Adam’s Blog

0.  Introduction.
1.  New Easy One-Click: MediaWiki!
2.  One Click Entire Account Backups… New!
3.  Dreamhost PS *Actually* all caught up!
4.  DHSOTM

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0.  Introduction.

Boy, these things just never ever ever ever stop do they. Not as long
as
I still have breath in my lungs and/or a stake in this company. So,
here
is this month’s June 2008 Happy DreamHost Newsletter, a little late
this
time, UNUSUALLY so.

I would have had it out in June itself, except I was so busy talking on
my cell phone while driving without a hands-free device that I could
never find the time. Thank goodness California passed that law
outlawing
that on July 1st! Now, I can concentrate on just writing this
newsletter
while driving.

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1.  New Easy One-Click: MediaWiki!

The other DRIVING force behind this newsletter being late, was of
course
that we had no new features to announce. So, at the last second on our
way into work this morning in fact, we whipped up another easy 1-click,
this time the world’s most popular wiki software, already available on
our advanced section, MediaWiki!

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=goodies.installer

Is where you go! And remember, EASY one-clicks mean you can’t customize
things as much.. but we handle everything for you. With MediaWiki, the
customization is not such a big deal anyway, because we do allow you to
upload your wiki picture and there aren’t a lot of options or any
plugins really to speak of. WHILE USING A HANDS-FREE DEVICE.

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2.  One Click Entire Account Backups… New!

A feature last month that everybody seemed to have a GAS using was our
new ability to restore a domain’s web directory from one of our backups
via the panel.

Well, after nearly missing a raccoon in the middle of the 110, I
decided
we should have a one-click feature that allows you to download
zipped-up
backups of your ENTIRE account with us, including all users, mailboxes,
and databases!

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=home.backups

I can’t take all the credit for the idea, it has been one of the most
popular suggestions for pretty near a decade actually. And, I’d like to
apologize to that raccoon’s family.

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3.  Dreamhost PS *Actually* all caught up!

Man, plantronics and jabra are lucky. I wish California would pass a
law
requiring everybody to start using a VPS to host their website by
August
1st, 2008. Maybe I should start a ballot initiative.

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=vserver.provision

Because, believe it or not, we’ve (pretty much) gotten alllll the way
through our back log of pre-orders for DreamHost PS (see
http://www.dreamhostps.com/) and are ready to get new people
provisioned
relatively quickly! We even have a couple of new options for DreamHost
PS which I may be about to write about in another section, assuming
this
traffic doesn’t clear up so we can get all the coding finished up in
the
next hour!

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3.5 The Traffic Cleared Up!

Unlucky you, we couldn’t get that sneaky extra DreamHost PS feature out
in between honking horns and screeching sirens! Instead, you’ll have to
wait until Tuesday, July 8th for this page to exist:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=vserver.settings

It’s a settings tab for your Virtual Private Server! It lets you do a
number of resource-saving things such as:

  *  Use mod_php version 5.2
  *  Turn on php caching for a super-performance boost
  *  If you use jabber, turn off the ability to talk to
aim/icq/msn/etc..
  *  Turn off FTP access to your DreamHost PS entirely!

Of course, all these settings are not for MySQL PS.. those are already
pretty much all-the-way streamlined for doing MySQL!

Boy, we sure are stupid giving you all these ways to save money on VPS!
Even if there WERE a law requiring it, we’d hardly get mega-rich.

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4.  DHSOTM

Well, that was an easy newsletter. It’s no problem to hunker down and
do
something on your laptop when you’re not being constantly interrupted
by
annoying hands-pay phone calls. And it’s even easier to SHIFT GEARS
from
reading about awesome new DreamHost features and focus on this month’s
winner of the DreamHost Site of the Month:

http://www.sandpixel.ae/

Which, as any fool can plainly see, is a design firm based in the UAE.
And, isn’t it _just_ like a design firm to have a nice looking website?

Well, it is. If you think you can compete with the likes of UAE design
firms, even though you’re not in the UAE nor a design firm, or perhaps
exactly because you ARE, then submit YOUR site for the DHSOTM at:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=home.dhsotm

And next month the odds are really pretty good you’ll win and be
featured right here, in front of literally sevens of thousands of
Happy,
Happy, Safe, DreamHost Customers.

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Really, Really, Lame Car Pun,
Josh Jones

P.S. Did you get pulled over for listening to this newsletter on your
cell phone while driving in California? If so,

https://panel.dreamhost.com/id/?tab=contact

is how you should unsubscribe to be sure to never get another hefty $20
fine.

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1. 50+ Filtering Categories
2. SysAdmin Appreciation Party
3. PC World: OpenDNS Best of ‘08
4. Spotlight: Regence Blue Cross
5. Five Questions: Jonathan Yaniv
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1. Free Web Filtering – More than 50 categories
======================================================
Have you logged into your Dashboard lately? If you have you’ve seen there are now 54 filtering categories available. That’s a lot of categories! And the best part — all OpenDNS filtering is completely free and doesn’t require an expensive appliance. Our filtering is powered by the OpenDNS Domain Tagging System and is more comprehensive, faster-moving and less expensive than any other service. Heck, it’s so good some of the largest school districts in the country use it to keep their students safe online.
Speaking of schools, did you catch our announcement that more than 10,000 schools are using OpenDNS? 10,000!
If you’re not yet using OpenDNS filtering, try it out!
https://www.opendns.com/dashboard/signin
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2. SysAdmin Appreciation Day Party // OpenDNS 2nd Bday
======================================================
SysAdmin Appreciation Day is just around the corner and we’re showing the love. Join us at Fluid in San Francisco on July 23 for a celebration that any SysAdmin could surely appreciate. There’ll be good drinks, great company and some cool souvenirs as parting gifts as we toast the SysAdmins who keep the Internets running. And you don’t have to be a SysAdmin to come to this party — Friends of OpenDNS are welcome as we also tip our hat to celebrate our 2nd birthday. If you think you can make it, register here:
http://opendns-sysadmin-day-party.eventbrite.com/
Psst, also stay tuned for some more SysAdmin Appreciation goodies in July.
======================================================
3. PC World: “OpenDNS’s PhishTank Best of 2008”
======================================================
Word came last week that PC World, THE PC World, recognized PhishTank with its highest honor. The magazine named PhishTank one of the Best Products of 2008. The great thing about that is you’re already getting all the benefits. When you set up OpenDNS you get phishing protection powered by OpenDNS’s PhishTank on by default.
Oh, and that CNET Webware award we asked you to vote on? We won that one, too.  Thanks for all your votes! Doesn’t that make you feel good about choosing OpenDNS?
======================================================
4. Customer Spotlight: Regence Blue Cross // Blue Shield
======================================================
The largest health insurer in the Northwest United States, Regence Blue Cross spans four states and provides insurance for a customer base 3 million members strong. The not-for-profit organization offers individual and group medical, dental, vision and life insurance, Medicare and other government programs and pharmacy benefits. Anti-phishing and network security are among top priorities for Regence, and its BlueCoat appliance just wasn’t cutting it. Network Admin Charles Koenig read about OpenDNS and decided to give us a shot. Since making the switch, Koenig says the total number of security-related incidents has gone way down.
"I recommend OpenDNS as a resource to everyone I know," says Koenig.
Thanks Charles!
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5. Five Questions: Jonathan Yaniv
======================================================
The single most active community member in the Domain Tagging system, Jonathan Yaniv is the man to thank for more than 300,000 domain submissions. We caught up with him this week and got answers to important questions, like how he manages to fit so much in a day. Check it out:
OpenDNS: Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us, Jonthan. First things first. Your fans want to know — who is the real Jonathan Yaniv?
JY:  Happy to do it. I am both a student and technology enthusiast. I entered Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in the fall with a memorial award to support my education.  Being enrolled in the Computer Information Systems (CISY) diploma program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has taught me all sorts of new skills that will help me achieve my long-term goal of working in the IT field. Oh, and hobbies… all my favorite activities are computer related.
OpenDNS: Awesome. How did you first get into domain tagging? And how many domains have you voted on to date?
JY: I started using OpenDNS in August 2007 and immediately took advantage of its filtering functionality. But in the early days you could only block 50 domains. I wanted to block more and so was excited when the Domain Tagging system launched.   I submitted lists of sites into OpenDNS where they could get tagged and voted on by other OpenDNS community members.  To answer your question about how many domains I have voted up to date, close to 750,000 domains, submitting close to 320,000 new domains into the domain tagging system (which also counts as a vote), and voting on close to 430,000 already tagged domains.
OpenDNS: Wow! So we have our own reasons, but we want to hear from you: Why is domain tagging so important for the Internet?
JY: Domain tagging is so important for the Internet because it’s people powered. No computer is perfect, no computer will ever be able to identify every adware,  malware or pornographic site. New ones pop up every day, some small scale, some large scale, and often times, especially with malware and adware sites, the small scale sites can cause the most devastation.  Allowing users to submit their own personal experiences about domains they have visited into their appropriate categories is what creates a very robust security solution. This is what sets OpenDNS apart from others, and this is why OpenDNS gets better each and every day.
OpenDNS: How do you find the time to vote on domains? It seems like you are a very busy man!
JY: Indeed, I am a very busy person! I vote on domains during my spare time. I’ve turned domain tagging into a hobby. Not only do I tag sites but I’ve actually discovered of a lot of new sites by tagging so many domains.
OpenDNS: Do you have any advice for people who aren’t yet using OpenDNS?
JY: Yes, I do. I highly suggest that you give OpenDNS a try. It doesn’t cost you a penny, and it’s SO easy to set up. Once you start using OpenDNS and its features you’ll see the difference and you’ll be thinking, ‘why haven’t I used OpenDNS before?’ OpenDNS helps get rid of the ‘Internet Bad Guys.’ Lets get rid of them all! Help yourself out and help others out!
Thanks again Jonathan! And thanks all of you!
Keep sending us those queries!
Allison Rhodes
Director, External Marketing
allison@opendns.com
* UNSUBSCRIBE: If you wish to no longer receive e-mails from OpenDNS, you may opt-out by unchecking the box in your account settings.
—
OpenDNS
199 Fremont St, 12th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 USA
http://www.opendns.com/contact/

0.  Introduction.
1.  New Easy One-Click: Drupal!
2.  One Click Domain Backup Restores… New!
3.  Gmail, New, At Your Domain!
4.  DHSOTM

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0.  Introduction.

Heyo! It’s that time of the month and year again, the time when the
contest REALLY begins… the time of the May 2008 DreamHost Newsletter!

I’m sure you know what contest I’m talking about. I’m sure you’re
thinking, of course he’s not talking about Hillary ceding the
nomination
to Obama. And I’m sure you’re not thinking, of course he’s talking
about
the NBA Finals, which in honor of the pending 4-0 sweep by the Celtics,
he’s made this newsletter only 4 sections long plus a section 0 (for
the
Lakers), plus a P.S. for the Parade through the Streets of Boston.

No, I’m quite sure you’re thinking of none of THOSE contests. I’m sure
you’re CORRECTLY thinking of the amazing 2-8 Dream Machine (yet
Lunarpages STILL won’t play us) and their quest against the seemingly
undefeated 10-0 "Akin Gump" in the first round of the LA City Rec
League
playoffs tomorrow night, June 4th, at 7:30pm at Valley Plaza Rec
Center,
12240 Archwood St, North Hollywood, CA 91606!

You know the drill.. anybody who shows up and cheers for us gets a $100
credit to their DreamHost account! If we win, I’ll make it $1000. Hell,
I’ll make it $1,000,000.

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1.  New Easy One-Click: Drupal!

I’m pleased to announce, that just like a 4-0 sweep, we now have FOUR
oh
so good easy one-click installs available at:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=goodies.installer

We already had WordPress, Zenphoto, and phpBB of course… what on
EARTH
could the new number four be? Well, I sure hope you didn’t already read
the table on contents or the heading to this section and ruin the
surprise: it’s Drupal!

http://www.drupal.org/

Drupal is pretty much the most popular open source Content Management
System (CMS) out there, except for POSSIBLY Joomla (which we also have
as a difficult, er advanced, one-click install)! What a CMS is and how
it works has always escaped me, but if you’re the kind of person who
knows you need one, than you needn’t know nothing more now!

Why an easy one-click? Because Drupal has been notoriously hard to get
performing well, and as a centralized "easy" one-click we can do our
best to handle that BORING side of things for you! Thus allowing you to
focus more on the exciting side of figuring out what the heck a CMS is
and how, like Rajon Rondo, to dunk a basketball on Jason Maxiell.

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2.  One Click Domain Backup Restores… New!

Sometimes when a contest isn’t going the way you’d like, you, like
Hillary Clinton, may wish you could go back to the beginning and
restore
things to the way they were. One big magic do-over, that’s all she
asks.

Psht, that sort of thing may work in politics, but it doesn’t works
with
web sites hosted at DreamHost… UNTIL NOW!

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=domain.manage

now has a little "Restore" icon along the right side for each domain!

It works just like the little "Restore DB" icon does in our Manage
MySQL
area, except that this one restores your web site files instead of your
database table. NO DOI.

Usually, there are three backups, the most recent, usually, being
within
the last day and the oldest, usually, being about two weeks old. Notice
my generous use of the word: USUALLY.

As it says in big red letters along the top of the page, "WE MAKE NO
GUARANTEES ABOUT KEEPING BACKUPS OF YOUR DATA! YOU SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP
YOUR OWN OFF-DREAMHOST BACKUPS OF ALL IMPORTANT DATA! HERE’S HOW:"

http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Backup_Website_Manually

Of course, we’ve ALWAYS had these backups available through the hidden
.snapshot directories, but you had to be something of a Knowledgeable
Kneddy to know how to do it.

Hopefully with this new and easy web-based interface, even all the
Klueless Kobes out there will finally be able to easily restore the
prior state of their life should a self-inflicted disaster in Colorado
involving a 19-year-old occur!

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3.  Gmail, New, At Your Domain!

In case you don’t read the DreamHost Blog, or say, I dunno, maybe a
little site called… SLASHDOT, I thought I might as well put it here
too:

We’ve now made it easy for you to use Google Apps at your Domain (which
features Google Docs, their start-page thing, and Google Talk as well
as
Gmail) with domains hosted at DreamHost!

All you have to do is check off the boxes for it when adding or editing
a new domain or sub-domain at:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=domain.manage

And ta-da, we’ll handle all the funky DNS records.. and even give you a
direct link to finish configuring things on Google’s side.

Remember, this is all 100% optional, but we have to admit, Gmail isn’t
such a bad choice for your email since:

  * It’s at your own domain, and there are no ads in your signature.
  * They’ve got a nice webmail interface, also at your domain.
  * They’ve got POP/IMAP and SMTP so you can use regular email clients.
  * They’ve got 6GB+ storage per mailbox.
  * They’ve got great spam filtering, reliability, archiving and
search.

Not that our stuff is so TERRIBLE. Buuuut… I’m just happy DreamHost
isn’t matched up with Gmail in the first round of the email provider
world series.

Note, if you _switch_ an existing domain to Gmail, none of your
existing
accounts or email messages will be automatically transitioned! At this
point things are getting really boring and I should just send you to:

http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Gmail

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4.  DHSOTM

Oh man, this month’s DreamHost Site of the Month contest was a GOOD
one!
At first, it looked like this one site had won, and I was about to give
it to them… but then I searched our discussion board and found:

http://discussion.dreamhost.com/showflat.pl?Board=forum_webdesign&Number=104601

And I felt so bad I just had to go rate that guy a 1 myself so that

http://www.inkblotcreative.com/

became this month’s winner! I also had to give this guy a 10 to push
him
over the top. Capricious and unfair? Perhaps! But also that other guy
got mentioned in last May’s DHSOTM section for exactly the same site,
but was disqualified for ballot stuffing!

So how capricious and unfair would it have been for him to get
mentioned
AGAIN! Very! Notice my careful non-mentioning? Very non-capricious!
Anyway, Inkblot Creative is a graphic services & design boutique with a
nice web site thing that you should look at.

If you’ve got a nice web site thing that people should look at, and
aren’t a Lakers fan, you should submit it for fair and balanced judging
at:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=home.dhsotm

… let the games begin!

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KG over KB,
Josh Jones

P.S. Was this month’s newsletter STILL too long or lame? Either way,
you
can unsubscribe by managing your contact preferences at:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/id/?tab=contact

It seems I haven’t written any post in 3 months. So I should make a self-criticism to myself.

Recently, I have the trouble with the Moneybookers. I have got the amount over the $6000, and when I want to withdraw it, it warns me that I should confirm my identify first. OK, I have sent the €5.00 to Moneybookers to confirm my bank account. After one week, it prompts that I have confirmed the bank account and increase my limited to $29157.85.

Before I sent money to Moneybookers, I have withdrawed the $15.49 to my bank account, and I found it arrived my bank account after 1 week. I have found the verify code and type it in Moneybookers.

But now, I log in the Moneybookers and want to withdraw the rest money, over $6000, it prompts I should confirm the address first.

Identity verification required!

Unfortunately we were unable to verify the data in your profile with an independent information source. Under UK anti-money laundering regulations we are therefore required to obtain an additional proof of identity before we can process your first redemption request.

We offer you the following fast and easy options:

Verify your address (within 2-5 banking days)

Upon request we will send a letter to the address registered on your account. This letter will contain a verification code which you will have to enter back at our site. If you choose this option you will be forwarded to our address verification section.

Please excuse any inconvenience caused. We hope for your understanding that such measures are imperative in order to comply with anti-money laundering legislation and prevent misuse of the Moneybookers system.

OK, I choose it and click "Next",

ADDRESS VERIFICATION – STEP 2

Your verification letter was sent to the address registered on your account on 12/12/2006. This letter contained a 6 digit verification code which you can enter below:

Verification code:

• Submit

If you have not received your verification letter, please be patient as it can take 2-5 working days to arrive. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that your letter will arrive. If this is the case then your address cannot be verified.

Yes, I have required the verification letter on 12/12/2006, but I haven’t got the mail. And Moneybookers said: Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that your letter will arrive. If this is the case then your address cannot be verified.

Then what can I do? I have submitted a ticket to them but no reply. Who can help me? Thank you.

This is the first post of E-commerce Series, written by Adam.

If you want to build a new website which sell your products on Internet. You should have a domain first. What is the domain? For example, you type http://en.w757.com and visit my site. The http://en.w757.com is the url of my blog. It can be considered a domain, it’s secondary domain. W757.com is my domain.

Now, you may know, such as Google.com, Yahoo.com, it’s the domains. The domain can redirect the visitors to your server and view your sites.

You can buy a domain at Domain Registration site. There are many Domain Registration site. I recommend Pay Less Domains .

You can buy a domain which hasn’t been registered by others. For example, you can not register yahoo.com or google.com. It has been registered by their founder.

Just pay attention, I recommend the domain name should be short. Then the visitors can remember your domain easily and he may visit it next time. Of course you can register a long domain which can be remembered by others. Such as Pay Less Domains, it seems a little long. But you may remember it, isn’t it?

When you register the domains, please make sure the information you typed is correct. It’s very important!

The price of domain is very low, no more than 20USD a year.

Alright, have you gotten your own domain now?