I ran across a problem recently, I needed to get the contents of a page so that I could mimic a widget’s functionality without having access to the database that said page’s widget used (confused yet). Basically, one site had a widget that displayed an upcoming event (information with came from a database), I needed to copy that widget to another website. Moreover, I did not want to use JavaScript to accomplish my goal because I need the new site to be cached pretty heavily on the server. My first thought was to use cURL, but when I ran curl_exec my function would output the entire page contents onto my new site, something that I did not want, I only wanted a small portion of the website. My next option was to use file_get_contents(“my_url”), as was pointed out to me, this will return the full page as a string. With this I could have accomplished my goal, but not with as much ease as I would hope. I ran into the DOMDOcument() php object a while back and was curious about what I could do with it so I decided to do some research on that. This would eventually lead me to my answer. It turns out that the script is very simple and I can see myself using it quite often so I decided to share it. Here it is:

I am well overdue for a new HarmsSite post. So today I am going to talk about one of my favorite new tools. But first, an intro. Building out gradients is easy enough, get your start color and your end color and then plug them into all the various browser specific gradient css elements (webkit, moz, etc…) and you get a gradient. Like I said, simple enough but time consuming because each browser gets its own line.

Finally, Path has come to Android. Path is one of those little known apps that I think a person would love, if they knew about it. Path is made to be built off of Facebook, but far more personal than that. Their slogan then makes sense, The Personal Network (vs the Social Network). At Path each person is only able to view a limited number of friends, making the social web experience more personal. They recognize the fact that each person in real life does not carry on relationships with 300 people, more likely 30 at the most. Because of this fact, they limit the web friends to the same number; this makes the social experience mean far more to the user. So, back to my original point, Path has been available for iPhone only since its inception. Path is not an internet app; unlike Facebook, I cannot upload photos online, I can only use my phone. Also, there are no status updates, Path is just you sharing photos with your closest friends. Path is a fantastic idea that I have been waiting to use for some time now, as I use Android. Path comes with it a simple and sleek UI, which I would expect being so limited on options and all. Just about the only bad part I can find is that not enough of my friends use it, yet. So my recommendation? Go out and get the app, it should be fun.

Obviously this is a new site yet again. I just got sick of working with PyroCMS and decided to go to good ‘ol Wordpress, for reliability sake. Luckily I happen to have a licence for an awesome theme, hence the awesome site design. Currently it is not customized but the theme is designed to be customized. Also the site has full access to all the awesome add-ons that wordpress developers have created. With 15% of all created sites out there being Wordpress sites, chances are somebody has thought of it first. What that means to me and possible clients, I can create sites fast and there is a large support structure to back up any work done.