We have now officially launched domain name registrations for the new .ASIA domain name at myhosting.com. If you have not already heard about .ASIA, it is the new top-level domain name for residents and organizations located within the Asia Pacific region.

.ASIA domain names are available at myhosting.com for $11.45/year. And if you are signing up for a new hosting plan, you can receive your .ASIA domain name registration for FREE!

At first glance, it may seem that registration of .ASIA domain names would be restricted to the Asian continent only, but the availability is much wider than expected. Registration is open to anyone in the entire Asia/Australia/Pacific region. This even includes many countries outside of the Asian continent, like Australia and New Zealand. Of course this also includes other Asian countries including Turkey, Japan, Korea, China, Russia and many more. To see if your country is eligible, simply refer to the geo-region list at ICANN. If your country is listed within the “AP” region, then you are eligible!

To sign up for a .ASIA domain name you can visit myhosting.com and use our domain name lookup tool in the top-left corner. After your search results are completed, click on “Show More” on the left side of the page and the look-up will be performed for all available domain name types, including .ASIA.

Thanks,

Tim Attwood
Product Manager
Softcom Technology Consulting Inc.

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I believe it can change the world, even the longest journey begins with a single step.

There is a lot of talk about the environment and what we can all do to make the world a better place for the next generation. It is sometimes hard to wade through the conflicting opinions about what we should do. What makes sense is to act responsibly and use the fewest resources; this is true for people, families, communities, companies and countries.

As a hosting company we have tried to do our part by;

• Encouraging employees to use public transit by having flexible scheduling.
• Using Teleconferencing when possible to reduce plane travel.
• Updating our servers and other hardware to be more energy efficient.
• Replacing old CRT monitors with more energy efficient LCD ones.
• Adjusting climate controls in off peak hours to reduce consumption.
• Participating in Earth Hour 2008 and turning off our lights from 8:00 to 9:00pm on March 29th.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships-Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

For more information on Earth Hour 2008 and to find out how you can participate go to earthhour.org

Stephen Nichols
V.P. Sales and Marketing
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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There’s no doubt that Apple has seen a lot of growth this decade. With the popularity of the iPod, the Mac and the iPhone on the rise, more and more users are making the switch. And why not? We’re fans too, and I’m certainly not going to try and convince you otherwise.

Some stats put Apple’s Mac OS X at over 6% of the market. Although that number may seem low, its actually enough to put it squarely in 3rd place, behind only Windows XP and Windows Vista. And with the rising popularity of the Mac, we also see Apple’s .Mac service becoming more and more popular. But just because you’ve switched to a Mac, do you need to switch to .Mac? In this case, the answer is a resounding “No”.

A few Mac applications, including iWeb include integration with the .Mac service, making it easy to publish sites and content created in iWeb directly to your .Mac account. But what if you wanted to publish your content somewhere else? It may not be a 1-step process but it is still very easy.

All you need to do is select “Publish to a Folder…” instead of “Publish to .Mac”. This will allow you to save your work to a folder on your Mac. Then, with any FTP application such as Fetch, FileZilla, Cyberduck, or even our own File Manager application, you can upload your iWeb content to any web site. And yes, this works with any of our myhosting.com web hosting plans!

But what are some of the other advantages of myhosting.com over .Mac? Instead of just 1 IMAP email account, we give you hundreds! Instead of having to use yourusername@mac.com and http://homepage.mac.com/yourusername/ you can get your own FREE domain name and have something even more memorable, like firstname@lastname.com or www.my-site.com. And you don’t have to use your myhosting.com web site only for a public site, you can use your space for backup or storage.

And when the day comes that you’ve outgrown your iWeb built website, our hosting plans will grow with you, allowing you to incorporate many popular web-based tools and applications including CMS, Photo Galleries, Blogs, Bulletin Boards and even Wikis as part of your site. The potential is limitless…

Thanks,

Tim Attwood
Product Manager
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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Yesterday we quietly launched a number of changes for our myhosting.com web site, web hosting plans and web hosting platform. We have been busy preparing all this over the past weeks and months, and now it’s finally ready.

The myhosting.com web site has undergone a full redesign. Along with the new look, we’ve also introduced a new sign-up process which makes it easier and quicker for you to get from start to finish. Included is a new domain name selection and suggestion tool powered by Tucows We’re also offering even more TLDs at even lower prices than before!

Our new hosting plans include more focus on our core plans, increased disk space, bandwidth and email accounts, and all the tools and add-ons you need at affordable prices. Our new promotions offer free domain names, lower prices for customers signing up for 12-month billing terms, and other free and useful add-ons.

And if that wasn’t already enough, we’ve also launched a new web hosting platform at the same time! All of our Premium and Professional hosting plans include both a Windows and Linux based platform, the same as before. But now, our Windows platform is based on the Windows 2008 Operating System with IIS7. This is the most advanced and secure Windows Server operating system yet, designed to power the next generation of web-based applications and services. Our launch coincides with the Microsoft launch just 1 day earlier!

Windows 2008 and IIS7 provide a security-enhanced, easy-to-manage platform for developing and hosting web applications and services. And what’s new with this platform that our customers can take advantage of?

• New directory structure allowing you to store files securely online that are not web accessible.
• IIS7 Delegation features and management directly from IIS7 Manager
• Improved archetecture allows us to isolate sites by application pool, and enables us to extend Full Trust to all web sites for all your .NET applications
• Continued support for .NET Framework 3.5 and ASP.NET AJAX
• Support for Microsoft Expression Web and Microsoft Silverlight

We invite everyone to visit our new web site and have a look around. And why not sign up for a new Windows 2008/IIS7 hosting account? Go ahead, kick the tires and take it out for a test drive! We still offer the same 30-day money back guarantee as before.

Thanks,

Tim Attwood
Product Manager
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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We have now deployed updates to the .NET Framework on all of our Windows Based web hosting servers. Both the .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 updates have been applied to our hosting servers. Although the updates include new version numbers, .NET 3.0 and 3.5 are technically extensions to the .NET Framework 2.0. According to the MSDN, the .NET Framework 3.5 includes enhancements for ASP.NET as well as the addition of ASP.NET AJAX, which enables developers to “create web applications that feature next-generation user interfaces with reusable client components”.

What does this all mean? Basically ASP.NET AJAX allows you create an interactive web application in ASP.NET 2.0 that allows you to update data on a page without reloading the entire page. These types of applications are becoming more and more common throughout the internet, and have become synonymous with Web 2.0. This allows visitors to interact and contribute to the site, rather than just read flat text. To try this out you’ll first need a Windows-based hosting account, which you can sign up from here.

All customers who have already enabled .NET 2.0 from their control panel will be able to make use of the updated framework right away. If you have just signed up, are still using the .NET 1.1 Framework, or haven’t completed the upgrade yet, you can follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Control Panel
2. Click on “Site Management”
3. Click on “Site Settings”
4. And finally click on ”ASP.NET Version”. Here you can upgrade the .NET Framework version for your Windows hosting account.

For more information about ASP.NET and the .NET Framework, please visit Microsoft ASP.net. Their site is rich with examples, samples, videos and other resources to help get you started with ASP.NET AJAX.

Thanks,

Tim Attwood
Product Manager
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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Domain Name renewal scams have been around for a while, and have been making a resurgence lately. Domain Name ownership details and contact information are publicly available on the internet through something known as the WHOIS Database. And some companies collect that information and send official looking renewal documents and invoices to the mailing address listed. These documents often come many months in advance and contain warnings to renew now at an inflated price, or face losing your domain name. Also, it will often look just like any other invoice. Your accounting department may not know the difference between a legitimate invoice and the fake invoice. If you are duped into falling for one of these scams, the company will bill you for the inflated renewal fee and will transfer your domain name away from your current registrar to theirs.

As a domain name owner, what can you do to protect yourself from these scams? What can you do to make sure that your domain name stays with the same company that you know and trust?

If you get one of these notices in the mail or in your email, always question the authenticity. If you don’t recognize the company, contact your domain name registrar or your hosting company and ask them about it. And if you have an accountant or accounting department that pays your bills, make sure they know about these types of scams ahead of time. You can also renew your domain name early, and renew for multiple years if you know you are going to keep your domain name for a long time.

A domain name feature that has been gaining popularity over the years is WHOIS Privacy. This feature allows you to hide your contact information from the publicly accessible WHOIS Database.  This will prevent these companies from seeing your address and sending you unsolicited and unethical renewal notices.

We are aware that this is a feature that more and more domain name owners want to make use of. And we are going to offer free WHOIS privacy for all of our customers who have domain names registered with us through OpenSRS. We are planning to have this ready by March 2008, and we will be sure to let you know once it is available. And if you can’t wait until then, you can contact our Customer Support department and they can activate it for you now.

Thanks,

Tim Attwood
Product Manager
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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Last week I posed a few questions; “How do I create an identity?”, “Where do I start?”, “If I’m not a technical person what can I do?”, “How much will it cost?” This week I will try to answer them.

How do I create an identity?

There are a few easy things you can do. To start you can register a domain name. Look for one that says something about who and what you are. You can use a domain search tool to see if “your-name.com” is available, if not try something like “lightbulbguy.org” or “coolsteve.ca”. Once you have your domain registered you can use it to create email addresses and setup a web site.

 Where do I start?

There are lots of things that can help you to create a simple but effective website. To get started decide what you want the function of the site to be.  If you like to write and share your ideas then a blog might be the answer. Maybe you need a place to store and share photos. If you are not sure but just want to get started then a simple page that says who you are will work fine.

 If I’m not a technical person what can I do?

We provide lots of tools to help you get started including application installers like WordPress, Joomla, and Gallery II. We also provide all of our hosting customers SiteBuilder an online wizard to get your website up and running without having to know the first thing about coding.

How much will it cost?

Less than you might think.

For about the price of good paperback novel you can get everything you need to get started.

So what are you waiting for?

Stephen Nichols
V.P. Sales and Marketing
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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 I had a conversation with some associates today about what we did before internet search to find things. How did we access information? How did we sort, filter and locate trusted companies? What will the internet change in the future how we interact?

Back a generation or so, identity and trust were simple things. They were based on a personal relationship; you lived and worked with a relatively small group of people. You could know people or businesses based on their reputation or your personal experiences with them. In the past decade, that has changed very rapidly. We now move, interact and transact in a far more global world.

Things have changed from a handshake and a business card, on to a brand and an identity. If you are a business your website has in a way become your business card. If you are an individual you probably have an email address and belong to some social networking site.  

As the internet becomes more and more crowded, having and maintaining an online identity becomes more important.

What do I mean by an “online identity”?

• A way for you to share who you are and what matters to you
• A tool for communication and a means of connecting, with friends, with customers, and with the world
• Your place to express your brand, your uniqueness, your piece of the internet

Not everyone will see or use a website in the same way to create an online identity. Some will blog others will share pictures and some will create elaborate websites to express who and what they are. Businesses, even those that have no need to sell or advertise online will need some sort of website some form of online identity.

The questions I get asked by lots of people are; “How do I create an identity?”, “Where do I start?”, “If I’m not a technical person what can I do?”, “How much will it cost?”

The answers are far easier and less frightening than you might think.

I will answer them in a follow up blog post next week…

Stephen Nichols
V.P. Sales and Marketing
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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Seasons Greetings,

At this festive time of year I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year. As the Winter Solstice, the longest night, approaches here in the Northern Hemisphere the days once again promise to grow longer. With the endless cycles of dark and light, decay and renewal, I am reminded that there is always hope and our dreams to guide us.

I am also reminded of the Irish blessing;

“May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been the foresight to know where you’re going and may you always find a light to guide you home.”

From all us here at myhosting.com thanks for your continued support and we hope you have a bright and happy New Year.

Stephen Nichols
V.P. Sales and Marketing
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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Greetings,

It has been more than a year since we introduced the Softcom corporate blog. In that time we have made many changes and improvements to our products and services for both mail2web.com and myhosting.com. The response to the blog has for the most part been very positive. That is why we have added two new blogs, one for each of our brands.

Under mail2web.com we offer both free and premium services. The main products we sell are Microsoft Hosted Exchange ® email and the business collaboration platform Windows SharePoint Services ® (WSS 3.0). The address for the blog is http://blog.mail2web.com/

The myhosting.com brand is our shared hosting platform. We offer hosting of both Microsoft Windows ® and Linux platforms as well as POP3/IMAP4 email hosting. The blog address for myhosting.com is http://blog.myhosting.com/

We will still continue to occasionally post to the Softcom blog about broad issues and things that are related to the company as a whole. We will for the most part post entries on the mail2web.com and myhosting.com blogs. If you are looking for details about how to subscribe by RSS I recommend you checkout Tim’s post here.

I hope you enjoy the new blogs.

Stephen Nichols
V.P. Sales and Marketing
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.

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