sheesh, i had a great working example in a sub directory (/shop). i've followed the directions in the appropriate post. it worked fine for a few minutes (site showed up, could work in admin too), then i click on cats/products in admin and get the following:

Warning: main(includes/application_top.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/DELETED/public_html/index.php on line 26

Warning: main(includes/application_top.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/DELETED/public_html/index.php on line 26

Warning: main(includes/application_top.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/DELETED/public_html/index.php on line 26

Fatal error: main() [function.require]: Failed opening required 'includes/application_top.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/DELETED/public_html/index.php on line 26

i get similar errors at the root level now too. i've reuploaded (ftp'd) several times, and i give up. any help would be greatly appreciated.... thanks!!!! (i replaced file name above with DELETED, fyi)