public static function utf8chr($code) {
        /* We don't care: we live dangerously
         * if($code > 0x10FFFF or $code < 0x0 or
          ($code >= 0xD800 and $code <= 0xDFFF) ) {
            // bits are set outside the "valid" range as defined
            // by UNICODE 4.1.0
            return "\xEF\xBF\xBD";
          }*/

        $x = $y = $z = $w = 0;
        if ($code < 0x80) {
            // regular ASCII character
            $x = $code;
        } else {
            // set up bits for UTF-8
            $x = ($code & 0x3F) | 0x80;
            if ($code < 0x800) {
               $y = (($code & 0x7FF) >> 6) | 0xC0;
            } else {
                $y = (($code & 0xFC0) >> 6) | 0x80;
                if($code < 0x10000) {
                    $z = (($code >> 12) & 0x0F) | 0xE0;
                } else {
                    $z = (($code >> 12) & 0x3F) | 0x80;
                    $w = (($code >> 18) & 0x07) | 0xF0;
                }
            }
        }
        // set up the actual character
        $ret = '';
        if($w) $ret .= chr($w);
        if($z) $ret .= chr($z);
        if($y) $ret .= chr($y);
        $ret .= chr($x);

        return $ret;
    }