Following along with the non-alpha PHP code that Gareth Heyes recently posted about, Alex Inführ has created some of his own using only dollar signs, underscores, equals, plus and parentheses.

I used the following charset: $_=+(); As you can see only 7 chars. In the end the function log will be created,because this won't exceed the memory limit. In the beginning I created the php function assert and it was 99 mb large php file, way too big to get executed.

He uses a few tricks to get the language to create strings (counting to infinity), changing the letters in the resulting string, He includes the steps in the process and a large block of the non-alpha PHP code at the end of the post, a 46KByte block that echoes "log(12)".

On the O'Reilly OnLAMP.com site today, there's a new article with a few tips on making the tag clouds on your site successful from Jim Bumgardner, the author of Building Tag Clouds in Perl and PHP.

Tag clouds can be used effectively, and provide real value to a web site, or they can be tacked on as an afterthought, simply because they look cool, or to make the site appear similar to other, better web sites that offer them. Ultimately, you need to keep in mind their dual function, both as a graph of current activity, and as a navigation aid. Here are some design and implementation tips.

His list includes:

• Choose the right language
• Frequency sorting
• Avoid Random Mappings
• Try Different Maps

Each item has a brief explaination of what its about, and some include examples of what to do/what not to do.

Lukas Smith has his own take on the PHP "meeting of the minds" that happened the other day posted on his blog, including some issues he raises with a few of their decisions.

I have been following the various wishlist items for PHP6 with quite some personal interest. I even compiled all the wishlist items I saw on mailinglists, on IRC or that were brought up at conferences and put it online. Much of these items made it on the agenda at the recent PHP6 core developer meeting in Paris.

Looking through Derick's notes I have a few comments to make.

Some of the things he mentions include: Unnicode support choices, PECL extensions, impartiality over some of the engine changes, and a few bothersome items that are to be added...

Over on his blog today, Richard Davey has this new post with his look forward to PHP6 and what it means for all developers out there.

As you may be aware the core PHP group of developers all met in Paris on November the 11th and 12th 2005. The minutes from the meeting are fascinating reading, but there is a lot to go through. So I've gone through all of the points raised and chewed them over from a developers point of view. Your comments as always are welcome.

Items he talks about include: unicode support, register globals finally getting the boot, safe mode going with it, some extensions that are moving outside the core, as well as some changes to the core itself. Check out his post for all the info...

With the release of the notes from the "PHP Developer's Meeting" that just happened, the Professional PHP Blog has their own take on it today.

Derick Rethans has posted the notes from the recent PHP 6 meeting in Paris. All I can say is wow! PHP has a bright future. Good job guys.

I've also been impressed with the new upgrade notes for 5.1. Good job there, too.

He does note, however, one issue that "jumped out at him" - their deliberation as to whether to have Unicode support on or off by default. He also mentions one thing that might be useful (or might not depending on how much data you get) - simply asking the hosting providers what they'd want...