Looking for a Web Host

So, I’m currently in the process of creating a website for myself.  This is sort of an experiment.  In an effort to become more internet savvy, I’ve been searching the Internet for a web host that is both reliable and affordable.  Other things I’m taking into consideration are bandwidth and media content availability.

When I began my search I knew almost nothing about available web hosts. So, with very little knowledge to go off of, I searched “top web hosts.”  The first search result was a site listing the “top ten web hosting sites.”  Number one was a site called JustHost.com.  At first glance it appeared to be a remarkable deal.  They offered a special promotional offer at $3.45 per month ($6.95 had a slash through it). The package included Unlimited GBs of Space, Unlimited GBs of Transfer, Unlimited Domain Hosting and an “Anytime Money Back Guarantee.”  It seemed too good to be true, so I checked some reviews of the web host to see if their reputation matched their image.  Unfortunately, many reviews had less than favorable things to say about JustHost.com.  Common complaints included “server crashed often” “terrible customer service – I was put on hold for 40 minutes” and “their money back guarantee is a joke.” I decided to look elsewhere.

One of my instructors at college told me to check out MediaTemple.net.  Although the site looked very professional and even though their system seemed to be extremely reliable, their cheapest plan of $20 per month is currently out of my budget range.  So I continued looking for a web host that wouldn’t break the bank.  After sorting through several other sites with appearances similar to JustHost.com, I finally came to the web host InMotionHosting.com.  Their site looked very professional, like MediaTemple (no obnoxious promotional deals jumping out at you), but they also offered a range of deals, one looks to be just what I’m looking for.  Their packages range from completely Dedicated Servers for $199.95/mo to VPS hosting (Virtual Private Server) for $39.95/mo, as well as Personal hosting for $3.00/mo.  All the reviews I’ve come across were detailed and very positive.  This may be the host I go with.  If anyone has had any experiences with web hosts, let me know – how did it go? Pros and Cons?

Internet

,

May 18, 2010

Leave a comment

‘Starcraft II’ and the gamer subculture

What do the South Koreans have that we (Americans) do not?  Apparently an obsession with an online video game – a national craze that, since the game’s release (over a decade ago), has become a national pastime.  Enter the world of ‘Starcraft,’ a head-to-head online video game that is sweeping across the global gamer community like wildfire.  The beta-version of the long anticipated sequel, ‘Starcraft II’ was recently released.  I have yet to play a round myself, but over the past month or so, two of my roommates have become immersed into this futuristic, real-time-strategy game.

At first glance I thought Starcraft would be just another game for that hardcore, underground-gamer culture.  I likened it to World of Warcraft, another online videogame that has been known to consume people’s lives.  Going with this assumption I decided to stay very far removed from ‘Starcraft II.’  However, by simply being around two gamers I have unintentionally learned a fair amount about the game itself.  Unlike World of Warcraft, each game of Starcraft may only last as long as half an hour.  This is due in part to the game strategy.  It’s a like a race, in the form of a chess game.  Each player must quickly build up their forces, find their opponent’s base, and destroy them, before they destroy you!

Because of the short spurts of non-continuous gameplay, ‘Starcraft II’ has yet to take over my roommate’s lives.  Maybe one day I’ll give it a go.

Gaming

, , ,

May 11, 2010

1 Comment

Looking Forward

The past few months have been very exciting  as I’ve been developing my career plan.  As an audio engineer, the door is still wide open considering all the directions I could go into.  When I first came to IPR, it was the studio spaces that initially caught my eye.  I think of myself as a musician first and foremost.  Playing trombone and writing for the rasta-punk band ‘2 Tone Runts’ has not only been an outlet for my creative efforts, it has also exposed me to the world of Live Sound engineering.  As my Live Sound instructor Jay Fleming has said, the hours may be long and you probably won’t get rich – but for me it’s the love of doing it, of being involved in creating something powerful.

Another career path, which I had not really considered before attending IPR, is the field of Post-Production.  The more I look into it, the more appetizing it becomes.  For one, it is a growing field.  I have also heard from several people that, in the budding Minneapolis film and post scene, visual has come forward tremendously in the past ten years.  Audio however, is lagging behind.  To me this looks like a great opportunity – a void that needs to be filled.

Coming up in June is the annual 48 Hour Film Competition.  For the past few years my cousin Kristin Schaack, her husband Justin Schaack and their team at Above the Line Entertainment have been taking this film competition by storm, often bringing home numerous awards including Audience Favorite.  I always look forward to working with these guys.  Check out their entry from last year>>>

Music

, , , ,

April 25, 2010

1 Comment

W3C: The Web Consortium (It’s worldwide)

The W3C or The Worldwide Web Consortium is an organization founded by Tim Berners-Lee, who is considered by many to be the godfather of the “worldwide web” (a phrase coined by Mr. Berners himself).  Passionate about creating a faster, more efficient information sharing medium, Berners, in the early 90s, wrote the first version of HTML, a computer language that became a universal standard of document formatting on the web.

To this day, Tim Berners and the whole of W3C continue to work of making the Internet better.  The function of the W3C has been to develop protocol and technical standards which, according to the W3Cs website, is designed “to maximize consensus about the content of a technical report, to ensure high technical and editorial quality, and to earn endorsement by W3C and the broader community.”  The W3C also encourages  people to bring their own voice into the discussion.  You can get involved by visiting the participation section of their website: http://www.w3.org/participate/

Internet

, , ,

April 20, 2010

Leave a comment

Gorillaz in the summer heat

For the past two and a half weeks my mind has mostly been occupied with the sights and sounds of “Plastic Beach,” the latest album from the animated group Gorillaz.  Most surprising to me is that few people have heard about it yet.  Maybe some people have forgotten about the band, a partnership between composer Damon Albarn and animator Jamie Hewlett.

It has been five years since the last Gorillaz record.  But never before has a pop record so infectiously kept my attention for so long.  The themes and the sounds combined lead me to believe that this is bound to be a summer record, played out of a boombox poolside.  I predict that “Plastic Beach” will only come to fruition once the first fire hydrant is broken by some group of overheated kids. Here’s a video for the first single off the album entitled ‘Stylo’-

Music

, , , , ,

April 6, 2010

1 Comment

Day 1

Hi there,

My name is Connor and Minneapolis is now my favorite place in the world. Granted I have not seen much of the world, but people keep telling me this is one of the greatest cities in the world.  As an artist, I find the enormous amount of resources available – the ridiculous amount of venues, the festivals, the promoters, and the music lovers of the city – they all contribute to a terribly exciting sense of community that I don’t believe can be found in many other places in the world.  I think I’ll be staying here for a while…

Music

, , , ,

March 30, 2010

1 Comment