Thinking about trying your hand at submitting a talk to an upcoming PHP conference but aren't exactly sure where to get started? You might want to check out Lorna Mitchell's suggestions on some of the steps.

Speaking at conferences is a great way to share ideas and meet people - but actually getting the opportunity to do is a little more tricky and usually involves proposing a talk. [...] If you want to go to a conference, and there is a topic you'd like to share some thoughts on, then write them down and submit!

She talks about making the most of the submission form - submitting your abstract and including details why you and your talk should be selected for their conference. The comments include a few other suggestions like "don't submit the same one talk over and over", "try for something different" and remember that you always have something to contribute.

Ilia Alshanetsky is asking the crowd for comments in his latest blog entry, specificalyl about the new filter extension coming in the next major PHP 5 series release - version 5.2.

What I am interested in hearing is are there any other common types of data collected by PHP forms that would be worth while adding filters for into the extension. My own suggestions would be the phone (US/EU formats) and postal/zip code validators.

Comments on have already been made ranging from date validation improvements to input validation. Head on over and add your own comments/ideas to the mix...

In an effort to create a higher level of discussion on PHP than just the "why is this erroring?" or "how do I get PHP to..." questions, Davey Shafik has started a new channel over on the Freenode IRC network to futher talks about PHP and not just fixing other peoples errors.

The goal of the channel is to foster talks about topics such as design patterns, emerging PHP concepts, working on the bleeding edge, and new ways of doing old things. The channel is already set up and running smooth with users constantly around (though they might be just lurking), so come on over and join in.