Recently in Technology Category

I've been using Charter internet access ever since it became available out here in the boondocks a few years back. Prior to that I had DSL through Bellsouth. While I liked having a static IP address (which I had to pay extra for) Charter High Speed is certainly much faster than DSL ever was, at least for me.

One of the other things I liked about it is that in order to get Charter High-Speed I don't have to have any of their other services. I do have cable of course, but they don't force you. With DSL, the phone company said I would have to pay for a phone line in order to get DSL. What the heck is up with that? We have two cell phones here, why would I want or even need a land line?

Anyhow, they have this limited-time offer thing going on right now that I wish I were eligible for. You can get Charter High-Speed for $14.99 a month, try the first 30 days risk-free and when you sign up online you get a $25 Shell gas gift card. The 30 day risk-free thing is a 30 day window for cancellation just in case you aren't happy with their service.

Some other benefits to being a Charter High Speed customer include:

• Get the fastest and most reliable Internet speeds available- Get speeds up to 5Mbps to surf up to 90X faster than 56kbps dial- up and 3X as fast as 1.5Mbps DSL!




• Automatic protection from viruses, hackers and spam - Charter High-Speed Security SuiteÆ has the fastest response to new virus threats and best virus detection.




• 10 e-mail accounts - enough for the whole family plus 20MB of Web space.




• Download in seconds, not minutes plus a reliable always-on, always-fast connection.




• Exclusive content on charter.net- get your news, weather, local movie listings and more!

Go check out the web page if you get some time and see what I am talking about.

I've got a thing for gadgets, specifically PDAs. I'm not sure what it is but I like the idea of being connected and being able to do my computing in the palm of my hand. It's not all it's cracked up to be though. I've gone from a Palm M100 to a Palm Vx, HP iPaq, Motorola Q9m, Samsung i730 and finally a Blackberry Pearl. My favorites are the Blackberry, the Moto Q and the Palm M100 believe it or not. My Palm's were a much more intuitive and easier to use interface than any of the Microsoft WIndows CE offerings. The Windows Mobile gadgets also tend to lock up and once I combined them with my cell phone they really make a mess of things when they are having memory and lock-up issues and you are trying to use the phone at the same time. Not fun.

I like the blackberry as well. I'm not sure what benefits the bigger Blackberrys have over the Pearl other than more screen real estate though. That's what I miss using it. A bigger screen and a touch screen interface. Eventually if Verizon ever gets the iPhone I may go that route. I like the iPod Touch that I gave the wife for Christmas and as long as I can sync my calendar and contacts with it I would be good to go.

Anyhow, I like to check out accessories to go with my PDA as well. Preferably cheap PDA accessories although I prefer the quality to be something I am willing to use. SFPlanet.com has plenty of Cheap PDA Accessories for my window shopping as well as when I get ready to order stuff. There's nothing better than being able to find cool stuff for my phone/PDA than being able to find it while I'm sitting on my rear end :)

They've got some pretty neat stuff as well. Stuff that I haven't seen in the local Verizon store either, like an official Mickey Mouse finger strap thing with a flashing LED that lights up when you get an incoming call. Sweet. I have a pen that does the same thing but Mickey is even cooler. I also found a Krusell leather case I want. It has the thing on the back that will fit on a swivel clip. I hate the belt clip on the back of my Verizon Case. It's a decent quality case but when I asked if they had one with a swivel clip the dude told me that they pretty much quit using them because they break. That's not an issue for me (well, not much anyway) but I like being able to clip it on to my pocket and get it off easy. The last couple of days I have just been carrying the phone in my pocket. It's about a third smaller without the case and if I can't have one I like I just won't use it. I may just have to spend the $22 and but the Krusell case when I get paid, well, maybe in a couple of weeks. It may take all my extra money for the next few weeks to pay off the IRS :(

Supposedly my Freedom Keychain GPS device that I picked up last year while I was still using my Samsung i760 will work with the Blackberry Pearl. I know the GPS device does work because I have gotten it to partner with my computer as well as my old cell phone, but for the life of me I can't seem to get it to work with my Blackberry. It's not a hugely important detail in the grand scheme of things, but I have spent several hours off and on over the last week trying to get the thing to sync up and just can't do it. I am at a loss right now and seriously considering getting something else. The idea of having a GPS receiver and being able to use it with mapping programs is just really cool.

Something else that's pretty cool are the devices that Land Air Sea produces. Their GPS Tracking Key is a small device that picks up signals from the DOF GPS satellites and records the location every second. It's pretty cool that it can get your location within about eight feet. Eight Feet!

You download the data by plugging it into the USB port of a computer and using something like Google Earth you can see where someone or something has been. Since it's small it's easily concealable and the magnet is strong enough to be placed under a car. It's also water resistant as well.

Last year the GPS Tracking Key helped to solve a murder. George Ford's wife thought that he was having an affair and placed on in his car. Originally he had been charged with reckless endangerment but after getting the data from the GPS Tracking Key the Chenango County Police charged him with murder.

There's other reasons to have something like this besides cheating husbands. Three words. Teens with cars. That's enough to make me want tracking devices, cameras, all kinds of stuff on a car. I can also see where it would come in handy if you have a fleet of cars or trucks as well. The device records how fast you travel, the directions you are facing, how long you are stationary and the route you travel. Using just those four things you can extrapolate all kinds of other information as well. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Fall Back. Spring Forward.

Or maybe it's spring back and fall forward.

Doh!

I get it. Spring forward and Fall back.

I'm sure I must be brain dead or something. I'm riding home from drawer change tonight and it struck me. Spring Forward. Fall back. As in the seasons. I'm sure I already knew that but for some reason the play on words hit me as if I had just learned something. Working where I work must be steadily retarding my brain or something. Just give me another decade and I'll be a gibbering drooling fool.

Oh wait, I already am.

Can it get any worse?

So here it is about 10:30. Or 8:30. Shit, it's 11:30 and I have to get up at 5 am. So does that mean I'm getting up at 6 or 4? Can't I just call in and forget this shit.

Why can't the government just let Mr. Sun and Mr Earth's rotation take care of time. They seem to have done a pretty fucking good job of it prior to our meddling. Now you have 482 different time zones (unless you are smart and live in Arizona) and they change twice a year. What the fuck?

So I need to be in bed. It's midnight now and I am not going to be worth a crap in the morning.

The girls are in South Carolina tonight. I suppose I'll sleep on the couch as I usually do. If I happen to be off I will sleep in the bed but I am so afraid that I will oversleep when the wife isn't here that I crash in the living room.

On an entirely different note (pun not intended but well used) I love music. I hate earphones though, thus the reason I don't have an iPod. The earbuds are fucking irritating and headphones are almost as bad. That's one of the reasons I gave the Marine my Jabra Bluetooth earpiece. I tried it for a couple of weeks two different times and I just hate it. I love the quality of the music with headphones but I always feel like I'm missing something with them on. I also can't do like the wife does and only keep one in her ear while she's pretending to pay attention with the other one (the deaf one). I am not easily fooled.

Wait a minute. Actually I guess I am, but I digress.

When I bought the Blackberry last month (did I tell you I'm selling my Samsung i760 on eBay?) it came with a set of earbuds. These are kind of nice. They are heavy. Damn, they actually have metal in them and aren't some cheap ass piece of crap plastic junk that I'm going to tear up in two days. I set them aside. Since there's no one in the house but me and I don't want to hear the yipping of the dog as I kick him through the house I figured I would try them out tonight. Very nice. I also like the media player that comes with the Blackberry as well. The only problem I have is that it won't let me hide shit from it, so along with every fucking song on my SD card I also get 2 seconds dings and pings and assorted whoops in between songs. I don't want that shit going off when I'm listening to music. Can't they fix this shit?

Speaking of eBay, the auction on my phone should have been complete several days ago but they killed the first one. AND charged me $27 bucks for it. "KEYWORD SPAMMING" Here's a keyword for you. Two, actually. FUCK YOU.

I had it listed as a Samsung i760, almost new. Hell, I have used eBay for about seven years now, but I am not on there very often and I don't know anything about keyword spamming. It IS almost new you bunch of shitheads. They fucking waited until six days into the auction when it was up to at least the amount I really want for the phone, THEN they cancel the fucking thing. Bullshit. So I have about three bids right now and it's only going for $250 right now. If'n you are looking for a Windows Mobile 6 phone, head your happy ass on over and bid. Just because I hate the fucking thing doesn't mean that you will. I understand it's supposed to be a pretty good phone but after three months of usage I hate it.

Now the Blackberry Pearl this thing's the shit. It had better be for $450. It's not the perfect phone by any means but it's pretty cool. I think someone needs to ship me their iPhone and let me use it for a couple of months so that I can see if I like it or not. You go into the Verizon place (or wherever the fuck you shop) and they have these stickers on the screens and very few working models around so you can't really tell how much of a pain in the ass it is going to be to use or if you are going to like it or not. And these geeks that write the call phone reviews are all fucking retards anyway. What the fuck do they know and how many times have they had to try and cover two different shifts with people that have called in in three different stores while they are driving somewhere anyway. With a cup of coffee in one hand and a smoke in the other. Now THAT's the test of a goddamned phone! If I can call out and answer while playing with myself at 80mph that's the phone I need and don't give me any of that hands free bullshit. The same thing applies to hands free devices that does to earbuds and head phones and retards that look like they are talking to themselves in the car need to be run off the road anyway.

Well, now that it really is late I have to hit the sack.

I received this email earlier while at work it best to just reproduce it here in it's entirety. If you are in favor of the act make sure and contact your congressional representatives.

Last night, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House that would stop Comcast, Verizon and AT&T from controlling the free flow on information on the Internet.

The only way we can stop these gatekeepers is if we all take action to support this crucial legislation:

Tell Rep. Phil Gingrey to Support Internet Freedom

In 2006, your voice helped stop mighty phone and cable companies from gutting Net Neutrality. In 2007, you pried open their cell phone networks and gave users a choice.

This year, we're going to stop Internet blocking and censorship once and for all.

Why This is Important: Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) introduced the "Internet Freedom Preservation Act" (HR 5353) to stop relentless corporate attempts to set up roadblocks on the information superhighway.

It guarantees Net Neutrality by restoring it in the foundation of communications law. This bold move promises that the public -- not phone and cable companies -- will control the fate of the Internet.

The legislation also calls for a nationwide series of public hearings before anyone in Washington hands these gatekeepers and their lobbyists more power. (Read more about the bill here)

Take Action Now: Save the Internet

How Far We've Come: In 2006, more than 1.5 million Americans called on Congress to keep gatekeepers off our Internet. Last year, more than a quarter-million people sent comments to the FCC and opened up cell-phone networks to user choice and innovation.

This new bill was made possible by our amazing grassroots movement. SavetheInternet.com has brought together Democrats and Republicans, consumer groups and small businesses, bloggers and video gamers, in a new bottom-up majority that's shaking up the status quo.

What You Can Do: For too long, communications policymaking has been rigged against us. But by taking action to support this bill, you're telling Congress that high-priced lobbyists will no longer set the agenda.

Tell Rep. Phil Gingrey : 'Support the Internet Freedom Preservation Act'

The purpose of the Internet is to give power over information to everyone. The role of our elected leaders is to protect our basic right to communicate from those who want to take it away from us.

We've started a new chapter in the fight for an open Internet. We realize that it takes more than one piece of legislation to reverse decades of corrosive telecom policies.

But with this bill -- and your help -- we are on our way.

Thank you,

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
SavetheInternet.com

P.S. Bloggers, activists and Internet experts are logging on to the Free Press Action Network to discuss Net Neutrality, an open Internet and people-powered broadband policy. Join the discussion at http://www.freepress.net/action/

My web host has suggested that I move to a new server they have online. That will be nice as it should make things a bit faster. I received this email earlier:

Hello,

Richard, after our monthly server evaluation we've identified that your account is one of the top 10 in terms of traffic, and hence server usage. To offset some of the load on the server we would like to move your account to our newest server called Chanel. There will be no planned downtime during the move, and you'll benefit from the speed the new server has to offer.

Please let me know when you'd like us to schedule the move to the new Chanel server.

Thank you

That will be pretty darned nice. I have had to disable 90% of the plugins and addons for MT due to CPU usage and the fact that I couldn't even log in. I even had to disable my server stats plugin, MT-VisitorStats because the MT dashboard refused to load even after upgrading to the newest release. It will be nice to be able to use some of them again.

RecordNations offers a document scanning service as well as storage for your important documents. Their records storage lets you free up space on your servers and keep them in a secure off-site location.

Not keeping proper records cost business millions of dollars every year and sometimes entire companies go down because of lack of proper planning. Look at the woman just arrested in Florida last week. Her employer was looking to replace her and she found out and then erased 15 years of architectural records, costing the company something like $8.4 million. Had they used proper storage management and had their important records stored in a secure off-site location it never would have happened.

I used to do a bit of maintenance on a local attorney's network but he was too cheap to buy proper storage and ended up losing his server and quite a few records in the process. I was able to recover most of them for him as added cost to his office, but had he kept his records secure somewhere else, losing a server would not have been such a big deal. He did have to reproduce most of his payroll records by hand since that was one of the things I was not able to recover.

There are plenty of document scanning services out there, so make sure that you are using one such as RecordNations. Dependable and extensive data backup experience is what you need, in addition to through security procedures.

I started my browser up the other morning and realized that Flock had been updated again. I think I am currently running version 1.07. I am really starting to like Flock. I don't really use the Media bar but it does support all of the Firefox plugins, or the ones I use anyway. It also seems to use less memory than Firefox and while I realize that the memory leaks in Firefox are mostly caused by 3rd party plugins, Flock doesn't seem to have as many problems with it. It does use more and more memory than FF but I seem to be able to use it at least two or three times longer than Firefox. Pretty big difference, particularly when I am blogging.

I probably use about 10-15 different plugins on a regular basis including toolbars and a popup blocker, as well as a few others that just make it easier for me when I am surfing the web.

As a web site, Cellware is still in it's beta version but from what I have seen at the site, you couldn't tell. It seems to be in full release to me unless they are going to be adding more features.

Cellware is a free portal for mobile downloads such as ringtones, wallpapers, video, games and applications.

In addition to being a download site you can also set up a profile and it starts looking more like a mobile social networking sort of place. Pretty cool actually. When you first sign up for a free account through Cellware it lets you invite your friends from several different services to come check it out, including MySpace, Friendster and Facebook. You can also import contacts from your webmail services as well.

Aside from the content that they have (and lots of other web sites have as well) there are several things that seem unique to Cellware. You can create your own ringtones right on the sight by uploading a file. Any music or sound file that's on your hard drive can be uploaded and turned into a ringtone. Once it's uploaded you use their ringtone editor to select the 20 second portion of the file that you want to keep, enter some information so that you can identify it and then save it. Then you just download it to your phone or even share it with your friends.

I have used several different sound editors to create ringtones from mp3's in the past and it can be a pain. You have to get it the right bitrate and length and then use a program like Bitpim (which voids your warranty) to copy it over to the correct place in your phone's file system. Cellware makes it pretty easy.

You can also use their mashup editor to mashup two different ringtones. You can put them end to end to make one long ringtone, or you can actually overlay the two. Very cool, particularly if you have an instrumental and a bit of cool spoken text or verse you want to combine. Another pretty neat option is to use their text-to-speech editor to turn text into a ringtone. They also have ringtones that contain your name or that of your friends. Nametones. Personalize your friends ringtone to the max.

One thing I did notice while browsing the Name Tones is that there are quite a few of them on the site. It would be nice if they would add links to each letter. It does let you jump five or six pages at a time, but that's not exact. It also doesn't let you change the view to alphabetical. It seems to be listed in order of upload rather than anything else. Of course I may just be slow on the uptake too. Their IS a search function. Once I searched for my name I managed to find four ringtones that contained it. Vain, aren't I? Once I located the one I wanted and previewed it right there in my browser I then navigated to their WAP page from my cell phone browser, entered the download ID number and got it right on the phone.

Cellware has a pretty cool image editor as well to create and share your mobile wallpapers as well. It lets you add special effects, rotate and crop your images and then send it to your phone.

One thing you may want to check out is the fact that Cellware bases their business model on sharing their site revenue as well. As you create and upload content they share it with the content creators.

You can set up in your profile to view (or not view) certain content as well. Initially when you first sign up it only lets you see "G" rated content, which is a great thing if you have kids or teenagers that might access your account. You can choose from "G, PG,R and X" for your content viewing pleasure if you want to get a little racy with your downloads.

As more and more web sites are created as or convert to mobile sites for cell phone and smart phone use, the mobile content available will continue to improve as they have over the last couple of years. Go check out Cellware and see what I mean.

Updated - I stopped at the hated Wal-Mart and picked up a Dell widescreen 19". This is sweet. It actually has a much smaller footprint than the five year old LCD I was using. Now I can close the rolltop desk it sits on. Resolution on it is 1440x900. I feel the need for a bit of gaming. Maybe after I nap for a while. It was a long day and day number seven at work for me. I only have two more to go (if I don't kill someone in the meantime) until I get two off in a row. That will be the first two days off I have had together since December 8th and 9th. I have actually only had two off since then, not including a half-day that I took, but still had seven hours of meetings. No wonder I have been such a bastard lately.

Damned if my monitor hasn't crapped out on me this morning. I have known for a while that it was dying but I was hoping that it would last a little while longer. Back before Christmas I gave everyone instructions not to turn it off because I wouldn't be able to get it back on again and they have done pretty well.

I woke up this morning and have been messing with it for a while but it is completely dead. So much for that. I suppose a trip to the Wal Mart is called for this morning before I go to work. I keep a $0 balance on one card but had planned to keep it that way, so much for that.

Sorry about the slow loading times for the site today. I'm not real sure what's up but it appears to be hanging up on MyBlogLog's JavaScript tracking widget. I will give it another hour or so before I yank it from the site.

I have been getting quite a few hits lately from the post I put up a couple of years ago when Meedio and crew sold out to Yahoo and crapped all over the users that had donated and purchased Meedio from them. Anyhow, at that point I was hosting Meedio here for download but the bandwidth got to be too much and I took the file offline.

Here is a link for anyone interested in downloading Meedio. It seems to be pretty reliable. I will also see if I can locate some others when I have the time and post them as well as others.

http://members.chello.be/sf15418/MEEDIO.1.41.setup.exe

I used to do quite a bit of PC repair and home networking stuff, particularly when I was working in the IT department at our home office. People still want me to work on their computers but I really just don't have the time to devote to it anymore. I don't do custom-built computers any more and I very rarely even give any kind of tech advice.

That's one of the cool things about services like Fast-teks. They specialize in home computer repair and troubleshooting. In addition to troubleshooting and repair they also work on virus, worm and spyware removal, wireless networking, data backup and recovery, high speed Internet setup, software training and several other services as well.

Fast-Teks is partnered with CompUSA as well as Tiger Direct and Dr.Backup so you know you are getting technicians that know what they are doing when you call Fast-Teks.

My brother has a Macbook that he swears by. It's a pretty nice laptop and I have really started to like it the more often I get to use it. He's pretty much able to do anything on it that he can on my Windows PC, particularly since he has Parallels Desktop installed.

I have considered getting a used mac recently so when this sponsored review came my way I figured I would check out the site and see what they have to offer. The main reason I want it to be used is because new Macs are so expensive as compared to desktop PCs and that way I can be sure that I like it and will be able to use it without having spent a fortune. DV Warehouse specializes in used mac computers as well as professional digital video editing equipment, used apple mac parts and all sort of other stuff that will come in handy for the mac enthusiast.

Since the DV Warehouse also specializes in video editing equipment I figured there might be some stuff of interest to me and I was right. There are all sort of import cards that I could use in an HTPC setup. Since they also have some used parts I found a couple of really nice deals over there. DV Warehouse also has some high end stuff that is a bit beyond my use or ability to use but the prices are right and I was seriously considering getting a couple of the rack-mounted pieces that they have.

The nicest part about DV Warehouse, at least in my brother's eyes, is that he now has a place to get used parts for his laptop. Previously he has had a really hard time getting parts for his equipment but now he has a source that's easily accessible and trustworthy.

I think I found a gadget that I want to get. I have been considering getting a plasma TV later on in the year to replace my aging television and hook to my HTPC but one of the things I want to make sure and do is to keep it low key. I came across a plasma lift that's built in to a cabinet that looks really cool. Set right I would be able to keep it in front of a picture or something on the wall behind it and then only have the Plasma TV come up when it was needed. Pretty cool actually.

Speaking of the HTPC, I should have all of the equipment I need to build a new one by February or so. I am looking forward to it. My ten-year-old asked me the other night when I was going to put BeyondTV back on. The whole family got used to being able to watch what they want and pause and skip commercials and when I took it out they hated it.

I did a write-up on Avot mV and their official blog a couple of months ago and what they had to offer mobile users. Since then the site has really improved and now they also have the political debates that have taken place recently on Avot mV channels. There are channels for republican ads as well as another one for democratic candidates.

If you want to check it out from your PC prior to using it on your mobile phone they have a desktop PC widget on the website so you can see what kind of videos are available. What's cool is that you should be able to access the site not only from Pocket PC/SmartPhones and iPhones but regular mobile browsers as well, such as the one included with the Motorola Razr. I just tried it from my wife's Razr and it worked very well, particularly since Verizon has recently expanded their broadband area so that I can access it from my house. No more 2400 baud speeds when I am on the Internet from my phone. Very sweet.

I had a few issues connecting to the site tonight from my phone, apparently Verizon has a DNS server down or something, but I have been able to get to the site using both Pocket IE as well as Opera Mini. The nice thing about using the Samsung that I will most likely replace in the next two months is the slider QWERTY keyboard. It makes getting to the site even better because I can view it in landscape mode.

Anyway, Avot mV is for mobile users what Youtube is for PCs. It allows me to have unlimited access to any web based video. Supposedly I should be able to play videos from Youtube and MySpace on my phone but I always seem to have problems and until earlier this evening I have never had one accessing Avot mV. You can check out their product site to get more information about Avot mV and what they have to offer. Their corporate site offers more insight into the technology behind the streaming video services offered as well as news updates.

One of the cool things is that it's easy to search videos, just by typing a few characters to go on rather than full titles and words. You can also personalize the video listings based on your preferences, organize them into playlists and use Avot mV's integrated messaging features to share your videos with your friends and family members. Did I mention it's free? Yeah, that's right. Obviously it's going to use whatever air or data time you have set up for your plan, in my case I already pay for an unlimited data plan because of email so it really is free. It works on most carriers including support for 3G, EDGE, EV-DO, and WiFi.

I ran across PayLoadz earlier this afternoon from a link that showed up on one of the sites I frequent and thought it was pretty cool. With quite a few of the Movabletype plugins that I have purchased over the last couple of months, they normally use PayPal or Google checkout for payment and then the files themselves are stored locally on whatever server is handy. That can be an issue if you need for people to download a product at any time. Payloadz offers download storage room for just about anything that can be stored digitally and their system works with PayPal as well as Google Checkout. Here's a press release from PayLoadz Downloable Goods eCommerce:

This weeks B4B Video Blogburst is up over at Freedom Folks, the body of the post is below in it's entirety but go check out their site for older weekly posts as well as other good stuff.

I have to go to a meeting/wrapping party tonight at six so this may very well be the only posting I do tonight. I am in the process of customizing my site at theapp.net so I spent most of last night pulling my hair out over there. If you've never been there, TheAppDotNet is my tech/entertainment blog. Nothing special but I am adding in some stuff to make it more community based rather than just a blog.

Anyway, on to the subject at hand...

In this edition...

LA Times caught lying about the invasion!

100% Preventable!: More American lives shattered by illegal aliens!

The Deportation Joke!: How much is too much?

Don't forget this week os the premier of our new half hour show hosted exclusively at TECHNOPATRIOTS.COM!

Rapist Rampage video provided by our friend LoneWolf!

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Technorati Tags: illlegal immigration, invasion, deportation, mexico, guatemala, rape, murder, strangulation, border security, la times, propaganda, lies, statistics, lying polls, techno patriots,

I mentioned the other day that I have been looking for a new monitor that will fit in the rolltop desk that I have for my computer now. Believe it or not but I think I found the one I want at Wal-Mart. Resolution is 720p and I should be able to hook up the HDMI with the right cables and adapters. I'm looking forward to being able to close my desk when the PC is not in use. The 19" LCD I have been using is too big for it, and it is starting to go out. I can't turn the monitor off for fear of it not coming back on again now. It tool forever for me to get working again the last time it was turned off.

A couple of my blogs are located at an entirely different web host than most of my sites. I decided earlier in the year when I was having so many problems here that I didn't want to open a new web site at the same location, so I went looking for a new web hosting choice. I talked to several other people about why they choose to use their web hosts and I also looked through several different services such as Web Hosting Choice.

Right from the front page at Web Hosting Choice you can do a search based on monthly cost, setup fees, amount of disk space and bandwidth. They also have recommended hosts along with links and what is available, links to reseller web hosting, a full directory with information on the different plans that are available as well as other information.

It looks like they have quite a few web hosts listed but none of the ones that I use happen to be in the list. As the site grows and matures I am pretty sure they will continue to add to the list.

Each web host, beside the information provided above also allows for user ratings so that you can look with confidence at what people are using for their sites and what type of rating that they give their own host. That was important to me when I was searching simple because I wanted to make sure that people were happy with their web host prior to moving a couple of my domains.

Although most of the equipment in the house uses a wired connection I do have a wireless router. My phone and the wife's iPaq are both WiFi and when the Marine is at home his laptop uses it, as well as my brother's. I usually just leave it open and don't worry about security. As long as my neighbors aren't on much and don't use too much of my bandwidth I haven't really worried about it but lately my connection has been pretty laggy.

I logged into my router tonight and discovered seven fucking devices connected. There are only two computers hooked up in the house getting an IP address, as well as our two handhelds. I set it back to using WEP and rebooted the damn thing. Guess they are going to have to find their own Internet connection now. What a PITA.