Don't worry, though. We don't have a room full of former long distance pitchmen and women speed-dialing our customers about the latest “deal.” We're calling a few customers from time to time just to see how we're doing—to find out how we might be able to do a better job, and to make sure customers are getting the most from the services they already pay for.

So, don't be surprised when the voice on the other end of the line tells you they're from Islandnet.

It's a scam of course.

These scams have been around a very long time. If you've owned a domain name for any time at all, there's a good chance you've gotten one. It comes in an official-looking envelope on official-looking paper with business-like curtness and world-class prices (meaning for prices like this it better cover the world).

However, even if all of this official looking stuff is a real business, it makes little sense to put your business in their directory. Is anyone going to search a static DVD or are they going to use the Internet itself?

Once-upon-a-time, this sort of thing actually made some sense. Back when the Internet still involved gopher servers and transparent GIFs were a huge deal, print or searchable CD editions of various Internet addresses put Internet resources in the hands of people who might not know of some Internet services.

Now, with Google and millions of directory sites online, having your domain name listed on some CD, DVD, or print directory is pretty much useless. Anyone who isn't using the Internet to search for your site probably doesn't have a computer in the first place.

Add this piece of paper to the stack of Nigerian e-mail scams, Nigerian postal scams, eBay scams, Phishing scams, and other fraudulent stuff making its way through the Internet and the “real world.”

Still, stuff like this gives us a good chuckle. We hope it does you too.

What is it?

The short answer is it's “DHTML” (an old term that stands for “Dynamic HTML” or “Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language”) and it's been around for a long time—despite all the proselytizing and “paradigm shift” language flying about the Internet. It really isn't anything earth shattering or paradigm shifting at all. There is a twist, though, and that's the “XML” part.

Of course, DHTML is the simple use of javascript to manipulate HTML on a web page. The result is cool images that change when you mouse over them, things that fly across web pages, slide shows that fade from one image to another, and other interesting stuff.

AJAX uses javascript to manipulate HTML just like DHTML but adds the manipulation of XML. XML, of course, can be used to store and transmit data in files. That means AJAX can be used to manipulate data from any source where the data is stored in XML format.

Here are some examples of AJAX-based gadgets:

• Carousel Gadget
• Slide show
• Form Validator
• RSS Reader

Note that all of the gadgets above, except the RSS Reader, don't actually manipulate any XML data. It's regular DHTML, which is another name for javascript and HTML as noted above.

Here's an interesting thread from a Microsoft blog that explains how AJAX is just plain old DHTML.

Islandnet Picks

Typesetter - Choose your online fonts	Jalopik.com	Quantcast - Top website rankings	Solar Terrestrial Dispatch - Leaders in Space Weather Forecasting
Here's a great site for comparing what various font types look like side-by-side. The site allows you to compare all the fonts commonly available on Windows systems, Mac system, and all those common to both computer types. What's extra cool about this site is the fact it detects what fonts you've got installed on your machine and it allows you to compare any one of them to the common fonts available on the Internet.	If you're interested in cars, here's a great site. From the website: “Jalopnik loves cars. Secret cars, concept cars, flying cars, vintage cars, tricked-out cars, red cars, black cars, blonde cars -- sometimes, cars just because of the curve of a hood.” Whether you're into 500+ horsepower muscle machines or 125 / gallon miser machines, you'll find something interesting here.	Ever wonder which sites are the busiest on the Internet? If you have, you don't need to wonder anymore. Visit this site to see which sits are in the top 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500. In fact, you can download a list of the top 1,000,000 websites, available as a 10 megabyte download. See if your website is in the top million. Islandnet is 15,661 as of May 30, 2007. WARNING: The site listings are not filtered for content. As a result, many sites listed contain content some may find offensive.	The next time you take a trip you're not likely to need to know the current velocity of solar winds, the likelihood of solar flares, or the current magnetic indices. However, you may find it plain old interesting just to know this website exists and posts such cosmic information. Even if you're not into this sort of thing, though, you'll find there are charts and information about the likelihood of Northern Lights, which are cool to see no matter who you are. Maybe hundreds of thousands of years from now this site will be considered the “local forecast.”

Islandnet.com Hosted Sites

Chalet Estate Winery	Whale Discoveries	Victoria Mac Users Group (VMUG)	Hemp & Company
We're always pleased to find businesses that host their sites with Islandnet. It's even more pleasing for us when we find we can actually drive a few minutes and visit the business. If you're a Victoria resident, what could be more pleasing than driving just a few minutes to visit a winery. Chalet Estate Winery is located right on the Saanich Peninsula, just west of Sidney by the Sea. It's great living on the Island!	On the West Coast we're all familiar with whale watching tours. How 'bout this one—in the Kingdom of Tonga! That's right, watch whales while in the South Pacific! Watch humpback whales in the clear water of the South Pacific. Fortunately, you don't have to fly to Tonga to visit this Islandnet.com-hosted website.	Do you have a Mac but need a bit of help? If you do, the Victoria Mac Users Group is the place to go. You'll get all sorts of help with your Mac: applications, the Internet, and even things like digital photography, digital music, and movie-making. Maybe you'll become a member, in which case you'll benefit from their monthly newsletter. We're pleased the VMUG has chosen Islandnet to host their website.	You'll find all things hemp here, that is all things legally hemp—hemp pants, hemp shirts, hemp hats, hemp oils, hemp scarves, hemp soaps, hemp cleaners, and even hemp food. Hemp lasts longer, is more environmentally friendly, and feels great to wear. Check out this Islandnet.com-hosted website and buy some hemp shorts online to boost your environmental karma.

We Love Websites!

Websites are our business—hosting them and building them. If you need a website—blog, retail, business-to-business, personal, database-driven, or something else—Islandnet has plenty of website development and programming experience. Call or e-mail us if you'd like anything from graphics to nit-picky programming.

Well, you can put your account into “hibernation.” Putting your account into hibernation means you can vacation, take a sabbatical, or just take a break from your online activity without the burden of continuing to pay for it.

When you come back, just call us and your account can be activated again. Presto-chango, you're back online.

This applies to both regular hosting & dialup accounts, as well as high speed connections.

The only “gotcha” is the fact that any e-mails that come to your account while it is hibernating will bounce. So, if you're going to put your account into hibernation, let everyone know in advance.

Shaw policy has changed so that “All customers who sign up for any Shaw service are required to provide 1 piece of Identification that is not considered to be a potential confidential or privacy risk.” Acceptable ID includes the following:

• Driver's License
• Medical (Health Card)
• Student ID
• Membership Card (Costco, Gym etc)
• Passport
• Citizenship/Permanent Resident Card
• Provincial ID Card

The new requirement has been made in order to reduce the likelihood of someone getting a new Shaw account using an assumed name.

So, it's frustrating when we run into a customer who mentions the enormous amount of spam they get. We always set them straight and help them setup basic spam filters to get rid of the bulk of their unwanted e-mail.

We want to remind customers that they don't have to put up with spam if they put in a very minimal amount of effort. We'd also like customers (if they're so inclined) to let others know they don't have to put up with spam either.

As a reminder, here are the two simplest steps:

If you have a domain name, use a "map" file.

We've covered this topic before in a previous newsletter. Click here to have a look. Click here to look at another article. And here's another one.

Click here for our online documentation on map files.

Use PEP (Personal E-mail Processing)

Click here to have a look at our online PEP documentation.

One thing it didn't do before is send out an auto-responder to the person filling out your form. Well, now it does.

All you need to do is add the following lines (in addition to the required and optional configuration lines) to the “config” file associated with your InMail gadget:

$CONFIG['ReplyTemplate'] = "reply_template.txt";
$CONFIG['ReplyFrom'] = "somebody@example.com";
$CONFIG['ReplyTo'] = "somebody@example.com";
$CONFIG['ReplySubject'] = "This is your Auto-responder!";

"ReplyTemplate" is the text file you can use to format your response. This template file is like any other used by our gadgets. To have a look at the template help file, go to the following URL:

https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/gadgets/templates.php

"ReplyFrom" is the e-mail address your auto-responder will appear to be from. This needs to be a valid address.

"ReplyTo" is is the e-mail address your auto-responder will display as the “reply to” address. This also needs to be a valid e-mail address.

"ReplySubject" is the subject of your auto-responder.

Check out the InMail gadget help pages at the following URL:

https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/gadgets/inmail/

Access Individual Web mail Folders using Your E-mail Program

Say you save all your junk mail in a “junk” folder in your Helpdesk web mail. Say you would like to search all that junk in your regular e-mail program because you think there might be a message you want. Well, you can download everything in your “junk” e-mail folder if you like.

All you need to do is alter your e-mail program settings or setup a new profile in your e-mail program. Add a percent sign followed by the folder name to your username when making a POP connection. For example, if your POP account is normally “demo@pop.islandnet.com” and you want to download the contents of the “sent” folder instead of “inbox”, change your POP account setting to “demo%sent@pop.islandnet.com” and proceed normally. Don't forget to change it back after you're done!

Legal Stuff

The information displayed in this newsletter and any previous or subsequent newsletters is for information purposes only. Islandnet.com, AMT Solutions Group, Inc. and related companies are not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from the use of information in the newsletter. While the information contained in this newsletter is believed accurate, readers must verify information for themselves. Sites we link to do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of AMT Solutions Group, Inc.