SITES - USEFUL & INTERESTINGAcronym FinderLOL, tired of all the acronyms and abbreviations flying around--PHP, MySQL, ASP, VRML, BOOL, MSRP, LMNOP. Visit this polite site ASAP for the meaning of your favourite acronym. IMHO, this site contains just about every commonly-used acronym known to man. Just type your acronym into the box and, PDQ, a list of acronym meanings appears below. |
How Stuff WorksEver wonder how nuclear fission works? Well, maybe you haven't but this site shows you how it happens--along with lots of other things. Find out how all of the following stuff works: engines, jet turbines, pickpockets, mortgages, and more. |
Otherpower.comAlthough this site has a decidedly low tech look to it, you'll find lots of great information on producing your own solar, wind, and other alternate energy. In fact, these guys seem downright proud of the fact they're low tech. We're not going to argue since they seem to be doing very well without the hydro or gas company. That's a HUGE saving! |
Canadian Wildlife Services Photo GalleryThis is a great place to spend some time getting familiar with Canadian wildlife. No, not the kind you see in beer commercials. This site contains a gallery of animal and scenery photographs taken by laymen, amateur photographers, and (we assume) pros. The quality varies--as you'd expect--but it's worth the time having a look. There are some remarkable photos in the gallery and--if you fancy yourself a photographer--you can compete with others for the best photo of the month. |
The Vancouver Island MarmotFamous marmots--quick name one! If you've regularly read a Western Canadian newspaper over the last few years, chances are you've heard of the Vancouver Island marmot. It's one of the most endangered species anywhere, it's numbers having been reduced to just over 100 currently. Visit this site for more information the Vancouver Island Marmot and what you might be able to do to help save this furry creature from extinction. |
The RV TimesPack up your troubles in your old RV and smile, smile, smile. If you've considered RVing, you have to take a gander at this site. This Islandnet.com-hosted site has been publishing RV news and tips for years now. The magazine has published 106 print issues and we're happy to say we host their online presence. |
The Vancouver Island School of ArtWhether you're serious about "art" or whether you just enjoy "drawing stuff," this Islandnet.com-hosted site just might offer you something that will help you express yourself. Learn how to make paper, understand "cubism," filmmake without a camera, or understand contemporary art. |
Please note that the information contained in this newsletter and other newsletters published by Islandnet AMT Solutions Group, Inc. (Islandnet.com) is for information purposes only. Islandnet.com is not responsible for damages--monetary or other--that may result from the use of information contained in any Islandnet.com newsletter. Customers must verify information for themselves.
Unless otherwise noted, all the material contained in this newsletter is copyright 2004 - 2012 © AMT Solutions Group, Inc., all rights reserved.
REWARDS - WHAT ARE THEY & WHAT CAN I DO WITH THEM? You may have wondered what those "Rewards" are displayed in your profile. Rewards are our way of saying "thank you" to customers who recommend us. Each time a customer recommends us and the recommendation results in someone purchasing a service, the customer who recommended us gets Rewards added to their account profile.
How does it work?
Well, it works as outlined in the first paragraph above. The only details missing are how points are tracked and how points can be used.
Points are tracked when someone opens an account for the first time. Say Freddie Bloggs recommended Islandnet.com to you. Because Freddie is such a good friend and knows so much about computers and the Internet, you decide to follow his advice and open an account with Islandnet.com.
While opening your account online, one of the questions asked is "Who recommended Islandnet.com to you?" If you respond with Freddie Bloggs' username, Freddie will earn rewards. Of course if you have an account and you recommend someone to Islandnet.com, you will earn Rewards.
Or, Islandnet.com may offer Rewards for other things. For example, we're currently offering customers five Reward credits each time they donate blood. See the top article on the right-hand side of this page for more information.
Another source of Rewards is using an Islandnet.com logo on your site. You may remember we mentioned in an earlier newsletter how you can sport an Islandnet.com logo on your site. All you need to do is paste some HTML code into one or more web pages and we will track whether clicks lead to signups. If they do, you get rewards.
Click here to have a look at our logos & banner page.
So, that's how points are tracked and earned. What can you do with Rewards?
Rewards can be redeemed for an Islandnet.com service. For example, you could apply your Rewards toward any current amount owing on your account. Rewards can also be used to purchase merchandise, such as Islandnet.com mugs and baseball caps.
Here's one last bit of info. Rewards are earned each and every time someone purchases services with Islandnet.com. For example, say two years down the road someone you recommended to Islandnet.com is still using our services. Each time they purchase a service with us, you still get Reward. It's entirely conceivable that someone actively recommending people to Islandnet.com could pay nothing from month to month.
Sorry, you can't redeem Reward Points for cash and you can't transfer Reward Points to another Islandnet.com user.
MY HIGH SPEED CONNECTION IS DOWN--WHAT CAN I DO? It can be frustrating if you're in the middle of searching for something or in the middle of an online transaction and your connection is lost. What can you do?
Well, it may be the problem is out of your control; however, you can narrow things down a bit.
As an aside, you may want to save this article to your hard drive because without a connection you won't be able to read it.
If the problem you're having is with a particular website, it may be there is a problem with the website itself. Try a number of other websites to see if they work. If all the other websites you've tried work but one particular one doesn't, it may be a problem with the site.
On the other hand, if you're able to reach some websites but not others, there may be a more widespread problem on the Internet.
The first thing you might want to do is try "pinging" a known website. If you're using Windows 98 or newer, click on the "start" button and then "run." In the input box entitled "open" type "command". A window with a black background and white text will open with a prompt that looks something like the following:
c:\>
Before "pinging" a website you might want to note that some sites currently block pings. For example, Microsoft, AOL, and Amazon will not respond to pings. In fact, many prominent websites now ignore pings. They have probably configured their machines to ignore pings in response to certain types of potential DOS (Denial of Service) attacks. Islandnet.com does not block the type of ping outlined in this article so you can expect a response from us.
Our website will likely be up and running at any given time. So, you might want to ping us by typing the following after the prompt and then pressing the "enter" key:
c:\>ping helpdesk.islandnet.com
Try this even if you're not having a problem with your connection. You should get a response that looks something like the following:
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=67
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time<8ms TTL=67
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time<5ms TTL=67
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time<6ms TTL=67
Ping statistics for 199.175.106.221:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 5ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 7ms
The above response indicates a successful ping.
If you're able to "ping" our website (I.e. you get the above response), it may be that the problem is somewhere "out there" on the Internet. Perhaps there's a wonky router, a cut cable, or some other anomaly causing problems on certain portions of the Internet. Some sites work and others don't.
To test that theory, you can try pinging another website, say "bell.ca" or "sympatico.com". Both of these sites responded to pings as of the date this article was written. If one site responds but another one doesn't, there's probably a problem with one or more portions of the Internet.
If you can't reach our website, you may see something like the following:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 199.175.106.221:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
The above response indicates an unsuccessful ping. If you get the above response, the next thing you might want to do is ping the Helpdesk IP address as follows:
c:\>ping 119.175.106.221
If your ping succeeds, you will get a response similar to the one below:
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time10ms TTL=67
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time<8ms TTL=67
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time5ms TTL=67
Reply from 199.175.106.221: bytes=32 time<6ms TTL=67
Ping statistics for 199.175.106.221:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 5ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 7ms
A successful ping to the IP address (199.175.106.221) but an unsuccessful one to the domain name (helpdesk.islandnet.com) may mean there is a DNS (Domain Name Server; click here for more information on this topic) issue. In other words, the machine that "tells" your computer which IP addresses correspond to various domain names may be experiencing difficulties.
To confirm this, you can try typing an IP address into the address bar of your browser. If the website comes up when you use an IP address (199.175.106.221) but doesn't when you use the domain name (helpdesk.islandnet.com), a likely culprit is a DNS issue.
If you can't ping a website, whether using the domain name or the IP address, you might want to try renewing your high speed connection. You can try renewing your connection using the same "command window" as outlined under the section above. In the "command window," type the following:
c:\>ipconfig /renew
If your connection is okay, you should get the something like following response:
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Network Bridge:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
If you get another response, there may be a problem with your high speed modem. The following is one of a few error messages you can get:
Windows IP Configuration
No operation can be performed on Network Bridge while it has its media disconnec
ted.
If you've tried unsuccessfully to ping another site and you've not been able to renew your connection, you may want to try rebooting your modem. To do so, simply remove the power supply from the back of the modem and plug (the lights on the front will go out), wait ten or twenty seconds, then plug it back in and wait another 30 seconds to a minute. The lights on the front of the modem will blink while the modem re-initializes.
If you still cannot reach websites or ping them, you may want to reboot your modem and your computer. To do so, remove the power supply from the back of your modem and click on the "start" button, then select "Shut Down" and allow Windows to exit and turn off your computer.
Once the computer is off, re-insert the power supply into the back of your high speed modem. Allow the modem to re-initialize.
Then, turn your computer back on and allow Windows to open. Once Windows has loaded, try your browser again.
If you're able to reach websites again, you're away to the races! If your connection is still down, you may want to try calling technical support for more information and help. You can reach our technical support at 383-0096.
"FILE ACCESS ACCOUNTS" -- WHAT THEY ARE & WHAT THEY DO Let's say you hire someone to create a web site for you. You might not want to give them your account username and password, since it would also allow them to access your mail, the Helpdesk, etc.
Or, if you work collaboratively with a group of people on one or more websites, chances are each person will have a narrow set of responsibilities--perhaps being responsible for one or more sections of a website.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could give anyone access to a particular part of your account without also giving them access to other parts? That's exactly what a File Access Account allows you to do.
All you need to do is visit the following URL from the Islandnet.com Helpdesk system:
https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/fileaccess.php.
Once an account is created, anyone can setup their FTP program to to connect via FTP to "helpdesk.islandnet.com," which will allow access only to the directory (and any directories within) that you've specified. All they have to do is use the username and password you've specified, along with the "hostname" "helpdesk.islandnet.com."
You can create any number of file access accounts and they may point at any directory in your account (even the root directory if you really want to allow that). There is no cost in creating the accounts, but note that any files people upload/download through this service contribute to your disk space and bandwidth charges.
DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE You're paying someone to build your website or you're in the middle of spending countless hours building your own. With all that money and effort on the line, will anyone notice? Once it's online, then what?
How do you get your site noticed? Well, a book could be written on the topic--and many have been. Because the volume of topic material is so deep, we won't get into any great amount of detail. What follows are some commonsense tips and some online resources to help you build your site for search engine visibility.
First, you need to build your site with search engines in mind. If you've already built your site but didn't think of search engine "friendliness," don't think you'll have to start over. Most websites can be adapted to be more search engine friendly--even after they're built. It's better to start with search engines in mind though.
But what's conscientiousness got to do with search engines? When a website is built carefully and knowlegeably (i.e. conscientiously), it has certain features. Here are some characteristics of a consientously built website:
You need to determine what search keywords potential site visitors will use when looking for your site and those of competitors. A good way of determining what those search engine keywords and phrases are is by doing a search for competing sites.
The more specific you can be with your keywords and phrases, the better off you'll be. That's because you will have fewer competitors the more narrowly focused you are.
While identifying keywords and phrases, it's a good idea to see what the competition is doing. Those sites that already rank high with search engines are probably doing something right--either by choice or chance.
In any event, it's not a bad idea to take note of what your competitors are doing to get ranked as highly as they do. Don't copy what they do but do identify generally how many times your keywords and phrases appear throughout the site--narrative, alt tags, title tags, and other content.
For those who may not know what "meta" tags are, they're HTML tags that do not have any formatting role and are not visible to site visitors. The role of meta tags is to display to search engines information relevant to your site.
"Meta" tags aren't as crucial to search engine success as they used to be but there's no harm in including them--particularly if you're careful to ensure they accurately reflect the content and purpose of each page. Here are examples of meta keywords and descriptions:
<meta description="The August, 2005 Newsletter for Islandnet.com. Contains information about Reward Points, Interesting and Useful websites, what to do if your high speed connection is down, the File Access tool, and driving traffic to your website.">
<meta keywords="islandnet.com august 2005 newsletter reward points interesting useful sites high speed connection problems file access tool search engine optimization">
You're probably thinking, "well duh!" Yup, having narrative relevant to your site purpose is pretty self-evident. However, there's a more subtle aspect to this than appears on the surface.
If your narrative is conscientously written, your keywords and phrases will appear throughout. Moreover, keywords and phrases will likely appear sooner in your narrative (i.e. close to the beginning) than if you've missed the mark.
Think about it. If the purpose of your site is to sell cars, you're better off starting with "Test drive the new Zoomy X5 Guzzler and you'll be hooked for life" rather than, "Welcome to our site. We'll hook you for life if you take one of our Zoomy X5 Guzzlers for a test drive."
You don't have to write a book about the topics covered in your site but you need to cover everything an interested visitor might want to know. That is, you don't want to have people come to your site only to find they need to e-mail you for some bit of fairly basic information. People won't contact you and the depth of information is probably insufficient to give you a decent ranking with a major search engine.
An "alt" tag is HTML code accompanying images that are used to help describe images. Here is an example of an image and alt tag:
<img src="images/zoomy_twisty.jpg" width="200" height="200" alt="New Zoomy X5 Guzzler Proving Itself on the Twisty Roads of Our State-of-the-art Testing Facility">
When using Internet Explorer, any site visitor who moves their mouse over the image will see a small text box appear containing "New Zoomy X5 Guzzler Proving Itself on the Twisty Roads of Our State-of-the-art Testing Facility." Although search engines "see" the text in a different way, they have access to the same information and will index it in their database.
Even graphic images like logos and fancy text can have descriptive alt tags, for example:
<img src="images/logo.gif" width="100" height="100" alt="Monolithic Corp - Manufacturers of the New Zoomy X5 Guzzler">
Even if an image really is for formatting and doesn't convey any information, you can include an empty tag to show you haven't forgotten like so:
<img src="images/spacer.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="">
Title tags are not as common as alt tags but they can be useful nonetheless. Here's an example of a title tag:
<a href="zoomy_x5_guzzler.html" title="Everything about the Zoomy X5 Guzzler">
Similar to alt tags, a visitor who moves their mouse over a link will see "Everything about the Zoomy X5 Guzzler." Thus, they'll know if they click on the link they'll learn everything they need to know about Zoomy X5 Guzzler.
Likewise, search engines reviewing the page will know the link leads to information about the Zoomy X5 Guzzler. Like alt tags, the title information will get added to search engine databases.
Generally speaking, a good philosophy to adopt is to make your site a good resource for visitors. Such a site will go the extra mile and provide links to sites with additional and complimentary information. If visitors view your site as a good resource, chances are search engines will too. After all, search engines devise algorithms to mimick the behaviour of your site visitors.
If it's appropriate, name your files after keywords and phrases. If your site is about gardening, it'll be useful and appropriate to have a page file named "gardening.html." The same goes for image files. If you feature an image of cheddar cheese, name the file "cheddar.jpg" or "cheddar_cheese.jpg" not just "cheese.jpg."
Just as this article isn't exhaustive, the following list gives you a place to start but it isn't all-inclusive. That said, the following sites have some good information on making your site more visible:
Don't forget to add your site to our Members Mall. If you add your site to our Members Mall, it's very likely your site will get indexed by various search engines fairly quickly. Our website--which has been around since 1993--gets "indexed" very regularly by Google, Inktomi, MSN, and others.
Adding your site to our Members Mall will mean there's a link from our Members Mall to your site. This isn't a guarantee your site will get indexed but it'll improve your chances. Click here to add your site now.
While we don't guarantee your site will get indexed as the result of using our gadget, it'll improve your chances. Also, how search engines accept submissions and even whether they exist changes over time. As a result, you may get error messages when you run the gadget.
With that said, this gadget automatically submits your site to the following search engines:
Click here to submit your site now.
GIVE BLOOD & EARN REWARDS In an earlier newsletter we let everyone know we encourage people to give blood to Canadian Blood Services. We would like to again encourage everyone to give blood because it will be used to save someone's life. It may even be used to save your life or the life of someone you love.
To that end, we're offering 5 Reward credits for every blood donation made at Canadian Blood Services. Be sure to sign the "Life Link Book" as well as printing your Islandnet.com username in it. We look for customers in the "Life Link Book" and will credit customer accounts where we know they've donated blood.
The address for Canadian Blood Services in Victoria is as follows:
3449 Saanich Road
Victoria, BC
Click here to visit the Canadian Blood Services website.
ATOMS ADDED TO ELECTRON PRODUCT LINEUPWe know, we know, what a geeky-cheesy thing to say but we just couldn't resist. You've been enjoying our extremely high quality Islandnet.com electrons. Now you can enjoy the same quality--only it now comes in atoms you can touch.
For only $10 you can buy an Islandnet.com baseball cap or mug any time you drop into our office. You can choose from two colour schemes for our baseball caps--all of which have our new sunrise logo on the front.
Or, you can sip coffee--or something "harder"--from one of our tropical Island-themed mugs. Imagine yourself on a hammock, sipping something relaxing on your own green, white-beached, palm-laden, luscious tropical island...hmmm...ahhh...
...for only $10. How'd 'y like them atoms?
Actual mug experiences may differ from those portrayed here.