Andy's blog o' goodness – Page 4 – php, web stuff, raspberry pi… even blacksmithing!

July 22, 2016

Dynamically control PiCamera record length: motion sensor fun with the Raspberry Pi

One thing I’ve always wanted to do with my Raspberry Pi was to build a trail camera, and when the Pi Zero was released with a camera port I thought that it was about time I stopped wanting to do it and actually just do it. It took a while to get parts delivered from various places, but eventually in...

General/Python/Raspberry Pi Comments: 0

July 13, 2016

Converting JSX to JS on the command line

Yesterday I was starting a small, very stand-alone project that required a pretty dynamic interface. I decided to put together the components using ReactJS but as it was essentially just one JSX file that I had I didn’t want to have to set up a gulp file, babelrc file, and whatever new-fangled build process the young kids are in to...

javascript Comments: 0

June 22, 2016

A PHP extension to control GPIO on the RaspberryPi – my BrightonPHP talk

A while ago now (back in February!) I did a talk about writing an extension using Zephir to interact with the RaspberryPi’s GPIO. The extension itself wraps around the wiringPi library and it makes it really easy to write PHP scripts that send output and gather input from the GPIO. Here are the slides (use left/right arrow keys to navigate):...

Experiments/Gadgets/PHP Comments: 0

February 12, 2016

JW Player thumbnail creator now on Packagist and via Composer

Just a quick note to say that my thumbnail and VTT creator for JW Player, a script to help extract thumbnails from a video and present them in JW Player a a toolbar preview, has now got the ability to be included in your project via composer. Just use: composer require amnuts/jwplayer-thumbnail-preview-generator If you want, you can also browse for it...

PHP Comments: 0

September 15, 2015

phpiwire updated – now with PWM!

I’ve pushed a few changes to phpiwire can now use the PWM functions in wiringPi. You can use either the hardware PWM pins or any of the GPIOs by using software PWM. A couple new examples of how to do this have also been added to the repository. With software PWM comes the requirement to include pthreads, so that’s also...

Experiments/General/PHP/Raspberry Pi Comments: 0

July 19, 2015

PHP South Coast 2015

I’ve just arrived back from the inaugural PHP South Coast Conference. It was a really great event that seemed to go without a hitch, had a fantastic range of speakers and a nice bunch of people that attended. So first of all, a really big thank you! to PHP Hampshire, BrightonPHP and PHP Dorset for putting on a top-notch event...

General Comments: 0

June 23, 2015

Phpiwire: a PHP extension (written using Zephir) for controlling the Raspberry Pi GPIO

So it’s been a while since my lightening talk on Zephir and I realized I hadn’t really done anything to try to learn it a little more in-depth. Coincidentally, I was recently going through a drawer and realized that one of my Raspberry Pi’s was in there just begging to be put to some use (seriously, I could practically hear it...

Experiments/Gadgets/PHP/Raspberry Pi Comments: 0

April 21, 2015

BrightonPHP lightning talk on Zephir

Yesterday I was one of four people to do a lightning talk at BrightonPHP. As anyone who knows me; I hate public speaking with a passion. Anything over, say, four people (usually including me) and I just like to sit there quietly and not say much. But encouraged by @coderabbi’s Wisdom as a Service talk he did at BrightonPHP in February (read: told at...

General Comments: 0

November 27, 2014

Opache gui update and now on Packagist

I’ve just pushed to github a big overhaul of the opcache gui script. It comes with a sweeping set of changes which also includes using react.js to power some of the interface to really enhance the real-time updates. (OK, it was really just an excuse for me to learn a little about react.js but I think it was worth it!)...

PHP/Updates Comments: 0

November 21, 2014

‘Open in PhpStorm’ context menu for Windows

I’ve just started to use PhpStorm, which is a wonderful IDE. However, I wanted to make it even easier for myself to open files and folders. A context menu in Windows fits the bill quite nicely – just right-click on a folder and open in PhpStorm. This batch file will do just that! loading gist file… Just set the path...

General Comments: 0