Andy's blog o' goodness – php, web stuff, raspberry pi… even blacksmithing!

November 13, 2022

Introducing the Code Clipper desktop app

I’ve only recently come across Wails; a really great solution to creating desktop applications using web technologies and the Go language. It allows you to rapidly create applications that are cross-platform, using your favourite front-end framework (Svelte, React, etc.) or vanilla js which communicates with a Go backend. I had never tried anything with Go, nor had I used Svelte...

General Comments: 0

November 11, 2022

How to replace ::set-output in your GitHub actions

Using ::set-output has been deprecated by GitHub, but thankfully the changes to your action are really minimal in order to use it’s replacement, the $GITHUB_OUTPUT environment variable. Let’s imagine that in your action, you have something along the lines of: The change is to make it look like: Super simple, right? And the create thing is, you can still use...

GitHub Comments: 0

October 6, 2020

Count all indexes on multi-dimension arrays

Following on from my initial I didn’t know PHP did that! post yesterday, it wasn’t long before I had my next realisation about PHP; this time with a simple little parameter to the count function that I didn’t know existed. Everyone knows how to use count, right? It’s super handy in all kinds of circumstances. And, I would hedge bets,...

PHP Comments: 0

October 5, 2020

I didn’t know PHP did that!

For the number of years that I’ve been using PHP (and let’s just say that I know people working in PHP roles today that weren’t alive when I started using it!), I would have thought I’d know a lot of the ins and outs of the language… But I’m very happy to say that it’s still surprising me to this...

PHP Comment: 1

September 19, 2020

Major new version of the PHP OPCache GUI

I have just released a major new version of my OPCache GUI! It looks pretty much the same, but here are the more notable changes: New namespace for the base service class which ensure composer compatibility You can now paginate the cached files list to make it easier to render a large file list Any scripts that have been preloaded...

PHP Comments: 0

July 9, 2020

Making a pewter and resin turtle

A little while ago I thought, “wouldn’t it be great to make something out of pewter? I want to play with resin, too. Maybe I can use them together?” You know, the normal every day thoughts all of us developers have, right? Actually, I say that, but developers really are a creative bunch of people. So many of them that...

General Comments: 0

April 26, 2020

Forged a little candle holder

Today I fired up the forge to attempt my first ‘in a jar candle holder’. It came out alright, though I appreciate that I have a lot of technique to figure out. After I was done forging I needed to coat the candle holder. My mother-in-law keeps bees and gave me some wax which is often used to coat metal....

Blacksmithing Comments: 0

April 26, 2020

New Chrome and Firefox Plugin

I use GitHub on a daily basis and for the most part it works for me. However, part of my day-to-day is to conduct code reviews and quite often they are reviews with quite a number of files. Now, it may be a sign of my age or the fact that I just can’t retain any knowledge whatsoever, but when...

javascript Comments: 0

April 26, 2020

Seriously?!

Has it really been over a year since I last posted? Seriously?! Where has that time gone, I ask you! Whatever thief took it, I want it back… please? And where are we in the world? Global pandemic, that’s where! So I hope wherever you are, you’re taking all the sensible precautions, socially isolating, wearing masks, and generally taking care...

General Comments: 0

April 22, 2019

Genetic Algorithms and the Mona Lisa

Way back when I was at university (way, way, waaay back) I did some Artificial Intelligence stuff; genetic algorithms, neural networks, and the like. Honestly, though, I really don’t remember much (any!) of it, though I do remember enjoying the genetic algorithms side of things. I haven’t thought about that kind of thing for quite some time, but the other...

Experiments/javascript Comments: 0