skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
never mind that. i just discovered i have a fetish for skinny girls with sixties hair operating sixties CAM systems!
I just launched a $2,500 scholarship for entrepreneurial ideas...please apply!
I had to look up the word sophist, and I found this:

In modern usage, sophism, sophist, and sophistry are derogatory terms

Yet another smear piece by The Register on Malcolm Gladwell. Not that I'm saying it's undeserved (or not) but the vitriol in this article is palpable.
I worked with Java for four years, slowly moving to PHP as version 4 came about. Why? Rising demand.

As with any programming language, the best way to get started (in my opinion) is just to build something. A blog, a guestbook: something functional and useful. In the process you'll become familiar with the language fundamentals. I recommend that you at first build something using no framework (to get an idea of what sort of security measures you need to take, handling DB transactions, etc) and then followup with the framework of your choice.

I used vim/Eclipse for Java, and still use the same for PHP. There is an Eclipse build specifically for PHP, called "Eclipse PDT." There are several others out there (Komodo, Zend Studio) but PDT is free and therefore easier to try out.

I use CakePHP as a framework and find it to meet most of my needs. I have also tried symphony and the Zend framework, but neither of them were flexible enough for me. I have not tried CodeIgniter, but I have heard good things about it. There are some articles on IBM DeveloperWorks that are a good introduction to CakePHP.
URL Routing in Recess my upcoming PHP Framework
It feels a lot less forceful, and if the information being provided is generally useful then they are more likely to have return visitors who will eventually evolve into customers.
The rationale is that nobody is getting hurt. Which is true. The other side misuses words by calling it "stealing", which they rationalize by saying that not giving people money is the same as stealing money away from them.
TIME's 2008 Person of the Year is Obama
Automated DMs to new followers can be a little off-putting. Because most of the ones I've received are self-promotional messages, some are even affiliate links. But I think it can be good way to say 'hello', some people don't like it though.

From what I've heard, some people schedule tweets for followers in another time-zone. I don't consider it spam at all. Twitter is opt-in anyway and scheduled tweeting is no different from 'normal' tweeting. As a user, you usually can't tell the difference.
Here's my blog write up of the similarity between the article and the press release. It's pretty blatant: http://www.jgc.org/blog/2008/12/how-to-write-infoworld-artic...
Great question.

For editors I highly recommend Eclipse DPT: http://www.eclipse.org/pdt/

With a Java background I would think you'll feel right at home there.

Framework wise stay tuned to (shameless plug) http://www.recessframework.org - it's a framework I've been working on that makes greater use of the OO facilities in PHP5, is RESTful, and has a straightforward ORM. Public preview release soon.

CodeIgniter is written to run in either PHP4 or 5 which means it makes less interesting use of the PHP5 object model. If you're an OO nut I suggest staying in 5 and perhaps looking at Kohana.
Not sure why people are defending flickr. There are lots of equivilent websites, and have been long before it ever existed. I stand by my comment: It's fundamentally lame. If I was a CS professor, I would have sophmores make a clone of it for a 2-week project. Just because it's the most popular in its class doesn't mean it transcends the extreme simplicity of said class.

Frankly, I don't even like it. Whose aesthetic ideal is responsible for the decision to show pictures at a size other than the maximum (up to a practical limit)? Show me the full-sized picture. Just seems obvious.

What exactly does this have:

http://flickr.com/photos/mongol/515509897/in/photostream/

That this doesn't:

http://flickr.com/photos/mongol/515509897/sizes/o/in/photost...

(Obviously, you could put the various widgets next to and below the above picture with plenty of space to spare.)
Bailout payout tops $8 trillion
Xkcd - Flow Charts
She's the person behind the algorithm in this: http://www.jgc.org/blog/2008/02/tonight-im-going-to-write-my...

And she was incredibly gracious when I emailed her and asked for assistance and she publishes all her research on her web site (http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/). The stuff about identifying digital cameras via sensor noise is really interesting.
hmmm.. I remember a recent article in The Economist about how social mobility in the US is decreasing, which seems to contradict the idea there is a shift towards a more merit-based society.

(btw, the same article also showed with hard data that contrary to popular belief social mobility was higher in europe than in the US, despite the idea that european countries are more "credentials based" than the US.)
I didn't set out to learn PHP. I set out to learn Drupal and picked up PHP along the way.

I think that's a pretty good way to go, actually. You want to learn PHP by tinkering with a bunch of (a) working code that (b) has been reviewed by a community of people, at least some of whom are (c) trying to exhibit some taste. The problem with the language is that various sectors of it are poorly thought out, or have been implemented several times, and the best way to avoid stumbling over them is to follow in the footsteps of some expert guides.

Joining the userbase of one or another framework will probably give you much of the same effect.

The language itself is not hard to learn at all, except for the bits that are maddeningly silly. Watch out for the array() and the way it handles keys. Find the handy online table that compares empty() and isset() and is_null() and helps you to figure out that, in many cases, none of them is the thing you really want. ;) Watch out for accidental typecasts and their effect on your logic.
When I was learning PHP (way back in version 3) I started by building a simple addressbook backed by mysql, I would also recommend as kungfooey did to start by building something and learn as you go.

As far as editors go, I use emacs, but for about 5 years I used UltraEdit and was very pleased with it.

I personally use a framework i wrote a while back, but if I were starting over I think codeignitor would be my pick
Self interest as well. Lots of companies want you to sign additional agreements on the way out (don't trash the computers, don't bad-mouth the company, etc.) and you have no reason to sign these if they don't give you something in return.
Merb 1.0.5 and 1.0.6
StockTwits nails stockpicking on Twitter, raises round
a) i haven't used any php related books, but this is invaluable:

http://www.php.net/docs.php

i would suggest downloading a version of it for quick reference. it's worth learning the commonly used functions, but a big chunk of php's value (and the main criticism against it) is a namespace filled with goodies (with varying degrees of good). This means there is probably a lot of useful functionality that's used sporadically enough that it's not worth committing permanent headspace to. Rather, learn to be quick about finding the right function to use. It's usually worth checking to see if there's some strange function/module that does exactly what you're trying to do. and if there's not, you can usually find example code in the comments - though i wouldn't recommend copying that code into production. rather, use it as a starting point for exploring the problem at hand.

i'd suggest learning php by giving yourself a well defined, if simple, project to start with and attacking it the same way you've learned languages in the past. probably with some reading, a lot of doing, occasional breaking, then more reading.

b) notepad++ or homesite are my preferred IDE's

c) codeigniter, cakephp ( http://cakephp.org/ ) and the zend framework ( http://framework.zend.com/ ) are the big frameworks i'm aware of, but i'm sure there are more out there.

enjoy!
a) With your background you should not have any problems to learn PHP. If you start, don't begin with a big complex system, like a blog or a forum. Try small scripts and learn about web secruity and PHP pitfalls. Then you are ready to begin something bigger.

b) If have experiences with Java, try one of the PHP Plugins for Eclipse.

c) CodeIgniter is mostly based on PHP 4. This results in same outdated patterns, especially regarding PHP 5.3. If you want real extensibility (and highly object orientated code) try the Zend Framework. If this is a bit too much, i recommend the Yii Framework, it's lightweight and brings lots of ideas from rails to PHP without copying the rails specific approach.
Ramit,

Are there are positive criteria that would make an applicant less attractive for your scholarship?

For example:

* for profit

* teams

* a team including at least one person over 29

* progress (is this only for ideas?)
There are good arguments for strong property rights in Latin America for the primary purpose of allowing millions to leverage ownership with debt to finance new ventures.
http://bit.ly/DeSoto
Good work, Jessica! Now build an AI.
2 thoughts:

1. it's really cool how many locations they've funded companies in

2. Eric Marcoullier does a mean robot dance
Print? Isn't that the strange old medieval analogue technology? Do people still do that?
In his defense, he admitted he was reading a script provided to him by HR.
Missing the point. Sites that have been technologically equivalent or better than Flickr have been around since the first dot-com boom. The genius of Flickr was in building a community around it.

It's really easy for technophiles to say "Oh, I could build that in a week", and usually they can. The problem is, nobody will use it. Building a community is really fricking hard - it's the sort of task where everyone says "Oh, I can do that" up until they actually try it and then find out that there's a lot of subtlety to it they've completely missed.

Same goes for Reddit, and Twitter. Those are two other sites that are cloneable in a weekend, but nobody will use your clone.
As a long-time PHP veteran still in the practice:

- Recommend Editor: "Eclipse PDT" [1] probably has the best tools relating to PHP development, although I just use Vim for all of my PHP work.

- Bookmark the PHP online manual [2], and add their search plugin to Firefox, so you can look up standard library functions just by typing it into the search bar.

- The Zend Framework [3], more of a great library than a traditional framework, is probably the best resource for any projects your may be starting from scratch, although CodeIgniter is definitely a top contender.

Probably the best way to learn PHP itself is to read the (rather well-done) PHP manual, which includes everything from an introduction to the language, it's parsing and syntax trees, all the way up to how its object model works, and complete references for the entire function library, and all standard modules.

Read some source code from the wild. I suggest Mediawiki and Drupal.

Key points to make sure you understand:

- Arrays are the archetypal datatype in PHP, and can be used as lists, dictionaries, or a mix of the two.

- You can do just about anything just by using the standard function library. Frameworks are not necessary, contrary to popular belief.

- Objects are a mishmash of arrays, structures, and standard C++/Java objects. You can add class variables, functions, and such at runtime.

- You can do a lot of "fancy" meta-programming in PHP; you just have to know how to accomplish what you want. The PHP library helps out a lot with this.

- Everything is a template. It may be a bit more verbose than compiled templating dialects, but PHP itself is a really handy templating system in it's own right, just using <?php and ?> tags.

[1] http://www.eclipse.org/pdt/

[2] http://www.php.net/manual/en/

[3] http://framework.zend.com/
a) i recommend learning by doing. imo, start at the bottom and learn how to hand-code from scratch a single table CRUD app. then go through and clean it up. then build the same thing with a framework (i suggest CakePHP or CodeIgniter). then go through and clean it up. then build something more meaningful.

b) a quality text editor will work just fine. when doing php stuffs, i use jedit, and have used eclipse and netbeans in the past.

c) see a
Seed: State of Science 2008
Personally I would forget the framework - you don't need it. Any sufficiently advanced framework is indistinguishable from php.

OK, maybe not exactly, but many of them suffer from second system syndrome where they try to re-implement everything php offers.

Just use php directly.
Set in Our Ways: Why change is so hard after our 20s
Paul -

Very interesting article. I agree with you -- I was pursuing a degree in accounting in the 80's, and started programming in 1981 when my department bought a microcomputer with 16K RAM. I got hooked on software development and made it my career. I finished the accounting degree not because it had any value to my work, but because of the value perceived by employers in having a (any, even in a nonrelated field) degree.

I'm curious what you think about precisely targeted certifications, though. Many are not sufficiently expensive to be available only to the rich, and few require years of unpaid study to achieve. They do demonstrate an objective level of expertise. There are certainly many other factors to consider while evaluating a team member, but, all other things equal, and assuming the content is well chosen, do you think certifications have any value? (My position is that they do have some value, but only when tempered with consideration of other factors, and the realization that the lack of a certification does not necessarily mean less competence.)

- Keith Bennett
http://www.bbsinc.biz
Microsoft don't make Silverlight for Linux themselves.

J2EE is popular on numerous platforms, including Solaris and AIX.
I just ordered one on abebooks - hard to resist at only a dollar plus shipping!

I always liked those books when I was younger. I wish 7 year old sspencer had encountered this particular one...
I recommend Kohana as a framework to work with (kohanaphp.com). It started as a branch of CI so is similar to that - but was totally rewritten with PHP5 support and lots of new stuff :)

Worth a look.

I always recommend Notepad++ plus a XAMPP installation over any form of IDE. It's simpler in the long run.

As to learning: that is a hugely personal thing. I picked it up over 4 or 5 years (still learning even now though!). If you already have a good grouding in general programming you wont have a problem :)

But with PHP learnign by doing is a good approach :) there are lots of snippet sites out there as well for you to peek through for ideas :D
I'm a bit confused what you're asking for... are you, personally, in financial trouble, and looking for ways to save money? Or are you thinking of starting a business that would make money by helping people save money?
The comment in the blog about 10,000 hours for expert performance is well put. The research supports 10,000 hours but 10,000 hours in deliberate practice rather than mere repetition. The effort of such practice can only really be sustained for about 4 hours a day. Thus 10,000 hours takes 10 years if done 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. Just doing the same job for 3 years (even putting in 60 hour weeks) will not reach expert levels.

See: http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracti...
Website of a NH Usability Association -- priceless
Supporting your idea check the "22 immutable laws of marketing" item #4 "In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race"
As someone who has been called in several times to support existing custom-built PHP sites, I very much disagree. A framework will at a the very least ensure a clean organization. PHP is extraordinarily easy to make a mess of, frameworks help.
Congratulations! Need more news like that to get over gloom & doom.
Some of what you saw is seasonal. May is nearer to tourist season and those areas are some of the prime spots.

This article is kind of annoying in how it implies large jumps (50 sandwiches to 500, "59 percent of those requests came from families", 62% of 136 on the waiting list are new, etc) but they don't actually say what the homeless rate is and how it has changed.

In 2002 there were 8,600 homeless. By 2005 it had dropped to 6,300. So let's say it's really bad and there are 9,000 homeless people now. That feels like a lot in a city of 700K.
Stay Employed - Web Developer Skills in Most Demand (PHP, AJAX, MySQL..)
Video Game Industry Trends of 2008
Really? While I agree that a lot of frameworks are a bit on the heavy side I wouldn't advocate against using one. Frameworks do have something to offer that stock PHP doesn't, structure. I can't imagine going back to doing PHP without so much as my little 300 line MVC wrapper to work in. It's certainly possible to write good PHP without any sort of a framework, but it's infinitely easier to write really bad PHP that way too.
Headhunter: Employers Hate World Of Warcraft Players
Oh, these arguments make my head hurt:

>"The same 100 hour project with all the filler code obfuscated by Django or Ruby On Rails now takes 20 hours."

Ruby is so awesome that it simply saves 80% of your time? Really? You can't be serious. Yes, I understand the argument: If you remove all the fluff, you end up with the core problem, but I just can't believe that it's true.

>"Saving $800 over a higher skilled, more reliable, and more creative $80 an hour developer.[...] Its not worth $800, be happy with the $6,200 saved."

You should at least compare the 800$ to the 1600$, which is a saving of 50% - the risk might be higher, but the core problem is also in the "regular" project and you had no problem sourcing that out.

Seriously, these made up numbers are not helping. Maybe there is a truth to this argument, maybe not. But declaring you can get the same product for 20% of the price if you'd just use the right language is just wrong.
Facebook Value Drops from $15billion to $2billion
Hey, that's pretty clever! It fixes some of the issues with "traditional" mvc style routing (say in CI or K). Very impressed.

Also liking the deployment and dev modes & the tools app (which is a killer feature IMO!).

How far off complete is it?
i've been developing in PHP for 6 years now....and i have tried many frameworks. the one i like the most in my opinion is CodeIgniter.

CodeIgniter is very flexible and not as strict when it comes to implementing your own code and (libraries/classes/plugins). It's very simple, implements great separation (in regard of its MVC archt.) which makes it easy to understand and use.
The framework has great, easy to follow documentation with great forum support and a growing community.

i say just watch one of their video tutorials of their website and you'll see how easy it is to get started on a project.

As for an IDE editor:

if you're using windows....i HIGHLY RECOMMEND PhpED (by nusphere)

I have tested every possible editor out there and this one by far is the BEST. It's fully featured in every aspect, easily customized and runs fast!.

they have definitely taken programmers needs and dumped it into this application.

it's definitely worth a try at least.

just checkout the features here.

http://www.nusphere.com/products/phped.htm
Back story: http://wherethehellismatt.com

That one gives me chills.

Overall, a pretty good homage.
2009 KPSS SiNAV TARiHi
but to point out the from the first comment left by kungfooey

you're best way to start in any language is to develop a small app without a framework.....great advice by him/her.
You bring up an interesting point. Anyone has any idea of how to do it(Or how not to do it)? I've been developing for a long time and I do not have any good ideas.
Anyone here care to give some opinions about Zend PHP Certificate?
That explains the crying, etc.

I can see this got downmodded into oblivion, yet I don't think it's so far from the mark. I noticed some cognitive dissonance in myself while reading the original post under the assumption that George was a he. It dissipated when I figured out she's a she. Such a clear little "experiment" doesn't come along very often so I think it's worth paying attention to.
It's down. Cached: http://tinyurl.com/6k5aca

One huge image map! Twitter feed hints that some people must have called them out: http://twitter.com/NHUPA
Not really. The outsourcers aren't using a dung powered recycled PC. The ones I have worked with have had hundreds of programmers, much larger than the companies I was working for. Usually they already had the hardware needed or could get it quickly.
"However, if the pirate is actively using the product and deriving value from it in their work, they would have paid for the product (or another like it) to receive the same value."

Or done without. Or done with something different. But it's false to assume that anyone glomming a copy of some software would pay for it were it not free.
There's a big difference between web app and web page. Common web app controls (accordion, tab panels etc) allow developers to convey lots more information on screen and well thought out use of AJAX can make a complex application perform more quickly than the static equivalent.

As the complexity of web apps increases users will need to get used to the idea that they need to learn how to use each app to get the most out of it which is how it works with desktop apps. Try to compare the UI between desktop apps such as a music editor, 3DSMax and MSWord. Each uses different UI controls (sliders, knobs, text input etc). Each app is complex and has an associated learning curve. If people consider the app useful they will invest the time in learning how to use it.

I recently had to learn how to use Aftereffects. The UI and work flow were completely foreign to me - none of my existing knowledge was transferable, but I learned how to use it because I needed the features it provided.

Ultimately the market will decide. My guess is that the line between desktop and browser will continue to blur and will one day disappear.
I am not saying that it wasn't work to create those programs. But the fact is, there are plenty of free alternatives for most software. That is just the way it is. Putting work into something doesn't make you entitled to get paid. If nobody else feels like buying your stuff, you are out of luck.

Personally I am using Linux with 0 commercial software installed. I do pay for the occasional computer game, though.

Btw, it is not only "being cheap" that makes me stick to open source software, it has other benefits, too. For example OS software can be bundled with Linux and in many cases be installed via the package manager. Also, I get the "security verification" I don't get for commercial software (I know it is not a guarantee, but it is better than nothing).

Also, I know that I will be able to use the software everywhere. I don't have to buy a new copy if I buy a new computer, or find myself at a computer somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Also, put it into perspective: Windows allegedly is more complex than the Space Shuttle, yet sells for 130$ or so (don't know exact prices). In comparison to that, 20$ for a text editor is a lot of money. I know 20$ is not much (like 2 visits to the cinema or 3 coffees at Starbucks), but I think one can't help thinking like that when deciding to shell out money for software.