Sam Levin [dot] net

I am pleased to let you all know that we have recently fully upgraded PHP to version 5.2, and Apache to version 2.

There was a little bit of chaos after the initial upgrades (due to lack of configuration), but as of now everything is smooth sailing, and all problems that occurred as a result of the upgrade have already been fixed or are currently under active investigation.

All users can now rename their .php5 extensions to standard .php files, as there is no difference any longer after the full 5.2 update. If any software on your server can NOT run with PHP 5.2 under any circumstances, please e-mail technical support and .php4 extensions will be installed ASAP.

All users will most certainly notice speed increases on their servers following the premiere release of Apache 2 at HostingChoice, as it handles loads better and overall makes things run faster.

If anyone has any issues whatsoever as a result of these new upgrades, please do not hesitate to contact us so they can be fixed immediately.

We look forward to serving you in the future!

I added a nice little client login form on the index. Just a simple random addition. Hope you like it!

We are planning and implementing other customizations as you read this. Stay tuned, further posts containing updates will be made in the near future.

Last night / this morning, I also upgraded our billing software, and began official work on FraudReview.org (description can be found below). Security upgrades were performed on other areas of the site and everything is running smooth.

I took one more RSS2 feed, from our billing software, and added it to our client support area. This can be seen at http://support.hostingchoice.net - located under “welcome” box.

I am proud to announce that HostingChoice is growing bigger every day.

Oh yeah, props to bwb, for leaving the first comment on our corporate blog (we haven’t had it for that long).

Cheers.

Tonight / this morning was a big day for HostingChoice. Much was done to various pages.

We have integrated and installed our affiliation software, iDevAffiliate, and it is now accessable through any page on the HC network. In addition, we have fixed our support center and re-enabled piping. We removed our IPB forums and added a new system, called Vanilla, which is open source, simple, and easy to use. An official NOC (Network Operations Center) blog was created for the sole purpose of our servers’ status. We updated our pages, including the index, which now has live RSS2 feeds from our NOC, blog, and forums.

We are also currently undergoing graphic changes, new images are being created to replace some of the old ones on our site. Stay tuned, there is certainly more to come in the future.

Ever since HostingChoice was founded (in January of 2006), we have taken online fraud extremely seriously and actively do all in our power to prevent it.

Well, a few of us had an idea. The most effective way to combat fraud on the internet is to work with one another and combine resources to effectively identify those who use fradulent techniques and blacklist them.

This is where I would like to introduce project FraudReview.

We aim to create a community where individuals and webmasters of all types can unite for one common purpose: to learn about and prevent fraud through a variety of different methods. These methods include but are not limited to databases containing IP addresses (and other information) used in fraudulent sign ups, databases containing IP addresses used by forum spambots (for ban filter use), active forums containing links, tutorials, and articles on how to identify fraud, prevent fraud, and appropriate actions to take when you have been affected by it, current techniques used by fraudulent individuals, as well as stories and testimonials of individuals who have had encounters with fraud.

Anticipated Features:

-Two databases, one containing profiles used in fraudulent sign ups at web hosting sites and another one containing IP addresses associated with forum spam bot accounts

-ClientExec integration to screen clients for fraud based on profiles in our database

-A standalone executable for adding, downloading, and reviewing our anti-fraud databases that will also display news and updates

-Forums with tutorials on how to identify fraud, protect yourself from fraud, and actively deal with a fraud encounter, as well as other discussion

If you would like to take part in the community before we open the doors to the public, please send an e-mail to sam.levin@hostingchoice.net regarding what you would like to help with and why.

http://www.fraudreview.org should be available for public use by late February.