php file access problem & mail problem

I am having a couple of issues with php and they are:

1) File access - php can't open files for writing/reading if i don't set the permissions on them to 777. Is it safe to do that in the public_html directory?

2) the mail() function in php doesn't send outgoing mail, but I know the mail server is up and running because I can use a client such as outlook to send and receive mail.

Can someone help me out? Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

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