Our data is on the move more than ever and that means that private data is more at risk than ever.  Between always on internet connections at home and the preponderance of laptops and portable devices that travel nearly everywhere we do, twenty-four hours per day keeping our data sevure is harder than ever.  Luckily, as our needs for secure data has grown, so has PGP.  Originally created to allow anti-nuclear activists communicate securely on BBSs (the computer Bulletin Board Systems that were used before the internet was developed) PGP file encryption software has grown up alongside data storage and transmission technology – always evolving to stay one step ahead of the latest threats to private data.

In 2002, PGP Corporation was formed to better meet the expanding encryption needs of businesses which rely more and more on technology.  Meanwhile, personal PGP email encryption has remained as freeware.  Now, PGP is offering a free 30 day trial on their full suite of encryption software, including email encryption and hard drive encryption for Mac and PC laptops and desktops.  This data protection suite includes: PGP Whole Disk Encryption, PGP Desktop Email, PGP NetShare (Windows Only), PGP Zip, PGP Virtual Disk, PGP Shredder, IM encryption, and more.

At the end of the 30 day trial your PGP protection will degrade gracefuly to the current freeware version, losing complete hard drive encryption and several other “pro” features, but still allowing users to access all of the files they may have previously encrypted with PGP.  Still, if your business is not currently encrypting it’s data this is a wonderful opportunity to see just how simple high end data protection can be.

Post from: Philaahzophy

Pretty Good Privacy Is An Understatement With PGP

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It’s been about 48 hours since I signed up for my new web hosting account at Top Hosting Center and things just keep getting better. It may be hard to believe that things can improve over a one-time payment of $95 to get hosting and a domain for life, but they do. First, let me remind you of their incredible hosting deal-

• $95 one-time fee gets hosting for life
• One free domain for life
• 250GB disk storage
• 3000GB monthly transfer
• All the standard bells and whistles (emails, sub-domains, MySQL databases, etc) with unlimited access
• 24/7 support
• 30-day money back guarantee

Normally this is a $4.95/month package, which is a great deal in and of itself. But the first 1000 people to sign up for their Rudolph web hosting plan get the whole thing, free for life after a single $95 payment.

What’s the most important thing in a web host? Uptime. Well, 48 hours isn’t much time to judge that but THC hasn’t been down yet. A close second to uptime, however, is service and tech support. In that arena THC is coming through with flying colors. One of the reasons I went looking for a new host after being on 1and1.com for years was that I was starting to push the limits of what they would allow. I needed a web hosting company that would allow me the freedom to try new things. Not only does Top Hosting Center allow me that freedom, but they’ve been helping me explore those boundaries as well. We’ve exchanged around a dozen emails and tickets now and the longest I’ve had to wait for a response was 6 hours with an average time of less than two and several responses within minutes.

In yesterday’s post I detailed the Good, Bad and Ugly of the first few hours with THC (although I didn’t contact them directly about most of the issues) and they responded via email to let me know what solutions they’d developed for all of the problems I listed-

Hi Aahz,

For you information:

- We are in the process of integrating the Payment gateways (2CO and Paypal), Helpdesk ticket system and php 5 (migration)

- We wrote a special note that during a signup with credit card, the registration of the free domain will take up to 5 hours, because of credit card validation (to avoid fraud) .

- Starting in January, an upgrade will be done every month for all EasyAPP applications.

–
Best regards,

Team Support
www.tophostingcenter.com
Web hosting solutions for you and your business — we have it.
At THC, we match any prices GUARANTEE!
ROCK Support 24×7

How’s that for responsive? I wasn’t overly concerned about those issues, just pointing them out to my fellow netizens, and they’re all being dealt with ASAP! My new domain is fully registered and active (though I can’t share it with y’all for another few days, sorry ) When I was looking to use a specific Unix command that they had not allowed (as many web hosting companies don’t) but that I need for a specific WordPress plugin to function correctly they were even willing to reverse their prior ruling and allow its use!

When I was having difficulties transferring a MySQL database (something I’ve never done before), THC tech support not only offered to handle the migration themselves, but then came back and explained what I was doing wrong so I could learn in the process and do it myself in the future. Essentially, they’re willing to hold my hand as much or as little as I desire, and ‘smile’ the whole way. If that’s not the definition of customer service I don’t know what is, particularly considering they’ve already got my $95 one time fee, so it’s not like they’re going to be earning more from me at this point.

Setting up new blogs couldn’t be easier than with their EasyApps Collection. You essentially just pick your blogging platform (WordPress, B2Evolution, or FeedOnFeeds), fill out a few variables (which domain, directory, admin username, etc) and it creates the database for you, install the software and sens you on your way! With almost 40 different apps in this collection, all of the major web softwares are represented and just as easy to install. Thus far I’ve used WordPress, OpenAds (phpadsnew), and PhpBB, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with Joomla, Php Nuke, PhpWiki, CubeCart, osCommerce, ZenCart, CS Live Helper, and phpMyFAQ now that I don’t have to worry about a possibly lengthy and complex installation process first. I’ve had Zen Cart, for example, sitting on my desk top waiting to be tried for over a year now.

I’ll continue to check in with reports on Top Hosting Center occasionally, but they seem about as perfect as a webhosting company could be at this point.

Post from: Philaahzophy

Kinks Working Out At Top Hosting Center

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As I wrote a few days ago I’ve been looking for a new website hosting company and decided to give Top Hosting Center a shot because they’re currently offering an incredible hosting deal-

• $95 one-time fee gets hosting for life
• One free domain for life
• 250GB disk storage
• 3000GB monthly transfer
• All the standard bells and whistles (emails, sub-domains, MySQL databases, etc) with unlimited access
• 24/7 support
• 30-day money back guarantee

Well, I signed up earlier today and overall am pretty happy. I’ve been designing (and thus hosting) websites for more than a decade now. I even operated a small web hosting company for a few years back in the mid-90s. So I’m far from a rookie when it comes to webhosts. Bear in mind that the following is a result of only a couple of hours of playing with the system. As I add more domains and do more work I’ll come back and post further updates-

The Good -

• Their Rudolph lifetime web hosting deal (outlined above) is absolutely amazing!
• Their tech support is speedy, human and helpful! Thus far I’ve emailed them (before and after buying a web hosting package) and sent one internal ticket through their customer support system. My response times: 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 hours, 45 minutes. All responses were directly to the point, friendly, and clearly written by a real human being.
• The one-click install for many standard web software programs is as easy as it sounds. So far I’ve installed WordPress and OpenAds (phpadsnew) on two separate domains.

The Bad -

• Both WordPress and OpenAds installed easily, but the software was out of date and needed an immediate upgrade. With WordPress this was easy enough to do, but with OpenAds it’s a major upgrade and it turned out easier to just delete the automatic installation and do the installation myself.
• I have no idea what’s going on with my free domain. Part of the Rudolph hosting package is a free domain name for life. When I purchased my account I was told to email them the information for my domain. I did so, but have not heard back on that and the domain is still listed as “available” at the domain registrars 10 hours later. By contrast, I registered another new domain today and it shows as “not available” a mere two hours later.

The Ugly -

• When ordering my account it quickly became evident that this is a very young company. The process of simply making my payment took at least a half dozen different pages, none of which seemed to be hosted at THC. Having the payment processing so visibly done by a third party doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. As an FYI, I’ve used 2checkout.com (they’re payment processor) in the past, and found them reliable. This is a matter of the impression of insecurity rather than a genuine lack of security.
• I had to create a separate login for their support system. That is so annoying. When I’m already logged in to my account and need to look up how to do something I’m already frustrated. the last thing I want to do is have to login to yet another site. The support system should be 100% integrated into the control panel.

Considering the mad amounts of drama I’ve had transferring (or creating) accounts with past web hosting companies, these complaints are relatively minor. If you’ve hosted your own websites before you’ll navigate your way through just fine. if this is your first time, their customer support staff is superb. Top Hosting Center is definitely still a thumbs up from me even if you miss out on the Rudolph deal and go with the same plan @ $4.95/month.

Post from: Philaahzophy

First Impressions of Top Hosting Center

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I mentioned earlier today that I’ve started to consider changing website hosting companies. This may actually be my shortest service search in history thanks to Top Hosting Center and their Rudolf plan. This is truly an amazing introductory offer…

• $95 one-time fee gets hosting for life
• One free domain for life
• 250GB disk storage
• 3000GB monthly transfer
• All the standard bells and whistles (emails, sub-domains, MySQL databases, etc) with unlimited access
• 24/7 support
• 30-day money back guarantee

While working on this post I dropped them an email to see if they allow the running of cron jobs (don’t worry if you don’t know what that is) because its one of the limitations of my current host (I can’t run them here) and that’s been a bit of a hassle. Within literally two minutes I received a friendly response confirming that you can! Excellent!

Anyway, I lost my train of thought there for a moment…. Oh yeah…

If you’re thinking to yourself “this is too good to be true”, you’re not alone. But, as always, you need to determine what you’re actually risking. In this case it’s only $95 for lifetime hosting. And this idea isn’t exactly unprecedented. I signed on with my current host, 1and1, when they first arrived on the American web hosting scene about five years ago. Why? Because they were offering three years of service for absolutely nothing. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try and received three years of excellent service for absolutely nothing. Now that I’m paying for the same plan I was getting for free I’m feeling its limitations a little more, hence the shopping around for something new. But I’m convinced that Rudolph and Top Hosting Center are my answer.

The plan regularly costs $4.95/month (not a bad deal in and of itself), so as long as THC survives for 20 months (until July 2008) I’ll be in the black. Am I taking a chance in dropping $95 in advance? Sure am. But I think it’s one whose dividends will be paying for years to come. My only concern now is that they don’t sell out the 1,000 available Rudolph plans before I can get my monthly paycheck into the bank tomorrow evening.

Post from: Philaahzophy

Is My Website Hosting Search Over Already?

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I’m a collector by nature. The actual theme of the collections have changed dramatically and repeatedly over the years, but I’m always collecting something. And I always quickly run in to the same problem: where to put all these items. This has led to my longest lasting collection: storage bins. And my latest find in the storage category is CarGuyGarage.com

This is a bit ironic as I’ve never been a “car guy” (and I don’t have a garage), but whatever your storage or shelving needs swinging by this site will definetly be worth your time. They have more than 1,000 options for you from basic wall mount cabinets to their modular storage system offering drawers of all different shapes, sizes and configurations.

Post from: Philaahzophy

The Collector’s Eternal Dilemma

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