Applied Brilliance won the prize for best use of technology as well as a membership to the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. It was a great day, and thanks to all involved.

Even better, we’re starting to get a bit of press coverage. Pro photography and everything. Check it out!

I’ve been taking part in Portsmouth University’s PIPEline programme for the last couple of weeks, which has taught me a great deal and introduced me to a load of awesome new people. Through these people I noticed a distinct lack of social gatherings for networking within the creative sector, and thus Portsmouth Creative Collective was born!

We’re meeting at The Kraken Wakes on Thursday 8th July at 12:00pm. Anyone is welcome to pop along and say hello. Currently we have a great mix of graphic designers, architects, product designers, games developers, illustrators, creative writers and, of course, mobile application developers! No agenda, no schedule, just an informal meetup with some good people, good atmosphere and good beer!

If you’re interested, the Facebook event page is located here, or just turn up!

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

For example – I had a comma separated list of phone numbers and wanted to strip out any invalid ones.

App::import('Core', 'Validation');
$valid_recipients = array();
foreach($recipients as $rcpt) {
      $rcpt = trim($rcpt);
      if(Validation::phone($rcpt)) {
            $valid_recipients[] = $rcpt;
      }
}

Also of note is my friend Mark chasing the car back down the road, waving like a maniac. And why not, eh?

I haven’t heard much from the crazies with the latest batch of updates to Street View. The ones who normally complain how their privacy is being so unfairly invaded. Load of rubbish – if only for the sheer fact that Street View is just so damned cool. Go, find yourself, be proud! If you’re on there then you really are a part of digital history (although I’m not sure how often these images are updated, maybe you’re a temporary part of digital history). If you happened to get caught walking out of a slightly seedy establishment then better luck next time.

The simplest way I could think of was to retrieve the data as a percentage, half it, then ‘pad out’ the remaining space with a blank entry.

<mx:ArrayCollection id="myData">
	<mx:source>
		<mx:Array>
			<mx:Object label="" value="{50 - (myValueOne / 2)}"/>
			<mx:Object label="My Value One" value="{myValueOne / 2}"/>
			<mx:Object label="My Value Two" value="{myValueTwo / 2}"/>
			<mx:Object label="" value="{50 - (myValueTwo / 2)}"/>
		</mx:Array>
	</mx:source>
</mx:ArrayCollection>

Define a PieChart as usual, set myData as its DataSource property. Add a PieSeries, then set the following as its fills property.

<mx:Array id="myFills">
	<mx:SolidColor color="0xFDFDCB" alpha="0" />
	<mx:SolidColor color="0xFDFDCB" alpha="1.0" />
	<mx:SolidColor color="0xBBEEBB" alpha="1.0" />
	<mx:SolidColor color="0xBBEEBB" alpha="0" />
</mx:Array>

array_unique() works fine for a single dimensional array, but falls down on multidimensional arrays because it relies on string comparisons. When it compares entries in a multidimensional array, it simply sees ‘Array’ === ‘Array’ and returns true. This means everything will appear to be the same, and you’ll only get one thing in your result set.

Steve in the comments for the array_unique function comes up with a novel solution. Store every result with a key based upon the md5 hash of the array item. This means if two items are the same, they will be stored under the same key, overwriting each other and making sure there’s only one of each. Really elegant.

Here’s how…

$unique = array();

foreach($my_duplicate_array as $entry) {
   $unique[md5(serialize($entry))] = $entry;
}

Sweet.

Outcome: A social networking site was created from the ground up in PHP utilising the Zend MVC Framework. The initial beta versions allowed scuba divers to create online ‘dive logs’, showcasing their dives amongst the community with photos and technical information. Divers could communicate on ‘dive boards’ within their profiles and dives, or in a communal forum.

The site received huge amounts of positive feedback when demoed at UK dive shows and several hundred members had signed up within days of its launch.

There were many plans for evolving the site, especially in the social networking aspects – allowing divers with similar niches and interests to find each other through the site. Sadly, the project was pulled in its infancy due to funding issues.

It can be found at Youscoob.com until the hosting expires, although it does have a distinct ghost town feel.

Outcome: A combination of J2EE, Adobe Flex and Livecycle Data Services was used in order to create a robust, scalable and extremely usable marketing platform. The use of Flex allowed for an intuitive web-based front end to be created, providing the power of a traditional application delivered through the web browser. A clustered J2EE architecture allows for the system to scale well into the foreseeable future.

The system combines a drag and drop design studio with powerful campaign management, analytic and reporting tools to provide a rounded suite.
Maximms is currently in use and sending thousands of messages each month. Future development plans include the integration of a mobile web development platform and support for Bluetooth-based proximity marketing.