php compares the size of two absolute times

<?php
$zero1=date( " y-m-d h:i:s " );
$zero2= " 2010-11-29 21:07:00 ' ;
echo  " zero1 Time:" .$zero1. " <br> " ;
echo  " zero2 Time:" .$zero2. " <br> " ;
if(strtotime($zero1)<strtotime($zero2)){
 echo  " zero1 As early as zero2 ' ;
}else{
 echo  " zero2 As early as zero1 ' ;
}
?>