In the provided PHP script for generating thumbnails, what are some outdated or inefficient programming practices that could be improved?

One outdated or inefficient practice in the provided PHP script is the use of the `mysql_` functions, which are deprecated and should be replaced with `mysqli` or PDO for improved security and functionality. Additionally, the script could benefit from using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks.

// Connect to the database using mysqli
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Check connection
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT id, image FROM images WHERE id = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("i", $id);

// Execute the query
$stmt->execute();

// Bind the result variables
$stmt->bind_result($id, $image);

// Fetch the result
$stmt->fetch();

// Close the statement and connection
$stmt->close();
$mysqli->close();