Question

How do I convert “2011-08-19 07:44:26 Etc/GMT” to a local timestamp?

Answer 1

Use DateTime::createFromFormat:

$d = DateTime::createFromFormat("Y-m-d H:i:s T", "2011-08-19 07:44:26 Etc/GMT");
echo $d->format("r"), "\n";
$d->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone("EST"));
echo $d->format("r"), "\n";

will output

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:44:26 +0000
Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:44:26 -0400

There is a great book on the topic: php|architect’s Guide to Date and Time Programming. Programming with date and time is a quite extensive topic.