Archive for April, 2005
· April 27, 2005 at 2:57 pm · Odds & Ends
I honestly belive that when you enter and leave the world of Web hosting support they should give your a surgeon general’s warning about the hazards that might happen. It has been a long while since I was answering Web hosting questions and earning an income from it, however I am still feeling the side effects of working in the Web hosting industry.
Out of all the side effects that might happen, the biggest one has to do with my E-mail. You see when your a Web hosting support person you are taught to check in your E-mail and the Web hosting company’s help desk every five minutes to find a new question or a new help desk ticket. Once you find one, you need to get it answered and cleared as soon as possible. That way the customers stay happy and you stay busy. Some old habits are really hard to break.
Thanks to the work I did in Web hosting support I can not leave my E-mail unchecked for more than thirty minutes. I have to keep coming back to my computer or any computer in general to check up on my E-mail to see if I have received any new messages. Most of the stuff I get these days has to do with The Web Hosting Show or one of my writing jobs, so it isn’t like it couldn’t wait just a little longer. Last night is when I realized I was really a victim.
It was late and I was relaxing after having watched my two nephews and niece for around thirteen hours or more. For some unknown reason though I just could not leave those six or seven E-mails I had in my inbox unanswered though. I sneaked back here to my office and cleared them all out one by one. Did I have to get them answered last night? No. Did I? Yes. Who do I blame? The Web hosting industry for making it so hard for me to leave unanswered E-mails waiting.
I need help. Maybe I can create a new group for folks who are also ex-workers in the Web hosting world. We shall be known as Web Hosting Workers Anonymous.
· April 25, 2005 at 3:04 pm · Odds & Ends
As long as I have been in the world of Web hosting, both as a client and a worker, the Web hosting business seems to be the last one on the block to follow big technology trends. It seems like most people in Web hosting wait till it is very safe before climbing out onto that limb of innovation to try something new and different.
Here recently though, it seems like The Web Host Industry Review is breaking that stereotype. A few weeks ago I mentioned that they are now releasing RSS feeds of some of their content. Now they are taking one more step on that branch.
What is the new and exciting step this time? Web hosting television! The Web Host Industry Review launched a new service called, The Web Host Industry Review TV. Each and every Saturday they promise to update it with the latest news from around the Web hosting world. Right now your probably going to say that streaming audio and video is nothing new to the Internet. This is true. It is however new to the world of Web hosting.
The Web Host Industry Review, in conjunction with Netasis, is pleased to bring you WHIR TV – an engaging online broadcast featuring the latest news and trends from the Web hosting world. Each Saturday, WHIR TV lets you sit back and take in the key developments of the week in one convenient package, providing viewers with a unique perspective on the rapidly evolving Web hosting industry.
Each broadcast will include updates on security developments, products and services, and other insights that will keep you informed with what’s happening in Web hosting. Join us every Saturday at theWHIR.com/TV, to experience the only video news webcast in Web hosting.
Viewers can contact WHIR TV with story ideas by emailing news at thewhir.com.
Sponsorship packages are an innovative and dynamic way to brand your business — and also very affordable. It’s easier than you think! If you don’t have the means to produce a 10 second Flash ad, simply provide us with some images and a voice-over script and we can do it for you! For more information, contact ads at thewhir.com today.
Now my Web hosting podcast has been going on for around ten weeks now. That covers the radio aspect of Web hosting. The Web Host Industry Review has now covered the visual future of the Web hosting industry. What is next? A Web hosting movie?
You can stream the news segments on the Web site one by one or you can watch them all in a continuous broadcast. Each is very professionally done and doesn’t leave you with that, “a few guys did this in their basement” kind of feeling. I have also asked the folks over at The Web Host Industry Review about adding RSS feeds to let us know when it has been updated each week, and they say that it is in the works.
There are ten news stories up right now, so go check them out and let me know what you think! I’ll be sure to pass any reviews good or bad back to the folks at The Web Host Industry Review.
These are exciting times for anybody who is even kind of interested in the Web hosting world. I can not wait to see what comes next.
· April 25, 2005 at 2:35 pm · Odds & Ends
Another Monday, another episode of The Web Hosting Show, the voice of the Web hosting world. Here is just a small sample of what we have going on in this week’s edition of the show.
E-mail Limits
George via Hotmail wants to to about the limitations of e-mail accounts you might get with a Web hosting account. He says that he has been shopping at several diffrent places but notices the higher the price for the account, the more e-mail accounts he can create. Why is this so?
Well some places choose to limit the number of e-mail accounts to just put a control over your hosting account. Honestly though, these days more and more Web hosts out there are allowing for people to have “Unlimited” E-mail accounts set up. The thing to remember is if you are given an “unlimited” number that really means you can create as many as you want, as long as it fits in within your disk space and bandwidth for the account in question.
Domain Names Registrations and Web Hosting
Mike wants to know a simple answer to a simple question. It seems he just signed up for a Web hosting account, but noticed two diffrent companies comming up on his credit card statement. One was from his Web host and the other was from some company he had never heard of. After some detective work he figured out the other mystery charge came from his domain name registration. He wants to know why his domain name was registered with these folks when he thought he was doing it with his Web host.
Some Web hosts out there resell domains through bigger companies. Since not every Web host can be an ICANN domain name register, they have to find loop holes to work around. There are several domain name registration companies out there that work like this. They give the Web host a pretty interface to work with so it looks like they are doing the domain name registrations, but really they aren’t.
It really isn’t a bad thing though. You might just have to go through a few extra steps when you go looking for domain name support. Most Web hosts will then direct you to the support team of the domain name registration company since they have little control over the backend of the domain names on that end. This is just one of the reasons why I usually recomend that folks get Web hosting and domain name registrations at two diffrent places.
Want to find out what else we are talking about? Then go visit The Web Hosting Show and download this week’s podcast. You will not be sorry!
· April 23, 2005 at 4:09 pm · Odds & Ends
Alright, I have been E-mailed about this more than one time so I am going to make it official now. I am coming back Online as far as instant messaging goes so I can get more feedback, thoughts and ideas from you, the person who is reading and listening to my content out there. So here is everything you need to know:
AIM: hurrifreak82
MSN: webhostingshow@hotmail.com
Yahoo: tru_cerealkeeler@yahoo.com
The reason this is such a big deal is because I pretty much cut myself off from instant messages when I quit working Web hosting support. Just think of it as me being gun shy. After getting 40 to 50 messages an hour from folks needing help I was scared away from the whole instant messaging experience. I’m coming back though. I have seen the light and now I want to hear what you have to think.
Come talk to me about Mitchelaneous, The Web Hosting Show or any of my other various projects out there. I am looking forward to hearing what people have to say when they are able to talk to me one on one! Everybody is free to get ahold of me so shoot me a message over and lets start a conversation!
· April 20, 2005 at 12:58 pm · Odds & Ends
Now I have heard folks say time and time again that podcasting doesn’t have much of a future because so many of the people who do it aren’t that interesting. Now I’ll give Paris Hilton credit, she is interesting. I just don’t think that she swims too deep on the intellectual pool.
This does go to show you that more people are starting to see the potential in podcasting, even if it is to over-hype what will probably be a bad remake of a good movie. The one thing I was most surprised about when watching the commercials for House of Wax was how little Paris was in the thing.
I figured they were going to play it smart and realize that horror fans are not going to just go see it because they slap her name all over it.
Back to the “Paris Hilton Podcast” though. Apparently podcasting is hot.
Podcasting is hot. But it just got hotter. Paris Hilton invites you to join her on “The Paris Hilton Podcast — Countdown to House of Wax,” beginning on April 29. Join Paris and friends as she shops, parties, poses and publicizes in the days leading up to the May 6 opening of House of Wax.
“The Paris Hilton Podcast — Countdown to House of Wax” may be played back on your iPod or any portable media player.
To get “The Paris Hilton Podcast” and download a custom House of Wax Podcatcher, select your OS: WINDOWS or MAC. If you already have a podcast client and would like to subscribe to “The Paris Hilton Podcast” simply copy and paste the url below into the subscriptions window of your podcast client.
So will I be tuning in? No, I have better things to listen to. On the other hand, blogging, podcasting and marketing seem to be getting closer and closer in relation. Just look at Pamela Anderson, she’s got a blog now to help promote her new show, Stacked.
· April 18, 2005 at 4:24 pm · Odds & Ends
Having a service that you must be invited to before you can use is not a new idea. Just look at how popular Gmail was because of it and Yahoo! 360 as well. Both have had or have invitation only status which makes even more folks want an account. It is just human nature.
If you can’t have something then you want it. We can not control the urge, but you can bet there are companies out there that will profit from it. Never though have we seen a Web hosting company go down this route, well until now.
Have you Moved.in?
Moved.in is a web hosting service giving free CPanel hosting and including PHP and mySQL support and services. The catch is that the only way you can join moved.in is if you receive an invitation from a current user. They seem to also be giving out invitations for certain contests on their forums as well. Sound familiar? I thought it would.
Now how well will this all work in the long run? It is really hard to tell. Sure there are a lot of free Web hosting companies out there today. Most of them aren’t that great though. I’d like to see how the folks at moved.in plan to make a profit on this idea. Till then though, you can try to get in invite and if you do, let me know what you think. I am really excited about this new way of looking at free Web hosting. If any of the moved.in folks are reading this right now, I’d love to see what you guys are offering to people.
Update! I just received an invite from the folks at moved.in so give me a few days and I should be able to tell you how well this service really works.
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