WordPress 3.0.3 has been released and is a mandatory security update for all previous WordPress versions.
Read more / Get it at: wordpress.org/news/2010/12/wordpress-3-0-3/
Welcome to the forums Walter
Make sure to wrap your variables with the IfModule like so.
><IfModule php_config>
php_value short_open_tag on
</IfModule>
Why would you want to put txt files in the cgi-bin folder? That folder is used primarily for scripts that are executable. I'd make a separate folder for txt files you want to serve in a browser.