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Editorial

Major Host Service Failure - Over the past week quite a few of Engadine Web Services customers were affected by the failure of one of our host servers. This is not normally a major issue as the downtime is usually counted in minutes. However this was both hardware and customer service failure by our host server provider. I would like to mention the company's name but I can't afford the legal fees.

As a result of the hardware failure and the lack of professional support services from the host provider it was necessary for me to transfer approx 100 customers to a different server. This took some time and resulted in my customers suffering considerable downtime and possible loss of emails.

To compound the problem, several customer's sites that use asp files with VB Script would not work on the replacement server as it did not support this software. These sites had to be converted to PHP Script to make them operational. This caused some sites a downtime of several days.

We have now cancelled our account with this host provider after being a customer for 10 years; what price customer service?

All sites seem to be working fine now; Engadine Web Services apologises for this recent inconvenience.

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site - Quantz Pty Ltd
• EBay drops PayPal bid
• ICANN adopts new Web site naming rules
• Microsoft warns Web site owners to prep for IE 8
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

Quantz Pty Ltd

Quantz is a privately owned Australian company that specializes in providing comprehensive and professional cost management services to the property and construction industry.

With over 25 years experience in the construction industry, the principals of the company are actively involved with each and every project ensuring outstanding results for our clients.

We make it our mission to deliver the best financial outcome for our clients, on time and on budget, with an attention to detail which is second to none.

Visit the Quantz Pty Ltd website...

EBay drops PayPal bid  

ONLINE auction website eBay has dropped its bid to use Australia as a guinea pig to trial a new policy where all other modes of payment are barred except its own transaction gateway, PayPal.

As a result, direct deposits, personal cheques and money orders will continue to exist as allowing all existing payment methods on eBay.com.au.

Australia's Professional eBay Sellers Alliance president Phil Leahy welcomed the news. "This is great for the eBay community ... this will remove the confusion that's been around since this proposal was first made."

"We're looking forward to getting back to business and providing a great experience to eBay buyers," Mr Leahy said.

Earlier this month the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a draft proposal to revoke eBay's immunity from anti-competitive sanctions for enforcing the payment policy on its website.

EBay subsequently said it would continue to fight for the safety benefits of the policy for consumers, despite the ACCC ruling.

The auction giant said it was willing to go to court to ensure that the PayPal policy was enforced.

EBay today withdrew its notification to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of its intention to remove other payment methods. AustralianIT July 2008. more >>>

ICANN adopts new Web site naming rules  

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers voted Thursday to relax rules for naming Web sites.

At its meeting in Paris, ICANN, a not-for-profit organization that oversees the naming scheme for Web sites, voted to accept a proposal that will allow companies to purchase new top-level domain names ending in whatever they like.

So, for example, instead of being restricted to sites ending in .com or .org., eBay could have a site that ends in .ebay, or New York City could end its Web site with .nyc.

The new naming process will begin in 2009. The first suffixes will likely be given to businesses and other major organizations. Countries are expected to keep their specific suffixes, but as in the example above cities could also get individualized URLs, such as .london or .chicago.

In an effort to deter cybersquatters, the organization is likely to charge a hefty price for the new names. Some experts estimate the new domain names could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 or more. ICANN plans to give companies with trademarked names priority for their names.

(Credit: ICANN)The group also voted to open public comment on a proposal that would allow countries to use non-English script. For example, companies could use Chinese or Arabic script to identify their web sites.

CNET News June 2008. more >>>

Microsoft warns Web site owners to prep for IE 8  

Although Beta 2 of Internet Explorer (IE) 8 isn’t due out until some time in August, Microsoft is cautioning Web site owners now that they need to be prepping now for possible problems the new, more standards-compliant browser may cause.

As part of this week’s IE June Security Update for IE8 Beta 1, Microsoft introduced a new tag, “IE+EmulateIE7? — which it is counting on to head off some of the incompatibilities the company is anticipating could occur, based on feedback it received from IE 8 Beta 1 testers.

In a June 10 posting on the IE Blog, members of the IE team reminded site owners — many of whom had designed their sites to display correctly in less-standards-compliant, prior versions of IE — that they need to “get ready” for IE 8 so that their content will “continue to display seamlessly.”

Microsoft decided earlier this year that it will make super-standards mode the default with IE 8. Super-standards mode is one of three modes which will be supported in IE 8. The other two are “quirks” mode, which will be compatible with current IE pages and applications, and a “standards” mode, which will be the same as what’s offered by IE 7 and “compatible with current content.” ZDNet Australia June 2008. more >>>

Quotes of the Day  

Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame. Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

If you don't find it in the index, look very carefully through the entire catalogue. Unknown, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Consumer's Guide, 1897

When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest. William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830)

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught. Marquis de Vauvenargues

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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