Follow these steps to backup the “Block Senders” list in Outlook Express:

1. From the Desktop, click Start then Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit then OK.
3. Locate and click the following registry subkey:
4. HKEY CURRENT USER\Identities\(Identity Number)\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Block Senders
5. Go to the Registry menu and select Export Registry File.
6. From the Save In box, change the location to your desktop.
7. At the File Name box, type “Blocked Senders[date].reg” then Save.
8. Go to the Registry menu and chose exit.

To restore a backup, simply right-click on the “Blocked Senders[date].reg” file that you wish to restore and select “merge.”

Well, they aren’t really that amazing, but for Windows and Linux users, they sure save time.

• Ctrl+A: select all
• Ctrl+C: copy
• Ctrl+F: find
• Ctrl+G: find again or find next
• Ctrl+P: print
• Ctrl+S: save web page as
• Ctrl+T: open new tab
• Ctrl+U: view source code
• Ctrl+V: paste
• Ctrl+X: cut
• Ctrl+Y: redo
• Ctrl+Z: undo
• Alt+Tab: cycle through open programs
• Ctrl+Page Up: navigate forward through open tabs
• Ctrl+Page Down: navigate backward through open tabs
• Esc: stops the current tab’s web page from loading
• Ctrl+Shift+R: total refresh of the current web page — clears out the cache
• Ctrl+- and Ctrl++: adjust font size — use Ctrl+0 to reset to original size
• Ctrl+middle click / middle click: opens link in a new background tab

• Open new window: Ctrl + N
• Open new tab: Ctrl + T
• Close window: Alt + F4 or Ctrl+W
• Close tab: Ctrl + F4
• Switch focus to address bar: Ctrl + L
• Open link: Enter
• Open link in new window: Shift + Enter
• Open link in new tab: Ctrl + Enter
• Go back: Backspace / Alt + Left Arrow
• Go forward: Shift + Backspace / Alt + Right Arrow
• Reload: Ctrl + R or F5
• Go to home page: Alt + Home
• Go to next tab: Ctrl + Tab
• Go to previous tab: Ctrl + Shift + Tab
• Find in this page: Ctrl + F
• Find again: F3
• View page source: Ctrl + U
• Decrease text size: Ctrl + -
• Increase text side: Ctrl + +
• Restore text size: Ctrl + 0
• Save page as: Ctrl + S
• Save link target as: Alt + Enter
• Stop: Esc
• Clear private data: Ctrl + Shift + Delete
• DOM Inspector: Ctrl + Shift + I
• Change text size: Ctrl and scroll up/down with mouse wheel
• Switch tabs: Ctrl + n, where n = a number 1 - 9, corresponding to each tab
• Close tab: middle click (Windows default)

I found this interesting:

• Enlighten
• Encode
• Decode

Apparently, I am defined as:

GFA d-@ s:- a C++ U@ P@ L@ E@ W+++ !N !o K--? w@ O@ M@ !V PS@ PE@ Y@ PGP@ t !5 !X R@ tv-- b+ DI !D G@ e+ h@ r+++ y+++

I recently performed a series of tests on a fresh installation of WordPress 2.8.6 to determine the exact htaccess rewrite rules that WordPress writes to its htaccess file for various permalink configurations. Under the WP admin option menu, WordPress lists four choices for permalink structure:

1. Default: http://perishablepress.com/press/?=123
2. Date and name based: http://perishablepress.com/press/index.php/2006/06/14/sample-post/
3. Numeric: http://perishablepress.com/press/index.php/archives/123
4. Custom: /%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/

The "default" option is to not use permalinks. The "date and name based" setting invokes the /index.php/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/ rule pattern. The "numeric" setting invokes the /index.php/archives/%post_id% rule pattern. And the "custom" setting invokes whatever pattern is specifically chosen. For our "custom" option, we chose the /%category%/%author%/%postname%/ pattern.

For the test, we began with the common "date and name based" permalink configuration. Then, after invoking the chosen permalink structure, the htaccess file was downloaded and the new WP rules were recorded. After this, the admin permalink settings were switched back to the "default" configuration. Finally, we deleted the new rules and uploaded the htaccess file. This process was diligently repeated for each different permalink configuration. It should also be noted that blog performance was checked during each round of testing.

The results indicate conclusively that WordPress uses the exact same set of htaccess rules for all permalink configurations. Surely this information is available elsewhere on the internet, however we were experiencing several inconsistencies related to permalink structure that inspired us to determine for ourselves the precise htaccess rules for WordPress permalinks.

Without further ado, the htaccess rules for all WordPress permalinks¹ are precisely either #1 or #2:

[ #1 ] If WordPress installed in the root directory »

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

[ #2 ] If WordPress installed in a subdirectory called "foo" »

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /foo/
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /foo/index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

¹ Note: These results are valid for standard permalink structures invoked via a standard WordPress install and may not operate effectively for non-standard or highly specialized configurations. We assume that if you are hard at work hacking and tweaking, you must know what you are doing.

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is a trip into the online past, offering glimpses of ancient website relics. Reaching back through the virtual dark ages of 1996, the Wayback Machine chronicles over 55 billion pages. Although many of the pages appear incomplete due to missing images, the Wayback Machine provides an invaluable resource, enabling users to experience and learn from the arcane internet of yesterday.

Check out these archaic online offerings:

• netscape.com, circa December 31, 1996
• microsoft.com, circa October, 1996
• The first Google website, circa late 1998

Within the last few years, the convergence of satellite imagery, digital technology, and the world wide web has spawned a host of sophisticated online navigational applications. Perhaps the most significant development involves Google's relatively new map technology, which brings users Google Maps and Google Earth. Whereas Google Maps provides an online navigational resource, Google Earth is a free, fully downloadable software application that brings that literally brings the world to your desktop. A few minutes after downloading and installing Google Earth, we found ourselves amazed, surfing the globe from Seattle to Paris, zooming in from thousands of miles above the earth, checking out old haunts, and reeling in the years. Google Earth enables users to label key points, add extensive notes, and seamlessly integrate the power of the internet. There are more features than there is time to explore them all. Such an incredible tool is definitely a must.

Other useful "mapplications" include GeoURL and TerraServer-USA. GeoURL is an online service providing a "location-to-URL reverse directory." GeoURL enables users to "find URLs by their proximity to a given location." This is useful for bloggers, who may wish to rally together in meatspace. As of this posting, GeoURL lists over 217,658 sites. Click here to see GeoURL-listed addresses near the Perishable Press Headquarters. Although not nearly as robust as Google Earth, "the TerraServer-USA Web site is one of the world's largest online databases, providing free public access to a vast data store of maps and aerial photographs of the United States." Here is a 1996 satellite-view of my neighborhood via the TerraServer-USA database. Fascinating.

There are also several online mapplications providing website visitor tracking. Although free versions of these tools are available, they are typically limited in statistical scope, which theoretically encourages users to promptly upgrade to the full, "paid" versions. Right. Anyway, there are some prime aps available, including gVisit, ClustrMaps, and even Frappr. Whereas gVisit and ClustrMaps provide similar tracking services, Frappr is more of an online community through which users may create and share map-related information through digital maps, photo galleries, and chat rooms. Fine if you have the time to invest in all of that. Otherwise, nothing beats gVisit and ClustrMaps for free geographical visitor tracking. Although both of these services provide similar features, ClustrMaps apparently provides a greater degree of analytical insight than does gVisit. Both services involve pros and cons, and both are worth checking out.

Check out these newly created Frappr and gVisit maps for Perishable Press. Finally, for a different application of modern online map technology, check out National Geographic's MapMachine or even Wikimapia, a wiki-map hybrid inviting and enabling users to "describe the whole earth" by adding interesting geographical information. Well now, …if you have read this far and are still wondering what exactly "meatspace" is, follow this link and discover the truth.

According to the WordPress Codex ¹, it is possible to pass quotation marks via the parameters of the function, wp_link_pages(). This would enable users to assign a particular css class or id to the function output, thereby providing greater design and behavioral control over that particular object.

But alas, as reported several times in the WordPress Codex ², wp_link_pages() is unable to pass quotes without causing errors.

To fix this, we open template-functions-post.php and find wp_link_pages(), which is located around line #121 (for WP 2.0.2).

The fix is easy, simply edit the <p> in the following lines:

$r['before'] = '<p>' . __('Pages:');

$r['after'] = '</p>';

For example, if you wanted to wrap the function output with a <div class="foo"> and subsequent </div>:

$r['before'] = '<div class="foo">' . __('Pages:');

$r['after'] = '</div>';

Upload and done. Do not forget to eliminate the before= and after= parameters when calling the function from the loop ³.

References

• ¹ WordPress Codex: About wp_link_pages
• ² WP Support Ticket: wp_link_pages: problem with arguments
• ³ WordPress Codex: The Loop

This article explains how to reverse the order of WordPress page navigation links.

To reverse the default (backward) order of page navigation in WordPress, open the file template-functions-links.php (in WP 2.0) or link-template.php (in WP 2.1/2.2) and scroll down to the last function, posts_nav_link() ¹. Next, find the last if statement and switch the order of the following two lines:

previous_posts_link($prelabel);
   [ ignore this line ]
next_posts_link($nxtlabel, $max_page);

Next, within the first line of the same function (beginning with function posts_nav_link), switch the order of the variables $prelabel='« Previous Page' and $nxtlabel='Next Page »'.

Finally, within the loop, make sure you are calling the function with the usual parameters in place. Something like:

<?php posts_nav_link(' | ','&laquo; Previous Entries','Next Entries &raquo;') ?>

That’s it! Your post navigation links (for index and category views) should now operate according to the following principle: left links point to older posts and right links post to newer posts.

References

• ¹ Not to be confused with previous_post_link() and next_post_link(), which provide navigational links to older individual posts and newer individual posts, respectively. Oddly enough, in the case of post-by-post navigation, WordPress gets it right: left links point to older posts and right links post to newer posts; however, this is not the case with page-by-page navigation, in which WordPress adopts the reverse strategy.