i know a bit of PHP, enough to have fun and get into trouble, but i’d really like a more thorough knowledge of the beeste.
this is my primary goal for this year.
In regards to learning PHP, it’s not worth it.
Learn Java or C#, and learn them well. Learn the theory behind them, the strict coding habits, then go back to PHP. It will do you a world of good.
Furthermore, don’t ever try running bleeding edge php (php 5.0.3 in my case) in a production environment, it will make you cry as all of your wonderful code gains bugs.
If you want to do serious stuff with it, start using PEAR.
Even then, there are better languages to learn… This site is made on Rails! http://www.rubyonrails.com/