Genius Tech Blog

The .htaccess file and Apache’s mod_rewrite module may be some of the most under-utilized web server utilities.

Millions of websites suffer the ignominy and shame of having hardcoded filenames
on their websites such as:

http://example.com/index.html

or unsightly url’s for their (sometimes dynamic) subpages, for example:

http://example.com/blog/post.php?post_number=1045

.htaccess and mod_rewrite can dramatically change these unfortunate websites for the better. They may become

http://example.com

and

http://example.com/blog/post/1045

Not only will the new names be easier to read and more intuitive, they will also be search-engine friendly and one step closer to a proper RESTful methodology.

For a good introduction to .htaccess, see:
http://www.crucialwebhost.com/blog/htaccess-apache-rewrites-oh-my/

There is a good mod_rewrite “cheatsheet” here:
http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/mod_rewrite-cheat-sheet/

For more reading on RESTful principles, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer

Submitted by Your Computer Genius on Mon, 2007/12/03 – 9:00pm.

reCAPTCHA is not your normal “CAPTCHA” program.

CAPTCHA is a general name for the anti-spam, anti-abuse code that people place on their websites, especially on comments sections for blogs, or new account registrations, to prevent bots or automated computer programs from exploit or over-using web services.

As they state on their website, 150,000 hours of human time are spent solving CAPTCHA-style problems, or filling out CAPTCHA-style forms.

reCAPTCHA captures and channels that energy, adapting it to a useful and usable form — namely it aids in transcribing text from digital images into text, forming a critical link in the digitizing of physical books and the archiving of human knowledge.

The reCAPTCHA system uses this available source of human work to help with this archival process when automated OCR runs into problems.

You can tap into this system for free, and use it on your website to filter out spam and non-human users, all the while aiding this noble project.