So one of my goals for this year is to get certified on the Zend PHP5 platform.

This is a lofty goal considering the following:

1. cost ($599 to $2000 for the training)
2. time (what time do I really have to even tie my shoes nowadays)
3. my own brain power (I am told I’m a smarty-pants all the time - is it really true?)

I’ve taken a few self-tests, as well as my own experience using PHP on a daily basis, and I’ve found I’m not quite ready for certification (language constructs? Excuse me?). Some hands-on labs and self-paced books would be helpful.

I was asked recently to come up with some goals, both for my employer and myself, and I’ve found the best I can: I want PHP 5 certification this year.

Tahlequah Daily Press of Tahlequah, Oklahoma has a curious way to address our Commander in Chief: by accidentally calling him a “Big Fat Liar.”
Of course, this is a typesetters nightmare, but what can you do what the Frankie Muniz movie aired just before the President’s Address?

Update: I found yet another way for The Seattle Times to extend their brand: JSS feeds through Newsvine.com. If you’ll notice in the screenshot below, I have added the story from my original post to my JSS feed from Newsvine. This allows me to post my own links on any Web site while including links back to The Seattle Times! Talk about [n]-layers deep!

I speak often about “extending the brand” (link offline), where companies can partner with, or at least connect to, services that would expand the reach (exposure people!) of the companies in question with little or no cost/labor. It’s a topic I’m passionate about as I see portal after portal take a dive while trying to compete for every eye they can grab. My own ventures are built on “extending the brand” and I’m damn near ready to tattoo the slogan on my body somewhere (no, not really).
Well, it looks like The Seattle Times has gone ahead and done just that - they now include Digg.com and Newsvine.com links (and icons) in a large number of their online stories.

What’s more, they’ve included the icons and links ‘above the fold’ (the area of the browser most likely to be seen without having to scroll) and very close to the headline of the story itself.

The closest the Seattle Post-Intelligencer gets to this is a link to share by e-mail a story, where the link is located above an advertisement - outside the story pageflow (in my opinion).

I’ll have a more detailed writeup once I actually play with the new feature - for instance, I’d like to know the answer to the following:

1. Does clicking the Digg.com/Newsvine.com link give credit to a Digg.com member?
2. Does the Digg.com/Newsvine.com link prompt for an account if not signed-in?
3. Does the Digg.com/Newsvine.com link check for duplicates and add a ‘digg’ point instead of a new insertion?
4. Does the Digg.com/Newsvine.com link offer a custom tag interface, or does the link contain it’s own tags?

Update: Well, it looks like I have an answer to all my questions:

1. Yes, on Digg.com you are prompted to login. On Newsvine, you can post anonymously (with your e-mail address being tracked, however). Both sites give credit where credit is due to the poster.
2. Yes, you are prompted to login (or offered a login on Newsvine.com).
3. The story I posted to Digg.com appeared to be a duplicate; Digg.com allowed me to post anyway as the story was not a duplicate - just similar. Newsvine.com did not have the story, so it was not considered duplicate. Might need to test this again.
4. Digg.com allowed me to place the story (the link) wherever I wanted, and allowed me to update the tags that were presented (as well as the summary) from the Seattle Times. Newsvine had everything ‘locked in’ but allowed me to make my own custom comment about the post.

And now, some screenshots:

So Justine and I decided to take our weekly walk down to the waterfront (which has now become part of the SAM Sculpture Park). Bad idea on opening day of the Sculpture Park.

Instead of capturing pictures of (what has already been captured hundreds of times before, best by The Times) the park, we decided to grab pictures of the people themselves.

It just goes to show you, Seattle really can support its arts. Even if, in the giant space down at the waterfront, there’s only about a dozen identifiable pieces.

Pictures soon.