As you all know I’ve been struggling with a few e-commerce platforms. Eventually I settled on the Shopp plugin for Wordpress. I really like how simple the system is. It’s just what I need (inventory management, weight rate shipping) and not what I don’t. Once I got past the first bug or two I really warmed up to it.

A big thanks to everyone who has offered their help setting this up and making recommendations. I still have zen-cart and oscommerce in the back of my mind if this doesn’t work out — but for now I’m giving this a go.

I’ve spent a few days getting intimately familiar with the code and hacking together the templates. I really like how well it integrates with the site. It’s not finished by any stretch of the imagination but I believe the core functionality is there.

I’m looking for feedback on the store. If you can offer any comments on usability, features, or otherwise please sound off in the comments. I’ll be continuing to add new stuff (user gallery, specifications, more products) as time goes on.

If all goes well over the next few days I’ll be sure to make a much better announcement for our grand opening. In the mean time, consider the HakShop open for beta testing.

www.hak5.org/hakshop (Please report any bug to darren@hak5.org)

After a frustrating day fighting with e-commerce code I must forfeit. I really wanted to have this online today but it doesn’t look like it’ll happen. If you’re reading this post after watching episode 512, I’m sorry. Check back in a day or two. Maybe then this code and mysql will start to behave.

–Darren

The first Code Challenge for Hak5 Season 5 — the Gmail Procrastination Badge. What started as a tongue in cheek comment on twitter about needing to declare email bankruptcy lead to proof of concept Gmail Unread Badge code.

The code

<?php

$mbox = imap_open ("{imap.googlemail.com:993/imap/ssl}INBOX",
"gmailusername", "gmailpassword", OP_READONLY)
or die("can't connect: " . imap_last_error());

$check = imap_mailboxmsginfo($mbox);
?>

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Step 1: Download Monkey Art
Step 2: Get Creative
Step 3: Publish Monkey Wallpaper
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit!

Winner will receive Hak5 swag as well as a do-it-yourself sock monkey kit curtesy of SockMonkey.net!