No matter what you build by hand, nothing compares in terms of beauty and awesomeness to what Mother Nature has to offer. And you don’t even have to travel the world to see some of the most spectacular sights nature is capable of conceiving. We have compiled here 40 exquisitely beautiful and naural sights you really need to see.

Granted that these are just photographs (you can be sure that the real deal will definitely be a lot more breathtaking) but if you are in no place or condition to travel to these countries to see these amazing sights for yourself, these will have to do for now. Let us know if you know of more amazing natural sites and share them with us in the comments below.

Recommended Reading: 45 Awe-Inspiring Landmarks Around The World

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. (Image Source: Libertas Magazine)

Mount Roraima, Venezuela. (Image Source: Tourism on the Edge)

Zhangjiajie Sandstone Pillars, China. (Image Source: Rare Delights)

Chesler Park, Utah. (Image Source: CourtneyHouse)

Socotra, Yemen. (Image Source: National Geographic)

Bryce Canyon, Utah. (Image Source: Bryce Canyon Country)

Zhangye Danxia Mountains, China. (Image Source: Huffington Post)

The Wave, United States. (Image Source: Wanderpress)

Wave Rock, Australia. (Image Source: TH Yuen)

Badab-e Surt, Iran. (Image Source: Picomazing)

Fly Geyser, United States. (Image Source: Andrew Lee)

Whitehaven Beach, Australia. (Image Source: Ma Première Fois En Australie)

Trolltunga, Norway. (Image Source: Runear)

Victoria Falls, Southern Africa. (Image Source: Nicole Cambré)

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. (Image Source: The Richest)

Niagara Falls, North America. (Image Source: Photoinpixel)

Pamukkale, Turkey. (Image Source: Unusual Places)

Mendenhall Glacier, United States. (Image Source: National Geographic)

Red Beach, China. (Image Source: TravelX)

Lake Hillier, Australia. (Image Source: AWSMmag)

Great Blue Hole, Belize. (Image Source: CharterWorld)

Great Barrier Reef, Australia. (Image Source: Global Connection)

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland. (Image Source: Profissão Viajante)

Black Falls, Iceland. (Image Source: Vacation Homes)

Spotted Lake, Canada. (Image Source: Daily Mail)

Sand Dunes, Brazil. (Image Source: National Geographic)

Danakil Depression, Ethiopia. (Image Source: Colin’s Notes)

Lake Natron, Tanzania. (Image Source: Anu Sri)

Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan. (Image Source: TheFabWeb)

Hang Son Doong Cave, Vietnam. (Image Source: National Geographic)

Sea of Stars, Maldives. (Image Source: National Geographic)

Antelope Canyon, United States. (Image Source: Art of HDR)

Hall of the Bulls, Lacaux Cave, France. (Image Source: Phaidon)

Reed Flute Cave, China. (Image Source: Big Picture)

Vatnajokull Cave, Iceland. (Image Source: Einar Runar Sigurdsson)

Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand. (Image Source: Penn State University)

Fingal’s Cave, Scotland. (Image Source: Photo District News)

Blue Grotto Sea Cave, Italy. (Image Source: Hannah Burke)

Naica Mine, Mexico. (Image Source: Wikipedia)

Orda Cave, Russia. (Image Source: Orda Cave)

Among the many various tools for customizing your web server, the .htaccess config file is a tremendous asset. You can quickly reset document types, parsing engines, URL redirects, and many other crucial features. Webmasters who are not very technical may not get into the specifics of managing your own .htaccess file. But the topic itself is fascinating and worth some investigation.

For this article I want to present some of the more purposeful concepts for webmasters and web developers. Anybody who is launching their own website on an Apache server will definitely want to understand how to manage their .htaccess file. It provides so much customizability and it can work across any web languages from PHP to Ruby.

At the bottom of this post I have added some external webapps to help newcomers generate their .htaccess files dynamically.

Recommended Reading: How To Put WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode

Why use an .htaccess File?

This is a great question and perhaps we should start by answering “what is an .htaccess file”? It is a very special configuration file used by the Apache web server. An .htaccess file can tell the web server how to present various forms of information and how to handle various HTTP request headers.

Really it is a means of decentralization to organize web server settings. One physical server may hold 50 different websites each with their own .htaccess file. It grants a lot of power to webmasters, which would otherwise be impossible. But why should you use one?

The biggest reason is security. You can lock out certain directories or make them password protected. This is great for private projects or new Content Management Systems where you want a little extra security. But there are also common tasks like redirecting 404 error messages to a certain webpage. This only takes a single line of code and it can dramatically impact how visitors react to missing pages.

Truthfully there is not much I can say to convince others that an .htaccess file is worth understanding. Once you see it in action then you can recognize all of the value which comes from this tiny config file. Also I hope the rest of this article may present some insightful topics to bring webmasters into the light of managing an .htaccess configuration.

Allow/Deny Access

It is possible to recognize potential spam visitors and deny them access to your website. This can be a little extreme, however if you know that a person or group of people have been targeting your website there are some options to choose from. You could pick a domain referral to deny or ban visitors by an IP address.

order allow,deny deny from 255.0.0.0 deny from 123.45.6. allow from all 

These sample codes were copied from Htaccess Guide as they are the perfect template for getting started. Notice the 2nd IP address is missing the 4th integer. This code block will target the first IP(255.0.0.0) and every IP within the range of 123.45.6.0-255, then allow all other traffic. Webmasters may not use this as frequently as other techniques but it is helpful to understand.

Prevent Directory Listing

There will be times when you have an open directory which is set up to allow browsing by default. This means users can view all the files listed inside an internal directory structure, like your images folder. Some webmasters do not want to allow directory listing and thankfully the code snippet is pretty easy to remember.

Options -Indexes 

I have seen this answer presented countless times throughout Stack Overflow and it may be one of the easiest .htaccess rules to remember.

It is possible to actually create multiple .htaccess files inside each of these directories so maybe one of them is password protected but the others are not. And you can still keep the Options -Indexes so that visitors cannot browse through your website /images/ folder.

Password Protection

Password-protecting your directories is a very common procedure for securing administration areas and other folders crucial to your website. Sometimes you will only want to offer access to a small group of people. Other times passwords are to prevent hackers from gaining access into your website administration panel. But either way it is a very powerful solution to a whole number of problems.

There is a handy guide on password protection which outlines the important code snippets. You will need to generate a password file which stores the username/password credentials. This is how Apache can check against what the user inputs to see if they should be granted access. And notice how you will need to generate a sample for your username and password.

I would recommend using this htpassword generator so you can save a bit of time. The syntax will always come out perfect and you do not need to encrypt the password yourself. And the other great option is to password protect an entire directory listing. We can see this example in CSS-Tricks code snippets gallery.

AuthType Basic AuthName "This Area is Password Protected" AuthUserFile /full/path/to/.htpasswd Require valid-user 

Security for WordPress

To put this password-protection idea to good use, let’s display a real-world example. This more complicated code snippet will force user authentication for anybody accessing the WordPress wp-login.php file. You will find the original source on Ask Apache which has numerous other WordPress protection snippets.

<Files wp-login.php> Order Deny,Allow Deny from All Satisfy Any AuthName "Protected By AskApache" AuthUserFile /web/askapache.com/.htpasswda1 AuthType Basic Require valid-user </Files> 

And if you are going to follow these .htaccess rules it might also help to password protect the admin area. Typically the wp-login.php file is going to get the most hits from people attempting to brute force their way into your system. So even just the sample codes above would be more than enough added security for your WordPress website.

HTTP URL Rewrite Rules

Rewriting URLs is probably one of the most common uses for .htaccess files. WordPress default installations can actually generate an .htaccess file right from the administration panel. This allows you to create pretty URLs which do not have the .php?p=1 structure.

I want to look at this rewrite example on how to update underscores to dashes since it contains a lot of the most important elements.

Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule !\.(html|php)$ - [S=4] RewriteRule ^([^_]*)_([^_]*)_([^_]*)_([^_]*)_(.*)$ $1-$2-$3-$4-$5 [E=uscor:Yes] RewriteRule ^([^_]*)_([^_]*)_([^_]*)_(.*)$ $1-$2-$3-$4 [E=uscor:Yes] RewriteRule ^([^_]*)_([^_]*)_(.*)$ $1-$2-$3 [E=uscor:Yes] RewriteRule ^([^_]*)_(.*)$ $1-$2 [E=uscor:Yes] RewriteCond %{ENV:uscor} ^Yes$ RewriteRule (.*) http://d.com/$1 [R=301,L] 

RewriteEngine and RewriteBase can most always be set to these exact values. But you need the RewriteEngine turned on for anything else to work. There are plenty of guides online explaining how to enable mod_rewrite and your hosting provider can also help.

Notice the syntax follows a pattern of RewriteRules at the top. These rules are used to match against cases that are being sent as an HTTP request. These are answered by a RewriteRule which in this case redirects everything to the domain d.com. The ending brackets like [R=301,L] are called rewrite flags which are important, but more of an advanced topic.

If you want to delve a bit deeper you can find a long list of flags on this cheatsheet webpage.

The mod_rewrite syntax is definitely a little confusing but don’t be intimidated! The snippets can look a lot easier in other examples.

When just getting started, I have to recommend this mod_rewrite webapp that helps you generate code samples using real URLs. This is a brilliant tool because you can look up various items in the syntax to see what they actually do in the Rewrite rules. Here is another great tutorial with a simpler example to study:

RewriteRule ^dir/([0-9]+)/?$ /index.php?id=$1 [L] 

Don’t try to overload yourself on these all at once. It took me well over 3-4 months to really start understanding how to rewrite URLs with [0-9a-zA-Z]+ and similar patterns. Keep on practicing and in time I promise you will get this stuff like it’s common-sense knowledge.

Code Snippets for Webmasters

I love easy-to-use snippets and I want to put together this small collection of pertinent .htaccess codes for webmasters. Each of these ideas can fit nicely into your own .htaccess file along with other code blocks. Most of these snippets are great for solving quick problems or fixes in your web server environment. Imagine the perfect Apache setup for brand new webmasters just getting started online.

Setting DirectoryIndex

The command for DirectoryIndex is used commonly in a single line. You can tell Apache which documents should be initially treated as the “main” document. By default this will target items such as index.html, index.php, index.asp, and other index files. But using this code snippet which I’ve copied below, you have the ability to make this root document anything you like.

DirectoryIndex index.html index.cgi index.php 

The order of documents should start with the most important and move through the ranks to the least important. So if we do not have an HTML or CGI file then the fallback will go to index.php. And you could even name these files home.php or someotherfile.php and it is all valid syntax.

Force WWW or Non-WWW Subdomain

Google can work with both versions of your website domain if you do not specify www.domain.com or just domain.com. In my experience it is best practice to choose one of these and set it as the only choice via .htaccess. Then Google will not index various URLs with some pointing to the WWW subdomain while others do not.

# Force WWW Subdomain RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domain.com [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [L,R=301] # No Subdomain RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^domain.com$ [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com/$1 [L,R=301] 

This code snippet comes from a CSS-Tricks archive and provides a very handy solution. You should update the domain to be whatever you need for your own website. Otherwise there will be problems and you’ll notice right away! But I do highly support forcing one of these two options and it is at the top of my tasks list after launching a new website.

Force Media File Downloads

Another fairly important snippet allows forcing certain media types to download instead of being displayed in the browser. Immediately I can think of PDF documents and MP3 audio files which may be presented in a downloadable format, but how do you make sure they are downloadable? I found a similar article published on Htaccess Guide which outlines this code snippet.

AddType application/octet-stream .zip .mp3 .mp4 

Feel free to include even more filetypes at the end of this line. All of the media formats using the octet-stream MIME type will be downloadable. Forcing this through .htaccess is a very direct route to ensure people are not able to view these files in the browser.

Custom Error Documents

One last final piece I want to add is a full template of custom error documents. Usually these number codes are only seen on the server end. But there are plenty of these error documents which you should be familiar with. A few examples might be 403/404 errors and the 301 redirect.

This error code template starts at 100 and moves upwards into 500 errors. Please note that you obviously do not need all of these. Only the most common errors would be necessary, and possibly a few obscure snippets if you feel the need.

If you do not recognize a code just look it up on Wikipedia to get a better understanding.

ErrorDocument 100 /100_CONTINUE ErrorDocument 101 /101_SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS ErrorDocument 102 /102_PROCESSING ErrorDocument 200 /200_OK ErrorDocument 201 /201_CREATED ErrorDocument 202 /202_ACCEPTED ErrorDocument 203 /203_NON_AUTHORITATIVE ErrorDocument 204 /204_NO_CONTENT ErrorDocument 205 /205_RESET_CONTENT ErrorDocument 206 /206_PARTIAL_CONTENT ErrorDocument 207 /207_MULTI_STATUS ErrorDocument 300 /300_MULTIPLE_CHOICES ErrorDocument 301 /301_MOVED_PERMANENTLY ErrorDocument 302 /302_MOVED_TEMPORARILY ErrorDocument 303 /303_SEE_OTHER ErrorDocument 304 /304_NOT_MODIFIED ErrorDocument 305 /305_USE_PROXY ErrorDocument 307 /307_TEMPORARY_REDIRECT ErrorDocument 400 /400_BAD_REQUEST ErrorDocument 401 /401_UNAUTHORIZED ErrorDocument 402 /402_PAYMENT_REQUIRED ErrorDocument 403 /403_FORBIDDEN ErrorDocument 404 /404_NOT_FOUND ErrorDocument 405 /405_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED ErrorDocument 406 /406_NOT_ACCEPTABLE ErrorDocument 407 /407_PROXY_AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED ErrorDocument 408 /408_REQUEST_TIME_OUT ErrorDocument 409 /409_CONFLICT ErrorDocument 410 /410_GONE ErrorDocument 411 /411_LENGTH_REQUIRED ErrorDocument 412 /412_PRECONDITION_FAILED ErrorDocument 413 /413_REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE ErrorDocument 414 /414_REQUEST_URI_TOO_LARGE ErrorDocument 415 /415_UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE ErrorDocument 416 /416_RANGE_NOT_SATISFIABLE ErrorDocument 417 /417_EXPECTATION_FAILED ErrorDocument 422 /422_UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY ErrorDocument 423 /423_LOCKED ErrorDocument 424 /424_FAILED_DEPENDENCY ErrorDocument 426 /426_UPGRADE_REQUIRED ErrorDocument 500 /500_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR ErrorDocument 501 /501_NOT_IMPLEMENTED ErrorDocument 502 /502_BAD_GATEWAY ErrorDocument 503 /503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE ErrorDocument 504 /504_GATEWAY_TIME_OUT ErrorDocument 505 /505_VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED ErrorDocument 506 /506_VARIANT_ALSO_VARIES ErrorDocument 507 /507_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE ErrorDocument 510 /510_NOT_EXTENDED 

Online .htaccess Webapps

• Htaccess Builder
• .htaccess redirect generator
• .htaccessEditor – Create a .htaccess File
• Mod Rewrite Generator by GenerateIt.net
• DevGizmo htaccess Builder

Other Useful Resources

• .htaccess in Httpd Wiki
• Official Apache htaccess Documentation
• Ask Apache Blog – Htaccess Archives
• Ultimate Guide to htaccess and mod_rewrite
• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mod_Rewrite Rules but Were Afraid to Ask

Final Thoughts

There are so many countless resources online discussing .htaccess files. My linked articles and webapps are a great place to get started. But keep practicing new ideas and don’t be afraid of testing out code snippets. As long as you have a backup file then you can test out anything you like and it is a fun learning experience.

If you have other ideas or suggestions about .htaccess management please share with us in the post discussion area below.

Do you notice that your Android device has a "developer options" feature hidden somewhere? There are many things you can do on your Android but there’s more you can do when you have this option enabled. From speeding up your device by turning animations off, to obtaining higher quality rendering for a good gameplay, there are plenty of features you can enable from the Android Developer Options section.

Note that this is not for everyone – some of you may not want to change anything in fear of "messing up" your mobile device. Not to worry, just backtrack and change the setting back. For some phones, you can enable developer options by going to Settings > About, then tapping repeatedly on Build Number until Developer Options is enabled.

Recommended Reading: 10 Useful Android Tips And Tricks You Should Know

1. Enable and Disabling USB Debugging

You probably already noticed that most Android-related tools on your PC will require you to enable USB Debugging for the tool to run properly. That because without it enabled, the tools cannot establish a connection between your device and your desktop. To enable USB Debugging:

1. Go to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Tick on the USB Debugging checkbox.
3. Select OK when you’re prompted with a message saying "Allow USB Debugging?".

2. Create Desktop Backup Password

Before you create a backup using Android tools on your desktop, you can first create a password for your backup in the developer options. To put protection on your backup from being accessed easily:

1. Head to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Tap on Desktop backup password.
3. Fill in the current password, then type and retype the new password for full backup.

3. Tweak Animation Settings

When you transition from screen to screen on your Android device you will notice that there is animation added in between. You can choose to speed up this animation or turn it off entirely. The lower the number you choose, the faster the animation will be.

1. Go to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Scroll down and look for Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale.
3. Adjust the scale for the animation you want. The greater the number, the slower the animation (and the longer you have to wait).

4. Enable MSAA For OpenGL Games

If you like to play games on your Android device and you’re playing it using high-end Android devices, you might want to force enable MSAA to obtain a higher quality rendering of your in game graphics. This feature is turned off in some games by default because it can drain your device’s battery rather quickly. To enable FXAA:

1. Head to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Tap on Force 4x MSAA to enable it.

5. Allow Mock Location

To be able to fake your current GPS location, you need an app. But to use that app, you will need to first allow Mock Location for the app to work. Enable Mock Location in two steps.

1. Go to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Look for Allow Mock Location and tick on it to enable.

6. Stay Awake While Charging

When you charge your phone, the screen of the device will automatically turn off. If for some reason you want it to stay awake, you can do that with these two steps:

1. Go to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Tap on Stay Awake to tick it, thus enabling the feature.

7. Display CPU Usage Overlay

Need to keep an eye on the CPU usage of your device? There is a way to get an overlay to show the processes that are currently being use by your CPU. To display CPU usage, follow the tips below. (Note that this shouldn’t be turned on all the time – as the number of processes increase, it minimises the space you can see in your screen).

1. Head to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Tick on Show CPU Usage to enable it.
3. You will see an overlay of your current CPU Usage on the right side of the screen.

8. Don’t Keep App Activities

Your Android app activities are still intact even after you have exited from your app. Most of your apps relies on local cached data on Android so that they can load faster and will not face any forced close moments. However, there may be apps that use a lot of activities. You can choose to not keep these activities with these steps:

1. Head to Settings > Developer Options.
2. Tick on Don’t keep activities.
3. You can switch back anytime by unticking the disable.

9. Switch Dalvik To ART

Art is a new experimental runtime by Google that is supposed to replace Dalvik in the near future as it is faster. If you want to test run ART on your device, you will need an Android device running at least Kit Kat 4.4 and above. To set this up:

1. Head to Settings > Developer options.
2. Tap on Select runtime and choose Use ART.
3. Note that ART is still experimental and not many apps support it, hence it may turn your device slower. If you experience this, switch back to Dalvik.

10. Enable Wireless Display Certifications

This option is only useful if you own a Miracast-ready display (or something else of a similar technology), to transmit your Android content to your TV. To watch Youtube videos on your Miracast-ready display, you will need to enable Wireless Display Certifications. To do that, follow the steps below.

1. Go to Settings > Developer options.
2. Then look for Wireless display certification and tick it.

If you are reading this, that means you are probably looking for that magic trick or golden secret to finding an escape from that wall that is blocking out all your inspirational ideas. Before that, it will help you to understand what being a writer is all about. For this, you need to let me indulge on a short backstory.

I had made friends with a guy at a writing seminar, and for a few days a week, with my crumpled leather notebook in tow, I hung out and talked with him over coffee at Cuppachino’s coffee shop near the Boston College campus. A nice guy, he shared about the books he had written and was writing at the moment. This went on until one day when he decided to introduced himself (and I) as writers to another patron at the same coffee shop.

The man immediately called my friend out. “I am a writer,” he said, and then pointing at me, he added, “He is obviously a writer, but you, my friend, are no writer and it is annoying that you would pass yourself off as one.” As my friend began stammering and stuttering as if mortally wounded, the man apologized sincerely and left. Needless to say, we stopped meeting after that incident.

Recommended Reading: Bloggers: 23 Ways To Counter Writer’s Block

Cause For Confrontation

To be fair, there was more to the conversation, and well, the man simply called it as he saw it. In retrospect, I couldn’t put my finger on what had bothered me about this ‘Writing’ friend until this incident. He was no writer (however, he was a pretty darn good liar). And this other fellow had caught every observable trait.

“First of all, you do not have the language skills for it, " he had said. "I have seen you in here at least 10 times and not once have you carried a notebook or even written anything on a napkin. I have never once seen you yawn, much less look tired while we both have terrible bags under our eyes."

"You also talk too much and I am sorry to say that you just do not have the kind of passion that it takes to be a writer and believe me, if you did… it would show.”

Read Also: Freelancers: 5 Ways To Lose Your Clients

The Content and Inspiration Paradox

Now a content writer is often asked to write the same material over and over, either on purpose or incidentally from client to client. This is where, many writers would attest, the writing passion is really tested.

Essentially there are only two differences between us and a sculptor or a dancer or pianist. First, we create art with words (it’s harder than it looks), and secondly, we rarely have fans to cheer us on. As artists and content writers, we have to find ways to inspire ourselves (occasionally the editor or a random reader will drop in a nice note), and we keep pushing ourselves, until one day, we just can’t.

If you write for a living, one day, you may feel compelled to throw up our hands in exasperation and proclaim to the world, "I just can’t do it anymore". That’s when you have to remind yourself one very important thing.

Writers Help People

Regardless of the topic, as content writers and bloggers, our words eventually reach out and help someone. Our reviews help others make good decisions about purchasing a product, a service, a trip to a foreign land etc. We show people how to write blogs and articles, what typography to use, how to build and optimize websites and sometimes inspire them to create something new.

Read Also: 3 Skills You Need To Succeed In Freelance Writing

When I finally realized that my words were getting through to people, helping them, even if only inspiring them, it made all the difference in the world.

Just knowing that someone’s life will be a little easier or that I made someone smile ignites my original writing passion again. In the end, it is why we are here, alive, and part of society. We write and that’s how we contribute to our fellow man (and woman).

So When You Run Out Of Ideas…

When I begin to falter in faith or inspiration, there are three things I would do to regain my composure. They may work for you, or they may not; it takes a bit of trial and error to find out.

It’s Not About You

When I falter, I stop. I no longer allow myself to worry about poor me because in the end… it is not about me. I shift the focus of my writing towards those for whom I am writing, the reader. I make it about others, and about what I can do to help them. Believe me, our inspiration returns when it is no longer about us.

Write From The Heart

Rather than worry about why you are running out of ideas, begin writing from the heart because that is what you should be doing anyways (rather than worrying about yourself). Create something honest, and original and you might end up with something new, and if you are lucky, something beautiful.

Teach

Everyone has knowledge to share. When I feel less than inspired, I remind myself to act like a teacher, one who passes knowledge from one mind to another. Like the old adage: Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. It is hard not to be inspired with that kind of responsibility and the joy of knowing that someone will benefit from what we write, possibly for a lifetime.

For more ideas: 20 Things To Replenish Your Idea Vault (When You Run Out Of Ideas)