Mauro Pirrone | Blog

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Small but informative website about Joe Spiteri Sargent has been launched. The purpose of this website is to promote award winning Spiteri Water Pump (SWP).

[ www.joespiterisargent.com ]

A new real estate website has been launched. More info regarding this website coming soon. Any comments are more than welcome

[ www.rsb.com.mt ]

ShrinkSafe is a JavaScript compression utility which can practically reduce file size by a third or more. The idea behind this is very simple…faster web page download!

Start shrinking your JavaScript files:
http://shrinksafe.dojotoolkit.org/

Here’s a link which points out the best practices to have exceptional performance websites:
http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html

Here’s also a library which helps solving some of these rules:
http://code.google.com/p/minify/

Flickr is an image and video hosting website. Luckily enough, they provide a web service to access your photos and use them in any way you want. To get you into perspective, here’s the Flickr photoset which I am using, and here are the customised photo gallaries which I created using PHP:

• Photo gallery using Lightbox
• Photo gallery using PostCardViewer

Although I’m showing you how to integrate Flickr with Lightbox and PostCardViewer, this technique works with any photo gallery including the commercial one SlideShowPro.

Step 1

Downlaod the phpFlicker library from http://phpflickr.com/

Download Lightbox or PostCardViewer (or any other photo gallery).

Step 2

To access Flickr using a web service, you need an API key. You may get one from http://www.flickr.com/services/api/keys

Step 3

Get the photoset ID. In this case I am using photoset id ‘72157605353756648′. Note that the photoset id is part of the URL. For example, http://www.flickr.com/photos/26262208@N07/sets/72157605353756648/

Step 3

Step up your php script.

require_once("phpFlickr/phpFlickr.php");
$f = new phpFlickr("your api key");
$photoset_id = '72157605353756648';
$photos = $f->photosets_getPhotos($photoset_id);

Step 4

Loop through each photo in the photoset and you’re done! The following example uses the Lightbox photo gallery.

<ul>
<?php foreach ($photos['photo'] as $photo): ?>
<li><a rel="lightbox[roadtrip]" href="<?= $f->buildPhotoURL($photo, ‘medium’) ?>" title="<?= $photo['title'] ?>"><img src="<?= $f->buildPhotoURL($photo, ’square’) ?>" alt="<?= $photo['title'] ?>" title="<?= $photo['title'] ?>" /></a></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>

Notes

• You may easily change the file size by specifying either square, thumbnail, small, medium, large or original. For example: $f->buildPhotoURL($photo, ‘large’)
• You may programmatically get the photoset ids by using the API call photoset.getList (or photoset_getList method)
• You may also use API calls to get comments, upload photos, and so on
• For the complete API documentation visit here

Source Code Download

• Lightbox Example
• PostCardViewer Example

MVC which stands for Model View Controller is an architectural design pattern used for building modularised web applications. The main idea behind this model is to separate the business logic from the user interface. As a result, the application would be easier to manage and maintain since any changes in the business logic will not affect the user interface.

MVC consists of:

• Model which consists of the application’s data and the business rules (methods) used to modify the data.
• View is the application’s presentation layer which consists of text, buttons, and other objects.
• Controller which uses a model to invoke methods for data processing and views to output the results.

As with regards to the PHP programming language, there are many open-source frameworks which you can use including the following:

Zend Framework
Zend Framework is well designed and specifically targeted for PHP5. The nice thing about ZF is that all modules are self-contained. Practically should can take any module from this framework and plug it into your application. Video Tutorial

CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter works with PHP 4 and 5. CI is very easy to use and it is very well documented. Video Tutorials

CakePHP
CakePHP works with PHP 4 and 5. It is feature-rich and has built-in support for ORM (Object Relational Model) and Ajax. Video Tutorials

Symfony
Symfony is much like Ruby on Rails since you have to use a command line. Video Tutorials

All the above frameworks support MVC but there are some differences when it comes to the framework’s functionality. I would suggest trying them out!

Inspiring Minds

For such a young man Mauro is extremely disciplined and professional, I enjoyed working with him and always looked forward to our meetings because he listens to every word you say and acts accordingly. In a world full of people that always deliver less than what they are capable of, this young man is a breath of fresh air. I would recommend him to any company or individual that would like to build or design a website, in fact I already have and will continue to do so.

Mark Ellul

Enemalta Corporation

Mauro Pirrone was employed as a student summer worker at the ICT and Strategy Section from July 2007 to September 2007. He was actively involved in the software development section and participated in various projects including CRM Design & Development. He created different modules including a generic PDF File Processor and a new UI using CSS, XHTML standards with AJAX and ASP.NET technologies. He also developed a wizard driven Application Registration Module using C# and MS SQL Server.

He developed the modules following the design patterns and technical specs that were required and was able to carry out the work independently, with minimal help from my side. Mauro worked with Microsoft technologies name C#.NET and SQL Server, but is also well versed in PHP, Open Source technologies and Image Editing Tools. He also has a flair for professional looking web design.

Mauro is a very motivated and self-starter who takes initiative to research about new technologies and development ‘best practices’ including object oriented design and development. He is also a good team player and very personable. He possesses a cool, calm and collected character and is a pleasure to work with. He was always able to meet strict deadlines, even if that incurred skipping lunch breaks.

Adrian Hedley
ICT Project Officer

Rocco’s Services

For his age mauro is a genius…he will never let you down log to web site and you’ll see

David Grech

TAT2 Clinic

Satisfied, recommended, A+

Melchior Catania

Here’s an insight look at the Inspiring Minds Website , written by Mark Ellul:

Brief description of Life-Coaching & Services

Coaching is an American Phenomenon that was originally created to assist athletes to perform to their full potential. Every athlete needs good coaching and in life it is no different. The way it works is that the coach through a number of personal, on-line courses or group sessions inspires you to reproach life with new vigour and a new and deeper understanding, this help you overcome your fears and limitations on all the different areas of your life. A life coach can help you improve your mental and physical health, become more successful in your relationships with partners, family members and friends, improve your professional career and finances and help develop your spiritual growth. A life coach is always there to give you that critical nudge we all need sometimes to change our life for the better.

Through working with your own personal life-coach you will discover the opportunity to discover your very own internal power over your day-to-day circumstances. Develop the ability to inspire and fascinate others and have the mental strength to take action and make good things happen for you. As your self-esteem grows, your personality grows and your confidence grows, in turn you develop your self-belief to achieve anything you desire.

My aims and objectives for creating this site

My mission is to create and develop a medium of positive energy and hope, where I can challenge, stimulate and guide people of all ages, to breakthrough their fears and limitations and to help them grow in every fundamental area of their lives. My specific aims and objectives are;

• To assist people in simplifying and finding balance in their lives
• To help make their lives be what they want them to be.
• Assist them in preparing a plan to achieve this life they want.
• Be totally committed to helping them overcome their fears, worries and limitations and coach them in the art of problem-solving.
• To help them show a greater interest in themselves and others rather than in things.
• To show through example the consistent desire to offer help and assistance to others in need.
• To empower them on how to pass on the knowledge and methods earned to others and by doing so contribute to a better society.

My Target Audiences

People of all ages can benefit from my life-coaching services however; there are two primary target audiences that my coaching principles and techniques can have a very positive impact on due to their eagerness to learn and improve themselves.

Primary Audience; Young Adults – 17 to 25
They are open-minded, flexible, interested in learning and expanding their knowledge. This is such a key age for young adults, by learning and applying the necessary skills and techniques of problem-solving and self-development they can look forward to more fulfilling lives.

Primary Audience; Businesses – staff 21 and over
Most companies say that their biggest asset is their people, but how many of them actually mean it. The problem with “old style� management is that it tends to concentrate on what has gone wrong, and on how to put it right. On the other hand my business coaching process applies principles and techniques which reflect on the successes of employees and on working out a way to repeat and expand on them.

The website

It was important for me that the website not only looked professional but that it was visually stimulating and extremely user-friendly and I believe that we achieved all three necessary ingredients. The colours used, striking images, headlines, secondary pages and banners consistently invite and allow the client to engage, reach out and communicate, and this I believe is the crucial element for the success of the site.

I have just launched inspireyourmind.com! Check it out…more info coming soon!

Website homepage

Introduction to Life Coaching Page

Group Coaching Contact Form

Introduction to Life Coaching Flash Presentation

Business Coaching Secondary Page

[ www.inspireyourmind.com ]