So you want decent web hosting for your site but you don’t want to pay through the nose to get it.
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Just sit your coupon-clipping butt down and listen to Cory’s own 3 step web hosting solution.
- Find a web host offering a good 1-year deal. - This actually isn’t as hard as it sounds. There are plenty of hosting companies out there all eagerly trying to get you “hooked” on their hosting. The first hit is .. not free, but cheap. Last year I found a deal with Dreamhost at $22 for 1 year including domain name registration. This year, Netfirms offered the same, but with two free domains instead of just one (the offer is expired now). These deals aren’t hard to find if you know where to look. RetailMeNot.com can help you find discount codes and special offers.
- When the year is over, repeat step 1. - You’ll probably need to find a different host for each successive year. The point of their deals is to draw in new clients, then charge them full price when they renew their hosting. Luckily for you, there are plenty of hosting companies out there.
- Transfer your old site to your new host. - Copy and paste files. Export databases. Make sure any links are updated. Don’t forget to transfer the domain name as well. If you wait until after the registration expires, someone else could snap up your domain before you have the chance to renew it.
But wait, you say. Surely there won’t always be some amazing 1-year deal out there. That’s where NearlyFreeSpeech.net comes in. They offer hosting for just pennies a day. You pay for exactly what you use and nothing more. Also, you prepay for hosting so you’re guaranteed not to get burned if your site hits Digg or Slashdot. Just throw $10 on your account until you can find the next 1-year hosting deal. Then switch again. They’ll even refund any extra money you don’t use. If you run a small site, like a low-traffic blog, you may want to just stick with NearlyFreeSpeech. They really are that cheap.
The blog is back with a new host and a new look!
<pause for the sound of no one caring>
Sometimes I think the only people who still read this blog are search engine spiders and email harvest bots.
It’s been about a year since I started this site and the posting rate has definitely gone downhill. I used to post once every few days, then once a week, then once every two weeks, then once every three weeks. The last time I updated this blog was over a month ago. I mentioned something about posting once a week. Yeah.. that didn’t work out. This time I’m serious though. I will post at least once per week and yes, you can hold me to that. Hey, it worked for Shawn (for a month anyways).
So sit tight. You’re in for more impassioned rants, more crazy adventures, and more posts about nothing in particular.
Edit: Someone pointed out that I took down the “free music” section. It’s true. The music is gone. I decided not to keep it on the site ’cause it was being abused. After the link to the folder hit the tubes, some mp3 indexing sites caught wind of my free music stash and started spreading links to the individual files around the internet. I don’t really mind providing free music to my visitors, but it was just a lawsuit waiting to happen. I think the music used something like 50 gigabytes of bandwidth every 24 hours. That’s roughly ten thousand song downloads a day.
Blusson Hall is officially my new favorite building at SFU. Sometimes I find myself going five or ten minutes out of my way just to go there and get some work done. It’s one of the only buildings at the school where I can actually focus.
The first thing it has going for it is the lack of students. The massive building houses the Faculty of Health Sciences, which is kind of like having a full size stadium dedicated to a little league soccer. The place is empty, and I like it that way. It’s not that I don’t like people. It’s just that I don’t like them around when I’m trying to concentrate.
Adding to the ambiance is the cold, sterile feel of the interior. Everything is made of either glass, concrete or polished pine. A few benches and plants are sparsely distributed throughout the place. I don’t know much about interior design or architecture, but the rooms here the rooms and hallways here have “just enough” space.
My only complaint is that the place is eco-friendly to the point of being annoying. I’m in one of the study spaces right now writing this. The building decided to turn off the lights because I haven’t moved enough in the last five minutes. I’m just sitting here in darkness right now. If the building wants it to be dark here, who am I to argue with it?
It’s not as if the place is dingy though. There are massive windows everywhere offering views of the inner courtyard.
The wireless is plentiful. The bathrooms are clean. The thermostat is set down to a humane level. It’s the land of milk and honey… and it’s mine, all mine (and also a few Health Science students’, but they mostly don’t exist).
In conclusion: Blusson Hall is fantastic, but stay out. Go find your own building.