Archive | May, 2007

Want Help from Your Web Host?

May/09 in Web Hosting

Hosting HelpI’ve worked in Web hosting and customer service for a number years. Over those years, I have noticed a lot of little things that might help you get your issues solved faster and help you build a better relationship with your own hosting support team.

Give me a preview of your issue, question or problem in the title of the E-mail or help desk ticket. Don’t put in “Dude, Site is Lik the BrockeN!”

Make sure you include every bit of information you think might be needed to solve your question. Usually a Web host will let you know what type of verification they need from you for certain things. Provide that stuff first and you’ll take at least one step out of the support process.

Don’t insult your Web host. I don’t care if you had twelve servers and they all just went down and now your in all on the floor crying. Yelling and insulting your Web host is not going to help things any. Take a deep breath and do your best to work with your Web host in getting the issues taken care of. No need to make things more stressful than they already are.

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The Lone Speaker Wallpaper

May/08 in Desktop, Free Wallpaper

Feeling a little lonely? Maybe you just like the oddness of a lone speaker sitting out in the middle of nowhere. Always a big lover of the odd and strange stuff – this wallpaper jumped out at me and said, “Download ME!”.

How could I tell it no?

The Lone Speaker

Pick it up and express your rebel-ness via your desktop. Being a loner is not always a bad thing.

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Lunarpages Podcast and Interview

May/07 in Web Hosting

The latest and greatest edition of the Web Hosting Show is up and ready for download. This week I talked with Amy Armitage of Lunarpages. Everything from tips to help market your own Web projects to her thoughts on women inside of the Web hosting industry were covered – so if you haven’t listened, I would recommend doing so. Here is the lineup for topics this week on the podcast:

  • An Interview with Amy Armitage of Lunarpages.com
  • What is a Woman’s Place in the Hosting Industry?
  • Marketing Tips Everybody Can Learn From!
  • Do I Love or Hate the New cPanel 11?
  • Finding Domain Registrars for Wacky Extensions!

+ Download and Listen to the Web Hosting Show – Episode 106!

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Grunge Wallpaper Pack

May/07 in Desktop

I’m back with another wallpaper pack. I know some folks – especially those who use their desktops alot – like to have wallpaper that is a little less busy than most. If you feel like you want to get down and dirty and work in the gutter – then this Grunge wallpaper pack might just be for you.

Grunge Wallpaper

Simple, yet there is something pretty about it all. Then again, that might just be my inter-punk talking again. Have any other good simple wallpapers you like?

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Dead Like Me – The Movie?

May/06 in Personal

Dead Like MeI never understood why those idiots at Showtime canceled Dead Like Me. It was one of the greatest shows and one of the few I made time to watch each and every week. It has been a few years since the cancellation – but the fan following just keeps building. Thanks to that – it looks like there might be a Dead Like Me movie in the works.

There is now talk of a Dead Like Me movie in the works, with Stephen Herek (Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Rock Star) supposedly on board to direct. The movie is slated to be a direct to DVD affair, but considering that this is where the show seemed to find its audience, I don’t think that will be a problem. No word yet on whether or not the entire original cast will return, or what involvement (if any) series creator Bryan Fuller will have.

All I can say is “Whoo hoo!” and I hope they can get it all together and produced at the same great level of acting and story writing that the TV show was done at. For more on Dead Like Me and it’s cult following (and I mean that in the nicest way) check out DeadLikeMeOnline.com.

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HQ Scenery Wallaper Pack

May/05 in Desktop, Online Apps

Need some high quality and large wallpapers for your weekend? Usually I find myself changing my own wallpaper selection once a week or so – so I figured I’d share this collection of great wallpapers with you.

Longhorn Wallpapers

Right now I’m using the road one on my desktop. Really amazing how clear and defined each wallpaper is. For those of you too busy to step out and enjoy the real scenery – this is for you.

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Yahoo Unlimited E-mail Storage = Ads for Everybody

May/04 in Hot Web Topics

Yahoo is paying for the unlimited E-mail storage everybody is going to get with more ads. Paid Yahoo Mail users or not – we are all going to get this “new feature” called advertisements.

Want the good news? Yahoo is going to give us unlimited E-mail storage soon. The bad news? If you haven’t been seeing ads – you are about to get them back – even if you have been paying for your E-mail service! I have enjoyed the perks of having the “paid” version of Yahoo Mail since I am a AT&T DSL customer. When I moved over to DSL I signed up with SBC Yahoo! DSL. One of the perks I liked the most was that there were no ads on the E-mail application.

Here is a copy of the E-mail I got from Yahoo:

Dear AT&T Yahoo! Member:

AT&T and Yahoo! have a history of providing our members with award-winning, industry-leading Internet products and services at a great value.

As more members are using AT&T Yahoo! Mail to send and receive photos, videos, and music, we will begin offering unlimited email storage in May to both existing and new members. Your service will continue to include all the premium products you already enjoy including video, LAUNCHcast Plus, and an all-in-one security suite.

Additionally, within the next few weeks you will begin seeing graphical advertisements in your AT&T Yahoo! Mail service. These advertisements will be integrated into the AT&T Yahoo! Mail experience, and we hope you will find the advertisements useful. Advertising such as this allows us to continue delivering new and innovative elements to our service and helps us keep prices competitive, while we continue to provide the high level of service that you have come to know and trust.

We strive to provide you with the best online experience possible and to address all your needs on the Internet.

Sincerely,

AT&T Yahoo! Member Services

I love how they push the advertisements as an additional feature to look forward to. Shame on you Yahoo!

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Interview with a Server Monitorer

May/04 in Web Hosting

There are a lot of server monitoring services out there, but it has been a while since I have been this impressed by one. I had the “man behind the magic” over at Wormly on the Web Hosting Show this week. If you haven’t tuned in and listened – what are you waiting for. Consider this your written invitation.

Here are a few other things we covered on the latest episode of the podcast:

  • An Interview with Julien Szemere of Wormly.com!
  • Five Web Development Tools of the Trade!
  • Lori – a Firefox Extension for Hosting Gurus!
  • A Link to Resize your Web Site to Any Size at All!
  • Wild and Wacky Web Hosting Edu-tainment!

+ Download and Listen to the Web Hosting Show – Episode 105!

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Links to Better Your Web Life

May/03 in Web Development Tutorials

I know what you are thinking. Your about to say, “Oh that Mitch guy is lying again!” but I promise you I am not. Here are my articles from this week’s Lockergnome Web Developer newsletter. Enjoy!

Know of any other Web development topics, links or questions you’d like to see me cover? Send them my way and I’ll do my best to get it done.

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Google Browser Sync Alternatives

May/02 in Online Apps

del.icio.us BookmarksFor some unknown reason, Google Browser Sync decided to go wacky on me yesterday. Kept getting disconnected and 502 error codes. The browser sync had never done me wrong before – but I can’t afford not to be connected between my machines. So I set out for a long search to try to find an alternative and a replacement.

Meet the contenders…

Foxmarks – There is no tool out there that does everything GBS does, but the main thing I need is bookmark syncing. Foxmarks did do the work – only problem was it was confusing to setup. I wasn’t sure if I was uploading or downloading, syncing or unsyncing. I’m sure if I spent time with it – it might have made sense, but if I can’t figure it out in five minutes – I’m probably not going to use it.

Online Bookmark Manager – This is another Firefox extension solution with a free hosted space. I would say if folks like the idea behind Foxmarks but want a different route to go, OBM is worth a shot. Still didn’t do what I needed it to do though.

Bookmarks Synchronizer – This is a Firefox extension that let you connect to an FTP/WebDAV server and synchronize your bookmarks that are stored in an XML file. Nice, but still did not cut the cake for me. This is yet another solution like Foxmarks and OBM – but no free hosting for the backups.

If not these, who did you go with for bookmark syncing?

All of these were good solutions, but I decided to give the del.icio.us Bookmarks extension a shot. I moved all my PC bookmarks over to del.icio.us and I have to say I like it thus far.

All the “secret” bookmarks I have set to hide from the public – and it was easy enough to setup on both my desktop PC and my notebook computer. This extension totally replaces your standard bookmarking and replaces it with del.icio.us.

The whole thing is very fast as well – they much cache some of the results, because I can hardly even notice this is “integrated with the Web” at all.

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