Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

Talking technology, computers, and the Internet… for the average computer user

Archive for January, 2009

Going With Hostgator

Jan 30

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Wordpress, blogs, web hosting, websites | 3 Comments

It’s hard to fathom that only a year and a half ago, I was completely baffled by the concept of blog hosting, ftp, and cPanel. Now, I am more comfortable. And I haven’t destroyed any of my websites in the process! Amazing!

I’ve had my share of webhosts: Whip An Orbit, WizzerdWerks, Dreamhost, Bluehost, and my new account, Hostgator. I have to say, I’m really enjoying Hostgator. Plus, they have the cutest little alligator. This was my first time transferring ALL my blogs onto a new webhost, with one swift stroke. I signed up for Hostgator’s free service to do it for me, and less than 24 hours later, all my sites are on Hostgator’s servers, the nameservers have been switched over, and my cPanel is chugging along quite smoothly.

WOW it is so good to have this all settled! I highly recommend Hostgator. I checked out their background considerably before signing up with them. They have a good history of uptime, with a 99.9% guarantee. And, unlike Bluehost, when one website has problems, all your websites do not crash. This was the main reason why I left Bluehost. The constant CPU Quota Exceeded errors were driving me nuts. I was paying through the nose for them and they couldn’t seem to handle my website traffic. And when one website went down, ALL went down, all seven blogs. GR! This does not happen with Hostgator. And Hostgator’s pricing is OK. I thought it was a tad pricey ($112 per year), but I used a coupon code for 20% off, which brought the cost down a little. The nice thing is that Hostgator allows you unlimited domain accounts, server space, and bandwidth. So you could host 100 or more websites with them, and it wouldn’t cost a penny more. This is nice. I had a blog with WizzerdWerks, and I while I absolutely loved the uptime (their servers were NEVER down), it was costing me $50 PER WEBSITE. Ouch.

Other nice things about Hostgator:

  • They are competitively priced.
  • They have terrific uptime.
  • They will transfer your websites over to them for free.
  • They have a TON of help pages, video tutorials, and a great forum if you need help or tips.
  • The cPanel is excellent, easy to work with, and looks very pleasant, too.
  • They don’t give you those stupid CPU Quota Exceeded errors and lock you out of your websites, like Bluehost does.
  • They can handle higher-traffic websites.

So anyway, if you decide to move your blogs to a new, reliable host, or are looking for some good solid web hosting to start up some sites, I think you may want to give Hostgator a look. If you would like, maybe you’d think about using my Hostgator affiliate link to place your order. Clicking on the Hostgator badge in this post or on the one in my sidebar will take you to the Hostgator home page. If you place an order using my affiliate badge, I get credit– $125 for every person who signs up through me! That’s a big chunk of change. And you can become a Hostgator affilate, too. See the site for more details.

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Internet Card and Prank Service

Jan 29

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in Internet, chatty, email programs | Comments off

It’s a little hard to believe, but yes, there’s an actual prank service via the Internet! It’s not dangerous or anything– it’s actually kind of cute and silly. It’s the Cardfish Phone call service. Basically, you send an e-card to a friend, and at some time during the card viewing, a telephone service is activated, causing your friend’s phone to ring during the viewing of the card.

Cardfish is marketing this new kind of personalized greeting card/messaging service. The electronic cards are short video clips, and you can add your custom, personalized greeting or message. When your friend opens the card to view it, the Cardfish service is alerted and sends a tekephone call to your friend at the precise point in the video. For example, there’s an e-card with presidential clips like “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” The card then asks if you are ready to answer the call. And the phone rings! lol!

Some of the videos are extremely risque, I thought. Not appropriate at all. Others were cute or funny. But this is not a site I’d send the kids. And the selection at Cardfish needs some variety. Right now it’s geared toward the 20s/30s crowd. I suppose this is perhaps because that’s the age group that does the most pranks? Haha!

Anyway, Cardfish is having a promotion. Enter the word FREE and you can try the service out.

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Three Steps to Protect Your Computer Before You Go Online

Jan 29

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in anti-virus, computers, firewalls, how to | Comments off

I got my first laptop, an HP Pavilion, in 2003; it came pre-loaded with Windows XP. I made the mistake of connecting it to the Internet BEFORE turning on Windows Firewall. (Oddly, Windows Firewall was turned off by default– DUH!). While downloading Windows updates the first few minutes of using the laptop, I was hit with the Blaster worm. My laptop suddenly shut off– *poof* — then restarted. Then shut off, restarted, shut off, restarted…. I was terrified. I’d just bought the thing and it acted like a zombie.

Circuit City customer service told me my laptop had been infected with the Blaster worm. I had to reformat the entire operating system (thank God, Windows supplied disks back then).

It was a good lesson– turn on the Windows Firewall before ever connecting the machine to the Internet. I always use third party firewalls (Comodo), but I always turn the Windows Firewall on before I get the third party download.

Windows Firewall not comes turned ON by default. About time.

Getting a new computer is fun. But you just can’t plug it in to your ethernet and start surfing away. The Internet is too evil to do that, now. Here are some tips:

1.) Activate the Windows Firewall. It’s not the strongest of firewalls, but at least it offers some protection. You can go online, download your third party firewall, and install it. Then, shut off your Windows Firewall.

2.) Download Windows Updates. Oftentimes, computers are preloaded months previously with operating systems. As the weeks or months pass while the computer sits on the shelf, waiting to be purchased, Windows Updats come and go. Security holes are discovered and plugged. You don;t know when your operating system was installed– download the updates first thing. Sometimes this can be a real pain– downloading updates can take hours– you just got a new computer and want to use it! But the updates are important.

3.) Get an anti-virus program going. Windows now has something, I think. But again, I prefer third party (AVG). Download it, update it, and get it going.

You can read more tiips and some how to’s at the Microsoft website, including how to activate the Windows Firewall, which can be difficult to find in XP.

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Online Resource for Reducing Debt

Jan 28

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in business services | Comments off

I’m going to be pulling some relevant educational and resourceful websites out of my bookmarks, as well as keeping my eyes peeled, for sites that are useful resources for information and advice. I am amazed at the wealth of information on the Internet. Right now the buzz if how to reduce debt, especially in light of governments’ profligate spending and mismanagement of resources. Understanding economics and debt and learning how to reduce one’s personal debt will go a long way. This website offers a debt consolidation service, but even if you don’t go with that, there is a lot of relevant and informative articles about managing one’s finances and debt. Some of the articles are well worth a look. Of course, there is the usual advice:

  • Don’t spend more than you make.
  • Pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first.
  • Make more then minimum payments on debt payments.
  • wean yourself down to one credit card.
  • Know what “debt traps” are and how to avoid them.

It’s not very helpful that banks and government punish people with savings (low interest rates for savings, high for debts, high taxation, etc). It is time to take matters into our own hands with our own finances. Use the information readily available on the Net.

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Real-Time Weather Service

Jan 28

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in educational programs, miscellaneous, weather programs | Comments off

A huge snowstorm blasted the Northeast today. At first, it was predicted to be a fast-moving storm with sleet and a few inches of snow, then it changed to be up to 6 inches, then 12 inches (!), then it suddenly became a very slow mover with only 5 inches. Our local weathermen, while valiant in effort, seemed to have a hard time keeping up with the numerous changes it brought.

I love weather reports and I check them every day. So.. in case you haven’t heard about it, there’s a National Weather organization in the country, NOAA. I have found their maps and reports to be fascinating. It’s a great tool for school research, too. Keep it bookmarked!

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