Web Your Business Press Releases

Domain renewal/registration Price Increases

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:30:25 -0500

On January 15, 2012, VeriSign®, the registry for .COM and .NET, will increase its fees. In addition, on February 1, the Neustar registry will increase its .BIZ fees.

This increase is being passed on to domain registrars and unfortunately, to domain name owners. Starting January 15, 2012 we will raise registration and renewal prices for .COM by $0.55 per year and .NET by $0.50 per year. On February 1, 2012 .BIZ registration and renewal prices will increase by $0.55 per year.

You can avoid this price increase by renewing their domains before the price increase goes into effect. However, you must renew by January 14, 2012.

Contact us before 10th of January if you wish to take advantage of this - we recommend adding as long as possible to your domain - it is rumored to help with search engine ranking if your domain has a long registration period remaining.

Spammers caught within minutes

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:48:17 -0400

We were asked by one of our customers how to limit his spam... this customer was getting a LOT of spam or junk emails - and we mean LOTS - several hundred emails a day - with about 95% of them being junk.

Well the first suggestion would be to change your email address - because this particular email was an easy to guess address of the form:

firstname@theirdomain.com

Those are quick to be found by the spammers - they just send email to every first name in the book until they get one that doesn't bounce - next thing you know, you're getting tons of junk.

We recommend that you choose a email of the form:

firstinitial.lastname@yourdomain.com

or

firstname.lastname@yourdomain.com

Something that isn't as easy to guess as just firstname@yourdomain.

Anyway - in this case, changing the email was not an option, which is not surprising - after you have been in business a while, changing email address is a painful thought.

So what else could we do?
Continue reading "Spammers caught within minutes"

Facebook privacy breach- what a load of TOSH!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:44:19 -0400

By Greg Hewitt-Long

A Wall Street Journal article claimed that application developers on the Facebook platform were sharing personally identifiable information and titled the article "Facebook in Privacy Breach" - they even went so far as to say that the apps were:

transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

Wow - shock horror!!

Then Huffington Post on Monday puts some of their 'finest' on it and starts fanning the flames with a "[REPORT]" ... which appears to be their new term for a blog post...

If you read between the line - or know how to read the information provided - you'll see that his appears to be largely a bluster and crying wolf exercise...
Continue reading "Facebook privacy breach- what a load of TOSH!"

Premium junk email filtering - the best there is...

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

We are pleased to announce that as of today - we have added an optional feature which many customers have asked for - we listened - and now you have the option to add world-class junk email filtering to your hosting account, for mere pennies a day.
Web Your Business partners with Google Postini

Having tested many junk email filtering solutions - we kept coming back to one of the original candidates - Postini - which is now a division within Google. Back in 2007 Google acquired the Postini security company - primarily to add the best available junk email and virus filtering to their email offering - gmail. After extensive testing - we concur - this is the best solution around - we have NOT been able to find better at ANY PRICE.

Features we found within Postini which left it a clear leader were:

it integrated into our control panel - essential that you can point & click to add this to your account quickly and easily

easy to use junk email filtering interface - some of the other solutions were just "clunky" or "complicated" - you need to be able to check your quarantine without spending a long time on this

personal junk filtering preferences - we realize everyone is different, one size doesn't fit all - customers dealing in financial products might find that they lose valid emails if we turned up the filtering on "get rich quick emails" - we needed a solution where each user is able to adjust their own settings - Postini offers this across a number of categories

affordable - some solutions cost $$$ - we know this is a tough economy - part of the reason for improved junk filtering is the TIME you get back - but we wanted a solution that offered EXTREME value for money - Postini delivers that!

What type of junk and viruses are handled by postini?

The following types of junk are filtered:

unsolicited email or spam

phishing emails

junk that directs your to virus laden websites

emails with viruses in attachments

emails with viruses in attachments

If you want to keep any of this junk email - then this system is probably NOT for you - on the other hand, most customers tell us they would be happy if this stuff never entered their mailboxes - and that is EXACTLY what this new premium junk filtering will do - it will practically BANISH spam and virus emails.
Continue reading "Premium junk email filtering - the best there is..."

Premium spam filtering rolls out to 'The One Plan' customers!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:03:11 -0400

it integrated into our control panel - essential that you can point & click to add this to your account quickly and easily

easy to use junk email filtering interface - some of the other solutions were just "clunky" or "complicated" - you need to be able to check your quarantine without spending a long time on this

personal junk filtering preferences - we realize everyone is different, one size doesn't fit all - customers dealing in financial products might find that they lose valid emails if we turned up the filtering on "get rich quick emails" - we needed a solution where each user is able to adjust their own settings - Postini offers this across a number of categories

affordable - some solutions cost $$$ - we know this is a tough economy - part of the reason for improved junk filtering is the TIME you get back - but we wanted a solution that offered EXTREME value for money - Postini delivers that!

What type of junk and viruses are handled by postini?

The following types of junk are filtered:

unsolicited email or spam

phishing emails

junk that directs your to virus laden websites

emails with viruses in attachments

emails with viruses in attachments

How to add premium spam filtering to your hosting account...

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:29:00 -0400

Here is a step-by-step tutorial - how to add premium spam filtering to your Web Your Businesss / AAA Business Hosting account...

Continue reading "How to add premium spam filtering to your hosting account..."

Premium spam filtering rolls out across Business Plans

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:59:00 -0400

Today at noon - we launched our PREMIUM spam - or junk email filtering. We have listened to you, our customers - and the most common complain was to have more granular control over spam filtering. The internal junk email options are relatively good - but the control of them left many customers confused and that had to be addressed.

As a commitment to improving the junk email solution, we evaluated a number of systems - the clear winner in terms of ease of use, individual user control of junk filtering options, quarantine control etc, was a product called Postini - a company that was acquired by Google in 2007. This spam filtering is the core junk email system in use by Google Premium accounts - which cost approximately $50 per year, per email user.

As a hosting provider who strives to provide world-class solutions and support at local and national level, while working diligently to keep costs at a level where customers can afford them - we knew that this price-tag really wasn't going to work. Hence, we had to continue to look for a Postini based solution that would work for YOU - our loyal customers.

Continue reading "Premium spam filtering rolls out across Business Plans"

Debrief of Yesterday's Chicago Connectivity Issues

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:13:11 -0400

Yesterday, July 9, 2010, at approximately 10:00 AM Mountain Time, we began experiencing heavy load on our core3.chi01 router that resulted in high ping times and packet loss to the core3 router. This did not appear to initially cause packet loss or added latency to downstream customers. As the load did not subside, the router became backlogged and BGP sessions with other internal routers and peers began flapping frequently. This resulted in some localized connectivity issues for all customers in Chicago. After spending some time on the phone with Cisco engineers to determine the root cause of this problem, the data-center chief technical staff decided to reboot the core3.chi01 router in order to resolve the load issues that were not clearing up on their own.

Continue reading "Debrief of Yesterday's Chicago Connectivity Issues"

Routing issues resolved

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:11:00 -0400

All routing issues were resolved as of a few minutes ago. All servers responding faster than ever it seems - perhaps the core routers need to crash once in a while... if only they would be back up in 5 minutes, instead of 1:55hrs for one of our servers, we'd be fine with that...

Emergency Router Maintenance - Chicago Data Center

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:20:50 -0400

Our data center location in Chicago, IL is experiencing some router issues - here is their news update:

We are currently experiencing some instability with one of our core routers in Chicago. In order to help relieve some CPU load off of this router, we have turned down some peering links in Chicago.

The current emergency maintenance should not result in any complete downtime, though as BGP convergence occurs, all customers may experience some localized downtime.

We are actively working to correct these issues and hope to have them resolved shortly.

Update (11:11AM 7/9/2010): We are rebooting this router in order to bring it back under control. Configuration changes have been made that should keep the issue under control after the reboot has completed.

Update (11:40AM 7/9/2010): Our core3.chi01 router has been rebooted and has returned to a normal state. core4.chi01 is currently working to recover after the core3 reboot and full network functionality should be restored shortly.

Update (12:12PM 7/9/2010): Our core4.chi01 router has failed to recover from the core3 reboot, and is currently experiencing heavy loads. We will be rebooting core4 to correct this issue.

We are working with Cisco to determine the root cause of this issue and plan to have a permanent fix in place soon.

Update (12:49PM 7/9/2010): core4.chi01 has been rebooted and is back online, but needs to be reconfigured, due to the device not properly retaining the configuration. This is in progress. We are estimating that full network connectivity should be restored within an hour.

Update (1:10PM 7/9/2010): core3 has been fully reconfigured. We are double checking the configuration to ensure that all customers and necessary services are properly online. We will update when everything is confirmed to be operational.

All times are Chicago time.

Office closed 5th July - Happy 4th of July!

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:35:28 -0400

Our offices will be closed in celebration of the 4th of July for the period of the 4th and Monday the 5th of July.

Phones will not be answered, but helpdesk tickets will still be monitored. Obviously staff are on call to monitor our hosting servers and respond to emergencies - all voicemail left on the 5th will be returned on the 6th of July.

We wish all customers, past, present and future - a happy 4th of July!!

Please remember to stay safe, don't mess with fireworks and keep your friends, family and others safe - celebrate responsibly and have a massively happy 4th!

PayPal increases fees for refunds + chargebacks

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:55:59 -0400

PayPal has always had a more than generous refund policy - they refunded the (up to) 2.9% processing fees, plus the per-transaction of up to $0.30 - that is about to change....
Continue reading "PayPal increases fees for refunds + chargebacks"

Facebook's privacy settings - tighten them up...

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:05:00 -0400

Well the Facebook privacy concern rolls and rolls - and PC Mag says it in a nutshell...

PC Mag: "Of course, ultimate privacy can only occur by avoiding the service—and every other social networking site—altogether. But where is the fun in that?"

Continue reading "Facebook's privacy settings - tighten them up..."

Facebook Privacy

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Tue, 25 May 2010 08:31:57 -0400

The Facebook privacy debacle isn't really so - it's merely a case of a misunderstanding! The problem is that you THOUGHT you had a right to privacy - and Facebook thought they had a right to sell information on everything they know about you...

It will get worked out - but in the upshot is - THEY DO OWN information about you - it's in their terms and conditions - and by signing up, you really did agree to them...

ARS Technica Article

Understanding the latest Facebook privacy train wreck

...

Continue reading "Facebook Privacy"

Domain Name Registration Cost Increase

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Thu, 20 May 2010 10:22:52 -0400

We have been notified that on On July 1, 2010, VeriSign®, the registry for .COM and .NET, will increase prices – .COM will go up 7%, and .NET by 10%.

Unfortunately, this price increase is being passed down to all domain name registrars.

As of July 1, we will be forced to raise registration and renewal prices for these two popular top-level domains.

To avoid this price increase, we suggest that you renew your domain names before June 30th and also add additional years of registration to your already existing domain names and lock in long term savings.

If you have any questions, please let us know as we are here to help you any way we can. 1-970-593-6260

Domain names going up in price...

nospam@example.com (Greg Hewitt-Long) — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:22:43 -0400

It's gouging time again... domain registrars are putting up their prices again - in response to Verisign increasing it's cost (supposedly as a result of more expenses maintain their central database of .COM and .NET domains) - all the domain registrars must follow suit.

It is more than a little concerning to us, that the central registration database holder is once again increasing it's prices by the MAXIMUM amount allowed - 7% on .COM and 10% on .NET domains.

What does this mean to you?

When Verisign increases costs, so do the registrars - that means GoDaddy, eNom, Register.com - all of them... trust us - none of them will absorb this cost. This increase will be passed immediately on to you, and us - the customers who register domains.

Continue reading "Domain names going up in price..."