In this brief tutorial, we are going to enable users to access any file or directory of a site that is password-protected via htaccess. There are many reasons for wanting to employ this technique, including: Share public resources from an otherwise private site Enable visitors to access content during site maintenance Testing and formatting of layout and design during development As a webmaster, I have used this technique on several occasions. This trick works great for allowing access to any […] Continue reading »
![[ Image: Lunar Eclipse ]](https://perishablepress.com/wp/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/blacklist2-eclipse.jpg)
In our original htaccess blacklist article, we provide an extensive list of bad user agents. This so-called “Ultimate htaccess Blacklist” works great at blocking many different online villains: spammers, scammers, scrapers, scrappers, rippers, leechers — you name it. Yet, despite its usefulness, there is always room for improvement. Continue reading »
In the hellish battle against spam, many WordPress users have adopted a highly effective trinity of anti-spam plugins: Akismet Bad Behavior Spam Karma This effective triage of free WordPress plugins has served many a WP-blogger well, eliminating virtually 99% of all automated comment-related spam. When spam first became a problem for me, I installed this triple-threat arsenal of anti-spam plugins and immediately enjoyed the results. Although Spam Karma seemed a little invasive and resource-intensive, too much protection seemed far better […] Continue reading »
![[ Mint Icon ]](https://perishablepress.com/wp/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/fluid-mint.png "Have a Mint")
After switching Perishable Press to its current home at A Small Orange, I began noticing an unusual problem with referrer data displayed in Mint. Specifically, the first item recorded in the XXX Strong Mint data panel — for both “Most Recent” and “Repeat” views — displayed several thousand hits for various site resources, all reporting the following IP address: Continue reading »
![[ Image: Screenshot of the MS Run Prompt ]](https://perishablepress.com/wp/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/run-command.png)
Even with all the fancy-pants new features found in Windows XP and now Vista, Microsoft Windows 98 (Second Edition) remains our favorite Windows-flavored operating system. We love it so much, we still use it on one of our trusty laptops. Over the years, we have discovered several very useful functions available via the command line or even the “Run” prompt (Start → Run…). Anyway, without spending too much time researching or explaining these wonderful tools, we figured posting the information online may […] Continue reading »
![[ Google Search ]](https://perishablepress.com/wp/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/google-search.png)
Coming soon to the World Wide Web: Everything. The perpetually evolving sum of human knowledge available online. Anywhere. Anytime. So, what are you looking for? Information concerning something, somewhere, about somebody.. You know it’s there somewhere. Sure, you could waste time by digging through that immense labyrinth of browser bookmarks, maybe eventually finding that one link that may or may not lead you to the page that you remember.. No thanks. The Web is far too rich in information to […] Continue reading »
Note: The methods described in this tutorial apply to older versions of Internet Explorer (version < 6) and Outlook Express (version < 6), and are provided here for reference and historical purposes only. Continue reading »
![[ Sony Vaio Laptop Rocking Windows 98SE ]](https://perishablepress.com/wp/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/sony-vaio-laptop.jpg)
This brief tutorial on hiding content applies to Windows 95, 98, and 98SE. Although this method may be old hat or even irrelevant to the more experienced Windows users, I have found it useful on a number of occasions, and therefore think it’s worthwhile to share here at Perishable Press for future reference. Continue reading »
This quick tutorial explains how to rename the Recycle Bin in WinXP. For those of us who like to customize our desktop environments. Continue reading »
In our previous article on creating spamless email links via JavaScript, the presented method, although relatively simple to implement, is not the most effective solution available. Spambots, email harvesters, and other online scumbags relentlessly advance their scanning technology, perpetually rendering obsolete yesterday’s methods. Continue reading »
This brief tutorial on removing (and replacing) the index.dat file applies to any Windows OS running on MS-DOS. Although I haven’t researched this officially, it appears that all Windows versions released prior to Windows 2000 are running on the 16-bit MS-DOS kernel. Conversely, Win2000 and WinXP operate on a 32-bit kernel and thus do not utilize MS-DOS. Thus, this method focuses on removing the index.dat from machines running Windows 95, 98, and 98SE. Continue reading »
Trying to backup your Outlook Express .dbx files on Windows XP may prove difficult if you can’t find them. Well, fret no more, my friend. Here is the generalized path to the Outlook Express folder, which contains all of the .dbx files for a particular user. Continue reading »
Speed up your workflow by launching your favorite programs in one click using batch (.bat) files. Continue reading »
Within the right-click context menu is the option to create "New" file items. While the list of available documents within the "New" submenu often contains several useful file types, such as .txt or .zip, it also contains lots of unnecessary entries. So let’s delete any unwanted context menu items in WinXP.. Continue reading »
This brief tutorial explains how to add a background image to any folder in Windows XP. Really enables you to customize your workflow and experience using WinXP. Estimated time to completion: around 5 minutes (it’s easy). Continue reading »
There are several files that appear not to have extensions in Windows XP. Perhaps the best known example is the HOSTS file. Files such as the HOSTS file that appear to be “extensionless” actually contain an invisible period “.” — or dot — at the end the file name. It is this invisible dot that will enable us to select a specific program with which to open files with no extensions. Continue reading »
