Fatcow hosting – good or bad?

For a few months now, I’ve been using Fatcow for my different sites. Why did I choose them? I had read some reviews and didn’t come across anything bad, at that time, plus their shared hosting rates were pretty cheap, amazingly cheap as a matter of fact. Now, after several months of use, I’ve decided to write a review of Fatcow, just in case you’re looking for a new host for your own sites.

Shared hosting means that your site’s actual serving computer serves other sites as well. Dedicated serving costs much more than shared but if you don’t have a huge site and you don’t really care too much if your site is a bit slow to load, shared hosting is fine.

One caveat that you should be aware of is the problem with WordPress. While WordPress is a superb front end for your website, it also uses a fair bit of serving oomph as far as putting a load on your server. WordPress uses a database to keep track of everything and this database, MYSQL, puts a drain on the computer that runs it. The bigger the site, the bigger the database and, of course, the bigger the drain. Pure HTML doesn’t use a database and all of my HTML sites load like greased lightning. My WordPress sites, however, can be agonizingly slow by times.

There are different settings in WordPress that can affect the loading speed and, according to Fatcow’s help department, you can also optimize your databases. Having done most of these things, suffice it to say that the sites sometimes take a long time to load.

As far as Fatcow’s tech support, they are efficient and seem to be capable, at least for the few times that I have used them. I should warn you now that Fatcow does NOT use CPanel. If you’re used to the CPanel interface, you will be sorely disappointed with Fatcow. I grew up with CPanel, at least as far as working on websites is concerned, and was dismayed that this was something I didn’t check before I signed up. That is an LAL (Live and Learn) moment, certainly not an LOL one.

For now, Fatcow is filling the bill for me. Either I switch all my sites, eleven of them,  to HTML and put up with coding in Dreamweaver or I shut up about slow load times. I’ll see what happens. I would give Fatcow a B. At times when my sites have been slow, I would rate then a C- but things aren’t too bad right now.

Finally, there was talk a while ago about some kind of spiff from Fatcow if any of my readers signed up with them. Well, the link to that program is completely dead (did it ever work?) and it seems that this was another brilliant idea that lost its steam.

Thanks for reading. If you have questions or comments, tweet me. Link is up on the top right.

Filezilla FTP – how to use it



Filezilla is an FTP client, meaning that it’s a piece of software that links your PC to an FTP site. Usually, the FTP site is your own hosting account. You would use Filezilla to send files up and down to your website host. There are FTP sites which host files but the thrust of this post is to show you how to upload files to your website.

1. Once you have a hosting account set up, head to your account page. You’ll find ‘Path to FTP’  or something very similar to it somewhere on that page. It looks like this: ‘ftp.mysite.com’, depending on your site name and whether it’s a .com, .ca or whatever. This is the address that points to the root folder of your hosting account.

2. Download Filezilla  and install it. Open Filezilla and you’ll see an image something like this :

Filezilla first menu
This is the menu you see when you first open Filezilla

Don’t let this menu intimidate you. The areas you want to focus on are the slots for ‘host’, ‘username’ and ‘password’. Don’t worry about ‘port’.  The window below those slots is the activity window. It’s empty now.

Below that is a view of two things, the left is your computer’s file system and the right, which is empty now, represents the file system of your hosting account.

3. Fill in the address that you found on your account page, the ftp.mysite.com thing. Then enter your username and password. If you own the site, this is your username and password that you enter to view your account in your browser. Leave the port slot open.

4. Once you have the info entered, click on the Quickconnect button. Filezilla will fly into action and attempt to connect to your host server. If you’ve entered all the correct information, you’ll see a menu that looks like this :

Filezilla menu showing both sides of the file systems.
This is the menu showing both sides of the file system and the activity window.

5. Don’t do anything yet except look at the menus. On the left are your files, usually on your C: drive. On the right are the folders that are on your host’s server. Nothing new here if you’ve been using Windows Explorer for years like most of us have.

6. All of your web files and images should be in one folder on your computer, I keep mine on my desktop in a folder named ‘Web Folder’. Simple, huh? On the right side you will see your root menu. I have 11 sites which are served from one account at Fatcow.com (not sure if I can recommend them or not yet. Read the online reviews first, OK?). Each of these sites has a folder which contains ALL of the files for each site. Of course there are sub-folders and directories but when I am uploading files to this site, I use the brianmahoney folder.

7. You should set up your folders using the file manager on your host account. Why? Because you have to tell your host where the files are for each website. You can’t go putting stuff up there without letting your hosting server know where those files are, right? Once you have the basic directories or folders set up there, then you can use Filezilla to upload more.

8. OK so you have your web folder on the left and the web folder for your website up on the right. The folder on the right should be empty, pretty much. Just make sure that you’ve got the correct folder open or your site won’t open.

9. Highlight one file or folder or highlight a whole bunch of files and folders by clicking the top one and scrolling down to the bottom then clicking the last one while holding down the shift key. Then right click that set of files and choose ‘Upload’. Sure, you can drag and drop the files too, but I prefer right click/upload simply because I make less mistakes that way. I sure don’t want to dump a whole WordPress folder in the wrong place. Open the right folder on the right, then the web folder on the left and right click/upload. Simple, easy and relatively quick.

10. At the bottom of the menu you’ll see the number of files that are queued, failed transfers (if any) then successful transfers. Obviously the first and last should match. You’ll also the the full number of files to be uploaded and the number of files left to upload. Once Filezilla is finished you will see the ‘Directory Listing Successful’ in the top activity screen.

That’s pretty much it. Disconnect Filezilla by clicking on the button with the red X on it. Head over to your hosting account and check the file manager there. Your host folder will now have the files that you’ve sent up over FTP.

Questions? Comment or ask me on Twitter. I’m around all the time.

Thanks for reading!



Secure Your Wifi Connection – how to lock out wifi freeloaders.



If you live in an apartment or a townhouse complex and use a wifi-enabled router, there’s a good chance that one of your neighbour’s just might be freeloading on your connection. Using your browser to access your router is moderately difficult but it’s absolutely necessary if you want to prevent strangers from snooping around your networked computers or using up your precious bandwidth. Here’s a brief rundown of how it’s done.

There are many brands of routers out there. Every single one comes with a CD that contains the product manual on it. First thing to do is find the CD and read the manual. I’ll wait. (It’s there, under your copy of Twitter for Dummies.)

Because there are many types of routers out there, I’ll give you a rundown on my router, a D-Link DIR-65. I can access this modem from any browser on any computer in my home. First, I open any browser and type 192.168.0.1 in the address slot. My browser takes me to the login window. TIP! There’s no sense in encrypting your wifi unless you also lock your router using a password. Believe it or not, I can access many routers around the Internet and change the settings on them simply because the user hasn’t changed the default password. For my D-link, the default password is ‘admin’, same as the username. I’ve changed the password to something much more difficult to hack, believe me. Once you’re into your router, change the password in the Tools menu.

Once you’ve done that, you have to turn on the wifi and encrypt access to it. Basically you set up a long password that any wireless adapter must use before it can gain access. On the D-link, there is a Wireless Wizard that you can use to handle this for you. I’m not going to get into the fine details, other than to say that if you simply accept the default settings, you should be fine. A true hacker can access your wifi even if you use a powerful password. Robbie, your next door neighbour’s son, probably isn’t up to that level…yet. What you are doing is locking out everyone who isn’t a complete nerd hacker. You’re safe as long as you don’t live beside someone from the CIA.

The other side of this locking thing is to set up each wireless computer with the new settings. Every computer is different and the wireless adapters are different, too. Some router settings won’t be accepted by your adapter so be prepared for some configuration errors. Tweet me with specifics if you run into trouble. I’ll try and set you on the right path.

Here are some resources for you:

Default Passwords of most modern routers are here: http://www.phenoelit-us.org/dpl/dpl.html

D-Link Routers : http://www.dlink.com/default.aspx

Linksys/Cisco: http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-ca/support  (Hey, Cisco! Remember that? )

Netgear: http://www.netgear.com/

If you’ve lost your manual you can download a copy from the manufacturer’s site. Once you’re into the router through your browser, you’ll be surprised at how much they all look kind of the same. With a little bit of common sense and rooting around, you can set up many things. Remember to save your current configuration before you start adjusting things. Don’t worry about really screwing things up. If you do, there is a reset button somewhere on the router to put everything back to the way it was when it was new. A paperclip and good eyes are all you need to reset the router. Tweet me if you really screw things up.

That’s it for now. Nothing really earth shattering here but if you’re using DSL or cable, now is a good time to learn about your router. Don’t blame me if your neighbour wastes all your bandwidth, you’ve been warned! Oh, I should tell you that a friend of mine had her neighbour set up her wifi connection. Sure, he locked the wireless with a password but he kept the password and freeloaded on her Internet for years. It wasn’t until I reset everything for her that she managed to lock him out. What a great guy, right?

Thanks for reading. Here are some screen captures for you:

D-link login
This is what I get when I type 192.168.0.1 into my browser.
D-link wireless wizard screen
Use the wizard to set up your wireless encryption
Setting up wireless on a D-link DIR 615 router
This is where you choose what to set up - go with the defaults here.


Cut the Cable! – how to get full HD over the air (OTA) broadcasts for (almost) free



Now that the United States and Canada have moved to 100% total digital broadcasts for TV signals, it’s time to save  yourself some money. Sure, cable and satellite can offer you hundreds of channels but honestly, how many do you watch? Unless your kids are addicted to Mythbusters or you’re a total sports fanatic, here’s how you can watch broadcast television for free.

Every TV sold these days has an ATSC tuner. All that this means is that you can stick a cheap antenna on your wall or roof and watch TV. With a basic UHF bowtie, the kind that used to sit on the rabbit ears with a little clip, you can receive stations that are close to you. With a bit more work, and a very basic and cheap antenna, you will be able to receive stations that might be up to 100 miles away. Here’s an antenna that will set you back $14.99 here in Toronto:

Small and cheap HD antenna
With one of these on my chimney, I get 30+ channels in Toronto

This small unit, pointed almost due south, picks up more than 30 stations, some as far away as about 90 miles. If you know the Toronto area, you’ll know that we’re on the border with Lake Ontario between us an Buffalo. While the channels come and go, depending on a few weather variables, I can always get CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, CTS, CBC, CTV, PBS as well as many independent stations. I can even receive stations from Rochester, a full 94 miles away. Here’s a snapshot of part of my channel list:

TV Channel List
Most of the 30+ channels I receive.

To get started, check out this link and find out how many stations you might be able to receive. TVFool has everything you’d ever need to find stations, aim your antenna and calculate distances to the respective towers. Enter your postal code or zip code and a visual will be created for you. Here’s mine :

channel graphic from TVFool
Stations listed, distances and direction. Everything you need.

Unless you live in the boonies, you should be able to receive a decent number of channels. The tuners on modern LCD or Plasma TV sets are pretty damn good for the price. The best part about digital signals is that you pretty much get them or you don’t. There are no waves or double images which plagued analog reception in the past. In a real heavy rainstorm I sometimes lose the Buffalo channels outright or they will be pixelated. Even then, they pop back in again frequently. Here is a photo of my antenna setup:

Brian's antenna
This is my antenna, actually two. Top one has a rotor for better aiming.

I used an approximate height of 35 feet on TVFool to find the stations or channels in my area. I think it’s a bit less than that, actually.

If you’re not a real handy person, you don’t even need to get up on the roof to set these things up. A small antenna against a window that faces the station you want will suffice, as long as the transmitting tower isn’t ridiculously far away. On my Hauppauge tuner in this computer, I have had perfectly clear signals with an old bowtie antenna right here in my basement office, believe it or not.

With this setup, you won’t get ESPN or HBO or any of the full cable channels. However, depending on where you are, you might get some channels that aren’t available on cable, I get several, so there is a definite yin and yang to this. The point is that you also won’t be paying through the nose for compressed HD channels. All of the stations that I get are in full, glorious HD, transmitting the full signal not the compressed signal that you get with cable. The difference is startling. A side-by-side comparison of cable signal compared to an OTA signal might shock you. With cable, you’re really paying for something you’re not getting.

One last tip, use RG6 for your antenna to TV tuner connections. Don’t use RG59. Make sure your connections are solid and you’re on your way to TV freedom. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for reading!



Screen Captures – how to save something that doesn’t want to be saved



Using the screen capture key is a quick and easy way to save part of a website or image in a website that may be locked by the owner. Quite often you will see this in Flickr and other photography websites. You might right click on the image to try and save it but a little menu will tell you that ‘this photo can’t be saved’ or something like that. Well, we can certainly get around that hurdle…in two different ways, actually.

The first and easiest way is to use the Print Screen key. It’s up on the top right of your keyboard, third from the right on mine. If you use a laptop, you might have to search for the ‘Prt Scr’ key and you might have to hold the ‘Fn’ (function) key down at the same time. It’s like that on my Compaq netbook.

Once you press the Print Screen key, Windows takes a snapshot of whatever is on your monitor(s) at the time.  If you want to save part of what you see, you have to paste the saved image into an image program.

As you may know, I use Irfanview (read my past posts about Irfanview linked from the main page of this blog.) For convenience, I always keep one image file on my desktop. Once I hit the Print Screen key, I open the image that’s on my desktop (it doesn’t matter what it is) and then press the Ctrl key and the V key at the same time (simple copy and paste). The image that Windows has saved temporarily is pasted into Irfanview. Now it’s a simple matter to crop the full image to save only what I want.

Once you see the image from your monitor in Irfanview, place your mouse on the top left corner of the part you want to save and drag the cursor down and right. You’ll see a square/rectangle shape forming. When you get to the other edge of what you want to save, let go of the mouse and press the Ctrl key and the Y key at the same time. Voila! Your image is now much larger on the screen. Hit the Ctrl and S keys at the same time (simple save) and save the image to your computer.

The other way to save an image is to turn off Java but that might be more difficult. When Java is running, any website can lock it’s photos, specially those side-scrolling fashion sites…the ones with all the hot babes? You know? Hahahaha. Turning off Java in your browser will allow you to save any image that is protected that way.

If the site is showing photos using Shockwave, something like the American Apparel site comes to mind, you can’t save them any other way except by using the Screen Capture technique that I’ve just described. Here are some screenshots to illustrate what you might see.


Screen Capture
This is a capture of my monitors.

 


 

kitten screen capture
This is part of the large image which has been cropped.

Thanks for reading! Comments are welcome.

Follow me on Twitter: @_BrianMahoney



a little bit of hi-tech, a little bit of common sense and a lot of fun