Cheap Web Hosting

Reseller Web Hosting Explained by David Dunlap

2006-06-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

Reseller web hosting is a web hosting service that re-bundles services available from real hosts or primary providers. Reseller web hosting could be an individual or small business that makes use of the bandwidth and web servers of a higher tier provider or primary host and resells the same to the customers by offering value added services like web designing, domain registration and web programming.
Most real hosting companies allow reseller web hosting in order to boost their sales. Recently, a significant number of web hosting businesses have infiltrated the internet with an eye on the ever-growing number of people who are jumping online. In order to remain competitive, hosting companies look for ways to market their services to a greater number of people rather than offering their services individually. This leads to the business of reseller web hosting accounts. In reseller web hosting, real hosts are able to generate bulk businesses and delegate individual clients to reseller servers. In turn, reseller web hosting businesses look after some individual client's needs. This is a win-win situation for both, since real hosts will have an intermediary in the form of reseller web hosting to individual customers without having to attend to them one by one. The reseller is also able to put up a business and earn income without having to shell out capital outlays. Although in some instances they do compete with each other for a fair share of the web hosting market, the real hosts can still benefit from this set-up considering they do charge a certain amount from resellers.
The services offered by a reseller web hosting service do not really differ from a real host. As a matter of fact, reseller web hosting offers more features to the customers. Due to the added value services, reseller web hosting can offer web design and programming services to each customer that are often times not possible from real hosts. Real hosts tend to focus on bulk accounts and corporate clients. Reseller web hosting offers value added services to customers in order to maintain a competitive edge against bigger web hosting services.
Reseller web hosting is also better able to establish friendly relationship with their customers that go beyond the contract terms. This is the secret for those successful reseller web-hosting services. They fill the need that bigger hosting servers cannot provide. Those who want to start a reseller web hosting business are advised to look for a real host, such as challengehost or Dataneuron.com. It is very easy to obtain a reseller account from a real host these days.
If you need simple hosting services for your web site and you prefer to have personal attention from the web host for design and programming then a reseller web hosting account is highly recommended. However, if you have a business website that requires complex e-commerce solutions, have a very large number of customers accessing your web site or you have a large number of websites to be hosted, a reseller hosting would probably not suffice. This is particularly true for e-businesses. For this, you need a real host provider for your web site.

Cheap Webhosting - What You Need To Know Before You Sign Up

2006-06-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

Cheap Web hosting - What You Need To Know Before You Sign Up
Web hosting is a service that enables you to upload and store a site's HTML documents and related files on a Web server that can be accessed through the internet. Another term for webhosting is site hosting.
With a number of webhosting companies on the internet, it is sometimes hard to find the one that offers true cheap and quality webhosting. Before, you began to search for companies that offer cheap web hosting, it is important to know what exactly you are looking for. This includes your site features, internet programming languages, database connectivity features, email addresses, domain name, traffic you expect and many other considerations.
Some cheap webhosting services offer 'unlimited bandwith'. This is a false claim since 'bandwith' refers to the amount of information between the hosting servers and the end user. Another important consideration in choosing a cheap web hosting is its support services. You must know how prompt the cheap webhosting company can address the problems you encountered. Do some research on the web hosting company's website. Know how long they have been in operation. Then know if the company offers the service you are looking for.
If you purchase your own domain name, make sure that the cheap webhosting company supports them and they give you 1 email address. A number of companies offer 10 or more custom pop email accounts with unlimited forwarding address with sometimes no additional costs.
Linux based cheap web hosting services are usually cheaper that Windows, offers PHP and MySQL and telnet accounts. Linux is often used by cheap webhosting companies because Linux based languages and databases are free to install. Windows are usually more expensive that Linux, should support ASP, could have Cold Fusion, Access, SQL Server at additional cost.
It is hard to find cheap webhosting using Windows since it is expensive for a hosting company to purchase. Cold Fusion, Allair, SQL Server need to be purchased at quite a high price. Access is sold at a very minimal price. If you are looking for extra features in your Windows host then you should be ready to pay extra.
If you are looking for a cheap webhosting service, then a Linux based service would be the one for you. However, if you are using Microsoft Access databases, a Windows based hosting service with Access support is a requirement.
When choosing a cheap web hosting company, you must check their support services, do some research from others and compare your requirements with that of the cheap web hosting company's offerings before you take the plunge.

Shared Webhosting

2006-06-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

Shared webhosting is housing and serving files for a web site. For individuals or small to medium scale businesses that cannot afford to gain an extreme robust connection to the internet for their web site on their own.
This is where the virtual or shared web hosting businesses come in. They provide the customers a way to outsource their Internet requirements in a more affordable way.
The shared webhosting service allows individuals and companies to share the cost of a fast Internet connection for serving files. This is the basic, entry-level fee-based hosting service available to the customer.
Shared web hosting allows clients to host their website on a powerful server at a minimal monthly cost. Shared webhosting provides individual sites with connectivity and guaranteed uptime.
Shared webhosting is designed to host small-scale e-commerce sites web pages. Shared webhosting is used by first-time webmasters because you can have a reliable Web presence without having advanced technical know-how.
Shared webhosting is good for small-scale consumer because they are assured of transparent services, domain name for its website and set of email addresses.
Shared webhosting's low cost makes it very attractive to the consumers. A minimal monthly fee for a shared webhosting service is preferable than a dial-up service.
Most small-scale business and individuals choose shared webhosting because of its low price and it provides basic services. Another reason for shared webhosting popularity is its convenience. Site activation and set-up time in shared web hosting usually takes a few minutes after purchasing the services.
Shared webhosting services are usually bundled. With a minimal monthly fee, it offers multi-platform website solutions. Bundled services include: minimum amount of disk storage space for web pages, minimum amount of data transfer, email forwarding services with physical email boxes that allows you email aliases at your domain name, unlimited file transfer protocol (FTP) services.
Shared web hosting also provide access to Web statistics for you to gage the number of internet clients visiting your web site. This service usually includes raw statistical logs. Also, shared webhosting will include free 24X7 technical supports.
Other services in a shared webhosting are daily tape backup of web site, anonymous FTP server for you to provide public access via file transfer protocol format and CGI-BIN access to upload scripts that will add features to your website.
Shared web hosting is truly a great way to avail of fast internet connection for your website at a very minimal monthly cost.

All about Linux/Unix-based hosting

2006-06-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

It means hosting that is provided on Linux/Unix operating systems platforms. There isn't much difference between these two types of operating systems because Linux/Unix is an improved version of Linux/Unix operating system. When just applying for web hosting companies for web hosting that is based on Linux operating system it doesn't matter which one you are using on your computer as it is commensurable with any operating system. Usability Some years ago Linux operating system used to be available only for professionals and if you were not an experienced user you had no future with this OS. In the last couple of years the situation has changed. Providers have done their best to make users' web sites administrating more comfortable and easier. In case you're just a beginner you'll find friendly control panels that include Web-interface. And if you are an experienced user you can control your site by means of shell. Reliability Experts claim that Unix-based platform is one of the most reliable ones but it will mainly depend on maintenance stuff professionalism. Thus quality and stability of Linux web hosting won't depend on some sudden system bugs and the operating system consistency itself secures your web site operating dependability. Functionality In this area Linux differs the most from other popular platforms. It can handle a lot of processes that happen at the same time. This gives you a possibility to get more from the server. What Scripting Languages Are Available For Unix? Unix supports a wide variety of application languages, more than any other operating system. The most common applications of such kind include C, C++, Shell, Perl, Tcl, Python, Java and PHP. What Databases Does Unix Support? Databases available for Unix are mSQL and mySQL. The one you choose would depend on your own needs and your Host Provider's offers. This is important for you to review when choosing a hosting company. Cost Linux operating system was developed by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to other operating systems and is being improved by many specialists all around the world. Most of its versions are free of charge. This circumstance makes Linux-based hosting much cheaper than any other. As for Linux versions they are sometimes called Linux Distributions. The most popular Distributions are RedHat and Mandrake. Which are easy to install have a lot of different utilities and suitable for any web hosting type. Why choose Linux/Unix-based hosting? So, as it was mentioned before using this platform is cheaper and more convenient than others. All existent scripts, like PHP, function best when using the Linux-based web hosting. Linux/Unix based web hosting upgrading possibilities increase when using Shell and Telnet access. The Linux/Unix-based platform is probably the most stable and reliable.

Choosing a Web Host- Frequently Asked Questions

2006-06-18T05:12:00.000-07:00

In this article my aim is to provide you with the information required to choose a web host. There are several things that you need to take into account when choosing a web hosting provider, below you will be provided with answers to frequently asked questions which will help you choose your next web hosting provider.

Q. How reliable is my chosen web hosting provider?
A. It is common for web hosting providers in this day and age to offer some form of uptime guarantee, if you are running a business website and the uptime of this site is a priority, choose a web host that offers an uptime guarantee. The reason for this is the host will do everything in their power to avoid an outage on your site as it will cost them money, usually in the form of extra months credited to your hosting account depending on the length of the outage. For a business related site, you should choose a host that offers an uptime guarantee of 99% or better.

Q. What kind of performance can I expect from my chosen web hosting provider?
A. A good hosting company will have multiple high speed connections to the internet, and will also be providing their own network infrastructure rather than on-selling another company's service. Also the servers should be fast, in the shared hosting space generally good providers will be using Pentium 4 machines with dual processors or better.

Q. Does your chosen host offer good phone support?
A. When choosing your host, look for one that offer 24/7 phone support that's always available with a live operator. To test this aspect, try calling your chosen hosts support line at differing times of the day and night and on weekends to get an understanding of their support lines reliability.

Q. How much should my chosen hosting cost me?
A. Entry level hosting in this day and age is very good value when you take into account what features are on offer. For $4 to $8 per month you can expect a host to offer a good amount of storage space and a good amount of bandwidth.

Q. How much bandwidth will I need for data transfer from my host? A. Using this as a rough guide you can choose a plan based on the following figures. A typical personal website should get by with less than 2GB of bandwidth per month. A small to medium business website serving text and small images should allow around 5GB of transfer. A larger website serving files, videos, or audio files should allow 10GB or more per month depending on the amount of visitors the website receives.

Q. How does my chosen host handle security?
A. Usernames and passwords should be required to control the host and manage your website. Your host should also backup your files on a daily basis at a minimum and offer mechanisms to retrieve these backups in the event of a server failure.

Q. What about my hosts control panel?
A. Almost all hosting packages come with some form of a control panel. This control panel allows you to configure all aspects of your hosting though your web browser without learning how to use the server's operating system for configuration. Popular control panels include cPanel, Plesk, Ensim and Hsphere, with cPanel the most commonly used control panel. If you are a beginner to hosting, choose a provider that offers cPanel as this control panel is very easy to use.

Q. What about my hosts email support?
A. Almost all hosts offer POP3 mail accounts, be sure to choose a hosting plan that offers you enough accounts that you need to create for your users. Almost all hosting providers also offer spam and anti-virus options for email accounts which can be a great security feature if you are concerned about this.

Q. I want to run my own online store, what do I need?
A. If you have plans of running an online store, look for a hosting provider that offers E-commerce features. To run an E-commerce site firstly your site will need a security certificate, this is required to process credit card transactions, ideally you should use a 3rd party service to provide the certificate and handle the processing of credit card transactions eliminating the need for your server to have extra security features. Using a 3rd party for credit card transactions will generally cost a small percentage of each transactions value.

Q. I need help to make the final choice of hosting provider?
A. If your plans include having a website that you will be relying on for income or storing important data, you will need to make sure you choose a host with the best technical support possible. A lot of hosts these days offer forums for technical support as well, while these forums are a great help when solving small problems related to your hosting, they shouldn't be used for mission critical issues.

Final Words Take your time and check what each host has to offer, there are many web hosting providers with many different plans on offer, you will find which service fits your needs after careful examination of each web hosting provider, take the time to compare each plan, its cost, the level of technical support offered and feature set and you should not have any problems choosing a web hosting provider.

web hosting business

2006-06-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

Starting a web hosting business can be a great way to earn an income online. A web hosting business generates recurring income on a monthly basis. In order to start a successful business there are many steps that need to be completed during the planning phase. One of the most important steps to take when starting any business is to create a business plan. A web hosting business is no different and needs to begin with a well thought out business plan. An excellent resource for learning about starting a business is the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA covers such topics as business plan basics and how to write a business plan. When writing a business plan it is important to think of such things as how you want your business structured, what type of customers you are targeting and how you will acquire customers.

When writing a business plan it is also important to figure out a budget and financial plan. Where will you get money to fund your business venture? Will it come from money saved, a bank loan, or from a joint partnership? One of the many benefits of running a web hosting business is it can be started on a very small budget.

Besides legal and insurance costs all that is needed to start a web hosting business is a reseller hosting plan. By purchasing a reseller plan you can setup your own web hosting plans, create a business website and begin selling web hosting services.

There are thousands of companies that offer reseller hosting plans. It is important to do some research and write down a list of possible web hosting companies that offer the services you need. One excellent source of information for reviews on reseller companies is Web Talkies http://www.webtalkies.com. It is a very active community on all topics related to web hosting. Make sure to find a company that has an excellent reputation for service and support. It is important that the company has stable servers with minimal downtime. Also excellent support is important for when you have any problems.

Web Hosting Definitions

2006-06-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

For a web site to be made available on the Internet, it has to be hosted on a web server. This is where web hosting comes in. It's just like renting property. There are plenty of companies that will rent you space on a web server. The wide range of services start from free hosting to buying a server for your sole use. You could spend thousands of dollars a year on web hosting alone.

Choosing a host is not an easy task. There are so many features, services and options to consider. The most important factor is making sure that the host you choose will provide everything that you need. Read through Web Hosting Explained and then use Web Host Directory to select the right host for you.

What domain name?
Every website needs a domain name. If you are a business, you ideally need your own domain name. If you are working on a personal homepage, a domain name isn't as important. Some people judge the quality of a website by it's domain name. To get your own domain name click here!

What types of web hosting plans are there?
Web hosting plans range from free personal homepage hosting to large global corporate websites. Read on for the low down on the different packages.

Free Non-Virtual Hosting
If you need somewhere to host a personal web site then choosing a web host is a much-simplified task. There are plenty of free hosts that will host your website at no cost to you, giving you space in a directory under their domain, e.g. 'www.thehost.com/yourname/'. The catch is that you may have to carry some banners or mention the free hosts name somewhere on your site. Check out some of the leading free sub-domain hosts Geocities and Tripod.

Free Virtual Hosting
If you are on a tight budget but want to have a web presence then free virtual web hosting is what you are looking for. You will be able to host your website with your own domain name such as 'www.yourname.com', or a sub-domain such as 'yourname.thehost.com'. The compromise is you may have to display your hosts adverts on your website.

Virtual Hosting
Virtual web hosting allows you to host your website using a domain name of your choice e.g. www.yourname.com. You will be given a certain amount of web space, measured usually in Mb on a server you share with other people. This gives a professional image and will allow you to change hosts with minimum hassle.

Dedicated Server Hosting
A dedicated server is one whereby you rent the use of a whole machine. This can be used to host one or more of your websites. Because you are renting the use of a machine, you have increased control over what software will be installed on the machine. You can even specify the set up. The major benefit is that this allows increased traffic to your sites. You could alternatively co-locate your own server at the host's data center who can look after it for you.

Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller web hosting plans allow you to be a web hosting company yourself. In fact, many web hosting companies themselves have a web hosting company host their server. Some web hosting companies provide a service where small companies can resell web space on their servers for a small fee. You may wonder why go with the smaller company rather than the big. Well the smaller companies may add on certain features to make their plans more attractive and provide more services. Resellers can sometimes be better. The important things to consider are support, reliability and competitive pricing.

What's the most popular type of hosting plan?
Virtual hosting is the most common plan purchased. It allows people starting a serious business or money making web site to get online at a low cost to begin with, and they can increase the services they require as their website grows. A typical virtual hosting plan can range from $10 to $30 per month, depending on the features that you require.

What hosting plan do I need?
Before choosing your hosting package, you should identify what your needs are. With all hosting plans, there will be some facilities that you need and some offered to you that you don't need. Make sure you focus on the essentials that are required to launch your website. You may want all the nice extras but will you use them? It's also a good idea to try and pick a host that will allow you to expand and increase your plan as and when your website grows. If you want to start selling online, an additional e-commerce option for an extra fee will be easier and quicker to implement than looking for and transferring to a new host.

viaVerio Partner Program

2006-06-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Verio today announced it has been recognized by CMP Technology's VARBusiness Magazine as one of North America's top technology integrators. Verio placed in the top 25 percent, ranking No. 140 in the 12th annual VARBusiness 500 ranking, which was published earlier this week.

The 500 companies are the leading revenue producers among solution provider organizations in North America and account for $378 billion in sales of information technology (IT) services and products. The complete listing of the VARBusiness 500 was published in the June 12, 2006 issue of the biweekly business magazine that provides strategic insight for technology integrators.

VARBusiness Editor Lawrence M. Walsh noted that, "Companies like Verio play critical roles in providing the proper information-technology strategies and systems to corporations and institutions to help drive business forward."

Verio is a leading provider of hosting and managed services for small and midsized companies and partners, and its enhanced channel program, viaVerio®, boasts nearly 4000 active resellers around the world. The company offers a range of business-class solutions, including hosting, managed services and value-added professional services offerings. Verio provides resellers and large OEM partners serving the small and midsized business market with high-value managed dedicated, shared and virtual hosting solutions. Partners benefit from volume discounts and private label opportunities, as well as technical, sales and marketing support. The program also offers recurring commissions to channel partners that must meet specific requirements to participate in the program.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Verio is continuing to offer value-added solutions to its partners throughout the year. Earlier in 2006, Verio unveiled Reseller Business Tools, a suite of tools designed to assist viaVerio® partners with the management of their businesses. The service helps to ease the burden of performing many billing and accounting, reporting and other tasks for value-added resellers, enabling them to focus on business growth and customer needs rather than administrative tasks.

To complete the 2006 ranking of the 500 largest North American solution providers, VARBusiness partnered with research firm Answers Research to help collect and analyze the data. VARBusiness designed the survey which was administered on its site between February and April 2006, to collect the data. Independent data sourcing also was conducted. Finalists were ranked according to their fiscal year 2005 revenue, based on their reseller-related services business.

About Verio
Verio Inc. is a leading provider of hosting and managed services for small and midmarket companies and partners worldwide, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT America, US subsidiary of NTT Communications, which provides complementary global network access reaching over 200 countries worldwide. The company offers businesses a range of Internet services, including Web hosting, managed services and value-added professional service offerings. Verio supports its operations with highly reliable and scalable global infrastructure and systems including the NTT Communications Global IP Network, and provides business solutions to customers and partners in more than 146 countries. More information can be found at www.verio.com.

Virtual Hosting: Pros and cons

2006-06-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Virtual hosting is the term used to describe multiple domains that are hosted on the same server. Virtual web hosting can be compared to leasing an item as opposed to purchasing it. In this case, you are leasing a service offered by a provider that generally includes the following:

Basic server features

Internet connection services

Domain name registration

File storage and directory services

An e-mail account with related services.

In addition, a provider of virtual hosting may provide web site and web page design.

Like most other leasing situations, whether likened to tools, cars, or apartments, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Virtual Hosting

Support. Providers generally offer round the clock support, providing you with the security of available help when you need it most. In addition, many companies have measures in place to keep your site from hackers.

Flexibility. You are can try a variety of features without the burden of long-term commitment. You can also customize your virtual hosting arrangements with the bandwidth and database access that matches your business needs.

Cost. Virtual hosting is a great value for small or medium companies on a tight budget. With no major equipment purchases required, it is also ideal for start up companies trying to minimize their initial investment

Disadvantages of Virtual Hosting

Limitations. Since you share the virtual host's services with your provider's other clients, your customers compete for access. As a result, your site may have slower server response times during peak periods and could time out with "Web Site Not Responding" messages as visitors try to browse your pages.

Risks. You may end up sharing an IP address with scammers, spammers, or adult sites. Since all hosted sites are treated as a group, you could easily end up banned from search engines that actively seek to block questionable activity.

Control. Users share software components. The result is an inability to configure individual settings independent of the other clients serviced by your virtual hosting provider.

When sharing a server, you are receiving a low cost service with others. Be sure to think through how this might impact your business. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to virtual hosting. Evaluate them in light of your business goals, budget, personal style, and target audience.

Dedicated Hosting

2006-06-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dedicated hosting is a smart choice if you have determined that you need an entire server and Internet connection specifically reserved for your business activity. Shared servers may be cheaper and less of a commitment than dedicated hosting, but these advantages will quickly fade in comparison to the problems you might experience. Without a dedicated host, you could have problems with speed, reliability, and the ability to customize your web site environment.

Speed: Server response times in a shared hosting environment depend highly on the activity of the other sites your company is sharing with. Dedicated web hosting enables you to better control your server response times and more efficiently manage any related issues that arise.

Reliability: With a dedicated hosting environment, you have unlimited access to the operating system, software applications, and database applications. This allows you a reliable way to meet the needs of your customers - it's all there when you need it. A dedicated server can also provide better security for your site, shielding you from the problems that can develop when others are using the same server.

Customization: As your company grows, your web site will have to keep up with it. The dedicated hosting option allows you to adapt your applications, increase bandwidth, and upgrade your hard drive as needed.

Dedicated hosting is available with Unix, Windows, and Mac based servers. Take time to look closely at the various companies out there that offer dedicated hosting. Look at our dedicated hosting reviews, check out web hosting directories, and talk to those who have already chosen a company - find out what they think of their service. Shared service may be inexpensive, but it might not be the answer you are looking for. While dedicated hosting might cost more in dollars per month, it could cost you far more in profits and customer counts if you don't take the time to analyze your needs.

Web Hosting Definitions

2006-06-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Web hosting plan reviews, like those featured on this site, bring with them their own unique set of technical phrases. As a matter of fact, there is an entire language dedicated to the hosting field. This short glossary will provide you with some brief definitions you should know as you begin your search for a web hosting service. Keep in mind that this is not an all inclusive list, but a starting place to help you put new information into context.

Internet Protocol (IP) Number: IP addresses that identify hosts, networks, and your computer, much like your house address is used to identify your city, street, and house number.

Domain Name: Title and address of your web site.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator): The standard way an address is presented on the Internet. The first part indicates what protocol to use and the second part specifies a domain name. (E.g. "aol.com")

Server: A computer or software system that allows other computers to store information on it and use its resources.

Host: A company that uses servers to connect domain names to Internet Protocol numbers. This enables your domain name to be called up in Internet searches. There are a variety of types of hosts around, each with their own web hosting plan and offers.

ASP (Active Server Pages): A Windows-based specification that allows web developers to create dynamic sites with database driven content. The server reads the ASP code, translates it into HTML, and sends it back to the browser. The web site owner relies on it to ensure that all visitors are able to view the site's dynamic content. PHP is a similar specification used by Linux servers. Your web hosting plan determines which one you will use. Click here to read more about ASP Hosting

Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that offers Internet access. Users dial up through a modem, DSL, or cable connection and then move through web pages with their browser.

Audio Streaming: This feature provides the audio content of a web site. Since it takes up quite a bit of bandwidth, it may not be included in the web hosting plan you are looking at. Find out before you make a commitment that will exclude a needed item.

Bandwidth: The amount of data that runs through an Internet connection. Larger sites need a web hosting plan that offers more bandwidth than a smaller one does. Pricing structures vary, so you'll want to find out how much it will cost if you suddenly need to add more to your site.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI): A program that translates data from a web server to a readable format in the web browser. It can be used for visitor registration, guestbooks, technical help, and more. Many web hosts offer prewritten versions of CGI scripts.

Encrypted Password: A password that has been camouflaged to prevent hackers from entering a site area registered to an identify other than their own. Look for this feature in the security features of your chosen web hosting plan.

Web Hosting’s Dirty Laundry

2006-06-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

The world of web hosting is magical and wonderous. Having a website lets you show the world extremely important things like pictures of your cats, and also lets you share your not-at-all-crazy political views with the WORLD!
Let’s say you don’t know a whole lot about web hosting, but you really want to get into the business because this guy your brother knows runs some porn site and he “totally never has to work and dude he just made like a grand yesterday. The guy drives a Ferrari! I’m so super cereal dude.”

That doesn’t sound like a bad idea! Your first thought would probably be to search around for reviews of some of the more popular web hosts, and then you’d probably wind up signing up with a highly-rated host. Google around for “hosting reviews” and you’ll see a plethora of helpful web host listings.

Nearly every web host that’s listed on these totally unbiased and completely objective sites have one thing in common - they all have affiliate programs. Each unsuspecting visitor that clicks through to a “highly rated” web host earns the site-owner a hefty little commission. The hosts that pay out the biggest commissions are usually the ones that you’ll find listed near the top of all these lists.

They’ll make it sound like they’ve done all the research for you, and that their top ten picks are the absolute best web hosts in the industry! But in reality all they’ve done is researched how much cash they can squeeze out of any given web host’s affiliate program.

Of course we’re generalizing here, so not all of these types of sites are as bad as they may seem…oh wait, yes they are. Some of these sites produce little fluff “reviews” of web hosts, and some don’t even bother to go that far, instead making lists to the “Top 10 Web Hosts” and waiting for unsuspecting prey to come along and make their next yacht payment for them.

Dedicated Servers - Facts and Fiction!

2006-06-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dedicated Servers - Facts and Fiction!

I know not everybody has, but some of you have done a little dedicated server shopping. To many folks, dedicated servers might seem a little scary. Thinking about all that space and all that bandwidth at your fingertips is the good thing. The bad side comes in when you have to manage it all.

Some of the "terminology" is flawed as well. We have all seen Web hosts and data centers advertise unmanaged servers and managed servers. Common sense would tell you,"One is managed by the Web host and the other is not" but that isn't always the case. At least not to the extreme that you are thinking.

When you get a dedicated server, no matter if it is managed or unmanaged, you should always have at least one team member that will know how to run, setup and use that said server. This will keep you up and running a little longer, because you don't have to work with a middle man to get certain tasks done.

Now with managed servers, the Web host or data center you bought it from will handle a little more support than an unmanaged server. You will get somebody ready to answer your questions and help you with your tasks 24/7 (if you have found a good Web host, that is).

So with that said, you would probably think that an unmanaged server is just some Web host tossing you a box and saying, "Hey, have fun!". You get your login information and server details, then they let you loose on it. Well, it isn't really as much of a loner job as you might think.

As I said before, it is good to have somebody on the team who is skilled in running a server. You will receive less support than you would with a managed server, but you aren't all by yourself just yet. Many hosting providers will help you with your unmanaged server. The thing to remember is don't expect the same level of support you would get with a managed sever.

So as you can see, both sides have both good and bad points to them. Managed servers will cost a little more, but unmanaged servers will require you to know a little more about what you are doing. Which one should you pick? It really depends on your current company setup.

The thing to remember is to do your homework before you buy anything.

The Speed of the Business Web Site Hosting

2006-06-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

The business web site hosting type and its quality naturally make a crucial impact on your Internet presence efficiency and web site popularity. One of its most important aspects is your web site speed.

The web site speed depends on your ISP and its connection to the Internet in particular. Many business web site hosting providers purchase their connection from big backbone providers like UUNET.

Most web hosts use T1 and T3 lines to connect to the Internet. A T1 line can carry roughly 1.5 Mbps while a T3 can carry approximately 43 Mbps. T3 lines provide much more bandwidth and speed availability so it’s better for you to apply for the business web hosting provider that is equipped with such connection.

Leading business web hosting providers use such connection lines that are called “redundant” and ensure customers’ web sites remain active and up even when the primary Internet are temporarily unavailable.

Another aspect that makes your web site efficient is not the connection quality only but its availability too. For this mean some business web site hosting providers offer “Multi Homing” that implies more then one connection to the Internet. In such case your web site remains accessible for people even if one of the connections fails.

Except for the Internet connection the servers your web sites are hosted on should also perform on a proper level. So business web hosting providers should have some backup power supplies, do regular backup of their servers and have high qualified IT stuff that knows how to solve arising problems.

When just choosing or deciding to become some business web site hosting provider’s client display how many web sites the company hosts on its servers and the sites of what nature. As if you are hosted on the server with 100 web sites your site will naturally have higher speed comparing to the ones that are hosted on the server with 200 web sites.

There are some things you can and some you cannot control in business web hosting and your web site speed, for example general Internet slowdowns.

Though there is something you can do about making your pages download faster.

First, be careful with your code as some popular web design programs can do unexpected things to your tables, such as unnecessary nesting, which dramatically increases the size of your web pages.

Secondly, be careful with graphics on your web site. Everyone likes pretty images though they could look nice at a reasonable size. This you can do with help of graphics programs that are designed with the Web in mind, such as Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and Ulead PhotoImpact, Corel Draw 8, and others.

Your web site speed determines whether visitors come back again or even whether they manage to view it at least during the first visit as if it downloads for too long the visitor would switch somewhere else. Keep on mind that the speed of connection is decisive factor when choosing business web hosting provider.

Cheap Web Hosting: How Does a Web Server Work?

2006-06-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

When you are going to order cheap web hosting, it will be a good idea to know more about how does a web server work.

Nowadays, the data exchange between web browser and the web server has grown more complicated than before. The main reason for this is the need for dynamic Web content that is used by firms and individual customers to manage online business operations. So, we decided to create this article for your understanding how a web server works. You can use it to be more acquainted with this when you will look for your cheap web hosting.

In a general way, Web servers operate with simple, static content: HTML documents and images. Web server pick up the users request for files and takes it to the host file system. The needed file is loaded from the disk and in the end is delivered to the Web browser by the Web server.

The web browser and the Web server communicate with each other using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). A single TCP connections are opened that dispatch first the HTML document and then images, one-by-one, correspondingly.

Dynamic content is the powerful tool for e-commerce and the important reason for the whopping growth of the World Wide Web. It wants large databases or other program software. The Web server delivers a dynamic content of Web page to the web browser that is made in response to the user direct or indirect input. This process generally takes up many server-side resources and requires CGI usage.

CGI is in the main a web server extension protocol and widely used standard for delivering dynamic content. It may be noted that CGI is not language specific; it's a protocol that allows Web server to communicate with a program. CGI defines how the Web server has to run programs locally and transmit their output to the Web browser. For example, a Web server starts CGI program to send the parameters as requested by the users browser. It then retrieves output from the webstore.cgi program to pass output back to the browser. This is how CGI programs dynamically serve HTML data based on user input. CGI's adverse conditions consists in its slow processing since each request for dynamic content builds on a new program to be started. CGI scripts can be written in many languages: Perl, C/C++, Python, TCL e.c.

HTTPS is a security protocol that allows a safety Web connection. This means that with HTTPS it is safe for an exchange of sensitive data between user and the server across the insecure network. URLs that begin with 'https' are handled using SSL algorithms that setup a secure, encrypted link between a Web browser and a Web server.

MIME type is the fundamental mechanism to show content downloaded by the browser. It tells browser about the content type being delivered. MIME types are identified using a type/subtype syntax associated with a file extension.

In out time web servers are able to process and deliver multiple requests in a simultaneous way to deal with a lot of users at a time. This parallelism is accomplished in two different ways - multi threading and multi processing. The most web sites run web servers that support either multi threading or multi processing and can manipulate a much higher load. So, I think this will be helpful when you search for your cheap web hosting company

Multiple Domain Web Hosting

2006-06-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

Many web hosting companies offer multiple domain web hosting for either a one time fee or as an extra monthly fee. A method called "alternate domains" is a common way to accommodate multiple domains. Web hosting entities ask the client to set up a sub-directory off their main domain and the secondary domain name is pointed at that sub-directory. In this scenario, then, www.domain.com would point to http://somedomain.domain.com or http://www.somedomain.com/subdomain.

Although this method is very easy to set up, there is a drawback in that statistics are normally compiled only for the main domain making it sometimes difficult to monitor traffic and usage on the additional domain. Also, because the additional site files exist as a sub-directory of the main site, granting FTP (file transfer protocol) privileges to anyone but the webmaster of the main site may create a security problem.

Another way to accommodate multiple domain web hosting is the use of sub-domains. Today virtually all hosting accounts come with some kind of control panel (cPanel or vDeck for instance.) The controls available in these panels allow the user to create sub-domains as a function of the main domain.

In this scenario for multiple domain web hosting, the main domain might be www.somedomain.com with the sub-domain being "help.somedomain.com." This method has the advantage of not requiring the website owner to pay to register a second domain name. Statistics will be reasonably valid for usage across the site although it can be difficult to filter out specific usage of the sub-domain on heavily visited sites.

While arguably not a "true" instance of multiple domains, web hosting in this manner allows for the creation of organized sub-sets of information from your main site that may only apply to the needs of certain visitors to your site. These kinds of sub-domains cannot usually, however, have their own CGI bins and the same issues of FTP security exist.

For some clients, the only "true" way to accomplish multiple domain web hosting is to register additional domain names and to open separate hosting accounts for each one (in case if it's a reseller hosting account). In this scenario it is best to shop around and to investigate multiple domain web hosting options with various companies. Many companies will consolidate the administration of multiple domains under one control panel application or will discount the addition of second and subsequent domains to a client's account.

In this scenario for multiple domains, web hosting amenities will be present for each domain. For instance, each domain will have its own FTP access, statistical package, and CGI bin for scripting purposes. While arguably more expensive and more complex to manage, multiple domain web hosting of this nature does, in the end, offer the greatest flexibility.

As the Internet continues to grow there are more reasons to have multiple domains. Web hosting has also continued to drop in price. With multiple domains, the client can distribute content across several sites and enhance their chances of being visible to the search engines. Additionally, with multiple domains it is possible to make subtle alterations to content and message by domain name in the hope of reaching a slightly different audience with each domain and thus enhancing clientele and visitor base.

The availability of multiple domains, web hosting at more economical prices, and the advantages to be gained in site functionality and marketing all speak to the viability of this method of site promotion and administration. Just do your homework first.

Compare hosting packages from multiple companies and specifically inquire about their preferred method of multiple domain hosting. Be sure you understand extra charges involved. Is this a one-time fee or will an additional charge appear monthly on your bill? Ask about things like statistical packages, FTP privileges, and CGI bins. Armed with the correct information you can make an informed choice and put multiple domain web hosting to work for you.

Multiple Domain Hosting

2006-06-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

You are not making full use of your space and bandwidth unless your host offers "Multiple Domain Hosting" with your web hosting plan.

Multiple Domain Hosting - is new hosting feature that allows hosting several domains under one account. Traditionally you can host only one domain per account. In most cases it is not efficiently, 'cause most hosting companies offer accounts with really huge disk space and bandwidth, the largest part of which you are not ever using. With Multiple Domain Hosting you can effectively allot your hosting resources among a number of domains and get the most from your web hosting account
Multiple Domain Web Hosting
Many web hosting companies offer multiple domain web hosting for either a one time fee or as an extra monthly fee. A method called "alternate domains" is a common way to accommodate multiple domains. Web hosting entities ask the client to set up a sub-directory off their main domain and the secondary domain name is pointed at that sub-directory...

Cheap Web Hosting: How Does a Web Server Work?
When you are going to order low cost web hosting, it will be a good idea to know more about how does a web server work. Nowadays, the data exchange between web browser and the web server has grown more complicated than before. The main reason for this is the need for dynamic Web content that is used by firms and individual customers to manage online business operations...

The Speed of the Business Web Site Hosting
The business web site hosting type and its quality naturally make a crucial impact on your Internet presence efficiency and web site popularity. One of its most important aspects is your web site speed...

What Should You Know Before Choosing A Cheap Web Hosting Company?
A web host is a service provider that essentially "publishes" your web site on the Internet for a monthly fee or "rent." You are in essence, taking out a room or a storefront on the Internet and as with any rental situation, you want a great place for a little bit of money.

Profits With Cheap Web Hosting And Google Analytics
Particularly for the small business owner, maximizing their online presence can be critical to their overall business success. Unquestioningly the first step is to find cheap web hosting. Thanks to the proliferation of shared hosting situations, this is more possible than ever. In short, web hosting packages are pretty much a dime a dozen and shared hosting is the most popular kind of hosting available.

Low-Cost Web Hosting V. Free Hosting
In order to have an online presence (a website), you must seek the services of a web hosting company. These entities are either large companies with data centers full of servers broadcasting websites online via fast connections or they are smaller firms renting a dedicated server in such a data center. These smaller firms, in turn, resell space and bandwidth on the dedicated server to their clients.

Make Money With Cheap Hosting And Affiliate Programs
Setting up a data center, establishing fast connections to the Internet for the mass hosting of websites, and maintaining the facility takes considerable financial capital. Increasingly companies that want to go into the business of providing cheap web hosting rent a dedicated server at the data center of a larger web hosting entity.

Good Customer Service Critical In Low Cost Hosting
Apart from all the standard concerns when shopping for low cost web hosting - disk space, bandwidth, server platform, and number of emails - don't forget the critical factor of customer service. A cheap web host is by no means a bad web host, but customer service does vary from company to company. In many cases low cost web hosting is economical because corners have been cut somewhere and in far too many instances that "somewhere" is customer service.

Cheap Web Hosting: Root Access, Do I need it?
A lot of times people want hosting with access to root. But what does "root access" mean? Root, or getting root, is receiving the privilege to access all of the places on a computer. The method or access to all of the parts of the server is "root access."

Affiliate Web Hosting, How To Cover Your Hosting Costs
Every person who has ever put up a website has gone in search of cheap web hosting. Prices have come down markedly in the past five years with cheap host packages available for as low as $1 and as high as $20 per month. Generally $10 and under is the norm in a cheap web hosting package that has adequate storage and a good bandwidth allowance. There are ways, however, to have the reliability and customer service of a cheap host package for free.

Low Cost Web Hosting: Unlimited Storage and Data?
You've probably heard the old saying "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". This often applies to Cheap Web Hosting, especially with regard to companies that offer "unlimited" disk space or data transfer…

The importance of 'keeping the customer satisfied' in the Cheap Web Hosting industry
The web hosting industry is one of the most competitive industries on the Internet today. And the cheap web hosting industry occupies the fitting place in it. Cheap Web hosts are constantly thinking of new advertising campaigns in the hope of attracting more interest to their company; and, hence to attract more customers. While this is an important goal for any web host it is just as important to recognize and value the customers you already have.

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2005-06-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

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Low Rights IE 7 Designed For Longhorn Only

2005-06-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

The additional security provided by a "low-rights" mode in Internet Explorer 7 will be for Longhorn only, a Microsoft executive said Thursday.
"While most IE7 security features will be available in IE7 for Windows XP SP2, 'Low-rights IE' will only be available in Longhorn because it's based on new Longhorn security features," wrote IE lead program manager Rob Franco on Microsoft's official IE blog.

Longhorn will include a "least privilege" feature that allows users to run Windows and its applications without Administrator privileges. Users logged in as Administrators run greater risk from malicious code, because if a worm or virus does penetrate defenses, it can then give the attacker full access to the PC.

Franco's comments were made to clear up confusion over statements made earlier this week by a Microsoft executive at the Tech Ed conference in Orlando. There, Gordon Mangione, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security group, said that IE 7 had been revamped to defend against browser-based exploits and that it would ship with least privilege mode enabled by default. IE 7 for Windows XP SP2 is set to ship in beta form this summer.

"We are using the same Longhorn security infrastructure to limit IE to just enough privileges to browse the web, but not enough to modify user files or settings by default," said Franco in the blog. "As a result, even if a malicious site attacks a vulnerability in IE, the site's code won't have enough privileges to install software, copy files to the Startup folder, or hijack the settings for the browser's homepage or search."

Franco also rebutted Mangione's statement that IE 7 would somehow "fix" vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. "Low-rights IE doesn't fix' vulnerabilities, but it can limit the damage a vulnerability can do," Franco said. That makes it similar to the Local Machine Zone Lockdown feature in XP SP2.

"The primary goal of Low Rights IE is to restrict the impact of a security vulnerability while maintaining compatibility," Franco said

VeriSign Gets Go-Ahead on .net

2005-06-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

In a process that took more than a year to accomplish, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board of directors gave its blessing to VeriSign (Quote, Chart) as managers of the .net top-level domain (TLD).
The Mountain View, Calif., Internet services company beat out four other bidders, Afilias, Denic, Sentan Registry Services Co. and CORE++, for the six-year contract to manage the third-largest Internet property. The bidding process began in March 2004. "We're gratified our track record operating .net has been recognized, however, we don't intend to rest on our laurels," according to VeriSign. "We intend to work with the entire Internet community to continue to strengthen the .net infrastructure by raising the bar on its reliability, stability and global reach."
Telcordia, a controversial choice for independent evaluator, produced its final report on the four bids in May, after hearing comments on its initial findings.
Heather Carle, a spokeswoman at Afilias, said the company was disappointed with the results of the findings and the evaluator's inability to recognize their technical capability to run the .net registry.
"We believe our registry services offering is one of the best in the market -- as our customers will testify," she said. "Neither the original nor final reports reflects that reality."
VeriSign will pay ICANN $132,000 the first year of the contract, an amount that increases 15 percent annually.
VeriSign officials were pleased by the announcement that gives them registry control over two of the three biggest names on the Internet, .com and .net. The second-largest TLD is operated by Germany-based Denic, registry for .de.
Tom Galvin, a VeriSign spokesman, said the terms of its new contract will go into effect when the existing contract expires June 30. Beginning July 1, the company will lower the price it charges to registrars for a domain name, from $6 per name to $4.25. That includes the addition of the so-called "Internet tax," a 75 cent surcharge imposed by ICANN for every new or renewed domain names in the .net space.
According to the company, it will also improve the performance requirements for registrations, adding more requirements to its service-level agreements (SLA). New facilities are also in the works thanks to one of the terms in VeriSign's bid to add more reliability to its services globally. A building in South Korea is already running with one in China under construction, while officials plan to start work on a facility in South America and Africa.
"We would like to thank all five qualified applicants, the entire Internet community, ICANNs generic supporting organization, and Telcordia for the work in making this a successful process," said Paul Twomey, ICANN president and CEO, in a statement.

Intel, Nokia team up for mobile WiMax

2005-06-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

The will work together to see the wireless technology standardized
Intel Corp. and Nokia Corp. have teamed up to back the development of mobile WiMax technology and will work together to see that the technology is standardized soon, the companies said today.
WiMax, part of the the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.'s 802.16 standard, is a wide-area wireless networking technology that promises to deliver wireless broadband access over a range significantly greater than that of IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN technology, commonly known as Wi-Fi.

Cooperation between Nokia and Intel will focus on IEEE 802.16e, a mobile version of the technology that will offer broadband Internet access to users on the move. This standard is currently under development, although Intel and Nokia said they expect it to be finalized next year.

A fixed-wireless version of WiMax, called 802.16a, was finalized in January 2003.

Under terms of the agreement unveiled today, Nokia and Intel will work together on issues related to the development of mobile WiMax clients and network infrastructure and promote the technology among operators and service providers. The companies said they plan to jointly demonstrate mobile WiMax technology to service providers as a data service that complements existing third-generation networks.

Both Nokia and Intel are members of the WiMax Forum, an industry group created to promote the adoption of the technology and to certify the interoperability of WiMax-based devices.

Bad Actors Safe Under Spyware Legislation?

2005-06-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Congress' good intentions may also be good business for the $2.8 billion shady world of the spyware industry. Pending anti-spyware legislation may, in fact, end up legitimizing bad actors.

That's the take of Richard Stiennon, vice president of threat research at anti-spyware firm Webroot. Stiennon, who spoke at the Gartner IT Security Summit here today, thinks Congress should do less, rather than more, when it comes to federal anti-spyware bills.

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two anti-spyware measures. One bill (I-SPY Act) imposes tougher criminal penalties for spyware-related activities.

The other bill (SPY Act) also increases penalties but includes an opt-in, notice and consent regime for legal software -- adware -- that collects personally identifiable information from consumers.

Both bills contain a long list of exemptions, including pre-purchase installations, cookies and software and network security upgrades.

"I'm leaning toward preferring the increase in penalties for bad acting," Stiennon told internetnews.com. "By setting a lot of definitions, you're going to have some of the perpetrators just modifying their behavior to comply with this new law and then start legal activities to get index spyware vendors to stop listing them."

In particular, Stiennon said, adware companies might be able to say, "Hey, we comply with this new law, the Federal Trade Commission doesn't have a problem with what we're doing and you shouldn't identify us this way."

Prominent adware firms such as Claria have in recent months mounted public relations campaigns to distinguish themselves from spyware companies. The purpose of adware is to drive visitors to advertisers' Web sites. Adware writers and distributors redirect browsers and generate pop-up adds.

Adware vendors contend they obtain consent before installing their software. Spyware, on the other hand, distributes pop-up advertising without consent and often in malicious ways.

With or without a new law, Stiennon vowed to continue to list adware vendors in Webroot's quarterly rankings of top threats to network security.

"I certainly agree they are adware companies, that's how we identify them," Stiennon said. "The one thing we won't stop doing is to identify them as adware companies as long as they serve ads and support free software with ads."

He also scoffed at adware firms' claims of notice and consent, saying, "If they truly gave end users full disclosure, they wouldn't have any customers."

Adware consent, he said, should read: "This product is going to pop up a million ads in your face and it's going to significantly reduce the performance of your computer and increase boot times by 30 seconds."

Stiennon also shrugged off the idea of adware lawsuits against Webroot seeking to be de-listed as a threat.

"Sadly, in this country anybody can sue anyone for anything," he said. "I don't think anybody could win one of those cases because you will not find 12 U.S. citizens who feel sorry for adware vendors."

Ultimately, Stiennon said, federal anti-spyware legislation will be as effective as the CAN-SPAM Act, Congress' effort to curb unwanted and unsolicited e-mail.

"Legislation isn't going to make it go away. Maybe it will push it offshore," he said. "The CAN-SPAM Act has done some good, but there's more spam now than when CAN-SPAM passed. It's made it more expensive for legitimate companies to engage in spam, and this will be the exact same with spyware

Full Plate of Microsoft Patches Expected

2005-06-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Microsoft (Quote, Chart) will soon release 10 security bulletins to shore up security weaknesses in its product line, officials announced on their security site Thursday.

The patches cover several products in the Redmond, Wash., software company's offerings, including critical updates to the Windows operating systems. More details about the vulnerabilities will be addressed in Microsoft's monthly patch update Tuesday.

Officials will not be releasing any high-priority updates that do not cover security issues through its Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services or Software Update Services.

Seven security bulletins address the Windows operating system alone, five of which will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) and two using the company's Enterprise Scanning Tool (EST). The three remaining security bulletins can be detected using either the MBSA or EST.

One of the bulletins addresses a security vulnerability found in both the Windows OS and Windows Services for Unix, with a moderate impact, officials said. An important-rated bulletin will fix a vulnerability found in Microsoft Exchange, while the last bulletin deals with vulnerabilities found in the company's Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) server and Small Business Server (SBS). The highest threat level for patches to the ISA and SBS is moderate.

A webcast detailing the security vulnerabilities and their fixes will air Wednesday.

Microsoft also plans to update its Malicious Software Removal Tool to a new version Tuesday, available for download using Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services and at the Microsoft download center.

Microsoft issues security patches to the community on the second Tuesday of the month to make it easier for systems administrators to update company systems.

The number of patches addressed in its security bulletins varies month to month. In May, the company only released one security bulletin while the month before it released eight.

Michael Jackson Suicide E-mail is a Front for a Virus

2005-06-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

A British computer security firm is warning computer users about a Trojan horse virus that's hiding in a spam e-mail. The message in the e-mail claims that the "King of Pop" attemped suicide today.
The e-mail message - which is written in poor English - can be identified by its subject line, "Re: Suicidal aattempt." The e-mail attempts to get users to click on a link to a Web site with more information about Michael Jackson's supposed suicide attempt. In reality, the link will download a virus onto the computer.

The rest of the message reads: "Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt. They suggest this attempt follows the last claim was made against the king of pop. 46 years old Michael has left pre-suicid note which describes and interpretes some of his sins. Read more..."

Earlier today, the computer security company Sophos posted a warning on their Web site after encountering hundreds of the spam messages. The Trojan program has been identified as Troj/Borobt-Gen - which quickly installs malware onto the infected computer through a flaw in Internet Explorer. Security patches are available to protect against this IE vunerability.

"If you click on the link, the website displays a message saying it is too busy, which may not surprise people who think it might contain genuine breaking news about Michael Jackson," reads the warning.

"However, this is a diversionary tactic -- because behind the scenes the website is downloading malware onto the user's computer without their knowledge."

The use of breaking news and celebrity names is becoming a common way to fool people into opening virus-infected e-mails.

"The sick minds behind viruses and other malware often exploit celebrity names and news stories in an attempt to infect as many people as possible," security consultant at Sophos Carole Theriault said.

"All computer users should be very careful about clicking on weblinks in unsolicited email or launching unknown attachments."

Microsoft Sets Value Of Pirated Windows: $1

2005-06-10T05:03:00.000-07:00

"The BBC is reporting that Microsoft has reached a deal with the Indonesian government on pirated software - which is believed to affect around 50,000 government PCs. Under the deal, Indonesia will pay $1 per copy and agree to buy legally in the future. Indonesia's information minister, Sofyan Djalil, said, "Microsoft is being realistic. They can't force developing countries like us to solely use legal software since we can't afford it. They want us to gradually reduce our use of it." Somehow it seems unlikely the same rules will be applied to developing companies and poorer individuals in the United States."