Scraping The iTunes Store
I recently wrote a series of posts detailing the way I chose to scrape iTunes for ratings information for Bailout America, an iPhone game we released recently.
Read more at thedoedoeblog.
LeftLink
LeftLink was a collection of interesting links with re-written headlines. The project slowed to a complete halt due to the time necessary to maintain it manually.
So, it was brought back to life as an aggregation of progressive info using the simple mechanism I put together for iPhoneDeck.
iPhoneDeck
iPhoneDeck uses simple PHP with Magpie to display iPhone related information from RSS feeds.
You can easily set something like this up yourself even if you have very little experience with this kind of thing. Download Magpie and upload the magpie folder to your webspace and get started
I set mine up for someone else to manage so I made it as simple as possible to maintain. I also had to add something to it after it was done – otherwise, I might have done it differently. Here is what I did.
First, I include the magpie library
include('magpie/rss_fetch.inc');
and then I set up two associative arrays – one for the RSS and one for the links to the main pages
$ufeeds = array(
'Digg' => 'http://digg.com/rss_search?search=iphone&area=promoted&type=both§ion=all',
'delicious' => 'http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/popular/iphone?count=20',
);
$homelinks = array(
'Digg' => 'http://www.digg.com/',
'delicious' => 'http://www.delicious.com/',
);
and then I iterate over the data and build out the html.
foreach($ufeeds as $name=>$url) {
$lname=str_replace(' ','-',strtolower($name));
$feed=fetch_rss($url);
$data=$feed->items;
echo "<div id=\"$lname\" class=\"news\">\n";
echo "\t\t<h2><a href=\"$homelinks[$name]\">$name</a></h2>\n";
echo "<br style=\"clear:both\" />";
echo "<div id=\"{$lname}-news\" class=\"news-holder\" style=\"height:230px;\">";
$i=0;
foreach($data as $item) {
$i++;
if($i<21) {
echo "\t\t<p><a href=\"$item[link]\" class=\"headline\">$item[title]</a></p>\n";
}
}
echo "</div>";
if($i>10) {
echo "<div id=\"{$lname}-more\" class=\"more\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"javascript:viewMore('{$lname}');\" class=\"more\">+ more</a></div>";
echo "<div id=\"{$lname}-less\" class=\"less\" style=\"display:none;\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"javascript:viewLess('{$lname}');\" class=\"less\">- less</a></div>";
}
echo "</div>";
}
Then I wrote the JavaScript functions I needed for the expand functionality.
Then I hired someone to do the CSS. 
Rent Back Direct
Amazing uderstanding of wordpress, this guy really knows what he is doing. excellent work. thanks very much Bill!!
WordPress as a CMS
I set up a custom WordPress theme to be used as a complete CMS for this website.
Google Maps – Click to Add
I set up a map for a client who wanted to track firefly sightings in Europe.
I don’t remember all of the specs on this one but I know
- Users can click to add a sighting
- Users can upload sightings in bulk if they have lat and long data
- It uses the lat/long scheme used in the UK
- It updates live
It was built with functional and valid xhtml so that it could be placed into another site and styled accordingly. I don’t know where this ended up on the web, but you can see my fully functioning (as 7/12/2007) version at http://mashedpotatoearth.com/fireflies/
ReallyCheckYourself
Boist did a great job on this project. It was completely quickly and accurately. He even went above and beyond to ensure it was done right.
Google Maps
I created a Google Maps site which helped users locate medical testing centers. You can see it at http://www.reallycheckyourself.org/.
WordPress Theme
I finished up a custom WordPress theme for this website.
1000 Moms
bsoist offers incredible support & documentation. He has also been very adaptable to a few curve balls thrown at him, and willing to do what it takes to make me happy with the results.
1000 Moms
I took an existing PHP website set up by a novice and worked in some real programming without disrupting what was already very comfortable for the client. You can see the site at http://www.1000moms1000dollars.com/.
Event Tickets Center
I provided a combination of PHP, Perl and JavaScript to solve a cross domain security problem for this website. This was much more difficult than I’ve made it sound but the details are protected by NDA.
Google Maps API – Knoxvoice.com
I built a “Find Us” map for Knoxville Voice, an independent newspaper in Knoxville, TN.
Betsy Flanagan
excellent work, he’s very conscientious, responsive and upfront. I highly recommend him and will definitely use him again.
–Betsy Flanagan, StartupStudio.com
Startup Studio
I set up and configured a Wordpress powered site for this client. The work included a custom template based on the client’s original design, several plug-in modifications, and two custom plug-ins. The site is inactive now, but you can see it at http://startupstudio.com/.
WordPress Theme
I do a lot of WordPress work – themes, plugins, core mods, etc.
This client wanted a standards compliant theme with an adsense style look. He provided an image and I built the xhtml/CSS and the WP theme.
I am not sure where you can find his use of it, but there is a slightly modified version here.
sound-effect.com
bsoist is amazing. He took our messed up existing code and turned into a work of art. He is fair, fast, honest, great communication, everything you could want in a coder/designer. We will be using bsoist for all of our future projects.
sound-effect.com
I built a database driven website which provides free sound effects and other clips.
osCommerce Automation
Another client who wanted to automate the process of delivering finished websites to his customers.
This client sold complete osCommerce sites pre-loaded with inventory and I wrote an application that would accept FTP credentials as input and fully automate the process where the host supported SQL access http. If not, a database could be created first and then the process would work.
PHP PayPal Functions
This client wanted very a very specific layer of abstraction for use with several of his websites.
I am not sure how useful it would be to others, but if I can find it I will post it here.
WordPress Modificaitons – selfinvestors.com
Bill dealt with a project that was was far more difficult and time consuming than imagined with great professionalism and patience, continuing to work to find solutions. Clearly, Bill is highly experienced programmer with wordpress expertise. I would use him again.
WordPress Modifications – selfinvestors.com
I wrote a few custom plugins and theme modifications for this website.
Moodle Customization, PayPal Integration – Paid Subscriptions
I created an online tutoring website based on Moodle. I set up PayPal subscriptions for class dues.
SiteReportCard.com
I wrote the application that powers this website. I did not design or build the website, but I provided all the code that grabs the data, parses it, tabulates the results and presents it.
I enjoy this kind of work very much and it is one of my specialties.
News Website
This is A+++ programmer. Nice to deal with him. Good knowledge and worth capable. More projects for him are waiting. Thanks.
I created a news website for this client. The site is no longer in operation.
Sport.co.uk – Sport Resources and Information.
I was hired to build a complete sports website in the UK. Site is no longer in operation but you can see it in the wayback machine.
Sport.co.uk – Sport Resources and Information.
PhysOrg.com: latest science and technology news
I was hired to write an application that would pull RSS feeds and parse into PHP arrays.
PhysOrg.com: latest science and technology news
Greg – Music Utopia
bsoist is a very good programmer, who worked on my project to 110% of my satisifaction. The programming he did was clean, and works great! He preformed the project in a very reasonable amount of time. His communication throughout the project was outstanding. I recommend him to everyone and I will be using him again my self. Thanks for the great job bsoist!!
Music Utopia
Greg hired me to add the storefront to his indie music website.
ultrabrightlights.com
Was very helpful and very persistant on getting our problem resolved.
PayPal Integration – ultrabrightlights.com
I setup PayPal IPN and streamlined the shopping cart process.
Surreal Art, Fantasy Art & The Contemporary Surrealism of Domen Lombergar
Domen hired me to add a couple of new features to his website and fix up some SQL problems.
Surreal Art, Fantasy Art & The Contemporary Surrealism of Domen Lombergar
Domen Lombergar
Very qualified programmer. Provided lots of feedback during the creation process and created a marvelous job in the end. Highly recommended.
Surreal Art, Fantasy Art & The Contemporary Surrealism of Domen Lombergar
Amazon API
I’ve been experimenting with Amazon.com’s APIs for several projects.
You can see my work here.
Experience
automation awk bash Books Code csh eBay Google API Google Maps grep JavaScript ksh magpie Moodle osCommerce parsing PayPal API Perl PHP Python RSS SQL WordPress xhtml/CSS XML-
Good Books
