Putting It Down) because it took a little longer to get into (I quite like the colloquialism of Bukowski) but once I did, the Problem kicked in and there I was – a junky awaiting a fix. To be fair to him, though, Rushdie is a thoroughly engaging author it is probably just my impatience that made me suffer out of the blocks.

On my birthday I got really pissed. It was fun, even though I have come to hate the hassle that attaches itself to the dreaded day. Seriously, “What do you want to do today, we don’t mind” is a great statement to hear, if only I didn’t hear the very same voices in my head simultaneously complaining before other people’s previous birthdays at which they had to do something reluctantly. Oh well, I had fun. Fuck everyone else (this is the sort of nihilistic attitude piloting my darkside in the battle of good/evil).

My sister got me Yes Man by Danny Wallace. I absolutely overdosed on it and the stash was depleted by the end of the 23rd of the month of August (two days after the receiving of the gift) – it was a very easy ready but totally engaging and full of useful ideas and insights.

I’m currently trying to put off my newly inspired ideas of ‘man projects’ (cheers Wallace, cunt). I will lose this battle unless I forget. Unless it escapes my mind I think at some point I may try and go a month without shaving (I’m sure I’ve done it before, and during/post puberty, too before you say anything) and blog an image every day to show growth and give general insight. Then the next month clean-shave every day and do the same.

Or maybe the other way round. I don’t know. Ideas, anyone? I bet not.

Placement

Oh yes, did I forget to mention? I got me a placement, I did.

Its working with a company based near to Southampton called WarriorElite (nach) who are set to launch a new tactical card-based game. Not being very familiar with the genre and the game’s equivalents I can only throw words at you and hope it gives you an idea:

WARHAMMER
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS
MAGIC THE GATHERING

Help, much? Anywho me and fellow IMPster Dan Smith (heyoo) are hard at work making a tutorial for the core gameplay. Can’t reveal what that entails but I will keep all you eager eyes updated as and when I feel compelled.

So far we have successfully brainstormed our way to a good idea on how to go about doing this and what might help make this the best darn tutorial the interweb has ever had the pleasure of accomodating amongst all the porn.

Then came the storyboarding, this meant thinking about composition and usability as well as bearing in mind we want this to be as engaging an artefact as possible so it can be useful as a tutorial – using ideas about overlearning/learning by doing/whatever you want to call it.

Because this isn’t “in house” communication and self-disclipine has so far been key and I can see this being the case all the way through to delivery of the finished document.

Woo!

A Video

I figured it would be a good idea to every now and again maybe write about something that I put somewhere else on the web that you may not find. So, here is a video of a mayan sand pyramid constructed to near-perfection by myself, Ashley, and Ollie a few weeks ago.

It took a good two hours or so and got a few compliments. Unfortuantly because it took so long it was about 7 in the evening so all the adoring fans we anticipated swarming the construction site upon completion of the project had gone home because it wasn’t Really Really hot anymore. Still, the falling of the sun helped create better contrasting shadows to accentuate the different levels.

Filmed this on my phone, then imported it into Adobe Premiere (I recently ‘acquired’ the CS3 Master Collection so wanted to see how different Premiere is to Final Cut), rotated it (thus adding the black frame), and added some awesome music by a band called Circle Takes The Square. The song’s called Kill The Switch and that 44 seconds is more or less the only calm bit in the song, awesome.