2012

Python SimpleHTTPServer

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I don’t use Python on a daily basis, barely at all in fact (knowingly), but I stumbled across a handy purpose for it today which I see myself using. Type this command in a Linux shell or a Mac OS terminal and it will start a local web server on port 8000 using the current working directory as the document root and sending access requests to STDOUT:

python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000

Potential uses include:

  1. Developing local web applications on the local filesystem which use no server-side processing but do use Javascript and AJAX calls that a web browser would not normally allow without starting it with special flags (anyone who’s seen “XMLHttpRequest cannot load $RESOURCE. Origin null is not allowed by Access-Control-Allow-Origin” in their error console will know what I’m talking about).
  2. Quickly sharing a directory with a colleague on the same network rather than uploading files to a shared resource such as a file server or e-mail system. Obviously you’d need to ensure that whatever port you choose is allowed in your local incoming firewall if you have one.

There’s even better news for PHP users. PHP 5.4, released this week, includes a built-in web server which can be started with an equivalent command. The advantages of this of course is that it’ll also process PHP scripts instead of being limited to static files.

New WordPress theme shocker

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ESTABLISHED readers of my blog through the years will no doubt be thrilled to note that I have reverted to a modern implementation of a previous design as part of teaching myself how to create WordPress themes.

Should you wish to use this WordPress theme please let me know by adding a comment to this post and if there is enough interest I’ll bung it up on Google Code.

Cadburys Olympic Podium Clock

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I worked on a couple of extra-curricular projects over Christmas, one being a a project for Cadburys, who are touring the country over the next six months before the Olympic Games with three podium-style stands on which punters can attempt to win one of ten pairs of tickets to the opening ceremony by estimating how long exactly 20.12 seconds is. These will appear in various shopping centres and exhibitions over the months.

Punters press the big red comedy button to start and press it again to stop, and no, they don’t have view of the screen while they’re playing. If they win there’s a winning sequence of sounds and words on the display and the operator also activates four flashing purple police lights. It’s pretty much impossible to estimate correctly, however, even if you do have sight of the screen.

My job was to create the software for this including all the graphics, which I did using my normal skill-set of HTML, CSS and Javascript/jQuery (no server-side stuff required, runs on a laptop without an Internet connection). I’m also able to push out software updates to each of the three stands over the next six months should they for some reason become necessary.

The screens in the photo below will be installed within the podium-style stands themselves and only the clock digits themselves will be visible through the aperture in the front (simulated by the crude paper surround on the screen on the right). The purple bar at the top of the screens is only visible on the operator’s laptop and contains some basic options and settings which aren’t publicly visible. The red button is custom built and contains a USB numeric keypad with a mechanism that presses the “5″ key. This then simply plugs into the laptop as a USB keyboard.

It was a nice bit of fun. It’s not a million miles away from the sort of things I used to do when I worked for 2Heads back in 2000/2001, so almost a little nostalgic. No plugins or flash either, all HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery, as it should be.

Testing the displays and the comedy red button

In action in the Birmingham Bullring during March 2012

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