It's not really my area of expertise, about the only thing I can offer is a guide to .htaccess files on our usergroup site: http://usertools.plus.net/tutorials/?id=5
Apologies if you've seen that already.
Regarding gzip, I believe the standard hosting platform is stripped as bare as it could be for security reasons which is why a lot of the services aren't available there.
If that doesn't help give me a shout and I'll see if there's anyone who knows more.
No command 'shout' found, did you mean:
Command 'scout' from package 'openafs-client' (universe)
Command 'spout' from package 'spout' (universe)
shout: command not found
I jest of course I'll see what I can do and post back shortly.
No command 'shout' found, did you mean:
Command 'scout' from package 'openafs-client' (universe)
Command 'spout' from package 'spout' (universe)
shout: command not found