OpenCart – The new kid on the block

Recently I came across a new piece of open source e-commerce software called OpenCart. After reading about it and doing a little research i decided to give it a try for a recent project i did for a client. This post is my initial thoughts and review of this relatively new open source peice of software.

Open cart is an open source cart developed by the Open Cart development community/team. It is currently at version 1.4.4 released March 15, 2009. OpenCart is programmed in PHP using an MVC(+L) style framework for the code. This is a good process they used to develop, as it separates the code into “layers”, so that core functions are separated from “display” elements. This allows OpenCart to be more easily modified for front end display and templates, and potentially be upgraded with bug fix released without having to affect display code as much. This also gives  OpenCart the ability to have it’s contributions for the community installed in an easier fashion then a piece of software like OsCommerce. Mind you, it still can take some manual file code modifications depending on the contribution, and it’s not as simple as download and install features like Joomla or WordPress have, but it is easier then dealing with osCommerce for adding contributions.

OpenCart features that come in the core download of the software include a simple content management system, a easy to manage product system, SEO features, several shipping and payment modules built in, the ability to turn on or off and move around the “side boxes” and much more. OpenCart also comes with a pretty nice looking default “theme” or template, and there are many available for free from the OpenCart site as well.

There are a few things I didn’t like about open cart, or things other developers should be aware of.

• There is no way to “copy” product attributes from one product to another, so if you have to work with a lot of products w/ attributes it can be very cumbersome.
• There is no way to import/export product data into a workable format to edit in excel or other editors (there is a great contribution for this that is easy to install)
• the front page text is edited on the store settings page, and is not in the content manager section, which can be a little confusing for people
• there is currently no working FREE ups or Fed-ex shipping modules (they are in development)
• ther “SEO” urls are a little buggy sometimes. A few times when re-importing products from the excel export contribution, the seo module no longer works for mod-writes unless you manually go back through all your products and re enter your seo url name. Also by default the SEO urls system does not add a file extension to the rewritten URL, so you need to specify the file extension in the field for the product

those are the main issues I have come across while using open cart myself. Overall I am VERY pleased with the cart, and think it has a lot of potential. In-fact I am considering switching over to it to use for my more simple e-commerce projects for clients who don’t need a lot of custom features for their store.

You can download and review the features of OpenCart at http://www.opencart.com/

E-Cigarette (electronic cigarette) – a review

OK so, I know it’s bad.. I have been a heave smoker (a small pack a day) for over 15 years.. I have tried to quit on several occasions, tried the gun, patches, cold turkey, and it hasn’t worked to bad. I think my issue is more psychological than the addition to them (i think of smoking as a way to relax and take a break to think out a problem in my head when I a programming..

My smoking habit comes from my past D.J days working in the bars and clubs in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I would smoke a lot then while spinning the tunes. I would throw on a tune, (12″ mixes back in those days) then i have anywhere from 5-10 min. to wait until it’s time to mix in the next track, so i would often have a beer, light up and enjoy.

Anyways a few weeks ago, a friend of mine had one of those electronic cigarettes (or e-smokes, e-cigarettes) as they are often called. He had been using it for just over a month, and was very happy about it. They claim to be a healthier alternative to smoking, as they have no tar, no carcinogens, or the other 2000+ other bad things related to lighting up a tobacco cigarette.

Anyways, I asked him where to get one, and he passed on a few places they can be found here in Canada. (there are a lot of U.S and over seas places that sell them, but i would  rather buy domestic, as it could be problems with customs).. There are a few places that do sell them here in Canada, although their stock of them is rather limited at times, due to high demand, combined with the fact that they can only be imported right now in small quantities from over seas where they are manufactured.

Anyways so I ended up buying a “starter kit” from a site called http://www.e-cigarettescanada.com. It cost me about 95 bucks with shipping for my electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) kit. I got it about 6 days later via post. The unit i bought is called the “Super Cigarette” and it’s supposed to be one of the newest models on the market. It claims to have advanced atomizer technology and higher quality batteries that last longer (the unit recharges). The kit came with 2 of the “battery” parts, 5 sample “cartridges” , a charger and a manual, all packaged in a nice blue case with a magnetic flap to keep it closed. (a nice touch).

One nice thing was the batteries already had a partial charge in them, so I could try the unit right away. (probably from factory testing of the units). Anyways I gave the instructions a quick read  (gotta love “chinglish” hehehe) screwed in one of the provided cartridges (used one of the high nicotine ones) and gave it a try.

I was actually presently surprised. The taste, although a little “sweeter” did have a “tobacco” taste to it. It did give me a little of the “nicotine burn” like you get like when using the nicotine  gum.. but the medium and low strength ones were not as noticeable for that. The smoke from the unit was thick and very white. It had no real smell to it, just a slight “sweet smell”. I was actually pretty impressed with this unit. (not that I  have had other ones to compare it to mind you). The electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) itself was just a touch longer and thicker then my normal ones, and just a touch heavier, but i got used to that fairly quickly.

My plan is to get some of the medium and light, then non nicotine refills (the refills screw onto the battery part, and are colored brown to look like the filter of a normal cigarette). What i will do is use the medium, then low, then non nicotine versions of the e-cigarettes refills to gradually wean myself from the nicotine (much like i would with the different strengths of a patch).. until eventually I’m using the non nicotine version. Then i can decide if i want to quit all together, or keep using the electronic cigarettes to keep my “psychological” cravings in check.

Anyways as of writing this, i have been using my new electronic cigarette for about 5 days now, and have not had a real smoke in that time, so far im pretty happy… and time will tell how it goes from here. I will post a new update maybe in a month for those who want to know how it’s coming. If anyone is interested in one, I got mine from http://www.e-cigarettescanada.com located in Toronto.

Apple’s iPad – revolutionary or dud?

So the wait is over and apple has officially announced the new iPad, apples new “revolutionary” media device. Is it really a revolution in mobile media entertainment, or is it just a big ass glorified ipod touch or iphone?

The idea of this new device is great.. I think their idea was to create an afordable mobile media device to compete with the already saturated net book market for the home consumer. It can play movies, music, browse the web read books, play music and more. But there is one fundamental flaw in the concept for this new device. It’s not a real “computer”, from what I have seen and read, it is nothing more then a  glorified iphone in a larger formatted. Initial looks into this new device, it seems it’s simply a upgraded iphone os.

Granted there will be (im sure) a slew of apple store apps to become available for the iPad, but why didn’t they do it as a real “mac” with a customized version of osx on it so it is more like a real mobile computer? Personally I think this may be more a hardware limitation with the device. How much cooler would it be if this was a full fledged mobile touch screen Mac device. It would certainly appeal more to mainstream mac users, and not just the fanboys and gadget lovers (you know the ones who were the ones lining up over night to buy an iPhone when they were just released).

I myself being a PC user for most of my life recently jumped ship and bought my first Mac system a few months ago (a late 2009 21.5″ upgraded iMac) and i LOVE it.. The os is easy to use, the hardware is sexy, and it “just works” like the slogan goes. Im currently considering getting a netbook for myself as well, and when I Started hearing the rumomors about apple releasing a touch device aimed at the same market, I decided to hold off and see what it had to offer when it was announced. Granted it can play games from the apple store, you can browse the web, get email, will have wifi and 3G, can play music and movies and will retail starting at $499 , it’s just not quite enough compaired to getting a netbook (you can get a decent one for $300-350) which is a full featured pc compuer (or some run linux).

Unfortunately for the first time in a very long time, I think apple may have a dud on their hands, but time will tell. Maybe future models will go more the way of a full function device with OSX on them.