Download code snippets (http://textsnippets.com) from the command line and convert them to text files using man textutil (on Mac OS X 10.4).

Usage:

snippet 345
snippet 1268
snippet 1281

# $ cat $HOME/.bash_login

function snippet() {
   mkdir -p $HOME/Desktop/Snippets
   OPWD="$PWD"
   cd $HOME/Desktop/Snippets
   curl -L -O -s --max-time 25 http://textsnippets.com/posts/show/"$1" || exit 1
   file="$HOME/Desktop/Snippets/$(basename $_)"
   textutil -convert txt "$file"
   rm "$file"
   new_file="$file.txt"
   sed -i "" -e '1,5d' -e 's/.See related posts.//' "$new_file"  # delete first 5 lines of file
   sed -i "" -e :a -e '1,6!{P;N;D;};N;ba' "$new_file"            # delete last 6 lines of file
   cd "$OPWD"
   return 0
}

Author: jv
License: The MIT License, Copyright (c) 2007 jv
Description: search the web from the command line; an example of using cmdparser
Platform: Mac OS X 10.4.11
Requirements: set the character set encoding of Terminal.app to UTF-8; sudo port install libidn (after installing MacPorts)

Usage:

ws -h
ws daily quote
ws -y -p "daily news" sports football
ws -gm California
ws -p "wildlife vacation" India travel visit tiger leopard
ws -t 'Australia holiday vacation ocean desert'
ws -w http://en.wikipedia.org -p "keep it simple"
ws -wp -p "keep it simple"
ws -w en.wikipedia.org -t Africa wildlife
echo "Canada wildlife" | ws -y -w en.wikipedia.org -

Installation:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo touch /usr/local/bin/ws
sudo chmod 0755 /usr/local/bin/ws
sudo chown root:wheel /usr/local /usr/local/bin /usr/local/bin/ws
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/ws

# $ sudo cat /usr/local/bin/ws

#!/bin/bash

OPATH=$PATH
export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin

OIFS=$IFS
export IFS=$' \t\n'

declare search="" sed="/usr/bin/sed" open="/usr/bin/open" grep="/usr/bin/grep"

exec 2>/dev/console   # write stderr to console.log in /Library/Logs/Console/

# URL encoding
# convert special (UTF-8 encoded) input characters into hexadecimal URL-encoding form 
# For further conversions see:
# http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp (HTML URL-encoding Reference)
# http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/topics/urlencoding.htm
# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent-encoding

function url_encoding() {

echo -e "$('s/%/%25/g' -e 's/ /%20/g' -e 's/"/%22/g' -e 's/#/%23/g' \
-e 's/&/%26/g' -e 's//%3E/g' -e 's/{/%7B/g' -e 's/}/%7D/g' -e 's/\|/%7C/g' \
-e 's/\\/%5C/g' -e 's/\^/%5E/g' -e 's/\~/%7E/g' -e 's/\[/%5B/g' -e 's/\]/%5D/g' -e 's/\`/%60/g' \
-e s/$'\342\202\254'/%80/g -e s/$'\303\274'/%FC/g -e s/$'\302\243'/%A3/g -e s/$'\303\266'/%F6/g \
-e s/$'\303\251'/%E9/g -e s/$'\303\244'/%E4/g -e s/$'\303\204'/%C4/g -e s/$'\303\226'/%D6/g \
-e s/$'\303\234'/%DC/g -e s/$'\303\237'/%DF/g -e s/$'\303\240'/%E0/g -e s/$'\303\241'/%E1/g \
-e s/$'\303\242'/%E2/g -e s/$'\303\247'/%E7/g -e s/$'\303\250'/%E8/g -e s/$'\303\252'/%EA/g \
-e s/$'\303\253'/%EB/g -e s/$'\303\254'/%EC/g -e s/$'\303\255'/%ED/g -e s/$'\303\256'/%EE/g \
-e s/$'\303\257'/%EF/g -e s/$'\303\200'/%C0/g -e s/$'\303\201'/%C1/g -e s/$'\303\202'/%C2/g \
-e s/$'\303\207'/%C7/g -e s/$'\303\210'/%C8/g -e s/$'\303\211'/%C9/g -e s/$'\303\212'/%CA/g \
-e s/$'\303\213'/%CB/g -e s/$'\303\214'/%CC/g -e s/$'\303\215'/%CD/g -e s/$'\303\216'/%CE/g \
-e s/$'\303\217'/%CF/g -e s/$'\303\277'/%BF/g -e s/$'\303\203'/%C3/g -e s/$'\303\205'/%C5/g \
-e s/$'\303\206'/%C6/g -e s/$'\303\220'/%D0/g -e s/$'\303\221'/%D1/g -e s/$'\303\245'/%E5/g \
-e s/$'\303\246'/%E6/g -e s/$'\303\261'/%F1/g -e s/$'\303\262'/%F2/g -e s/$'\303\263'/%F3/g \
-e s/$'\303\264'/%F4/g -e s/$'\303\265'/%F5/g -e s/$'\303\267'/%F7/g -e s/$'\303\270'/%F8/g \
-e s/$'\303\271'/%F9/g -e s/$'\303\272'/%FA/g -e s/$'\303\273'/%FB/g -e s/$'\303\275'/%FD/g \
-e s/$'\303\276'/%FE/g -e s/$'\303\277'/%FF/g -e s/$'\303\235'/%DD/g -e s/$'\303\236'/%DE/g \
-e s/$'\305\241'/%9A/g -e s/$'\305\223'/%9C/g -e s/$'\305\276'/%9E/g -e s/$'\305\270'/%9F/g \
-e s/$'\302\265'/%B5/g -e s/$'\305\275'/%8E/g -e s/$'\305\240'/%8C/g -e s/$'\302\241'/%A1/g \
-e s/$'\302\242'/%A2/g -e s/$'\302\245'/%A5/g -e s/$'\303\243'/%E3/g -e s/$'\303\260'/%F0/g \
-e s/$'\303\222'/%D2/g -e s/$'\303\223'/%D3/g -e s/$'\303\224'/%D4/g -e s/$'\303\225'/%D5/g \
-e s/$'\303\230'/%D8/g -e s/$'\303\223'/%D9/g -e s/$'\303\232'/%DA/g -e s/$'\303\233'/%DB/g

}


# check if character set encoding of Terminal.app is set to UTF-8
if [[ "$(/usr/bin/defaults read com.apple.Terminal StringEncoding)" != "4" ]]; then 
   echo "Terminal.app does not use UTF-8 character set encoding!"
   exit 1
fi

# check if libidn is available (optional here; see the same libidn check below)
# http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/
# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punycode
# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name

#if [[ ! -e "/opt/local/bin/idn" ]]; then 
#   echo $'You do not have libidn installed at: /opt/local/bin/idn\nPlease install it via MacPorts!\nSee: http://www.macports.org/install.php'
#   exit 1
#fi



#################################################    BEGINNING OF CMDPARSER


# define the names of flags as a regular expression
# flags are command line options that require arguments

# p: phrase
# t: terms
# w: website

flags="(p|t|w)"


# define the names of switches as a regular expression
# switches are command line options that do not take arguments
# make sure multi-char switches precede single-char switches in the regular expression
# note that the regular expression contains neither the special read-from-stdin switch "-" nor the special end-of-options switch "--"

# gm: Google Maps
# h: help
# wp: Wikipedia
# y: Yahoo


switches="(gm|wp|h|y)"

names_of_switches="gm h wp y"

usage="usage: $(/usr/bin/basename "$0") [-h] [-y] [-gm] [-wp] [-p \"a phrase\"] [-w website ] [-t term] [term1 term2 ...]"

declare p s t                            # flags
declare -i gm=0 h=0 wp=0 y=0             # switches

declare optstr flagvar argvar argvar_escaped pipedstr piped
declare -i optid pipedvar pipedvar2

# piped="piped" will be used for variable creation 
# example: piped="piped"; piped2="piped"; pipedstr="piped arg"; eval $piped='"$(echo "$pipedstr")"'; echo "$piped"

piped="piped"

# default value is set to "no pipe"
pipedvar=0
pipedvar2=0

# if /dev/stdin has a size greater than zero ...
if [[ -s /dev/stdin ]]; then pipedstr="$("; else pipedstr=""; fi 

if [[ $# -eq 0 ]] && [[ -z "$pipedstr" ]]; then
  echo "No arguments specified!"
  echo "$usage"
  exit 1
fi 

if [[ $# -eq 0 ]] && [[ -n "$pipedstr" ]]; then
  eval $piped='"$(echo "$pipedstr")"'  
  pipedvar=1
  pipedvar2=1
fi 

# if there are command line arguments ...
if [[ $pipedvar -eq 0 ]] ; then

   optstr=" "  
   optid=0

   while [[ -n "$optstr" ]]; do     

      optstr="$(echo "$1" | $grep -E "^\-\-?$flags$")"
      if [[ -n "$optstr" ]]; then optid=1; fi
      if [[ -z "$optstr" ]]; then optid=2; optstr="$(echo "$1" | $grep -E "^\-\-?$switches$")"; fi
      if [[ -z "$optstr" ]]; then optid=3; optstr="$(echo "$1" | $grep -E "^\-\-?$switches+$")"; fi
      if [[ -z "$optstr" ]]; then optid=4; optstr="$(echo "$1" | $grep -E "^(\-\-?$flags\=.*|\-\-?$flags[^ ]+)$")"; fi
      if [[ -z "$optstr" ]]; then  
         if [[ "$1" = "-" ]] && [[ "$@" = "-" ]]; then  
            optid=5
            optstr="-" 
         fi
      fi

      if [[ -z "$optstr" ]] && ( [[ -n "$(echo "$@" |  $grep -Eo "(^ *| )\-\-?$flags" )" ]] || [[ -n "$(echo "$@" |  $grep -Eo "(^ *| )\-\-?$switches" )" ]] ); then
         optstr="$(echo $1)"
         echo "illegal option removed: $optstr"
         shift
         continue
         #optstr=" "
         #echo "$usage"
         #exit 1
      fi 

      if [[ "$1" = "--" ]]; then shift; break; fi      # -- marks end of options
      if [[ -z "$optstr" ]]; then break; fi

      # flag followed by space (example: -f file)
      if [[ $optid -eq 1 ]]; then 

         if [[ -z "$2" ]]; then
            echo; echo "flag \"$1\" removed: no argument given!"
            shift
            if [[ -n "$(echo "$@")" ]]; then shift; continue; else shift; break; fi
            #echo "$usage"
            #exit 1
         fi 

         # make sure flag $1 is not directly followed by yet another flag or switch
         if [[ "$2" = "-" ]] || [[ "$2" = "--" ]] || [[ -n "$(echo "$2" |  $grep -E "^\-\-?$flags.*$" )" ]] || [[ -n "$(echo "$2" |  $grep -E "^\-\-?$switches+$" )" ]]; then
            echo; echo "flag \"$1\" removed because of illegal argument: \"$2\""
            shift
            continue
            #echo "$usage"
            #exit 1
         fi

         flagvar="$(/bin/expr "$1" : "^\-\{1,2\}\(.*\)$")"
         argvar="$2"
         eval $flagvar='"$(echo "$argvar")"'
         shift 2
         continue

      # single switch (example: -a)
      elif [[ $optid -eq 2 ]]; then
         flagvar="$(/bin/expr "$1" : "^\-\{1,2\}\(.*\)$")"
         eval $flagvar='"$(echo "1")"'
         shift
         continue
  
      # combined switch (example: -abcc)
      elif [[ $optid -eq 3 ]]; then
         flagvar="$(/bin/expr "$1" : "^\-\{1,2\}\(.*\)$")"
         while [[ -n "$flagvar" ]]; do
            char="$(echo "$flagvar" | $sed -E "s/^$switches.*$/\1/")"
            eval $char='"$(echo "1")"'
            flagvar="$(echo "$flagvar" | $sed -E "s/^$switches//")"
         done
         shift
         continue

      # flag without following space (example: -ffile)
      elif [[ $optid -eq 4 ]]; then 
         argvar="$(echo "$1" | $sed -E "s/^\-\-?$flags\=?//")"
         argvar_escaped="$(echo "$argvar" | $sed -E 's/([^[:alnum:]])/\\\1/g')"   # escape special regex metacharacters such as ., ?, *
         #argvar_escaped="$(echo "$argvar" | $sed -E 's/([[:punct:]])/\\\1/g')"     
         #echo "argvar_escaped: $argvar_escaped"
         flagvar="$(echo "$1" | $sed -E -e 's/^-\-?//' -e "s/\=?$argvar_escaped$//")"
         eval $flagvar='"$(echo "$argvar")"'
         shift
         continue

      # the special read-from-stdin switch "-"
      elif [[ $optid -eq 5 ]]; then 
         pipedvar=1
         eval $piped='"$(echo "$pipedstr")"'
         shift
         break
      fi

      shift

   done

fi   # if [[ $pipedvar -eq 0 ]] ; then ...




#################################################    END OF CMDPARSER


if [[ $h -eq 1 ]]; then      #  help message
   echo "$usage"

/bin/cat <<-EOF
Examples:
ws -h
ws daily quote
ws -y -p "daily news" sports football
ws -gm California
ws -p "wildlife vacation" India travel visit tiger leopard
ws -t 'Australia holiday vacation ocean desert'
ws -w http://en.wikipedia.org -p "keep it simple"
ws -wp -p "keep it simple"
ws -w en.wikipedia.org -t Africa wildlife
echo "Canada wildlife" | ws -y -w en.wikipedia.org -
EOF

   exit 0 
fi


# store the contents of $@ in $search
if [[ -n "$@" ]]; then search="$@"; fi

# if there is piped data, $search is set to $pipedstr
if [[ $pipedvar -eq 1 ]]; then search="$piped"; fi 

# if there is piped data without any further flags or switches specified, we just do a Google
if [[ $pipedvar2 -eq 1 ]]; then
   F="$(echo "$search" | url_encoding)"
   $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=$F"
   exit 0
fi

# to open the given URL directly we will store the original URL given by the -w switch in $ow for processing with libidn below
declare ow     

# remove http:// and encode URL
if [[ -n "$w" ]]; then w="$(echo "$w" | $sed -E 's/^( *http:\/\/ *)(.*)$/\2/' )"; ow=$w; w="$(echo "$w" | url_encoding)"; fi 

# If only the -p and/or -t flag is specified or no flags & switches are specified at all we just do a Google.
# If the remaining string stored in $search (which has been $@ above) is not empty and the -p and/or -t flags are specified, 
# the remaining string will be added to the search term(s) or phrase as additional search term(s).

if [[ -z "$w" ]] && [[ $y -eq 0 ]] && [[ $gm -eq 0 ]] && [[ $wp -eq 0 ]]; then 

   if [[ -n "$t" ]] && [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi    # strings in $search will be added as search terms
      F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"                  # example: ws -p "a phrase" -t "a term" term1 term2 ...
      F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
      str='%22'
      F2="$str$F2$str"
      F="$F2%20$F1"
      $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=$F"
      exit 0

   elif [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then            # strings in $search will be added as search terms 
         t="$search"                        
         F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
         F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F2="$str$F2$str"
         F="$F2%20$F1"
         $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=$F"
         exit 0

      else
         F="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F="$str$F$str"
         $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=$F"
         exit 0
      fi

   elif [[ -n "$t" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi    # strings in $search will be added as search terms 
      F="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=$F"
      exit 0

   else  
      
      if [[ -z "$search" ]]; then $open "http://www.google.com"; exit 0; fi     # just open the given URL
      F="$(echo "$search" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=$F"
      exit 0

   fi

fi


# search a website specified by the -w switch (example: ws -w www.macosxhints.com ...)
if [[ -n "$w" ]] && [[ $y -eq 0 ]]; then 

   if [[ -n "$t" ]] && [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi
      F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
      str='%22'
      F2="$str$F2$str"
      F="$F2%20$F1"
      $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A$w%20$F"
      exit 0

   elif [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then    # strings in $search will be added as search terms
         t="$search"                      
         F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
         F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F2="$str$F2$str"
         F="$F2%20$F1"
         $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A$w%20$F"
         exit 0

      else
         F="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F="$str$F$str"
         $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A$w%20$F"
         exit 0
      fi

   elif [[ -n "$t" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi   
      F="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A$w%20$F"
      exit 0

   else

      # if there are no search terms given at all, just open the original URL stored in $ow
      if [[ -z "$search" ]]; then   

         # check if libidn is available
         if [[ ! -e "/opt/local/bin/idn" ]]; then 
            echo $'You do not have libidn installed at: /opt/local/bin/idn\nPlease install it via MacPorts!\nSee: http://www.macports.org/install.php'
            exit 1
         fi

         w="$(echo "$ow" | CHARSET=UTF-8 idn --quiet)"
         $open "http://$w"
         exit 0
      fi

      F="$(echo "$search" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A$w%20$F"
      exit 0

   fi

fi


# Wikipedia
if [[ $wp -eq 1 ]]; then 

   if [[ -n "$t" ]] && [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi
      F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
      str='%22'
      F2="$str$F2$str"
      F="$F2%20$F1"
      $open "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=$F&=MediaWiki+search&fulltext=Search"
      exit 0

   elif [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then           
         t="$search"                           # set $t to $search since $t is empty
         F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
         F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F2="$str$F2$str"
         F="$F2%20$F1"
         $open "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=$F&=MediaWiki+search&fulltext=Search"
         exit 0

      else
         F="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F="$str$F$str"
         $open "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=$F&=MediaWiki+search&fulltext=Search"
         exit 0
      fi

   elif [[ -n "$t" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi   
      F="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=$F&=MediaWiki+search&fulltext=Search"
      exit 0

   else

      if [[ -z "$search" ]]; then $open "http://en.wikipedia.org"; exit 0; fi     # just open the given URL 
      F="$(echo "$search" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=$F&=MediaWiki+search&fulltext=Search"
      exit 0

   fi

fi


# http://www.yahoo.com
if [[ $y -eq 1 ]]; then 

   if [[ -n "$w" ]]; then      # if a website is specified ...

         str="$search"
         if [[ -n "$p" ]]; then str="$str $p"; fi
         if [[ -n "$t" ]]; then str="$str $t"; fi
         F="$(echo "$str" | url_encoding)"
         $open "http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=site%3A$w%20$F"

   elif [[ -n "$t" ]] && [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi
      F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
      str='%22'
      F2="$str$F2$str"
      F="$F2%20$F1"
      $open "http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$F"
      exit 0

   elif [[ -n "$p" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then           
         t="$search"                           # set $t to $search since $t is empty
         F1="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
         F2="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F2="$str$F2$str"
         F="$F2%20$F1"
         $open "http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$F"
         exit 0

      else
         F="$(echo "$p" | url_encoding)"
         str='%22'
         F="$str$F$str"
         $open "http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$F"
         exit 0
      fi

   elif [[ -n "$t" ]]; then

      if [[ -n "$search" ]]; then t="$t $search"; fi   
      F="$(echo "$t" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$F"
      exit 0

   else

      if [[ -z "$search" ]]; then $open "http://search.yahoo.com"; exit 0; fi    # just open the given URL
      F="$(echo "$search" | url_encoding)"
      $open "http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$F"
      exit 0

   fi

fi


# Google maps
if [[ $gm -eq 1 ]]; then 
   if [[ -z "$search" ]] && [[ -n "$p" ]] && [[ -n "$t" ]]; then $open "http://maps.google.com"; exit 0; fi    # just open the given URL
   str="$search"
   if [[ -n "$p" ]]; then str="$str $p"; fi
   if [[ -n "$t" ]]; then str="$str $t"; fi
   F="$(echo "$str" | url_encoding)"
   $open "http://maps.google.com/maps?q=$F"
   exit 0
fi


export IFS=$OIFS
export PATH=$OPATH

exit 0

Some really common layout classes I use in almost every CSS file.

/********* helpers *********/
.floatRight { float: right; }
.floatLeft  { float: left; }
.right  { text-align: right; }
.left   { text-align: left; }
.center { text-align: center; }
.clear, .clearer { clear: both; }
.block  { display: block; }

// description of your code here
This will copy all rails files unzipped into the directory "publish" into "web"

cp -Rfv publish/* web

mysqldump -u root -p —all-databases > /path/to/backups/YYYY-MM-DD-alldbs.sql
scp /path/to/backups/YYYY-MM-DD-alldbs.sql.gz [email protected]:/path/to/backups
tar czvf /path/to/backups/YYYY-MM-DD-production.tgz /path/to/production
scp /path/to/backups/YYYY-MM-DD-production.tgz [email protected]:/path/to/backups

// Some fonts that could be used for body copy

font:10pt 'Trebuchet MS',Arial,sans-serif;
font:76%/140% Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font:76%/1.5 "Lucida Grande",Geneva,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font:12px/1.5 "Lucida Grande","Lucida Sans Unicode", sans-serif;

xmlHttp = false;
                
try {
        xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
} catch(Microsoft1) {
        try {
                xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
        } catch(failed) {
                xmlHttp = false;
        }
}
                
if(!xmlHttp) {
        alert("Error: Could Not Initialize XMLHttpRequest()!\r\n\r\nJavaScript must be enabled to view this page.");
}

xmlHttp = false;
                
try {
        xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
} catch(Microsoft1) {
        try {
                xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
        } catch(failed) {
                xmlHttp = false;
        }
}
                
if(!xmlHttp) {
        alert("Error: Could Not Initialize XMLHttpRequest()!\r\n\r\nJavaScript must be enabled to view this page.");
}

// center horizontally
// text-align:center for internet explorer, margin:auto for firefox

<div style="text-align:center">
  <div style="margin:auto">the textdiv>
</div>

// center vertically with table

<table><tr><td valign="middle">the texttd></tr>table>

// or without table (only firefox, .. / not in internet explorer <=6!)

<div style="display:table-cell;        vertical-align: middle">the textdiv>