URLs in demiblog

URL design is important. For this reason I’ve put a lot of thought into the URLs used by demiblog. demiblog has a PHP object SiteURLSpace that maps between URLs and data queries. This means that demiblog’s URLs don’t necessarily have to bear much resemblence to its code structure. It’s also pretty easy to completely replace … Continued

Non-Intuitive Surnames

Below is a non-comprehensive list of surnames which are pronounced non-intuitively. (Or one could argue that they are pronounced perfectly sensibly but the spelling is non-intuitive.) I've also included a count of how many times each surname applies in the 2006/07 Brighton telephone directory, to give you an idea of the relative importance of learning … Continued

The Great Wi-Fi Controversy

Last night, Panorama broadcast Wi-Fi: a warning signal unmasking the “controversy” over Wi-Fi health risks. This is one of those many controversies in science that are not really controversies as far as the vast majority of scientists are concerned, such as the “controversy” over whether global warming is caused by changes in solar output. Panorama … Continued

The Tao of HTML 5 – Part II

Part of the problem with the WHATWG HTML 5 specification is that it’s primarily written by browser makers. (Hixie, its editor, is the exception, as he currently works for Google, though in the past was employed by the Mozilla Foundation and Opera.) This has steered the focus of the specification towards browser manufacturers — the … Continued

MySQL WTF?!

I’m currently in the process of extending demiblog’s database support. Version 0.1.0 only supports PostgreSQL, but I plan on also supporting MySQL in the next release, and a few other databases further down the line. Because this cross-database support had always been planned, I’ve been very careful in writing my SQL to make sure that … Continued

Shooting in Lewes

About five minutes’ walk from our house: A man has been seriously injured in a shooting in Lewes town centre, Sussex Police have said. Officers said they were called to Southover High Street in the East Sussex town by a member of the public on Tuesday evening. (From BBC News) Part of the reason we … Continued