To reiterate what I mentioned in the other gaming session last week, for those who were not present:
Skill Focus - the +2 gained with the skill counts as extra ranks in the skill for all purposes that require X number of ranks to use it for something (such as prestige class prerequisites), but do not count against the maximum ranks you can put in a skill with skill points. Thus for instance if a prestige class has a prerequisite of 8 ranks in a class skill X, you can satisfy that by 3rd level - with the maximum of 6 ranks from skill points, plus the Skill Focus feat for 2 additional virtual ranks.
I made the change to Skill Focus (and it has been sort of implied in a lot of online discussions also) because as it stands, only NPCs or those going for a prestige class that requires a specific Skill Focus would take it, other feats are just better. Having Skill Focus count as +2 ranks makes the feat viable - it still may not be someone's immediate first choice J but it does have some advantage in terms of greater flexibility in qualifying for prestige classes that have skill rank requirements. This can be especially true of you are trying to qualify for a prestige class and one of the classes is a cross-class skill. In that case, the +2 ranks can be the equivalent of four levels worth of skill point investment! ;)
For a Bard in a Western campaign, it would be very useful to have Skill Focus (Perform), so that you can get the different types of Bardic Music a couple levels earlier.