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This really is a very vague question but I'm gonna give it a go anyway... It sounds like this is a fairly limited project, so one table will probably do fine, however it will severly limit the types of queries you could perform against the data and it will also mean you will be pulling a lot of redundant data. For a small project this is not a major issue as you could easily normalize the data later and it would be fairly straightforward. If I were designing it, I cant see any reason why you would want to have a separate table for each category, so there's your question answered (with an opinion) in a nutshell. However, you have then gone on to say that all the categories will include fields such as name, type and members. This part I find very confusing. Surely you categories table would just contain fields like: category_id (primary key), parent_id, category name, (maybe a category description - though i might even put that in a separate table) this very simple structure would allow you to build hierarchical category trees, so that for example you could have a master musical category which would contain your classical, jazz, etc. I'm not saying you would want to organize your categories like this but this structure would give you the capability to organize categories in a variety of ways. I would then have a separate acts table containing fields such as: act_id (primary key), cat_id (foreign key), act_name, (maybe members, though again possible a separate table... ask yourself what happens if you have a 100 man dance troupe) For the time being I would say whatever works, works, but as your project develops you will find a more normalized database structure offers you greater flexibility... it will create more complex sql queries but you can do a lot more with just sql this way

You will need to apply a fixed height (in px) to either the element which you would like to scroll (in this case #twit_main) or its containing element (#twitter). Also you should be aware that overflow-x and overflow-y are not supported in many older browsers, it is often better to use overflow:auto and provide a fixed width to prevent overflow horizontally. See this js fiddle for an example of your code working with a fixed height on the containing element and a %age height on twit_main: http://jsfiddle.net/hbqPw/ If you are looking to create a responsive design then you are better off using css media queries to alter the height of elements.

Firstly, I cant even imagine what kind of person dreams of going into database administration! Dont get me wrong, the world needs them and each to their own but my god that sounds like a mind numbingly boring existence. All be it one that can pay well. Having said that, I do have friends who have chosen that path and everyone I know who is a dba has done the MCDBA certification - google it I cant post links yet. Now this is obviously going to teach you SQL but its going to concentrate on MSSQL databases and maybe MS Access. To be honest once you know one database system it wont be huge step to work on others and learn the differences between them. Databases are all pretty similar at the end of the day. I appreciate that the above course/certification costs money and takes time, so in the mean time if you want to get your head into it, just download a copy of virtualbox and a copy of ubuntu. install ubuntu on the vb. and then set up a mysql database and start playing around with it. (Google is your friend - if your not sure on this, but you can also come back here and ask if you get stuck) As for getting some data to play with, Just search for an sql dump or sql export, lots of people post links to them online for various reasons. W3C Schools is a good place to start if you dont know any SQL, it might also be worth learning some of one of the .net languages or php so that you can do something with your data and get your head around how developers will interact with the databases you dream of administrating.

Firstly PHP is rarely used in isolation these days, so really what were talking about is a php/javascript game. Now ask yourself what is the difference between a website and a game is... I'm sure you have seen that javascript/jquery can be used to create some pretty cool graphical effects and manipulate images in a variety of ways. You can easily pick up keyboard presses and mouse actions, with javascript. And php does a pretty good job of logical processing and content service. So yes of course a combination of web technologies (such as php/js pr php/Flash) could be used to create a game. There are a number of successful online games built with a php back end - Notably a lot of gambling/poker games and point and click affairs - though much more is possible and out there. Of course there are realistic limits to what you can do with this approach. Both PHP and js are runtime interpretted languages (slow), neither are really intended for game development (long) and most machines in the public domain dont understand php (not very portble). You certainly wont be putting out the next Call of Duty. If game development is what your interested in then something like c# with the xna framework would be a much better choice. Following some basic tutorials I managed to get a simple 3d game running with this approach in under an hour. You can also easily port your games for windows desktops/ windows mobile and XBox (I'm told - my tutorial didn't go that far).

Hey Chris, I'm looking for full time work at the moment and have been approached by several recruitment agencies asking me if I know Java or know anyone who does. I'm not a Java developer but it would seem there is a serious shortage - either that or their all in hiding. As for what you should be paying, that's not easy to answer. The jobs I was approached about were all in the 35-50k range but I suspect you will have to look at the top end of this, if not a little higher to find a decent developer in London. I think I'm gonna start learning Java...

Flash is not dead or dying. It is the only choice for creating a wide range of bespoke animated effects. It has many advantages which html5/css3/jquery and other js extensions will not replace any time soon or probably ever. Flash will move on along side them and will still have its uses. My advice is to get familiar with Flash so you know what it can do whilst being aware of its limitations. Full flash sites always need an html/css alternative and the alternatives can save bandwidth and time (if someone else has already done the leg work for you but if you want flexible bespoke animation/user interaction then Flash is the past present and foreseeable future. How deep you get into Flash or its alternatives is up to ypu and your career choice we all have to be the jack of all trades but if you want to specialise in Flash you will have a job for some time yet - besides which if you can code in AS3 you can handle Jquery - its all the same thing different dialects.

Lots and lots of words which say very little. I still dont know what your selling and your asking for too much of my time(as a potential customer) to find out. Also, Is English your first language?.... If it isn't you have a superb command of the English language if not I do not mean this offensively as believe me I have written some utter rubbish on my sites in an attempt to churn out content and you haven't don't this. However, there is a lot of content to handle and you have begun waffle and whilst everything seems to be spelled correctly and there is a lot of info you have extra words all over the place and things don't quite read right or tell people what they want/ need to know. Get to the point. 3 Simple rules for selling 1)Let the customer know what you are selling - immediately and in simple language... aim at the idiot and you wont go far wrong, if people don't know why they are on your site they wont stay for long. 2)Sales patter - now you can get more detailed and waffle a bit. But... before you do, list key product features and points of interest clearly and simply with links to more detailed info. 3)Make it really easy to buy or if you haven't sold your product then find an excuse to take contact details - free trial maybe or ofer something in exchange for contact details and pursue the sale later.

It is hard to get an overall feel for your site from the screens. I like your design and you have reacted well to feedback it's getting better each post. I cant really tell how our site is functioning but would strongly recommend keeping the navigation consistent throughout the site. It's good to push boundaries but don't leave your site user confused.

Why are you doing this? However aesthetically pleasing your presentation of football results there are a vast number of websites, TV programs, radio shows, newspapers, mobile apps, cfax and people down the pub doing exactly the same thing. Maybe I am missing the point, in which case what is the point as this will largely dictate your design. If there is no unique selling point then why bother with design... no1 will look at it anyway... Maybe I should keep my mouth shut since I find a page of football results as appealing as shemale prostitute with gonorrhea but bbc, sky sports or ladbrokes might be my first stop if I did care.

I agree there is too much blank colour, I think dark blue could work as could the purple but why dont you user an image or texture which blends into the colour to break things up a bit. For example use a pattern around the screen shot which fades to the background colour to break the page up or have a fade from one colour to another part of the way down.

What a bummer... I was just thinking about who to try it out on before reading the about page. I've sent the link to a couple of people to see if they try it on me.

Good job by any standard, especially for a third attempt. I dont think you have anything to worry about with regards to it being image heavy - loads quickly and doesn't look too busy. I tried to think of some constructive pointers but anything I say would be my own design preferences - personally prefer to build quite minimal websites which don't try to present too much info at one time but that is a design choice and this is yours. Yours works well so just follow your own design instincts and keep doing what you're doing.

I haven't used Fireworks so cant really comment there except to say that I have seen a few terribly designed sites emerge from Fireworks which were made entirely out of image slices (don't do this) but I suspect that may have been down to the person who made it rather than the software itself. Photoshop and illustrator serve different purposes (at least in theory) illustrator is geared towards illustration - creation of new graphics. Photoshop is more of an image editor. Though this is perhaps a little unfair since it can be used for original artwork creation very successfully particularly with a few plugins - in fact Photoshop is all I use now. I have used Illustrator but find it a little user unfriendly - though this is likely to do with my lack of knowledge of the software more than anything else - Photoshop all the way for me (this seems to generally be the industry standard). If you are on a budget check out GIMP - free alternative to Photoshop, similar layout with plenty of plugins, tutorials and community support - http://www.gimp.org/ Properly done layouts don't need slicing they are made from layers of images - these are then arranged on your page using using html/css. Sorry if I have said things which are obvious to you but I found your question a little confusing but wanted to help never the less. Gd Luck.

Hi Guys, first time posting and I was wondering if anyone can help me with a little problem I am having with objects. The problem is with the following site: http://www.oddball-links.com more specifically the Games page. It works fine in Firefox but in IE, all the way through to 8 it leaves objects playing in the background after they have been "closed". To open and "close" the games I am using a Javascript function which toggles the div boxes containing the games between display:none and display:block. I cant reference the objects by id or class because of the way they are being entered into the database. I am looking for away of closing resetting all objects on the page. Any help much appreciated. D