• subscribe to mag

PHP On Racks Preview

Returned to focus on PHP On Racks. Trying to finish it by end August. Everything seems to be on track.

Take a look at this fascinating work I’m doing.

vimeo Direct Download PHP On Racks Preview

First Singaporean Certified MySQL Associate

Apparently, I realised I’m the first CMA in Singapore! The Certified MySQL Associate is an entry level certification for MySQL professionals. It’s particularly useful for programmers and developers that work primarily with the XAMP Stack (X Operating System, Apache, MySQL, PHP).

Now that I’m a CMA, this will help me stand out from the crowd. I scored a 90% and got only 5 questions wrong. I scored 100% for 3 component chapters, 85% on 2 of them and 75% on one of them. But I won’t stop here. I’m retaking the CMDEV (Certified MySQL Developer) next year which consists of 2 very long exams. I missed the pass grade by 7 points on Paper 1 and 2 points on Paper 2 a year and a half back. Pass grades are very high. In the case of Certification Exams, a pass grade would mean I have to at least get 75% of the questions right. So noting how close I got to passing the more difficult certifications, I am now going to prepare myself better by spacing out the 2 papers, so I can study the material more thoroughly.

I intend to take the Zend Certified Engineer which certifies me as a competent PHP developer. But the only barrier is the high costs that come with it. I’d have to spend at least $1,380 just for the exam and study material. The A-Dev pack which will get me a 90-day track would set me back $3,795. It’s unfortunate that the government doesn’t seem to consider this a critical certification. My MySQL certification costs are borne out of my own pocket as I can’t use the CITREP grant for this.

I feel that the government should be fair to people who are subscribers of the Open Source movement instead of over-emphasising the Microsoft certifications.

W3C compliant again

I’ve been neglecting this. But I thought I should spend the time to correct my markup. And Voila! Perfect code.

I’ve spoken about this before (MP3, Malay) when I used to run Ameleora Solutions. Back then, some nice people got me an inteview with RSI, which was rebroadcasted on Warna and RIA.

I’ve just joined the Web Standards Group after talking to Lucian Teo about the future of the Government web. And I can feel myself maturing as a developer. I’ve just signed up for MySql Certification again after I failed it by 2 points 2 years ago. Now, I’m taking the Associate first, and then taking the Developer later.

I hope when Ph.P Society moves into 2nd gear, I can get myself PHP certified.

Interactive Mosque Explorer

Among the projects that I’m passionately doing is the Interactive Mosque Explorer. I’m hoping that this could replace the Adobe Flash based Mosque explorer at the Singapore Mosques website here. But response has been lukewarm. The people at Muis are impressed, and so has other people that has seen the app in the Private Beta.

Watch the video to learn more.

YouTube Direct Download Interactive Mosque Explorer

PHP July Meetup 2008 (Live)

Wow! It’s been a whole month sabbatical since I blogged, and what a way to start it off again.

I’m LIVE at Microsoft@NTUC right now attending the July 2008 PHP Singapore meetup. Today is the launch of the PHP Society. Michael Chng, the convener of the PHP group society has decided to evolve it into a more ubiquitous organisation called the Ph.P Society (Philosophy of Programming Society). So really, this group will touch on any language, not just PHP. However, it has been made clear that PHP will be a focus in this society, probably for historical purposes. more »