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MySQL table manipulation
August 20, 2009, 12:59 pm
Every command in one place...
All you ever need to remember about MySQL table manipulation in one easy place to find it!

Rename an existing table:
mysql> ALTER TABLE tableName RENAME newName;

Changing the dataype for an existing column:
mysql>ALTER TABLE tableName MODIFY columnName;

Adding a column to an existing table:
mysql> ALTER TABLE tableName ADD columnName columnType;

Removing a column from an existing table:
mysql> ALTER TABLE tableName DROP columnName;

After a table edit it is good practice to optimise the table in order for it to run as efficiently as possible. The MySQL OPTIMIZE command orchestrates this but will not stop access to the table while running (It will suspend writing to the table until complete though).
mysql>OPTIMIZE TABLE tableName;

Completely removing a MySQL table:
mysql> DROP TABLE tableName;
'Ever forgotten that MySQL syntax when manipulating table? Look no further.....'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
A month in the wilderness
August 2, 2009, 10:10 am
istockcreative.com upgrade moves on apace
While we managed a glorious week of high temperatures and sunshine, July has passed us by and unfortunately didn’t raise many opportunities for sun soaked photography here in the heart of rural Hampshire. Fortunately our stock photography service, istockcreative.com, was due a major upgrade and with a backlog of photographs to publish from the last six months, July seemed a good time to put the camera down and get back to coding.

Since our original members stock photography went live two years ago there has been a lot of development in web sites and the code behind them. Most noticeable is the development of libraries, like jQuery, which make it relatively easy to produce some very slick interfaces. As with everything online it one step forward and two back as catering for the non-Javascript visitor or sight impaired visitor mean the code must degrade to still function for these two areas. This is one of the differentiators between a ‘Fred in the Shed’ have a go web developer and an integrated media house. There is no point spending your creative budget on a web site that doesn’t render to all hard won visitors just because it’s not convenient to your web developer.

Anyway, August is upon us and istockcreative.com is now running in its Beta format. There are some major redevelopments still to undertake but two three new major projects kicking off in August mean development will have to take a back seat for a while!
'istockcreative.com gives members and visitors the opportunity to buy, sell and print their own works as well as develop their creative skills in our community'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
MySQL rectify error 1129?
July 1, 2009, 7:58 am
MySQL server reporting too many hosts?
A MySQL server has a finite number of connections that it will allow, which acts as a safety mechanism against potentially harmful actions. During usual interaction with the server a script will make a connection, run its query and return the query results. The script should also disconnect from the MySQL server when it’s finished to free up one of the limited number of connections that the server will allow. Not doing so can eventually cause an overflow error, which will often not manifest itself until much later in the development process or worse still after client delivery.

How to rectify a MySQL error 1129 ‘Too many hosts’ overflow.
Assuming that your MySQL server is not being maliciously attacked a simple command entered at the command line is enough to flush the hosts cache. If you do not have access to the command line then you will need to get an Admin at your webhost to execute this for your. The command is:

mysqladmin flush-hosts

Once you have flushed your MySQL server should take off its tin hat and step out of the bunker; metaphorically speaking anyway. Again assuming that you have a hosts cache overflow through some result other than a malicious testing the system, you are going to need to fix whatever caused the problem so it doesn’t keep occurring.

Best Practice for disconnecting from the MySQL server
One way of insuring that you disconnect from the MySQL server on every occasion is to add a small script to the footer element of your page (If your site is too small to need you to include or require a footer then you can just add this to each page by hand). The code itself is very basic PHP but means you can eliminate your pages causing any host errors and rest assured you have disconnected from the MySQL server too.

<?php
if(isset($my_db_connection)){
mysql_close($my_db_connection);
}
?>

Where you have originally connected to the database using something resembling:

$my_db_connection = mysql_connect(DB_SERVER,DB_USER,DB_PASS);
'Assuming that your MySQL server is not being maliciously attacked a simple command entered at the command line is enough to flush the hosts cache.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Generate favicon files for free
June 26, 2009, 5:59 pm
Present your logo in your browser URL
A very quick note today as we are currently redeveloping the istockcreative.com site (feel free to head on over and take a look at the new version 2, web2.0 update but be aware that this is still work in progress!).

So we needed a new favicon

Anyway there are a million and one sites out there offering to generate your favicon’s for free but many are poor and even more do not work at all. So to save you the bother we recommend the Dynamic Drive site, which is where we generate our favicons.

For those whose don’t know a favicon is the logo or symbol that appears by your URL in the browser window of your chosen browser. If a site does not have one then usually the browsers default logo is displayed instead. Anyway the image is a small (16 x 16 pixel) brand icon image that is uploaded to the root of your web server and is called in html using the following line in your section

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico">

There, no excuses for not having one now :D
'A favicon is a good way to brand your site and increase it's prominence in your visitor's bookmark menu.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Wildlife Photography: The English Adder
June 17, 2009, 5:52 pm
A chance encounter with the UK's only poisonous snake
The thing with nature photography is you never quite know what you’re going to get (or was that a box of chocolates according to Forrest Gumph?) Anyway, it doesn’t matter how well planned your expedition; some days you’ll get nothing and some days it will just walk out of the woods in front of you.

Today was just one of the days. Now it pays to be prepared when it comes to nature photography. Wandering around with your camera powered down, lens cap on and a macro lens in place is not conducive to being ready for anything. Get your camera as ready to go as you can. Even with some very ‘fast glass’ flicking switches and removing lens caps is just going to give your subject time to spot you, freeze, think and then run.

Field Craft for Nature Photography
This afternoon was actually an opportunity to develop some field craft skills while scouting for some well populated early morning locations. Suitable attire, careful movement and approaching downwind of the location drastically reduce the ability of the animal’s three senses (hearing, smell and sight) and a couple of good encounters with rabbits had proved that the field craft and patience was going well. This combined with finding fresh signs of both fox and deer had made the nature location expedition an all-round success. So we were heading back when we spotted a rare sight down in a well wooded ditch near a main road. A female adult Adder complete with bulging stomach from eating its last meal. Photography bingo!

Respect and keep your distance
Now lighting was poor but the camera was already set and the Adder was a little full after its meal. Carefully, so not to disturb or alarm the snake, we had enough time to get some relatively good shots of this elusive British Snake and push the day’s photography into the ‘superb’ category! Now if you’re reading this from some snake infested country thinking ‘Why so excited over a snake?’ then to explain; the Adder is the UK’s only venomous snake (there are only three types of British snake) and a rare sight. If you’re reading this in the UK and thinking ‘Venomous Snake!’, then it is reported that it’s over 20 years since a fatality and anti-venom will reduce the symptoms to nausea, drowsiness and some sever swelling. So treat these animals with the respect they deserve and use a good lens to keep your distance.

Where to look for the Adder
As for locations Adders need light, warmth and cover. Ideal locations are the edge of managed forests where a population has a chance to grow in a coppiced area before the canopy closes out the light overhead. When this happens the population will move to the edges as with our female today.
'Get your camera as ready to go as you can. Even with some very ‘fast glass’ flicking switches and removing lens caps is just going to give your subject time to spot you, freeze, think and then run.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Getting started with Vijeo & Magelis HMI
June 12, 2009, 9:05 am
Part 1 Introduction to XBTGT and Vijeo 5.0
In this series we are going to take a whistle stop tour of how to implement an HMI (Human Machine Interface) solution using the Schneider Electric Magelis range of touch screens. Primarily the core XBTGT series, which range from mono 3.8" up to full colour 15" with inbuilt audio visual (AV) functions.

Part of a comprehensive interface offer the Magelis XBTGT range offers a series of six ranges, varying in size and specification. These ranges include:
- 3.8" XBTGT 1000 Series
- 5.7" XBTGT 2000 Series
- 7.5" XBTGT 4000 Series
- 10.4" XBTGT 5000 Series
- 12.1" XBTGT 6000 Series
- 15" XBTGT 7000 Series
At i3m we have been using the Magelis XBTGT series for the past five years (primarily acting as audio visual interfaces to training and simulation systems) and programmed from Vijeo Designer 4.2 right up to the current version (Vijeo Designer 5.0). While the functionality and capabilities have increased and most of the bugs (lets call them bonus features!) have been ironed out, the entire core Vijeo Designer principles remain the same whatever the release version.

Having never used it before and in order to keep a balanced approach, we will also take a beginners guide and review of the Red Lion G3 series, programmed with their free Crimson 2.0 software. Lets face it we all like free software!

A quick overview of touch screen HMI's
For those new to HMI’s they principally combine screen and input device(s) into a single unit. Driven by a touch screen interface (some models also have keys around the main screen. Think cash point or ATM depending on your geography!). Their main advantage is they do not rely on main stream operating systems so are self ‘booting’, can be turned on and off with no user shutdown and are less vulnerable to user ‘dabbling’ and virus attack. When required there are models that run on a Windows platform but that is beyond the scope of the XBTGT series (You need to take a look at the XBTGTW series).

Okay, so we have touch screen interface with a bespoke underlying operating system and we probably have some kind of PLC system to control and read back information from? So you’re going to need to program your HMI to interface to the PLC in question. This has always been a big advantage to the Schneider XBTGT series. They ship with drivers for all of the major automation manufacturers and not just Schneider or Modicon devices.

Vijeo Designer 5.0
Anyway, back to programming. Fortunately, as with the world these days, there is a nice little software package to help you do this and for Schneider XBTGT it comes in the form of Vijeo Designer v5.0. You’re also going to need a programming cable to connect the PC that you program on to the XBTGT. This can be a serial cable, USB programming cable or Ethernet cable depending on set up and model. Programming cables are expensive for what they are (circa £130 at list prices), which is why it’s worth keeping an eye out for bundle deals (Schneider are currently running a limited promotion that includes entry level XBTGT, XBTZG9*5 cable and Vijeo Designer 5.0, which we reported back in May 2009). With the falling cost of Ethernet enabled models it can be cheaper to by and Ethernet model and just use a standard CAT5 Ethernet patch cable to transfer the program.

In the first, straight of the box configuration your easiest option is to use the expensive serial/USB cable. If you went for the Ethernet model you’re going to have to decipher the MAC address and convert this to an IP address to download your first program (We will cover this later). If there is no Ethernet switch in your system and you’re connecting point-to-point then you will need a cross wired patch cable.

Okay, that’s part one. If you don’t have the hardware, cable and software then you’re not necessarily going to need it for part two as Vijeo Designer allows us to run a full simulation on the PC without the need to connect to a real world HMI. However we will be looking at connecting it all up and configuring the XBTGT too. Subscribe to our RSS or email RSS and we can let you know once it’s posted.
'For those new to HMI’s they principally combine screen and input device(s) into a single unit. Driven by a touch screen interface (some models also have keys around the main screen. Think cash point or ATM depending on your geography!). '
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Ten ways to improve your Google ranking
June 9, 2009, 9:15 am
Maintaining usability while optimising your web site
Nowadays it’s not enough for your business to just have a web site. Ten years ago (and ten years is an age in Internet terms) it was certainly was enough but the world and the Internet have changed. Google is king and intends to stay there. Every company wants to be number one and on top of the pile in searches for its products and services however most organisations that are there are not there by accident. They have earned, or sometimes even paid for that privilege.

So you want to be top of the pile?
Doesn’t everyone? Well, you’re going to have to change the way you think about the Internet and learn a little about how the likes of Google actually work. We are not talking about the algorithms of the Google search engine here, as that is constantly changing and is even rumoured to include some human input too, just to keep us on our toes.

So, unless you’re an EBay, Microsoft or Facebook the short answer is that there is no guarantee of hitting the top every time and beware anybody who tries to ‘sell’ you different. The realistic answer depends on how niche your product offer is. If you sell nuts and bolts, for example, then your chances of being number one in Google for this search is next to nothing. If however you do a line of yellow, left hand thread, Torx head bolts then you stand a considerably better chance! While there certainly will be number one result for Google in standard nuts and bolts, this company is virtually guaranteed to have used above and below the line SEO tactics to get there (we’re not talking about the paid Adwords results at the top of the search but the first in the actual search results).

A word to the small and start up business owner about choosing a web designer. Making a basic web site is easy and the barriers to entry are low. As a result there are a huge amount of ‘Fred in a shed’ web designers doing a really bad job. If your web designer hasn't discussed the bigger marketing campaign and SEO by your second meeting then you’re probably better off spending the money on an off the shelf template or DIY build your own website software. That’s all your alleged web designer has probably done! Oh, you could always give us a call here at i3m :)

Think better search rankings by niche results
There are steps you can take to help your web site become more ‘Google friendly’ and let’s face it; Google has got to the top by providing relevant results to visitors searches. It is in their and your interest therefore to make your site as relevant as possible and as easy to crawl as possible. There is no need to develop your site just for Google’s search results too. You’re in business to make money by selling your product or service. Not writing sites for Google! By combining your site with your other, more traditional, marketing activities you can raise your sites profile, raise your sites traffic and ultimately attract new customers.

Basics of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Trying to get your site up the rankings is big business and with big business comes big claims and big bills (or big bucks if you happen to deal in dollars!) There is a raft of companies out there claiming top results, every time. Some even go so far as to guarantee it! Buyer beware, especially when it comes to the Internet. While there are certainly some excellent, legitimate, SEO companies out there who will charge a premium for their services but there are also many sharks. One thing is for sure; no one can absolutely guarantee you top search engine results every time. What you need to do is take some basic SEO steps to improve the ranking of your site and here’s our top lessons learned:

General - There are no shortcuts or quick fixes
It’s absolutely true. There is no overnight improvement and every step requires work and effort. So whether you are a keen amateur, company webmaster or SEO company the same rules apply. Start now and keep going.

The site - It’s all content and who’s recommending you
Well thought out, well presented, original and factually correct content that is going to be of interest to your human visitors and it will generate return visits and recommendations from others. But keep it updated or your hard earned visitors will drift back from where there came. Links pointing to your site, especially from reputable, popular, sites, will increase your ranking too. Also remember that if you’re writing in English there is more than one type of English. If you’re targeting an American or Australian market for example, be aware of local differences in spelling. Likewise if you’re targeting European customers then using their words and spellings where appropriate will help. A glossary page can offer a limited work around if need be.

The code – Keep it uncluttered, valid and up to date
Write descriptive page titles and make sure it is a title and not just the company name etc. Use the format “Title | company name” if you are including it.

Use real html headings (h1, h2, h3 etc) are an essential element of your page as they define key areas of text titles.

Use search engine friendly URLs instead of passing variables all the time. It may be the case that search spiders don’t even look passed the ‘?’ character in the URL.

Use valid markup; cluttered and invalidated web site code (or mark up) slows down or can even turn away search engine bots.

Don’t try to fool the search engines. It may offer a short term gain but you need the search engines. Getting banned for misappropriate behaviour (cloaking, link farms, keyword stuffing etc. is a sure way to do this. Don’t!

Leave frames where they belong; back in the 20th century. In this day and Internet age there is no place for frames in a site that you want search engines to rank. Get a grip and keep up.

Be careful with browsers. Yes, it’s a pain the proverbial having to accommodate different web browsers and platforms but that’s the nature of the job. Sure, in an ideal world everyone would be standard compliant. This however is not an ideal world and therefore be careful at a coding level that browser detection script do not in fact turn search engine spiders away. At a human level a visitor who receives your page with bits missing or all over the place is not going to hang around to long either.

Meta Tags have reduced importance. Again, back in history Meta data was there to define a site and its contents but it has been pushed down the pecking order by misuse over the years. It won’t hurt to include Meta description and Meta tags but at this point there appears little point in placing too much effort in the process.
'Making a basic web site is easy and the barriers to entry are low. As a result there are a huge amount of ‘Fred in a shed’ web designers doing a really bad job.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Sunrise on Harting Down – Part2
June 1, 2009, 5:39 pm
The concluding part of our early mornings
Today started gloriously and by 5:15am we were back on Harting Down (not unlike Watership Down and with just as many bunnies!). More importantly we had no commitments to be anywhere before 9am :D (You may need to read Part 1 (yesterday) in full to know why such an early start). Basically, this was our second early morning trip out and this time hopefully we had a little more time and continued enthusiasm. We were not disappointed as, once again, the word spectacular fails dismally to describe being on top of The South Downs as the sun rises on a summer morning.

Long exposure night photography

Now, granted that our enthusiasm for more practice at night photography and long exposure shooting, seems a million miles away with winter we are certainly not wishing away the summer. It still gets dark but just needs a little more commitment to get those early morning shots! It’s still good ‘off-auto’ experience and a chance to experiment with the camera none the less.

Anyway, we returned today to get those elusive early morning images and can certainly say we weren’t disappointed. We will get them onto the new photo wall for all to see (just finishing the last of the AJAX scripts and testing before release this week). In the meantime we include a shot across Harting Down towards Elsted (east) to whet the appetite.

At this time of the morning there is generally no one around, most of the local wildlife is starting its day and is certainly not expecting company, which made for all the better a trip. We also managed to get some early morning shots of the ruins that can be seen from Harting Down, which we believe to be Beacon Hill? A unique and fantastically picturesque subject backlit as the first rays of dawn hit the ruined brickwork.

Still no eye deer!

For the second day running there was no sighting of the herds of deer currently living around the South Harting area but this will keep for another day. Ironically we did see a pair today after researching panoramic locations along the Meon Valley. Specifically we were photographing out around Weston and Ramsdean on the southern fingers of Petersfield. Maybe a few more early mornings with the telephoto lens yet then….
'Sunrises, sunsets and night photography takes a little more commitment in the summer months.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Sunrise on Harting Down – Part1
May 31, 2009, 11:30 am
The A272 offers some fantastic locations.
The Boeing 737 clawed its way into the sky this morning. Tonnes of metal and electronics climbing away from London Gatwick, undoubtedly packed full of so many expectations of escape and adventure. Unfortunately we were not on it! An early morning start (4am!) for the chance to photograph herds of wild deer seen around the valleys surrounding Harting Down (approximately 4 miles east of Petersfield on the Hampshire/West Sussex border) and the promise of a hot and sunny day meant the bonus of some sunrise shots too.

But photographing deer in the South Downs country park is about as far removed from commercial air travel as you can get. So to explain, at i3m we regularly work with some major airlines, delivering software and media projects around Gatwick and Heathrow. This weekend we needed to be at Gatwick early so were kind of in ‘the neighbourhood’. If you’ve not realised yet though, an early start always gives us the excuse to take in a few sights on the way at times of day that when most people are asleep.

With a no show for the deer and the sun rapidly appearing to the East we left Harting Down and headed into the sunrise, following the A272, which runs through Petersfield, from Winchester and ambles out to Billingshurst and Haywards Heath. Well the road itself ambles but unfortunately its traffic doesn’t! It’s one of those roads that’s heavily used and suffers as a result. However, if you leave enough time on an airport run and it’s the right time of the day, it will be quiet and we can recommend some more locations for some stunning Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex photography. On this particular day it was so quite that the officious morning Rooks were still patrolling the tarmac while this year’s crop of doe eyed baby bunnies adorned the side of every turn mile of the carriageway.

Some stunning locations between Petersfield and Crawley on the A272 (lit beautifully at sunrise may we add):

Midhurst
Cowdray Park at sunrise….

Petworth
Beautiful location. Very old England complete with stunning panoramic views and Petworth House.

Wisborough Green
The village pond by the church (Complete with Heron and Ducklings at this time of year!)

Gatwick itself
Without having your collar felt, proving a nuisance or having to explain yourself to people in uniform the site of commercial airliners leaving and departing at first light makes for some stunning photography.

This list is far from comprehensive but offers merely a taste. However, all of these locations will be included in our 2009 location July round up. So be sure to bookmark and sign up to the RSS to keep up to date!
'The excuse to get out early and catch some first light, sunrise, photography'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Clean & dust free camera equipment.
May 30, 2009, 9:51 am
Cleaning camera and lenses:no embarrassing spots!
Now we all have our list of things that we need to keep clean in life but without descending into a ‘Carry On" sketch about you chaps keeping your equipment clean we are talking camera equipment. You know that old faithful DLSR that we always expect to just get out of the bag and to work perfectly every time.

Unlike pets, people, cars and houses (let’s keep away from the innuendo here) your camera gear, which is generally stashed away in a camera bag, needs very little maintenance. However, regular cleaning will keep your images free of speckles, fluff and smears and ready for your next shoot. Generally and dependant on use, there is no need for a major overhaul every week though. Think car maintenance here; minor and major services.

Routine camera and lens maintenance.

Routine camera maintenance is generally limited to external components such as lenses, filters, viewfinders and LCD screens (for DLSR cameras). These are all things that affect the image or our perception of it. All filters and external lens glass should be wiped and cleaned of any materials or oily marks. There is nothing more annoying than going all that distance, on the right day, with the right conditions, snapping your perfect image and then finding out that finger print or a piece of fluff from your embarrassing Christmas cardigan :D has entered the frame. A professional camera cleaning kit, including lens cloth, moist cloths and cleaning fluid, is the best solution and each comes with a detailed set of instructions (these vary from kit to kit so be sure to read them carefully before setting to work on your expensive camera gear!). Amazon do a kit, called the ‘Carl Zeiss Camera Cleaning kit’, which you can find if you click here.

More involved camera cleaning: the CMOS sensor

No matter how careful you are dust particles are going to be attracted to your camera’s sensor in the same way that a shower curtain instantly loves you when you turn the water on! You just can’t avoid it. Short of never taking the lens off and therefore never exposing your camera’s vulnerable innards, there is a need to occasionally clean the sensor.

My camera has a cleaning setting?

Really, that’s nice. Well done for you. However, cleaning settings come in a couple of guises. Simple mirror locks and whizz-bang actual cleaners. Neither is comprehensive. The first do not actually clean but lock components in place for cleaning and the second, well where do you think the dust goes once they’ve finished cleaning? There is no exhaust system so the particle(s) that were so attracted to your camera’s internals are still there, inside the body. However, a camera with a self cleaner is better than nothing and makes obvious sense as part of a more detailed clean. Neither however can remove stains or marks caused by water (condensation) or oily marks.

A more detailed clean, according to a recent mailshot by Warehouse Express, should incorporate:

A visual check
Is there any obvious need? Inspect the CMOS sensor for signs of dust, dark and marks.

A dry Clean
"90% of the time it's loose dust causing the spots on your photos so dry cleaning is often all you need in the field. It's also vital to remove loose dust before wet cleaning."

A wet Clean
"For the remaining 10% of sensor spots, special formulas have been developed by to be used in conjunction with advanced swabs to remove oil blemishes and stains effectively and safely."

If you are inexperienced or not sure about cleaning your camera equipment then seek professional or experienced assistance. IF IN DOUBT DON’T!
'No matter how careful you are dust particles are going to be attracted to your camera’s sensor in the same way that a shower curtain instantly loves you when you turn the water on! You just can’t avoid it.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
ISO explained
May 27, 2009, 9:10 am
Basic photography principles: Part II – ISO explained
Building towards some practical examples we continue from the last article, ‘F Stops explained’ and move on to take a look at ISO ratings.

As with so many elements of photography ISO is a throwback to the days when photography was far less automated. You remember, Wagon Wheels were the size of your head and Polo mints could be bought for fewer than ten pence. Even a penny sweet could be bought for, well, a penny!

Anyway, we digress. Back when it wasn’t all worked out for you and the dark room was the only place to see your results, the ISO rating referred to the speed of the film based photographic media. Higher ISO numbers gave you the ability to take photos in lower light conditions. While it has carried over to our modern digital machines (despite their lack of film) it now relates to the digital sensors sensitivity to light.

As with all cameras, irrespective of media, a lower light setting should be selected for the lighting conditions. On a sunny day ISO 100 is fairly standard as there are high levels of lighting for your subjects. Only in darker conditions would you raise the ISO to accommodate for lower lighting conditions. However, as with so many elements of photography, there are a few words of caution to be heeded and a little knowledge to be imparted.

High ISO Noise
The higher ISO settings will add ‘noise’ to your images. Forget audio noise for your ears, this is image noise; a grainy effect as the camera struggles to process what little light levels it can. While this can be significantly reduced post production, in packages such as Adobe Photoshop, you can quite often significantly reduce noise but reeling back the ISO setting. Try the next ISO setting down and see how your photo looks. Experience will give you more of a feel for the best ISO settings for different images.

Also bear in mind that the amount of light falling on the digital sensor of the camera is determined by shutter speed and aperture. This all occurs irrespective of ISO speed. In darker or night conditions lengthening the shutter speed and letting light in for longer, can compensate for lower ISO settings and ultimately reduce ISO noise.

But my camera has automatic ISO?
Yes. Good isn’t it! In automatic mode the camera does it all for you. Reads the light levels and compensates the ISO rating for you. So why stray from auto? Well, if you want to get beyond taking snaps you’re going to need some experience and some knowledge. While certainly composition can be learned on with everything on automatic you need to click that dial every now and then if you’re going to go beyond the point and click snap.

ISO - A rule of thumb
There are no hard and fast rules to photography as there are so many subjects and variables. Digital photography lets you see what you’ve taken instantly so experiment a little. It’s the quickest way to learn!

As a rule of thumb the following is a good starting point:

ISO 100 - Sunny Conditions
ISO 200 - Cloudy Conditions
ISO 400 to 800 - Twilight, dusk. The kind of time us photographers get a little giddy!
ISO 1600 - Indoor conditions or night photography (beware of noise).
'As with so many elements of photography ISO is a throwback to the days when photography was far less automated.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Practicing wildlife photography
May 17, 2009, 8:10 am
Practice wildlife photography. Get on your bike!
By 6:45am today the day's photography was a wrap. The best efforts of man's technological know how, scanned from million dollar satellites and processed by state of the art computers, had led BBC weather to promise a wash out weekend. Schools had cancelled fetes and festivities and we were all prepared for a wet and windy 48 hours. They would have been more accurate with sea weed!

The sun rose this morning at 4:45 and slowly trickled a creeping warm glow on the countryside around Petersfield. With no sign of rain and a touch of insomnia, it seemed such a shame to waste it. So armed with the trusty Canon and nothing but a mountain bike for transport, it was off to see what we could fill the view finder with. Why a bike? Nothing to do with global recession, its just that the pace is slower, you are less restricted as to where you can go and you get a chance to look and listen along the way.

Get up and out early to catch the best light and best wildlife

Now a quick word to the wise here. The countryside around The South Downs is awash with every persuasion of cyclist at the weekend and good luck to them as they do battle with hoards of motorists and other people using the roads. An early start on a bike, just you, a camera and Mother Nature cannot be beaten. No traffic to compete with, no hustle and bustle and more importantly less risk of becoming a novelty bonnet ornament on a family saloon car!

So at worse it was going to be early morning panoramas and at best an opportunity to get out and practice some wildlife photography. If you’re new to wildlife photography then there are a couple of things to remember. Firstly, millions of years of evolution have taught anything further down the food chain that the silhouette of a human is generally pretty bad news. They certainly don’t hang about to find out if you’re friend or foe, let alone strike a pose. So while our excursion this morning turned up such wonders as fox, woodpecker, rabbit, grouse and pheasant, none of it hung around to long to find out whether an out of breath cyclist desperately clinging to the controls of a Canon 350D would hurt or not! Even with a good telephoto lens you’re going to struggle. If you’re really serious about photographing wildlife you need to be static and get in amongst it.

Location, location, location!

A while back we wrote a blog article about researching locations for your photography (‘Start taking better photos, instantly!’) and we can expand on this when it comes to photographing nature with a pulse. While our fluffy countryside hedgerow friends will run a mile at the silhouette of a human their evolutionary instincts are not as scared of cars (that is unless a tonne of noisy steel is bearing down on them as they get too close to a road!) However, while not the noisiest of machines a mountain bike is absolutely no way to sneak up on our fluffy friends. You will see plenty of them but it’s all off into the hedgerows before you’ve even got the camera out of the bag. Even Tiggles, the domestic feline, scarpers at the first site of you in his hunting ground.

The route

So this morning was more early morning bike ride than serious photography shoot. The route took us east out of Petersfield, just as the cows were going in to be milked at 5am, out to a sleepy West Harting and then along the base of the South Downs, through South Harting to Elsted before finally turning back via the village of Buriton. About 12 miles of stunning scenery, excellent first light conditions and some good wildlife photography practice. Not to mention a little exercise too!
'millions of years of evolution have taught anything further down the food chain that the silhouette of a human is generally pretty bad news!'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
F-Stops explained
May 13, 2009, 5:46 pm
Basic photography principles: Part I – F-Stops explained
Chances are that if you’re reading this then you are already a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) owner and are starting to move away from the nice comfortable ‘everything at automatic’ setting on your camera. Steady!

If you’re an expert or experienced photographer already then an introduction to aperture and stops is going to be something you’re already familiar with but along with the previous blog ‘Camera modes explained’ this forms the foundation of some forthcoming photography blog articles which we are working on.

Stops explained

So, once more into the world of photography that isn’t point and click! Let’s start with Stops (so to speak!) Stops are a measure of the lens aperture and control the amount of light entering into our camera through the lens. Too much light and we get an over exposed image, in which case we need to increase the number of stops in order to reduce the amount of light falling on our cameras sensor. Stops are quoted as an f number, for example f8. The bigger the f-stop the smaller the aperture is set to and hence the less light entering the camera through the lens. All lens manufacturers give their lenses an f rating, which is its maximum.

Basically that’s Stops explained and you can quite happily walk away with this knowledge and no need for anything more technical. Or we can go on to give an explanation of what an ‘f’ actually is and that’s going to require some basic maths! In our example we used an f8 but what is f8? Well, it means that the diameter of the aperture is set to 1/8 of the focal local of the lens. So a 100mm lens set to an f stop of f8 would have an aperture diameter of 12.5mm (100 x 1/8). Well, historically it wouyld anyway. Back in the days when a 100mm lens was a 100mm tube with an element at the end. The fractional f-stop dates back to the days prior to multiple element lenses used in modern DLSR cameras!

So how does this relate to our photography? Well, in automatic the camera will stop down the lens to what it considers the best setting for an average photo. By moving out of automatic we can halve or double the amount of light entering our camera by adjusting through the range of available stops. Different conditions will determine how much exposure we need and what f-stop setting for our lens. In our case we are looking at night photography where we need to set our f stop down, increasing the lens aperture and allowing more light in low light, night time, conditions.
'Chances are that if you’re reading this then you are already a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) owner and are starting to move away from the nice comfortable ‘everything at automatic’ setting on your camera.'
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Bundle offer includes Vijeo Designer 5.0
May 11, 2009, 7:04 am
Get started with Magelis touch screens
Every now and then we get notification of something that catches our eye and recently that included a flyer from Schneider Electric (Telemecanique) regarding an offer they are running to promote the launch of the latest version of their Vijeo Designer software (Version 5.0).

The offer takes the form of a limited edition ‘bundle’ offer, which always proves an effective way to get up and going with all the necessary bits for your first project. In this case version five (V5.0) of their Vijeo Designer package and their Magelis range of HMI (Human Machine Interface) touch screens.

The bundle, part number VJDSTKXBGT13, includes the Ethernet enabled XBTGT1335 3.8 inch, 320 x 240 pixel touch screen, the XBTXG935 USB download cable and a full copy of Vijeo Designer 5.0 which can be used to program any Magelis HMI unit. The popular Magelis range offer many benefits to users not least of which are their relative ease of integration across PLC platforms such as Mitsubishi, Omron, Allen Bradley (Rockwell) and Siemens. Something that is not necessarily as cost effective or easy with similar product offers.

From the information we have received we understand the offer is strictly limited edition and at a price of £476.31 it won’t last long as this promotional price represents a saving of nearly £350 on Schneider’s UK list prices!

For more information please feel free to contact us.
'An effective way to get up and going with all the necessary bits for your touch screen control first project'
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PHP Smileys & Emoticons for your blog
May 7, 2009, 5:59 pm
Automatically add smileys & emoticons your blog or text
Unless you’re stuck in a vacuum smileys and emoticons are no big news and have been around for some time now. For those who have just dropped in from another planet the smiley was a text based way of letting readers know how you were feeling. It originated on Bulletin Boards as a way a showing reading the mood behind comments and soon spread to SMS messaging on mobile cell phones where it captured the minds of the masses. As technology developed so did the smiley and the graphic smiley, or emoticons, soon appeared. With MSN Messenger/Live Messenger the emoticon soon entered the mainstream and if your thirty five or under the chances are it’s a familiar way of expressing yourself in text based media

So you’ve written a blog, or are inviting comments from visitors to your site? Wouldn’t emoticons be a useful addition to your scripts? We thought so and are currently developing our in house blog system to automatically scan posts for smileys and convert them over to graphical emoticons on screen. We thought we would share the basics with you but please note this is an introduction only. Something for you to take away, add and amend as you see fit.

Okay, let’s get started. You can certainly create your own emoticons but there are plenty of free sets available if you do a quick online search. So go get a set and come right back!

Now, the i3m emoticons are 20x20 and you may find that some in a set are not always the same size. So it’s over to Photoshop or GIMP (Free image manipulation software) for a bit of image manipulation first. When you have them all the correct size then upload them to your web server in a convenient directory. For the example we will use the directory ‘image’.

Now here’s the PHP function to read a string, look for smileys and then replace them with the graphical emoticons that we saved in our image directory:

function smiley($str){
//smileys to check for
$smiles=array(
":)",":-)",":D",":-D",";)",";-)",":O",
":-O",":P",":-P","w00t","8)","8-)",":S",
":s","\:$","\;\(","\|$",":@"
);
// replace with emoticons
$replacements=array(
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/smile.gif" width="20" height="20" title="happy smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/smile.gif" width="20" height="20" title="happy smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/biggrin.gif" width="20" height="20" title="big grin smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/biggrin.gif" width="20" height="20" title="big grin smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/wink.gif" width="20" height="20" title="winking smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/wink.gif" width="20" height="20" title="winking smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/ohmy.gif" width="20" height="20" title="oh my smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/ohmy.gif" width="20" height="20" title="oh my smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/tongue.gif" width="20" height="20" title="tongue smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/tongue.gif" width="20" height="20" title="tongue smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/w00t.gif" width="20" height="20" title="w00t smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/roll.gif" width="20" height="20" title="roll eyes smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/roll.gif" width="20" height="20" title="roll eyes smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/huh.gif" width="20" height="20" title="huh smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/huh.gif" width="20" height="20" title="huh smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/sad.gif" width="20" height="20" title="sad smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/crying.gif" width="20" height="20" title="crying smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/sleep.gif" width="20" height="20" title="sleep smiley" />",
"<img src="http//yourwebsite.com/image/mad.gif" width="20" height="20" title="mad smiley" />",
);
for($i=0;$i < sizeof($smiles);$i++){
$str=eregi_replace($smiles[$i], $replacements[$i], strtolower($str));
}
return $str;
}
The code is fairly self explanatory. Our PHP function is passed a string which is then looks for any of the smileys we have defined in the array $smiles and replaces it with the corresponding image listed in the array $replacements. As smileys can be either lower or upper case we always convert our smiley to lower case when checking. The only other thing to note is that different people write smileys different ways so, for example, our script looks for the two character :) and three character :-) versions. The list of smileys is by no means exhaustive but covers the twelve most popular in our opinion.

To use the function simply add your string to the function call and voila, instant emoticons!
echo smiley("w00t That makes me so happy! :)");

This should give you an output of:
That makes me so happy!
'For those who have just dropped in from another planet the smiley was a text based way of letting readers know how you were feeling.'
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Stand out from the crowd with creative AV
April 30, 2009, 1:39 pm
Stand alone digital media presentations
A stand alone Audio/Visual (AV) system has many advantages over a PC based solution, primarily size and cost. A stand alone presentation system allowing the playback of sound, music, static images or streaming video is a far more rugged platform needing no updates, is virtually impervious to dabbling and inquisitive users, needs no human input to start up and can just be switched off when not needed.

Suitable for HDMI and VGA connection (with a selectable of PAL or NTSC formats) i3m today announced a new range of small footprint, stand alone Audio and Audio Visual solutions as a component offer or used in an integrated, hardware based, solution. This new range offers the potential for low cost, stand alone, marketing presentations for exhibition stands, shop windows, estate agents etc. without the risk or cost of using a PC or laptop.

Images and sound may be looped or triggered depending on the requirement and is fully scalable into any existing system, requiring only a 12Volt DC supply. The devices allow outputs to TV and PC monitor solutions as well as i3m’s range of chassis mount displays for industrial use.

Use your own presentations or commission i3m to develop the creative side of the project too!
'New project or component solutions to your stand alone audio and audio visual presentation requirements compliment i3m's creative offline offer.'
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The South Downs National Park.
April 26, 2009, 7:41 pm
As the newest national park in the United Kingdom, the South Downs National Park will ultimately be fully elevated to National Park status by 2011. Stretching from Eastbourne in the East, through Brighton, Arundel, Petersfield and up to Winchester in the West, the fields, woodlands and chalk hills of the South Downs are within an hour of London and in an area where there is considerable pressure on land for housing.

With 85% of the National Park being managed farmland it is criss-crossed with well managed public footpaths and byways and represents some of the best panoramic and nature photography locations in the south of England (As well as a plethora of enjoyment for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and those just looking for a scenic day out!)

This weekend we had the pleasure of getting out and about on the South Downs (around Chalton, Clanfield and The Meon Valley), which provided some fantastic locations. Bluebells are well and truly out in the Woodlands, Rapeseed is turning a beautiful Yellow and this seasons Lambs are going from strength to strength. The South Downs provide a fantastic location to get some practice panoramic shots, depth of field trials and some excellent wildlife shots. Try Hampshire’s biggest country park, the Queen Elizabeth Country Park for some excellent opportunities to get up close and nature with minimal effort. As with the rest of the Downs there are areas for all, from children to the grandparents and of course, a million potential location and wildlife opportunities for the enthusiastic photographer! 20 miles of trails for walkers, cyclists and horse riders (according to their web site anyway!).
'Bluebells are well and truly out in the Woodlands, Rapeseed is turning a beautiful Yellow and this seasons Lambs are going from strength to strength. '
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Bring visitors: Give them a sitemap!
April 22, 2009, 5:14 pm
Sitemaps for the novice webmaster
Sitemaps are certainly useful for visitors to your web site to easily navigate around your web application but there is also another kind of sitemap. The kind that is useful to the Search Engines such as Google, who crawl your site for their archives. If you don’t know what a site map is, if your web site has one or have no idea then read on as you’re missing a fundamental piece of knowledge and/or code for your web site. In todays blog we continue investigating basic tips to get your site noticed.

While a site map for your human visitors allows them to quickly and easily navigate their way around your site the bots and spiders that crawl and index sites (A bot/spider is a program running on a server that is designed to visit, or crawl, web sites and index them) prefer another kind (That said they will index your human site map too!).

While having a sitemap will not necessarily improve your ranking with the search engine in question it does allow you to include information about pages so that skimming bots (programs designed to catalogue low level information frequently) can get a better understanding of what is new and what a page is about. This means static pages do not need to be indexed every pass and therefore the bots take up less bandwidth on your server. Bandwidth is expensive and spider time on site needs to prioritise your newest and fastest turning info first

So what does a sitemap look like, how can you make and edit one and where does it go once you’ve created it?

Firstly, a sitemap file is just an XML format text file, which means you can create and edit it with a program such as Notepad (This ships with every copy of Windows) or gedit for the Linux environment. Your sitemap file needs to be loaded into the root directory of your web server where the main ‘index’ file normally resides.

A typical sitemap has a standard structure with the details of each page given.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8'?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>http://www.mywebdomain.co.uk/index.html</loc>
<lastmod>2009-03-07</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
</urlset>

This sitemap has only one page, index.html, which resides in the root directory. It was last modified on the 7th of March 2009 and is changed or updated daily. The priority element runs from 0.1 to 1.0 and categorises the most important pages in a sitemap. Larger sites will not be fully indexed by passing bots so prioritising pages helps make sure your regularly reviewed content is indexed first.

To add another page to our sitemap file simply add another URL container (re-create the six lines starting <url> and finishing <url>) to give the details of the new page. For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>http://www.mywebdomain.co.uk/index.html</loc>
<lastmod>2009-03-07</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.mywebdomain.co.uk/web_design.html</loc>
<lastmod>2009-03-15</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.6</priority>
</url>
</urlset>

Will add the page web_design.html to your sitemap and so on. To upload your file save it as sitemap.gz and upload it to your web servers root directory as you would do any other file. All you then need to do is let Google know it’s there and that is done using their Google Webmaster Tools. If you don’t use this then you are definitely missing a trick! Either click on the Google link on their home page or do a search from Google itself. Setting up Google Webmaster Tools is beyond the scope of this blog.

This format will suffice for all but the largest of web sites, where multiple sitemap files (ie. sitemap1.gz, sitemap2,gz) can be submitted and referenced to a single sitemap file.
'While having a sitemap will not necessarily improve your ranking with the search engine in question it does allow you to include information about pages so that skimming bots (programs designed to catalogue low level information frequently) can get a better understanding of what is new and what a page is about.'
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Easy web marketing with RSS
April 21, 2009, 3:14 pm
Trying to keep up with all the news and latest developments for all those personal and professional internet sites has been made a lot simple thanks to RSS, or Rich Site Syndication. Basically it retrieves the latest contents from your chosen sites thereby keeping you up to date.

RSS automatically updates your reader software (Available with most modern web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari). You pick the feeds that you read by simply subscribing to the chosen feed by clicking the RSS link on the site you wish to follow or entering the feed link into your chosen reader. If your going to add your own RSS feed then you can get the standard orange square logo from feedicons. It is also worth placing the feed icon at the top of your page to maximise its exposure and the chances of visitors using it. You can subscribe to the i3m RSS feed by clicking the RSS logo on any page or clicking here.

For modern web sites RSS is a vital tool in keeping your clients up to date in a timely and informal manner. It shows the site is updated, refreshed and a useful reference tool and us such can keep clients returning to get the very latest information on products and services.

For more information about RSS take a look at our RSS info page.
'It's not new but RSS is a tool to keep your clients and customers up to date with your products and services as well as returning to your web site.'
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Easy pdf generation, for free!
April 19, 2009, 7:16 pm
Everyone likes free stuff, right? And at i3m we fully support GPL licensed software sources and software development . So today we continue our series showing you how you can solve your everyday business software requirements for free (and legally!). If you missed the last blog ("Start photo editing with free software!") where we showed you how to get some pretty good GPL image and photograph editing software for free then click here.

Today we continue with free software to produce pdf’s (portable document files) thanks to some free software. You need to take a look at Primo PDF, which allows you to generate pdf files from your applications whether they are text, images, photographs or a combination of all three. Simply ‘print’ the documents using the Primo PDF printer.

The catch? Well there reall isn’t one! Unless you need to make really high resolution pdf’s like 300dpi files for your print supplier (You’re gonna need to purchase Adobe Acrobat Writer for that) Primo PDF makes a good job of everyday files and everyday pdf requirements. So, head on over to our links page and download your copy today!
'Free software for the small business or sole trader. Generate pdf files for free!'
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Do you IE6?
April 17, 2009, 11:47 am
When we blogged ‘Internet Explorer 8 takes away the pain?’ (a little note about the launch of IE8) back on April 7th we had little idea the passions that are invoked in some people by this old browser.

The web is awash with entities claiming to be withdrawing support for IE6, flashing up messages to ask you to change and some (albeit a few) that have malicious code to crash poor old IE6 deliberately. So should you continue to support IE6?

Well, if you’re a web professional, looking to deliver optimum information to the widest breadth of people as possible then the answer, surely, has to be yes? So to ignore IE6 is to eliminate a proportion of visitors to a site? Sure, it is a falling proportion but a proportion none the less. And how far do you go? What about support for older versions of Firefox and Safari when CSS3…or 4 is launched. Are you going to then simply tell you clients to ignore these visitors? Nooooo way!

The move towards standards compliance is all good. Adopting a legacy friendly development model will help too (Online marketing talk for considering your CSS, use of transparency PNG files, standard sizing for text and standardisation (as well as reduced reliance) of JavaScript libraries).

Developers and sites that are claiming to drop IE6 support and bulk up their code with messages telling their visitors to upgrade are surely missing the point? When you get a visitor to your site you welcome them, they are hard won and don’t hang around long if they don’t find what they’re looking for. Let alone if the site doesn’t present properly!
'Since writing the article on April 7th, IE6 visitors to the i3m site have actually increased! Using jQuery libraries on the site has affected how i3m.co.uk is presented to IE6 visitors and is currently being addressed.'
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How to find tranquillity...
April 13, 2009, 7:23 pm
Yesterday we wrote a blog article about starting to think more about locations for your panoramic shots ("Start taking better photos, instantly!"). Today we have some more resources for those of you determined to get out and photograph the UK’s flora, fauna and beautiful panoramas.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) published some ‘Tranquility Maps’ back in 2006 and we recently used the CPRE maps for the South West of England to plan a weekend photo shooting around Devon and Dorset (Heading up to the North and Yorkshire next!). You can get hold of your free copy of the CPRE: maps by clicking here. If you want to take a look at how all England looks for tranquillity then a map of England is available by clicking here
'The tranquillity map was created following consultation with 1,300 countryside users and visitors across England on their perceptions of tranquillity. Views mostly revolved around three themes – landscape qualities, the impact of man-made noises and the presence or absence of lots of people. Factors contributing to feelings of tranquillity (such as sweeping views of open countryside) and factors detracting from those feelings (like busy roads and large man-made structures intruding into views) were also taken into account.'
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Start taking better photos, instantly!
April 12, 2009, 7:51 pm
We all own numerous camera equipped devices nowadays. The prevalence of digital photography means we are inundated in opportunities to snap away far more than ever before. Out with friends, family occasions etc. Are now readily snapped and the internet and email means we can publish and distribute our pictures to anyone, everywhere.

But being able to take millions of snaps doesn’t make us photographers though. “I might know the words to candle in the wind but it don’t make me Elton John!” to quote Alan Sugar.

The difference between a snap and a photograph? Planning and composition. So, how can we plan and compose quickly? Like all skills it does require a little time and practice. There’s always a fair amount of luck too! Being in the right place, at the right time helps but you can considerably reduce your reliance on luck with practice. Digital photography gives you the opportunity to shoot, review and recompose as necessary.

Over the next few weeks we are going to take a look at how to take better everyday shots and focus primarily on panoramic photography by exploring shot planning, lighting and composure. Today we give you a few ideas about planning panoramic shots.

Planning your scenes
Television and film companies use individuals whose job is to plan locations that fit a particular scene. They have to interpret the script and production requirements to deliver the right locations that fit the requirements. Where would “The Lord of The Rings” Trilogy been without New Zealand for example? While we are not planning movies here it does help to start looking around in terms of potential shots. Start paying attention to what’s around you. One tip that we use, where time allows, is changing your chosen GPS Satellite Navigation device to ‘Shortest Route’ (Motorways are not good for planning shots as there’s too much to concentrate on and even if you find a scene it is illegal, not to mention downright dangerous, to stop just to take a photo!)

We have found some fabulous locations and scenes (not to mention reducing the journey miles!) by doing this. However, a word to the wise; the shortest route can often involve single track country roads so be aware of your vehicle limitations too!
'I might know the words to candle in the wind but it don’t make me Elton John!'
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Google gone?
April 11, 2009, 9:51 pm
Unfortunately we have had to temporarily remove the Google advertising, including the site search utility that was in use on the i3m site.

This was in response to a communication we received on Friday to say that Google had detected that some strange activity but no other information has been given. This comes the same week as our phone providers reported an attempted hack on our phone system too. Hopefully the two items are unrelated and we can resume the site search and provision of relevant adverts by the end of the week.

Our apologies while we work to correct this situation.
'Hopefully only a temporary suspension of Google services'
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Vijeo Designer 5.0 from Schneider Electric
April 11, 2009, 10:45 am
Having used Schneider Electric (Telemecanique) Vijeo Designer since version 4.2 (Yes that’s version 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 and version 4.7!) we are currently awaiting the imminent release of Vijeo Designer 5.0 (If you have not heard about this release then contact your local Schneider Electric Representative).

No indications yet as to whether 5.0 will be significantly improved from 4.7 but be aware that a BIOS upgrade in shipped Schneider Electric HMI Magelis panels may well require Vijeo 5.0 as standard. Here in the UK Schneider have made no indications as to whether the upgrade to version 5.0 will be free or existing version 4.7 users will need to purchase an upgrade. More news as we hear it....
'we are currently awaiting the imminent release of Vijeo Designer 5.0 from Schneider Electric (Telemecanique)'
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Internet Explorer 8 takes away the pain?
April 7, 2009, 9:48 am
The history of Internet Explorer has been interesting to say the least. From the early arguments about trying to unfairly dominate the market to the passions that are sparked about other browsers, the browser arena remains entertaining.

As web developers we have to cater for all tastes and produce web sites that generally deliver to as wide an audience as possible. At i3m we benchmark on the latest versions of the four main browsers (Safari, Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer), which account for 99% of all traffic to i3m.co.uk

However, as Internet Explorer version 8 is launched we who deliver the latest in web site technology must also cater for more laggard internet users; those not so keen to adopt the newer browsers or even forced to run older versions by corporate IT policies (Corporations are generally very late adopters of new software technology due to the risks and costs).

Historically most web page rendering issues came from the legacy Internet Explorer products, which were always a little different from web standards. The problem with all of these browsers upgrades and add-ons is that running several versions of the same browser on the same machine is not advisable and more often than not, impossible.

Originally dual boot machines were the only answer, if not a little awkward and cumbersome. However the development of Microsoft Virtual PC has made lab testing much easier and testing all sites back to Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) on some modern web pages, including our own, can offer some interesting results (Internet Explorer 6 accounts for less than 2% of visitors to i3m.co.uk).

So two points to note from this article? Firstly, the web is an every changing and dynamic place where nothing stays the same. What works today can easily not work tomorrow as newer technologies emerge. This relates to plug-ins, such as Java, as well as browsers. And secondly, careful segmentation and targeting of your web visitors. Who exactly are the target audience for the web site? Early adopting techies or corporate support IT laggards? Some good marketing in profiling your target audience can save time, effort and money.
' At i3m we benchmark on the latest versions of the four main browsers (Safari, Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer), which account for 99% of all traffic to i3m.co.uk.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Start photo editing with free software!
April 5, 2009, 11:45 am
If you need to perform a basic image re-size or some simple photo editing then there is a free of charge photo retouching, image composition and image editing software package called GIMP, which provides one of the best free photo editing packages around.

While it is no Adobe Photoshop it does take you significantly further than the entry level Microsoft Paint program supplied with the Windows operating system.

GIMP will happily handle pcx, pdf,png,ps,psd,svg,tiff,tga and xpm files and there are versions for Unix, Windows and Mac OS X.

You can find a link to the GIMP download site on our links page and a free online manual at wikibooks.
'GIMP offers excellent image and photo editing software for you photographic needs; and distributed under the GNU license it's free too!'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Flash SWFObject and CSS z-index
April 1, 2009, 11:50 am
When updating the i3m site today we inserted a new flash object (.swf) into our page unaware that by default the flash player assumes the object to always be on top of the other page elements. This meant that the Javascript elements that dynamically appear suddenly disappeared under the flash area! Playing around with the CSS z-index of other elements within the page was ignored too.

So, if you’ve experienced this problem then look no further. You’re answer is the flash object parameter ‘wmode’. So inside your flash object you should still have something that reads:

<param name="movie" value="myimage.swf" />

If you add the line:

<param name="wmode" value="opaque" />

Then voila, this should solve your problems. We successfully checked this fix in Internet Explorer 7, Safari, Opera 9.6 and Firefox.
'by default the flash player assumes the object to always be on top of the other page elements'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Nikon or Canon?
March 31, 2009, 11:34 am
Which are you? If you’re just starting out with digital photography and in particular considering your first entry level Digital Single Lens Reflex (DLSR) then you may be at that junction asking yourself just the question. Chances are that is you are already snapping away then you’ve made that choice already. Can you remember how or why? You see every now and then we get asked “Which is best Canon or Nikon?”.

Personally we use Canon. Why? Well, now you come to mention it…. I am sure we thoroughly researched all of the available models and manufacturers at the time but this far down the road? We can’t honestly answer you.

Now in our case the road of photographic learning is long and never really ends. Our first entry level DLSR didn’t stray much off of automatic in its first year, while f-stops, depth of field and anything other than point and shoot remained on the periphery until much later. In fact, to this day, the decision to trade up the entry level Canon 400D and 450D (D40 and D60 if you speak Nikon) for the 1000D remains hard to justify. After five years shooting with the entry level Canon there have been few limitations to justify the outlay. Faster shooting in RAW format? Spot metering? For the dedicated Pro maybe but our entry level 350D quite happily churns out RAW images; albeit at 8 Megapixels.

However, noobies beware. While the cameras seem to evolve apace the big investment is in the lenses. These expensive pieces of kit are backwardly compatible across manufacturers’ models but not necessarily interchangeable across different brands. The Canon EOS lens, we are told, will not fit the Nikon body. So, while it is your own choice as to which camp to join beware that once you pick your sides you will probably never go back. Again the progression to different types of lens comes as you push the boundaries of what you are trying to achieve but let’s face it, if you wanted to point and shoot then you probably wouldn’t be considering a DLSR the first place! Most models will ship with a standard 18-55 lens and if you’re new to digital photography then that’s plenty to get to know some of the cameras functions.

So, which do we recommend? Canon of course but for no other reason than we have never owned a Nikon!
'While there are other brands; Sony, Olympus, Sigma etc. the one we all get asked about most; “Nikon or Canon?”.'
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SOAP XML updates now working
March 30, 2009, 4:45 pm
Earlier this month with blogged our intention to do some experiments with SOAP XML data transfer using the NUSOAP code for PHP. We are pleased to say that after some lengthy development sessions we now have SOAP services running on our istockcreative server, offering the latest image update information in the form of SOAP API’s.

The latest images info that you see on this page are loaded and updated using the code. We hope to develop more SOAP API’s to offer greater services to members in future.
'We hope to develop more SOAP API’s to offer greater services to members in future. '
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
new look for i3m.co.uk
March 30, 2009, 12:11 am
Updated for our new focus on providing online resources, not only to clients but to site visitors, i3m.co.uk is today sporting the first few pages of our new look. Creating a creative feel to the site, while still providing a user friendly and search friendly experience has been our focus and we hope you like it as much as we do!

The next few weeks will see post production tweaking of layout and images, as well as leaning out of code before some major new developments and services are rolled out. These will include the beta forums and vault article indexing system.
'creating a creative feel to the site, while still providing a user friendly and search friendly experience has been our focus'
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SOAP suds for istockcreative!
March 9, 2009, 9:36 pm
We recently had to bring our sister resource site (istockcreative.com) down for a week while we carried out some essential maintenance work on both the hardware platform and the code. Thanks to all of the members for their patience and we are now back online with no loss of data or service.

The site will see extensive development during the second quarter of 2009 and this starts with some data sharing between the main i3m site and istockcreative, which will allow an overview of latest developments on istockcreative here on the main i3m portal. This will use SOAP and XML technology base on the popular NuSOAP scheme. Click here to get your free copy of the NuSOAP PHP code. In true i3m style we will be publishing behind the scenes insights into the use of SOAP, NuSOAP and XML technologies in client to server data relationships.
'In true i3m style we will be publishing behind the scenes insights into the use of SOAP, NuSOAP and XML technologies in client to server data relationships.'
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Camera modes
March 8, 2009, 8:44 pm
Just a quick note on camera modes for Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) and automatic digital cameras this week:

MANUAL MODES:
M — Manual mode gives you full control over both aperture and shutter speed.
Av or A — Aperture priority; you control the aperture and the camera calculates the shutter speed for best exposure.
Tv or S — Shutter priority means that you control the shutter speed and the camera calculates the aperture
P — Program mode. A more advanced form of an auto mode. The camera calculates both the aperture and shutter speed,. This doesn’t affect settings like ISO or flash.

AUTOMATIC MODES:
Auto — Full automatic. Everything, including ISO, flash and image quality.
Portrait — Aperture set large to shorten the depth of field.
Landscape — Smaller aperture setting to gain greater depth of field.
Sport — Higher ISO setting for faster shutter speeds.
Night portrait — Longer exposures combined with in-built in flash.
Macro — Large aperture to create a softer, blurred, background/
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Marketing your business Online
March 5, 2009, 9:52 pm
If you think getting online is as simple as throwing together a web site and sitting back and waiting for the visitors to roll in then you are going to be sadly disappointed. The fact is that us web users are a fickle bunch. We flit, we scan and we don’t hang around too long. So if you’re site doesn’t rank on page one the chances are it will not get a hit.

Many companies spend thousands of pounds on their web sites and hosting but have no integrated business plan or measurement in place. Internet marketing communications is an art in itself and relies on in house knowledge and professional supply partners. Over the coming months we are going to take a holistic look at online marketing planning, campaigns and measurements in a series of articles and blog entries.

The series starts with a basic introduction to Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, which as its name suggests, is a way to ensure that your online efforts are as streamlined and as web crawler friendly as possible. Remember, Google is king when it comes to Internet searching and they have earned their place at the top of the browser rankings. Google aims to index every page on the Internet, which is a mammoth task in itself. How they deliver their results is a closely guarded and regularly changing secret. Complex algorithms and human tweaks we are certain of but what is in vogue one minute can rapidly fall from grace the next. Even worse, underhand tactics for gaining those all important rankings are not only frowned upon but penalised. An inexperienced amateur can land themselves in all kinds of problems so keep an eye out for our new SEO tactics series!
'An inexperienced amateur can land themselves in all kinds of problems so keep an eye out for our new SEO tactics series!'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Rain does not spoil play!
March 4, 2009, 10:06 pm
We know, a few minutes this weekend and that was it! The good news is that while the sun isn’t shining there’s plenty of scope for research and that is exactly what we’ve been doing. Checking out some seriously scenic areas of Hampshire, primarily along The South Downs but also including areas of Lovedean, Clanfield, Hambledon, Denmead, East Meon and Langrish. The old Land Rover has never been so busy and as a result we are currently logging locations for landscapes ready to burst into bud. While our latest Infrared project needs plenty of sunlight it also needs some awesome scenery. What we could really do with is some awesome water for reflections. Something that is not always forthcoming around the South Downs Way. Any ideas?

The good news it that, while indoors, the dreary weather has encouraged us to continue developing new areas of the site ready for their immediate launch. The Vault, which offers free articles and tutorials, continues apace and the new forum area is progressing well. Planned articles for The Vault over the coming months include reference short cut documents for CSS, HTML and Photoshop as well as our ’Introduction to Infrared Photography’. Then there’s version 5 of Schneider Electric’s Vijeo Designer to review so maybe, just maybe, it’s better that we have some bad weather and concentrate on the editorial commitments!
'All to do and only hours!'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
The sun only shines…
February 21, 2009, 9:38 pm
At last! It’s true what they say about the weather in England. If you don’t like it then just hang around for a while! Today, after the blizzards and then the rain it was finally, finally, a glorious sunny day. Even the flora and fauna were convinced that it was time for spring!

For us it meant only one thing. Our first experiments with the Infrared filter and the excuse to get out into the countryside. We’re quite lucky at i3m as our offices are on the edge of the South Downs, so it was hiking boots and the Public Footpaths around Butser Hill for us.

Ditching the car in the picturesque village of South Harting, on the West Sussex/Hampshire border between Chichester and Petersfield, we ascended the South Downs. Now this sounds like an easy task when written in the blog but believe me it’s more than hard work! Our ascension was slow and well, painful!

Anyway, some early experimental shots were committed to flash disk and the one thing that we definitely need to brush up on is our f-stops, ISO settings and exposure times. It was a bit ‘hit and miss’ to say the least. Tomorrow we’re out again and hopefully we can give a good ‘getting started’ account early next week.
'We are compiling our first experiments, settings and feedback to give a ‘getting started with infrared photography' article. Once we’ve caught our breath!'
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All hail the Hoya R72 lens!
February 20, 2009, 4:19 pm
Yes, it arrived in super quick time thanks to the gang over at Surrey Photographic and we have managed a couple of test shots already (just basic set and test stuff). The good news is that with the Canon 350D set in BW mode we are get some good initial results. Without doing the English Tourist Board out of anything we just need a little sunshine and the excuse to get out into the English countryside. Today? Overcast…..

We will keep you posted and hope to have a tutorial and some examples very soon. In the meantime the general advice is set all the camera controls to manual. Set the image type to Black and White (It will be a red image if not) and mount the camera onto a tripod to compose your image. Once composed fit the Infrared filter. Your exposure time should be in the region of 10-40 seconds depending on the conditions (The sunnier the better!) Initial ISO tests recommend 100 ISO but we have not tweaked that far yet. Oh, if you are a Canon 350D owner and you want a copy of the Canon 350 owners manual (pdf format) then click here for your free copy.
'For those that asked, the filter in question is a Hoya R72 and the Canon 350D uses a 58mm lens.'
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One of 47 entries in the i3m blog.
Infrared Photography
February 19, 2009, 12:07 pm
As ever it’s all busy, busy, busy here at i3m. Preparation to modify the web site in order to allow the publishing, filtering and archiving of articles and resources are moving along nicely. Not as quickly as we had hoped but on schedule. As we don’t run adverts or have a premium member service on the site (yet!) this has to take a back burner to the creative projects that do pay the bills!

Anyway, let’s talk photography for a while. We are eagerly awaiting some new IR filters (infra red) for our cameras to do some experimenting with this side of photography. There does seem to be some debate as to whether a modern digital SLR is set up for such photography as they have inbuilt IR filters which are basically designed to block incoming infra red light. If that’s all that the filter on the lens will pass then we may have a stalemate! Short of permanently removing the internal IR blocking filter (thus rendering the camera useless for conventional photography) there is no certainty as to the outcome. Said filter should be here in the next couple of days and then some clear weather (that means no snow and no torrential downpours here in the UK!) and we’ll be letting you know the results.

If you have experience of IR photography with digital SLR cameras then please drop us a note. We’ll be sure to let you know how our old Canon 350D takes to the challenge!
'Infrared spectrum photography is nothing new but will a point and click generation digital SLR be able to handle this classic look?'
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The Human Machine Interface
January 12, 2009, 9:15 pm
Is web 2.0 fast becoming a liability to graphic design, web design and machine interface? Have we just had too much? With good graphic design never having been about following the herd the need to reflect your brand and business is fast moving beyond web 2.0 Thanks to it’s over use the white background and sultry reflection, glossy buttons and diagonal stripes are looking all too similar.

While the world of graphic design never stands still the human machine interface (HMI) is a beast somewhat slower to react. Often there are limitations on interface development but this is no excuse. There are still limitations on the web browser interface, certain fonts for text for example. While we are a long way from pre CSS days there are still compromises to be made. In the case of the text example we can use some well placed graphics and our visitor will be amazed. Our web crawlers however, may miss a vital opportunity to ‘read’ the text and hence we may reduce the sites placing in rankings (Search Engine Optimisation is an art in itself!)

So, this year’s rants, tutorials and resources will be aimed at broadening the art of the HMI designer; whether it is web interface, print interface or machine interface.

Not on the i3m RSS feed and mailing list yet? Best sign up now!
'There are good programmers, there are good engineers and there are good graphic designers but they rarely combine to produce an aesthetic, well designed and intuitive Human Machine Interface. '
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creative software solutions - online & offline.

2008 (coming soon)

2009 (coming soon)

MySQL table manipulation

Every command in one place...

Rename an existing table:

Changing the dataype for an existing column:

Adding a column to an existing table:

Removing a column from an existing table:

Completely removing a MySQL table:

A month in the wilderness

istockcreative.com upgrade moves on apace

MySQL rectify error 1129?

MySQL server reporting too many hosts?

How to rectify a MySQL error 1129 ‘Too many hosts’ overflow.

Best Practice for disconnecting from the MySQL server

Generate favicon files for free

Present your logo in your browser URL

So we needed a new favicon

Wildlife Photography: The English Adder

A chance encounter with the UK's only poisonous snake

Field Craft for Nature Photography

Respect and keep your distance

Where to look for the Adder

Getting started with Vijeo & Magelis HMI

Part 1 Introduction to XBTGT and Vijeo 5.0

A quick overview of touch screen HMI's

Vijeo Designer 5.0

Ten ways to improve your Google ranking

Maintaining usability while optimising your web site

So you want to be top of the pile?

Think better search rankings by niche results

Basics of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

General - There are no shortcuts or quick fixes

The site - It’s all content and who’s recommending you

The code – Keep it uncluttered, valid and up to date

Sunrise on Harting Down – Part2

The concluding part of our early mornings

Long exposure night photography

Still no eye deer!

Sunrise on Harting Down – Part1

The A272 offers some fantastic locations.

Clean & dust free camera equipment.

Cleaning camera and lenses:no embarrassing spots!

Routine camera and lens maintenance.

More involved camera cleaning: the CMOS sensor

My camera has a cleaning setting?

ISO explained

Basic photography principles: Part II – ISO explained

High ISO Noise

But my camera has automatic ISO?

ISO - A rule of thumb

Practicing wildlife photography

Practice wildlife photography. Get on your bike!

Get up and out early to catch the best light and best wildlife

Location, location, location!

The route

F-Stops explained

Basic photography principles: Part I – F-Stops explained

Stops explained

Bundle offer includes Vijeo Designer 5.0

Get started with Magelis touch screens

PHP Smileys & Emoticons for your blog

Automatically add smileys & emoticons your blog or text

Stand out from the crowd with creative AV

Stand alone digital media presentations

The South Downs National Park.

Bring visitors: Give them a sitemap!

Sitemaps for the novice webmaster

Easy web marketing with RSS

Easy pdf generation, for free!

Do you IE6?

How to find tranquillity...

Start taking better photos, instantly!

Planning your scenes

Google gone?

Vijeo Designer 5.0 from Schneider Electric

Internet Explorer 8 takes away the pain?

Start photo editing with free software!

Flash SWFObject and CSS z-index