Now, I have no problem with a tribe of people having to kill an elephant to survive and grow their crops and the like.  That really isn’t the issue here.  The problem with what Bob Parsons is done is he has gone off the very tacky deep end. Not only did he shoot the elephant, he had to film it and put it to music. 

This has been a huge public relations nightmare for GoDaddy, and I am sure they are searching for more GoDaddy girls to make the sour taste of this whole story go away.

So how much of clueless moron does a CEO have to be before they start to lose customers?

A number of competitors have jumped at the chance to take some of GoDaddy’s customers who no longer wish to do business with them. 

For many of us, we remember The Hosting News website looking like this:

However, since the ownership situation has been shifted around and they have headed in a new direction, the layout and design today looks more like this:

Isn’t it amazing what a new layout can do to breath new life into a website project?  While I might not be the guru of website style and design, I can point out that example B is a lot better than example A. 

So if you haven’t visited The Hosting News lately, go give them a shot. I think you will agree with me that the better designed website has really turned this website around into a resource we can all learn something from.

Getting started with Stitcher is easy.  The best way to get started is to click that "Listen to us on Sitcher" link you see on the Web Hosting Show’s website via your mobile device.  Now, just enter your e-mail address into the empty box – and get your download link.

By streaming the best in news, sports, talk and entertainment straight to mobile phones, Sticher is the easiest way to stay connected to the world on the go – receiving only the information that’s the most important, in a format that fits into people’s busy lives. Go check it out, if you need an easier way to follow the Web Hosting Show podcast on your mobile phone.

It is always a good thing when you can share some positive news about web hosts joining web hosts for a good cause.  Hosting for Haiti is all about the biggest and brightest web hosting companies in the world coming together to support the victims of the earthquakes that happened in Haiti last month.

Here is a little ‘bit more about the project from the web site:

Although normally fiercely competitive, as members of the hosting community we know that the power we wield as a group is much more than we can wield individually. And so we’ve come together to help assist those affected by this disaster. With the generosity of all our combined customers, we hope to make a difference. And you can too. One dollar helps. One hundred dollars helps one hundred times more.

Any donations given through the web site go directly to the American Red Cross, and their web site and servers, so you know the donations you give are not going through a third party before they go to those who need it most.

If you are interested in donating, or learning more about this fantastic cause, be sure to check out HostingforHaiti.com.

How would you like to drive down town and pick up a web hosting account?

The web host Slamdot hopes you’d very much like the idea of doing that.  They announced they will begin selling professionally designed web site packages very soon through a retail store.  The first store will be open in Knoxville, Tennesee offering web site design packages, support,  and in-store training.

Other specialty stores like this, such as the Apple stores across the nation have done very well because they not only give a local and familiar face to the product, but they also create a different sense of community that you can not give online. Dropping an e-mail to a support team is very different than walking into a store and asking for help.

This is the type of new, innovative, out-of-the-box idea I really like to see, and I wish them the best of luck.

To learn more about Slamdot, be sure to go check them out at Slamdot.com.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #199 of the Web Hosting Show!

You can see the chart for yourself here.

So what does this mean?  Well, a hundred different people could read into that data a hundred different ways.

Negative View – I would say the main reason why web hosting is down, is because social networks like MySpace and Facebook have kind of taking the place for some people of a standard web site.

Positive View – People don’t search for “web hosting” when looking for a place to start their web site.  Doing a search for “blog hosting” shows it has stayed steady since 2005.  People are looking for ways to host a particular type of site, rather than just general web hosting these days.  It is a much more niche market now.

As you can see, there are arguments to be made for either side on why web hosting is such a falling trend in Google searches. Which way do you see it?

To give you a little more information about the key players here, the Pirate Bay, a torrent sharing web site, provides what you could call the “path” to be able to download copyrighted materials.  The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) is the music industry’s lobby group who is doing some of their heavy handed grunt work when it comes to shutting down web sites like the Pirate Bay.

The new tactic here is that the IFPI are skipping over the web site owners and are now going directly to the web hosts who host the torrent web sites in question.  They want to get the web hosts on a charge of assisting copyright infringement, which is a decision that has yet to be appealed.

There is one web host who has yet to given into the demands of the IFPI.  The Swedish provider Portlane has filed a complaint in the Swedish Market Court.  Now true, sharing copyrighted materials might be wrong, I will leave that judgment call up to you.

What is to be admired here is a small guy standing up against the establishment, showing the IFPI and the world that we should be a society who serves the people’s best interest and not the best interest of the one with the biggest wallet.

Why Should We Save Geocities?

The Archive Team’s goal is to save as much of Geocities as they can before Yahoo! pulls it down later this year.  Think of what they want to do as a time capsule of the Web from the mid 1990’s.  At the time, some of these web sites were the best the world had to offer, and some might have been the worst.  I have a feeling those who are against the idea of saving Geocities, probably have a web site dedicated to ALF somewhere in there they don’t want the world to see.

When it comes to copyright concerns, the idea isn’t to take credit or resell the content.  At this time there are no plans for releasing the data, but in the future it might be rolled out for the world to look back upon.

How can you help?  Be sure to check out the Archive Team’s FAQ.

Is Geocities worth saving? Well, that is a point up for debate.  Sure, there might not be any real value to the content that is being archived, however others may argue that any and all historical content must be saved so we can learn from our past mistakes, or laugh at them.

Be sure to catch the rest of our Geocities Tribute on Podcast 186 of the Web Hosting Show!

Now how is this going to work?  From their press release:

Attendees will have access to vendors, sponsors, exhibit booths, and other web hosting enthusiasts through live chat.  There is no software to install.  Attendees log in from their computer and listen to the sessions directly, pick-up a chat, read about exhibitor’s product and services information and network – all through the live chat.  Representatives will be available via live chat to answer questions and provide further information.

If you are interested in reserving your spot, you can do so free here.  Now I haven’t been contacted by anybody involved yet, so that is pretty much all the details I know, however I do have to say it is nice to see people trying to something new out there, and the more we can all share and learn from each other the better the web hosting industry will be.

Overall, I like the new look and feel of the layout.  It surely beats the old design, that looks like it was pulled right out of 1995.  However there are a few things that nag me.  Here are both the good and the bad about the new look for one of the more popular web hosting web sites out there.

The Positives

• Lots more attention paid to the WHIR TV project and RSS.  Two things I am happy to see them highlighting.
• No more black and white!  The colors they picked are a nice update to the old look without seeming like the entire thing is boring.
• The membership feature is cool and a welcomed addition.

The Negatives

• It is a little ad crazy.  Now I realize people have to make money as much as the next guy (that is why I have ads on my own web sites) however it seems a little like they were just tossed everywhere without much organization.
• Some of the pages (jumping from section to section) change layouts so quickly, it is a little easy to get lost.  Maybe the inclusion of a breadcrumb trail at the top could help this.  Something like: (Front Page > Features > The Story Headline)

Overall, I would have to say they have done a fine job at the new paint job.  How do you feel about it?  Do you miss the old layout at all?  When was the last time you visited?  You can check it all out at theWHIR.com.