There is no function in PHP equivalent to VB or ASP’s left. There is a more robust function called substr. Here’s a function from the forums that replicates the functionality.
function left($string, $count){
return substr($string, 0, $count);
}
Best time to buy anything
Handy reference. Who would have thought April was the best time to buy laptops.
http://lifehacker.com/5736625/the-best-times-to-buy-anything-in-2011