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Docnet PHPNW 2012 Competition Brain Teaser Answer

Posted by Tom Walder

A couple of people have emailed in to ask what the answer was to our competition brain teaser this year...

So, this year we went for something a little less PHP-specific.

About 30% of entrants got this one right - so well done to all of you!

The very first step with this challenge is recognising base64 encoded data when you see it - which is pretty easy if you've ever worked with email content or the CSS embedded image data-uri feature.

WW8gZGF3Zywgd2UgaGVhcmQgeW91IGxpa2UgYmFz ZTY0OlIwbEdPRGxoS0FBS0FJQUFBQUFBQVAvLy95SDV CQUFBQUFBQUxBQUFBQUFvQUFvQUFBSS9qSStweXdr ZkhvaHlJbmh0MWdiaWVIQ2dRM1laRmFhcEtGN3VwRl VrdTN3bXJJNTNXYnZtcjZ0d1dybGdMbGFrQVNVVW1L
emppVEpEdG9iMTJpZ0FBRHM9

So, after we pass the string through base64_decode(), we get the following output:

Yo dawg, we heard you like base64:R0lGODlhKAAKAI AAAAAAAP///yH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAoAAoAAAI/jI+py wkfHohyInht1gbieHCgQ3YZFaapKF7upFUku3wmrI53 Wbvmr6twWrlgLlakASUUmKzjiTJDtob12igAADs=

Pop culture reference up next (pimp my ride) - and into the repeated encoding... another base64 encoded string.

Decoding this second string give us some binary output - but with one give-away human-readable prefix:

GIF89a...

So, writing the output of the last decode to a gif file completes the process:

file_put_contents('test.gif', base64_decode($str_data));

And finally, the magic phrase:

Which is a nod to the competition prize - a brand new MacBook Air 13".

Olympic Company Lunch

Posted by Chris Maule

Docnet's company lunches are legendary. This month we grabbed the Olympic torch with both hands and had our very own contest over lunch...

Nerves of steel, a steady hand and a 1st in computer programming (sorry ladies, he's taken).

What the heck is that thing?

Keep your eyes on the prize, Cutter!

Oi Tom, I've got my eye on you!!

Winner of the Docnet PHP NW 2011 MacBook Air Competition

Posted by Chris Maule

Thanks to everyone who entered the Docnet PHP NW 2011 MacBook Air Competition.

Amidst much fanfare the winner was randomly chosen today and we're (fairly sure) you'll want to join us in congratulating Marc Easen who is the lucky winner!

As we've said before we are always on the look out for PHP Whizzes, why not check out our Jobs page to see if anything catches your eye.

Successful Christmas for UK Online Retailers!

Posted by Stephanie Fenton

Whilst overall retail sales dropped 0.3%, Internet and mail order sales were up 18%*. Convenience, stress reduction and better prices have all been highlighted as major reasons for 44% of UK consumers spending more online this year. House of Fraser’s online sales grew 120% compared to 8.5% overall sales in the 5 weeks up to the 8th January, and for the first time ever, sales on the House of Fraser website were higher than any of its outlets. *compared with December 2009

This year also saw a 10% rise in the number of consumers using the Internet on Christmas and Boxing Day, 22% of which used their mobile phones stressing the importance of mobile optimised websites for retailers.

Supermarket Morrisons is said to have missed out on sales to its online competitors Sainsburys and Tesco this Christmas, forcing them to trial an online service later this year.

Over in the US, online retailers have achieved similar success with online sales for this holiday season reaching a record of $32.6bn, a 12% increase on last year.

Despite this huge growth in online spending, Tealeaf say online retailers have actually missed out this year. Nearly half of all adults who shopped online this Christmas said that they encountered problems causing 32% of shoppers to abandon their baskets at the checkout. Top reasons for abandonment included: errors on the retailer’s website, high delivery prices and late delivery dates. Tealeaf’s research then went on to find that 46% of the shoppers who encountered problems would be less likely to buy from that company again.

UK retailers are blaming the 0.3% drop in overall retail sales on the big freeze, with Debenhams saying the weather has caused them to lose out £30million worth of sales.

Looking forward to 2011, Docnet’s main advice for retailers is;

• Don’t lose out on valuable sales coming through mobile devices. Test your website out on mobile handsets.

• If you don’t have an online store, you’re going to miss out on market share.

• Create a hassle free checkout that will reduce abandonment.

The Independent Targets Commuters With New Type of Daily Newspaper

Posted by Stephanie Fenton

This week saw the launch of the first national daily newspaper for almost 25 years, a brave move in today’s digital age when many choose to access the news online. i went on sale Tuesday with the aim of targeting lapsed readers of quality newspapers. The idea is to serve the time poor by summarising the day’s news from around the globe in short concise articles. The paper also comes at a much lower price than its parent paper, The Independent, at just 20p.

Having had a read through Tuesday’s edition of i, the layout and concept of the paper do appeal to me. The short, to the point information boxes seem to offer something for everyone. Having no large chunks of copy means that even if a story is of no particular interest you needn’t waste too much time skimming through.

On a more negative note, there has been speculation that the paper may have to go free to succeed and I must admit I agree. The Independent says i is a great answer for rushing commuters yet if they’re in such as hurry it is hard to see why they would walk all the way to a shop in the morning to buy a paper when the can pick up a free metro on either the bus or the train. On top of that i must compete with people having the ability to access most national dailies via smartphone apps. That said, the speculators could be wrong and it will be interesting to see whether readers will choose to adopt i as part of their daily routine.