What is it about social media that seems to captivate the masses? Could it be the sharing of tweets? Or is it the desire to be “liked” on Facebook? Whatever the case, the students at the University of Central Florida certainly seem to know and value its worth hence the reason HostDime’s esteemed marketing team is preparing for another visit to the Orlando campus.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2012,  HostDime.com, Inc. will oversee and administer another one its signature Social Media Marketing Workshops in an effort to help UCF students better promote themselves on social media platforms such as Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Several representatives from the company’s marketing team will be on hand to give an informative presentation in the Student Union, room 218ab at 10:00 am.

Among the marketing team members speaking at the event will be Clayton Pritchard, HostDime’s Internet Marketing Coordinator. For Pritchard, the event holds significance. He said that he believes utilizing social media is a must in this day and age.

“Social media is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to market oneself,” said Pritchard, who has been with the company for over a year. “We wish to help the student organizations at UCF better market themselves using social media techniques. We also want to deepen our relationship with the university through events such as this one and others that we have planned for the future.”

Pritchard said he believes the workshop will turn out to be a success. The event is part of KoRT’s leadership workshop series. Individuals looking to attend should arrive early. The presentation will begin promptly, and will conclude an hour later.

“Social media is undoubtedly fundamental,” Pritchard said. “We wish to enlighten the students and leave them feeling knowledgeable of these wonderful platforms.”

In an effort to streamline and simplify its services, Google has recently announced its plans to combine the privacy policies from over 60 products into one unified and surprisingly short privacy policy. The new policy, taking effect March 1st, clearly outlines what kind of information the company collects from its users, how they obtain it, and what they use it for. Google also announced that the new policy will allow them to seamlessly share this information across their wide array of services, creating a smarter and more efficient browsing experience. Many seem to think that the search giant is being too careless with their personal information, however, and are subsequently facing strong opposition from not only users, but Congress as well.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Common Sense Media chief executive James Steyer called the new privacy sharing policy, “frustrating and a little frightening,” pointing out that users are unable to completely opt out of the data collecting practices that Google uses. A few members of Congress are equally concerned and wondering if this new policy is simply a strategy to create more finely tuned online advertisements. Last week they asked the FTC to investigate the matter, citing that this new practice may violate a settlement reached last year over Google’s (now defunct) Buzz social network. Investigations are still pending.

Google was quick to point out that it’s not changing what kind information it collects, but rather how they use that information,

“With these changes, the privacy policy will be easier to read, and will help us create one beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google products and services. The new privacy policy makes it clear that if you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services — helping us treat you as a single user across all our products.”

We covered what the Google+ social network can do for your business, but now Google is taking it a step further. In their promotional video, they explained how this new system would benefit an individual in the real world. For example, say you have an appointment scheduled in Google Calendar. Based on the GPS location of your mobile phone and the current traffic conditions in your area, Google may send you a reminder, warning you that you are running late.

Google went on to state that by sharing your information across all of their services, a user’s browsing experience will be greatly improved. For instance, based on your previous search history, Google will be able to tell if a user that searches the word “jaguar” actually means Jaguar the car versus jaguar the feline. It would also mean that when that user visits the YouTube homepage, they may be greeted by videos of Jaguar test drives instead of keyboard playing cats.

Although tailoring search results based on your personal interests sounds convenient, there are some that warn about the effects of such a system. Eli Pariser, author of “The Filter Bubble,” believes that there is a fundamental switch in how information flows online. He states that companies such as Google and Facebook are using your private information to only show you information that they think is relevant to you.

“[Filter bubbles] are the gates we erect through which information about the world comes,” he said. “With Facebook, Google and personalized news services weighting search results according to our interests, we are living more within filter bubbles than ever before.”

So for example, a conservative political activist may only receive search results and news articles pertaining to their political party of choice, and nothing about the other. This, in effect, creates a filter bubble for that individual, limiting the visible information to only a single point of view.

If this sounds like something you would rather avoid happening to you, there are some ways to avoid Google’s data gathering techniques. Gizmodo provided a few steps one can take:

1. Are your ads too personal? Click on Ads Preferences Manager, then click “Opt Out” under “Ads in Search and Gmail”, and then again under “Ads on the Web”.
2. Is your search too personal? Go to the gear in the top right corner of your screen (on any Google search result page) click search settings, and then click “Do not use personal results.” You will no longer see biased search results based on you and your friend’s interests.
3. Is your Android phone too personal? Backup you’re important data (such as contacts, pics, and video) then factory reset your phone. When the initial boot screen comes up, simply skip the Google registration wizard. You will still be able to use everything on the phone, except for the Android Marketplace.

Of course, the only way to completely stop Google from gathering and sharing your personal information is to stop using the service altogether. It’s really a question of convenience versus security. How much of your information are you willing to share? One thing is for sure, Google is undoubtedly the most prolific and advanced search engine on the web. Their services like Gmail and YouTube are revolutionary and are used by millions around the world. Would you be willing to sacrifice a measure of your privacy in order to reap the benefits of these services? It’s your decision to make and now you know what’s at stake if you choose to stick with Google.

How do you feel about Google’s new privacy polices? Will you stick with Google given this information? Let us know by sharing your comments in the box below, or by sounding off on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page, or by tweeting us at @HostDime.

Getting to work on time used to be esteemed when it came to corporate policies and procedures. Nowadays getting to work in style is what is appreciated. With all of the glitz and glam of new pristine motor vehicles, some can forget that technology can play a key role when it comes to automobiles. In fact, most businesspersons would be hard pressed to find a vehicle that doesn’t utilize technology in some way, shape or form. So, what are some of the latest innovations when it comes to means of transportation?

You’d be surprised.

One thing is for certain – the technology in cars has certainly come a long way since the pivotal debut of automobiles in the 16^th century. According to Discovery, the first self-propelled car was built in 1769 and utilized steam engine technology along with a three-wheeled cart to achieve walking speed. 1890 was the year that Wilhelm Maybach constructed the first four-cylinder, four-stroke engine, and just three years later he created the spray-nozzle carburetor which was the basis for modern carburetor technology. This newfound innovation would be utilized in 1903 when the Ford Motor Company was formed to soon become the world’s biggest automobile manufacturer.

Nowadays, the minds behind Ford technology strive to push the boundaries of what a vehicle can do. To that end, they’ve been cooking up quite a few innovations including SYNC, an ultramodern touch screen device, such as one of the groundbreaking tablet computers of today, that is built into some Ford automobiles enabling drivers to stay informed and entertained with personalized news, stocks, and sports scores. Incoming phone calls can be displayed on the SYNC screen located on the dashboard, and drivers can also have incoming text messages read aloud by a computerized voice.

Knight Rider, this isn’t.

In addition to SYNC, Ford also offers BLIS, which is short for Blind Spot Information System, cutting-edge technology that uses radar at the rear of the vehicle to detect an automobile in a blind-spot zone. Furthermore, new smart performance gasoline technology – who knew there was such a thing? – improves peak power and provides gains in low-speed torque which is especially good for businesspersons who prefer sportscars.

However, Ford isn’t the only automotive company that is cooking up new technology. Toyota has been conducting energy research, and is also improving on its advanced vehicle technology. So far, the company has been accelerating the development of its Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, cars that reduce CO2 emissions and are environmentally-sensitive. Meanwhile, the minds at Honda have been perfecting their fuel-efficient 700cc engines for midsize motorcycles. According to Honda Worldwide, the fuel economy exceeds 27km/L, best in the mid-class range, and achieves an approximate forty percent improvement over other sports models in its class. Needless to say, businessmen won’t exactly have to worry about being late to business meetings and presentations.

So, with all of this new automotive technology on the horizon, one has to wonder – how is it good for business? Well, aside from the obvious reason of being able to get from point A to point B, there are other explanations why automotive technology can be good for businesspersons. For starters, vehicles that are equipped with Bluetooth capability can be beneficial for industrious executives that are constantly on the move. GPS navigation can be valuable for the harried personal assistant trying to locate the right coffee shop to pick up the espresso for her demanding boss. Heated seats can be advantageous for corporate professionals driving in colder cities, and vehicular hardware such as OnStar can provide features such as roadside assistance and automatic crash response to businessmen and businesswomen whose minds can be elsewhere.

Without a doubt, technology has definitely been playing a key role in how automobiles are designed today. To that end, the question remains – what does the future hold?

Well, Toyota scientists and developers believe that hydrogen holds great potential as a clean, renewable fuel. Their goal is to bring a fuel cell-hybrid vehicle to market by 2015 and have been busy testing vehicles that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Furthermore, Mashable believes that autonomous cars are on the horizon – where drive control will be optional.

Regardless of what the future may hold, one thing is for certain – automobiles are here to stay. Innovations are being discovered and perfected every day, and with automotive manufacturers now utilizing the latest in technology to perfect their crafts, businessperson can expect nothing but the best.

Now, how’s that for being fast and furious?

Do you appreciate the technology found in today’s automobiles? Are you looking forward to further innovations? What is your favorite gizmo in your vehicle? Let us know by sharing your comments in the box below, or by sounding off on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page, or by tweeting us at @HostDime.

Any business expert knows that consultation is vital when it comes to effective communication within a company. To that end, it pays to organize and accommodate business meetings that are efficient. In order to do this, it can sometimes come down to the execution. In this day and age, both hardware and software can play a key role in getting one’s point across during an executive conference. So, what are some things to utilize when making your strategic presentation to clients?

In addition to our five tips for writing for business and our pointers on what to avoid when it comes to crafting successful business blogs, we’ve decided to analyze what goes into preparing the perfect business meeting, and what technology to use in order to come out on top. When it comes to conferences and corporate exhibitions, most business professionals and industry executives think of PowerPoint, the non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. While PowerPoint is indeed effective at demonstrating statistics and goals for one’s company, it isn’t the only software out there to get the job done.

Some individuals actually prefer Prezi, a cloud-based presentation software launched in 2009, that is notable for its zooming user interface. Prezi offers three main products – Prezi Desktop which gives businesspersons the ability to edit presentations on their own PC, Mac or Linux systems, Prezi Meeting which allows executives to edit, create and show presentations with others in real time, and Prezi Viewer for iPad which grants corporate professionals the ability to show presentations on their Apple tablets, which could be another deciding factor for those deciding to choose between tablets and laptops. Of course, to do all of this, users will have to register online at prezi.com.

Apple certainly seems to be the go-to source for presentations with their array of tablets, and it also doesn’t hurt that there are apps designed to help in the process. Mashable recently comprised a list of 11 business related iPad apps for meetings in an effort to eliminate dragging around stacks of files and folders to such conferences. Among the apps chosen for their list were Power Presenter, an app that lets users display a presentation that has been converted to a PDF file, mbPointerHD which lets users transform their iPad into a remote control to command the computer with the presentation, and Instaviz, an app that enables users to create charts.

While having meetings in person tend to be preferred, some may favor meetings on the go by use of video conferencing and desktop sharing. For the businessperson that happens to constantly be on the move, there are such tools as Mikogo, a website designed for online meetings, web conferencing, online presentations and webinars. In addition to this, there’s always Skype and OoVoo which have proven to be an asset in video conferencing.

Consultation via computer isn’t anything new in terms of business. On the contrary, marketing and communication can sometimes thrive through email, and social media tools such as Google+ have been evidenced as being ideal for business. Still, whichever method of meeting you choose for your presentation, your goal should always be to be as professional as possible. By utilizing the right software and hardware during your business meeting, you will be sure to leave a lasting impression.

Meeting adjourned.

What kind of software do you use during your business meetings? Which kind of business meetings do you prefer — in person or via video? Let us know by sharing your comments in the box below, or by sounding off on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page, or by tweeting us at @HostDime.

The American education system is broken. This should come as no surprise, seeing as how this system has essentially remained unchanged since the country was first founded. Due to this largely ineffective and archaic method of pedagogy, the majority of students have started to fall behind other industrialized nations. A recent study shows that out of 30 countries tested, American students ranked 25th and 21st in math and science, respectively.

The study went on to point out many other troubling statistics, such as the fact that up to 68 percent of eighth graders cannot read or write at their grade level, and most will never catch up. The dropout rate in the U.S. is also at an all-time high. More than 1.2 million students will drop out of school each year — that’s one dropout every 26 seconds.

These troubling numbers have serious effects on the nation’s economy. Dropouts from 2007 alone will cost the U.S. more than $300 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity. This stagnation with America’s youth seems to be affecting the post-secondary education system as well. The CEO of Khush, Perna Gupta (guest writing for TechCrunch), believes that because of the deficiencies with primary and secondary schools, there is a tendency to overvalue higher education.

“It’s because our primary and secondary education systems suck and are thus shifting the burden of educating our population to college. Of much greater concern to me … is that 18 years of almost every American life [is] wasted learning nothing in primary and secondary public schools,” she said.

So what’s the solution? Many think that technology needs to start playing a much bigger role in education. Of course this is not a new concept. Technology has been around in pedagogical circles since the abacus, but recent advancements in technology are starting to significantly change the way in which educators are teaching their students. Introducing technology in the classroom is a strategy called “blended learning.” As a company HostDime, having a close relationship with the University of Central Florida, always exercises the blended learning approach during our student workshops on campus.

A few progressive school districts in the U.S. (specifically in L.A. and Chicago) have adopted the blended learning approach, and in large part thanks to Apple and its innovative educational tools such as the iPad.

Apple’s iPad has been playing a progressively larger role in classrooms around the country. John Connolly, Chicago Public School’s Education Technology Director, has led an initiative to purchase 6,000 iPad’s for Chicago students.

“It is difficult to keep students motivated in school, and keep them engaged in the curriculum,” Connolly said. “You put the iPad in front of them, and you’ll see the kids focus immediately on that content and start working through it…I really believe that this is the future of education.”

Wired’s Tim Carmody believes that the engaging aspect of the iPad is what has made it so successful in the classroom.

“Engagement is a big word in education,” Carmody said. “It combines both objective participation and subjective emotion. It’s one of the few psychological terms in education that links students, teachers and content. So it’s not surprising that…the iPad [is] a tool for education.”

There are an estimated 1.5 million iPad’s in educational institutions already, each having the ability to utilize an impressive collection of 20,000 scholastic applications. At a recent news conference in New York, Apple unveiled their newest additions to their educational software library.

The newly revamped iTunes U software will now act as less of a podcast and more of a learning management application (think Blackboard for iOS). This extremely popular app (downloaded over 700 million times) will allow teachers to post assignments and blog entries while incorporating material from other native Apple apps and sharing that information with their students.

In an effort to “reinvent the textbook” Apple also announced the release of iBooks 2. This feature rich application will allow students to interact with textbooks though the iPad. They will be able to highlight text, make electronic notecards, and take quizzes all through the device.

None of this functionality would mean anything if there wasn’t engaging content to interact with. Apple’s answer to this is iBooks Author. Touted as the “Garage band for e-readers,” Author is an intuitive software program that allows anyone to easily create textbooks for use on the iPad. During the news conference, Apple’s Roger Rosner highlighted the importance of this ground breaking software, “Traditionally, creating electronic interactive books has been really hard. We can fix that.”

Once an e-book is authored, it can be sold in the iBookstore. Individual user created e-books will have some stiff competition though as Apple has teamed up with big name publishers such as Pearson, McGraw Hill, DK Publishing, and Houghton Mifflin, each promising to sell their e-books for an astonishingly low price of $14.99 or less. As any college student can attest, textbooks nowadays can easily cost north of $200. At this low price, Apple stands to shift the paradigm of textbook publishers around the world.

So is Apple the answer to America’s education crisis? Not exactly. There will clearly have to be a dramatic effort made on all sides of the equation to have a major effect. We will need more than a single company to update our archaic and largely ineffective educational system. That begin said, no one can deny Apple’s impact on education thus far. Classrooms using Apple products have seen performance gains of 50-60 percent across multiple subjects, and students have also been able to raise their skills by an average of 1.4 grade levels.

It may not be too late for our public primary and secondary schools to adopt a new method of teaching, giving the youth of our country a fighting chance against other emerging superpowers. Hopefully others will take a cue from Apple and realize that there are many improvements that can, and in some cases need, to be made.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s efforts to improve our educational system? Please let us know by sharing your comments in the box below, tweeting us at @HostDime, or posting on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page.

Last week, you were just going along planning the same old Search Engine Optimization (SEO) game, making sure your website was optimized so that search engines would rank it highly in search results. You were making sure you had a good keyword density and high quality backlinks. Then, Google comes along and throws you a curveball, Search plus Your World. Google updated Google Search by adding a deeper integration of Google+ into search results including suggesting “People and Pages on Google+” to add to your Google+ circles based on your search query. In one fell swoop, Google has completely changed SEO.

When Google+ Brand Pages first came out, we gave you some tips on the best way to use them, and why making a Google+ Page for your business should be a high priority in your marketing plan. However, now it has to be a must because just like we expected, Google has integrated Google+ profiles and posts into search results. This means you could jump high in the results based on your Google+ Page even if your website might appear lower in the rankings.

This boost in ranking could be Google-wide based on the total number of +1’s (Google’s version of “liking” something on Facebook) your page and website have received or by appearing in the “People and Pages on Google+” suggestion box on the right. It can also boost your ranking on a person to person basis: if a user’s Google+ connection has shared something from your page or website on the social media network, you will show up higher in their results. Not only does this change give you the ability to receive better rankings in Google Search, it also gives you a recommendation as people are searching for you or the product/service you offer. This comes in the form of +1’s located in search results. These recommendations could lead someone to do business with you purely on the fact that one of their Google+ connections has recommended you.

What to do to make sure you aren’t left behind?

You must now treat your Google+ Page similarly to your website and optimize it.

Keywords: You need to make sure your “Introduction” on your Google+ Page contains your targeted keywords (example: for us, those keywords are web hosting, colocation, dedicated servers, etc.). Those same keywords need to be in your posts as well. However, you do not want it to be blatant keyword stuffing. It needs to be natural because Google may push your page down for doing blatant keyword stuffing and it is still a social media profile–you want people to continue to follow your page. Obvious keyword stuffing can cause users to stop following you.

Followers: Think of your Google+ followers as social media’s version of backlinks. The more followers you have, the more credible Google will perceive you to be. However, it’s not just about the quantity of followers, but the quality as well. More well followed people, like  Britney Spears with 1.5 million followers of her own, carry more weight than users with only 10 of their own followers. This works similarly to how Google gives more weight to backlinks to your website from universities or other websites that are very credible.

Content Creation: Similarly to how you would create a great blog post that people would link to, you must create content on your Google+ Page that will cause interaction with your followers. You want to create content that your followers will comment on, +1, and, most importantly, reshare.

Effect on Google Search Results

There is a complaint by some that the integration of Google+ into search results has made some results no longer helpful. This is caused by Google+ posts sometimes being shown that are not related to the search query. Why this might be true for some searches, it still makes Google+ a great tool for marketers to take advantage of. Google has now forced the hand of marketers into using Google+.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Google+ into Google Search and the change it makes for SEO as we know it? Please let us know by sharing your comments in the box below, tweeting us at @HostDime, or posting on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page.

One of the largest and most prominent consumer electronics conventions in the world is the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), hosted in Las Vegas every January. Over the course of the four day convention, major manufacturers unveil their newest and most groundbreaking products. So far, this year has been no exception, with companies showcasing everything from heart beat monitoring watches to $30,000 iPod docks.

An always popular area of interest for many consumers is the newest type of television related technology. Over the last few years, the television industry has been primarily focused around 3D. While still holding a sizeable portion of the market, the once red hot 3D TV idea has mostly fizzled with consumers due to lack of 3D programming and those ridiculous looking glasses. This undoubtedly left many consumers wondering what comes next. After all, there’s nothing shocking about a huge screen that’s less than an inch thick nowadays.

Many manufactures are taking a different approach at this year’s CES and are showcasing what they call “Smart TV’s” that will connect to and integrate with your existing Internet connection. This is not an entirely new concept, however. If you have ever connected a TV screen to your computer or laptop to watch a show or movie, you have essentially implemented this approach. What is new and noteworthy are the service providers that are trying to make this easier than ever before. Companies you may have heard of before, like Google and Apple, are making some headway to try and change the way you watch TV.

Some of these manufacturers are integrating their services directly into the TV itself, while others are pushing their proprietary set-top boxes that connect your TV to the Internet. Whichever service you choose, the idea is the same – the TV or box scours the web for free video feeds, aggregating and listing all of your favorite shows into a convenient and easy to use interface. The most appealing aspect of this approach is that you can theoretically watch all of your TV without a monthly cable fee.

In the US, roughly 145 million people watch video online. That figure should come as no surprise due to the proliferation of broadband Internet throughout the US. It’s still only half of the number of people that watch traditional TV, however (~290 million). The contrasts between the two mediums become even more apparent when you look at the amount of time the average individual spends on the Internet when compared to conventional television. When reviewing data from a 2011 survey done by Nielsen, Erick Schonfeld from TechCrunch states:

“… Americans spend an average of 32 hours and 47 minutes a week watching traditional TV. They only spend an average of three hours and 58 minutes a week on the Internet, and only 27 minutes a week watching video online. All those billions of videos watched online still only represent 1.4 percent of the time spent watching traditional TV.”

However, the gap is closing quickly and ditching cable for Internet based TV has become a growing trend among consumers. These “cord-cutters” as they have been called, are leaving the big name cable and dish providers in favor of services such as Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes. A survey conducted by Deloitte reports that nine percent of respondents say that they have already cut the cord, and up to 11 percent more are at least thinking about doing it. Their survey continues to show that up to nine million people say they have stopped paying for cable TV entirely. That’s roughly the population of New Jersey.

These numbers are expected to increase in the very near future. Content providers on the Internet realize that the key to attracting a larger user base is offering more content – many programs can only be viewed via premium cable packages and are simply not available online (legally anyway). But this is quickly changing. YouTube and Hollywood have recently struck a deal that outlines their plans for a new YouTube “Channels” service which will feature big names like Jay-Z and Madonna. Even Tom Hanks plans to debut a 20 episode animated series to be released exclusively on Yahoo.

Thinking about cutting the cord? You have a few options. The wisest of these may be GoogleTV, which adopted the same strategy it used for its Android based phones. GoogleTV can already be preinstalled on many SmartTVs or it can be purchased as a standalone box. If you’re a fan of Apple products, then AppleTV may be your default choice. While it acts like more of a storefront for purchasing media, it does integrate with your existing iTunes account so this option would naturally appeal to those that already have a large iTunes library. The lesser known competitors in this arena are arguably Roku and Boxee (manufactured by D-Link). Both offer small hardware boxes that connect the Internet directly to your TV.

Each of these products will allow you to access and organize all of your favorite steaming media in one place and view it on your hi-def TV. However, the question still remains – is a Smart TV (or its related products) worth the investment? Would you ever consider ditching cable for Internet based TV? How much would you miss your cable company’s long list of programming that cannot be accessed over the Internet?

All of these are questions to ponder before deciding to cut the cord. One thing is sure – as budgets continue to dwindle during this economic downturn, consumers will be looking for more cost effective alternatives to access their favorite shows and movies. The Internet is more than capable of storing and distributing content to television sets across the world, and as seen at this year’s CES event, manufacturers are more than willing to integrate that functionality into their products. It’s up to content providers and studios to take what’s on the silver screen, shrink it, and deliver it over the Internet so that consumers can enjoy it at home.

If they are unable to, this “Smart TV” fad may be even shorter lived than the 3D craze before it.

Do you think SmartTVs are here to stay? Do you have any experience with them so far? Let us know by sharing your comments in the box below, or by sounding off on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page, or by tweeting us at @HostDime.

Guess who’s back? Just when you thought he had vanished, HostDime’s beloved mascot Alex has returned for another round of old fashioned hide and seek! That’s right, folks. Alex has now disappeared to yet another geographical location. The question is…which one?

Back by popular demand, the “Where’s Alex?” contest is once again providing HostDime users with the chance to win some quintessential HostDime swag. How well can you pinpoint Alex’s location? Inquiring minds want to know! In order to participate, we need the landmark and city! That shouldn’t be too difficult, right? Simply follow the instructions below:

Step 1: Make sure that you are one of our esteemed HostDime clients who currently have a shipping address located within the United States.

Step 2: ‘Like’ our Facebook page, add us on Google+, and ‘Follow’ our Twitter account.

Step 3: We will first post a link to a specific photo – through our Facebook and Twitter – of Alex standing in front of a famous landmark.

Step 4: If you figure out Alex’s location (city and landmark), simply submit your answer to this link.

Step 5: Once your answer has been submitted, you will need to either Tweet:

“I have just Submitted my Answer for the @HostDime #WheresAlex contest! (link to this blog)”

…or post this Facebook Comment underneath the “Where’s Alex” post on our wall:

“I have just Submitted my Answer to HostDime’s ‘Where’s Alex’ contest! (link to this blog)”

Obviously, the first image posted will have recognizable details cropped out to make the contest a bit more of a challenge. We have to have fun too, you know! Even if someone posts the correct answer, no one will be able to see it due to the fact that it will only be viewed by HostDime.

We will continue to post clearer, larger photos on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the week. Since we have decided to give everyone a chance to mention Alex’s location, you will have a better chance of winning if you post the comment onto both your Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Once the contest finishes on Thursday, HostDime will put the names of the contestants who correctly solved the puzzle into a hat to randomly select a winner. Answering as early as possible will only increase your chances of winning. Here’s how…

• 1^st Day of the Contest: All participants who answer correctly will have four names put into the hat. | 4x the chance of winning!
• 2^nd Day of the Contest: Winners of the day will have three names dropped into the hat each. | 3x the chance of winning!
• 3^rd Day of the Contest: Contestants who have the correct answer will be able to have two names in the hat for the raffle. | 2x the chance of winning!
• 4^th Day of the Contest: The last winners will only have one name dropped into the hat. | Hey, you still get a chance of winning!

The winner of the contest will be rewarded by being announced on our Faceback page, Twitter account, HD Connect newsletter, and brand new Google+ page! We’ll also be sending you your HostDime swag via the postal service free of charge. How cool is that?

So, with that being said and done, let’s begin! Here is the second photo in the contest. Based upon the image below, tell us… where’s Alex?

How can I keep my web hosting account safe from hackers, scammers and spammers?
The question is a good one and especially important if you’ve purchased shared hosting, since what effects your account can also end up affecting others. Keep in mind that the following tips are general in nature and don’t discuss programming techniques, if you are the sort to write your own code.

So what can you do to help keep your data and your account safe?

First you need to realize that it doesn’t matter if you’re only planning on hosting a small site with pictures of your dog to share with family and friends. Hackers, scammers and spammers do not care. Your account can be put to good use no matter how small it is once it has been found and exploited. Even if you keep your site off of search engines, your site can and will be found by nefarious individuals.

1) Don’t place files or directories into your site’s web root (public_html) if you aren’t actively using them. Remove old files and directories as soon as you are finished with them. A lot of people make the mistake of leaving old scripts, files and directories in place after their site no longer needs those items. Hackers, scammers and spammers may be able to use this old or forgotten content to compromise your site. However, they cannot exploit these items if they aren’t hosted on your site anymore. This is why it is critical that you regularly look through your site for old content that is no longer needed. This advice also applies to other content and features on your site.

2) Have you stopped using a database? Remove it.

3) Did you retire your e-mail account in favor of a new one? Delete it once you are sure you don’t need it.

4) Is there a subdomain you no longer need? Get rid of it and be sure to remove the directory the subdomain’s content was stored in, too. Scammers love to exploit scripts and other content to install mini phishing sites and then use those sites to collect people’s sensitive data or use your account to send out spam. If you do nothing else, take this to heart, because HostDime has to help people all the time who have had their sites exploited because of some old piece of content that they weren’t even using any more. It is so much easier to spend a little time now to keep your account safe than it is to clean it up and secure it after it has been exploited. If you haven’t really taken a look at the files on your site lately, please do so now.

5) Don’t ever leave files and directories with write and execute permissions (777 permissions) in your web root. A lot of people don’t really think about it too much, but leaving directories and files that are readable and writable by others or other scripts is dangerous. Many hackers, spammers and scammers exploit insecure scripts to place and run files from your web hosting account.

6) Treat all scripts and files as if they are dangerous. You should treat all scripts as if they are exploitable, because they are. Even a script that has undergone extensive security testing by independent third parties and the developers can be exploited. New bugs and security flaws are found every day and your previously secure script may now be at risk.

7) Backup your data regularly! I cannot begin to stress how important this is for the safety and security of your site. How often you back up depends on your comfort level and with how often the content on your site changes. If you have forums that are visited regularly and you don’t want to lose posts, backing up the changed data every day is important. However, if you don’t have any dynamic content on your site or if you can live with losing a certain amount of data, perhaps weekly or even monthly backups will do. Regardless, be sure to always make a backup any time you install or remove any data, just to be safe.

8 ) Keep up with security and bug fix releases for all scripts that you use. However, do not upgrade to major new versions right away. Just because the scripts you use are secure and working well now does not mean that everything will remain that way forever. You need to regularly monitor the web sites of the developers of any scripts you use. Watch for security and bug fix patches and smaller point (0.0.x) releases. You should not wait to install these. Do so as soon as you can. Hackers look for slightly outdated versions with a confirmed security flaw and try to exploit it, often on the same day a new release is out or sometimes even earlier than that. On the other hand, try to avoid major new releases (x.0.0 or 0.x.0) for a while. These new releases often have new, untested code and patches to fix security flaws and bugs will be forthcoming shortly.

9) Use secure, hard to guess passwords at all times. This is another sometimes painful, but important, step you should take to keep your data safe. Don’t use the same password everywhere and make sure you don’t use recognizable words or other data that can be guessed (like your birthday or dog’s name). Make sure the passwords are long and include both letters and numbers (and where possible non-alphanumeric characters or upper and lowercase letters). Ideally, you should change your passwords periodically and not leave a written record around for someone to steal.

10) Don’t put your unobscured e-mail address anywhere on the web. If you must post an e-mail address in a public place where others can see it, be sure to obscure it from spam bots. The best way to do this is to write your address in a way that humans can figure out, but that spam bots won’t understand. For example:

aric at hostdime dot com
or
aric*REMOVETHISPART*@*REMOVETHISPART*hostdime.*REMOVETHISPART*com

11) Avoid use of contact forms. Although there are some contact form scripts that are reasonably secure, spammers and scammers often find ways to turn even small errors in the contact form code into a springboard to send thousands of spam and scam e-mails, perhaps without your knowledge (until it is too late).

12) Avoid setting up and using “obvious” e-mail addresses. Your first instinct may be to set up an e-mail address like “sales@…” or “contact@…” but try to avoid this if you can. Spammers latch onto these e-mail addresses quickly once they realize the domain is active. If you need to have a sales e-mail address, try using the name of the employee who is responsible for sales or some variation on the “sales” theme. For example:

salesmysite@…
or
salesoperators@…

This isn’t going to stop spammers, but it will make it more difficult for them to find these e-mail addresses to spam them, especially if you follow the tips above about obscuring e-mail addresses.

13) Set your catchall (default) e-mail address to :fail: HostDime has special anti-dictionary attack tools in place that will stop spammers from finding all the active e-mail addresses in your account, but only if you set your default e-mail address in cPanel to :fail: (this should not be confused with your contact address in cPanel, which we use to contact you in case of problems with your account).

The items discussed in this post are not meant to be exhaustive, but if you follow them you will keep your account and data much safer than if you ignore these tips. We strongly encourage you to follow these practices regularly to help avoid data loss and account suspension.

Of course if you think your account may have been hacked or used by a spammer or scammer it is important to open a ticket via your CORE account and let us know of the issue so we can investigate.

Interested in more information on this topic? A fuller, more complete version of this article can be seen here.

Aric P. is Manager of Linux Advanced Support for HostDime.com and has been monitoring HostDime.com systems at our Datacenter since 2003. Let us know if you have any questions by sharing your comments in the box below, or by sounding off on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page, or by tweeting us at @HostDime.

In July, we launched our brand new Affiliate Referral Program. It is an easy program that rewards you for referring people to HostDime by paying you! You can be paid in account credits or through Paypal even if you are not a HostDime client.

The program is simple for you to start and use. Through the “Referrals” link in your Core account, you can obtain your unique affiliate ID that is attached to custom links and banners. When someone clicks on your link or banner, a 60-day cookie will be placed on the visitor’s computer for tracking purposes. If they purchase a web hosting plan within the 60 days, you will receive commission for the purchase. The commission rates range from $25 for a shared web hosting package to $100 for a dedicated web hosting package. For more information on commission rates, visit the Affiliates page.

Recently, we have made some great updates to the Affiliate Program to make it even easier for you. First, we have placed the sales report on the main referrals page along with the impressions for easy access. Also, the banners are better organized, by the type of hosting along with your referral URL at the top of every banner page. Furthermore, you have the ability to now convert your payable credits into credits to use towards your HostDime web hosting invoices under the “Billing” and “Account Credits” section in your Core profile. Finally, the last big improvement is a brand new Affiliate Program “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” page so that you may have any of your initial questions answered more easily and conveniently.

If you haven’t started with the Affiliate Referral Program, what’s stopping you? It’s really simple to set up and takes very little work from you. Place a banner or link on your website and that’s it! If you want to be really proactive, you can tweet your link out to all of your followers or post it on Facebook for all of your friends in need of a new web hosting company. It is definitely worth your time because you could make hundreds of dollars!

If you have any questions, please feel free to open up a ticket with us. We will be glad to help you!

We are always trying to make the affiliate experience better for you. Please let us know of any new other features you would like to see by sharing your comments in the box below, tweeting us at @HostDime, or posting on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page.