Archive for December, 2005
· December 20, 2005 at 10:00 am · Odds & Ends
When you spend enough time looking at something, you sometimes feel the need to have a different view. Eventually we all get bored of doing things one way, and we want to try something different. Some people take to the change automatically, while others might not. Viamatic foXpose offers a very different way of viewing your tabs inside of Firefox.
The Viamatic foXpose Firefox extension loads all of your tabs in one single Web site. You see dozens of little screenshots of Web sites that you are currently browsing, right there in front of that view of yours.
Why is this helpful? Well, lets say you want to compare layouts of more than one Web site? Maybe you just need a new way to navigate through your tabs? No mater what your reasons are, one thing can be said for sure. Viamatic foXpose is definitely something different.
How do you use it? Just click on the icon in the status bar to view all the browser windows. Yes, it is just that easy.
In the next version of this Firefox extension they will be offering the ability to select a background color, and an easier way to customize the keyboard shortcut. Viamatic foXpose is for Firefox versions 1.5 or higher. Want a different view of things? Give it a shot!
· December 19, 2005 at 4:25 pm · Odds & Ends
It looks like DemoDemo.com might have some competition now in the flash video tutorial market. No, I’m not talking about my cheaply produced alternative, I’m talking about DemoWolf.com.
The prices are still way up there (as are DemoDemo.com’s prices) but it is nice to see a little more flavor in this market. Web hosting customers always need more help, and thanks to these services there isn’t a Web host out there today who shouldn’t have some sort of flash video tutorials on the help site they run.
· December 19, 2005 at 3:11 pm · Odds & Ends
Well just two more Web Hosting Show episodes to go till the end of the year. With the entire Web hosting industry wrapping things up for 2005, what is the hottest talking points? How about Yahoo’s deal with MovableType and a Web host wanting to adopt a child to live in it’s data center? Here’s just a few highlights from this week’s show.
Well it looks like Yahoo finally has a reason now for you to sign up for it’s Web hosting plans. The plan in question this time around I think is the “small business” one, but don’t let the name fool you. Anybody can sign up for it. Why do they finally have a reason for getting folks to sign up? They struck a deal with the folks at MovableType to have (what I would guess) one click installs of the MovableType (MT) product.
If Yahoo has been buying things and making deals left and right these days. I think this newest deal should put them really in the running for the top spot in the Web hosting market right now as well. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, that’s for sure. MovableType is one of the best blogging and Web site management tools out there today. Heck, I might even have to sign up for an account there just to see how easy the whole process is.
[Read more about the Yahoo/MT Deal!]
In a story last week that could definitely be classified under the “strange” category, there is a Web host out there willing to adopt a kid. The child will be raised in the Web host’s data center, and they have even mentioned making the child the company’s official mascot.
New York web hosting provider Weblinkhosting has announced its intention to adopt a boy (rather than a girl) under its company name.
As you may remember, Weblinkhosting circulated a press release suggesting it intended to legally adopt a child to ‘live at the company’s data center and be provided with food, clothing, shelter and love from the owner and employees’. Weblinkhosting.com’s latest circulation suggests progress has been made with the objective and, “the newly adopted orphan which will live in the web hosting data center will be a male. His name has yet to be determined.”
Is it just me, or is there just something really wrong about this whole idea? At first I kind of joked about the Web host wanting to build an army of super Web hosting gurus to take over the Web hosting world. How do I feel about it now that a little time has passed? It is still just a little too disturbing for me. Adopted kids need a loving home, they don’t need to become a publicity stunt for some big company to just make more money. This is nothing more than a perversion on the true meaning on of the holiday season.
[Read more about the Weblinkhosting adoption story!]
More hosting fun than you can shake a stick at, check out the Web Hosting Show podcast:
Download the Web Hosting Show! (MP3) | Read the Show Notes!
Running Time: 18 minutes | File Size: 3.98 MB
· December 19, 2005 at 10:00 am · Odds & Ends
If I said I wanted to toss an Aardvark in your lap, you’d probably look at me with a very confused look across your face. Well, what if I told you that this Aardvark in question would do more work than any other Aardvark that you have seen before. Would I have your attention then? Do I have your attention now? The Aardvark Firefox extension is very unique and very useful as well.
So what can you do with this Firefox extension? You can clean up unwanted banners and surrounding “fluff,” especially prior to printing a page, see how the page is created, block by block and view the source code of one or more elements.
Once you get Aardvark up and running as an extension in Firefox, all you need to do to start it is right-click on any Web page and choose “Start Aardvark”. The extension will keep going, till you tell it to stop by leaving, refreshing or by hitting the “Q” key to quit.
As you navigate around the Web page you will notice a red square over some of the Web site sections. If they exist, you will also see a little yellow caption telling you the HTML element type and its class or id if it has one.
It might take a while to get a grasp on how Aardvark works at first. It definitely deserves some personal time as you learn how to use it and what all you can do with it. On the Aardvark Web page, they have some keyboard shortcuts that should help you manage what you want to do as well as find out what all this little Firefox extension can do.
So now that you have this Aardvark tossed into your lap, make the best of all the work that it will do for you.
· December 16, 2005 at 11:00 am · Odds & Ends
Everybody has tried del.icio.us at least once. Some people like it, and some people find it confusing. There is no doubt that a Firefox extension would play a good part here in making it easier to use for everybody out there. That is what this del.icio.us Firefox extension does.
So what is del.icio.us? Google tells us, “Del.icio.us is social bookmarking, social software web service for storing and sharing web bookmarks. The site came online in late 2003 and was developed by Joshua Schachter, co-maintainer of Memepool. According to del.icio.us/doc/about: Everything posted to del.icio.us is publicly viewable; it is not a tool for storing private bookmark collections. Many people use del.icio.us to publish ‘linkblogs’ on their weblogs.”
Here is what the author has to say about this del.icio.us Firefox extension:
The del.icio.us extension for Firefox offers everything you need to seamlessly integrate the del.icio.us service with your Firefox browser. Included in the extension are two buttons which allow you to easily post items to del.icio.us, and access your saved items from del.icio.us.
In addition to the buttons, the extension allows for right-click posting functionality. A del.icio.us menu is also installed which allows for quick access to common pages on del.icio.us as well as keyboard shortcuts. The extension also installs the del.icio.us search plug-in right into the existing Firefox search toolbar.
This extension is for Firefox versions 1.0 - 1.5 and once you install it, you will not find an easier way to sink the functionality of del.icio.us with your everyday life.
· December 15, 2005 at 4:57 pm · Odds & Ends
Usually when the holidays start rolling around, everybody makes a wish list of what they would like to get. From new clothes to the newest gadgets, there are a lot of things covered by a lot of people. My holiday Web Hosting Show wish list is a little different. My wish list is pointed directly to the Web hosting industry in hope that they might listen and change. I don’t want them to change just for me, I want them to change to make the Web hosting world better for each and every one of you as well.
4. I wish for GoDaddy.com to offer a better Web hosting experience.
I have been nothing but disappointed with my hosting experience at GoDaddy.com. I had heard good things from folks in the past about it, so I had to try it out to see what all the fuss was about. I will give them a little credit, as far as bandwidth, disk space and uptime goes, I am very happy. Where I have a problem is the control panel and missing features. The control panel that GoDaddy.com uses sucks, there is no denying that. It is one thing to rule a market, it is another thing to be the best thing in the market. GoDaddy.com might be on the way to ruling the virtual Web hosting world, but they are by far not the best option out there.
4. I wish for Web hosting jargon to become more simple for folks.
Ok, so maybe this wish isn’t so easy to achieve. I just feel like a lot of people are scared off by the idea of Web hosting because some of the words are confusing. To really master and learn the ins and outs of the Web hosting industry, one has to almost learn a different language. POP3, FTP, MySQL, these should be services that work - but I shouldn’t have to know them by such confusing names. As I said before, this wish probably won’t come true. It somebody can do it though, they will have my total support.
2. I wish for more competition within the Web hosting industry.
Well, there are hundreds, if not thousands of Web hosts out there today. Maybe competition isn’t the problem. I just wish more folks would realize that there are more choices other than the top names in the business. I hope that a few more of these smaller companies get a stronger grab onto the Web hosting market. The more top companies there are, the more they will be competing for your business and your money. That is definitely a good thing.
1. I wish the Web hosting industry would catch up to the rest of us.
When it comes to innovation, the Web hosting industry isn’t exactly number one. It seems like with words like RSS and Web 2.0, the world of Web hosting is in the dark ages. As somebody who jumps often from the leading technology stories to the leading Web hosting stories out there, I am disappointed. I am disappointed that more Web hosts and hosting related Web sites aren’t trying something new or something different. You can only release press releases for so long before the public gets tired of you.
Do you have any holiday hosting wishes you’d like to address? Make sure you send them to me and I’ll be sure to let everybody know all the best ones I get.
Download the Web Hosting Show! (MP3) | Read the Show Notes!
Running Time: 7 minutes | File Size: 1.51 MB
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