how do you make the shadow around the main_content like the one on this site? http://www.naca.gov.bw/ is it css or dhtml or jus images setup in tables?

They used a .css stylesheet with .gif images- for the dots and shadow. There's a couple of different ways you tell. You can view source or right click on different parts of the background to see what it's saved as.

They are just using bg_right.gif and bg_left.gif as background images in a table for the drop shadow