Code

Fauxccordian using JQuery

This has come from a need to create a accordian style effect so I can show and hide related content without having to install another jquery plugin.

View the example here

This basically allows you to hide a div and show it when a specified tag is clicked, in the example it is using the H3 tag to be the tag that when clicked shows and hide the following div.

FizzBuzz in PHP

FizzBuzz, a test that supposedly shows you can program your way out of a paper bag and understand basic logic problem. So here is FizzBuzz done quickly in PHP.

Are short url services sending us to odd places?

Twitter, 140 characters. You want to tell someone about an awesome site and post the link as well. Visit http://www.ryanmcdonough.co.uk/201

Oops ran out of characters.

So thankfully we have URL shortening services such as bit.ly, tinyurl, is.gd and stro.ma (well that last one is a private one made for my employer) so now for example:

http://www.propertyweekdirect.co.uk/dirAgentResults.asp?provider=1&keywords=&fTType=ALL&specialistcategory=367&specialistcategory=389&specialistcategory=400&specialistcategory=388&specialistcategory=394&specialistcategory=375&specialistcategory=365&specialistcategory=370&specialistcategory=415&specialistcategory=374&specialistcategory=416&specialistcategory=385&specialistcategory=2373&specialistcategory=410&specialistcategory=409&x=37&y=7

goes through bit.ly and becomes:

http://bit.ly/aob2Ap

A caterpilla to butterfly transformation.

However these services can take your odd intrigue and send you to a website that has a reputation for posting anything or turns out to be a virus ridden website aimed to infect users.

Twitter is now blocking bad links however not fully, but my issue lies more with the none destructive websites rather than virus ridden ones. An odd link such as the possibility of a new Smurf Movie at:
http://bit.ly/aob2Ap , where I end up being taken to the Sun Newspaper website, not known for it’s facts.

It would be nice to see browsers build in short url detection allowing for the full URL to be shown on hover, until then I may just write my own Firefox plugin to do so.