Lair of the Wolf Dragon » Technology

The Execution (of The Plan): Part 1

Faeldray — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:20:29 +0000

As detailed in The Plan, the first objective was to purchase reseller hosting. I did that…and discovered that I didn’t like the chosen host. They had a few too many restrictions for me to deal with, and they were a little bit on the abrupt side when it came to customer relations. So I went searching again, discovered another host that I had disregarded before because they had a similar name to an infamously bad host. I dug a bit to make sure they indeed had no connections to the bad host, read some reviews, and decided to give them a shot by purchasing a month.

I have been very impressed so far. There was an issue with my account creation but I was able to log onto their live support chat (which the first host didn’t have) and only had to wait a few minutes for someone to talk to me. The guy apologized for the mistake and fixed it promptly and courteously. I mean, I understand that mistakes happen, there’s no avoiding it. It’s how they are dealt with that shows the true nature of the customer support. And they handled it excellently. Of course, I’d like to have more experience with them (aka 3 months or so) before I make a final judgment on them. But so far I’m liking it. I haven’t decided if the Lair will move to this new host as well, I’m still pretty loyal to Fan St. It’s only their lack of reseller program that has sent me looking for other hosts.

What I’m excited about is that I’m already hosting a few people. Just friends mind you but you have to start somewhere, right? I figure that starting with these folks will give me the opportunity to get my feet wet while still having the chance to be forgiven if I screw something up. >.>

So having said that, if there’s anyone reading this blog who’s looking to get a website hosted/built, let me know through comments or email and I’ll see what I can do for you. Chances are you will get the low low price of free.

The Plan

Faeldray — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:38:10 +0000

I want to try my hand at some small time web hosting, some paid and some free. Why? Mostly because I think it’ll be fun. Yes, I am that much of a geek.

The Plan is to buy a reseller package from a good but relatively cheap host. I emailed a couple of people running similar websites (some free, some paid) and they gave me a few recommendations and some tips, which was very kind of them. This lead me to a host that seems like a pretty good fit for what I want.

I’m undecided as to whether I should move all of my websites there or not. Really what I should do is just move Enspirit (which will become my hosting company name) and see how it works out. I’m a little reluctant to leave Fan St. which has been so very good to me since I bought hosting from them in 2006. However, they seem to be a little non-responsive at times, which isn’t the best thing.

Anyways, I think I’ll just move Enspirit over there and see how it works. And Enspirit still needs a redesign. >.<

Cross your fingers and wish me good luck, folks.

Previews and thumbnails for TGA, PSD, etc.

Faeldray — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:38:18 +0000

Now this is probably something that a typical user never has to think about…previewing TGA images and Photoshop files. However if you’re like me and use Photoshop a lot, or happen to like taking your World of Warcraft screenshots in TGA format (which is superior to the default JPG), this program is a godsend.

MysticThumbs is a thumbnail extension for Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (both 32- and 64-bit). It currently supports PSD, TGA, DDS (a game texture format), PAA, and JPEG2 file formats. All that you have to do is install the program and you might have to restart your computer. Best of all, it’s completely free.

This is a fantastic find for me, since I no longer have to hesitate taking tons of screenshots in WoW, because now I have a much simpler method to sort through them later. I just installed it and I love it already.

I think you’re missing the point of wireless

Faeldray — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:22:35 +0000

I’m at work today when I get a call from my roommate. The emergency?

Roommate: Your brother is trying to connect his Xbox360 to the router using wireless and it’s not working. He can connect it to other wireless networks but not ours.
Me: Oh, does he have the Xbox set up in his room, hooked up to his computer monitor?
Roommate: Nope, the TV in the living room.
Me: But…the router is right there. And there’s a spare cable already connected to it. Why doesn’t he just plug that in like he did before?
Roommate: I don’t know, he wants to use wireless.
Me: …

My brother has little quirks like this so I play along. I set up my wireless network so that it’s “unsecure” but restricts the MAC addresses that can connect to it. The only MAC addresses allowed at the moment are my brother’s computer and my laptop. All I need to do is add the MAC address of the Xbox to the list. I try to remote connect to my brother’s computer while my brother and roommate attempt to find the MAC address (“no, it’s not the serial number”). His computer is offline. I connect to my extremely slow laptop and type in the router address. It’s not connecting because the boys had decided to reset it in an attempt to get the Xbox connected.

Me: …Tell him he can just wait until I get home. I’ll set it up for him then.

So guess what I’ll be doing when I get home? >.>

P.S. I find it amusing that I’m living with 2 grown men and I’m the one who’s always getting “tech help” calls.