W-Shadow.com

The UIF Format
The UIF file extension stands for Universal Image Format. An UIF file contains a compressed disk image - basically it is an exact copy of a CD or a DVD. Just like the more common ISO filetype, the UIF format is typically used to create CD/DVD backups. The UIF file format also offers [...]

…And I’m still going to post a bunch funny quotes anyway. I’m currently busy trying to improve the site structure, so instead of long-winded tech-speak you’ll have to endure my sense of humor

The names have been changed for no particular reason. Here goes!

Here are some things I probably won’t do/implement -
Web20Rank
Alexa is inaccurate, Technorati is inaccurate, PR is worthless, inbound links can be bought. Idea - create a new ranking system based on an aggregate of things like Digg votes, del.icio.us bookmarks, stumbles and a whole lot of other social bookmarking services. Throw in the aforementioned inaccurate [...]

This plugin extends the plugin update notification feature introduced in WordPress 2.3 by adding an “update automatically” link to update notifications. When you click the link, the new version of the corresponding plugin is downloaded and installed automatically. It also lets you know which plugins have update notifications enabled.
Update 06.04.2008 : Version 2.0.1 with much [...]

I spent a while today wondering what to post about.
I have an aptly named file on my desktop - “arggr.txt” (apparently I had misspelled “arrgh”). That’s where I store most of my ideas. Since I’m pretty sure that I don’t have a “feeling” for the audience/people in general, I looked through some of the [...]

If you have a PHP script that takes a while to execute (for example, long database operations or file format conversions), you might want to run it in the background so that the rest of your page still loads fast. In this post I’ll describe two ways to do this.
Launching a background process
One approach is [...]

Everybody gets email spam. Bloggers also get comment spam and trackback spam (lucky us). This blog receives a few dozen spam comments a day (most are caught by Akismet).
What most people don’t realize is comment spam can actually be useful. Here’s how (note: includes some unethical stuff) -

Fresh proxies. Typically spammers use a proxy when [...]

The Broken Link Checker Wordpress plugin has been updated to version 0.2! Here’s what’s new -

Link checking algorithm has been improved and shouldn’t generate false warnings anymore.
Links that are discovered to not work will be re-checked again a few minutes later. This is useful if the link only appeared to be broken due to a [...]

When I use my GTrends SE tool to find good niches, I sometimes stumble upon valuable niche keywords that I can’t use myself. I simply don’t know enough about the topic and/or don’t think it’s interesting enough to start researching it, so I move on to other ideas. Since the unused kewords aren’t doing anyone [...]

If you hadn’t noticed, Half-Life 2 : Episode Two has just arrived. I’ve been waiting for this since Episode One (as have many thousands of gamers, I’m sure), and what happens when I want to finally buy it on Steam? Turns out I had stupidly installed Steam in the default location, and my C: [...]

Not long ago I wrote about several interesting Wordpress plugins and mentioned that the admin drop down menu plugin wasn’t as easy to use as I’d like it to be. I considered writing a better one, but luckily I decided to check Google before commiting to that. Sure enough, there are others admin menu enhancements [...]

Shoot Yourself in The Foot More Efficiently
If you’re unfamiliar with how frameworks function, trying to use a framework for a new project will bring trouble. With all the complexities frameworks bring, new bugs will come, too. Besides, small one-man projects typically don’t require a framework.
MVC Isn’t A Framework-exclusive Feature
See the bare-bones MVC and the framework [...]

Do you…

Don’t “get” Twitter, Facebook and the like?
Consider “normal” an insult?
Typically only lurk in forums and rarely or never post anything?
Are generally out of touch with popular trends?
Feel article writing or this “blogging” thing are unnatural for you?
Have no idea what the mystical “other people” want?
Don’t really care much about what they want?
Have above average [...]

The picture was taken by my sister a few months ago and I just recently realized that it can be used to represent the eternal conflict between search engines and blackhat webmasters, in a comical way. Or some such. Anyway, enjoy!

I’ve noticed that whenever I search for a “php upload script” or “how to upload files”, the first page of Gogle results is full of pages that tell you how to handle file uploads = letting users to upload something to your server. But what if you actually want to create a PHP script that [...]

No matter what your blogging style, your posts will give your readers a hint or two about what kind of person you are (which is good). Blog Personality Analyzer is an unusual “personality test” that will analyze your personality based on your blog’s content… yep, the only thing you need to do is enter your [...]

Admin Drop Down Menu
An indispensible plugin that makes navigating the admin panel much easier. The only problem is that I tend to accidentaly move the cursor outside the “hover” zone, resetting the menu, meaning I have to start over.
Broken Link Checker
Checks your posts for non-working links and lets you know (on the dashboard) if any [...]

As I was, weary and tired, in the darkness, in the wind as weak as my hope, in the starless night, and cold enough to know the autumn. As I was walking in circles I saw someone looking at me from the eastward, forest.
What do you want?, I asked grimly.
Your soul, said the wolf.
What would [...]

I’ve created an online tool that displays the sites that received the most votes (diggs) during the last 7 days.
Features

The classic Top 10 list.
The huge Top 100 list.
Sites ranked by the total number of diggs received on all stories submitted in the last 7 days.
Click the “Popular stories” column heading to rank them by [...]