Recently, I have to output the age of a date in words and didn't have a framework to work with. The first steps were to parse the given date into an array and create a timestamp with the individual parts. The difference between the timestamp of now and the created timestamp yielded the age in seconds. The result can be used to compare with seconds of a day, week, etc.

The code snippet in the post outputs the difference between two timestamps (then and now) it a bit more friendly way (ex. 4 months, 2 weeks, 2 days).

We're happy to announce that our 7-day Promo Fest promotion kicks off on January 3rd with a 50% off sale on our own Zend PHP 5 Certification Study Guide.

Check out the full details for these next few days with discounts on things ranging from half off a Vulcan practice test and half price on all of their online training courses.

Today I was the first time I've used my new found Python skills in a professional capacity. [...] Since I had already worked with the HTMLParser library, I figured this would be a perfect opportunity for Python.

He includes some sample code showing a basic use of Python and a brief comparison of using each of the languages in a web development environment.

A friend asked "How do I calculate start (monday) and end (sunday) dates from a given week number for a specified year?" Instead of having to come up with your own algorithm you can simply do the following in PHP 5.1 and higher.

The (technically) three-line code uses ISO format for the date to tell you which day is the starting day of that week and which is the end. He only explains this format just a bit, so if you want more information, check out the strtotime function page.

With a weekend to kill and only a laptop to amuse myself, I sat down to put my feelings, my emotions, my raw soul into something that would express the impact the conference left on me. Unfortunately, what came out was something a bit less moving than I anticipated but none the less, it was fun to make and it's slightly amusing to watch.

So, check out the video, makes a few comments and relive a great week for all who attended. (And yes, I'm in there somewhere...)

As I write this, it's Sunday. I'm sitting here in the lobby of the San Jose Doubletree Hotel. [...] Now that I've had a chance to relax and gather my thoughts, let's glance back over the shoulder before packing up for the next conference.

For each day, he gives the highlights, both of the people he met and of the talks/tutorials attended. There's even a few special announcements included that happened during the week - like about the new ZendBox the company will be offering. After-hours activities were mentioned as well, including the "Pirate Party" IBM threw the last night of the conference.

A friend asked "How do I calculate start (monday) and end (sunday) dates from a given week number for a specified year?" Instead of having to come up with your own algorithm you can simply do the following in PHP 5.1 and higher.

The code makes use of the ISO8601 datetime functionality to grab the correct value from a strtotime command. Derick also briefly explains how it all works.

The intent here is to develop a boiled-down listing of modules to create and include in the coming versions of the framework as well as fill in some gaps in its functionality.

There are also a few changes they mention wanting to make revolving around database functionality (ActiveRecord and quoting iisues). Prior proposals will be looked at and considered again as part of this process.

This week, there's talk of:

• the Zend_View_Pagination proposal (and download)
• some discussion on Localization
• a large discussion on Component Naming Conventions
• a new proposal for a Zend_Ecommerce module
• the suggestion for an "Announcements Only" list
• a proposal for a Zend_Graph module

And much, much more - it was a busy week on the mailing list, and you can check out Cal's summary or you can head over to the archives and check it out for yourself.

Included in his list are things like:

• Zend's move to put the framework under the BSD license
• the arrival of the Thinktank Wiki/Blog site
• Digg and scalability
• using Atlas with PHP