PHP script to properly format phone numbers

Summary: One of the biggest challenges as a programmer lies in the fact that you have to think ahead for your users so that things work seamlessly.  On any site involving input fields that interact with a database, it is critical that the information be validated before going into the database, and with a bit of forethought you can make sure that the inputs are not only valid, but in a standardized format.

Consider phone numbers as an example.  If you ask 10 people to write down their phone numbers, you might get several different responses:

• 555.5555
• 555-5555
• 555.555.5555
• 555-555-5555
• (555)555.5555
• (555)555-5555
• 5555555
• 5555555555
• 1.555.555.5555
• 1-555-555-5555
• 1(555)555.5555
• 1(555)555-5555

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Kamran Popkin

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Kamran Popkin

Creative Director at Swag Club

As a true bio for Kamran cannot be found online and he is reluctant to give one, I have decided to tell you what I know and think about Kamran Pompkin. I think of him as a mad toy making genius. He has oodles and oodles of creativity. Look up “out of the box thinker” in the dictionary, I don’t really think they put whole phrases in the dictionary, but if they did there to the left would be Kamran’s smiling mug. He is also one of the most unique individuals you will ever meet and it does not seem like an act – it is truly his persona. Although I am not in his inner circle (those otherwise known as instigators) he makes me feel like I need to be, as if I am missing out on something, Which I am sure I am. He does this without seeming like an elitist because the people in this inner circle are not all CEO’s, Heads of States, and such, just cool cats that he likes and likes what they do and vice versa. That may be totally wrong, how am I truly to know what the criteria of becoming an instigator is.

Kamran has taken an industry of “koozie mongers” – his words not mine – and carved out something extraordinary and special. If you really want to know the value of Kamran and Swag Club seek out one of their clients. They will tell you the story of how Kamran has helped tell a story with their brand (koozies don’t normally help tell stories) and provided them with something that truly felt original and fit their brand perfectly.

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Russ Davis – Sandler Training

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Russ Davis

Principal at Sandler Training in Greenville, Sc

Innovative and effective training presented by award-winning Sandler trainer Russ Davis puts his clients a step ahead of the competition, and provides them with the path to reach their professional goals. We at the Sandler Sales Institute® are committed to offering our clients revolutionary training through our powerful public and private in-house training programs.

Russ Davis, recently opened a Sandler Sales Institute® office in the Greenville Spartanburg area. He has years of management and business development experience, most recently he has spent seven years associated with the Sandler Sales Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. His experience along with the proven Sandler training methodology produces exceptional results.
Russ was CEO of an environmental services firm until 1991, when he founded another environmental firm in Pennsylvania. That firm was sold to Waste Management Inc. in 1997. He has a BS from the University of Delaware and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Phil Yanov

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Phil Yanov

Founder of Tech After Five and President Of The GSA Technology Council

Phil Yanov is a writer, columnist, speaker, podcaster and occasional radio guy who has spent his whole life working in technology. He has been an invited professor at the university level. He has spoken to and inspired packed auditoriums of technology professionals and is the Founder and President of the GSA Technology Council as well as the IT Leadership Council.

He discusses technology issues in his Gears and Gadgets column and may be heard on the Your Day Radio Program which is carried across South Carolina on the NPR affiliate stations.

 

Phil Yanov has been active in the following organizations: 
• 2008, 2009 – Innoventure Entrepreneur Coaching Committee Chair
• 2008 – SBDC Regional Advisory Committee
• 2007-2009 – SBDC Advisory Committee
• 2006-2008 – Conference Director for SC Statewide CIO conference
• 2005 – Public Relations Chair for the Innoventure Capital Conference
• 2005 – Technology Chair for the Upstate Council on Entrepreneurial Development

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Jim Rohrer

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Jim Rohrer

Banking Executive, Business Consultant, and Artist

Jim Rohrer is a Tuscan polymath: scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. Born at Vinci in the region of Florence, the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant girl, Caterina, Jim was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan where several of his major works were created. He also worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, spending his final years in France at the home given him by King François I.

Jim has often been described as the archetype of the “Renaissance man” or universal genius, a man whose seemingly infinite curiosity was equalled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever.

*Some or all of the above may or may not be true – it is the bio taken from Jim’s website.

Website: jim-rohrer.com

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Maxim Williams – Bon Secour St Francis Health Systems

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Maxim Williams

Community Relationship Building Director
Bon Secour St Francis Health Systems

Maxim, a former entrepreneur and consultant while living in sunny San Diego, decided in 2008 to refocus his skills and talents towards improving community through ‘social’ entrepreneurship, community relationship building, and an integrative point of view. He is the Director of Community Relationship Building at Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville South Carolina. Locally he spearheads the exciting transformation happening in the historic Sterling neighborhood, where he has seeded many “firsts” for Greenville and has quickly gained local, regional, and national recognition for his work.

Website: stfrancishealth.org/communityrelationships or
bshsi.org/hci.sc

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Barry Chandler – The Bar Blogger

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Barry Chandler

Founder of Interactive Hospitality

Interactive Hospitality is an online marketing agency for bars, restaurants and hotels. Barry started working with bars and restaurants in 2004 when he founded Barkeeper.ie, an online management toolkit used by more than 800 Irish businesses to help manage their hospitality operations and was voted Ireland’s “Best Business to Business Website” at the 2007 Digital Media Awards. This was followed by the founding of Barkeeper.co.uk for the UK market, ManageYourBar.com for the US market as well as TheBarBlogger.com, a free online resource that helps bars attract more clients using social media.More than 2500 businesses have used his services to achieve higher results and establish the procedures necessary for an efficient operation. He advises owner operated businesses as well as multi-unit chains how to leverage online marketing and social channels to attract and keep a loyal community of customers without the reliance on traditional advertising costs.

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Trey Pennington Part 3

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Trey Pennington

Marketing pro, speaker, author, and dreamer.

This is Part Three of our interview with Trey Pennington. Trey is a well respected professional marketer who travels the world speaking on social media and the power of storytelling. If you have not seen

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