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Sausage Sizzler - 3D Modeling Deal |
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| Editorial September 4, 2002 |
G'Day Sizzlers!
I am now resigned to the fact that I am always going to be busy running around with a million different projects to do. Don't get me wrong, I really like being busy. However to be honest I wish I could focus on one thing long enough to get it finished!
Talking of getting things finished, we are really moving full steam with the next generation of our editors. We now have all the programmers working on a cut down version, plus there is an old face who has thrown himself back into the fray! Yep Jarrod the evil one is back and about, but do not expect to see a lot of him as he is busy working on elements of the new program. For those of you who do not know him, over the years Jarrod served in many positions at Sausage, customer support, systems administrator and technical writer.
On another progressive note, I have my friend Orion working on some new designs for HotDog. We are going to drop the green dog for the next generation of programs. Like they say a change is as good as a holiday (whoever said that didn't go anywhere nice for their holidays).
Finally while on design Bram is having a go at a new design for the Sausage web site. His brief includes making the added services all integrate nicely into the navigation. So far I do not agree with all his ideas but they are interesting. Regardless of what we go with I will see if he can post some of the others as well just for kicks.
So I have said enough. I hope you find some useful info in the articles and reviews in this issue.
Keep on sizzling!
Nathan Allan
Sausage Sizzler Editor
editor@sausage.com
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IPCheck v0.3 PHP MySQL
http://www.simhost.co.uk/phpscripts/ipcheck/ipcheck03.zip
IPCheck
is a simple little script that might interest those of you who are trying to secure part of your site, yet want more than a simple username and password. With this system you can assign allowable IP addresses, thus blocking out any IPs not in the list you allow.
There is also an administration backend to this script which allows you to set up to four different levels of access to your protected information, varying from Super Administrator to Demo User.
Review by Nathan
http://spamassassin.taint.org/
Now I have to write a short prelude to this review. I have only used Spam Assassin as a client of our own Sausage Hosting, where I host NetBloke.com.
Now as you may remember I have tried to hunt down some spam stopping software that works without blocking any of my important email. I simply cannot afford to loose any. Spam is a pain to me from too angles, personally in my own inbox, and commercially with the likes of this newsletter sometimes being accused of spamming people (note that this is double opt-in, so the only way you can get on the list is if you ask to be and then confirm it from the email address you subscribed from. We also provide numerous ways to get off the list too).
Anyway seeing SpamAssasin was a feature of our hosting I decided to turn it on for my personal email. It then rates each email you get on a points system (for example a point for words related to pornography). I quickly noticed it was flagging some of my favorite legitimate email newsletters, along with email from my mother even!
As this install of the software is not configurable as it works globally on all the hosting clients (if they turn it on), I quickly turned it off. I was disappointed as I had heard so many good things about it.
In the end what I have done is to start my rules in Outlook again from scratch. I now filter email from specific people into folders named after them, or into specific deals I am working on. So far I am finding that I am eliminating all the spam which gets filtered into a "possible trash" folder. I can then quickly look over this folder and mark the sender as "Junk email sender" in Outlook.
If you use Eudora (I only use Outlook because it has extra features like calendars, tasks, and contacts) you will find their filters even more powerful.
So love it or hate it, for me at least I think spam is here to stay.
Review by Nathan
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That is why we are offering Sizzler subscribers 20% when they use the following coupon code. This will allow you to take 20% off either the yearly pricing or the monthly pricing (until 21st August 2003).
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Hosting anyone?
For those of you that are not yet aware, Sausage is branching out into new areas of service. One of the best new services is hosting. I am speaking as a customer, not only a user of the service. Any customer that needs hosting now gets placed with Sausage Hosting (www.sausagehosting.com).
Why? Well, besides offering great pricing (http://www.sausagehosting.com/hostingplans.php) and a great control panel (http://www.sausage.com/sizzler/ezamples/CP_Screenshot.gif), the Colo (Collocation) facility they are using is top notch (http://www.sausagehosting.com/infrastructure.php). The connection speeds are incredible. The facility uses DC3 (45Mbps) and OC3 (155.5Mbps). They have a combination of 15. For reference, many of the Colo facilities typically use a combination of T1's. A T1 is only 1.54Mbps.
I can tell you from years of experience with Sausage and from recent experience with their hosting that the customer service they offer is phenomenal. Response times to questions are fast and they are very flexible with requests.
The control panel (http://www.sausage.com/sizzler/ezamples/CP_Screenshot.gif) is incredibly simple to use and is advanced, as anyone can need it to be.
Check it out at:
http://www.sausagehosting.com
Review by Bram
Splash!
How many of you have ever gone to a web site and been presented with a "Splash Page"? If you are not familiar with the term, it is a page that has some basic design, the company logo and perhaps a tag line. The page will either forward you automatically to the next page or will have you click ENTER.
Is there a real value in this kind of thing? I suppose it depends on how the splash is done. On a news site such as CNN, it would be pointless. People want immediate access to news. If they are going to cnn.com, they already know the brand. Speaking of brand, is a Splash Page more than just an in your face branding tool? Content focused and even commerce based web sites typically (from what I have seen) get right to the meat of things. These sites typically offer one thing meaning there are no sub-brands or brand derivatives.
I often compare the use of Splash Page to the cover of a book. If the sole use of a web site is as an online catalog or supplemental marketing piece, then a Splash Page makes sense. For anything else some may see it as a useless extra step.
What happens when the company has a main brand and more than one derivative sub-brand? If the sub-brands are newly created, what is the best way to get them known? One of my favorite ways to deal with this is what I call a "Landing" page. A landing page typically would have the main logo of the company and in some creative, easy to comprehend presentation and introduction of the sub-brands. Perhaps company news and other relative links as well.
If any of you have used Splash pages or Landing pages, it would be great to see how you have put them to use. Likewise, have any of you removed the Splash page? If so, for what reason?
Please, come share your thoughts and experiences.
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=812
Discuss with Bram
Dear Children, can technology save you?...Putting Amber Alert to work.
Last week I touched on the subject of child snatching and how this epidemic has had a tremendous amount of light shed on it over the past year. I received many supportive e-mails and some off topic messages, one of which said for many things happening in the USA, Americans deserve it. Thanks for the opinion. I am quite sure many Americans are glad that you live outside of the USA.
There are many reasons why kidnapping has come to such great light recently. Besides the fact that our nations police and authoritative forces have put aside jurisdictional pride and cooperate in full effect, technology and how it is used by the press has given a tremendous amount of support and aid in solving crimes.
After a very short time frame (just a few months) the press and the authorities have organized a system now named "Amber Alert". Within the hour of a missing child report or suspected kidnapping, the entire USA will know the childs name, picture, last known location, what the child was last seen wearing, last seen doing and anything else that can be described. What is even better is that this information will be repeated and updated constantly.
TV and radio stations that would normally be competing for ratings gladly join forces in sharing and updating each other so that as few stones as possible are left unturned.
Years ago this could never have happened so quickly. The advent of numerous technologies and just the overall growth of the Internet have made the mass, rapid transmission of data nearly effortless. Put into play all the satellites in operation (still expensive, but far less so than in the past) and the system is mainly an operational logistics issue.
I recall last year an e-mail circulating about a lost child. It had been forwarded so many times that surely the image made it all over the country. Image the past where a parents sole recourse was to wait and hope for police to circulate a photo. Surely parents did more than that but circulation was difficult. Now, you blast and e-mail out to everyone in your address book and ask them to do the same. Within one day hundreds or even thousands of people will see that picture.
Amber Alert takes this many steps further with umpteen methods of exposure and updates. Nothing short of microchips implanted at birth and barcode tattoos on the backs of our necks will keep us from losing our loved ones to terrible crimes such as kidnapping. With technology a full-fledged part of our life, growing and improving forever, Amber Alert is a welcome addition to keeping our kids safe.
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=813
Discuss your experiences with Bram
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