Hi Dan your problem is that your putting localhost/game/furnidata.txt when it suppose to be localhost/game/furnidata_xml.xml
Please sometimes make big mistakes and blame the tutorial..
The Emulator has loads of bugs so i recommend to not use it.., Definitely not noob friendly because Visual Studio is a quite bit advanced. Other than that Good Tutorial and i wish you good luck :)
Yes, you can use your own swfs, cms and emu and you can still use the tutorial. I choose to use them, and you can too if you like.
Don't blame the tutorial, because if people dont follow the steps and recheck everything you cant blame it, as i said try talking to the person who made silverware...
Its not the tutorial its maybe the emulator, honestly you can use any emulator for this tutorial i just choosed silverware, maybe try asking the person who made the emulator for help.
Remember if you have the littlest of problems with your retro please contact @PointRyanz at spaceryanz (skype), if you still can't understand try and watch the videos above and it should be able to assist you :)
Of course Phpmyadmin is still used, Mainly for New Users who are learning the basics, But yeah it's still popular inside and outside using it for retro use.