creating a custom .htaccess file is actually really cool-and easy!
The .htaccess file is a pretty powerful tool, it allows you to password protect folders, redirect users automatically, use custom error pages, change your file extensions, ban users by IP address, only allow users with certain IP addresses, stop directory listings and use an alternate index file.

Creating the file is actually super easy. All you have to do is put in the appropriate code into your favorite text editor, its really not a lot. just remember that when you are saving it, it must read .htaccess (this file is actually nameless, with an 8 letter file extension). Once you have uploaded the file you can then rename it using your FTP program.

this is how easy it is to tell it what to do if an error page is reached:

ErrorDocument /home/LOGIN/public_html/error-document.html

this is how easy it is to tell it what to do if an error page is reached:

css all in one line

CSS in a single line

Just like with other code, css is most often broken up in a particular way to make it easier to comprehend. Until recently I had only seens CSS written in the block formation that most of us are probably really accustomed to. then some people I know started writing there css all on one line without spaces.

I really did not much like it it when I first saw it. It kinda looked jumbled and confusing, but I seemed to be seeing more and more CSS written this way everyday with people exclaiming that it was a far easier way to read through css code.

It also seems that may immediate reaction was not very unusual. It seems most people did not fall in love with it right away, but shortly did come to see that there were indeed some advantages. and you know what, so did I!

so what are the advantages?

so far to me the main one is the huge reduction in the amount of scrolling i have to do. If you think about it, I bet you will realize that you do a lot of scrolling to pass up all those narrow columns of code and get to what you are looking for.

So in short, this:

#wrapper {
    width:800px;
    margin:0 auto;
}

#header {
    height:100px;
    position:relative;
}

#feature .post {
    width:490px;
    float:left;
}

#feature .link {
    width:195px;
    display:inline;
    margin:0 10px 0 0;
    float:right;
}

#footer {
    clear:both;
    font-size:93%;
    float:none;
}

becomes this:

#wrapper            {width:800px; margin:0 auto;}
#header             {height:100px; position:relative;}
#feature .post      {width:490px; float:left;}
#feature .link      {width:195px; display:inline; margin:0 10px 0 0; float:right;}
#footer             {clear:both; font-size:93%; float:none;}

*Likes Widgets*

I read a article that made me want to give opera another try, Its been a really long time since i even downloaded it, but the Tech Republic article got me interested ( http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=414 ) going over ten reasons they like it. speed, was way up there at the top, but for me, the thing that will make me go back and check it out are a supposedly gargantuan variety of widgets, I love these things.
These are the thingies I thank everyday for helping me wast time in the most technologically efficient way possible (at home, not at work ) :)

So yeah, its great to keep up on the news...google reader keeps all of the feeds for the news i am interested in all neat and tidy waiting for me to glance at them. Now I never miss a thing, I get to read every single cool article that I ever wanted. And the moment I click on it google reader it as read. So now I just have to find time to live my life around all of the articles I have been reading...

typography adventures

not that i totally have this font thing down pat. But in my search I have come across a few interesting sites and tools to help you decide on a type style. I can't deny I have come across some conflicting information about what fonts should be used where, but hopefulness with some more research it will start to make sense to me as a "whole"

cool related sites

http://www.typetester.org/
http://ilovetypography.com/
http://www.typechart.com/

css shorthand please!

I recently saw an article about using css shorthand I began to wonder if anyone was really not using shorthand for their css documents. I cant say for sure but it seems to save a lot of time overall. It is not that complicated either. for instance:

#wrapper{
margin-top: 5px;
margin-right: 4px;
margin-bottom: 3px;
margin-left: 2px;
}
becomes

#wrapper {
margin: 5px 4px 3px 2px;
}

also if the top two margins are the same, as the side tto are, you could do it like this:

#wrapper {
margin: 5px 4px;
(that would be 5px from the top and bottom, and 4px from each the left and right)
so if any one is till writing each of these seperatley hopefully they will now take advantage of the shorthand!

I used jquery for basically the first time today. it was pretty exciting. I have to admit I think i am going to go crazy now adding it to everything. navigation, galleries.... I am not that good at debugging for it yet, (when implementing). luckily there are people here that are! so now I can go home and spend all my time searching the web for itsy bitsy jquery widgets and such. yay!