Archive | 2006

Web Hosting Industry Needs Charisma

Dec/05 in Web Hosting

Random Web Hosting Complaint #1:

Now I have had my complaints about the Web hosting industry before, that much is for sure. One thing that I really think that the Web hosting industry needs is more charisma.

The entire industry is built around the idea of being dull and boring. To the outside world it is a business about nothing else than gray boxes and guys in suits and ties. Now you might be fine with that, but I am not. There are a few stand outs here and there, but not nearly enough.

Where are the attention getter? Where are the people who are not afraid to speak their minds? Where are the bad guys and the good guys in the Web hosting industry? When you look for personality – you are going to be looking for a really long time. Take the Web Host Industry Review.

Now it might be one of the more popular Web hosting magazines out there today, but it is boring. I keep it by my bed to help me during nights I have a hard time sleeping. OK, maybe it has not gotten that bad yet. It isn’t the one thing I want to show folks though when it comes to sharing how exciting the industry I am in can be.

If you are not going to talk about things that excite me, at least try to talk about it a way that will excite me.

I noticed one of my old Web Hosting Show video tutorials got some praise over at the Web Hosting Finds blog. Now that was something I created just for the sake of doing something a little different. Being the six hundred foot penguin dressed in a chicken suit in a sea of guys wearing black and white is never a bad thing.

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What Yahoo Mail Needs

Dec/04 in Online Apps

The Yahoo Mail team came out with some excellent tips for searching my E-mails in the new Yahoo Mail Beta that has been out for a while now. I really love the new Yahoo Mail, but there are a few things that I wish they would hurry up and finish or do.

1. I want a better RSS feed reader. The one included right now sucks. Give me something like Google Reader and I will switch in an instant. It would be nice to have my mail and RSS feeds all in one spot, but right now when it comes to RSS Google is just giving me a lot more.

2. Let’s hurry up and get Calendar and Notepad working. I never really used these features in the old Yahoo! Mail, so give me something that is worth using. If you do not, then at least give me the option of getting rid of the buttons. (That could also be said for the RSS reader)

3. Give me the option to always reply in plain text. I really don’t like having to switch back to plain text every time I reply to a message. There should be a setting in the options somewhere that says “only send E-mail with plain text”. Get that in there and I would be happy.

Have anything else that needs to be done that I might have missed?

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Faster and Free E-mail Checking

Dec/03 in Desktop Apps

When you have more than one email account, managing them all can become a real pain. You either have to do your best to import them all into one place or you have to do the email checking dance and go from Web site to Web site to get things done. I needed a freeware program that would allow me to control all my email accounts at once central location. My solution was found in POP Peeper.

+ Read More About and Install for Yourself, POP Peeper!

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Build Your Own Demos

Dec/02 in Desktop Apps

What if I told you I had a program that would make others love you more? You’d probably say it would be worth using, no matter what the cost.

Demo Builder does just that. It gives a very simple and easy to use interface when it comes to building Flash video tutorials.

+ Read More About Demo Builder!

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Proud of Lunarpages Blog

Dec/01 in Web Hosting

Over the past few weeks, it really has been an hour to be a small part of the Lunarpages team.

I am really happy with the way their blog is shapping up as well. Once just a place for their “master of marketing” Amy Armitage, it is now quickly becoming one of my favorite places to read (and write!). This goes way beyond just being a blog for a Web hosting company. They are putting together one heck of a writing team – and it shows.

+ Check Out Lunarpages Web Hosting Blog!

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HostingFu Does Not Like Me

Nov/30 in Personal

While surfing around some of my old referrals for the Web Hosting Show, I ran across an old link that I had never seen before. It seems like HostingFu did a little mini review of my hosting podcast.

Mitch is a “self-proclaimed” web hosting guru, but his only credential seems to be that he has “worked in several hosting companies”. The content, although is web hosting related, is not really technical, which might hardly interest all the software engineers and system administrators out there.

What really annoys me is repeated trumpet blowing like “one and only one voice of web hosting world”, “I am web hosting industry media rockstar”, etc. Hmm. I know it is really surprisingly the only one I can find, but I found it is just way too much to be professional. Maybe it is just something distinctive which his audiences love.

A little harsh I might say, but for me any feedback is good feedback?

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DemoWolf and DemoSuite

Nov/30 in Web Hosting

DemoWolfThere is no doubt in my mind that DemoWolf might be one of the most impressive companies of the entire year of 2006. If I was putting together a set of awards for the year, they would be taking home more than a few.

They have most recently launched a new service that will allow you to play anybody’s flash tutorials straight from your PC. The DemoSuite is the perfect tool for any Web host to pick up to provide to customers. It is one more way to enjoy those flash tutorials that DemoWolf puts out for the Web hosting industry as well.

DemoSuite is an application that web hosting companies can use to create a custom-branded Flash Player for their customers to download. The DemoSuite Flash Player is a desktop application that allows the customer to play their web host’s flash support tutorials directly from their Windows desktops.

Let’s be honest folks, DemoWolf has gone from being somebody who is nipping at DemoDemo’s heels to a major competitor. Now I have always been a friend of DemoDemo as well, so you will not see me picking sides. I do have to say though, impressive is what DemoWolf has really been these past few months.

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Grid Server Outage at Media Temple

Nov/29 in Web Hosting

I hate to be the one to tell you that I told you so, but I did. According the Netcraft:

Customers of MediaTemple’s GridServer, which received widespread attention upon its debut last month, experienced significant downtime Tuesday. GridServer is among the many cluster-based grid hosting services, offering the promise of enterprise-level reliability and scalability in an affordable web hosting plan.

Now that I got the “I told you so” out of the way, let me say something in the defense of Media Temple.

Bad things happen, no matter who your Web host is.

Media Temple’s advantage is also it’s disadvantage. They are host to a lot of popular blogs out there, so when things are good they get praise ten times more than anybody else. When things go back – the same thing happens in the negative sense.

Related Hosting Links:
+ Chris Pirillo Was Burned By the Outage As Well
+ Here is a Thread About the Situation at Web Hosting Talk
+ News Coverage of the Event Via Netcraft

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Online Shopping Helper

Nov/29 in Online Apps

Do you want me to let you in on a little secret? Your favorite Online place to shop is not the place where you can get the best deals. Sure, you should shop where you feel comfortable, but you might be missing a lot of good offers if you do not look elsewhere. One of my new places to find the proverbial goods is SecretPrices.com.

Read More About SecretPrices.com! | Check Out More of My Web Goodies!

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Web Hosting Podcast Server Move and Update

Nov/29 in Personal, Web Hosting

Web Hosting PodcastAlright, I think it is just about time to make my announcement about one of the new major supporters for the Web Hosting Show podcast.

FastServers.Net have been brought on and are now providing me with a server to host the number one Web hosting podcast out there today on. Hopefully in the future this machine might even be home to a few other hosting projects as well. (Don’t let me get ahead of myself though)

FastServers.Net is by far the leader when it comes to data centers out there today, so it just tickles me to be able to associate myself with him. Web Hosting Chat, which has been my major supporter for the year and a half is staying on a supporter (still giving me that forum space!). I think it is save to say though that FastServers.Net would be considered the new major supporter.

While I am in a thanking mood – I would like to thank everybody in general in the Web hosting industry that has supported my dream via the podcast. Who ever knew that one guy from Texas could draw all this attention just by helping people figure out what Web hosting is all about.

Now what does all this butt kissing mean for you and the Web Hosting Show? Well it means that you will be able to listen to the show week in and week out for a while longer. I would be happy as heck if I could be doing my 200th or 2,000th episode associated with FastServers.Net.

I’ll have a little more news on next week’s podcast – so stay tuned for more.

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