I recently had a run in with the whole “credit card fraud” nightmare. I’m going to let you know how I handled it, and how it relates back to the Web Hosting industry. Also, looking for a new way of getting your Web site known? I might have a Web site that will do that hard work for you. A barrel of monkeys has nothing on us, the Web Hosting Show podcast 51 is now on the air.
Download the Web Hosting Show, Podcast 51!
Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 3.44 MB
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Hello I am the Web hosting industry’s media rock star, Mitch Keeler, and welcome to the Web Hosting Show, the one and only voice of the Web hosting world. This show is supported each and every week by the fine folks over at Web Hosting Chat. Web Hosting Chat is your number one place for Web hosting discussions.
Yes, I’m back from my mini podcasting vacation. There was no new podcast last week because of two reasons. The number one reason was I was a little under the weather. Now I am feeling better. I just wish I could get rid of this nagging cough. The second reason was, I needed to get my batteries recharged. After doing the 50th episode I was a little worn out, but now I’m back (and hopefully better than ever).
Google Testing Web ‘Page Creator’ Beta
As Microsoft waves goodbye to FrontPage in Office 2007, Google seems to be picking up the slack and is beta testing a new Web-based HTML editor dubbed “Page Creator.” Google’s service utilizes AJAX to give it the feel of a desktop application, but at the moment the tool’s functionality remains limited.
Mitch’s Take: Almost everything Google does or touches turns to gold, so this should be no exception. I do feel like this is a step backwards instead of forwards. Where is the RSS and Web 2.0 ideas in this? Google’s Page Creator seems like a step back into 1997.
WebSitePulse Officially Launches Its New Web Performance Measurement System
WebSitePulse, a leading provider of global, independent and remote monitoring of web-based systems and e-business transactions, announced the official launch of its new system for advanced web performance monitoring and measurement, problem notification, diagnostics, and reporting.
Mitch’s Take: Tracking your Online performance is always an important part of a Web site’s success Online. You need to know what is working, what is popular and what hasn’t been used in ages. Hopefully this new tool from WebSitePulse will add to the ease of tracking this type of data.
Resurgence Seen in Free Web Hosting
A report published Friday by Internet research group Netcraft pointed to a resurgence in ad-supported free Web hosting, led by major product pushes from some of the largest players in the Internet business.
Mitch’s Take: Yep, free Web hosting is starting to become “cool” again thanks to Office Live and Google’s new Page Creator I mentioned earlier. As long as you don’t mind a few ads, free Web hosting is a great way to get your feet wet in Web site design.
Web Hosting 101
Web hosting 101 is brought to you by Banners World. Do you have any basic information about Web hosting to share? Are you a beginner with a question to ask? Let me know at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.
I got an E-mail last week from a Web Hosting Show fan that wanted to know if they could purchase a Web hosting account for backing up their computer. Well, I would imagine it is possible to do so, but personally I wouldn’t do it. A shared Web hosting account is not exactly the most secure place to put valuable and secret data.
Instead of trying to backup with just any Web host out there, I would go to a service that specializes in Online backup solutions. IBackup.com and Xdrive.com are two I quickly found while doing a Google search for “online backup”. There are plenty more to choose from. Just make sure you do your homework on the companies, ask questions and you should be on your way to backing up Online in no time at all.
Mitch’s Hosting Talking Points
You pick the topics and I talk about them. All of my Web hosting thoughts, views and ideas are brought to you by Data Center Talk. Do you have a topic you’d like to hear me discuss? Just drop me an E-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.
Credit Card Fraud and the Web Hosting World
Yeah, even under appreciated hosting podcast DJ’s can get the shaft every once in a while. I’ve written about my recent experience with credit card fraud over at my Mitchelaneous Web site. You can check out all of the details over there.
Absolute-Soft.com – Credit Card Fraud
Now to give you the general rundown of the situation, it goes a little something like this:
Boy is scamed. Boy doesn’t know how he was scamed. $9.95 missing from boy’s credit card statement. Boy reports fraud. Boy shuts down hosting account.
That is the general story at least. Now I was lucky (if you can ever be lucky in this situation) because I had a domain name to go by. After doing a few trace route and whois domain searches I tracked down where these guy were hosted and who registered them a domain.
I am happy to say that, after being shown the facts, the Web host (Sago Networks) shut these guys down ASAP. RegisterFly.com still has yet to return one of my e-mails. The important thing is that I have at least stopped Absolute-Soft.com from doing this again for the time being.
So for customers out there that might be in my situation, don’t get mad, get even! These businesses and Web sites ruin the Internet and anytime we can knock one out, we are making this a better place to surf in the future.
Hosting Tips and Tricks
All of my hosting tips and tricks are brought to you by my blog, Mitchelaneous. Do you have a Web hosting tip or trick to share? If you do, send it to me at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.
Looking for a way to get your Web hosting company known a little better in the Online world? Well I found an interesting service that you might want to try.
HostPromoter.net specializes in promoting and advertising your hosting business. For the most part, it looks like they submit your Web hosting Web site to a plethora of Online hosting directories. Once you pick and order a service, they will contact you within 24 hours to get any more information they might need. After your payment has been processed, you will be added to these directories within 5 to 10 business days.
This is definitely an interesting service, and if I was a Web host myself I would give them a shot.
Web Host of the Week
I belive in giving credit where credit is due. The Web Hosting Show Web Host of the Week is brought to you by BrowseHosts.com. Do you know a Web host that deserves some time in the spotlight? Send me a link at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.
The Web host of the week this week is ExaBytes.com.
So what makes these folks so special? How about the experience of running the latest versions of Red Hat Linux and Windows 2000, 2003 Web hosting since 2001? They offer all the basics with a little room for deserts. ExaBytes.com’s customers get a guaranteed 99.9% network up time, 99.5% server uptime, 24/7 monitoring, 24/7 technical support, a fast and redundant connection, and generous amounts of space and bandwidth at an affordable low price.
The ASP.NET Windows hosting they provide looks nice as well. They go from 5 GB to 15 GB of disk space. They go from 50 GB to 150 GB of bandwidth. The prices of the plans go from $4.95 a month to $8.65 a month. Now that isn’t going to break anybody’s wallet.
For more information on this Web host of the week, just go and visit ExtraBytes.com and let them know the Web Hosting Show sent you there.
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