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Mac OS X is a flavor of Unix, so what you need to do is use chmod to change permissions. OS X disguises this a bit. You can do it by highlighting the file or folder and using Get Info (command-i) or from the Finder Edit menu. However, I find it easier to visualize what I'm doing using the FTP program Transmit, which I can recommend anyway (www.panic.com/transmit). Using that program you will have a "Your Stuff" pane, which shows your local files and folders, and another pane for "Their Stuff", showing what's on the server you connect to. Click on a file or folder in either of those panes, and then press command-i or Get Info under the File menu in Transmit. That will show a box with the file permissions, including the Unix octal code (644, 777, etc). On sites like this and in instructions for installing modules, etc., you will often see the permissions referred to like that.
Barry Cooper
Sweet Home, Oregon