Netbeans announced it’s PHP support intentions by release of version 6.1, where we saw php plug-in.
I was always wondering about PHP support in any other IDE than mighty Zend Studio.

Zend studio is slow, laggy and sounds like they switched to development of Zend plugin for Eclipse.
But PHP plugin was actually not PHP plugin back in 6.1 - I tried it, but it didn’t work for me. So there was no choice and I had to stay with Zend.

So, new version of famous Java IDE has been released recently and the first think I wanted to try out was PHP support.

And the result is great. The guys really improved the plugin a lot and it has almost every feature Zend does.

Code folding, highlighting, correct ‘project’ support, subversion and so on…
You can read list of great feature on internetnews.com

But something is missing.

Zend had a bunch on great features, such as ‘add ftp server’, which allows you to copy files from projects to ftp and vice versa, which is a great bonus that doesn’t require you to browse through files with separate ftp client.

Netbeans is missing that.

Netbeans comes with file inspector, but pushes all the code inside the file into it (including html) and there’s no possibility to turn it off. Confusing to see <br/> and  <table> tags inside file inspector. But that’s a great motivator to separate logic from presentation :)

Netbeans also has a css highlighting, which is missing in zend.

Anyway with all these missings, netbeans is free! Which made me use it as main IDE for java and php development.

Give it a try!

Now you can easily change the way Gmail looks in your browser - from updated blue theme to ninja style modification. All of them are worth it - greatly designed, smooth, simple and not actually - every theme can be synced with your mood.

So the ninja theme is actually cool and funny. For any geek there is a terminal theme (tags: green, black).

A few screenshots below.

Themes menu

Themes menu can be accessed via Settings.

Main view

Hola gteam for making our mail experience fancier.

Firefox 3.0 was about changing our browsing experience and provide us with the most astonishing features that any browser can offer us. Major developments and improvements have been made on browsing modern and rich internet services:

• We got enhanced address bar - “awesome bar” - which intellectually offers you website you kind of want to visit
• We got advanced bookmarks handling engine - based on tags and “smart bookmarks”
• Incresed performance (I mean, noticable increased performance) and advanced interface design

With the new addition to 3.0 of major update - 3.1 we see accent on developers. We neither get fancy theme updates nor improved browsing experience (except for extended Tab Switching shortcut)

From previous post:

Looks like Firefox developing policy is to eliminate amount of Add-Ons and include the most of features by default. So happened with Ctrl+tab add-on that adds fancy way of switching the tabs. Although it’s current state pre-beta Ctrl+tab feature seems to be completely functional.

Ah, sorry, forgot to mention - Firefox 3.1 beta 1 has been released. And, as usual, developers team surprises as with their vision in browsing experience.

Developers based features

• <video>, <audio> tags support - now we can play audio and video files (in .ogg format so far) without any single plugin installed! Amazing, just as W3C has prescripted (HTML 5 new features or new specs by W3C)
• <canvas> - is now officially supported by Mozilla’s product, we can draw in browser without any Java implementation
• Firefox is making first steps to implement Google-gears like feature that allows browse through web pages while being offline

So, how the video and audio tags look like?

You can embed your video as simple as inserting <video> tag in your source file and defining which file to play.

I’ve got a few crashes using both <video> and <audio> tags, but it’s still early beta and crashes are part of developing and browsing process.

So it’s great to see Firefox team thinking about future trends and new specifications, as for now it seems that it’s the first development team that officially supports new HTML 5 features.

Interface improvements

As has been mentioned before, we got a renewed Ctrl+tab switched, which is almost Vista native look alike.

One more announced feature is that we can move tab from one Firefox window to another!

This feature was implemented soon after Google announced it’s browser Chrome, which allowed to move tabs freely - move aside from main browser’s window (as a completely separate window) and move from one window to another. But in Firefox you cannot create a separate window from a tab.

And again, crucial condition - you still cannot use your favourite add-ons and themes with your beta, you have to wait until add-on’s developers release updated version - the only reason that stops me from using new beta, which is as usual very good development product from Mozilla team.

Recently we’ve been talking about how it’s complicated to create and implement new standarts - which have no body, no techniques and no practical approach but only a set of rules. So the new HTML version 5 is no exception. But today we are going to talk about something more sophisticated and deep - SPARQL, which is drafted by the same crew - W3C.

Web 3.0 as we see it

I know, the term itself is very subjective - but if we use our imagination a bit - what Web 3.0 would be formed of? There are many visions - 3D applications in browser, operation system in browser and so on, but there’s one more - artificial intelligence. We have to make our machines think someday! What does any intelligent system need? Brains. The most perfect and suitable brain for intellegent network machine is RSS feeds - lots of them. So to unify somehow we have to have one query language for all of them.

One type of query for different types of data

So, SPARQL - imagine all the RSS feeds for blogs / news services/ social networks around the Net. They are all different - different structure, different formats - and now, with one SQL-like query you can fetch the information from all of them. Cool, ha? This is what SPARQL is about.

What makes SPARQL so simple and so intelligent?

Ontologies and prefix. Each SPARQL query is pre-defined with strict ontology or what pattern to use.

Query example from Wikpedia:

PREFIX abc: <http://example.com/exampleOntology#>
SELECT ?capital ?country
WHERE {
  ?x abc:cityname ?capital ;
     abc:isCapitalOf ?y .
  ?y abc:countryname ?country ;
     abc:isInContinent abc:Africa .
}

The query will return all capital cities in Africa.

Primarly there are no released implementations of SPARQL still, but few projects are in development.

• http://wiki.foaf-project.org/SparqlPress - Wordpress + SPARQL based project
• Friend of a friend - OWL and RDF based project to describe relations between people

This is about vision. Of course it’s still very subjection and the form of the concept called Web 3.0 is about to change completely. But the direction is impressive - we are very close to create A.I. as we’ve seen it in movies - the machine walks, the machine thinks, the machine feels.

What?

• That you’re one of the “golden layer” representative that has everything - bathroom, food on the table, access to internet, beloved ones and all the human goodies that you can imagine. But there are more, more of those that can’t enjoy their everyday’s wake-ups and those for whom every day is just a struggle - they struggle for staying alive, they struggle to see the sunshine one more time and struggle for their dearest ones. We, who has not seen the consequences of humanitarian disasters and who enjoy our everyday living must not forget that there are millions of those who need our help - who beg for help but think they are not heard and who think that the world is just the creepiest, darkest place ever anyone can imagine.

How?

• How can you help, you’d ask. As simple as donating. Recently Train For Humanity project has been launched by contributers of the biggest blogs on the Net and by those who Care and who help on voluntary basis. The project is aimed to raise the fund up to $50 000 and give it to those who need it!

What can I do right now?

• The simlest task you can accomplish is get to know what Train For Humanity is about, explore the problem and if you still care - donate as much as you can.

It’s the most outrageous scientific research that the human being has ever been able to plan.

But day after day we begin to forget all the hype about it as we were promised to ‘change our understanding of the Universe’.

The experiment that took place at the CERN’s LHC on September 10′th 2008 was only about accelerating the particles and not about colliding them. All the medias tried to get people into shock with stupid questions like “Will the World survive after colliding the particles?”. Hell, yeah! And you’ll be sucked into a giant black hole.

The collision of particles was planned on 21’st of October and guess what? Delayed again!

Now the problem is the 30 tonnes transformator that broke soon after accelerating particles (few days after September the 10′th). Fixing it will take about 2 months but the CERN ebters energy safe-mode during the winter and that’s why the experiments will continue in later Spring.

So it is 3′rd delay of colliding the particles since the creation of LHC and as it happens again and again it consumes more of fund’s money.

So the question itself is - in the time of World crisis which is the biggest since the Great Depression and make us enter the money safe-mode do we really need to know how the hell the Universe was created 13 billion years ago?

My answer is - hell with the creation of the Universe, I care about how we live today and what happens tomorrow, not what has blown up 13 billion years ago.

Implementing new standarts is always about pain in the ass - the vision of companies are too subjective and everyone does what he/she likes to. As news are shouting Microsoft is already implementing new HTML standarts in it’s child called Internet Explorer 8 (beta still).

As in case with world crisis and taxes, “end-users” or consumers - who is represented by us - are the first ones who suffer. Remember CSS and Javascript cross-browser wars and optimizations? Well, HTML 5 is to come - prepare your armor and all your browser compatibility equipment. Get ready for painful and trying-to-behave-the-same-everywhere code-writing as the new browser war is approaching. But sparing the sentimental talks I’d like to cover some of ass-burning HTML 5 features:

1. Immediate mode 2d drawing.
   This feature will allow you to draw 2d graphics with<canvas> element using the HTML code.
   Cool, ha? If you wanted to draw stuff like this now you’d really should implement a Java applet, where drawing 2d images is a very simple task - HTML 5 is most likely to provide us with the same simplicity.
2. API supporting audio/video files playback
   So you’ll no longer need any flash-based or advanced memory greedy Java player. Your browser will most likely to do the job for them.
3. SQL support.
   For me it’s the the most anticipated feature. Simultaneously, W3C is working on SPARQL standart which will replace standart SQL syntax - and, of course, they should somehow interact with each other. HTML is to support the SPARQL standart, which stands for new SQL syntax and semantic web technologies.
4. Drag-and-drop API.
   Elements which are identified as draggable are movable! So you’ll be able to drag and drop any element which has respective tag
5. Offline data storage.
   Similar to Google Gears service that allows to create a kind of database on your local hard drive to store the information of web-sites and allow you to browse a web page in offline mode. Kind of funny feature to implement while the whole civilization is trying to cover every spot on earth with connection.

It’s too early to talk about more features in upcoming HTML 5 standart just because “standartisizing” something is a very time-consuming process, it may take many years for us to see real implementation of those features and for sure what a positive side is that we are moving towards Web 3.0 which stands for Application in a single browser window - complete and independent network platform that can be fully discovered using browser only.

For example, remember those drag-and-drop elements which were only available using CSS and advanced Javascript techniques? Only a few years ago it required true skills to make this kind of feature on your web page - now you’ll be able to do exactly the same thing using only one descriptor. W3C started the specs in January 2008 (almost the same time their SPARQL specifications was outlined).

More on this:

• HTML 5 differences from HTML 4
• HTML 5 on Wikipedia
• SPARQL specification
• SPARQL on Wikipedia

As I mentioned earlier the Large Hadron Collider’s (the most exciting scientific research project) launch had been postponed until October. Nonetheless, yesterday, September the 9th, all news-services were hit by the news that LHC would be launched on September the 10th, 2008 and the hype began again. The news came strictly from CERN

The first attempt to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be made on 10 September. This news comes as the cool down phase of commissioning CERN’s new particle accelerator reaches a successful conclusion.

Short reminder for all the mortals who don’t know about micro black holes and sucking the Earth into 1pixel size particle.

The LHC is the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, producing beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches design performance, probably by 2010. Housed in a 27-kilometre tunnel, it relies on technologies that would not have been possible 30 years ago. The LHC is, in a sense, its own prototype.

The reason of all the postonings are not clear enough - it’s all linked with the fact that there should be absolutely no leakages on 27km long magnets, so the particles would move with the maximum speed.

As claimed by russian scientists, there is absolutely no danger in launching the LHC, because at this particular moment there are hundred billions particles collide above our heads in the atmosphere and guess what? No black holes 250 million light years away from the Solar System have been noticed.

Fear. Hope. Faith.

Something wrong happened between Google and Mozilla and suddenly friends became competitors - the true reasons why Google is developing it’s own browser are still unclear and very fuzzy. Sergei Brin says we need to re-think our browser experience and move it to the next level - make everything you do on a computer through the browser. Maybe it’s the new Google’s vision on modern internet technology development, who knows.

But in case of browsers war which has already began I stand for Firefox. And here are 8 simple reasons Why.

1. Customization.
   Google Chrome’s comes with a default “skin” without the ability to customize it - what the hell, guys, let me change the default color! Firefox allows to change theme and even modify it with CSS files and I am not talking about the tons of freeware Firefox skins on the net.
2. Add-ons.
   Extending your browser with different add-ons became essential for me as I started blogging. For example, with Digg extension I can easily submit my article. Delicious add-on synchronizes all my bookmarks with my delicious account and PicLens gives me a great opportunity to browse through Youtube videos and Flickr pictures in animated 3-D mode. According to Google, Add-ons are non-efficient because they should be re-written after any major browser’s update.
3. Ads.
   One of the simplest reasons why there would never be AdBlock addon or ability to block ads in Chrome just because 99% of Google’s revenue comes from such services as Adwords and Adsense. That’s why you’ll never be able to bypass tones of internet ad areas with Chrome.
4. Development progress.
   I love to follow the developing progress by using alpha and beta versions of a product. I also enjoy reading the developer’s conversations about how this or that feature should be made and what icon set to use. This is developing transparency. I know what to expect - none of features are hidden from the eye. That’s why I always test Firefox’ nightly builds and enjoy new features the developers have implemented recently. None of this is in Chrome.
5. Bookmarks organizer.
   Google’s Bookmarking mechanism looks exactly like Firefox’ one, but organizing the bookmarks place could have been better and maybe tagging ability will come in next versions, but now I feel like the absence of it is critical for me.
6. Independence.
   What is Mozilla’s major development? A browser. I know the developers can freely join the team and spend their forces on building a better browser. Google has tons of applications and some of them were really forgotten many times ago and deprecated.
7. Default search engine.
   Have you seen searching in Chrome? You type in address bar search engine’s name and then press tab so you can FINALLY type in search term. You can’t manage search engines, only typing.
8. Awesome bar.
   Awesome bar functionality completely lives up it’s name. It’s intelligent, it really does open the website I want as soon as I type 2 letters in and shows me the most relevant results. In Google Chrome we have the most visited websites and no arrow at address bar, that shows the most visited sites or different options for searching and accessing website I want.

May be it’s all the part of Google’s new vision but we can’t see radical changes and improvements so far, maybe they should have waited with their very first beta release. And if we are talking about new features of Google’s Chrome - we can easily Enable Chrome’s Best Features in Firefox.

Which do you think browser is better and why?

And the answer is: there are no age-limits!

Today I would like to introduce to you the youngest successful blogger in the blogosphere I have ever met.
Being only fourteen-year-old he’s already getting a revenue from his web log (Kid Tech Guru) and after only two months of blogging he has got over 13,000 unique visitors, 130 subscribers and still going strong.
His name is Xavier Lur and he is from Singapore. I think being that young and being that successful at something everyone is willing to achieve is very tough and enviable quality. I think he could teach every of us something valuable.

Hi, Xavier. Please introduce yourself shortly and describe how you entered the blogosphere and how long you have been blogging?

I am the guy behind the tech blog – www.KidTechGuru.blogspot.com. As a 14-year-old blogger, I am one of the world’s youngest professional in the world. I am living in Singapore and studying @ Maris Stella High School.
First of all, I would like to thank Alvin Phang of GatherSuccess.com. I stumbled across his newspaper ad few months ago and attended his complimentary workshop. I was inspired by his amazing blogging feat he has achieved and I started blogging too.

How usually people react when they get to know the fact that you are the youngest problogger on the net and what your parents,teachers and friends think about it?

As you can see in my blog, many of the comments are about compliments. Some people praised me and asked me to keep up the good work whereas some don’t believe that I am a 14-year-old. Once, a person even says that someone is helping me out with this blog. The answer is “No!” KidTechGuru is solely done by me.

Let me tell your something surprising. That is neither my friends nor my family members know that I am blogging! I just wanted them to know naturally, which means that they will know KidTechGuru when they Googled my name or maybe when I become famous.

Tell us about your techniques, like when you decided to put ads on your blog and which affiliates you think are the most profitable?

I feel that traffic is the lifeblood of a blog. It is important for one to first achieve a reasonable amount of traffic before putting up ads. I do see some amateur bloggers putting ads everywhere in their blog despite only blogging for a week and with a low visitor count. What I am trying to say is that, you can’t earn money if you don’t have a good traffic source.

I have heard that one can earn at least a five-digit income monthly if he or she joins an affiliate program, provided he or she is good at it. At the moment, I am not attached to any affiliate programs because firstly I am still working on my traffic. Secondly, I am not as money-minded as some bloggers. I just want to share my tech knowledge with people around the world and benefit from this blog.

However, I think that Clickbank is the most profitable affiliates in the Internet arena because most professional bloggers such as John Chow and Alvin Phang use it.

What is the most harmful action blogger can do for his own popularity?

Spamming. Some bloggers do spam on sites whereby the owner does not moderate comments whereas some spam on chat box just to get traffic to their blogs.

Would you be able to live on your own without parents’ support only on money you are making from your blog?

Currently, I don’t think I can live on my own yet without my parents’ support. I have only made about US$100 from blogging, all thanks to Bidvertiser ads and some donations made by some great souls. Maybe a few years later…

When you go to college it’s likely you are making enough money from your blogg to make it your niche - what do you think you are going to study - technologies (as your current obsession is) or advertising and media (as your new way of making money)?

If I were to go to college (which I will most probably go), I would love to study about business. My ambition is to become a financial investor and blogging will be my hobby. Currently, besides studying and blogging, I would read up the latest news in business magazines and checking out the stock indices online such as the Straits Times Index and the Dow Jones. Sometimes I will observe oil prices too.

What are your future plans - you’re going to support your current blog, maybe start a project or open new blogs?

In the coming years, I may probably change my current free blogging platform to a premium hosted blog with the KidTechGuru.com domain name. Unfortunately, a guy who is from the Philippines who claims himself as the “Youngest Pinoy Kid Technology Guru” snatched up the www.KidTechGuru.com domain name. I checked out his Technorati profile and found out that he is actually an adult. Go check out his Technorati profile @ http://technorati.com/people/technorati/juliunizeer Scroll down and you can find his “KidTechGuru” blog.

What would you suggest to amateur bloggers - which aspects to cover at the beginning, which aspects to spare?

When you start a new blog, you must set goals. For example, how many visitors you would want to achieve in a specific time span. It is important to set goals because goals will guide a person to the path of success. Also, blogging tests a person’s determination and proactiveness. In this context, proactiveness means that we must look for traffic ourselves to give our blogs more exposure instead of typing on keyboards, waiting more people to visit our blogs. This means that not only amateur bloggers but every blogger needs to instill this mindset.