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Dream HostnewsletterV3.05 May 2001 May 5, 2001
0. Introduction
1. ID.newdream.net
2. Dreambook new features!
3. DHSOTM!
4. DH2 Move
5. Random quotes from newdream.net
0. Introduction
And here it is, the second May newletter I promised you 4 weeks ago! Looks
like I just barely snuck it in under the wire, and didn't get it in under
the wire at all for any of you who happen to be in Europe or Asia. For you
Europeans I kind of gently nudged the wire like a limboist might. For you
Asians, the nudge was more like that of a sumo-limboist. I've heard
they're a sight to see!
I'm back. Where did I go? Well, UPS just came and delivered me my free
"Cybiko" (pronounced either cyBIko or cybiKO, depending on what you
think) which I got from a promotion on their site. Just about everybody
here at New Dream got one FREE during that promotion. "Cybikos" are these
little walky-talky looking "wireless internet" toys for chatting.
Actually, they are officially "Wireless Inter-tainment Computers". They
are kind of lame though. The keys are really really tiny. And for us sumo-
limboists, whose fingers most closely resemble kielbasas, the keys are
really really *really* tiny.
See the cybiko keyboard here: http://www.cybiko.com/layout.asp
See me here: http://www.wnn.or.jp/wnn-t/database/rikishidata/takanohana_e.html
See my fingers here: http://www.kielbasakings.com/
I'm debating whether to open mine up or sell it on ebay. New Cybikos go
for around $40.. and I realized you can charge your Cybiko and even sort
of use it WITHOUT taking it out of the box! There's a hole in the side for
a charger and you can press down on the plastic to hit some of the keys.
I've been chatting with Rob. My messages are usually of the "q11pq!"
variety, but I think he gets the picture.
In summary, the best thing about a Cybiko is that on the box the "Friend
Finder" feature is touted as "VIBE-b-b-r-r-ation alerts you that someone
is near!".
So anyway, I'd better get going with the rest of this newsletter. It takes
a while to pound out all the letters on my custom ironing board sized
keyboard.
1. ID-d-d-.n-n-newdream.net
If the best thing about a Cybiko is its VIBE-b-b-r-r-ation then the best
thing about the last month here at DR-r-r-eamHost is ID.newdream.net!
It may not look like much, and it may be a little bit confusing as to why
we made a whole separate site just for changing your contact info and web
panel password, but what can I say, it's still the best thing that
happened as DreamHost last month.
No just kidding, it really is good! What this does is open the way for all
sorts of new services and tie-ins we really couldn't do before. The one
login you have for DreamHost (we dubbed it your "NDN ID") will allow you
to use any and all new services we come up with in the future without
needing a new ID or even having to log in again.
Imp-p-p-p-ortant note! Right now id.newdream.net is only for DH2
customers! If you're on DreamHost 1 (our longer term customers: people who
signed up before September 2000 and haven't been migrated yet), don't use
ID.newdream.net until you've been moved over. You can log into it, but
updating your contact info or password there will NOT affect your
DreamHost 1 account info. So there's no point. But we're close to moving
all of you to DreamHost 2 anyway, so don't sweat it.
2. DreamBook new features!
One of the things we're already working on now as a result of this
ID.newdream.net/NDN ID stuff is integrating DreamBook more tightly with
DreamHost. DreamBook was written about 4 years ago and the code has been
all but untouched since then. We're in the process of totally updating the
back end to be compatible with our new stuff. Don't worry, this won't be
another DH2 (in terms of delays).. it's already almost done!
While working on the back end we've added some of the most requested
features from over the years. Those features are: banning ips, private
messages, posting to your book from the management panel, and adjusting
the time zone of your book. You wouldn't believe how many insane groupies
I've had to ban from posting on *my* DreamBook already. See, I get both
the sumo crazies *and* the limbo fanatics.
You know what's sort of cool? With the private messages feature your
DreamBook can all of the sudden act as not just a guestbook script, but a
fully featured weblog, form-to-email, and diary script! Look:
Guestbook: allow public posting, display all posts publicly.
Weblog: only post from the management area, display all posts publicly.
Form-To-Email: allow public posting, show no posts publicly.
Diary: only post from the management area, show no posts publicly.
With the new release we'll add some default templates that automatically
configure your DreamBook to act as each of these features. You can already
totally customize your DreamBook's html to match your site, and you can
turn off the banner ads if you host with DreamHost (and you do!).
The main new thing we're going to do once the DreamBook conversion is
complete is allow your book to be at your own domain! Rather than the URL
being http://books.dreambook.com/username/book.html it'll be just
http://yourchoice.yourdomain.com/, easily configurable from the DreamBook
web panel for DreamHost customers! Won't that be cool?
Cooler than a Cybiko at least.
3. DHSOTM!
[see https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tab=home&subtab=dhsotm]
This month's DreamHost Site of the Month winner, with the highest average
vote on 10 or more votes is..
Two-Headed Tales, by Jon Plante (http://www.two-headedtales.com/)! Hey
it's actually pretty cool! Every week he puts up a new full color comic
that really looks like a real comic book! It ain't no Pokey the Penguin!
(http://www.yellow5.com/pokey/) And the mailbag is funny too! And WE host
him! YES! It's funny stuff, and it really does look like he puts up a new
strip each week, and there's an archive for all youse who are going to
visit now for the first time.
And for being this month's BIG DHSOTM winner, what does Jon get? Nothing
as usual! NO WAIT! Starting this month (sorry previous winners, bad
timing!), DHSOTM winners don't just get the smug self-satisfaction of
being mentioned here.. they also get a "limited-edition" DreamHost T-shirt
and mini-pins! What tha..? Yeah it's true! We haven't actually gotten the
pins or the shirts made, but we did place the orders! And they are sweet.
And can only be had by: 1. winning the DHSOTM contest, or 2. working for
DreamHost!
Just as an aside, the pins are being made by thebearpress.com, whom we
didn't even realize we hosted until after we contacted them! We host ALL
the good sites. I'm sure everyone reading this agrees.
4. DH2 Move
In case you've forgotten.. we're still moving people from our old system
to the new and improved DH2 system! It's coming along nicely too.. we've
completely cleared off five of our old servers and are "rebirthing" the
hardware as DH2 servers. Clearing off a machine is a really big step (in
the right direction too!) because that means we can now move every type
of customer, no matter what special services they have set up! So now it's
just a matter of actually doing it for everybody! And doing it is
caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake.
Uh okay, that was actually the message from LAST newsletter. But there has
been progress! There were some filer issues that stopped us from moving
people in May as fast as we wanted to, but those finally look like they'll
be completely resolved today or tomorrow. Then we'll be pretty much ready
to move everybody at top speed, and I wouldn't be THAT surprised if by the
end of June we've got EVERYBODY using id.newdream.net (which implies
they've been moved to DH2, duh).
5. Random quotes from newdream.net
"If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would
be so simple we couldn't. "
Brady's First Law of Problem Solving: When confronted by a difficult
problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How
would the Lone Ranger have handled this?"
"No man is an island if he's on at least one mailing list."
...
And that's it for this month's newsletter!
Now I think I'll go have a snack..
Hmm, who left these kielbasas on my keyboard? Mmmm...
