For this example I am running php 5.2.4 on Abyss/Apache web server

Download the matching pecl5 Binary from php.net. In this case its pecl5.2-win32-200710121230.zip (matching my current php version).

Unpack the file.

Copy the php_imagick.dll into php/ext/ directory

Open your php.ini file and look for the “Dynamic Extensions” area. In there will be a list of items (some commented out). Add the following line to the bottom of the list: extension=php_imagick.dll

Save the changes you made.

Restart your web server.

If these steps were successful imagick will show up on any php page using the phpinfo() function.

imagick, pecl-extension, php-extension

In this day and age one sometimes wonders who is behind what media is pushed for success. Who are the ‘experts’ that push and market a movie that flops? What are they thinking that we will like? Enter MediaPredict. MediaPredict is a site that allows people to predict the success of new media.

The site is basically a media rating game. After registering you are given $5,000 play money. You use the money to invest in media you think will succeed or fail. It’s played much like a stock market where you can even short sell. The value of the stock(media) is a value based upon others buying and selling the commodity. This represents it’s probability of succeeding out in the world.

(Dashboard – My first purchase)

It appears that MediaPredict is relatively new. The choices available to work with currently seems limited to new publishers, books, music artists, and a few television sit-com pilots.

The media can be just about anything ranging from books, movies, music and television. Up and coming, and mainstream media is included in the system. Here is an example of a music artist;

New music artist
• - Will the artist get a record deal?
• - If the artist has a deal what are it’s chances of success?
• - Will a single reach the top 5/10/100?

There is a deadline or time limit for each ‘project’. Obviously there are dates for record releases and such.

Features I’d like to see
I couldn’t find a way to add another source of media to the site. So for now it seems that only MediaPredict has the power to add/remove new media. I hope this can be changed in the future.

I would like to see MMORPG category added to the list or tag cloud of choices.

Another feature that would be nice to have is current media, and the prediction of it’s future from now. There is a lot of media and sites out there that started of well, and began to stink after a few episodes or albums. One hit wonders.

Features I don’t want to see
Social networking within MediaPredict. There is already no value to any positive gains you get from playing the game. You win fake money that can’t be used for anything other than bragging rights or just feeling nice about participating. The game itself is interesting. But to add social networking with equally useless winnings and badges is a total turn off for me.

I’d like to see MediaPredict stick to what it is. I think they’ve got something here. Maybe MediaPredict should add themselves to their own market ;)

According to Blogger Buzz Google is looking for user experience research blogging with google blogger. As mentioned in the FAQ you first need to sign up. After you have signed up you may or may not be selected depending on what they are looking for:

For each study, we need to make sure that we invite people who match our target user profile for the product we are researching. We also want to get a good balance of ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience, so please be honest with your answers. It’s easier for us to match you to a suitable study when we have more information about you, so if you fill in as much of our sign-up form as you can, it’s more likely that you will be invited to participate.

There are different experience sessions where you will work with a google researcher 1 on 1, on the phone, or in a group. It looks like some of the research will be done in person at google. Except you have to find your own way there. The pay looks pretty decent too.. “typically we pay $75 for each hour that you spend with a Google researcher”. The FAQ also mentions the average time commitment is in the range of 1-1.5 hours during business hours.

I think this is great customer service. It seems they want to see how users view and work with their goods. It also gives an opportunity for users in the test to request features, changes to existing features, as well as having features removed. I wonder if this is a result of googlecanyouhear me?

All in all I think this is a smart move and I’m quite curious what will come out of this.

google, blogger, blog

The most interesting info centers on web standards. According to Mary Jo Foley’s report of the session, IE8 will encourage web designers to create websites that adhere to web standards, and allow them to opt-in to a standards mode if they meet that criteria.

“IE8 will encourage web designers to create websites that adhere to web standards”

*Cough* I mean really?

M$ pushing for designers to stick to standards?? How long. How long, has Internet Explorer had ‘quirks’ and workarounds for the box model as well as all the other bugs it’s had? Specifically in CSS. Seriously.

On top of all this, the browser is so integrated into the operating systems in such a way that if it becomes corrupt, it can slow down your OS, and make some files and operations down right break. Unfortunately IE still has a large portion of users out there. As of this writing still about 78% of the population(via Marketshare). I’d personally be willing to say I’ll bet they are corporate users, or the small portion of home consumers who are unaware of other options out there.

On the other hand I will say it’s taken much too long. If this IS true, THANK YOU Microsoft! But I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m sticking to my firefox.

Microsoft, Internet Explorer, browser, css, standards

This morning on the drive to work I heard the owner of yet another search engine that’s out there.ChaCha Search(Beta). After a few rounds with it, I’d have to say it’s not too shabby. The returned search results are more than what ask would offer with an added side bonus. You can chat with a ’search specialist’ who will help return more relevant results for your search. They’re called ChaCha guides.

According to the ChaCha guide on becoming a guide, you must be invited by a master ChaCha guide. The page also states “Our Guides earn between $5-10 per search hour based on performance.” Wow! They even have a flexible schedule….

”

• Get deep access to the ChaCha Underground community to meet other ChaCha Guides like you!
• Get paid to do something you like (help people in areas that interest you).
• Participate whenever you want. Your ChaCha Guide schedule is flexible – it’s 100% up to you.
• Be a celebrity! Share your knowledge with the world and be recognized.
• Climb to the top of the ChaCha Guide rankings and build your ChaCha Network to maximize your success.

”

I’m not quite sure of the ‘celebrity’ role. I tried out the chat option while searching for something that returned many possible different results. I chatted with a guide who hung with me while she popped relevant results into my canvas. Along the way she asked me if the results were relevant. Basically she was checking to see if she was warmer or colder. She pretty much got the results I was looking for.

I’m quite pleased with both the results the engine returns on it’s own as well as the chat option. It’s nice when you arent sure what your looking for and can’t get your query just right. Although I must say that I’m pretty savvy myself. I’m a bit curious if I could become a guide and I’m looking more into it.

Search Engine, Search, ChaCha, Internet, Beta

Upon searching for this part I came across Internet UPC Database. The site is actually a hobby of it’s creator. It allows users to register, logon, and add UPC’s all the time to it’s database. The site claims to have begun it’s work in 1999 so it’s database is pretty full. As of this entry the total items entered were at 839,904. You can view the rest of the stats at their site.

Sure enough I found the product’s information I was looking for right away. What I wonder is how the information is validated. Since there is only a guideline on the data entry.

upc

A list of my current favorite web tools…

Text Editor:

• Notepad 2 – Very Light. Very Simple.

Compression Utility:

• IZARC – IMO, better than winzip

Localhost Server (Apache/mySQL):

• Wamp – Run an Apache web server on your PC. You can configure it to run or not run on startup. It also includes mySQl and a few php extensions.

Firefox extensions:

• measureit – Measure pixels right on your screen.
• colorzilla – Grab colors off of web pages, zoom, and built in color picker.
• web developer – CSS, XHTML, Screen resize, line guides, disable styles and much much more.
• firebug – A great tool especially for pages created in php. You may have 100 lines of code before the html begins. This helps you debug xhtml issues on “line 12″ which is actually line 112. Works well with included php files as well.

IE Explorer Add On:

• IE Dev Toolbar(For IE Similar to Firebug)

Tools, Dev, Developer, Dev Tools

I’ve been leaning a bit on del.icious.us lately a bit too much for comfort too. What happens if the server there gets “too busy”, goes down, or worse yet – decides to completely shut down and remove itself from the web?

What web services do you rely on? What services are you leary of?