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Clint Eastwood Chrysler Ad Super Bowl 2012 is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

Image via CrunchBase

I haven’t logged into my Bebo account much over the last couple of years. I did login earlier this year almost by accident. I logged back out again within a couple of minutes.

Last night, however, the site seemed to go offline completely. Looking into it further it’s pretty clear that either something is wrong or they’ve pulled the plug:

dig +trace bebo.com

; <<>> DiG 9.7.3 <<>> +trace bebo.com
;; global options: +cmd
.            2953    IN    NS    j.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    d.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    m.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    i.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    g.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    c.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    a.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    b.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    k.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    e.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    l.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    f.root-servers.net.
.            2953    IN    NS    h.root-servers.net.
;; Received 436 bytes from 81.17.240.194#53(81.17.240.194) in 3 ms

com.            172800    IN    NS    a.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    c.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    i.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    d.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    b.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    j.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    m.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    f.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    h.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    g.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    l.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    k.gtld-servers.net.
com.            172800    IN    NS    e.gtld-servers.net.
;; Received 486 bytes from 192.112.36.4#53(g.root-servers.net) in 56 ms

bebo.com.        172800    IN    NS    ns1.beboinc.com.
bebo.com.        172800    IN    NS    ns2.beboinc.com.
;; Received 102 bytes from 192.26.92.30#53(c.gtld-servers.net) in 82 ms

;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

The above output is from the “dig” command, which is a simple utility to check DNS.

Running it against this domain (michele.me) gives a different and more useful result:

dig +trace michele.me

; <<>> DiG 9.7.3 <<>> +trace michele.me
;; global options: +cmd
.            2819    IN    NS    l.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    m.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    i.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    b.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    a.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    g.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    k.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    h.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    d.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    c.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    f.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    j.root-servers.net.
.            2819    IN    NS    e.root-servers.net.
;; Received 436 bytes from 81.17.240.194#53(81.17.240.194) in 3 ms

me.            172800    IN    NS    d0.cctld.afilias-nst.org.
me.            172800    IN    NS    a2.me.afilias-nst.info.
me.            172800    IN    NS    ns.nic.me.
me.            172800    IN    NS    c0.cctld.afilias-nst.info.
me.            172800    IN    NS    a0.cctld.afilias-nst.info.
me.            172800    IN    NS    b2.me.afilias-nst.org.
me.            172800    IN    NS    b0.cctld.afilias-nst.org.
me.            172800    IN    NS    ns2.nic.me.
;; Received 486 bytes from 192.112.36.4#53(g.root-servers.net) in 55 ms

michele.me.        86400    IN    NS    ns.blacknightsolutions.com.
michele.me.        86400    IN    NS    ns2.blacknightsolutions.com.
;; Received 86 bytes from 2001:500:27::1#53(c0.cctld.afilias-nst.info) in 102 ms

michele.me.        900    IN    A    78.153.202.220
michele.me.        900    IN    NS    ns2.blacknightsolutions.com.
michele.me.        900    IN    NS    ns.blacknightsolutions.com.
;; Received 190 bytes from 2a01:a8:fe00::2#53(ns.blacknightsolutions.com) in 307 ms

So basically Bebo.com is not returning any A records which means it could not display no matter how hard it tried. Of course there could be all sorts of crazy going on with other DNS records, but it doesn’t look likely.

Checking the whois records for the domain the only thing that sticks out is that the nameservers changed back in December. They were using Akamai’s DNS, then switched to using their own nameservers. Akamai’s services are used by a lot of big content providers and aren’t cheap, so this switch would suggest a scaling back of Bebo in terms of their traffic levels etc.,

Is Bebo gone for good?

No idea. I’m not aware of any official statements from them as yet though I haven’t been following that closely either because I honestly don’t care

Does it matter?

Probably not, though the complete lack of any notification to any of the social network’s users is worrying and proves yet again why you shouldn’t rely on a social network to store anything important.

Is Bebo Gone? is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

Cover via Amazon

I’ll be doing several longhaul flights over the next few months, which was one of the reasons why I got a Kindle. I like reading on planes (when I’m not sleeping), but there isn’t much space in the seat pockets for anything more than a Penguin paperback. Lugging the Steve Jobs biography back and forth across the Atlantic in December was “fun”.

Next month I’m heading to Orlando via a rather circuitous route, so I’d love to have a couple of good books to read on my way.

So what would people suggest or recommend?

Good Reads For Long Flights? is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

Yesterday marked 3 weeks on the diet, so I posted a “status report” / “progress report” (I work in IT – you’ll have to excuse the IT-esque terminology!).

What I didn’t go into were some of metrics related to my weight loss / diet blogging.

On the technology.ie podcast Conn and I are going to be talking more and more about sharing tips and tricks with people to help improve their websites. So one of the things we thought we’d talk about was “breathing life into an old blog”. My dieting and weight loss blog isn’t the case study, but it’s still quite interesting to see how traffic etc., on there has developed over the last few weeks.

So a bit of background first.

The site had been left idle for quite some time – there hadn’t been a single update since November 2009. It was also running MovableType. Much as I love MT I’ve been moving all my blogs over to WordPress due to the phasing out of MT development and also it’s a lot easier to get a WP based site tweaked quickly and easily.

So I migrated the existing content over to a fresh WP install and gave it a “new coat of paint” with a relatively simple theme from Woothemes. James had done a logo for the old site a couple of years ago, but it had never been used, so he updated it slightly and that gave the site a slightly more “professional” look.

I’ve had Google Analytics tracking set up since the beginning, so it was simply a matter of adding the correct code into the theme’s options (it supports it “out of the box”).

I hadn’t had Feedburner configured for the RSS feed for some odd reason, so that was rectified.

In terms of RSS traffic the numbers aren’t exactly stellar, but they’re growing:

NB: feedburner wasn't setup before January 2012

What about web traffic?

fat.ie Google analytics stats January 2012

You can click to enlarge the graphic, but the basic metric to note is that since I started posting on there more regularly ie. practically every day, since the beginning of the month the traffic has been going up. I’m cross-posting and sharing the posts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, which is driving some of the visitors, but there’s also a few that are following it via RSS, or simply following it without subscribing.

I’m tracking the site’s “progress” using multiple tools, but the obvious “take away” is that the more fresh content you produce the more traffic you’ll get.

Another one of my sites, for example, has been left on “auto pilot” for the last couple of months and the traffic has dropped quite a bit as a result. There is “fresh” content on there practically every single day, but it’s not original, so the search engines aren’t giving it much “weight”, which makes sense.

Captain Obvious Says Blogging Regularly Gets Traffic is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

(original here)

Dilbert Tech Support is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

Image via Wikipedia

The title kind of sums it up.

Listening to two Irish politicians squabbling on the radio the other day it really struck me. Instead of trying to move forward and actually solve issues most of the politicians seem to be more interested in taking potshots at each other’s parties.

It makes me sick.

Instead of trying to work together in the country’s best interests, they’re more interested in comparing each other’s track records.

How does that help anyone?

Sure, having different parties and a strong opposition etc., etc., are good for democracy, but the petty squabbling and constant harping on about past mistakes is a waste of energy.

Were mistakes made? Yes.

Do we need to be constantly reminded of them? No.

And I’m intentionally not mentioning any political parties or individuals as I feel that they’re pretty much all doing the same thing.

Irish Politics Needs To Be Less About The Party And More About The Country is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

This morning I was playing catch up on the various utility statements that had arrived over the last couple of weeks and happily dumping the useless junk that had been packed into the envelopes. I’m glad I did, as I found a rather nice letter from the company that collects my rubbish, AES. They’ve finally gone online!

Registration took a couple of minutes and now I have access to a lot of useful information that will save me time and headaches.

Once you’ve signed up for an online account you can access the online portal:

AES Online Account Summary

What it’s particularly handy is that you can easily download copies of invoices and also see when your bins were last collected.

Bin Collection Summary

This may not be as “exciting” as some online services, but prior to this getting copies of invoices etc., for the accountant was painful.

Of course since January 2012 the tax relief on bin charges has been cut by the government, but if you’re keeping an eye on your household running costs then the online portal is still useful.

Maybe now they’ll stop sending me so much dead tree!

Related articles

• Why is getting rid of rubbish such a chore? (blogs.confused.com)

Rubbish Online Literally is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

James and I toss ideas back and forth about images and designs to use with blog posts, promotions, newsletters etc.,

Today‘s little invention is one of my favourites this year (ok the year is young, but hey !)

There’s probably a reason he’s called “Bert”, but even if there wasn’t a good reason it’s still a cute name for such a cute dragon..

Trying to market hosting and domains is always a bit of a challenge, though I guess that’s part of the reason I like doing it. It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of just shoving photos or images of servers and rather mundane stock images on a site. Of course we still end up having to do it from time to time, but having a bit of fun with things and abusing cats, horses and sheep is much more fun. (Please check our blog before passing judgement on the last sentence!)

So whether “Bert” will make more appearances or not remains to be seen, but I’d like to think that he will..

So Now We Have A Dragon is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

Image via CrunchBase

Netflix went live in Ireland on Sunday night and, naturally enough, I signed up for the free month trial. After playing around with the service for a couple of hours I’ve got very mixed feelings about it. The technology is fantastic, though not perfect, but the range of content available isn’t exactly stellar.

Signing up only took a couple of minutes, though quite a few people seemed to have issues, as Netflix were offering two signup options; a normal one and “signup via Facebook”.

Once I’d signed up I answered a few questions about my personal taste in movies and tv shows and then linked it to my Apple TV (2nd generation). You can also link your Netflix account to Facebook and share your activity. If you’re watching something on a computer you can easily choose not to share what you’re viewing with Facebook, but on the Apple TV sharing is on by default. Of course you can disable the social sharing completely, but I haven’t so far.

So now that I was all “setup” it was simply a question of choosing something to watch. This, unfortunately, is where the service left me a little disappointed.

Netflix Ireland’s range of “new releases” is anything but “new”. You might find a film that was released on iTunes a few months ago, but you’re more likely to stumble across some “straight to DVD” or weird Asian title. The back catalogue of movies is pretty good, but a little patchy. Interestingly enough there are titles and categories of titles on Netflix that the more conservative iTunes would never carry. While iTunes has plenty of “over 18″ / “R rated” films, they’re usually of the more violent type, while Netflix has a “Lesbian and Gay” category, as well as some more “risque” titles in the foreign films category.

Getting access to TV shows is something new in Ireland. At the moment iTunes Ireland does not offer access to TV shows, so the only way to get them is to get a US iTunes account, which is a “grey area”. Netflix does offer a reasonable selection of TV shows, but the choice of episodes isn’t comprehensive. Checking a couple of series last night I found that Dexter had only the first two seasons and while watching Scrubs season 1 episode 1 it cut me off before the end of the episode!

I’ve been using iTunes on my Apple TV for the last few months and I also subscribe to Sky Movies, as well as buying quite a few blu-ray and DVD as they are released (on either side of the Atlantic). So it’s only natural that I’d compare Netflix with iTunes and Sky Movies. However, having said that, if you take the cost element into consideration Netflix is incredibly cheap at a mere €6.99 a month. The problem for somebody like me, however, is that the cost is only one factor. I’d happily pay more if I thought the content was worth getting, but it’s probably not, so I doubt if I’ll renew my subscription after the first month’s free trial.

Of course the entry into the Irish (and UK) market of Netflix could have a much bigger impact on the market as a whole. Ryanair’s rockbottom pricing shook up the airline industry and Netflix has done pretty much the same in the US. Will it have the same kind of impact on Sky in Ireland?

What about the ISPs? Will the increase in people streaming TV shows and films mean that ISPs in Ireland will tighten up on bandwidth caps? It will be interesting to see how many people signup for the service and how many dump Sky as a result.

Related articles

• Netflix: ‘Lovefilm is no competition’ (telegraph.co.uk)
• Netflix streaming launches in UK (bbc.co.uk)

Netflix Ireland Might Be A Bit Overhyped is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

However moving from mod_php to suPHP does require a small bit of tweaking of files and directories.

Under mod_php you can easily end up with a lot of files and directories being owned by the Apache user, which on Debian / Ubuntu is “www-data”. You’ll need to change the ownership of all those files to the website user.

The other thing to watch out for is permissions – setting them to 644 should fix any errors you’re getting.

Another issue I ran into was this error in the logs:

SoftException in Application.cpp:564: Directory “/home/www/www.xxxx.xx/web” is writeable by group

Solution is to chmod 755 the web directory.

After doing a default install and configuration of SuPHP you might run into difficulties running PhpMyAdmin, as the standard SuPHP configuration will forbid it.

The fix is to tweak the settings add the following to your main suphp.conf :

<Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin>
        suPHP_Engine on
    </Directory>

Working With SuPHP Permissions and Ownership is an article from Michele Neylon :: Pensieri - Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts