Archive | December, 2006

WHIR Blogs Are Getting Better

Dec/13 in Web Hosting

I might have given them a rib or two when they first started, but I do have to say that the WHIR’s blog section is getting better over time. I have really been enjoying some of the content they have been putting up the last few weeks and I hope there is more good content to come.

Now some might say I go a little overboard when I criticize the Web Host Industry Review, but that is because I would like to see them get better. Anything I have said has not been really meant to be taken in a mean spirited way. I just think from time to time they could do better – and it is nice to see that they have come through with that via the new WHIR Blogs.

So I might be the first to poke them with a sharp stick – but I will also offer them a pat on the back when I see something that I like. Keep up the good work Liam!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

GoDaddy Girl’s Stacked Family

Dec/12 in Web Hosting

Once again, bLaugh does a good job at making my day. With GoDaddy’s most recent girl though, I think they were going for somebody with a smaller chest that Candice Michelle. ;)

I can only image all of the good press that GoDaddy has gotten because of Candice’s deal with WWE. I know I have gotten dozens of hits every time I mention her in relation to the Web hosting world. Will that race car driver lady do as well? I don’t think so. I think GoDaddy has already had it and lost it.

GoDaddy Girl Family Portrait

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

List of Hosting Resources

Dec/12 in Personal, Web Hosting

Now I know you are not suppose to think out loud Online because somebody might come by and snatch up your idea before you get around to doing it. I am going to do a little thinking anyways. If anybody has any feedback or additional thoughts, you can always leave a comment to let me know.

I am considering re-launching Hosting Hoopla as a big resource list for the Web hosting industry. Something like my resources page for the Web Hosting Show, but bigger and better. The whole content aggregation idea was a bust and never went anywhere. I don’t think the world of Web hosting was ready for something like that.

Of course I would have to come up with a unique way of getting things posted to the Web site. Just an idea for now, but I would love to hear if anybody thinks I should run with the idea or are we tired of that idea?

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Charity, Death and Web Hosting

Dec/11 in Web Hosting

Well it looks like there are a few domain name extensions that are going to visit that big DNS server up in the sky. A few of them are on the chopping block and I’ll let you know who they are and why they are. Also, it is the holiday season, so how can charitable organizations find free hosting? I’ll let you in on that industry secret too right here on the Web Hosting Show, podcast 88.

+ Listen to the Web Hosting Show, Podcast 88!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Top Topics in Web Hosting

Dec/10 in Web Hosting

Instead of telling you what I see or what I know, I figured I would share with you some of my favorite Web hosting topics of discussion I have seen over the past few weeks. The Web hosting world is anything but boring – even if you have to hunt for the good stuff pretty hard sometimes.

1. “Simplicity is the New Spaghetti” for Both Google and You
Google co-founder Sergey Brin says that success will come from simplicity. Nicholas Carr calls simplicity the new spaghetti and tries to consolidate Google’s many, many products into 5 categories (web presence, web office, content sharing, ad platform and search platform) – because 5 is the magic number; Eric Schmidt says that’s as many as most people can remember.

2. Whois Search in Your Taskbar
Now it is not very often that I find a free download for the Web hosts and Web hosting clients to use out there. Sure you have your FTP clients and log analyzers, but I have something for you that is even better than that. How would you like to do simple and quick Whois searches from your taskbar? That is what Project Whois promises to deliver.

3. Introduction to SEO
For my first blog I would like to start with the basics of SEO. For anyone who knows little or nothing about SEO you might find this helpful and for those who do know about SEO, stay tuned as I will be giving more tips and tricks to help you dominate your industry.

Have any other web hosting posts that caught your eye but did not catch mine?

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Podcasting on the Cheap

Dec/09 in Desktop Apps, Web Hosting

small-servers.jpgWant to know how I put together the Web Hosting Show podcast? I recently wrote up a podcasting guide for the Lunartics blog – and thought I would share it here as well. I am a big believer in not having to pay much to get your projects up and going.

Now as you can tell from the About Our BlogSTARS! Web page, I am no stranger to the art of podcasting. In fact, in February I will be celebrating my two year anniversary of creating them for the public. Now one question that I get sent my way a lot is how do I do it?

+ Check Out my Low Budget Podcasting Guide on Lunartics!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Answering Your Web Hosting Questions

Dec/09 in Web Hosting

What great legal battle did the Web hosting industry win this week? What is the best way to find a supporter or sponsor for you next big idea? What my new favorite freeware application for both Web hosts and Web hosting clients? I am the man with all the answers, and I’ll be giving them to you one by one on this week’s edition of the Web Hosting Show.

+ Download and Listen to the Web Hosting Show, Podcast 87!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Help and Tips for Content Ideas

Dec/08 in Hot Web Topics

I had somebody ask me the other day for a few ideas to get them started on their new Web site. You see, they knew they wanted to create a Web site – they just did not know what it was going to be about yet. Some people might say this person just has way too much time on his or her hands. I am always happy to help folks out though, so this is what I told them.

Inspiration for new and exciting content can come from anywhere. The best advice I can give you is to find a topic that you have a passion about and start writing down ideas. If you can think of at least a dozen ideas, then you my friend have the early stages of a Web site.

You might even try mixing ideas. Maybe you like podcasting and cars, so you could start a podcast about cars. Maybe you have a love for exotic fish and you like to draw. Well, in that case you could start up a portfolio of your exotic fish drawings.

I think right now too much focus is on finding the next great thing. Web 2.0 does not rule the world and the idea that everything has to fit under that niche is just silly. Working in the Web hosting business, I talk to dozens of people a day who have Web sites about every single topic out there today.

Sure, not all of them are popular, but they are serving a purpose. They might not have a popularity level of a digg or even a Lockergnome but as long as they satisfy who they set out to please, that is OK as well.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Listening to Podcasts in the Bathroom

Dec/07 in Personal

Alright, so maybe you are wondering what this is all about right?

I am no sicko, pervert or anything else like that. Let me first start this story with my problem. Once I started my new job, I seemed to have less and less time to listen to some of my favorite podcasts. So I thought, when could I get more listening time in?

The time I spend taking a shower and shaving is filled with silence, so I figured that would be a good time to get listening to podcasts into my routine again.

Well, the first thing I tried was wearing headphones while doing these activities. That did not work out so well, so I had to go with something different. Now my MP3 player is nothing great, it is a Dell Pocket DJ. Not the state of the art machine, but it has lasted me a long time. Getting an new setup just to get this to work seemed a little silly too. There has to be an easy way to get this done.

That is when I reached for my box of old computer parts and pulled out a pair of speakers. I plugged the speakers into the audio jack on the mp3 player and cranked it up as loud as it would go. It worked! Now I have a little more time to listen to my favorite podcasts and you have yourself a quick little tip on how you can do the same.

The moral of the story?

Never toss out that old computer equipment, because you never know when you might find a good use for it – even in the bathroom.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

WordPress Plugins for Regular Folks

Dec/06 in Online Apps

Since people liked my article on Firefox Extensions for Regular Folks I figured I might try to cover another topic that is near and dear to my freaky heart, WordPress plugins. Now I like to use WordPress to run the back end of nearly all of my Web sites I manage. It is one of the best (if not the best) content management system out there today. So which plugins would I consider alright for the everyday folks?

1. WordPress Database Backup

Keeping a regular backup of your Web site or blog is always a good thing to do. What if something goes wacky with your Web host, and all your files and content are lost? Sure they might have a backup – but what if they don’t. Take care of yourself and keep a regular backup! I try to at least do backups once a week to once a month. At least this way I am for sure that not too much could go wrong.

2. Google Analytics and Feedburner Reports

I love both FeedBurner and Google’s Analytics tools, but it is a pain to have to go here and then go there to find out all these stats I am tracking. This WordPress plugin brings it all together for me on one nice single Web page.

3. Search Everything

No matter where your content is, you want to make sure it gets searched. This WordPress plugin makes note of all of your content (not just the blog posts) and makes it searchable via WordPress’s built in search engine. You don’t want people to miss any of your content so having this plugin is a necessity as well.

4. Google Sitemap Generator

We all want Google to pay more attention to us, right? Well, as confusing as the current Google Sitemap system is for regular folks, it is all we have to go by right now if we want to make sure Google is keeping an eye on us. This WordPress plugin creates your sitemap and also allows you to ping Google when you update it.

5. Smart Archives

Now as I have said before, and I will probably say again – I do not navigate via the archives that much. If I want to find something, I usually search for it. For those few times you need to have organized archives though, Smart Archives does the job better than the rest. The install is easy and when you are done you have a neat organized list of all your posts.

6. Optimal Title

When it comes to creating a Web site, having a good title is key. The Title is what grabs folks attention and it is also how you bring them in via the search engines. To make sure you title is “optimal” you need to pick up this WordPress plugin. It is key if you want clean titles that are search engine optimization (SEO) friendly.

7. Jerome’s Keyword Plugin

This might not be the best way to get tags into your WordPress blog, but it is simple. I have tried some of the other WordPress plugins for tags, and I always keep coming back to this one. It does the job, it does it well and you really can not ask for more than that.

8. FAlbum

Have a Flickr account and a WordPress blog? This WordPress plugin makes quick and easy work out of creating a gallery of all your latest and greatest photos from your Flickr account.

9. Akismet

The ultimate comment spam killer. Not much more can be said about this WordPress plugin that has not been said before. One of the main reasons I moved away from Blogware was because of the spam problems. Now I have no problems at all.

Now I am not the be all and end all as far as this list goes. Do you have any plugins that I might have missed? Let me know about it by leaving a comment and that way you will share your thoughts on the matter as well. If we are creating a list for he folks, then your suggestions and opinions are just as important as mine.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }
← Older posts Newer posts →