Visual Acuity

Just a quick update. Recently I have changed the template and subject of my blog to fit more closely within my line of studies. A lot has changed since my last post from June 2009 (really a lot) but the idea of this blog still remains the same, namely to share useful information to others. So, as they popular phrase goes... will keep you posted :)

Hey folks, It has been a while. Recently I have been busy with other stuff besides the usual, but a friend of mine suggested (and I completely agree) to be a good utilitarian and post something that will bring the greatest happiness for the greatest number of users :)

Sometimes when we are searching for something, we tend to look too deep and with wrong keywords. Forget about SQL procedures, the REPEAT() function and setting variables. If you want a result set with two columns, one the ID, and the other a frequency count, then use this: SELECT id, COUNT( someValue ) AS frequency FROM tableName GROUP BY someValue; Your welcome!

Recently I started using a shortcut for my $_GET variables in PHP 5. It seems that instead of doing the following: <?php     $page = $_GET['page'];     $article = $_GET['article']; ?> There is an easier way where all the $_GET variables can be assigned automatically.

Recently I have been messing around a bit with Flex 3.0. In one particular occasion I was wondering what would be the easiest way to let a user change the background of a Flex based website. The project consisted of just a standard color picker component (just to illustrate the point). Basically what you want to do is capture the selected color when a particular event is being fired, and use this information to dynamically change the background color of the Flex application.