Why Are There So Many Bad Web Hosts? (Part 2)

To most people, the internet represents the information age — an era of communication enlightenment. However, it’s also created a communication plague that has allowed the proliferation of myths, conspiracy theories, scams, and lies. And most of them were harder to do pre-internet.

For example, it’s pretty hard to fake being a Tom from Texas, when you sound more like an Apu from the Simpsons, or look like a Chen from China. Yet Tom from Texas is how outsourced support desk techs are passed off to customers. (And it’s not like we’re really all that fooled — it’s easy to see when somebody writes with ESL skills that makes Google Translate read like a literary scholar.)

And it’s not just the hosts that are a problem — they have accomplices! One reason so many people find bad hosts is because many large hosts have essentially bribed unethical website owners with large sums of money. [Read more]

Why Are There So Many Bad Web Hosts? (Part 1)

One of the most aggravating aspects of having a website is dealing with a web host. Excessive downtime and slow servers can tank your search engine rankings (and aggravate your users), while slow or gibberish tech support adds stress to your day.

But this isn’t caused by random bad luck. Poor web hosting service is a direct result of having a poor business model (or no business model), de facto lying, or cheaping out — or a combination thereof.

Avoiding bad hosts is as easy as understanding how and why bad hosts exist, as well as learning how to spot the tell-tale signs of a potentially unpleasant hosting experience. Part One of this three-part editorial series examines the issues of misrepresentation and the lack of industry oversight. [Read more]

How to Increase Video/Photo Resolution by Dieting?

High-end digital SLR camera makers like Nikon, Canon and Sony brag about their megapixels and sensor photosites, but at some point it becomes moot. The same applies to high resolution 1080p HDTVs. Of all the laws of diminishing returns that affect the amount of detail a person can see, be it in a digital photograph or 1080p Blu-ray disc, your eyes trump all.

In the past half decade, I’ve dealt with several camera softness issues: (1) Excellent Tamron, Tokina and Sigma lenses from the film era are too flawed for modern high megapixel sensors. (2) There’s increasingly erratic quality control from lens manufacturers. (3) Certain digital cameras seem to drift in accuracy over time; a big issue since I’m mostly a f/2.8 shooter. (4) And finally, my eyes are just not as perfect as they used to be.

There’s nothing more frustrating that seeing a blurry image through the viewfinder, and not being 100% sure if the camera or lens are at fault, or if your own eyes (or even contact lenses, in my case) have degraded. [Read more]