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September 25, 2003
The Spam Compar0matic
Network World just did a comprehensive review of SPAM solutions. <a title="Anti-spam buyer's guide" href="http://www.nwfusion.com/bg/2003/spam/index.jsp">Anti-spam buyer's guide</a> The result? We are on V 1.0 products that still need work on features. Not so much in accuracy (Cloudmark did VERY well there), but in usability, configuration, and other enterprise and end user features/controls. Unfortunately the products in this review are those of about 4 months ago and products have changed. Many of the things the reviewer ding'ed Cloudmark on they now have. But that is how reviews go.
One interesting issue this review brings up is that there are a set of "legacy" criteria for spam filters that many reviewers are using. They are actually features or techniques to fight spam, not necessarilly things that drive to the ultimate goal: accuracy and reliability. One example is White lists and Black lists. This is a feature on many reviewer's checklist. If you don't have it, you get dinged. But what if White and Black lists actually create more problems than they solve (which they do)? What if there is a better way to get higher accuracy and lower false positives (there is). In the end, the product that works the best and has the lowest total cost of ownership should be the one that wins. But that isn't how reviewers are reviewing just yet.
Posted by Martin at 7:44 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
some musings on hosting providers
I asked my good friend Troy who he recommends for hosting web sites. Here are his comments...
Pair Networks is excellent: http://www.pair.com/pair/shared/webmaster.html
I was a customer in 1995 and have referred about a dozen folks, all of whom are still there. They allow any CGI scripts but you or someone else will have to install MT. The MT people sell installation for ~$50 though I don't think there's much to it. Pair has a pile of online docs about adding CGI scripts. They're the best in the business for shared Web hosting, which is probably what you want.
As far as reliability, you can read their system notices at http://www.pair.com/pair/support/notices/
You can see their named machines at http://www.pair.com/pair/support/library/serverconfig/serverdetails.html
Next step up is a dedicated server. $120/month buys a speedy rented server and more bandwidth than you'll use from Rackshack.net and ServerBeach.com. I'd do it if I didn't have access to colocation. Get one with Ensim or cPanel, Web UIs that make short work of adding new sites and email accounts.
Given the huge cost of tech support for dedicated servers that people wreak havoc on, most folks just go without. Rackshack and Serverbeach support basically means reimaging your server back to its starting point. A friend of mine has been very happy with his Rackshack server, where he hosts a comics subscription site called ModernTales.
Aha, but you asked for support. If a shared Pair Networks account won't do but you want support or $200/month isn't unreasonable, go to DataPipe. http://www.datapipe.com/easyadmin.asp
DataPipe rocks. A friend of mine there occasionally forwards some of the bizarre and clueless tech support questions that they diligently answer.
Rackshack has thousands of servers: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2003/04/14/netcraft_hosting_provider_server_count_available.html
.. but DataPipe takes the cake for reliability and speed: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/performance.html
So in short: Pair and DataPipe are the best at what they do; Rackshack and Serverbeach provide a more affordable version with some known drawbacks.
Troy
Posted by Martin at 4:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
OK making the hosting MOVE! may be down
I am moving my server and changing the DNS entries. We may be down for a few days. I am moving here: <a title="Just $5/month! - Tranquil Hosting(tq)" href="http://www.tqhosting.com/">Just $5/month! - Tranquil Hosting(tq)</a>
Posted by Martin at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
now here is a toy
Tired of playing "virtual reality" games? Try taking out your frustrations in the office with a REAL tank... <a title="ThinkGeek :: R/C Shooting Battle Tanks" href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/6279">ThinkGeek :: R/C Shooting Battle Tanks</a>
Posted by Martin at 3:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 24, 2003
Buy my segway wheel
I was doing bunny hops on my segway and popped a tire! You have to buy a whole new wheel assembly from Segway, so I have the old one. Coffee table? <a title="eBay item 3628642101 (Ends Oct-01-03 09:38:55 PDT) - Segway wheel (flat tire)" href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3628642101">eBay item 3628642101 (Ends Oct-01-03 09:38:55 PDT) - Segway wheel (flat tire)</a>
Posted by Martin at 9:32 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 17, 2003
Here is a fun diversion
I am totally enamored with the unique little applications that the have become possible only through the web. Of course there is the all time favorite <a href="http://www.hotornot.com">AreUHotorNOt</a> that has millions of people wasting millions of hours. I just found a new one that lets you track the paper bills in your pocket by serial number. <a title="Where's George? -" href="http://www.wheresgeorge.com/">Where's George? -</a>
Over 2 million people have entered over 35 million bills! I am waiting to see if any of mine were used for lap dances recently...
Posted by Martin at 1:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2003
Measuring PR
One of the worst things I did as a CEO was tryto figure out how effective my PR spend was. Figuring out marketing spend in general was a pain, but sometimes you had direct response in it and you could do some tracking. On the PR front, you pay your monthly minimum to the agency for "mindshare" and you pray. The old way of doing some kind of measurement was to hire a clipping service and hope they are reading the right publications. You might get a fat binder out of it to put on your coffee table, but the information was not really actionable.
In my ongoing quest for better ways to measure PR effectiveness, I am going to take the demo at <a title="Biz360" href="http://www.biz360.com/">Biz360</a> Will let you know how it goes. The claim alot of deep analysis and automated reporting. We will see.
Posted by Martin at 7:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
interesting site on opt-in marketing
There are many approaches to solving the permission based e-mail marketing problem. Here is one site that is doing alot of socialization about it. Run by the outbound e-mail industry it looks like. <a title="Opt-in News" href="http://www.optinnews.com/">Opt-in News</a>
Posted by Martin at 4:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 3, 2003
How will people make money with IM?
Microsoft will charge non-msft clients for access to their network. We are only seeing the beginning of this. <a title="IDG.com.sg - Article" href="http://www.idg.com.sg/idgwww.nsf/unidlookup/10B2FC6553AB2D7148256D9100318F66?OpenDocument">IDG.com.sg - Article</a>
Posted by Martin at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
the dustbin of net obsessions
Wow, nostalgia. Such a fun thing. <a title="USATODAY.com - Rummaging through the recycle bin of Net obsessions" href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2003-08-28-net-fad-history_x.htm">USATODAY.com - Rummaging through the recycle bin of Net obsessions</a> Go to this link to relive the history behind Dancing Baby, HampsterDance, IKissYou and other favorites.
Posted by Martin at 10:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 2, 2003
Ode to Jules Mae Bar in Georgetown
Most of the good watering holes in Seattle are being yuppied up. One more is up for sale in Georgetown. Having been closed four years ago and now a door shop, I wonder if some nice person will revive it?
<a title="The Stranger: Feature (07/08/99)" href="http://www.thestranger.com/1999-07-08/feature3.html">The Stranger: Feature (07/08/99)</a>
<a href="http://www.epinions.com/rest-Restaurants-All-Jules_Mae_Saloon_and_Eatery">ePinions</a>
<a href="http://seattle.diningguide.net/data/d100347.htm">Seattle dining guide</a>
Posted by Martin at 2:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Direct link to AMTP draft by IETF
<a title="" href="http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-weinman-amtp-00.txt">AMTP draft</a>
Posted by Martin at 2:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I got 9 of 10 right
Funny little diversion... <a title="malevole - Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?" href="http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/">malevole - Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?</a>
Posted by Martin at 1:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
AMTP as alternative to SMTP
A very lively debate on <a title="Slashdot | AMTP as an Alternative to SMTP" href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/01/0253216">Slashdot | AMTP as an Alternative to SMTP</a>. I don't know what I think yet, but there needs to be some kind of First Class mail service. Now the question is how to get it rolled out? Who has market power to do such a thing? Gets the noodle going eh?
Posted by Martin at 1:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
My favorite bike ride
Just did my favorite bike ride. From my house in Pike Place Market, down thru Pioneer Square, International district, across I90, <a title="Seattle Bicycle Club - Thursday Night Mercer Island Exercise Rides" href="http://www.seattlebicycle.com/rides/ride_series/thursday_night_mi.html">around Mercer Island</a>, and back. About 25 miles. Sunny 70 degree day. Couldn't ask for more.
Posted by Martin at 11:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The virus that is GNU
<a title="GNU's Not Unix! - the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation (FSF)" href="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU's Not Unix! - the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation (FSF)</a> has created a virus that threatens the entire software world. It is the GPL. Linking to GPL'ed code can make your code part of it and therefore you do not have much IP protection. This is bad for all software developers. My friend Troy sent a good link to a well thought through tread on the subject:
One of the lists I skim, cni-copyright, covered the GPL in pretty good
detail:
https://mail2.cni.org/Lists/CNI-COPYRIGHT/List.html
.. then search for: Open Source Licensing
I'll let the thread stand by itself except to say that the FSF's enforcement of the license has been very consistent and at least *their* intent is very clear. Can't comment about anyone else's intent..
Troy
Posted by Martin at 8:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Dell for replacement APC batteries
I was woken up at 2:00am by my car alarm going off. Yes I thought it was a false alarm, but the thing went on longer than normal, so I got up to take a look. The window was busted out and the perp grabbed my radar detector and a bunch of CDs. Just as I was assessing the damage, my APC Pro 500 went off beeping like mad. "replace battery". I guess it is time 5 years into it. So I get to a searching and what do you know, <a title="Dell - Software & Peripherals for Home and Home Office" href="http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?Sku=756216&category_id=4116&customer_id=19&c=us&l=en&cs=19">Dell </a> has the best price on APC replacement batteries. And these are factory APC batteries, not "OEM compatible" ones. Who woulda thunk?
Posted by Martin at 8:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Here is how hosting really works
Thanks to Rich for laying it all out.. <a title="Tong Family Blog: Hosting Unstood (volume ii) BLOGGED" href="http://www.tongfamily.com//000006.html">Tong Family Blog: Hosting Unstood (volume ii) BLOGGED</a>
Posted by Martin at 6:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Searching for a new Hosting place
My friend who runs <a href="http://www.promoweb.com">PromoWeb</a> is getting out of web hosting, so it is time to move. Finding good resources from <a href="http://www.tongfamily.com//000032.html">Rich</a> and a couple of meta sites like <a href="http://hosting-web-central.com/budget.html">Host Web Central</a>, <a href="http://www.webhostratings.com">Web Host Ratings</a> and a (fairly) impartial <a href="http://www.webhostingtalk.com">chat board</a>. Sounds like there are lots of people unhappy about their hoster. And there are definitely tiers to the business. I am probably going to go with one of the larger ones just to make sure they are around. Maybe <a href="http://www.lunarpages.com/hosting.html">Lunarpages</a>
One interesting twist is that I have two domains to host. Some places let you "upgrade" your package to include two domains for a small fee. Some make you buy a whole nother thing.
Posted by Martin at 6:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack