Anybody using the Zend Framework (or any other php script using set_include_path() ) might already have experienced problems with set_include_path() at one time or another.

Most Zend Framework implementations (including implementations from the reference guide) are using set_include_path() within the bootloader.php file to setup the correct include path for the Zend Framework. The nice thing is that by doing so you’ll just have to write e.g. require_once(‘Zend/View.php’) for including Zend Framework classes or not even that by just using the great Autoloader feature. In a perfect environment setup you’ll just have to instantiate a new object of any Zend Framework class and it gets loaded automatically (you don’t even have to require/include any additional file as the Autoloader loads classes automatically from within the specified include path). Additionally you extend the include path to a library folder, etc.

Now it happens that in some mysterious server setups you cannot override the pre-defined include path. Neither set_include_path() nor ini_set(‘include_path’, ‘/path/:.’) have any effect on what get_include_path() is holding for you.

In such a case it might help to check you apache config which also can set the php include path. If it is set within the apache config you are out of luck. You simply cannot override it by script anymore. Same applies to setting the include path from within .htaccess. That also disables the ability to set the include path by script.

One thing I have not evaluated yet practically (but which I hope to be accurate in theory) is that you still can pre-define the value within apache config and .htaccess and at the same time allow override by script: just use php_value instead of php_admin_value when pre-defining php values.

About two weeks after getting rid of most of my online community accounts I just read a great summary of another person feeling the same. The article really sums up things nicely in words I never would have been able to put so well together.

From a webdeveloper’s point of view I am truly amazed by the great facebook framework. Seeing the great success of the platform does not make me feel anything than admiration. But from a social point of view I am really concerned about the ongoing abstraction of internet communities from the real world. It just makes me sad that I did not wake up earlier. At the moment I am just happy to have stopped this social nightmare.

The dilemma I am in right now is that my profession is webdeveloper. I am earning money by producing online systems. To not follow the mainstream is quite risky for a one-man-show company and might create a bad reputation at business partners who do believe in all buzzes. I hope those people too will one day find out that not everyone is happy with information overflow and real social isoliation created by online worlds.

My current quest is to find a way back to reality for online services. I want to use online technology to enhance my social experience in real-life… not to replace it. Today I was attending a NFC (near field communication) conference and was amazed by the possibilities this technology has to offer. That could really be a way to connect both worlds in a manner that will make me benefit from the online connectivity in a more satisfying way. Of course the internet still is holding a lot of useful ressources and services for me too. At the moment there is just the feeling that I want to spend more time with real people around than in online channels.

No matter if it will be NFC or any other kind of new technology… I am just curious about the future of the technological part of our lives.

It was a long journey to this point. Since 2001 (more than 7 years) IE6 was the webdevelopers constant companion. Within the last years it more or less transformed into webdevelopers constant nightmare. Countless hours went into “fixing” modern CSS layouts to render correctly in IE6.

Over time you somewhat get used to the IE6 quirks but then there is the fact that IE6 natively does not support alpha channel transparency in PNGs which make the realization of nowadays webdesigns a real torture. Spending endless hours on integrating IE6 only hacks and applying PNG hacks.

Not anymore.

From this day I will not support IE6 with IE6 specific / IE6 only acks anymore. Of course I will test layouts for full compliance with IE6 in terms of functionality but don’t expect any additional CSS rule for IE6 only.

I am happy that during the last months I seldomly had to apply any IE6 hacks on new templates. But from time to time there was just no way around an ugly “fix”. This will stop now.

Maybe it’s too early.

The statistics of my websites tell me that depending on the website topic there are between 10 and 25 % of users still using IE6. I think that number is not quite accurate. My guess is that there are some bots/spiders sending IE6 browser info.

I know at least one big enterprise forcing staff to use IE6 and I just don’t get it why. Waiting for some months for adopting new software is even recommended in most companies but not rolling out at least IE7 when IE8 gets already shipped with Windows7 is beyond my comprehension. There must be some reason but don’t ask me for it. I just have no clue.

If offending about every 10th visitor with an inferior rendering of transparent layouts is the only risk then I guess I’ll take it. At least google already decided to start the dropping of IE6 (although it’s only a recommendation – I don’t think they don’t care about IE6 at all). I hope many other big web outlets are following soon.

The last two days I was one of a few people who had the great pleasure to enjoy the very informative conference about the Semantic Web (aka. Web 2.0/3.0, aka. the Giant Global Graph) in Vienna, Austria: the “Web of Data Practicioners Days”.

Many different point of views, development status of different semantic applications and best of all – available implementations around the topic Semantic Web were presented. The mix of information from introductory details for beginners like myself to insights for pros and senior programmers was perfect.
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