New from Zend this morning, we have the second part in the series of the Creating a “Text Version” Web Page On-the-fly series that was started back in April (with Part 1). Part one just showed you how to make a static text version of your page for your viewers - well, Part 2 takes it one step further. They show you how to take that output and make a PDF file from it. This allows you to make much more well-designed and more readable documents for your site viewers. The best part is - it does it on the fly, so you don't have to worry about pre-making tons of PDF files for your website. It does require the PDFlib libraries to be compiled in, but if you need it all, then it's more than worth it.

Ever have those days when all you want to do is just cut and paste code around, when you just don't feel creative enough to start on a new project? Programming Within your Comfort Zone from Builder.com talks about just that. You get to know "your languages" and you get comfortbable with them and don't feel the need to branch out - but that's when the problem starts. In this article, they talk about some good ways to avoid settling into your "programming comfort zone" and watching your skillset dwindle over the years. While it’s good to be master of your domain, if you don’t recognize that your skills must grow along with technology, you’ll soon find yourself obsolete. Stay sharp: Constantly question and expand your area of expertise and learn to take comfort in change.

And, finally, for those out there wondering about the fun you can have with the date and time functionality of PHP, have we got the article for you. This new piece from DevArticles.com is a nice, simple one that explains the use of a few of the date/time functions that PHP has to offer (time, date, strftime, and getdate). There's not a lot to this one, but if you're just looking for a simeple "date function" reference, then you should check this out.