As a platinum sponsor, we’ve had the amazing opportunity to participate in the racing experience first hand.  Watching Leilani gear up for the race has been exciting, and we are honored to be a part of her journey.

Leilani has been driving environmental activism since 2006, and her race today will mark her first ever ocean awareness car.  Our partnership with Leilani is natural, and our collective commitment to the environment makes our sponsorship of her car and her cause even more exciting.

A New Look for pair.com.

To celebrate our anniversary, we have launched a brand new Web site!

Win and iPad!

As part of our birthday celebration we are giving away an iPad. To enter to win – follow @pairnetworks on Twitter and tweet:

Happy 16th Anniversary to @pairnetworks!

Post a tweet before January 31, 2012.  The randomly-selected winner will be announced during the first week of February.

Here is the full press release for our birthday celebration.

pair Networks Celebrates 16th Anniversary

(January 11, 2012) PITTSBURGH, PA — pair Networks, Inc., a Pittsburgh, Pa. based Web site hosting company, is proud to announce the start of its 16th anniversary celebration. Profitable since its second month of operation, South Side based pair Networks is devoted to providing reliable services and the highest quality customer support, all while maintaining a deep rooted commitment to the environment.

Founded in 1996, at a time when a 28.8 modem was considered a fast Internet connection, pair Networks has evolved in both reach and scope as the Web itself has grown. Over the past 16 years, pair Networks has flourished and emerged as an industry leader for its focus on both environmental initiatives and sustainable business practices. pair Networks has come a long way from a single T1 connection to hosting hundreds of thousands of Web sites, for customers in more than 150 countries, on a network powered by multiple 10-Gigabit links to the Internet.

“From the moment the lights went on, we have focused on integrity and outstanding customer service, except now, we use energy efficient lights” said CEO and founder Kevin Martin. “We are innovative and progressive and our values and independence are what make us successful.”

pair Networks is poised to continue to flourish in a fast-changing industry. Even as developments in technology have forged ahead, pair Networks has never lost focus on its center: high-quality Web hosting in an earth-friendly setting. This is demonstrated through legendary uptime, excellent Web hosting hardware and open-source software, and customer support that is unmatched in the industry.

With 16 years of success, pair Networks has never lost sight of its unwavering commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices and an earth-friendly culture. All of pair Networks’ operations, including data centers, support operations, development labs, administrative facilities, and employee commutes & business travel are 100% Carbon Neutral.

Additionally, pair Networks is powered by 100% renewable energy. pair Networks’ commitment to sustainability is better for the natural environment, great for employees, and downright awesome for their customers.

During the month of January, pair Networks’ anniversary celebration will present a special Sweet 16 iPad give away. Beginning January 11, enter to win by following pair Networks on Twitter and tweeting “Happy 16th Anniversary to @pairnetworks.” The 16th anniversary celebration will also include great specials on Web hosting packages for new customers.

About pair Networks

Launched in January 1996 and profitable since its first month of operation, pair Networks provides a range of Web hosting options to businesses, bloggers, artists, musicians, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations around the world. In addition to Web hosting accounts, pair Networks offers fully managed dedicated servers (QuickServe.com), virtual private servers (pairVPS.com), colocation services (pairColo.com), e-commerce hosting (pairCommerce.com), Web hosting for hobbyists (pairLite.com), and domain name registration services (pairNIC.com). Since August 2007 pair Networks has been 100 percent green powered and carbon neutral. To learn more about pair Networks, visit http://www.pair.com.

In this Developer’s Corner post Alan dives into the topic of Browser Caching.

How does Caching and Page Web Load Time Work?

All modern Web browsers use caching to increase download speed and Web site performance. There are several things Web developers can do help browsers make the most of caching to reduce page load time and bandwidth usage.

When your browser downloads a Web site, it stores the files it retrieved for a period of time, so they can be used on other Web pages without reloading them. The browser occasionally checks for new versions of those files, to display the most recent version of the site.

Most Web developers are familiar with what happens when your browser doesn’t know when a file has changed. After uploading a new site, your browser may continue to display the old version of the site until you do a page reload or clear your browser’s cache to force the browser to download the site’s files again.

Sometimes the browser makes a mistake in the other direction, and reloads a file even though it hasn’t changed. This doesn’t cause any visible problems, but it increases page load time.

Some Tips To Improve Load Time

Here are a few ways you can help the browser know when it needs to update its cache and when it doesn’t.

If you use the same file or image in multiple places in your Web site, always use the same URL everywhere the file is used. Browsers don’t know two files are the same unless they have the same name.

Move JS and CSS content into separate files instead of including the code in your .html files. Since browsers cache each file separately, they will know not to reload the CSS and JS on every page that uses them. Using a JS or CSS minimizer to reduce the size of your files can also help.

When uploading your Web site, try not to upload new versions of files that haven’t changed. If a file’s modification timestamp changes on your Web server, the server will think it was modified and will tell the browser to download a new version in some cases.

In the next installment of the Developer’s Corner, I’ll describe how to use mod_expires to tell Apache when you don’t expect your files to change.

Do you have a technical question you’d like to have answered in the Developer’s Corner? If so, send it to Insider@pair.com. Selected questions will be answered in future episodes of the Developer’s Corner.

Fill the Cart: Tips for Increasing Online Sales
Online sales can be a huge profit generator for your business but are you making the most of your online opportunities?   This workshop will walk you through the steps to help you increase website-generated sales by sharing strategies for search engine marketing, seamless shopping experiences, superior customer service and the most effective ways to drive traffic and improve customer conversions.  Get tips on improving site design, transactions, search features and improving the buying experience.

The confercene agenda and registration information is available here.

• pairNIC Dynamic DNS
• Whois privacy feature
• Domain parking
• Custom DNS
• Web site address forwarding
• E-Mail forwarding
• Domain name lock and transfer lock
• Secure online account management
• pairNIC placeholder page

Click here to visit pairNIC to register your .MOBI and .ME domain name today!

What is pairNIC Dynamic DNS?

pairNIC Dynamic DNS is built to update your custom DNS entries within minutes of your IP address changing. It works by running a simple client on your computer, which connects to us frequently. When we detect that your IP address has changed, we update your custom DNS entries to match.

How can I use pairNIC Dynamic DNS?

If you have a server attached to a business-class network, that machine is probably networked with a “static IP address.” This means that the network address that server uses does not change from one day to the next. If this is what you have, then standard custom DNS is all you will need.

However, computers connecting to the Internet through residential Internet service (home fiber, cable modem, DSL, or dial-up) often use “dynamic IP addressing.” Put simply, this would be like the phone company changing your telephone number every single day. As long as you only want to call out, it’s no problem. But, as soon as you want somebody to call you, you need a phone book that updates as quickly as the phone company.

pairNIC Dynamic DNS is built to update your custom DNS entries within minutes of your IP address changing. It works by running a simple client on your computer, which connects to us frequently. When we detect that your IP address has changed, we update your custom DNS entries to match.

What is an example of a practical application of pairNICDynamic DNS?

Let’s say you have a desktop computer at home where you store all of your digital music. Your computer has a dynamic IP address (which means it changes occasionally). When you are at work, you want a way to access the music on your home computer — so, you setup pairNIC Dynamic DNS. With pairNIC Dynamic DNS, you can create a hostname like yourcomputer.example.com. This hostname will allow you to find your music server at home even if your IP address changes.

How much does the pairNIC Dynamic DNS service cost?

Nothing! pairNIC Dynamic DNS is included at no extra cost with every domain name registration at pairNIC.com. You read that correctly — no extra cost for pairNIC Dynamic DNS.

To learn more about pairNIC Dynamic DNS visit pairNIC.com or contact our support team at support@pairnic.com/call 1-888-PAIRNIC.

Lou from Bike PGH stopped by to talk with us about our bike room

We are thrilled to announce that pair Networks is now a Bike Pittsburgh certified Bike Friendly Employer. While we have long been a fan of the bicycle, and our offices are conveniently located right next to a riverfront bike trail, we wanted to make sure we were well equipped for bicycle commuiting.  With some guidance from the folks at Bike Pittsburgh, we have expanded our bike room and added more bicycle resources right here in our office – including bikes for our employees to use on the trail and for running errands.

You can learn more about the Bike Pittsburgh Bike Friendly Employer Program here.

pair Networks is a sponsor for the event Have a Ball with GASP.  This Friday, October 21, GASP is holding their fundraising event at The Carnegie Science Center’s SportWorks building.  You can support GASP and participate in the sports activities at the science center.  There will be hour deusvem, drinks and a silent auction. There will be a panel discussion with athletes from the  Pittsburgh Passion, the Steel City Derby Demons, and USRowing, as well as local health professionals, on how air quality affects athletic performance.

Tickets are $50/person ($25 for ages 6-12, free for 5 and under).  Ticket information is available here.