Monday, July 10, 2006

Random PHP stuff

Here's some random PHP stuff I stumbled upon:

htmlSQL
I had this idea while extracting some data from a website. As I realized that the algorithms and functions to extract links and other tags are often the same - I had the idea to combine all functions to an universal usable class. While drinking a coffee and thinking on that problem, I thought it would be cool to access HTML elements by using SQL. So I started creating this class... SELECT href, title FROM a WHERE $class == 'list'

Nanoweb
Nanoweb is an HTTP server written in PHP, designed to be small, secure, and extensible. ... Thanks to its very modular architecture, Nanoweb can also be used as a framework to develop your own standalone web based applications

PHP "raycaster" 3D renderer
I mentioned recently that I was looking for an interesting PHP project. This evening I remembered an idea I had a while ago to make a 3D renderer in PHP (and if anyone's tempted to ask - "because I can" ). I did a bit of reading on old 3D engines, as I didn't want something modern and slow, and found out that the "raycaster" rendering used in Wolfenstein 3D is ridiculously easy to implement. A few hours later and it's up and running

WinBinder
WinBinder is a new open source extension for PHP, the script programming language. It allows PHP programmers to easily build native Windows applications.


JavaScript interpreters in PHP:
PHP/JavaScript Interpreter
J4P5

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Parkour



Ok, you can close your mouth now. Turns out the the guy in the video (which is a clip from the French action movie Banlieue 13, released in the US as District B13) is David Belle, the founder of Parkour.

Here is how David describes Parkour:
At the physical end, Parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency situation. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, that will help you gain the most ground on someone/something as if escaping from someone/something or chasing toward someone/something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back. If you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A. You don't need to do the same "move," but just get back.

There are a few more Parkour videos on YouTube but some of them seem more like Free running or Tricking.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Where do Americans get their news and who controls what they consume?

Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft are quickly rising, but are not included in this chart because they do not own--not yet, anyway--the major television networks, which remain Americans' #1 source of news


via the The National Entertainment State, 2006