Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is the use of the Internet to provide software and storage services to users.

It's probably best to explain Cloud Computing as a series of examples or use cases.

Cloud Computing as a diagram. Click to zoom.

Sending Notecards in Second Life

Creating a simple object. 

Notecards are essentially Second Life's version of text files. This post will detail how to create an object that gives out a notecard when it is touched.

Sending an Email from Second Life

In this post I'll send an email out from the Second Life world and into the real world, — my gmail inbox.

Second Life Object Creation

In this post I'll be creating a chair in Second Life.

Objects and things in Second Life are called Prims. Creating a chair was fairly straightforward.

Using Second Life as a Virtual Classroom

In my previous two posts, I wrote about virtual classrooms, and introduced Second Life.

This week's lecture was, interestingly, a combination of the two.

An Introduction to Second Life

It's distinctly challenging coming up with a good definition for what exactly Second Life is.

In its most basic form, it's 3D virtual world where individuals interact with each other using "avatars". You are free to build pretty much whatever you want with the tools you're given.

But there's a little more to it than that.

The Virtual Classroom

The Virtual Classroom concept isn't a new one, but only recently have we been seeing any real advancement in this area. It is a fascinating premise, and one that, on paper, could have the potential to change the world of education. In practice, however, it doesn't always work out that way.

Mobile Web Technologies

Smartphone usage has skyrocketed in the past few years. As a result, the number of users accessing websites (including yours) from a mobile device has skyrocketed. To date, almost 30% of Internet usage is now from a mobile phone or tablet.

Contrast this to just a few years ago, when smartphones (and I use the term liberally) had to make do with WAP, served over GPRS — a crippled, baby version of the internet.

Coursework 2: Conclusion and Video

I've posted a short video of a typical usage scenario for the web application created in Coursework 2. It gives a rough general impression of the site. The user logs in, plays the game, and views the high scores list.

Please note that you can follow the whole Coursework 2 story by viewing all the posts under the Coursework 2 label.

If it doesn't work, you can see it on YouTube directly.

Adding and Viewing High Scores Part 2

Introduction

The second part of this post talks about retrieving the high scores lists from the database and displaying it in a user-friendly way. If you haven't already, you should read part 1 of this post.

Adding and Viewing High Scores Part 1

Introduction

This 2-part post describes the process of playing the game, and viewing the high scores table.

Logging Out a User

Introduction

This is a short post about how to delete cookies on a user's computer.

Adding New Users

This post will detail how I added the functionality to add new users for Coursework 2.

Handling User Login

The Coursework requires the logging in of users. A simple HTML + CSS login form was created, and linked to the main database. The form sends the user to a file called "processLogin.php".

Note: The file references another script: "mysqlHander.php". It can be found at the end of this post.

Connecting MySQL to PHP

Introduction

This post will talk about how I connected a MySQL database to the PHP web application.

Sharing the JavaScript Score with PHP

A short post. I added some code to the game so that it can transport the score to the PHP environment.

Modifying Paper Toss - The JavaScript Game

The game created for Coursework 1 is to be incorporated into Coursework 2. To do that, it needs to be modified to hand out a score when it finishes.

An Introduction to PHP

Introduction

This post is a general introduction to PHP programming. Note: All development is done using XAMPP – a free software bundle.

Introducing Coursework 2

Whereas Coursework 1 was a client-side exercise, requiring only the use of JavaScript, with some minor HTML. The class created their own versions of a game based on Paper Toss.

Coursework 2, on the other hand, is a server-side exercise, requiring programming across a variety of languages: PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Naturally, PHP and MySQL are the focus.

Installing XAMPP

Introduction

XAMPP is a free and open-source software application bundle. Each letter in "XAMPP" describes the main applications that are included in the package:

• X stands for cross-platform.
• A – Apache HTTP Server
• M – MySQL
• P – PHP
• P – Perl

The software bundle is designed to make it really easy to roll your own web application. This post will detail installation and testing under my development environment.

Server-Side Technologies: An Overview

Introduction

While previous posts have focussed on client-side technologies of web development, this post will focus on the other half: server-side technologies. In this post, I'll outline a few of the most popular web application frameworks available today.

JavaScript Animation: Taking it Further

Introduction

Game in action.

This post builds on the work done in the previous post, extending the concept into a game.

The game consists of a ball placed on a desk. The objective is to roll the ball to the bin, using enough power, but not too much.

Animation in JavaScript

Introduction

Today's post is about the basics of animation in JavaScript. A simple image of a ball is moved around a small area.

JavaScript Basics

Introduction

JavaScript Logo

This week's post is about the basics of JavaScript.

In part 1, the scripting language is introduced and lightly discussed.

In part 2, the week's class exercise is tackled. The class was given a very barebones Loan Calculator. The user is required to enter some data into a form (amount, interest rate, and payment period), and the loan is calculated.

The World Wide Web: Past, Present, and Future

Introduction

This post is all about the World Wide Web, from its inception, all the way to its current state, as well as a look into the future. Three core technologies are discussed: the URI, HTTP, and HTML.