How would you like to be able to gain a ton of information about a web site, right from the status bar in Firefox?

ShowIP, an add-on for the Firefox browser, will deliver you not only the current IP address of a web site but a lot more helpful tools as well.  By left-clicking on the IP address in your status bar, you can select to:

• copy to clipboard
• whois lookup at whois.sc and dnsstuff.com
• test timing
• traceroutes
• trace the IP to the country of origin

Additionally you can copy the IP address to the clipboard.  If you need a tool to help you work with IP addresses and locations (as I know many web hosting workers out there do) this might be a good extension for Firefox to try.

You can pick it up on the Firefox add-on’s web site (just search for ShowIP).

For those of you who have your own POP3 e-mail account that came with your web hosting for your web site - would you like to import that mail into Gmail?  Using Gmail’s Mail Fetcher, you can download messages from up to five other email accounts, centralizing all your e-mail in Gmail.

First thing you must do is login to the Gmail web site, and then Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page, and open the Accounts tab.

Now on the Account web page, scroll down to the Get mail from other accounts section, click Add another mail account. Now Gmail will walk you though a wizard (like with any other e-mail client) to gather information about your e-mail account.

Now personally, I would make sure you check not to keep your messages on the server.  This way all your messages are sent to Gmail and stored there, and you don’t have to worry about cleaning out your server side mail from time to time.

Once you have finished with the wizard, hit click Add Account.  Now you can use your e-mail from your web hosting account with Gmail.  If you are a fan of Gmail, this will keep you from having to jump from client to client to get your e-mail all checked.

ICANN stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.  You can think of them as the overloads of domain names.  The purpose of ICANN is to coordinate everything about domains.  They are like the godfather of the domain name world.

You can read more about the mission and goals of ICANN here:

http://www.icann.org/en/about/

What Does ICANN Accreditation Mean?

ICANN accreditation in layman’s terms would be a sort of “seal of approval” for all domain name registers.  The primary objective of ICANN is ensuring the stability of the Internet’s system of assigned names and numbers.

Who is Registered by ICANN?

If you are a little worried you are dealing with a company that claims they are accredited, but they are really not, you can check.  Use these two links to do some fact checking of your own.  Just click on the site index link from the icann.org web site and search down for the phrase “Accredited Registrars”.

• ICANN-Accredited Registrars
• All Businesses That Have Qualified for ICANN Accreditation

How Can I Complain About a Domain Name Register to ICANN?

The first thing you must do is visit internic.net.  Next, click on the link that says Complainant Form.  As stated on the web site form though, “ICANN itself does not resolve individual customer complaints. Instead, we refer your complaints to your registrar or other appropriate party, and follow up with them to make sure they are working with you to resolve your issues”.

To learn more about who ICANN is and what they do, check out icann.org.

I have often gotten asked, how can you or what does it mean to put that little “R” with the circle around it or the little C with the circle around it on a web site?

Two of the confusing terms you may hear tossed around the web these days is trademark and copyright.  Are they different?  Are they the same?  Do you need either of them?  Here is a better way to describe the two.

Trademark

A trademark is a type of intellectual property, such as a name, phrase, logo, design or a combination of two or more of these.  If you register your trademark, you can then go after legal proceedings if anybody ever tries to use that trademark without your permission.  Check out more information about US trademark law at uspto.gov.

It should also be mentioned that trademarks cost money, due the the registration fees with the government.  What are the costs?  It could cost anywhere from $300 to $400 per international class. An international class would be, for example, if you sold t-shirts and hats, those would be two different international classes.

Copyright

Copyright is about giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to that work for a limited time, before it enters public domain.  This is a somewhat dated idea these days though, thanks to companies like Disney who keep stretching out how long a copyright should last.

If you want to customize your copyright a little more, you should look into the Creative Commons.  Unlike with trademarks, it doesn’t cost anything to claim your copyright.  Technically speaking, by law, if you have created something then you own the copyright for it.

When Should I Use Either?

As you can see, the two legal terms trademark and copyright have their own good uses.  My general hosting rule of thumb would be to save trademark registration for larger web sites, companies and businesses.  Copyright however, that can be used by anybody and everybody.

From head to toe, from pillar to post this podcast yet again delivers a little something for everybody. From dissecting ICANN to help with turning Gmail into your default e-mail client for all of your e-mail addresses, this week’s hosting podcast promises to deliver the goods*.

Format might have changed a little but one thing will never change, I’m hyped, excited and ready to deliver you the best hosting podcast you’ve heard in a long time.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 163!
Running Time: 11 minutes | File Size: 5.02 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• What is ICANN and What Can It Do For ME?
• Get IP Based Info with Firefox
• Import POP3 Accounts into Gmail
• Trademark vs Copyright for Webmasters

Here are this week’s web hosting news headlines:

• School Spreads 1.5m Spam Emails
• Web Host HostGator 21st in Inc 5000 List
• WebHostingBuzz.com Wins Award for Best Web Hosting Support

Changing things up a ‘bit this week. A little change never hurt anybody, right? Also tune in this week to check out the new Web Hosting Show theme, which I must say does rock.  What else would you expect coming from the web hosting industry’s media rock star?

* - actual promises of delivering may vary.  This citation was just an excuse to plug the re-written about page on webhostingshow.com.  Go check it out to learn more about me and this podcast.

That is the question a lot of people are asking about coming out of this year’s most recent HostingCon.  Paul Hirsch of the AIHSP stopped by to answer a few common questions we all have about this new association of internet and hosting service providers.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 162!
Running Time: 8 minutes | File Size: 3.03 MB

Here is how the Association of Internet and Hosting Service Providers is described from the official web site’s front page:

We represent an innovative collaboration of industry providers, from small Web hosting proprietors to major software vendors and consultants. We aim to instill a spirit of cooperation within hosting and related industries and achieve meaningful representation for our shared interests in the public sphere.

After listening, if you are interested in learning more, check these links out:

• AIHSP Membership Section
• AIHSP Community Forums
• AIHSP - 14 Long-term Goals

Personally, I am fully behind any organization that promotes the success of the hosting industry as a whole.  The AIHSP looks to be on the right track.

How fast is your hosting support? Well Peer 1 has recently brought that challenge to a whole new level. They recently sponsored two of their system administrators in the 24 Hour LeMons race.

For more information on the race, and to check out some gallery pictures, check out this link: The 24 Hours Of LeMons South 2008 Uber Gallery