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Can chance make you a killer?

2010-07-23T22:06:00.002+01:00

Can chance make you a killer?

Can chance make you a killer? In his regular column, Michael Blastland invites you to try the deadly Go Figure Chance Calculator.

In today's Magazine

Imagine you are a hospital doctor. Some patients die. But how many is too many before you or your hospital are labelled killers?

We've devised a chance calculator to simulate this scenario. It is set up so that you are innocent of any failing. But bad luck might convict you all the same.

In the real world all kinds of factors make a difference, like surgical skill. But in the calculator, every patient in every hospital has exactly the same chance of dying and every surgeon is equally good. This is to show what chance alone can do, even when the odds are the same all round.

The calculator (below) shows 100 hospitals each performing 100 operations
The probability that a patient dies is initially fixed at five in 100
The government, meanwhile, says death rates 60% worse than the norm are unacceptable (in red)
So any hospital which has eight deaths or more out of 100 ops - when the expected average is only five - is in trouble.
We've assigned one hospital to you, with a box around it - it could come out green or red.

Start the calculator by clicking on the slider itself and see whether your hospital - the boxed one - is safe or deadly. Click "recalculate", in the lower right-hand corner of the module, a few times to see how you and others do.

Here's what happened when I ran the calculator a few times.

First, some hospitals look dodgy, others brilliant. In this example (see image, right), one surgeon or hospital had 14 deaths (that's the red H out on its own beneath the big cluster), 1,300 per cent higher mortality than some others, who had only one, a huge disparity. Mine - boxed - was one of the unacceptables. So sack me.

But remember, these results are pure chance, computer-generated, based on exactly the same risk for every patient. So hospitals are not really good or bad, it's just chance, lucky or unlucky.

That sounds odd. The calculator seems to show fatal incompetence or maybe even - let's speculate what goes through the public mind - murder at one, medical genius at another.

Keep recalculating and sometimes only a few are unacceptable.

The example above left has five "bad" surgeons. Roll the dice again and it comes up with a shocking 20 that failed to meet the standard.

Next, move the slider up to, say, a 12% death rate. This imagines a more dangerous operation. But now there are fewer unacceptables as there tends to be relatively less variation around bigger numbers.

Finally, move the slider right down to a 1% death rate. Now, still using the 60% threshold, a huge number of hospitals are often unacceptable. That's because there tends to be relatively more variation around smaller numbers.

The same applies to the number of ops performed. Do more, and the variation tends to be relatively smaller. Do only a few and the results are more likely to be - relatively - all over the shop. The government says it would like to publish results right down to the level of the individual surgeon.

Chance v skill

Note that chance does not mean without cause. Every death has a cause, but sometimes these come together more often in certain places at certain times in ways that have nothing to do with anything we know or that can currently be known about the patient or the surgeon.

Think of it like this...

Think of a bag of 100 balls, five of them red. Pull a red ball from the bag and it means a death. What if you pull 100 balls from the bag, each time putting the ball back?
Your chance - and it is only chance - of pulling a deadly ball is 5 in 100, or one in 20, or 5%. But it's easy now to imagine that you might draw 14 red balls or more in 100 attempts, or none, purely by chance.
This is the same as the simulation in our calculator; every time you run it, it is like imagining that 100 hospitals dip into the bag 100 times each.

Does all this mean that every hospital mortality rate is pure chance? Of course not. There can be what's called special-cause variation - in contrast to the common-cause variation in our calculator. Special-cause variation is when something like surgical skill is the real reason for 15 deaths. The big problem - bigger than many people think - is how to tell the difference.

So what about a hospital like Mid Staffs, where hundreds are thought to have died unnecessarily? That's an example - probably - of special-cause variation, not chance. There's to be more of this kind of measurement as the government says the effort must shift from setting targets for how much work is done to judging how well it's done. That probably means more emphasis on counting bodies.

In practice, regulators who make calls about standards perform many hard judgments and calculations to work out what's chance and what's not.

But because chance has such a variable effect, they will often be unsure, even about the kind of huge differences we see in the calculator. Anyone thinking raw data is all we need, beware.

Before naming the good or bad, we need to understand the extent to which chance can make the innocent appear dangerous and make heroes of the ordinary.

Note: For a great but techie illustration of how hard it can be to determine whether a pattern of results tells us anything, there is a fascinating exchange on Ben Goldacre's other blog.

Add your comments using the form below

I've always thought these sorts of claims based on statistics are fairly dubious for the reasons above. The "unacceptable" category should only apply to hospitals where fault on behalf of the staff can be proved or where frequent complaints e.g. about cleanliness are made. The statistics should simply serve as a guide as to where to concentrate your search for this poor practice rather than a proof of their existence

David, Durham

From a personal anecdotal perspective may I add this; in 1990 (20 years ago) I underwent a cardiac quadruple bypass and today, in my 80th year, I am in remarkably good health and not on prescription medication. About 3 years ago on seeing the track-record of the cardiac surgeons still practicing it revealed that the surgeon who did my operation had the worst track-record. Okay, so I am lucky but could there exist unluck on the surgeon's side due principally to the health of the patients allocated to him (and the management of their own after care)? While there remains an unnecessarily high level of deaths due to mistake or carelessness could it also be that successful surgery more of a roulette game?

Robert , Kirriemuir, Scotland

It is not only the surgeons who are variable in quality-- the clinical state of the individual patients and the difficulty of the individual operations also throw in variables.

JD, Birmingham

Death rates can be very misleading. Hospitals which take on riskier cases where surgery is the final and only option may have a higher rate of deaths than another which does not have clinicians with the right level of skill to perform these often tricky operations. Does this make it a worse hospital? Of course it doesn't.

Andy, London

A good statistical evaluation WILL point out the laggards. This is because a good statistical evaluation will recognize the effects of what you are showing. It will not base the analysis on a single year's data, but on multiple years, and will take into account the danger of a particular operation. When those factors are considered, a good statistical analysis will accurately identify "outliers"--those hospitals or doctors whose performance lies outside of chance.

John Wendt, Kampala, Uganda

Suppose you're one of the failing hospitals above, and you're told to improve. You do nothing at all. Next year, you roll the dice again and, by chance, you're now in the pass category. You are praised. However, the results are nothing more than chance. This is regression to the mean - the tendency for extreme results to become mean results over time. The same would apply to any random "corrective" action you take - if next year's results are better, that corrective action is likely to be praised as effective even if it was totally useless, and your original problem was solely down to chance.

Dan Talmage, Cambridge

For anyone who thinks that this is just a bit of harmless fun, go searching for the similar case of Lucia de Berk, also highlighted by Ben Goldacre. She is a Dutch nurse who spent six year in prison convicted of the murders of child patients which were, in all probability, natural deaths. But because she happened to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time several times, by chance, helped by a witch-hunt which used some heavily-criticised statistics, she got the blame. Even the statistics used to condemn Mid Staffs hospital, and to allow credulous journalists to claim hundreds of excess deaths there, were strongly criticised by an article in the British Medical Journal at the time, but which seems to have been largely ignored by both the media and by the relevant politicians.

Dr JG, West Yorkshire

It would be equally fascinating to see such an experiment applied to investment firms and banks. Since the 1920s experiments have contsantly shown that their performance is no more than a random distribution. In fact random selection (literally throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal in the Harvard Economics staff room) gave better results. Yet The City continues to behave, and charge fees, as though they have some special insight. In reality they depend on the fact that most of us do not understand the sort of statistics Michale has just shown.

Des, London, UK

It's amazing how many situations this can be applied to. A good one (although slightly worrying) is the application in the financial world. After five years, an original pool of 1,000 individuals (could be traders, budding entrepreneurs etc) will diminish to 31 assuming they have a 50:50 chance of success each year and are fired if loss-making. We forget about the 969 individuals who lost and heap praise on the remaining 31 - not realising their success is pure luck and a result of basic probability.

RH, Manchester

Sex education 'could be better

2010-07-23T22:03:00.000+01:00

Sex education 'could be better'

PSHE is part of the national curriculum in England but is not compulsory

Lessons about sex, relationships and health are not good enough in 25% of schools in England, inspectors suggest.

Teacher embarrassment and lack of knowledge were often to blame, Ofsted said in a report based on findings at 92 primary and 73 secondary schools.

It said in many secondary schools, pupils were taught about the biology of sex but not relationships.

The government says all young people should have high-quality teaching in this area.

It will take Ofsted's findings into consideration in its review of the curriculum.

Ofsted looked at personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in 165 schools in England.

The subject has been part of the timetable in most schools for about a decade.

Case study

Sarah Campbell Education correspondent, BBC News

Holmleigh Primary School in Hackney has enthusiastically embraced personal, social, health and economic education into the timetable.
Half-hour sessions start at the age of five with issues such as relationships, bereavement and bullying. As children move through the school more sensitive issues are introduced such as substance misuse (aged six), puberty (age nine) and reproduction and childbirth (age 10).
Staff are given extra training in tackling sensitive subjects.
The hope is that by the time they leave the school the children will have a good understanding of issues they may face. Connacht, 11, said: "I never really knew much about drugs or alcohol but when we were taught them I understood and I have told my uncle to stop smoking."
She says the lessons are helpful in dealing with playground rumours such as "when girls start their periods they bleed to death".
Her classmate Rebecca adds that parents sometimes don't like talking about issues like sex so it's helpful that they can learn about it in school.

Ofsted found in more than a third (34%) of the secondary schools visited, students' knowledge of sex and relationship was "no better than satisfactory", while in a further three schools it was rated "inadequate".

The report says: "Students' knowledge and understanding was often good about the biology of sex but weaker about relationships.

"They said that their sex and relationships education was taught too late and there was not enough of it to be useful.

"Discussion was sometimes limited because of the teacher's embarrassment or lack of knowledge. In these schools, the students did not have the opportunity to explore the nature of relationships in any depth. They had not discussed managing risks, saying 'no', negotiation in relationships, divorce and separation, or living in reconstituted families."

In general, Ofsted found PSHE lessons in three-quarters of the schools surveyed were good or outstanding.

But in the remaining quarter, inspectors said the quality of teaching was variable and teachers' subject knowledge and expertise were not good enough.

Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert said: "It is pleasing to see that most of the schools visited were good or outstanding at teaching the subject. However, there were some weaknesses and schools should continue to promote professional development in PSHE education so that teachers strengthen their knowledge and skills in the subject.

"In addition, some schools still struggle to teach their pupils effectively about sensitive but important issues such as the misuse of drugs and alcohol."

In over half of the secondary schools visited, inspectors found students' knowledge about the social risks and physical effects of excessive drinking was "undeveloped".

And it was a common misconception that heroin and cocaine were the drugs responsible for most deaths every year, when smoking and drinking accounted for many more deaths.

Biological facts

PSHE teaching is not compulsory in England, unlike other parts of the UK, although it is on the national curriculum.

It is only compulsory to teach the biological facts of reproduction in secondary school science lessons

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons.

The Labour government had planned to make PSHE a compulsory part of the national curriculum.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: "This report from Ofsted is a useful assessment of PSHE education in schools.

"We want all young people to benefit from high-quality PSHE teaching and we will take this report's findings into consideration as we continue to look at the curriculum across the board."

Read some of your comments

As a secondary school teacher, I am concerned at the way sex education is delivered to pupils. Whilst I agree that there needs to be some sharing of information, a whole day of it either bores the kids or gives them the impression that this is something that all children have to be doing in their teens.

Anon, UK

All children should be educated around major issues such as sex and relationships, drugs and emotional wellbeing.

Carol, Manchester

Since when did the responsibility for children's moral and sexual upbringing become the responsibility of schools? Strangely enough, I thought this would be the responsibility of parents - or is that yet another area that parents have now abdicated?

Paul, Derby

Sex education is not something teachers should have to impart but rather parents or guardians. The tendency under Labour is to blame all the problems of children and young people down to poor teachers.

Arthur, Chester

This is an area of the curriculum that needs better training and funding and a more professional acceptance and a non-judgmental stance. Perhaps it's time that this aspect is optioned out to agencies like BPAS and Relate because thier training is extensive, indepth and contains a level of expertise

Lizzie, Wales

India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer

2010-07-23T21:59:00.002+01:00

India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer

The Indian government has unveiled the prototype of an iPad-like touch-screen laptop, with a price tag of $35 (£23), which it hopes to roll out next year.

Aimed at students, the tablet supports web browsing, video conferencing and word processing, say developers.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said a manufacturer was being sought for the gadget, which was developed by India's top IT colleges.

An earlier cheap laptop plan by the same ministry came to nothing.

The device unveiled on Thursday has no hard disk, using a memory card instead, like a mobile phone, and can run on solar power, according to reports.

'Manufacturer interest'

It would cost a fraction of the price of California-based technology giant Apple's hugely popular iPad, which retails from $499.

“Start Quote

The solutions for tomorrow will emerge from India”

End Quote Kapil Sibal Human Resource Development Minister

Mr Sibal said the Indian tablet, said to run the Linux operating system, was expected to be introduced to higher education institutions next year.

The plan was to drop the price eventually to $20 and ultimately to $10, he added.

Unveiling the gadget, the human resource development minister told the Economic Times newspaper it was India's answer to the "$100 laptops" developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

"The solutions for tomorrow will emerge from India," Mr Sibal said, reports news agency AFP.

Last year, one of the ministry's officials announced it was about to unveil a $10 laptop, triggering worldwide media interest.

But there was disappointment after the "Sakshat" turned out to be a prototype of a handheld device, with an unspecified price tag, that never materialised.

To develop its latest gadget, the ministry said it had turned to the elite Indian Institute of Technology, and the Indian Institute of Science, after a lacklustre response from the private sector.

Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, said the device was feasible because of falling hardware costs.

Several global manufacturers, including at least one from Taiwan, had expressed interest in making the device, she said, although no deals had been agreed, and she declined to name any of the companies.

The project is part of a government initiative which also aims to extend broadband to all of India's 25,000 colleges and 500 universities.

In 2005, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) unveiled the prototype of a $100 laptop for children in the developing world, although it ended up costing about double that price.

In May, Nicholas Negroponte - of the MIT's Media Lab - announced plans to develop a basic tablet computer for $99 through his non-profit association, One Laptop per Child.

Microsoft signs deal on mobile processors

2010-07-23T21:53:00.002+01:00

Microsoft signs deal on mobile processors

The deal gives Microsoft intimate access to Arm chip blueprints

Microsoft has signed a deal with chip designer Arm that will give it in-depth access to processor blueprints.

The licensing deal means Microsoft can look at the entire instruction set that Arm chips use.

Arm designs the chips that power the vast majority of the world's mobile phones as well as an increasing number of netbooks and tablet computers.

Microsoft is one of just a handful of companies that have signed such a deal with Arm.

The only other companies publicly acknowledged by Arm to be architecture licensees are chip makers such as Qualcomm, Marvell and Infineon. Other firms tend to buy licences for access to specific Arm processors.

Ian Drew, a spokesman for Arm, said Microsoft has had a relationship with the chip designer since 1997. This has led to Microsoft producing mobiles and embedded devices that have Arm-designed processors inside.

"The architectural licence really is about the full access to the instruction set," said Mr Drew. "It's quite a large step."

An instruction set is the long list of all the things that a particular chip can do and the way it manages memory and other sub-systems to get them done.

Mr Drew declined to speculate on what the deal might mean for future Microsoft products.

In a statement, Microsoft said of the deal: "With closer access to the Arm technology we will be able to enhance our research and development activities for Arm-based products."

Many Microsoft rivals, such as Apple and Amazon, already produce popular portable gadgets that use Arm-designed processors. Google is also preparing its Chrome operating system for release this year and that is widely expected to run on tablets and netbooks that have an Arm chip onboard.

iPhone and iPad app launches in the UK

2010-07-23T21:48:00.002+01:00

BBC News iPhone and iPad app launches in the UK

Versions of the apps are already available worldwide

A BBC News app for the iPhone and iPad has been launched in the UK, the BBC has announced.

The free-to-download apps for Apple products were originally due to be made available in April 2010.

The UK launch was delayed while the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, assessed the proposals and their impact on the rest of the industry.

Apps for other devices such as Android phones will launch later in the year.

Similar apps for BBC Sport and iPlayer will also be coming soon.

The apps do not "represent a significant change to the BBC's existing public services," ruled the BBC Trust, meaning that further scrutiny was not required.

BBC Trustee Diane Coyle said that the body would continue to monitor the launch.

Many news organisations already offer apps that give people a quick and easy way to keep up with events.

Earlier in 2010, the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) said it feared the corporation would "damage the nascent market" for apps by entering the market with a free product.

"The concern the newspaper industry has is that the survival of our big independent news organisations largely depends on them being able to make money from new platforms other than print," said Dominic Ponsford, editor of Press Gazette.

"Mobile is a massive part of that and there is concern that the BBC could blow their fledgling apps out of the water by being such a dominant brand."

However the apps market was a space that the BBC could not ignore either, he added.

"The other side of it is that the BBC is also doomed unless it can embrace new readers on new platforms."

Neurons to inspire future computers

2010-07-23T21:37:00.002+01:00

Neurons to inspire future computers

The way nerve cells communicate is being studied by the research teams.

The way neurons communicate could inspire the next generation of computers.

Researchers are developing novel computers by mimicking the way that neurons are built and how they talk to each other.

Basing computers around neurons could lead to improvements in visual and audio processing on computers.

It might mean that computers learn to see or to hear in the future rather than just rely on sensors.

As well as building computers, the researchers are also helping to improve understanding of nerve cells and how they operate.

Smarter seeing

While artificial neural networks have been around for more than 50 years they typically do not copy real neurons very closely.

The researchers are unpicking the subtleties of nerve-to-nerve communication

By contrast the project being co-ordinated by computer scientist Dr Thomas Wennekers from the University of Plymouth wants to model specific physiological features of the way that neurons in one part of the brain communicate.

"We want to learn from biology to build future computers," said Dr Wennekers. "The brain is much more complex than the neural networks that have been implemented so far."

The early work of the project has been collecting data about neurons and how they are connected in one part of the brain. The researchers are focussing on the laminar microcircuitry of the neocortex which is involved in higher brain functions such as seeing and hearing.

The data gathered has fed highly detailed simulations of groups of nerve cells as well as microcircuits of neurons that are spread across larger scale structures such as the visual cortex.

"We build pretty detailed models of the visual cortex and study specific properties of the microcircuits," he said. "We're working out which aspects are crucial for certain functional properties like object or word recognition."

There are hopes that the work will produce more than just improved sensory networks, said Dr Wennekers.

"It might lead to smart components that are intelligent," he said. "They may have added cognitive components such as memory and decision making."

They might even, said Dr Wennekers, start to be endowed with emotion.

"We'll be computing in a completely different way," he said.

Big brain

While Dr Wennekers and his team are working largely with software simulations, Professor Steve Furber from Manchester is using the inspiration from neurons to produce novel hardware.

Called Spinnaker, Prof Furber's project is trying to create a computer specifically optimised to run like biology does.

Based around Arm chips, the Spinnaker system simulates in hardware the workings of relatively large numbers of neurons.

"We've got models of biological spiking neurons," said Prof Furber. "Neurons whose only communication with the rest of the world is that they go ping. When it goes ping it lobs a packet into a small computer network."

Spinnaker uses Arm processors each one of which runs about 1,000 neuron models. The current system uses an eight processor system but, said Prof Furber, the team is in the final stages of designing the chip with 18 Arm processors on board, 16 of which will model neurons.

The research might mean that computers learn to see

The ultimate goal, he said, was a system that controlled one billion neurons on a million ARM processors.

"The primary objective is just to understand what's happening in the biology," said Prof Furber. "Our understanding of processing in the brain is extremely thin."

The hope is also that the simulation leads to innovative computer processing systems and insights into the way that lots of computational elements can be hooked up to each other.

"The computer industry is faced with no future other than parallel," said Prof Furber.

Despite this, he said, industry understanding of how to get the most out of all those computational elements was lacking. The big problem, he said, was how to run the system without being swamped by the management overhead of co-ordinating those processors.

Spinnaker might show a way to overcome some of these problems as the individual elements will be far smaller than the monolithic processors in use now and will, to an extent, to self-organise.

They will also offer advantages in that they are likely to use a lot less power than existing machines.

"We think there's a change in the game there," said Prof Furber.

Ian Tomlinson's family 'not giving up' over G20 death

2010-07-23T21:28:00.002+01:00

Ian Tomlinson's family 'not giving up' over G20 death

Footage shows Mr Tomlinson being shoved - video courtesy Guardian.co.uk

The widow of a man who died after being pushed over by a police officer at the G20 protests in London has said her family "can't give up on justice".

Charges will not be brought against the officer as pathologists could not agree why Ian Tomlinson, 47, died at the demonstrations in April 2009.

Julia Tomlinson said the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) decision was "a scandal".

The Metropolitan Police has expressed "regret" to Mr Tomlinson's family.

The CPS announced on Thursday it would not be bringing any prosecution, having looked at charging the officer with various offences including assault and manslaughter.

But Mrs Tomlinson said her family were not "going to walk away from this", adding: "What message would it send to the police if we do?

"We don't see how Ian can die moments after being assaulted by the police officer and he isn't made to face a jury."

Mr Tomlinson was a newspaper seller who was not involved in the protests about the summit.

Video footage showed him being apparently struck by a baton and then pushed to the ground.

Although he moved on afterwards, he was then found collapsed on Cornhill, 100 metres away.

Julia Tomlinson and her two stepsons have said they would continue their legal campaign

The first post-mortem examination of him - conducted by Dr Freddy Patel - found he was killed by a heart attack.

Dr Patel faces a misconduct hearing over four separate examinations.

Two other pathologists later said he died from internal bleeding caused by blunt-force trauma.

The CPS said this discrepancy jeopardised the chance of obtaining a conviction for manslaughter and an assault charge could not be brought as this had to happen within six months of any incident.

Mr Tomlinson's family have told their legal team to review the prosecutors' decision.

"Our preliminary view is that the decision is flawed," said a statement from Tuckers Solicitors, which represents the Tomlinsons.

"The CPS stated yesterday that their decision would be 'reconsidered' at the conclusion of the inquest.

"It may be that we determine that the appropriate time to challenge the CPS decision is if they again reject the possibility of a charge at that stage."

The Met has said the forthcoming inquest would ensure "the facts will be heard publicly" and it would consider misconduct proceedings once an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation had been held.

Wantage man jailed over thousands of baby abuse images

2010-07-23T21:25:00.000+01:00

A man who downloaded thousands of images of distressed babies and children being abused by adults has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

James Howell, 34, downloaded 27,000 images and videos over 10 years.

Some 6,500 showed babies and children aged under two being seriously sexually abused by adults.

Howell, of Oxford Lane in Wantage, Oxfordshire, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London after admitting eight offences.

'Harrowing case'

Sentencing, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said the images showed "children being tortured by the crimes that are being committed against them".

Howell was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

“Start Quote

The children depicted show clear evidence of extreme distress as a result of the acts being forced upon them.”

End Quote Peter Zinner Prosecuting

The images were discovered in a raid on his home on 25 May.

Peter Zinner, prosecuting, said: "These acts must have been committed and photographed by the children's parents, or a parent, or people who were entrusted with the care of these children.

"It is a harrowing case and one that will scar us for many years to come."

He added: "The children depicted show clear evidence of extreme distress as a result of the acts being forced upon them."

The court heard Howell distributed the images to "like-minded individuals" over the internet.

Jennifer Gray, defending, said her client was "deeply ashamed".

Howell pleaded guilty to two counts of downloading indecent photographs of children and six counts of distributing that material, when he appeared at City of Westminster magistrates last month.

Former Millwall striker Gavin Grant guilty of murder

2010-07-23T21:19:00.000+01:00

A professional footballer has been found guilty of murdering a man on a north-west London estate.

Former Millwall striker Gavin Grant, 26, shot dead Leon Labastide on the Stonebridge Park Estate in Harlesden in 2004, the Old Bailey was told.

Grant, who also played for Wycombe Wanderers and Bradford City, was involved in a series of "tit-for-tat" shootings on the estate, jurors heard.

Grant, who had denied murder, is due to be sentenced on Monday.

Gareth Downie, 25, from Markby Road, Birmingham, was also found guilty of murdering Mr Labastide.

And Damian Williams, 32, from Tower Bridge Road in Southwark, was convicted of conspiring with them to murder Mr Labastide.

Gareth Downie (L) and Damian Williams were also involved in Mr Labastide's murder

The court heard that Mr Labastide's killing led to the murder of Jahmall Moore in 2005 and Grant's arrest.

Grant, from Shrewsbury Avenue, Kenton, north-west London, was later cleared of shooting Mr Moore, 22, who died in a hail of bullets fired by three gunmen.

He had also denied involvement in Mr Labastide's killing, claiming the 21-year-old was a friend, but was found guilty of murder following trials in December and this month.

Jurors heard trouble flared after a burglary in which three women were terrorised and it was suspected that £20,000 in drug money was taken.

“Start Quote

Attitudes and standards are different. It is more the law of the jungle than the law of civilised England”

End Quote Stephen Batten QC

A 16-year-old girl, who had been in the house, gave evidence under an assumed name.

Mr Labastide was rumoured to have been behind the burglary and Williams arranged for Grant and Downie to shoot him, the court was told.

Officers from Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime in the black community, believe as a result of the burglary there were up to 30 connected shooting incidents in the area.

Following the arrests of Grant and others, officers said shootings fell by almost 50% in the area.

Det Insp Steve Horsley said: "Gavin Grant thought he had got away with murder.

"He carried on his footballing career while, all along, he had blood on his hands."

Leon Labastide, aged 21, was shot dead in 2004

During the trial, Prosecutor Stephen Batten QC said many of the people involved in the case had been linked to shootings and drug dealing on the estate.

He said: "Attitudes and standards are different. It is more the law of the jungle than the law of civilised England."

Roberto Parchment, 24, originally convicted of Mr Moore's murder, was found guilty again following a retrial in December.

He was jailed for life again and ordered to serve the remainder of his 28-year sentence.

Downie and Williams will also be sentenced on Monday.

Breaking News! Jeff Katz and American Original To Announce Ground Breaking New Project with Paul Heyman at ComicCon This Weekend!

2010-07-23T13:23:00.000+01:00

Geek Culture Pioneer Jeff Katz To Announce New Gaming and Digital Platform At ComicCon!

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 23, 2010

American Original and GeekWeek.com founder Jeff Katz (Producer of Snakes on a Plane, X:MEN Origins: Wolverine, Shoot 'Em Up, Freddy vs Jason, Booster Gold) announced this evening a late addition to the company's presentations at ComicCon this weekend in San Diego, as Katz has completed a deal involving sports entertainment icon and pop culture guru Paul Heyman.

Heyman will be appearing on a special edition of GeekWeek Live, streaming on www.GeekWeek.com and Justin.TV from the Wowio Yacht all day on Friday, including as a panelist during the "State of Geekdom" special on Friday at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific Time.

Heyman will also be appearing at the Top Cow panel at 1:30 pm Pacific time on Saturday to announce his new digital gaming project with American Original.

"Top Cow always has one of the most anticipated panels at ComicCon," Katz stated, "I'm personally thrilled as all hell because Paul will be up there with our partners at Top Cow including Marc Silvestri, Matt Hawkins and Filip Sablik, as well as Richard Fairgray, creator of the New Zealand hit comic "Blastosaurus."

"I've always hated the standard press statement and BS sound bite associated with hype-driven releases," Heyman (Looking For Larry Productions, former owner of ECW and head writer for WWE Smackdown) said, "I've never been to ComicCon before, and I hear it's absolutely insane. Get in a crowded space with 100,000 fanatical followers of a genre? Sounds like my type of environment!"

"I've been trying to get this together for the longest time," Katz stated, "This is an outside the box project for gaming, and Heyman's innovative approach to digital, ever since he launched The Heyman Hustle (www.heymanhustle.com) has established him as one of the true pioneers in the digital space."

Stryper Reveals Clips from their Upcoming Album 'The Covering'

2010-07-23T12:29:00.000+01:00

For a limited time, fans can preview Stryper's upcoming Big3 Records release by following Stryper frontman Michael Sweet on Twitter. The new collection of cover songs pays tribute to the bands that inspired Stryper, including Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Kansas and many others.

Following the success of their 25th Anniversary World Tour earlier this year, legendary rock band Stryper headed into the studio to work on their upcoming album, The Covering, tentatively scheduled for release October 13th from Big3 Records/SONY. For a limited time, fans can preview the new album by following Stryper frontman Michael Sweet on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michaelhsweet, where he will be revealing a hidden website where fans can hear exclusive song clips not available anywhere else.

The Covering, produced by Michael Sweet, will be unlike any previous Stryper recording, in that it’s a collection of cover songs from bands that inspired them and helped to shape their sound and musical identity, including past hits from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Kansas and many others. A cover of Black Sabbath’s hit “Heaven and Hell” will be the first single, with an expected iTunes release in advance of the album. The Covering will also include “God,” a new original recording from Stryper.

"Stryper recorded The Yellow and Black Attack (Enigma Records) back in 1983, and it was released the following year,” says Michael. “Twenty six years have passed and after seven studio releases and multiple compilation and live projects, we decided to show our fans where our roots lie musically. The Covering consists of particular songs and groups that molded and shaped us and made us who we are today.”

One of the highlights for Stryper fans is that The Covering is the first studio album in nearly two decades on which all four original members, plus longtime keyboardist Charles Foley, have recorded together.

“This record includes the original lineup,” explains Michael. “Tim, Robert, Oz and I haven't recorded a full-length project together since 1990’s Against the Law (Enigma Records), so this is truly history in the making. We also had what was probably the best time we've ever had recording a record together and I believe that this comes through in the energy and the spirit of each track. We're all extremely excited about this record and more importantly, we're all extremely confident about the future of Stryper and the four of us making music together for years to come."

About Stryper
Stryper’s latest album, Murder by Pride, was released in 2009. The band supported the album with a year-long 25th Anniversary World Tour which took them throughout North America, South America, Europe and Australia. In 1984, Stryper broke onto the scene with their debut EP The Yellow and Black Attack, and have since gone on to sell 8 million albums and tour the world spreading an inspirational message through their branded sound of rock songs, heavy guitars, and pristine harmony vocals. The group’s unprecedented 1986 album To Hell with the Devil was the first Christian album to go platinum and was named one of the “100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music” by CCM Magazine. Stryper was also the first Christian band to get airplay on MTV, where they had several hit videos, including the #1 “Most Requested” videos “Free” and “Honestly.”

For more information, visit http://www.stryper.com.

inStash.com, Stuff You Never Knew You Wanted

2010-07-23T12:23:00.000+01:00

inStash.com aims to uncover cool stuff such as gadgets, gear, clothing, accessories, and rides.

Grapevine, TX (PRWEB) July 23, 2010

inStash.com launched last month and the site has quickly become an authority in the men's publication niche.

"Men just can't seem to get enough of the gear we cover. Truth be told, guys are sick of reading dating advice and the same old regurgitated fitness articles," said Founding Editor Jason Bacchetta. "But there are some things that we'll just never get tired of. Unique gadgets, fast cars, great music, big-budget movies, the latest video games, and other ridiculously cool stuff in general."

According to Bacchetta, shopping for men just got a whole lot easier. Soon visitors will be able to filter out items according to how expensive they are. The idea is that rather than stuffing stockings with underwear and socks, you'd be able to search for unique gift ideas that are within your budget.

Thousands have already signed up to receive updates from inStash through Facebook, Twitter, RSS and email, with a great deal of visitors becoming loyal followers of the culture that is being built.

The men's blog is expected to announce exclusive deals soon, and videos covering featured products are already in the works.

Sarah Palin strikes back at Journolist’s ’sick puppies’

2010-07-23T12:12:00.000+01:00

From a remote location on an island off Alaska’s coast, former Governor Sarah Palin is blasting what she describes as the “sick puppies” in the media who immediately and ruthlessly attacked her when Sen. John McCain picked her as his running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign.

In exclusive remarks to The Daily Caller, Palin described “hordes of Obama’s opposition researchers-slash ‘reporters’” descending upon Alaska in the days after she was picked by McCain.

She said the media became a key reason she decided not to finish out her term as governor and faults, in part, the McCain campaign for failing to vigorously defend her.

Palin chose to be a public figure at the highest level, as a candidate in a presidential campaign, arguably inviting the most intense scrutiny imaginable.

Yet TheDC revealed posts from Jounolist that show liberal journalists coordinating attack lines against Palin from the moment McCain picked her, suggesting she may have had the deck stacked against her.

Palin said she sensed the vitriol coming from campaign reporters at the time.

“It was too obvious to me, my family, my administration and anyone else who knew me (and my record) that we were in a defenseless position the minute I gave my acceptance speech and the hordes of Obama’s opposition researchers-slash ‘reporters’ had descended upon Alaska,” Palin told The DC.

Palin, whose conflicts with key McCain campaign staffers are infamous, said the campaign could have stood by her more firmly.

“To not have had the McCain campaign staff defend my record was an insurmountable challenge, because once a bell is rung, it’s impossible to un-ring,” Palin said.

Regarding a television interview with Katie Couric widely seen at the time as a turning point in the public’s perception of Palin, which critics argued illustrated Palin’s inexperience, Palin said the interview was selectively edited.

“It didn’t help, either, that the hours and hours of interviews with the likes of Katie Couric resulted in a few minutes here and there of selected snippets of my annoyed answers. (I naively had not believed at the time of some of the badgering questions [for example, questioning my pro-life position] that the editing process would fulfill their biased purpose),” Palin said.

Palin says the feeding frenzy culture of the media galvanized her political opponents in Alaska. “The media incentivized political opponents to file false ethics charges and expensive, wasteful, frivolous lawsuits against me, my family and my staff, in an obvious attempt to destroy us,” Palin said.

When those lawsuits — which Palin said she won, but the media didn’t cover — caused legal costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Palin had finally had it, she said.

“I said, ‘Enough. Political adversaries and their political friends in the media will not destroy my State, my administration, nor my family. Enough.’ I knew if I didn’t play their game any longer, they could not win. I would not retreat, I would instead reload, and I would fight for what is right from a different plane.”

WATCH: JONATHAN STRONG ON FOX DISCUSSING JOURNOLIST TARGETING PALIN

How a 15-yo Kid Tricked Apple With a Disguised iPhone Tethering App

2010-07-23T12:07:00.000+01:00

Oh, Nick Lee, you clever boy you. See, Nick here tricked Apple with a very simple iPhone application: Handy Light. On the surface it looked just like any other $0.99 flashlight application. But, secretly, it was a lot more useful.

Handy Light allowed you to make your iPhone's screen go blank with a color of your choice. You opened it, clicked a swatch from a simple palette, and that was it: Life in technicolor. Another stupid flashlight application like a hundred others. Or so the App Store team thought.

Inside, the app contained hidden code that made it a full tethering application—a program that allows you to use your iPhone as a 3G modem. Using this ability you can surf the web from your computer, using the iPhone as a bridge to the internet. You can do this using your iPhone's preferences too, but that way you will have to pay the additional $20 per month that AT&T wants you to pay for this kind of service. That is $20 extra on top of whatever you are paying for your iPhone data plan. With Handy Light, the tethering service was completely free.

It worked beautifully: You just needed to set up a Wi-Fi network in your laptop, connect your iPhone to it, change a few parameters in your computer's Wi-Fi settings, and that was it. Within seconds, your notebook was able to surf the web. And yes, I say was. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. The app was pulled from iTunes as soon as news of its true nature appeared online. Those who downloaded it, however, can keep enjoying its benefits.

16-Year-Old Justin Bieber Drives Diddy's $200,000 Lamborghini

2010-07-23T11:58:00.001+01:00

It seems P. Diddy wasn't kidding when he promised Justin Bieber he'd give him the keys to his Lamborghini when the teen pop star turned 16. On Tuesday, Bieber was spotted driving to get some frozen yogurt with his friend Sean Kingston in Diddy's white Gallardo Spyder. (It's not clear if Diddy gave it to Bieber for keeps or just for a spin.)

Bieber, who turned 16 on March 1 and passed the driving test soon after, laughed off Diddy's promise, telling People magazine in March, "[Diddy] said when I turn 16 he will give me his Lamborghini. But we all know Diddy's not going to give me his Lamborghini, he's all talk."

[Video: How to get Justin's hair]

The white Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder (henceforth affectionately referred to as a "Bieberghini") retails for upwards of $210,000, according to Yahoo! Autos. Lamborghinis have become a sort of go-to luxury vehicle for famous people. Other celebrities who've been known to drive Lamborghinis include Soulja Boy, Kobe Bryant, Bam Margera, Benji Madden, David Beckham, and Wilmer Valderrama.

[The world's most beautiful cars]

Bieber's fro-yo cohort, rapper Sean Kingston, has his own Lamborghini. In 2009, Kingston challenged Bow Wow to a race in their respective "Lambos." Bow Wow caused a bit of a stir in January when he tweeted about driving his Gallardo while "tipsy." He later apologized for the tweet, saying it wasn't a great way to kick off 2010.
Diddy's Lamborghini isn't even the first car Bieber has received as a gift: His mentor, Usher, gave him a Range Rover for his 16th birthday. Maybe Diddy is trying to show up the R&B singer with something flashier.

[Photos: See Justin on stage and more]

Their Lambo stroll wasn't the first time Kingston and Bieber have teamed up, of course -- nor the first time they appeared with a fancy car. Check out the wheels and the Bieber-Kingston duet in the video for "Eenie Meenie," a song the two performers co-wrote.

Other Popular Yahoo! Stories:

The United States supported the financial system's $ 700 billion in the last Age

2010-07-22T21:35:00.000+01:00

Saw the total United States Government support of the financial system the amount of $ 3.7 trillion

* US support swells by $700 bln in past year-watchdog
* Mortgage, housing commitments account for most of rise
* TARP watchdog criticizes Obama housing rescue efforts
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - Increased housing commitments swelled U.S. taxpayers' total support for the financial system by $700 billion in the past year to around $3.7 trillion, a government watchdog said on Wednesday.
The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said the increase was due largely to the government's pledges to supply capital to Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) and to guarantee more mortgages to the support the housing market.
Increased guarantees for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Government National Mortgage Association and the Veterans administration increased the government's commitments by $512.4 billion alone in the year to June 30, according to the report.
"Indeed, the current outstanding balance of overall Federal support for the nation's financial system...has actually increased more than 23% over the past year, from approximately $3.0 trillion to $3.7 trillion -- the equivalent of a fully deployed TARP program -- largely without congressional action, even as the banking crisis has, by most measures, abated from its most acute phases," the TARP inspector general, Neil Barofsky, wrote in the report.
The total includes Federal Reserve programs and a myriad of asset guarantees, including Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protection for bank deposits.
The increased government commitments more than offset about a $300 billion decline in the U.S. Treasury's TARP commitments in the past year as programs have closed and banks have repaid taxpayer funds.
HOUSING PROGRAMS CRITICIZED
Barofsky also in the report ramped up his criticism of the Treasury's housing relief efforts, saying that its program to reduce monthly mortgage payments for struggling homeowners was showing "anemic" participation numbers and had failed to "put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings."
He said Treasury had refused his repeated recommendations to announce more effective goals and benchmarks for its mortgage modification program, which could reach up to $50 billion in TARP funds.
"Treasury's refusal to provide meaningful goals for this important program is a fundamental failure of transparency and accountability that makes it far more difficult for the American people and their representatives in Congress to assess whether the program's benefits are worth its very substantial cost," Barofsky wrote.
Among other recommendations repeated in the report, Barofsky called for the Treasury to consider making its voluntary mortgage principal reduction program mandatory, saying this would make it less likely for "underwater" homeowners to abandon their properties.
The Treasury has declined to adopt the recommendation, citing the prospect that mandatory principal reduction would cause mortgage servicing firms to opt out of the program and fairness issues in reducing principal for both responsible homeowners hit by value declines and homeowners who overleveraged their properties in refinancings.
U.S. Treasury officials defended the Home Affordable Modification Program, saying that it was still on track to reach its goal to keep 3 million to 4 million homeowners in their homes by the end of 2012 and was adapting to changing conditions by offering forbearance to unemployed people and extra funding for the hardest-hit markets.
Herbert Allison, Treasury assistant secretary for financial stability, said the Treasury often agrees with Barofsky's recommendations, "but once in a while, we differ on what type of policy will best carry out our mandate."
The report provoked swift criticism of Obama administration housing policies from U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who has taken every opportunity to blast the Treasury's handling of financial bailout programs.
"The fact that the Obama administration is treating TARP like its own personal slush-fund is beyond egregious and a complete betrayal of what the American people were told would be then when their tax-dollars were used to bailout Wall Street," Issa said in a statement, adding that the housing efforts were "dumping good money after bad". (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Kazunori Takada)

Business Web Hosting on a Budget

2010-07-22T20:07:00.002+01:00

Business Web Hosting on a Budget

Finding a business web host to meet your needs
It's pretty clear that in today's day and age, it's vital for any business to have a web presence. Business website hosting is a small investment for the rewards you and your company stand to gain on the other side.
Not convinced? Read our article on Why your business needs a website for more information.
But what exactly is the investment? If you're a business owner, you know the demands that are already on your time and budget...and you probably don't have much of either to spare. With a good business web host by your side, launching and maintaining a business website doesn't have to break the bank or keep you up all night.
Here's what to expect:
Business website hosting:
This doesn't need to cost a bundle, but you do need to sign on with a good business web host in order to publish your site. Read web hosting reviews and compare the options: you need a business web host that is reliable, secure and won't crash out on you.
At the very least, you need enough disk space for your site and enough bandwidth to enable you to manage your web traffic. Check out our list of Top 10 Business Hosting Companies and compare. You'll find a solid business web host for under $8 a month (maybe even under $4). If you're just starting out, shared web hosting will likely do; if you have a major site or hefty traffic demands, you may want to look at VPS or dedicated server hosting.
Of course you don't want to skimp either. Ensure you know what to look for in a business web host before you commit to anything.
Website design:
You're a business owner and we don't have to tell you that time is money! If you have basic web design skills, it may save you a bundle to put together your site on your own. If you don't know what you're doing (and don't have time to learn), it may be faster and even cheaper in the end to hire a designer to get you up and running.
A complex site by a professional designer could cost thousands; you can probably get away with much less than that for a good-looking, functional site. Just make sure the end product does look good - no site is better than a site that doesn't work or looks cheap.

Website maintenance:
How much this costs will again depend entirely on your site. When you are designing your site, though, try to ensure that there are features you can update regularly in-house. You want to keep your site fresh and interesting to encourage repeat visitors, but you don't want to rack up daily bills.
Most business website hosting providers will support blogs and community forums. Learn how to use these. Writing a blog can put you in direct contact with your customers, and once you're in the habit of doing it, it won't take you much time at all. A professional web designer's work will cost you by the hour, so the more you can take care of yourself, the better. Make this clear when you are planning the design of your site.
E-commerce
As you select your business web host, examine their e-commerce support. Is there enough available with the included e-commerce package? Or are there going to be further expenses along the road? This is important information to have; using e-commerce hosting reviews can certainly help. Read our article on e-commerce hosting for more information about what to look for in an e-commerce host.
Disk space and bandwidth
Not sure how much you need? Many business website hosting services offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space. Make sure to read the fine print but, in general, this option will provide you with more than enough of both for your site.
Check out our Top 10 Business Hosting Companies and find the business web host for you!

Business Web Hosting

2010-07-22T20:06:00.001+01:00

Business Web Hosting

Important Features in Business Web Site Hosting

Your business web hosting plan needs to offer specific features to help you gain a competitive edge. After all, to be competitive, your business website should do more than simply provide visitors with information. If your business will do any direct selling, marketing, or offer free downloads to visitors, here are some specific features that you'll want to have included in your business website hosting package:

Mailing list management programs (list server) - A mailing list program maintains a subscriber database for a mailing list that distributes messages to those listed in the database. It is a feature that offers the creation and management of automated mailing lists, and as part of your business web hosting plan, it can be a valuable marketing and revenue producing element in your online activity.
Statistical data on visitors - Make sure that your business website hosting plan provides you with the information you need on your visitors. This goes far beyond a simple counter. You want reports that come in a variety of formats (charts, graphs, listings) to help you understand your website activity.
Autoresponders - An email utility that automatically replies to an email message with a "form letter" response. Also called mailbots, emailbots, or email-on-demand, autoresponders can capture the contact information of inquiring visitors. This information is then automatically entered into your prospect database. Having this feature available through your business web hosting plan allows you to easily distribute newsletters, survey customers, make company announcements, or deliver training materials.

Security - To accept payment online, you'll need to have a protocol that encrypts data transfers in your business web hosting package. You'll want to ask potential business website hosting providers about the availability of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Security. It will protect data transfers and confirm identities, saving you and your visitors from the destruction of hackers.
Anonymous FTP - Most business website hosting plans offer File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which is the ability to download files from your server. If you want your visitors to have access to free downloads without a password or other identification, you want Anonymous FTP. This will create fewer steps for your visitors, maximizing the "user friendly" capabilities of your site.

Your business web hosting plan is one of the major ingredients of your business plan. Make a list of your business needs. Don't take for granted that your business web hosting company can offer the features you need to conduct your planned activities, and ensure you choose the right business website hosting package for your needs.

Building your e-commerce business: make business hosting work for you

2010-07-22T20:02:00.002+01:00

Building your e-commerce business: make business hosting work for you

The work behind business hosting doesn't stop on launch day. All websites require constant maintenance to stay sharp and relevant. But if you're running an e-commerce site, the job is even more important. You'll need extra skills and specific web hosting tools to take your site to the next level.

Analytics

Many business hosting packages come complete with web site analytics software. Learn to use it! This can help you track the traffic coming to your site - where it comes from, when people leave and which pages they visit. The analytics can also help you find out which keywords customers are using to find you.

All of this information can help you develop your future web hosting plans. Which website pages need to be fixed up? Which ones are working well? Which links are people following? This is all great information you'll need for successful business hosting.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a major skill unto itself. Some business hosting packages will include SEO services, but no matter which web hosting provider you select, SEO is important for you to know about, and use to your advantage. SEO can help you rank higher in search engines naturally. This means more traffic and potential customers for you.

It will pay to do quality SEO research. Think carefully about which keywords you are choosing to rank for, write good copy, and use keywords well.

Marketing

Your business hosting package may come with other tools you can use to help market your site and your products. Your web hosting service may submit your website to search engines - if it does not, you must do this in order to be recognized.

Another great marketing tool offered by most business hosting services is the capability to manage a newsletter. Getting people to sign up for a regular newsletter is a great way to build a database of customer contacts, as well as communicating all the latest news with your audience.

Other packages may offer you credits towards different search engine marketing programs, such as Google Adwords or Yahoo. These could prove valuable - but if you're not careful, you'll blast through your credits in no time. Do some research and contact your web hosting service for full details.

Fresh content

Although we've spoken about this before, it can't be repeated enough. If you want repeat visitors, you must keep your business site fresh! Add new products (or at least feature different ones on the front page regularly) and information to encourage client loyalty.

Just like any business, creating and growing a great e-commerce site requires constant work and vigilance. But with a quality business hosting service and a little e-commerce and web hosting know-how, you'll be off and running.

Check our our top 10 business hosting companies today!

Build an e-commerce site: tools from your e-commerce hosting provider

2010-07-22T19:56:00.001+01:00

Build an e-commerce site: tools from your e-commerce hosting provider

E-commerce hosting packages will offer you a number of tools that could prove vital to the success of your e-business. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you plan your e-commerce site and search for a web hosting provider.

Domain name

The very first thing you need is a name! You need a business name, of course, but you'll also need to search out a domain name that fits your product or service. Most web hosting providers provide a domain name search service; use it to test out various names. Your first choice may not be available, so be creative and be flexible. When looking for e-commerce hosting, you want a name that is easy to remember (and spell!) and gives clients an accurate picture of what you are selling.

Pick an available and creative domain name and you're off and running!

Choose a web host

Selecting an e-commerce hosting service can be an overwhelming process. Take your time and do some research. To start, check out the reviews of our top 10 e-commerce hosting companies for suggestions.

When you're looking at various web hosting providers, it is important to keep your level of experience in mind. If this is your first e-commerce hosting experience and the first time you've designed a website, you'll want to ensure your web hosting provider offers a site builder (such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage) that is easy-to-use and comes with customizable templates.

You also want to make sure the e-commerce hosting features the host offers are sufficient to meet your business plan - and make sure that you are aware of any extra fees that may come along as you grow.

Shopping cart

As your customers peruse your site, they'll want a shopping cart to keep track of their purchases. OpenCart, ZenCart, ShopSite and osCommerce are just a few of the options. Read our article on the most popular shopping carts offered by web hosting providers for more information.

Security

Your customers deserve the best in secure shopping. You can provide this through SSL (secure socket layer) security. This should be offered by most e-commerce hosting companies. While purchasing a SSL may involve a yearly subscription fee, it is essential to effectively encrypting a customer's personal and credit card data.

These are just a few of the basic tools you'll want to consider when choosing an ecommerce hosting service.

For more important points to keep in mind, read our article on choosing an e-commerce website hosting provider.

And don't forget our top 10 e-commerce hosting providers!

Blog Hosting Basics

2010-07-22T19:49:00.000+01:00

Blog Hosting Basics

Finding the blog website hosting service for you

Blog hosting might not even have occurred to you just a few years ago, but by now the blog has emerged as one of the leading promotion and marketing tools available. Blogging can be a cheap, effective way to communicate and interact with others - whether that happens to be family members, customers or members of an organization.

It's true you can turn to one of the open-source blogging programs and put together a basic blog hosted alongside many others. But, believe us, blog website hosting - putting your blog right on your own site, at your own domain - is a much more professional way to do it. And the additional creative freedom doesn't have to come with a significant price tag.

Many of the top web hosting companies, in fact, also provide blog hosting. Make sure you check the features list of any hosting company you are considering to see if it offers the blogging tools you want. The most popular and easy-to-use these days may be WordPress, but there are a number of other excellent and customizable blogging tools on the market.

When looking for blog website hosting, first of all you need to pick a good all around host. The same reliability, power and features that you want for your website also apply to your blog hosting needs. Consult our top website hosting checklist for some key points to remember when combing through the blog website hosting reviews, both on this site and in your own research.

Key points to watch for:

Features. This is obvious. Make sure a reputable blogging tool is included in your basic blog hosting package. There's nothing worse than getting nailed with extra costs when you think you've got all your budget plans in line. You may want to think about other ways to communicate with your clients/friends/family/the public as well. Maybe you'd like the ability to add a discussion board to your site, or create a community forum. Look for these features as well.

Security. You want your blog to attract a lot of people, right? Or at least the people you want to see it. But make sure no one can take away more than you bargained for. Security is of particular concern when you have a high-traffic site with many visitor comments. Make sure you know your blog hosting provider's security standards - and don't be confused by hosting lingo you don't know.

Support. WordPress, for example, is quite easy to set up and use. But if you're new to the blogging world, you want to make sure your blog website hosting service has support available to you to guide you through set-up, updating and maintaining your blog. Look for tutorials, a solid knowledgebase and a good FAQ section as well as accessible live customer support.

A good blog website hosting service will allow you to blog securely, reliably, and with all the creativity you can muster. It should have the strength to support your vision and the service to make sure that vision comes across clearly on the computer screen. Blog hosting really is a bloggers best friend.

Check out the Top 10 Blog Hosting services list for reviews of some of the top blog hosting companies out there.

Basic web page elements: get top web hosting results

2010-07-22T18:08:00.002+01:00

Basic web page elements: get top web hosting results

Many of the top web hosting companies will provide you with one or more tools to help you design your website simply and quickly.

For a refresher, have a look at our article on Basic design tools for details on Dreamweaver hosting, FrontPage hosting and others.

There are a few basic design elements and terms you should know as you plan your web page. You will likely come across these as you research the various domain hosting and design options.

Page Title: This displays at the top of your web browser. You'll want to choose words that effectively describe your site/business and include keywords you will want to rank for. This is very important! Some of the top web hosting providers also will provide learning resources about keywords and search engine optimization (SEO).

Fonts: These are the typefaces you will use for the text on your website. Choose one or two for regular text and another for your headlines. You want them to be consistent! Many fonts makes for a messy page.

Bookmarks and links: Used for internal jumps within a page, or to help visitors navigate between pages in your site. Check out the domain hosting provider's website for examples of how this can work. Links are used in three ways:
?   to link between different places on one long page
?   to link between pages on your site
?   to link between a page on your site and another site

HTML or Hypertext Markup Language: This is the code that you use to make your regular text file show up as a dynamic web site. It's the language read by all web browsers and involves "tagging" certain words to indicate paragraph breaks, font styles, where graphics should be inserted and so on. A knowledge of HTML is a plus when you're trying to design a website, but beginners can take comfort in knowing that top web hosting companies will offer you a site building tool such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver, which will allow you to design web pages without knowing HTML.

Text: You don't need to know anything about domain hosting to know what text is! But remember, visitors to your website probably don't want to be overwhelmed with words and text. Think carefully about what you post on-line and use words effectively. Keep it to the point!

Graphics: Similarly, plan your graphics carefully. All top web hosting providers will likely give you enough disk space and bandwidth to display as many graphics as you want, as long as you're smart about it! Graphic elements may also include photo galleries and Flash animation. The only limit to the way your webpage will look is your imagination.

Read our top web hosting reviews for information on the many tools a great domain hosting company will offer you!

Basic design tools and website hosting: a beginner's guide

2010-07-22T18:05:00.000+01:00

Basic design tools and website hosting: a beginner's guide

You've done some research into website hosting services and you may have already chosen the best web hosting service for you. For first-time website developers and owners, another big hurdle is getting a website vision onto the web page.
Fortunately, there are a number of design tools that can make the job easier for you. Some may even be included in your web hosting package. The best web hosting companies will present you with access to features and tools to get your site ready to launch as quickly as possible!

FrontPage

Spurred on by the popularity of Microsoft FrontPage, some website hosting companies now include FrontPage as part of their best web hosting packages. FrontPage is considered both easy-to-use (there's no need to know any HTML coding if you use the basic level "what you see is what you get" design tools) but flexible enough for more advanced designers. For those who are already familiar with Microsoft's interface, this may be a good choice for you. Check out our reviews of the Top 10 FrontPage Hosting Companies. Read more in our article on FrontPage hosting.

Dreamweaver

Adobe's Dreamweaver has been on the market since 1997 and it's been a leader in easy-to-use web design pretty much since the get-go. Dreamweaver makes website design point-and-click doable (great for beginners). It also provides great website management tools and basic page layout template options. If you want to use Dreamweaver, the best web hosting company for you will fully support this option. For more, read Easy Web Design With Dreamweaver Hosting.

Soholaunch

Billed as a website builder for business, Soholaunch can be equally useful for personal sites. This well-reviewed package makes it easy to add shopping carts, forms, photo albums and more. The actual building of your website with Soholaunch is an easy step-by-step process. With hundreds of customizable templates, Soholaunch is perfect for website creation and updating.

Site Builder

This is another easy-to-use tool, included with many website hosting packages. You can use SiteBuilder with no coding or HTML knowledge, and there is a simple step-by-step process laid out before you. Again, there are customizable templates for you to use for your personal orbusiness site.
If you'd like to read more about some popular programming scripts - they can be used to help build you website - please take a few additional minutes to read our articles and consult our reviews for the best website host for :

A little research into the various web design packages will help you select the best web hosting service for you! Take a look at our Top 10 Overall Website Hosting companies are get started!

Back up your site with website hosting: why, when and how

2010-07-22T12:49:00.002+01:00

Back up your site with website hosting: why, when and how

Many website hosting companies include website backups as part of their features package. You many notice this benefit - and it is a benefit! - as you read web hosting reviews. But while your website hosting provider may do courtesy backups for free, or specific backups for a small additional fee, it's important you complete your own backups as well.

Why backup?

You probably know the answer to this question, but it bears repeating: you just never know. Your website hosting provider could experience a server crash or a technical difficulty that could wipe out information temporarily or permanently. This is rare, but it does happen. (When you read web hosting reviews, do make note of the information provided about the host's data center and power sources. You want to see redundant power and backup generators. Read our article What's in your data center? for more.)

Of course, it's not just the website hosting service that can mess up. Your own computer may be stolen, crash or suffer damage. No matter how good your website hosting provider, hackers may be able to break in and wreak havoc on your site. If you don't have your precious content saved elsewhere, you may lose huge amounts of data and work.

When to back up

Web hosting reviews may let you know your website hosting provider will do regular backups of your site content, but make sure you know the details. Is this a scheduled event? Are the backups done daily, weekly, monthly or simply whenever the company makes time?

If you've got a busy or frequently changing site, it's a good idea to do complete backups every day. Perhaps you could schedule the backup to run at night or when your site is less busy - whenever you're not working on it.

No doubt, we all have the best intentions when it comes to backing up a site. But those intentions often fall by the wayside when business gets busy. The key is to make backups a routine! If your site is scheduled to back up every day, it's more likely to actually happen.

Check web hosting reviews and see if your website hosting service offers advice or backing up support. Check your website hosting company's knowledgebase and support centre as well (if the knowledgebase is searchable, search for "backup" and "back up"). You'll find that many basic features, especially top-quality site builders, offer a backup feature. Using these, you can perform a backup copy of all your data files and then download this onto your computer. Web hosting reviews should give you some extra insight into the site builders available through your chosen host.

cPanel hosting will also have features that allow you to back up MySQL databases. You may also use an FTP client to download copies of all your files from the host server. This is also important in case you ever decide to switch website hosting companies.

You can back up the data on your computer or, better, on an external hard drive, DVD or tape. There are also backup services you may subscribe to, if you're looking for more options.

As always, start with web hosting reviews and see what your website hosting service offers. You might be surprised! Most top website hosting providers do their best to ensure your data is always secure.

Check out our Top 10 Overall Website Hosting companies to start!

Audio Website Hosting: What you need to know

2010-07-22T12:47:00.002+01:00

Audio Website Hosting: What you need to know

Audio website hosting is becoming more popular, as it is becoming ever easier to record and share music and other recordings over the Internet. An audio web host is not just the domain (excuse the pun) of basement musicians looking to upload their latest experiments - nor is it solely for file-sharing among those with bootlegged copies of concerts or songs.

Audio website hosting can be used effectively by individuals, businesses and organizations, for a wide variety of purposes. A church group may turn to an audio web host to share the weekly sermon for those who couldn't make the service on Sunday. An advocacy group may have a speech to share. How about a seminar or workshop? A podcast of your favorite radio program? What about a little background music on your site? And, of course, to musicians, concert promoters and fans, audio streaming is one of the best online tools to emerge in a long time.

When looking for audio website hosting, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Look for streaming audio. A streaming audio web host will allow your music or other audio file to play almost immediately upon page access. Your site will open with a song, if you like! As well, streaming audio allows site visitors to hear the audio file without having to download it first. In most cases, there is no need for a separate audio player. Streaming audio makes your sound files easier to play, listen and access.

What about streaming video? You may have audio website hosting on your mind, but what about the future? Your band may eventually want to put a video on your site; you may want video with your webinar. Any presentation may benefit from the use of video. Fortunately, most audio web hosts also have video hosting capabilities. It might be worth checking just to be sure, before you sign on

Disk space. Audio (and video) files are quite large; this is exactly why audio website hosting providers usually offer unlimited or at least significant disk space. As always with the word "unlimited," make sure to read the small print that goes along with it. There are always limits of some kind; make sure you know what they are so you don't get hit with extra fees by your audio web host. Check out Hosting-Reviews Top 10 Unlimited Web Hosting Companies.

Bandwidth/transfer space/traffic. Bandwidth is also an important consideration when choosing an audio website hosting service - this is the feature that ensures your audio file will play smoothly and without interruption. There's nothing more annoying than long pauses in a song or speech you're trying to listen to! Even if your site is quite busy, you want to ensure you have the capacity to deal with demand.

Know the rules. No web developer can take songs or audio files from elsewhere and post them on an audio website hosting site without permission. Copyright rules are important to the people who make their living off these files - and to the community as a whole. In many cases, it's as easy as asking for permission first - this is much better than being hit with a fine or being caught later. Many audio web hosts will, rightly, suspend or cancel your hosting service if copyright laws are blatantly ignored. Stay above board with your audio website hosting and your site will be around for a long time to come.

Reliability. Just like any web hosting service, an audio website hosting service should be reliable and offer solid uptime guarantees. Most of today's top web hosts will offer these features, plus enough capacity for more audio website hosting needs. Visit our Overall Top 10 Hosting Companies and have a look!

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Back up your site with website hosting: why, when and how

Back up your site with website hosting: why, when and how

Audio Website Hosting: What you need to know

Audio Website Hosting: What you need to know