How To Begin With Webhosting?

Talking about the business of web hosting companies, they are extremely profitable if they are popular, they have high start-up costs, but over time their general overheads dramatically reduce (proportionally). Thus it is clear that in order to get good business, web-hosting companies also have to do a lot. Example they need secure fire resistance premises, equipment, support staff and much more in order to get success in this business.

Just the once a hosting company set up they turn down their prices as per web hosting account. While purchasing a hosting server from a chief hosting company, they just adjoin a computer to their present network to provide the service. Then user needs to pay around $150-$200 a month for the maintenance of that dedicated web hosting server. Quite reasonable amount isn't it!

Necessities of user regarding web hosting:

First of all, user should know what are his/her requirements regarding web hosting, is 400 GB of bandwidth (transfer) is essential to complete a month? There are several sites, which requires only 2 GB of bandwidth a month. Other than bandwidth, Database is another contentious issue, as even on existing on the same server several companies charges additional amount from the users. One should measure his/her requirements before coming to any of the decision. If the user is planning to use certain scripts and software's then his/her requirements should match them.

A user may find restrictions regarding mailboxes while dealing with several hosts. Several people start surfing the net with the purpose of offering email boxes to their relatives and staff.

Understood hosting requirements, what next?

Next to that one should search out the list of prospective web hosting companies via. Information sites.

Adequate listing:

It is quite usual that companies which are making profit via. Web hosting services will definitely advertise on Internet. More successful one will have more budgets to be spending on advertisement. Thus, through search engines one can conclude about a thriving web hosting company.

Short-listing of companies:

While short listing the user should look around each site and should evaluate their features and drawbacks. Companies lagging behind in communication and customer support definitely cannot be a right choice. It doesn't matter user is a beginner or an experienced one he/she will definitely require customer support in the life one time or the other. Dealing with companies having such drawbacks will adversely affect the user.

Inside information:

After short listing an ideal list the user should investigate about them through forums and Webmaster communities. Through this user can discover hidden facts whether positive or negative. This is because any person who had an experience rather extremely good or bad will share it with other people online.

An ultimate choice:

After all the short listing there will be around two to three potential web hosting companies possessing an impressive track record. One can select the ideal choice by measuring features and charges of each one of them and match it up with his/her necessities.

Hence, if the user possesses a winning idea and effective strategy then a mega server will not be the only criterion to begin with, rather one can achieve heights even through a small but stable object. After that when the user begin to have a good source of revenue then he/she can even upgrade the web hosting account without countering any sort of downtime. If a user is receiving web-hosting account for $19.99 per month there is nothing use of going for a mega web hosting account. Via this user will not only save some money but can also invest it in marketing or in any other development purposes.

Use Graphic Packages To Improve Your Online Business

Graphics packages are innovative productS, which can be used instantly. You can get superior quality images for your website by using these packages. They come with a Photoshop source for each image set. You can even combine the images sets and create a unique set effortlessly.

As an internet marketer, you need to grasp the attention of your target customers. You need to spend more effort to make your website eye-catching. If you do not have any experience in graphic designing, you need to seek the help of a professional and you need to pay more for availing his service. 2 Graphics packages come to your rescue, as they are ready to use immediately. They support various types of graphical display and give you the flexibility and freedom to create awesome graphic designs.

Graphic packages are professionally designed to improve the quality of your website. You would be surprised to see your sales letter conversations and one time offer conversations increasing significantly after using these images. You can therefore increase your online profits without spending lot of money, effort and time on graphic designs.

Graphics packages include images like

•Arrow image

Arrow images are available in various colors and in various directions like up, down, left and right. Down bullet arrow, to left bullet arrow and curved arrows are also available in these packages.

•Contact images

Contact images are essential to help your website visitors to contact you for any information or to buy your product. The Graphic packages offer various “contact us” images in different fonts, colors along with curved arrows in various directions.

•Button images

Button images help direct your visitors to order your product or to join your website as a member. You can select from the multiple ‘order now’ and ‘join now’ images from the graphic package and insert anywhere on your website you want within a few minutes.

•One time offer images

If you want to increase traffic to your website, you may need to give some offers. In fact, free offers can attract large amounts of traffic to your site. You can make use of the one- time offer image available in this graphic package instantly. You can select the clock image to specify the time of offer. You can select the image specifying “stop, you are going to see this page Once Only” image to persuade your visitors to buy your product.

•Subscribe images

You can find attractive “Subscribe” images in this package. They come in several colours and you can select any one that suits your website.

•Free bonus images

If you want to give free bonus to your members, you can then opt for a suitable “free bonus image” available in the graphic package. You simply need to click on the image you want to download instantly.”

•Guarantee images

Guarantee images help you to convince your prospects to buy your product. Graphics packages provide various images for this purpose, which include “ no questions asked money back guarantee”, “100% customer satisfaction guarantee” etc.

•Special membership images

Some appealing special membership images include “for members only”, “exclusive membership” and “free membership

In addition to these images, you can also get audio images, video images and testimonials with these packages. Sometimes, if you want your visitors to hear some information about your product, you need audio images, directing them to listen to what you have to say. 2 Graphics packages provide various images like “listen to this”, “Hear what others are saying” etc. You can choose any image, as per your wish. Similarly, if you want your visitor to see any video, you can select from the images that say “see for yourself” or “watch this video”. Testimonial images are important to get the feedback of your visitors and the graphic packages have varieties of testimonial images to choose from.

You can insert these images in any location you want. They come with Private label rights and you can enjoy the freedom of doing anything you want with them. These professional double graphics packages available at reasonable prices let you enjoy a consistent source for all your graphic solutions.

Structured File Naming Strategy For Managing Scanned Images

Many organizations purchase document scanning devices as a first step initiative to convert their paper-based filing system into an electronic one. Their second step may involve the acquisition of a document management system but because of effort and cost implications there is a common tendency to try managing with the free organizer software that comes bundled with the scanner. An affordable and more effective alternative is to use structured file naming. When using this approach there is no need to input metadata for each document or have to rely on visual identification to locate a specific document. The file name is sufficient. Structured file naming can be done manually of course but for speed and precision, it is best to use a tool such as eXadox™ that enables semi-automated structured file naming and advanced search.

Structured File Name

A structured file name consists of multiple segments where each segment provides specific information about the document. The quantity and type of segments employed is dependant on the type of documents and the business activity. A general purpose file name structure used within eXadox that can handle most requirements consists of the following segments:

SUB-FOLDER NAME_REF ID LIST_REF-ID_DOC TYPE_

DOC NAME_VERSION_[TRACKING]. EXT

The following are some examples showing how this structure can be used:

GLOBAL_GENEXPENSE_P76328_INV_090125_[BOX4].PDF

SMITH-J _SUNLIFE_367450_POLICY_EXP120215.PDF

LAGOCONDOS_PPELEC_5786_SUBCON_H&L.DOC

In the examples above, each segment can convey different types of information based on need. The following provides some insight on how to exploit each segment in the structure:

SUB-FOLDER NAME is the primary entity (e.g.: clients, suppliers, employees, projects, etc...) for which/whom we are filing documents. A sub-folder should be created for each entity name. If the list is available from a CRM or business system, eXadox could auto-create all the sub-folders instantly. The sub-folder name can automatically be injected by eXadox as a prefix for easy document identification. This segment is especially important if the documents are mobile.

REF ID LIST is a list of possibilities that can logically categorize the primary entity or perhaps the type of department, employees may be divided based on work classification or perhaps department. An insurance brokerage firm may offer insurance protection by different companies based on the type of insurance required. The resulting list is used by eXadox to ensure consistency and to help auto-populate the segment.

REF-ID - is a free-text segment used to help identify a specific document or a group of related documents. For example in an accounts payable department this segment can be the supplier invoice number. A legal firm may use it to input a case number as a provision to enable the grouping of case specific documents.

DOC TYPE is a list of possible document types (e.g.: invoice, letter, contract, policy, accident report, etc.). Because this is a list, eXadox uses the entries in the list to auto-populate the segment as per user needs.

DOC NAME is a free-text segment used to provide specific information on the document content or purpose (e.g.: type of statement, invoice date, type or purpose of a report, etc...)

VERSION is a free-text segment that is used for version control. The entry gets auto-incremented when a document with identical name exists in the same folder.

[TRACKING] is a list driven segment that can be used to track the status of the document or where the physical document is located (e.g.: BOX 235, SHREDDER, PAID). eXadox uses the list to auto populate the segment and/or embed the tracking info into the PDF.

SOME GENERAL TIPS

• Focus on the part of the business that is the most paper burdened and that could bring the most value.

• Start with current incoming documents immediately and work on old documents as time permits.

• Make a decision on whether you wish to save or destroy your physical documents. If you wish to maintain them you may pack them chronologically (based on scan date and time) in numbered banker boxes destined for storage.

• Use suitable structured file naming conventions for each business activity.

• Get consensus with coworkers on a suitable file name structure in collaborative work environments.

• To maintain policy adherence, accuracy and minimize keyboard input, consider semi-automated structured file naming.

The Fundamentals of Software Testing

“The Fundamentals of Software Testing” is the first module of the ISEB Software Testing Foundation course and examination syllabus. ISEB recommend that Software Testing Foundation students spend 20% of their study time on the Software Testing Fundamentals course section. “The Fundamentals of Software Testing” is also the title of the opening chapter in the official ISEB Software Testing manual.

Understanding the fundamentals of software testing is clearly crucial to achieving proficiency according to the ISEB software testing professional standards. But what, precisely, are these “fundamentals” of software testing, and what do you need to know in order to pass the ISEB Software Testing Foundation examination?

Why is testing necessary?

According to Peter Morgan (freelance testing practitioner and member of the ISEB Software Testing Accreditation and Examination panel), an unnecessarily high proportion of IT systems fail to fulfil expectations – or fail to work at all – because of insufficient software testing prior to release.

Software testing cannot guarantee against software problems or even failure, but it can minimise the risk of faults developing once the software is in use. In order to understand why software testing is necessary, it is important to consider the causes and impact of IT systems failure, and the crucial role that testing plays in Quality Assurance.

The ISEB Software Testing Foundation training-courses focus on five learning requirements:

• The potential impact of an IT systems failure;
• Causes/effects of software failure;
• Why testing is necessary;
• Testing versus Quality Assurance;
• Basic industry terminology.

What is testing?

Software Testing is a method of identifying faults in the product before it is released; this includes defects in the software code and its execution, as well as any potential gap between what the code is supposed to do and what it actually does.

The ISEB Software Testing Foundation exam requires students to:

• Know the basic objectives of testing;

• Understand how these testing objectives apply in the context of creating, using and supporting software (including the difference between testing and ‘debugging’, and the different uses of static testing and dynamic testing).

General testing principles

The ISEB Software Testing courses introduce students to 7 software testing principles:

• Testing can show that problems exist, but not that problems do not exist.
• Testing covers a limited range of sample situations, and is not comprehensive.
• The earlier a problem is found, the less it costs to fix.
• Defects will tend to cluster around specific areas (e.g. system complexity, or staff inexperience). These areas can be particularly targeted by testers.
• A set of tests, run repeatedly, will have diminishing effect.
• The type, design and focus of testing will vary according to the software tested.
• A test that does not reveal errors does not prove that the software is error-free.

Fundamental test process

Software testing is not simply a case of reviewing documentation or running a software program to check for bugs. To ensure that the appropriate tests are operated effectively and return value on the invested resources, it is crucial that software testers carry out five basic activities, which the ISEB Software Testing guidance links to form a software testing process:

1. Test planning and control

a. Test planning defines what will be tested, how it will be tested, and who we will know when the testing is complete.
b. Test control is an iterative activity that compares the progress against the plan, and adjusts the plan as required.

2. Test analysis and design

a. Test analysis considers the specific conditions to be tested, and how these test conditions are to be combined into test cases.
b. Test design describes the expected outcome of the test, so that testers can easily recognise when a fault has occurred.

3. Test implementation and execution

Execution represents the most visible testing activity, and encompasses setting up the tests, generating test data, logging test activities and analysing the test results.

4. Evaluating exit criteria and reporting

The test “exit criteria” (established during “Test planning and control”) indicate that testing is complete.

5. Test closure activities

• Ensure that all documentation has been correctly completed
• Close down and archive the test environment, infrastructure and testware
• Hand over testware to maintenance team
• Log lessons learned

The psychology of testing

Selecting the appropriate individual(s) to perform the tests, and communicating the results of the tests to the developers, requires a basic understanding of the psychology of testers and developers.

The ISEB Software Testing guidance provides a hierarchy of ‘independence’ – that is, a list of individuals who could potentially test the software, gradated according to their perceived level of detachment from the development process:

• The authors of the code
• Members of the same development team as the authors of the code
• A different group within the same organization
• A different organization

There are varying advantages and disadvantages to individuals at different levels in the hierarchy performing the software tests. For example, the developer might be able to resolve a difficulty more quickly, but might be also be less likely to spot the difficulties in the first place.

In addition to the independence/detachment of the testers from the software development process, it is important to consider how testers can communicate the results of the test to the developers. The ISEB Software Testing Foundation exam requires students to explain strategies for providing courteous feedback on defects, for example:

• Focus on delivering quality, rather than pointing out mistakes;
• Test reports are not directed towards people but towards products;
• Discuss problems openly, and attempt mutual understanding;
• At the end of a discussion, confirm that both parties understand what has been agreed.

Summary

Understanding the fundamentals of software testing is crucial to passing the ISEB Software Testing Foundation examination. During an accredited ISEB Software Testing Foundation course, approximately two and a half hours should be devoted to studying what testing is, why it is necessary, and the fundamentals principles and processes behind a successful test performance.

Upgrading Old vs Buying New Computer

The world of IT and computing as come to a point where innovation,new developments,upgrades etc as become the trend. More often than not,most if not all gadgets or equipments only have a lifeline of few months,for them to become old or not good enough.

This as made competition become the in-thing among vendors and this as also affected the pocket or purchasing power of consumers. It as become very common among the consumers of the following items in particular:Computers(Laptop.Desktop,servers and other components),Mobile and Fixed line phones,Motor Vehicles e.t.c

You've come to a point where you need to upgrade to a higher spec of computer but you don't have enough cash to make the change. I have over time used a method to overcome this issue,thereby saving money and getting the higher grade that i want. I will for now limit this to Computers.

The basic components of most systems are: OS,Screen size,Weight,Optical Drive,Memory,Hard disk & Processor. Among all this,the basic ones which determine prices are: Optical Drive,Memory,Hard Disk and Processor.

The catch here is this: If i have a system of about $250 with obviously a lower spec and a new or a higher spec one which goes for $450. what i readily do is to buy (Optical drive,Memory & Hard drive) of a higher spec and install on the old/lower spec system. this normally cost me around $80 - $120,which comes to about $320 - $370,therefore,saving about $80 - $130

This is a simple tactics which could save from hundreds to thousands of dollars on a budget.

A check on the net will get you more than enough information on the above subject.

One of the main considerations on the above mechanism is to know where this components are located and how to fixed them.

If you'd like to send questions to me, please feel free to visit my Website and I'll be happy to answer your queries, or point you in the right direction.

Good luck, and happy computing!

Creating Icons with Aqua Effect

Designing a fresh new image having the famous "aqua" effect is easier than you think – if you use proper tools. To create an image from scratch, a professional, small and simple icon editor such as IconLover 5 ( http://www.aha-soft.com/iconlover/index.htm ) is all you really need.

For example, let us make an aqua-style icon to represent "Add", a glass ball with a "plus" sign in it. First, you’ll need to draw a circle of a chosen color. Pick the color from the Color properties menu. Just so you know, you can always memorize a color by adding it to Custom Colors; this comes really handy if you need to draw a matching set of images.

With the Transparency bar or with one of the Transparency presets, define your new icon’s opacity. For this tutorial, the ball has to be fully opaque. Similarly, you can set background color; for simplicity’s sake, we’ll keep the background transparent for now.

To make a circle of your chosen color, select the Filled Ellipse tool by clicking the Filled Ellipse icon in the Tools menu, which is on the left of the drawing area. Holding the left mouse button down, move the mouse within the drawing area to draw an ellipse. The ellipse changes its size and shape as you move the mouse. To create a perfectly round circle, hold Shift while drawing. That’s it, you have just created a circle!

To add volume and dimension to the flat circle, we’ll need to add some special effects. There are tons of those built into IconLover! You can add shadows, gradients, transparency masks, and of course, the famous ‘glass reflection’ look employed by the aqua effect.

To make an icon matching Apple’s Aqua style, you’ll need to add a reflection and a shadow to the circle. This can be done quite easily altogether by simply selecting Aqua from the Effects menu. Keep all sliders and values at their defaults for now, and you’ll get a beautiful shiny sphere as a result.

Now let’s add an artist’s touch and make your icon truly unique. Go back to that Aqua dialog and have a carefull look at the properties. There are plenty of properties available to tweak, allowing you to design something never seen before. Go ahead and tweak the sliders to see how your icon can look!

As a final touch, let’s add some dimension to your newly created icon. While glowing and shiny, it still looks like a lens rather than a crystal ball. Let’s fix that by adding a drop-down shadow! To apply a shadow effect to the icon, click "Drop shadow" from the Effects menu. You can stick to defaults, or adjust the settings around to get a flat button, a lens, or a ball. The look depends on the size of the shadow, its distance from the subject, and the angle at which it falls to the ground.

To embed the ‘plus’ sign into the icon, click on the Text tool icon in the left Tools menu or press "T" to get the text properties window. Make sure the "Image transparency" box is checked. This means that your text will not be transparent, only the area around it will be. Adjusting the "Use semi-transparency" setting assigns your text the same level of transparency your primary color has. Type "+", and you’ll get the ‘plus’ sign inserted into the ball.

How You Can Make Money With Internet Video

A guide to the best web sites that will enable you to convert your video into cold, hard cash

Are you a moviemaker or video maker? Have you been creating and posting videos to sites like YouTube, Metacafe and MySpaceTV video? You have been getting lots of great feedback, viewers have been favoriting your videos and sharing them among their friends, and maybe now you are thinking, how do I make some money on this?

Or maybe you are an upcoming video producer, shooter or editor. You recognize that the web is the wild frontier of video and film and you want to get a piece of it. Or maybe you are running a business and you are smart enough to recognize that maybe you can make some additional money by leveraging your products and services via web video.

Yes, you can make money in web video. You don't need to be a big-time producer with deep pockets. You don't need to have graduated form a top notch film school. You don't even need fancy video cameras and video editing gear.

There are various paths and direction you can take depending on what kinds of video you are making and what your goals are.

For the professional video or filmmaker, the creator of short videos or independent films, the best choice is to hook up with a major content provider that already has a presence on the web as well as in broadcast. Companies like Atom Films, Break, iFilm and the My Damn Channel all buy and license video streaming content from professional video makers. See the list of Sites that pay for video at Internet Video Magazine.

These web video distributors license your videos to other content companies and also exhibit your film on their Internet site, sharing the various advertisings and licensing revenues they get with you.

Most of these types of sites runs ad before your video, as well as a plethora of ads and banners on the web site. They have money coming in, and realizing the value of well made content, will pay you for your videos and films.

Atom Films says “We earn good money from those ads and we share a percentage of the gross revenue with content creators. That money is paid out according to the relative popularity of each movie on AtomFilms — so the more plays your movie generates, the more money you make.”

Because companies like AtomFilms also function as a source for video content to other media companies, they can pay you a slice of that as well. AtomFilms supplies content to companies like Comedy Central, Spike TV, Verizon's Vcast mobile entertainment service and Bell South's web portal. These partners pay Atom for the content, and from that revenue they pay royalties to the creators whose movies are shown.

According to AtomFilms, many of their film and video creators earn hundreds of dollars, some earn thousands of dollars, and the most successful creators have made tens of thousands — even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There are some sites that are actually pay per view and work best for content that is either informational like “how to do it” videos or travel videos, or contain “special content” that can not be easily accessed elsewhere. Some of the leading sites for this are Veoh, Guba.com, BrightCove, VideoJug and ExpertVillage. At ExpertVillage, you can earn $100 to $1000 for each how-to video. The videos must be assigned first, focus on a specific topic, and consist of about 15 segments of one to three minutes each, featuring an "expert" on a given subject.

If you are running a business and want to promote it via video, you have a few options. You could use one of the pay per view services to distribute educational videos that you produce. You could distribute and re-purpose your TV and cable commercials by posting them to one or more of the “free” video posting sites, or you could actually create a “viral” video that drives traffic to your site.

A great example is the “Will It Blend” series of videos by a small company known as BlendTec. Originally done as a one off joke video featuring Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson and his blending antics, it turned viral. The company followed up with an almost endless series of videos of him grinding up objects of all types and sizes, from marbles to an iPhone to a rake handle. It has become a wonderful advertising and promotional medium for their company and now almost everyone knows who they are.

Many musicians are using web videos to promote themselves, their bands and their music. These can be a great way to build a new audience and get music enthusiasts exposed to their work without having to go through the music industry machine. Musicians can add links to their web sites on their videos to drive interest, or actually have roll-over promo appear when a web visitor checks out their video.

Maybe the most interesting channel to make money with your Internet video is by using sites that allow you to post almost any kind of video you created.

It can be a sophisticated, dramatic piece or a video clip snippet captured from your camcorder or your video phone. As long as you created it, you can make money from it. Once it is posted, whenever someone clicks on it and watches the video, you get paid. It’s all about driving content and eyeballs. Some interesting sites include YouTube, LuluTV, Flixya, Magnify.Net, Revver, BlipTV and many others. Also check out the many how to video sites like ExpertVillage and HowCast.

For example, BlipTV - Blip TV offers a 50/50 revenue share with the advertising that is streamed with your video. Blip TV says, “Blip.tv has built an open advertising marketplace where you can pick the video advertising company that works best for you. If you've got a hit show we'll even go out and meet with media buyers directly to get you a real, honest-to-goodness high-end sponsorship.”

Another option is YouTube. They recently announced that they will start running ads on their videos and will be sharing the revenue with the content providers. Check out this news story from Yahoo News and A P

Revver - Once you upload a video to Revver, they attach an ad and a unique tracking technology. Any ad revenue generated by the video is then split 50/50 between you and Revver. According to Revver, “Since ads are attached to the video itself and dynamically served wherever the video travels, there's no restriction on how your videos are distributed. The more people email your video, post it to other websites or download it from P2P networks, the more money you could earn.”

This is interesting. Revver also pays you for sharing other people’s videos on the Revver network. You can earn 20% of ad revenue for sharing videos by other Revver members. The remaining revenue is split 50/50 between the maker and Revver.

My WeShow enables anyone to become an online video aggregator: finding, creating, discussing, sharing and making money from video content -

You Got to Promote Your OnLine Video

Once you have your videos uploaded, you also need to promote them and tell the world they are out there. For example, one of my favorite sites is French Maids TV - The Viral Video of “How To’s” by French Maids. Their videos are everywhere – on Revver, on BlipTV, on YouTube, etc.. According to Tim Street, creator and executive Producer, not only do they get paid to create these “viral” videos by each show’s tech sponsors, they collect thousands of dollars each month by links on Revver and similar web sites.

These shows combine a lot of humor and a bit of sex to promote the product or service featured on each clip. In addition to these natural hooks, he also promotes the show using RSS and podcast directories.

Tim said, “You need to make sure that you create a RSS Feed - a podcast of your videos. Then you need to get listed on all the podcast directories including the most important one of all, the one that can change your life forever, the one and only iTunes Store! Seriously iTunes has done more to promote French Maid TV than any other thing out there. It took French Maid TV a month to get listed on the iTunes Store. Three days later French Maid TV was number one and we had twenty thousand subscribers.”

There is a lot of money to be made in online video. Whether you are just uploading short clips captured by your camcorder phone, creating infomercials or how to videos, or producing creative and funny short films or indie full-length features, the online market is hungry for content. Check out some of these sites listed below and find out how you can cash in on this opportunity.

How to Choose a Web Server Platform?

Every website needs a reliable web server to be hosted on, so that it can be accessed via internet users. Today, in web hosting market there are many types of web servers available running on different platform to select. types are There is a wide range of web servers running on different platform to choose from within the web hosting market today. As per the Netcraft, a company that keeps statistics on the leading web servers and the platforms on the Internet, the most popular platforms and web servers are:

* UNIX and Linux running Apache web server

* Window NT/2000 running Internet Information Server (IIS)

The other web server includes WebLogic, iPlanet, Sun ONE, Zeus and etc… Given the widespread popularity of Apache (closed to 60% market share) and Microsoft IIS (approximately 30%), you can almost guarantee you can find these two platforms are supported by most of the web hosting providers.

Operating systems are an importance piece of software that is required by each computer to be installed before it can function properly. Today, most of the personal computers are running on Microsoft Windows operating system: Win98, WinXP or Win2000.

Likewise, all web servers need operating system to perform different functionalities and different web servers run on different operating systems (or so called platforms). One of the most commonly found platform is UNIX that comes in various varieties that are popular with web hosts, including FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Linux. Another popular platform that has gained strong ground as a platform for web hosting market is Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003.

How do you choose your web server platform?

If your website is purely make up of static web pages (i.e. HTML files), then any web hosting platform will work fine for you. However, if your website allows dynamic content, you will most likely need to run specific server-side functionality such as CGI scripts, JSP, ASP, SSI or PHP. In this case, UNIX platform web hosting will be ideal for your requirement.

On the other hand, if you need to use specific applications that require Windows to run such as ASP, .Net, MS Access, Microsoft SQL server or Cold Fusion, then you will need to find a web hosting providers that support Microsoft’s Windows NT platform. Otherwise, all other server-side functionalities such as PHP, Perl and MySQL can be supported by UNIX platform.

While common programs such as Perl, PHP, Flash etc run on both UNIX and Window platform. Many other free open source software programs are available only for UNIX than for Windows. As a result, UNIX hosting is less expensive than Window hosting. So, if hosting cost is a big concern to you, then you should consider UNIX or Linux hosting.

If you have already decided on the type of design on your web pages, make sure you can find a web hosting plan that support your needs by reading the full features of the web hosting plan before you sign-up.

Keeping Your Computer Quick And Secure

For this article, I thought I would give some tips as to how to get rid of Viruses and Spyware and keep your computer running smoothly.

Is your computer running slower then it should be? Do you find yourself dealing with Spyware a lot? Do you have computer Viruses on your system? These are some problems that many internet users face. You would be surprised just how many people ask me for advice about these subjects. And this includes Grandma calling because she has over 50 viruses on her system, no joke lol. I decided to write this article and explain the best way to keep your computer running smoothly and Spyware/Virus free.

Note: I wrote this article with a focus mainly on computers running Windows. Not all of the programs mentioned in this article may have a Mac or Linux version.

Many times, when people go about searching for programs to fix their computer, they often make the problem worse. The reason is that many security software programs may actually be Spyware in itself or otherwise do a really poor job at removing the Spyware and Viruses from your system.

- First off, if you have any computer Viruses on your system, you need to get rid of them right away. The same goes for Spyware. For getting rid of Viruses, I would recommend you download the free version of AVG Anti-Virus. After you download it, make sure and update it before doing a full scan.

- Now, for getting rid of Spyware, I would recommend you use Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware. I recommend downloading them both and running a scan. Again, make sure to update it before you do the scan though. I have found that sometimes one program detects something that the other did not. By using two separate scanners, you will have a better chance of getting rid of the Spyware.

Now that you have gotten rid of the Spyware and Viruses on your system, here are some ways to increase the speed of your computer.

- Run Disk Defragmenter on your computer. This is something that many people forget to do. I could go into a long explanation about what this does, but the short way of saying it is that the time the computer takes to access files will be reduced. I recommend doing a Disk Defrag once a month.

Most people already have Disk Defragmenter on their computer. If you are on windows, you should be able to find it under (Programs - Accessories - System Tools). If you don't have DiskDefragmenter. Try going to Download.com. There are many great Disk Defragmenters available to download there.

- Clean your computer registry. But please don't do it yourself. Use software designed for this. You can really mess your computer up if you don't know what you're doing in the computer registry. There are many registry cleaners out there. Unfortunately, they all cost. However, here is one registry cleaner that I have found to be good. It's called Regdefense. They even offer a free scan so you can see just how much your registry may need to be cleaned before you decide if you wish to buy this software or not. In addition to the registry cleaner, this software offers many other tools for keeping your computer running smoothly.

- Remove unneeded programs that are set to run when you turn on the computer. These include various IM messengers, audio and video programs, etc. I have seen many people with over 30-40 programs set to run at startup. No wonder the computer was taking awhile to load! For me, I have a total of 9 programs running at startup. For a free startup manager to remove startup entries, I recommend Startup Inspector.

- Get rid of the unneeded files on your computer. There are many programs that can do this. I'm going to recommend one you should already have on your computer though. It's called Disk Cleanup. You should see it under (Programs - Accessories - System Tools). It may not have some of the advanced features like other cleaners, but it should do the job.

Now that you have done these steps, your computer should be running a lot smoother. Now you need to keep it this way! Run Disk Defrag, Virus scans, and Spyware scans regularly. Try and keep your computer registry clean and your computer startup items to a minimum. And here is an extra link to a program I recommend to keep your computer secure. SpywareBlaster. Once you install it and update it, you will need to click to enable the protection. It will protect you from thousands of types of Spyware and will block it before it even installs onto your system. A very cool program!

If you are on a high-speed connection, I would recommend getting a firewall. ZoneAlarm has a free firewall. I've used it for years and it has never let me down.

Also, I recommend using a System Utilities program. These are computer programs that offer many tools to keep your computer running smoothly. Normally you might have to download separate tools to do these things. System Utility programs combine all of the tools into one big program. They are very useful. I personally recommend iolo System Mechanic.

Wrapping this up, if you do all of these tips, your computer should stay safe and run smoothly. I have been doing all of these tips for a long time, and it has been years since I have had any type of Spyware or Virus infection. You shouldn't have to deal with these annoyances on the net. Just do these tips, and you shouldn't need to worry. Good luck!

The Senior Citizen Embraces the Internet

I just heard words I never expected to hear from my mother: “Well, why don’t you just email it to me as an attachment?” This is a woman who owned, and presumably used, her computer for 3 years before she discovered she could minimize a window! Now, lo and behold, she’s almost, dare I say, becoming comfortable with using that amazing machine in her study.

Like my mother, more and more senior citizens are utilizing their computers beyond playing their favorite card games. They are discovering that the Internet can connect them, cheaply and easily, to friends old and new. Grandparents can stay more in tune with little Josh’s first steps or Hannah’s piano recital when proud parents send pictures and video clips. Far-flung families can post regular updates and accomplishments on personal blogs or websites (made simple and almost professional looking with a free application like WordPress). Voice Over Internet Providers and cell phone packages have made even the simple act of keeping in touch by phone much cheaper.

In addition to staying connected with family, seniors are discovering that the Internet can open them up to new acquaintances. Last summer, thousands mourned the death of Australian Olive Riley, whom they had grown to love through her posts. Readers from around the world regularly logged on to share her thoughts and memories. Olive started blogging at the age of 107.

No matter what their interests, senior citizens can discover plenty of others to share them. Just a quick perusal of a WordPress gallery shows websites dedicated to people’s dogs, hobbies, recipes or neighborhoods. At a time when age slows a person down and prevents one from venturing out very often, it’s a wonderful boon to be able to connect with others from the comfort of home. Whether checking Lorna’s post to discover what’s new in her retirement village in Florida or discovering that new friend Harold is a great partner for online bridge games, seniors find their world opening rather than closing.

While I don’t expect (or even hope!) to find videos of my mother popping up on YouTube anytime soon, I’m happy for her and her fellow senior citizens that the wonders of technology can open her world wider even as physical constraints might be making it narrower.