Website

[Nick]

Well I've been trying to figure out why our tripod site is not being directed to our domain name. If you go to <http://nick-neff-cough.tripod.com>[/color] you can still view the site. Anyway, it seems to stem from me switching banks and payment methods and confusing tripod beyond their capabilities. They are working on correcting the problem.

In my search for a solution I came across another future potential problem. As NNC grows and has more rallies and such it means more web content. We are getting very near our allotted storage space at our current host. Right now we pay $4.95 per month to tripod for use of the web space without advertisements, plus an additional $20.00 to Lycos per year for the domain name. We can increase the next level of service at Tripod for $8.95 per month which would double our bandwidth and storage space. It would also give us more email addresses that we could utilize. Included in this upgraded service is the domain registration so the $20.00 to Lycos per year would go away. Overall we would go from an internet operating expense of $79.40 per year to $107.40 per year. but we would double our capabilities.

I'm sure there are better deals for hosting out there but Brian and I are limited in our building capabilities and the tripod program is very easy and quick to use.

[Surfcal]

Nick,

I am sure the good folks of NNC can help sustain it.  We can do a pledge drive.  Let us know how much more we need.

Surfcal

[Ca-girl]

Nick,
 
I am sure the good folks of NNC can help sustain it. We can do a pledge drive. Let us know how much more we need.
 
Surfcal

I'll second that! I'd hate for you to have to lose anything from the site, and a couple extra bucks a month doesn't seem outrageous for all the extra storage space.
 
CA-girl

[Nick]

This is the kind of stuff I have to deal with at Tripod support.  I sent them an email asking why we cant access the webpage through the domain address and I get the following response:

Dear Michael Nikoley ,

 

Tripod apologizes for any difficulties you may have experienced connecting to our servers. The problem with our servers has been corrected however, the IP addresses of the servers has changed.  For some users this resulted in a few hours of downtime, but if your ISP doesn't update their DNS entries on a daily basis, you may have problems with viewing your web site, FTP access, FrontPage publishing, and utilizing the Site Builder and File Manager. Please be patient while your ISP's new DNS entries propagate across the Internet. Sometimes this can take a week to 10 days. Once your ISP updates their DNS entries for our servers you will be able to access, edit and publish your site. This propagation can take up until Wednesday December 3rd.

We appreciate your continued patience.

Sincerely,

Tom

Lycos Customer Service
 
So I send him the following email trying to further explain the situation:
 
Tom,

I think you are misunderstanding what I'm asking. I can get onto tripod and access my page, make changes or whatever. I can go to http://nick-neff-cough.tripod.com and access my page. I pay the extra for tripod plus and also pay for the domain name //www.nick-neff-cough.org through lycos and have had my tripod site pointing to the domian name over a year now with no problems. Just starting last week if you go to //www.nick-neff-cough.org you get a page not available message.

Mike
 
So I get the following message back from Tom.
 
Dear Michael Nikoley,

 Tripod apologizes for any difficulties you may have experienced connecting to our servers. The problem with our servers has been corrected however, the IP addresses of the servers has changed.  For some users this resulted in a few hours of downtime, but if your ISP doesn't update their DNS entries on a daily basis, you may have problems with viewing your web site, FTP access, FrontPage publishing, and utilizing the Site Builder and File Manager. Please be patient while your ISP's new DNS entries propagate across the Internet. Sometimes this can take a week to 10 days. Once your ISP updates their DNS entries for our servers you will be able to access, edit and publish your site. This propagation can take up until Wednesday December 3rd.

We appreciate your continued patience.

Sincerely,

Tom

Lycos Customer Service
 
 
Nothing like mindless, automated technical support that they call Live Customer Support.

[Tim5055]

OK - to make some suggestions I need to know the following:

Storage spage you have and how much you think you need

Bandwidth you now use and what you  think you may need

How many e-mail addresses you think you may need

[Ca-girl]

Nothing like mindless, automated technical support that they call Live Customer Support.

If that wasn't so MADDENING :mad:  It would be FUNNY :J  That's why whenever I get a telephone tree when I'm trying to call someplace, I pretend I have an old fashioned dial phone so they're forced to connect me with a real person.
 
CA-girl

[Cottonwooder]

Nothing like mindless, automated technical support that they call Live Customer Support.

Same sort of thing I got re. Yahoo photos.  Nick/Brian, you have my support on this.  If you give me your address, I'll be glad to send a few dollars your way to chip in.

[Nick]

OK - to make some suggestions I need to know the following:
 
Storage spage you have and how much you think you need
 
Bandwidth you now use and what you think you may need
 
How many e-mail addresses you think you may need

Hey Tim,
Right now we have 25MB of space and are using 19.3MB.  We have used that in just over a year.  If we increase the content over the next year I see us surpasing the 25MB pretty quickly.  The new service would give us 50MB of space.  The bandwidth is really not a concern right now.  We have an alloted amount of 5.0GB per month and we are only using 137.8MB and the new service will increase the bandwidth to 10BG.  We currently have one POP account and under the new plan would have 5 POP accounts.  That would be nice for being able to diversify the email contacts on the webpage.  Instead of having info@nick-neff-cough.org ("info@nick-neff-cough.org"), we could have memberinfo@.... or campinginfo@..... and so forth.
 
Any other questions let me know.

[Tim5055]

OK,

I how about this:

Since 1998 the FatCow $99 hosting plan has provided the greenest grass on the net for our customers to build their individual and small business websites. Everything you need to get your business up and running on the web is included. Now with 500 MB of disk space, 25 GB of transfer and 100 emails

That should cover you for any growth you may think of.  The downside is that you need a web publishing tool like FrontPage to create and maintain the pages with.

Their e-mail support is answered by a human, and during extended business hours (including weekends IIRC) they have toll free phone support.  I have never had to wait on hold more than about 5 minutes.

FatCow $99 Hosting Plan

[Ab Diver]

Well, heck. Timing is everything, and if'n you hadn't been sick last weekend, you not only would have filled up on the best turkey since white bread (just ask Ray ), but went home with enough cash to cover the change. I even had a wad of cash with your name written all over it just for the web site.

So-- check ok?
 
BTW... glad you're feeling better. Take care and don't push it this weekend.

[Red neff Barchetta]

Mike -
Just do what's easiest.  Everyone will chip in for me.  

[g-whiz]

Hi Mike!
 
I used to get messages like that from Prodigy (SBC, then Yahoo) when I used them for my ISP.  It is the equivalent of "Thank you for holding; we are experiencing a heavy call volume at this time; all of our representatives are currently busy; your call will be answered in the order it was received; please stay on the line; yada, yada, yada!"
 
Keep us posted on what's what and if you need a donation before Olema I'll Paypal it over.  Keep up the good work!  You too, Brian.

[Surfcal]

Hi Mike!
 
yada, yada, yada!"
 

I like yada, yada, yada...ala Seinfeld.

Surfcal

[Nick]

Ok, the site is upgraded to the new service.  We have plenty of storage to last us a long time and the nick-neff-cough.org address is working again.  Anyway for the financial end of things.  So far for the year I have recieved $75 in contributions so I'm only short about $47 for the year.

[Red neff Barchetta]

I've got $20.00 for you Mike.

I've put a note as a reminder with my Olema paperwork.
Let me know if you'd like it before the end of February.

If I hand you a Lynx Stop-N-Chock then just track down Cough and trade him for the $20.00 I probably just gave him.