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Richard:
Hmmm ... I don't think so. If a directory is not "executable", you can't access it as a directory to place files in it.
wtravel:
Actually, it would be possible to hide the uploads directory. Instead of having URLs that directly access files in that directory, the URLs could run a script that reads a file from the "hidden" uploads directory and outputs it, with the proper MIME content header, to the browser. But there's a performance penalty, possible a severe one, since that script would have to be executed frequently, and the files wouldn't be cacheable by the browser. There might also be platform-dependencies.
I experimented with that approach for an earlier script that I wrote. I used the method for "downloads" such as .zip files, but decided it was too costly for more frequently accessed files such as images.