Have you ever thought your website was down? Maybe your hosting provider was taking a nap when it happened? Scary huh? Maybe, just maybe, the server is not down. You can find out if it’s the server or YOU that has the problem. I know, the first thought is always.. “but but, I can see all these other websites on the internet without problems?”. Here is how you can determine if the problem is on your end or the hosting providers end.

First, re-confirm you cannot access your website: www.yourdomain.com

Now, go here: http://www.pagewash.com/

Retype your website url there. Does it load? yes or no? If it loads, the server is NOT down.  If it doesn’t load, pick up the phone and call.

What to do if it does load? If you are hosting your website with www.stormer.com, have you been trying to guess your password for some login? Maybe you setup a new email account or you are attempting to login to cpanel and couldn’t remember your password? After so many attempts, the server will block you in the firewall. If that is the case, the server will appear down to you. You can not fix it.

Go here: http://www.whatismyip.com/

Get your IP address from that website and call it in or submit a secure support ticket. The problem can be resolved fairly quickly for you. And we can even help you get your password problem fixed. The firewall is necessary because multiple dictionary attacks happen each day. The “bad folks” are trying to break in all the time, doing random user/password attempts. We block them so they go away. (they see what you are seeing, NOTHING).

If you are not blocked in the firewall and you still cannot see your website, is your domain name expired? (this happens more than you know) If the domain name is good then there is a high probability that there is a connection problem between the location of your isp and the location of the server. It is not a problem with you OR the server. But it IS a problem for you!

If you are on a windows machine, you can run a tracert to try and determine where the problem lay…

Click start button, in the run field type: cmd
This will open up a little “dos” window. Now type: tracert www.yourdomain.com

It will take a bit, but you will then see all the “hops” between your isp and the location of the server at the datacenter. No one has a direct connection to the server except the guy with the keyboard at the datacenter. All those “hops” are different routers on the internet. If a router between the location of your isp and the location of the server goes bad, you will not be able to get to your website. Contact your ISP and ask them to fix.

Here are two examples of a good and bad tracert:
———————————————————————————————————

Notice where I highlighted yellow? That usually indicates there may be a problem, but nothing to be worried about. That one router is routing you at about the rate of a 56k modem. (slow). But once it clears that router.. fast again.

If you start seeing a bunch of “splats” or “*” symbols.. “red circle” that/those router(s) is/are timing out! The part where it times out is the router that is bad or having some serious issues. Contact your ISP and give them this information.

Can you see your website now? =)

James

I recently discovered a very nice software program that integrates Google Voice with Outlook 2010.  Calling a contact is as easy as right clicking on the contact and clicking “call”.   You can listen to your Google Voice messages, even use the texting feature from within Outlook.  The software is called Clamr!

Here is their website:
http://www.clamr.com/

I had some issues on my desktop getting it installed, but it worked great on my laptop.  The cost is agreeable, but is on subscription at 30.00/year/seat.   The requirements are Outlook 2010 and a Google Voice account.  Works with Exchange or regular pop/imap.   Other nice features are broadcast “texting” to your contacts, file transfers, scheduled conference calls.  I recommend it for increased productivity.

I purchased my EVO 4G on day 1.  (pre-ordered via Best Buy)  I have been extremely happy with the phone.  The battery life, yes, is poor.  However, I just purchased a 3500 mah battery the other day and should receive it next week.  Looking forward to being able to use all it’s benefits without dealing with the battery life!  My wife, who was previously with ATT&T with her iPhone after much discussion and finally being forced to go to Sprint to save our family some money is now hooked on Android.  Her first phone purchased Jan 4 was the Samsung Epic 4G.  It was nice, but after I discovered it won’t be upgrading to Froyo 2.2 anytime soon … it became less impressive.  The phone had a nice screen, nice layout, pull out keyboard was nice.  However it seemed flimsy.  The plastic feel to the phone did not promote confidence it would last the duration. (and the amount of texting my wife does!).   I showed her the EVO 4G Shift.  That was it.  We used the Best Buy/Sprint 30 day trade in option and switched to the EVO 4G SHIFT.  What a nice phone!!  Has a heavy “metal” feel to it.  The phone just feels like it has higher construction quality.  The screen is not as big, granted, but the battery life should be longer.  The slide out keyboard is GREAT.  Has metal buttons.  (I like that!).  There are some draw backs, like no front facing camera, slower cpu and less ram.  The default sdcard was 2gigs.  But, my wife is not a power user.   This is the perfect phone for someone who wants nice internet web browsing, slide out qwerty keyboard for texting and email.  I call it my “mini-me”.   I have the bigger EVO 4G and my wife has the EVO 4G Shift.  Very impressed with it thus far!

Time Warner Cable has rolled out a new service here locally in Charlotte, NC.  It’s called Signature Home.  I am one of the fortunate ones to live in an area it is available.  I’ve used it since July 2010 and I can honestly say I am “extremely” happy with the performance and “service” I am receiving from Time Warner Cable.  The internet speed is 50mbit down and 5mbit up.  This blows away the previous offering by Time Warner Cable which maxed out at 10-15mbit down and 0.5mbit up.

The phone service is good high quality.  However, if your used to Vonage VOIP, be prepared to pay extra for an unlisted phone number.  Why?  Well, the telemarketers and politicians started calling me within 3 days!!  They have my name and my phone number.  It should be against the LAW for personal information to be so freely available!  Because I use it with a google voice number any calls that come directly into that line I just ignore.  Sad.  So be prepared to pay extra for an unlisted phone number.

The actual cable service is AMAZING!  The new dual tuner dvr they provide is the Cisco Explorer 8642HDC.  They give you “2″ of them.  There are a number of nice features I am happy to enjoy!

1. You have a total of 4 channels you can record at the same time.
2. If you record something in the living room, you can watch it from the bedroom.
3. The parental controls are “outstanding”.  Not only can you block channels by rating, but you can also block the “titles” of those said programs in the menu.  So your kids don’t even “know” what they are missing.
4. You can set it to limit when the tv can be watched.  Example, I turn the kids tv off at 8pm on school nights.  Won’t come back on till late morning, but they are in school at that time anyway.
5. I purchased an addon box for the kids room (no dvr) that cost an extra $10/month.  It was worth it for the parental controls alone.  The nice thing about the extra box, they can watch shows recorded from the dvrs in the living room and master bedroom.  Yes, you guessed it, if the parental controls don’t allow watching a recorded show from the living room or bedroom, it won’t even show up on their menu!
6. The channel line up is very impressive.  Because I have nothing else to compare it to, it’s like dishnet 250 and more plus all the HD channels and locals and more. (not that I watch all those channels, but it’s nice to have them all bundled in)

Over all, I am very happy with the Signature Home service.   The total service that I have runs 179/month.  With the addon box for the kids it’s almost exactly 200.00 after local tax.

The customer service is outstanding.  When you have the signature home plan you get direct access to a “human”.  No waiting in line.  You get priority support for anything you call in on.  That sure beats the service I have received from other providers!

Bottom line, if you live in Charlotte, NC and you are in an area that supports this service and you are paying more than 179/month for your 3 services, phone, cable, internet than this service is well worth the money.

Running some speed test, below are some of the results.
On speakeasy.net: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

On Time Warner Cable speed test:
http://speedtest.southeast.rr.com/ (you have to have time warner to use)

If your like me, maybe you have multiple email accounts that you pop regularly into your outlook 2007?  You also have a laptop?  Did you “flirt” with Exchange?  I have.  The problem with exchange is it was designed for folks that have “one” email account.  If you only have “one” email account, then maybe exchange is the way to go for you?  But what about those folks that have “multiple” mail accounts going into outlook 2007?  Yes, what about that?  Doesn’t work so nicely if your trying to sync with a laptop.  You start getting duplicate emails and all sorts of issues because Exchange was apparently NOT designed for people like you and me with multiple mail accounts.

So you have other ways of syncing your data?  You may have already discovered that Google can sync your calendar quite nicely.  It does.  Then you wanted to sync your contacts?  Not so easy.  How about your sent folder?  Wouldn’t it be nice if you sent an email on your laptop that same “sent” email appeared in the sent folder on your desktop?  How about a sent email on your desktop showing up in the sent folder on your laptop so you have all your data all the time?  Well, I discovered some software that does just that.

Here’s the link:
http://www.syncing.net/

You can download a 30 day trial and check it out.

You can even sync folders on your desktop with a folder on your laptop.  Drag and drop that spreadsheet into that folder and it appears on your laptop.  Make changes on your laptop and it’s now on your desktop perfectly synced.  The url above is not a “referral” url.  I don’t get anything for this.  I’m just so happy to have found a solution I’m willing to spill the beans!

This software is syncing all I need it to sync.  Very happy with it.  Don’t need it to sync my Inbox, just all the “other” stuff.

Got a blackberry?  I gave up on Google calendar and Contact’s sync.  I sync my blackberry with my desktop or laptop now.  I can sync with either computer now that both desktop and laptop are synced.  YES, it would be nice to have some software that would sync my calendar and contacts on my blackberry but I have yet to find anything that will do that yet.  This is where Exchange does great.  Either way, the money saved is worth the extra 2 minutes it takes me to manually sync my blackberry.    If you have an iPhone, I believe there is a syncing.net app that works good for you.

James