Success at last!

 Off Topic  2 Responses »
Dec 312007
 

Well it looks like my domain and website have been successfully transferred to my new web hosting service.

At last all the gyrations I have been going through the past couple of days are over.

Hopefully there won’t be any more bugs* occurring, but even if there should be one or two more, my new found knowledge should help me straighten them out easily.

Anywaze, the best to everyone, and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

*NOTE: It appears that my post notification plug-in is not working, so if you do so happen to get notification of this post, or received several notifications of this post, please let me know.

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 Posted by Marc at 12:48 pm  Tagged with:

This has been a learning experience

 Off Topic  No Responses »
Dec 302007
 

They say experience is the best teacher, and changing web hosting services has easily proven just how much truth there is to that old adage.

When I decided to switch web hosting services, I thought it would be a simple task, with the new web hosting service guiding me, and essentially doing most of the heavy lifting, so to speak.

Well they certainly guided me, but they didn’t do any of the heavy lifting.

But what is so exasperating is there really isn’t much heavy lifting, and the process isn’t that difficult, provided you have all the necessary information before starting the process. It also helps to understand all the terminology involved in domain hosting.

I only wish I knew then, what I know now!

The most important thing I learned is make sure you know who your domain registrar is, and how to log on to yhe registrars website to update all your domain information, including name, address and especially what nameservers (DNS) your domain is pointed to.

Determining your registrar is easy. Simply go to Whois.Net, and type in your domain name. There you will find all sorts of information, including your registrar, your name, and most importantly the domain name servers (DNS).

The harder part is learning how to log on to your registrars site, to update any data. That can be difficult, because it is not unusual for the actual registrar to be different from the registrar referenced in the Whois database. Still all that means is you will need to make an additional call or send an additional email to get that information.

It really is that simple.

One final point, you don’t have to transfer your registrar, something I recommend you don’t do, unless you’re going to save yourself a bunch of money.

I actually knew that, but because of some terminology confusion, and my frustration getting my nameservers pointed to my new web hosting services, I inadvertently did just that.

Still, even that isn’t insurmountable, since I did save some money, but what it did do was lock my domain, so now I can’t change my name servers until the transfer is complete.

So as you might surmise, the transfer of my website to the new hosting service is still not complete, and may not be for another 5 days, until the transfer of my domain name to my new registrar is complete.

At least I finally know what is going on. so I don’t feel so helpless.

Oh well, such is life. The only consolation is I did learn quite a bit, but if I had it to do all over again, I would just stay with my original web hoster.

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 Posted by Marc at 8:03 pm  Tagged with: ,

Changing Web Hosters

 Off Topic  2 Responses »
Dec 282007
 

I have decided to change my web hosting service, due to some problems I have had, and still having, and since the contract with my current hosting service is up next month, this seemed like the perfect time to switch.

So this is just a warning, should the site go down for any length of time, it is probably due to the transfer.

But don’t fret, I will be working night and day to get the site back up with minimal disruption.

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 Posted by Marc at 1:07 pm

Life’s a bitch, and then you die

 Life  1 Response »
Dec 262007
 

Now, while that is true in a lot of cases, life doesn’t have to be a bitch. It can actually be pretty damn good, at least from my perspective, and you’re still going to die. Sometimes sooner than later.

Today I was just reading about Michael Klein, an investment manager dying in a plane crash, while vacationing on his own private island near [in] Panama, along with his 13 year old daughter.

Here’s a man that had pretty much everything going for him. He founded two companies MIBEK Corporation and Transoft Networks, both of which were acquired by other firms, the latter being Hewlett Packard. And most recently he was the CEO of Pacificor, LLC.

Now I didn’t know Michael Klein, nor anything about him before reading this news article, but this just struck me as tragic. He was only 37 years old.

And I only bring it up because it just goes to show how fleeting life really is. We are all vulnerable, and when our time is up, it’s up.

At least he died, I assume based on the article, enjoying himself.

I just hope none of my loyal readers are waiting too long to do the things they’ve always wanted to do, but for one reason or another have been putting off doing.

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 Posted by Marc at 4:53 pm  Tagged with:

US health care at its finest

 Health Care  2 Responses »
Dec 232007
 

In keeping with my complete disdain for the US health care system, I thought I would bring you this very recent story about the death off a teenage leukemia patient.

It’s so easy to surmise from this story, that the sick and infirmed have no place in the US. For if that weren’t the case, then what other possible reason could there be for US citizens continuing to support, and even praise, a system that not only condones the actions of insurance companies, in denying health care to individuals, but actually rewards them for doing just that.

This the most recent example (one of many) involves Cigna Health Care, but it certainly shouldn’t be construed as unique to this company. It is the mission of all health insurers to deny and delay care as long as possible in order to increase profits.

Eventually Cigna did relent, but it took significant protests by 150 people outside the offices of Cigna, and an internet campaign orchestrated by the DailyKos website and other blogs.

In the middle of the rally, a note was handed to Mrs Sarkisyan [the mother] saying that Cigna had decided to reverse its decision.

“Cigna HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant,” it said in a statement.

Unfortunately it didn’t come in time to save the patient.

And the case was not rare or unusual, nor experimental or unproven, as Cigna claimed,

Sarkisyan’s doctors at UCLA medical centre, including the head of its transplant unit, [wrote] a letter to protest that the treatment which they proposed was neither experimental nor unproven.

Cigna just didn’t want to pay for the procedure, because it would effect profits.

But as I indicated before, the patient died, before any money was paid, which ultimately was the intent of the policy. Delay approving care as long as possible, and hope the patient dies. And in this case, it worked to perfection.

That’s good for Cigna profits, and shareholders, it’s just not that good for the patient.

So think you have great insurance, and this can’t happen to you?

If you remain healthy, and never go to the doctor except for routine physical examinations, you’re probably right. But should you get sick, well…… Just how else do you think those insurance companies will be able to maintain those record breaking profits?

[CIGNA] recently posted figures for its third-quarter performance this year, which showed profits up 22%. Next year it expects to earn an income of up to $1.2bn.

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 Posted by Marc at 7:30 pm

Who’d a thunk?

 Cycling, General Health  1 Response »
Dec 212007
 

Lemons and tea go even better together than their popularity might suggest

To get more out of your next cup of tea, just add juice. A study found that citrus juices enable more of green tea’s unique antioxidants to remain after simulated digestion, making the pairing even healthier than previously thought.

Lemon juice caused 80 percent of tea’s catechins to remain, the study found. The study compared the effect of various beverage additives on catechins, naturally occurring antioxidants found in tea.

Results suggest that complementing green tea with either citrus juices or vitamin C likely increases the amount of catechins available for the body to absorb. Although these results are preliminary, I think it’s encouraging that a big part of the puzzle comes down to simple chemistry.

Eating fish is good for you, especially if you drink lots of alcohol.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are just that; an “essential” part of the total fat intake necessary for a healthy human diet.

A new study has found that men who binge drink have substandard intake of n-3 fats (omega-3), indicating poor dietary choices with negative long-term health consequences.

To make matters worse, the requirements for these nutrients actually increase with greater alcohol consumption.

For those who are binge drinkers or those who drink more than one drink per day on average: make sure that you obtain your sources of n-3 fatty acids in the diet, that is, eat more fish.

A small amount of dark chocolate eaten daily is enough to lower blood pressure

That’s what German researchers found when they fed about six grams of dark or white chocolate (equal to about 1½ Hershey’s Kisses) for 18 weeks to 44 middle-aged and older men and women with slightly elevated blood pressure. Those who ate dark chocolate had significant drops in blood pressure.

The above was courtesy of the Velo Allegro Oct-Dec 2007 Quick Release Newsletter.

It just goes to show you, good information can come from anywhere, sometimes even from unexpected sources.

Maybe Lance was right, It’s Not [just] About the Bike.

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 Posted by Marc at 12:55 pm
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