My Blog
Hello! Welcome to my blog. I created this page 12 months ago on October 23, 2024, and made my first post About Me #001. On this page, you can read about some of the projects I am working on and other interests of mine.
This blog is a good place to improve my writing skills, and I find the free version of Grammarly to be very helpful for spelling and punctuation. As of now, there are 31 blog posts.
New Westminster BC, Canada
Posted 6 days ago
Hello from New Westminster
Today I visited The New Westminster Quay at New Westminster's waterfront, just a short walk from the New Westminster SkyTrain Station. I am standing in front of the 32-foot high "World's Tallest Tin Soldier".
The New Westminster Quay is a great place for a stroll along the boardwalk of the Fraser River, or sit and watch all the river's activity. There are numerous restaurants and cafes outside and inside to take a break. There is also an inside market, with numerous vendors selling their goods, and a food market.
Coquitlam BC, Canada
Posted 2 weeks ago
PHP / MySQL ORDER BY clause
MySQL does not support
alphanumeric natural sorting
If you have set up a website database with MySQL or MariaDB you may have come across the problem with the MySQL ORDER BY clause not sorting some data as you would expect (example: "item 1", "item 2", "item 10" instead of "item 1", "item 10", "item 2"). MySQL sorts data using a lexicographical (character-by-character) sorting order, and since 1 is lower than 2, the number 10 will come before 2.
In the example below, the data from DBcolumn1 is sorted by using the ORDER BY clause, but due to the character-by-character sorting, the output highlighted in orange is in the wrong order. This can be solved by adding padded leading zeros to the numbers (example: "item 0001", "item 0002", "item 0010").
| DBcolumn1 |
|---|
| Drop-in X4 ND 6 Stop filter |
| Drop-in X4 ND 3 Stop filter |
| EF 24mm f1.4L II USM lens |
| Drop-in X4 Clear filter |
| EF 100mm f2 USM lens |
| Drop-in X4 Autumn & Night Sky filter |
| Drop-in X4 ND 10 Stop filter |
Drop-in X4 Autumn & Night Sky filter
Drop-in X4 Clear filter
Drop-in X4 ND 10 Stop filter
Drop-in X4 ND 3 Stop filter
Drop-in X4 ND 6 Stop filter
EF 100mm f2 USM lens
EF 24mm f1.4L II USM lens
Alphanumeric natural sorting solution
using padded leading zeros (0010) with PHP
MySQL does not natively support "natural sorting" (also known as alphanumeric or human-friendly sorting), but you can use PHP to pad the numbers in a string from a database column with leading zeros and UPDATE that data to a second database column using the PHP preg_replace_callback function.
This will require two MySQL query while loops. The first loop to UPDATE DBcolumn2 with the padded leading zeros, and the second loop outputs the results.
PHP preg_replace_callback function
to UPDATE DBcolumn2
The PHP preg_replace_callback code below is implemented inside a PHP / MySQL database query while loop. During each loop, padded leading zeros are added to the numbers in the string from DBcolumn1 and updated to DBcolumn2 using the MySQL UPDATE statement.
Final results
MySQL will then sort the data from DBcolumn2 using the ORDER BY clause and display the data from DBcolumn1. New data can be inserted or edited into DBcolumn1 as usual, and DBcolumn2 is updated automatically every time the webpage is loaded.
| DBcolumn1 | DBcolumn2 |
|---|---|
| Drop-in X4 ND 6 Stop filter | Drop-in X0004 ND 0006 Stop filter |
| Drop-in X4 ND 3 Stop filter | Drop-in X0004 ND 0003 Stop filter |
| EF 24mm f1.4L II USM lens | EF 0024mm f0001.0004L II USM lens |
| Drop-in X4 Clear filter | Drop-in X0004 Clear filter |
| EF 100mm f2 USM lens | EF 0100mm f0002 USM lens |
| Drop-in X4 Autumn & Night Sky filter | Drop-in X0004 Autumn & Night Sky filter |
| Drop-in X4 ND 10 Stop filter | Drop-in X0004 ND 0010 Stop filter |
Drop-in X4 Autumn & Night Sky filter
Drop-in X4 Clear filter
Drop-in X4 ND 3 Stop filter
Drop-in X4 ND 6 Stop filter
Drop-in X4 ND 10 Stop filter
EF 24mm f1.4L II USM lens
EF 100mm f2 USM lens
Thanks for reading. I hope you found this blog post helpful.
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 4 weeks ago
AstrHori 50mm F1.4 Tilt Lens
I recently bought an AstrHori 50mm F1.4 tilt lens with a Canon RF mount for my Canon EOS R camera body. It was only 180 USD from Ebay.
The tilt lens alters the plane of focus for an artistic effect. The plane of focus is moved up or down, left to right, using the focus ring. It has an aperture range of F1.4 to F16, but for the best image quality I use F4 to F8.
You can view some pictures I have taken with this lens in the AstrHori 50mm F1.4 Tilt Lens portfolio.
AstrHori 50mm F1.4 Tilt Lens
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 2 months ago
Creekside Park at False Creek
Today I went to Creekside Park at False Creek in Vancouver BC, Canada. I took my camera with me and took some photos, then walked to the Cambie Street Bridge, which is 1 kilometer away.
Creekside Park is next to Science World, a very popular attraction for visitors. False Creek is a short, narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown and West End neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is a 5-minute walk from the Main Street-Science World SkyTrain Station.
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 3 months ago
Captain George Vancouver - Vancouver City Hall
This is a statue of Captain George Vancouver at Vancouver's City Hall. The city of Vancouver is named after him.
Captain George Vancouver (June 1757 – May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what became the Canadian province of British Columbia. After a Spanish expedition in 1791, Captain George Vancouver was the second European to enter Vancouver's Burrard Inlet on June 13 1792, naming it for his friend Sir Harry Burrard.
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 4 months ago
Granville Square in Downtown Vancouver
Hello from Downtown Vancouver, Canada, I am at Granville Square next to the Waterfront SkyTrain Station. The building behind the newly installed Vancouver sign is Canada Place.
From here I will walk to the Pacific Centre Mall for lunch and a coffee.
Burnaby BC, Canada
Posted 5 months ago
The Hudson's Bay
Iconic Canadian department store has permanently closed. At one time, the Hudson's Bay department store was one of the main anchor tenants at shopping malls across Canada with about 90 locations.
Founded on May 02, 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its first department store in 1881 in Winnipeg, in the Canadian Province of Manitoba. It was the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America as well as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating companies in the world.
In the picture I am at the Metrotown location of the now closed Hudson's Bay in Burnaby BC, Canada.
Coquitlam BC, Canada
Posted 5 months ago
Audio Library
I have added a new Audio Library page to my website. I will be uploading royalty-free MP3 audio files. They will be mostly environmental sound effects, such as freight trains, traffic, etc.
Most of the field recordings will be made with my Tascam DR-05X stereo digital audio recorder.
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 6 months ago
Good Morning from Vancouver, Canada
Hello! I am in Downtown Vancouver at the Starbucks in Waterfront Station. I had breakfast at Fatburger and will explore the Seawall Water Walk along Vancouver Harbour.
Coquitlam BC, Canada
Posted 6 months ago
Howie Avenue - Coquitlam BC, Canada
Howie Avenue is in the Austin Heights area of Coquitlam BC, Canada. The 3-block avenue from Gatensbury Street to Blue Mountain Street has mostly 3-story apartment blocks built in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Around 1974, while I was in grade 9 and 10, I had a paper route delivering the now defunct Columbian Newspaper in this area. My paper route number was #224. I had 30 customers and made 30 Canadian dollars per month delivering the paper 6 times a week. In 1983, I rented my first apartment on Howie Avenue and paid 300 Canadian dollars monthly for a 1-bedroom apartment. Rents today in 2025 are about 2,000 Canadian dollars.
Below is an aerial video of Howie Avenue, which I made using a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone. The view is looking east from Blue Mountain Street to Gatensbury Street.
Howie Avenue - Coquitlam BC, Canada
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 7 months ago
Cherry Blossoms
The cherry blossom season in Vancouver typically runs from late February to early May, with peak bloom expected around the first week of April.
Vancouver has many locations known for their cherry blossoms, including Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Botanical Garden, Granville Square, Art Phillips Park at the Burrard SkyTrain Station, the 3100 block of Graveley Street, and various other streets and parks throughout the city.
The picture above and below were taken at Granville Square in Downtown Vancouver.
Cherry Blossoms at Granville Square
Vancouver, Canada
Posted 7 months ago
Breakfast at Jollibee
Good morning from the Downtown Vancouver location of Jollibee on Granville Street, near Robson Street.
This was the first time I went to a Jollibee. I ordered 2 pieces of Jolly Spicy Crispy Chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. My drink was the Pineapple Quencher.