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If you are looking for a MYSQL statement that essentially says 'on duplicate key do nothing' or 'insert if not exists', try:

INSERT IGNORE INTO ....

(from the manual)

If you use the IGNORE keyword, errors that occur while executing the INSERT statement are treated as warnings instead. For example, without IGNORE, a row that duplicates an existing UNIQUE index or PRIMARY KEY value in the table causes a duplicate-key error and the statement is aborted. With IGNORE, the row still is not inserted, but no error is issued. Data conversions that would trigger errors abort the statement if IGNORE is not specified. With IGNORE, invalid values are adjusted to the closest values and inserted; warnings are produced but the statement does not abort. You can determine with the mysql_info() C API function how many rows were actually inserted into the table.

You may also find http://bogdan.org.ua/2007/10/18/mysql-insert-if-not-exists-syntax.html good reading on the subject.

I just made a reasonably thought out comment on a newspaper website regarding an article they published.  It didn't get accepted.  It wasn't moronic, it wasn't harsh, and I thought I was contributing to the debate.  I guess it wasn't published because I wasn't controversial enough or something.  Instead they were quite happy to publish 30 comments where people just bagged the website, essentially saying "what a load of crap"

It's funny, same thing usually happens when I post on a user edited site like digg.  People will bury my comments like they aren't relevant, while someone whinging about something stupid will get promoted.

Maybe I'm just boring.  Maybe keeping it real doesn't work, and you have to say something controversial to make an impact.

I sell a few different products online.  Something I'm coming to realise is that purchasing items wholesale in Australia is expensive.  Let me give you an example.I can buy a particular product retail in Australia for $34.95.  That same product from the US is $19 (and I'm comparing apples to apples, all prices are converted to Aussie Dollars)

Now, I get a 40% discount from the supplier for this product.  That means my wholesale price is $20.7o... ahm - it's cheaper to buy my stock from American retailers than it is to buy it from an Australian wholesaler.

But wait, it gets better.  I can buy at WHOLESALE from America.  And the discount on this product is 50%.   So I can get it for $9.50.

Lets look at the difference selling at my australian retail price

Australian Wholesaler - I make a  $14.25 profit.

American Wholesaler - I make a  $25.45 profit - that's over 70% discount.

Yes - shipping and duty has to be considered - but I still think it's a much better deal.

Another example - I want to buy a Tenor Ukulele.  Here in Australia, it will cost me retail $549.

If I buy from the states, I can get it for retail $183.  (yes, price is converted to AUD)

As a customer comfortable with purchasing from other countries, why would I choose the australian retailer?  There's no chance that shipping is going to be that much that it's more wortwhile buying in Australia.  No doubt that the retailer isn't being greedy - they are just getting their 40% discount, so the problem is with the Australian wholesaler again.

So what's the go?  Why are Australian Wholesalers so expensive?  What am I missing?   Is there some hidden cost in bringing the item into Australia?  Is stamp duty *that* much?  I don't know.

I really haven't liked the idea of CMS systems for clients.  I'm not interested in rolling my own, and I haven't spent long enough with any of the CMS systems out in the wild to evaluate them.   From the short look I've seen, the actual content management is very hard for users to pick up - to the point they wouldn't bother.  And I'm definately not going to bother writing my own...

HOWEVER - there IS one thing that that a CMS will do for me.  Save development time.  I will be able to establish a reasonable layout for a website with a client, and then put it into a CMS system.  The CMS will make it very easy for me to change content when required, or if the client is kind of clever, they can do it themselves.

The thing that slows my work down is interruptions for small change requests.  So a CMS will help me either reduce the time required to make those changes, or eliminate them all together by passing those tasks over to the client.

This is the coolest app I've seen on the web in a while.

Animoto lets you take photos from your computer, or from your flickr account (there's a few more options) and then turns them into a cool little video.  Short 30 second videos are free.  If you want extended full length videos that are downloadable, it's $3 per video OR $30 per year for unlimited videos.  That's seriously cheap for what you get.

I've got a client right now that can take full advantage of this tool.  I'm certain it will help him convert sales.

Head on over to Animoto now and see how cool it is for yourself!

Years ago, I tried door sales.  For 2 weeks.  I was young, unskilled and stupid.   Door Sales is really hard - and one of the most important things you don't have is FOLLOW UP.  You are there to make a sale right there and then.

The Electricity market here has just been deregulated.  Late last year, the first of a stream of people came around offering their deal.  Cheaper electricity and a promise to match their competitors.  GREAT.  I can take this, and then tell everyone else to take a hike because I can have their offer matched.  I won't leave.

The salesman lied.  And he probably lied to everyone.

I only found out today - a kid offering the best deal of the bunch came around.  I told him about the matching deal, and he told my it was rubbish because they were the only company offering to match.

I sent him on his way, but then I researched.  I took the 7% deal he offered to my current provider and they said, sorry - we don't match prices.  The salesman lied.

So, are you an honest door salesman finding it hard to sell the best deal because some wanker went through before you offering the same deal, all except it they lied.  Now no one trusts you - do they?

I sure don't trust door salesman anymore.  You bet I'm going to keep that in mind the next time I sell something to someone.

OH - and will the next door salesman please accept my humblest apologies when I claim all door salesman are liars and I've only ever had trouble from any offer that I took up when it came to my door.

I use Google Analytics for my web statistics needs on various sites.  It's always obvious when something has gone wrong with your website if you are familar with your statistics.

Here's an example of an expired domain I picked up with my web statistics.

Noteworthy is that this site actually uses 2 domain names, and how important the .com name is to it over the .com.au.  This is not because .com gets more visitors than .com.au, but because .com is the name that is marketed.  The .com.au version of the .com just doesn't have the same market exposure.

So now is a really good time to check the expiry dates of your domain name.  Even put them in your diary so you don't forget them.

I have cracked the search engine code.  I understand what is required to give a website the best possible chance to rank highly - and HAVE achieved it with numerous sites.  Want to know the secret?

Here it is:

• Useful unique content,
• good, clearly structured navigation,
• clean html code.
• quality links from good sites

Forget gaming the system, or trying to find an easy way to get high rankings.  In the end, plain old tedious hard work and attention to detail will get you there.  Oh, and don't forget patience.  You aren't going to get a great ranking overnight.  It takes time.If you take the time to focus on those 4 important things, you will be doing much better than most of your competition.

It only just dawned on me today that while express post costs a little bit more, there are benefits more than just fast delivery that justify the extra spend.

First, the obvious benefits are:

• Faster Delivery
• Trackable

The hidden benefit comes from the obvious benefits:

• Promotion.  Fast Delivery makes people talk.  The faster you can get it, the happier people are, and they tell their friends.  This is a great way to generate word of mouth marketing, which we all know is very powerful.

With this new realisation, I am reassessing my stance on packaging and including catalogs  with customer orders.  People almost always share their new purchases with their friends.  There is the whole keeping up with the Jone's thing that happens, so providing easy vehicles to make that happen will result in more sales.

Where did all the good samaritans go? They got burnt.

So, you want to do someone a good deed? Think twice about it in this world, because the moment someone helps you for nothing, you get taken advantage of. Humanity is a form of leech who seeks out those among itself who are helpful, and then sucks all the goodwill out of them.