How to properly use curl_init for a GET request in PHP? or What's the correct way to handle a curl_in

Dude, I feel you. curl_init get requests can be finicky.

First, check if `allow_url_fopen` is enabled in your php.ini. If not, curl might fail silently.

Also, try adding a timeout so it doesn’t hang forever:

```php
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);
```

If all else fails, maybe switch to file_get_contents with a stream context?