V10.12 December 2008

0. Introduction.
1. New.. DreamHost Apps!
2. New.. Rename Your Databases!
3. New.. Faster PHP Everywhere!
4. New.. Version of the Flash Video Player!
5. DHSOTM

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0. Introduction.

I told myself I wouldn't write the December 2008 newsletter until the
2008 BCS champion was crowned, and I was RIGHT!

Go Gators! I am SO GLAD Oklahoma loss! No offense Oklahomans, but a
quick look through my database reveals FL as our FOURTH most populous
customer state; OK is a mere #32 (just above people who typed in the
full word "California").

But don't feel too bad, #2 at football for a state that's #32 is a lot
more impressive than #1 for a state that's #4! I bet the Dartmouth Big
Green aren't even in the top 10, despite New Hampshire being DreamHost
populous customer state #33.

And, now that I think of it.. maybe I should have been rooting for OU.
At least there's no competitor of ours named "HostSooner". Not that I
know of. Or care about. Or have secretly signed up for. And uploaded
dozens of linux ISOs to test their terms of service. Or anything.

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1. New.. DreamHost Apps!

Now, it may not seem like it based on that introduction, but before I
started this newsletter I told myself I was going to have a "poop"
theme, and I was RIGHT!

In fact, right now I'm writing this newsletter while high above the fly-
over states, no offense Oklahoma, thinking to myself "wasn't Virgin
America supposed to have wifi on this flight"? And, more importantly,
farting like a mad-man. I got some kind of weird stomach virus a couple
days ago, and right now if I eat anything, and I mean ANYTHING, it
immediately vaporizes in my stomach into literally gallons of noxious
gas. I ate some nachos just before boarding.

But, what does all that have to do with new features?

Today, I am proud to announce, the first major new feature DreamHost has
ever released that I didn't really program myself! Well, that's not
really true at all.

http://www.dreamhostapps.com/

It's called "DreamHost Apps" and really, it's a lot like "Google Apps
for your Domain", except WAY better!

Why is it better? Well, for one, it already INCLUDES Google Apps, so as
long as the stuff we added isn't a net negative, we win by default. But
for two, it also provides a completely web-based installation and
management of popular open source applications such as: WordPress, PhpBB,
Zenphoto, Drupal, and MediaWiki, all at your own domain!

Of course, what's so cool about that? You can already do all that from
our regular web panel via our easy one-clicks section:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=goodies.installer

Well yeah, good point! However, now you can ALSO do it from DreamHost
Apps, as well as manage your domain registrations, and do it with extra
Ajaxy-Javascript-Web 2.0-itude.

Plus, if you read the blog post:

http://blog.dreamhost.com/2009/01/08/free-hosting-from-dreamhost-is-here/

You'll see that at least for those who sign up during the "beta" period,
DreamHost Apps is FREE for all those folks who don't realize all the
awesomeness a full DreamHost account includes, and ONLY use our easy
one-clicks! (Also note, it's an "invitation only" beta for now.. invite
codes will be posted irregularly in the comments to that post!)

Check it out today, and if you find any bugs, or have any suggestions at
all, please post to our beta forum at:

http://discussion.dreamhost.com/postlist.pl?Cat=&Board=dreamhostapps

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2. New.. Rename Your Databases!

I've only been to Oklahoma once in my life, and I have to admit, it was
for a rather selfish reason. I've got a spreadsheet competition with a
couple friends of mine for countries and states that we've been to, and
three years ago I still hadn't been to Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Alaska.

Well, I had a chance to go to Arkansas after Christmas, and I decided,
what the heck, Oklahoma is right next door.. let's fly into Oklahoma and
then DRIVE to Hot Springs from there, JUST to check it off my list!

Well, the plan worked. And, even though I got a speeding ticket on my
way out of the state, I have to say Oklahoma left a positive impression
on me. Why? Because in the airport there was a big official banner that
said:

"Awesome is spreading."

Which is exactly why you can now rename any of your databases from our
"Manage MySQL" area (keep in mind the database must be unique across our
entire customer base):

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=goodies.mysql

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3. New.. Faster PHP Everywhere!

Yesterday when I was at home sick with my crazy pooping virus, I let my
dog Salt out onto our balcony where he apparently likes to take in the
cool Santa Monica breezes and smell the cars go by. Sometimes he likes
it so much, he can't be bothered to come inside and ask to go out, so he
just poops right out there.

Well, after a few minutes, he let out a couple of barks. That was sort
of weird.. he sometimes barks at cars when we're on a walk, but never
from the balcony. After another minute he barked a few more times.
Weird. Finally, when he barked again, I went out to see what this fool
dog was up about!

When I got out there, I saw, surprise, surprise, that Salt had already
done his "business" and was standing on the far side of the balcony,
facing the doorway. Well, fine. I got a paper towel and cleaned up his
mess. After I was done, Salt went back inside and promptly fell sleep.
That's when it hit me.. he had been calling for help after being TRAPPED
ON THE BALCONY BY HIS OWN POOP!

In related news, we are now using Fast CGI to process PHP everywhere,
which pretty much is just a win win win thing. There's nothing you need
to do, and whether you notice it or not, I cannot say. In fact, we'd
been doing this already as sort of a test for anybody who signed up in
the last eight months or so, but now it's UNIVERSAL!

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4. New.. Version of the Flash Video Player!

I don't have any more stories about poop or Oklahoma.

But, I do have a new version of Jeroen's Flash Video Player (v4.3) at
our http://media.dreamhost.com/ site, available to all Happy DreamHost
Customers!

With such amazing new features as:

* The ability to switch between HD and SD versions of a video
* The ability to put ads around your video
* The ability to do other things, explained here:

http://www.longtailvideo.com/players/jw-flv-player/

Remember, if you're not so technical, we've got a super-easy flash
converter available right from our web panel at:

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=goodies.media

Which will do everything for you, and then send you an email when it's
done with the HTML code snippet you need to embed the (new) flash video
player right into your website or blog post!

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5. DHSOTM

Who woulda thunk this month's winner of the DreamHost Site of the Month
contest would have nothing to do with Oklahoma OR poop?

http://www.yougetsignal.com/

Is a collection of uncomplicated, powerful network tools, and yeah, that
is what it is it looks like!

https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=home.dhsotm

Is where YOUR collection of complicated, weak network tools can be
submitted to try and COMPETE for the unholy honor that is publication
in this newsletter, next month, or beyond.

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Awesome is spreading,
Josh Jones

P.S. Oklahoma is OK, but if this newsletter isn't, unsubscribe at:
https://panel.dreamhost.com/id/?tab=contact

Dream Host customer newsletter

Dream Host newsletter - V10.12 December 2008 - Dec 12, 2008