.. It was awhile since the last downpour. So naturally the thunderstorm came with a vengence!
--
I managed to leave work timely but during the rush hour commute, the cats and dogs could not stay their hands any longer.
The end result was a super duper thunderstorm!
If I didn't get away sooner I probably got stuck in a super duper traffic jam. Now i'm back home and relaxing here.
Yeah!
iPhone IOS 4 update is a pain
Updating iPhone IOS 4 to the latest version is really a big headache! Why can't Apple provide a separate file download? Why must it go through the iTunes 10 software for update? Mind you the file size is really huge at 666.6 MB (uh, the number of the beast too?) that's about the size of a CD-ROM. I know, I know, it takes me just as much trouble to download the 700 MB Ubuntu Linux ISO file, but I can use those helpful download software like uGet to continue my download if the connection breaks and also split my downloads to a couple of days if the server is really slow.
And this Apple update server is indeed really crawling at a snails pace! Could be Streamyx throttling my speed due to large download file. Or perhaps both, a slow server from Apple plus Streamyx broadband throttle, now that would really make your download day a super slow event. Wish they have a separate file for download. That would really make things it easier. I wonder why they don't do that? Perhaps they are afraid hackers would get at their code and reverse engineer it?
Whatever the reason, it makes for a poor user experience. That's why I don't always want to update my phone software, be it Apple's iPhone or Google's Android. Fortunately the Android update was far more faster, took me only about an hour plus for the update to be done.
However, my wife complained that the Apple iPhone was getting cranky and according to her fellow iPhone users in her office, that the mobile phone needs an update to make more stable. Her colleague left the phone overnight with the PC to download the update. Uh, with 666 MB and a slow server and broadband throttling, I guess that's the way to go about it.
Otherwise to keep your sanity the other option is to bring it over to the Telco (after all they bundled the phone in the mobile phone plan package) for the update since they have far more faster connection and perhaps even have the software at hand or they simply just have ultra fast broadband connection without being throttled.
Anyway, I'm going to give this self-updating of Apple iPhone IOS 4 a go before crying surrender if it fails. Anything for dear wife!
Seven signs that your child loves you
Just received this newsletter from Baby Centre. This really warms the heart and gives you a nice buzz for the day!
Some of the points is still not applicable to baby just yet (eg points 5, 6 and 7). I do noticed baby is doing some of the things describe in this brief article.
Cheers!
Seven signs that your child loves you
1. Your newborn stares into your eyes — he's actually working hard to memorise your face. He doesn't understand anything else about the world, but he knows you're important.
2. Your baby thinks about you even when you're not around. Between eight and 12 months old, he'll start to scrunch his face and look around when you leave the room — and he'll smile when you return.
3. Your toddler throws wicked tantrums. Nope, those screaming fits don't mean he's stopped loving you. He couldn't show he was so hurt and angry if he didn't trust you so deeply.
4. Your toddler runs to you for comfort when he falls down or feels sad. Children this age may not truly understand the meaning of "I love you," but their actions speak louder than words.
5. Your preschooler gives you a flower picked from the garden, a finger-painted heart, a sparkly stone or another gift.
6. Your preschooler wants your approval. He'll start to be more cooperative around the house and he'll look for chances to impress. "Look at me!" will become a catchphrase.
7. Your school-age child trusts you with secrets, such as his first crush or his most embarrassing moment. You're his confidante, even if he shies away from your hugs in public.
Source: babycentre•co•uk (June 2010)
Mad rush, then car accident
In a fit of insanity, I decided to do a foolhadry overtaking cutting too close with another car.
It wasn't anything serious. Just a scratch. Perhaps God is looking out for me. It could have been pretty bad.
Anyway, now I will have to take him to a car workshop for minor spray paint job.
Them the breaks when you don't have flexi working hours and a boss who enforce every little rule to the letter!
Sigh!
Baby 15 months old and walking!
Baby is 15 months and he just started to walk unassisted! This is a milestone for baby. For the past couple months, he was just crawling all over the place with some minor walks by bracing himself on furnitures.
It took a lot of prompting to get him to try walking more. The motivation came when I took him to the shopping mall and decideed to just hold one hand and let him walk assisted.
He would look at others walking by and he would notice other children who would walk. Going home later, he would try to walk more assisted. And when he was ready, he walked without support! And in some instance still managed to walk unassisted while holding on to some bulky containers!
He still need more encouragement so will let him walk more while holding his hand.
He is still a little wobbly and I noticed his walk was rather bow legged. A quick check online from baby centre, and it was explained that it was normal. Baby will grow out of it when his muscle strengthens. So now just need to encourage him to walk more!
It took a lot of prompting to get him to try walking more. The motivation came when I took him to the shopping mall and decideed to just hold one hand and let him walk assisted.
He would look at others walking by and he would notice other children who would walk. Going home later, he would try to walk more assisted. And when he was ready, he walked without support! And in some instance still managed to walk unassisted while holding on to some bulky containers!
He still need more encouragement so will let him walk more while holding his hand.
He is still a little wobbly and I noticed his walk was rather bow legged. A quick check online from baby centre, and it was explained that it was normal. Baby will grow out of it when his muscle strengthens. So now just need to encourage him to walk more!
Digital Pen Livescribe 2GB Echo now at MYR399
Prices are coming down, the digital pen Livescribe 2GB Echo model has drop to MYR399. Ouch! If I have known I would have waited instead. I bought my 2GB Pulse model some 3 months back.
So what's the difference?
The new Echo model has new features, it is more ergonomic and rubber grip. That should help ease my aching hand from prolong usage.
And it uses a cable rather than a dongle, so you can use it like a mosue while connected to your PC.
And they not round like a cylinder so it won't roll off your table.
These are little extras. Initially they were marketing it for MYR699. That price too steep lah. Now at MYR399 then more reasonable. If between Pulse vs Echo at same price, then Echo is the better choice.
Well, too late now. Will just have to make do with my Livescribe 2GB Pulse digital pen instead of the improve 2GB Echo version
My review of Livescribe 2GB Pulse model
Big'Ant Malaysia / K-One Technology, distributor of LiveScribe has closed shop
So what's the difference?
The new Echo model has new features, it is more ergonomic and rubber grip. That should help ease my aching hand from prolong usage.
And it uses a cable rather than a dongle, so you can use it like a mosue while connected to your PC.
And they not round like a cylinder so it won't roll off your table.
These are little extras. Initially they were marketing it for MYR699. That price too steep lah. Now at MYR399 then more reasonable. If between Pulse vs Echo at same price, then Echo is the better choice.
Well, too late now. Will just have to make do with my Livescribe 2GB Pulse digital pen instead of the improve 2GB Echo version
My review of Livescribe 2GB Pulse model
Big'Ant Malaysia / K-One Technology, distributor of LiveScribe has closed shop
The trouble with maids
Usually this kind of things shouldn’t happen, but this maid that we got was particular troublesome.
Having a maid is suppose to help you out in the house. Sometimes you get good maid and they are really a big help. And sometimes you get one that is too smart for her own good. No doubt she was able to do many of things instructed even using complicated household equipment like that expensive vacuum cleaner that my wife bought and even do fruit juicing.
However she has some very notorious bad habits. She don’t quite like to be a maid and yet she is now stuck in Malaysia due to her contract. Unfortunately she was not able to tough out the 2 years contract necessary to return back to Cambodia.
Having a maid is suppose to help you out in the house. Sometimes you get good maid and they are really a big help. And sometimes you get one that is too smart for her own good. No doubt she was able to do many of things instructed even using complicated household equipment like that expensive vacuum cleaner that my wife bought and even do fruit juicing.
However she has some very notorious bad habits. She don’t quite like to be a maid and yet she is now stuck in Malaysia due to her contract. Unfortunately she was not able to tough out the 2 years contract necessary to return back to Cambodia.
Rothman circle traffic lights is working
So finally the traffic lights at the rothman circle in sek 19 PJ is working. No more crazy circle jams I hope. Let's see how's their timing, better or worse?
Traffic here is quite heavy to be regulated by traffic light junction.
----
Next day, the traffic lights were switched off. I think they were testing it out. From the looks of it, the timing sequence was rather poor. They will have to come up with a better timing sequence if they want to avoid a bad traffic congestion at the former Rothman Circle in Section 19, PJ.
Traffic here is quite heavy to be regulated by traffic light junction.
----
Next day, the traffic lights were switched off. I think they were testing it out. From the looks of it, the timing sequence was rather poor. They will have to come up with a better timing sequence if they want to avoid a bad traffic congestion at the former Rothman Circle in Section 19, PJ.
Google Toolbar for Firefox 5 is no more
Oh dear! Just found out that Google Toolbar will no longer support for Firefox 5 and beyond. There were some handy tools in it that I really liked such as the Google Search Box, Page Rank, Bookmarks and the New Tab Page and to a lesser extent the Sidewiki. Looks like I will have to migrate to other alternatives. Although I can force compatibility on Firefox 5 (most features worked except New Tab Page) eventually some components will not work due to changes in the APIs structure.
Yeah, sure I was really late in finding out about the discontinuation as I was rather busy lately. The announcement was made sometime at the end of July 2011:
Yeah, sure I was really late in finding out about the discontinuation as I was rather busy lately. The announcement was made sometime at the end of July 2011:
Rank and Pillage - giving this monetizing a try
I have been online for many years now and not making very big headway, so giving this Rank and Pillage program a try. I know there are many internet marketers selling this and that about making money online, and most of the time they are just plain rubbish. I even sat in one of those internet marketing summit seminar and what I get out from it is mostly hype and no substance. They just want to sell you their program and make money out from you.
So how I end up signing up with this Rank and Pillage program? Well the sales copy look sincere enough, and one of the backers own the free website hosting called Blinkweb which I gave it a try. So it seems there is some possibility of workability in their system. Plus I didn't have to pay all upfront first for their program, just USD5 then a week later if I feel their program is ok, can pay the balance of USD72.
And so far running through the PDF file and some of their videos (the videos a bit difficult to run through with the crappy streamyx broadband, but still manage to watch some of it with all the stop and go... sigh!), the ideas seemed sound enough.
So how I end up signing up with this Rank and Pillage program? Well the sales copy look sincere enough, and one of the backers own the free website hosting called Blinkweb which I gave it a try. So it seems there is some possibility of workability in their system. Plus I didn't have to pay all upfront first for their program, just USD5 then a week later if I feel their program is ok, can pay the balance of USD72.
And so far running through the PDF file and some of their videos (the videos a bit difficult to run through with the crappy streamyx broadband, but still manage to watch some of it with all the stop and go... sigh!), the ideas seemed sound enough.
Fever gone, left with dry cough
What a week! High fever and shivering for almost a week! Though now it has subsided, I think I'm left with a low grade fever coz I will just continuously sweat. The sweating is less now, the sore throat from the infection gave me stucked phlegm resulting with a irritating dry cough.
This kind of phlegm / dry cough is best remedied using Chinese medicine. So on the weekend, the missus was stocking up on Chinese herbs and stuffs, I ended up consulting a sinseh who prescribed some strange concoction. From the looks of it, my phlegm is somewhat loser and I can cough easier. The diagnosis appears that I may still have low grade fever as I have suspected, but what I couldn't catch was the night fever vs day fever explanation. Anyway as long as that funny tasting herbal medicine does its trick I wouldn't care so much.
Now just have to let the medicine work its way round for the cure to happen.
This kind of phlegm / dry cough is best remedied using Chinese medicine. So on the weekend, the missus was stocking up on Chinese herbs and stuffs, I ended up consulting a sinseh who prescribed some strange concoction. From the looks of it, my phlegm is somewhat loser and I can cough easier. The diagnosis appears that I may still have low grade fever as I have suspected, but what I couldn't catch was the night fever vs day fever explanation. Anyway as long as that funny tasting herbal medicine does its trick I wouldn't care so much.
Now just have to let the medicine work its way round for the cure to happen.
High fever and shivering, now sore throat and bad cough
Getting high fever is no fun. Just on of those days. This high fever was rather nasty in that it causes bad headache, and somehow it affects the nerves as I could feel occassional pain in certain parts of my body. On top of that, the fever will subside after excessive sweating and then you will start to shiver and the fever will come back going through the cycle again.
Body will feel weak and not much appetite, still I had to eat to keep up my strength!
The fever really addles the brain and the best way to occupy my time was vege out on the couch watching movies and serials! And when I'm too far drain, it is to the bed then.
The cycle of high fever/shivering was a bit worrisome, so on the fifth day as per doctor suggestion to do blood test to find out if it was dengue. Fortunately it wasn't dengue when the result came out.
Still it was some kind of viral infection with an adverse symptom. Only way was to control the sysmptoms till it runs its course.
Now after clearing the fever, my body was still sweating even though no fever. Most likely there are ingering viruses that needed to be cleared out. Plus there is secondary issue of sore throat and the most irritating, stucked phlegm causing unproductive cough. For that, I decided to try Chinese medicine as they or more effective against this stubborn phlegm. In order for me to cough well I had to press my windpipe to one side while I cough hard to dislodge the phlegm! This heavy coughing left me pretty drain each time I have to do it.
Weekend coming soon, so I hope I will be rid of this ailment once and for all after further rest.
Body will feel weak and not much appetite, still I had to eat to keep up my strength!
The fever really addles the brain and the best way to occupy my time was vege out on the couch watching movies and serials! And when I'm too far drain, it is to the bed then.
The cycle of high fever/shivering was a bit worrisome, so on the fifth day as per doctor suggestion to do blood test to find out if it was dengue. Fortunately it wasn't dengue when the result came out.
Still it was some kind of viral infection with an adverse symptom. Only way was to control the sysmptoms till it runs its course.
Now after clearing the fever, my body was still sweating even though no fever. Most likely there are ingering viruses that needed to be cleared out. Plus there is secondary issue of sore throat and the most irritating, stucked phlegm causing unproductive cough. For that, I decided to try Chinese medicine as they or more effective against this stubborn phlegm. In order for me to cough well I had to press my windpipe to one side while I cough hard to dislodge the phlegm! This heavy coughing left me pretty drain each time I have to do it.
Weekend coming soon, so I hope I will be rid of this ailment once and for all after further rest.
Baby sick and down with fever
Baby sick and down with fever. Sounds like he got sore throat too when his voice was rather raspy. I also caught him making a slight cough. I guess it just one of those days when baby gets sick. The weather was pretty hot. My mom-in-law was having difficulty giving him water, well you know children nowadays can be difficult especially when they are having too much fun they tend to forget about eating and drinking till they are feeling very hungry!
Anyway he was down with fever and I could see then he has lost his strength and energy. On top of that, he didn't have much appetite either which will weaken him further. Probably the sore throat will make it difficult to even gulp down his milk.
Tried to sweat out the fever but that made him feel very uncomfortable. Only thing left was the liquid paracetamol medicine which did help to bring down the fever rather quickly.
Children really hate taking medicine and you will need to be rather quick on your hands to shove the medicine into baby's mouth. They know it is medicine time when they see you pour that horrible tasting pinkish liquid. And this baby of mine will shut his mouth real tight and you need to find a way to get his mouth open and when it is open, you have to be quick about it!
Anyway, my wife has got a very lengthy business presentation tomorrow. Since I have no appointment set, I guest I will be the designated parent to bring sick ol' baby to see the pediatrician.
Anyway he was down with fever and I could see then he has lost his strength and energy. On top of that, he didn't have much appetite either which will weaken him further. Probably the sore throat will make it difficult to even gulp down his milk.
Tried to sweat out the fever but that made him feel very uncomfortable. Only thing left was the liquid paracetamol medicine which did help to bring down the fever rather quickly.
Children really hate taking medicine and you will need to be rather quick on your hands to shove the medicine into baby's mouth. They know it is medicine time when they see you pour that horrible tasting pinkish liquid. And this baby of mine will shut his mouth real tight and you need to find a way to get his mouth open and when it is open, you have to be quick about it!
Anyway, my wife has got a very lengthy business presentation tomorrow. Since I have no appointment set, I guest I will be the designated parent to bring sick ol' baby to see the pediatrician.
Can't seem to install statusnet
Ever since Bluehost wasn't so friendly to my statusnet script and wordpress bad plugins causing server spike in their hosting server, I shifted my personal blog and other web projects to another web hosting company. I still wanted to experiment with Statusnet but now try as I might, I couldn't get it to install. I wonder what is wrong. I even downloaded an older version of Statusnet, but it was no go. All I got was 500 internal server error.
Granted the hosting was very cheap. I think Anjung Cafe Hosting is the cheapest paid hosting that I have ever come across. Of course the cheapest would be free hosting but that is a different class altogether. Nobody can provide free all the time, they need an income to maintain their hardware and provide for themselves too. Funding must come from somewhere. Even bloggers also need funds, it takes time and effort to research and write. Some small measure of returns via advertisement to fund for domain name and web hosting and a little extra for a treat now and then isn't asking too much, no?
Anyway, I wanted to experiment with Statusnet but it just wouldn't install. Mayhaps will have to try it on another web hosting company and see if I get the same error or whether it would be smooth sailing. Could be the way the Apache / Linux server is configured. Since I'm just renting the hosting space at such low cost, cannot expect too much from it lah! (update: yep, I could install it on other web hosting, so definately Anjung Cafe Hosting is missing some plugins, so no Statusnet installation here for now.)
Will have to find time to blog about the various Malaysian web hosting that I research on while looking for an alternate to Bluehost and looking for hosting space closer to home. Especially for those who want lower cost hosting at good value, no need to go so expensive like Exabytes with the unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth. Although my personal blog has a lot of website traffic it is still within range of
the cheaper web hosting.
For now, I think I better not waste too much time trying to get my experimental Statusnet installation to work. I'm rather behind in my more serious web posts.
Granted the hosting was very cheap. I think Anjung Cafe Hosting is the cheapest paid hosting that I have ever come across. Of course the cheapest would be free hosting but that is a different class altogether. Nobody can provide free all the time, they need an income to maintain their hardware and provide for themselves too. Funding must come from somewhere. Even bloggers also need funds, it takes time and effort to research and write. Some small measure of returns via advertisement to fund for domain name and web hosting and a little extra for a treat now and then isn't asking too much, no?
Anyway, I wanted to experiment with Statusnet but it just wouldn't install. Mayhaps will have to try it on another web hosting company and see if I get the same error or whether it would be smooth sailing. Could be the way the Apache / Linux server is configured. Since I'm just renting the hosting space at such low cost, cannot expect too much from it lah! (update: yep, I could install it on other web hosting, so definately Anjung Cafe Hosting is missing some plugins, so no Statusnet installation here for now.)
Will have to find time to blog about the various Malaysian web hosting that I research on while looking for an alternate to Bluehost and looking for hosting space closer to home. Especially for those who want lower cost hosting at good value, no need to go so expensive like Exabytes with the unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth. Although my personal blog has a lot of website traffic it is still within range of
the cheaper web hosting.
For now, I think I better not waste too much time trying to get my experimental Statusnet installation to work. I'm rather behind in my more serious web posts.
Sometimes work feels just like in Dilbert comics
Sometimes work life can feel like the Dilbert Comics. Like when the top management wants you to grow the business in a certain x percentage. Ask you to take initiative to build new products but when you did find something they disallowed it citing that it is not company policy (whose? Boss or company?) or profit too small (have many small ones and it will grow!) or job too risky (no risk, no profit, my dear!).
Feel Good to Finish but Weather went from Good to Wash Out!
The cloudy and breezy weather was great for the run but eventually the rain came down after I have completed it. The rain was dampener for the carnival. Now holding out under a canopy waiting for the rain to clear before collecting the goodies bag and ciao.
One of my uncles was nowhere to be seen will have to look for him after the rain stops.
Meanwhile just keeping my cool under the canopy for this NTV7 Feel Good Run. Yeah!
Bypassing DNS Block of TM Streamyx
Recently I noticed there was lag whenever I tried to access internet. I guess the recent government directive to Streamyx and other ISP providers in Malaysia in an attempt to use DNS block has resulted in a slower internet access. Such DNS blocking is futile as it was very easy to bypass DNS block.
The Malaysian government went against their promise (perhaps even illegal since it went against the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantee) of giving its citizen unrestricted access to the internet and instructed Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block off certain sites. So much for freedom of information. The reasoning behind it was to fight against piracy and against illegal file sharing sites. That’s the overt reasoning, I should think there is also a covert conspiracy to also shut off opposition website as well too since they did get a hammering during the 2008 general election as the opposition used the internet media to voice out their opinion thus making the current coalition losing so many Parliament seats that they are now so desperate to get back their 2/3 majority.
The Malaysian government went against their promise (perhaps even illegal since it went against the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantee) of giving its citizen unrestricted access to the internet and instructed Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block off certain sites. So much for freedom of information. The reasoning behind it was to fight against piracy and against illegal file sharing sites. That’s the overt reasoning, I should think there is also a covert conspiracy to also shut off opposition website as well too since they did get a hammering during the 2008 general election as the opposition used the internet media to voice out their opinion thus making the current coalition losing so many Parliament seats that they are now so desperate to get back their 2/3 majority.
Firefox 5 breaks Google Toolbar
The latest Firefox 5 update inadvertently broke the Google Toolbar. Frankly the version 5 came too fast in the wake of Firefox 4 which broke the Delicious bookmarking plugin.
Since I have several PC's, looks like i'm not going to update the rest of my PC's to Firefox 5 until Google comes up with an updated plugin.
--- [update 27/6/2011]
Found this thread in Mozilla support. By using this compatibility reporter extension, you could make Google Toolbar to work with Firefox 5. I gave it a try and it works! It also made my Trend Micro toolbar working in Firefox 5 too! Nice fix!
And finally I gave the Delicious toolbar a go too, and voila! It works! No need to wait for update from Delicious. Anyway, with the breaking of Delicious I found a better bookmarking service from Xmarks.com. Since I still got many bookmarks in Delicious, I guess I will be keeping both service for now.
The Google Toolbar 7.1.20110512W version works in Firefox 5.0 by using the Compatibility Reporter extension.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/
Since I have several PC's, looks like i'm not going to update the rest of my PC's to Firefox 5 until Google comes up with an updated plugin.
--- [update 27/6/2011]
Found this thread in Mozilla support. By using this compatibility reporter extension, you could make Google Toolbar to work with Firefox 5. I gave it a try and it works! It also made my Trend Micro toolbar working in Firefox 5 too! Nice fix!
And finally I gave the Delicious toolbar a go too, and voila! It works! No need to wait for update from Delicious. Anyway, with the breaking of Delicious I found a better bookmarking service from Xmarks.com. Since I still got many bookmarks in Delicious, I guess I will be keeping both service for now.
The Google Toolbar 7.1.20110512W version works in Firefox 5.0 by using the Compatibility Reporter extension.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/
Reinstalling my Windows
I guess my office PC Windows was getting way to cranky and it was time to blast it to smithereens and reinstall Windows again. It had a good run of 3 years but now it is like a wheel that is no longer round giving a very rough ride whenever I was using it.
The reinstallation was a tedious process. Although reinstalling windows was quick taking only a couple of hours. Putting back the necessary software like Microsoft Office, the various browsers, anti-virus, and various tweaking, configuration, updating… while still doing sales work at the same time is really complicated!
This time round I figure I won't be using the POP3 for my email and use the alternate IMAP instead so that wherever I may be whether at home, at work or on the road I will see the same email logging in either with Outlook, Windows Live Mail, Linux Evolution, Android phone or just logging in via Webmail.
However my current office web hosting company do not have IMAP but I did set up an alternate email storage in Google App using a sub domain. So I will try this for awhile. The only problem with this method is that all my outgoing email will have the "…send on behalf of…" which makes the email headers looked kinda ugly. Tried several options but still ended up with the ugly headers. Well no choice, google wanted to make sure spammers won't spoof their email address when using the gmail email system. Only way to avoid it is to send via the original account, but I won't be able to keep the outgoing email in the Google App account. Will just have to see which way to go about it.
Meanwhile it has taken about two days of installing back the necessary software. There may be some other less often used software that were not installed. Well if I need to use them I will install them, so in the meanwhile, my Windows reinstallation is breezier and faster when all the gunk has been cleared out from the PC with a clean install. So no more blue screen of death and warning messages of not shutting down my PC properly. Yes!
Bluehost giving me the blues, looking for new web hosting
Eversince Bluehost gave me the heartbreak of telling me if my script cause a spike to their CPU for the third time, I will have to find a new web hosting company. I think that is rather stern and unfair, rather than chasing the customer away, they should try to help resolve what was wrong with my script installation. After looking around online, I found many negative reviews about Bluehost. And some place the power failure incident as a major negative point against Bluehost. Believe me, when all my web sites went down that day, I too had to wait it out for their servers to reboot. And they talked about world class backup generators and they weren't working that day with the excuse the power companies didn't allow them to use it.
Another down point is that Bluehost is one of the few web hosting companies that throttle your bandwidth, that means if a certain increase load to their servers due to higher website traffic, it would mean your web site will start to slow. Searching online, I found a review where a user who was a teacher, complained that her Wordpress website slowed to a crawl when many of her students were accessing her web site simultaneously. And I bet that the number isn't very high considering that a classroom full of student accessing her website requires throttling?
Another down point is that Bluehost is one of the few web hosting companies that throttle your bandwidth, that means if a certain increase load to their servers due to higher website traffic, it would mean your web site will start to slow. Searching online, I found a review where a user who was a teacher, complained that her Wordpress website slowed to a crawl when many of her students were accessing her web site simultaneously. And I bet that the number isn't very high considering that a classroom full of student accessing her website requires throttling?
My Wordpress website in Bluehost is down and out!
Oh, blow me down! It seems I got two script: Wordpress installation and Statusnet is causing Bluehost server to overload and they had to shut down my account which was a big blow since I have several website domains hosted on it. Whenever a script installation takes up too much server webserver resources it will impact on other users and thus the prudent thing to do is to suspend the culprit which this time looks like me!
For Statusnet, I was experimenting with it. Didn't know it was using up so much resources. This one was very easy for me to let go. I just deleted the Statusnet folder where it was installed and that was it. But that was not the end of it. My Wordpress too was also causing server overload, and this installation is very important to me as I am using it regularly to blog. It has 500 posts and does earn me some Adsense income though small it still something. Unfortunately I'm just as in the dark as to what is wrong with my Wordpress installation. And the only way to avoid getting shut down and getting my account terminated was to chuck out my Wordpress installation in Bluehost. Boo-hoo!
Bluehost was very strict with their TOS, and if I cause their server to overload the 3rd time, I will have to find myself a new webhosting company! Well, maybe there is a silver lining in this predicament. Because now I have decided to look for a new webhosting company, perhaps one which is nearer to my locality rather than half a world away.
This time round I decided not to host so many website in one hosting account. Hey it may be cost effective to host unlimited multiple domains but if any one of your website caused an issue then all your other website will be affected. And if the webhosting company decided to terminate your contract, you will be in a big lurch to find a new webhosting company plus shifting all the data and reconfiguring your SQL database etc etc. Now that would be indeed a big disaster!
Since I still got an whole year's worth of hosting with Bluehost (I signed up a 3 year hosting plan with Bluehost as I felt their hosting plan and services was rather good despite being not the cheapest one around) and decided to continue with it till it expires next year. However with the above experience I have decided to split up my websites to several webhosting companies. Actually I'm already using another one, it is a good one, but I would like to try other web hosting companies too.
Locally we have Exabytes which is offering the same unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, but having have several websites, I think it is not necessary to have this kind of requirement. In fact you pay more when you can save with less. After all, how many of us average webmaster will ever achieve resounding super heavy website traffic? If you do and you are earning good income from it most likely you will invest in an expensive dedicated web hosting in order to cope with the server load.
Since it is unlikely I will have such overly popular website, a shared webhosting will do just fine. Before shifting over to a new webhosting company, I checked the server logs and see just what amount of bandwidth and storage required. Then looked around for a suitable cost effective hosting.
For now, I will just be shifting my JanLeow.com website. When my hosting with Bluehost will be due next year I guess I will be moving out from Bluehost. Well it has been a good many years of usage with them, but in the end I have decided there are better offerings elsewhere and decided to give other webhosting companies a go.
MyBlogLog is gone!
Looks like Yahoo! pulled the plug on MyBlogLog.com on the 24/May/2011. Strangely I didn't receive the notice, but found out when my MyBlogLog RSS feed kept giving me error. I had some inkling and forewarnings some six months back when their new CEO announce major revamp to the Yahoo! web business shutting down services or selling them away. Several of their services that I was using like Geocities.com was closed and quite fortunately, Delicious.com was sold to another party.
Since I wasn't sure whether they were closing or selling Delicious I did try to back up all my bookmarks. Now that it was passed on to another company I can rest a little easy. Unfortunately the staff changeover has resulted in reorganization and the new Firefox 4 could not support their extension so I hoping that they will do soon before I'm completely comfy with Xmarks and say sayonara to Delicious for good!
As for MyBlogLog.com, I did have several of my website RSS feeds that went into it get chopped! And now I need to sort out my websites to remove their widget which is now no longer functioning.
Ah! The way dot com companies get shuffled around in the cyberworld you can never be sure who will be handling those services and thus your data and activities will change over time and you have to make adjustment for it. Just don't rely too much on each services I suppose and have contingency where possible (but sometimes it is hard to find an alternative)!
New devices for my PC hobby
Seems like i'm having a shopping spree on my IT gadget devices recently. Although Malaysia is having sales everywhere in the shopping malls. The same cannot be applied for computer gadgets.
With rather limited time, I haven't gotten around to blog about my new found gadgets.
Basically, i bought myself a LiveScribe 2GB Pulse smartpen as they were letting go at RM400 which was within grasp for me to give this smartpen a go. This model may not be new, but still works just as good.
I've also upgraded my modem coz my old wireless-B router already knocked out sometime ago and i was mulling whether to get the Belkin share router modem. But when Aztech recent lauch their new router modem wifi-N with a usb port for NAS, it was 1/2 the price of Belkin, at RM149, so I went for it.
And finally, I couldn't wait any longer and decided to iindulge myself with the SanDisk Cruzer 32 GB. I could only get it from PineApple computer store meeting up with old friends. I use to patronize their shop however their prices are not as competitive against the Low Yatt based shops in Digital Mall. Still they gave me a reasonable price. Which wasn't too bad.
Now preparing it for security and perhaps even install Ubuntu Linux into this thumbdrive since it got quite a lot of space!
With rather limited time, I haven't gotten around to blog about my new found gadgets.
Basically, i bought myself a LiveScribe 2GB Pulse smartpen as they were letting go at RM400 which was within grasp for me to give this smartpen a go. This model may not be new, but still works just as good.
I've also upgraded my modem coz my old wireless-B router already knocked out sometime ago and i was mulling whether to get the Belkin share router modem. But when Aztech recent lauch their new router modem wifi-N with a usb port for NAS, it was 1/2 the price of Belkin, at RM149, so I went for it.
And finally, I couldn't wait any longer and decided to iindulge myself with the SanDisk Cruzer 32 GB. I could only get it from PineApple computer store meeting up with old friends. I use to patronize their shop however their prices are not as competitive against the Low Yatt based shops in Digital Mall. Still they gave me a reasonable price. Which wasn't too bad.
Now preparing it for security and perhaps even install Ubuntu Linux into this thumbdrive since it got quite a lot of space!
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