I’m happy with my current web host except fo one thing: storage space. I’ve been with them about 2 years. At the time I signed up their pricing was comparable to overseas and cheaper than a lot of NZ hosts. Their customer service is fantastic. On the odd occaision that I do have problems they are responsive and friendly. They are even nice when I am late paying the bill.
Unfortunately in New Zealand they do not appear to be alone in their pricing policies: most kiwi web hosts are similar prices.
Storage space is a commodity. Its price is so low that Google can give away a whole Gigabyte in exchange for a few ads. I know that there is added value that the web host provides, but the price should not double just because I go from 40MB to 80MB, especially since the overheads would be next to the same.
What I don’t get is that prices around the world for web hosting appear to have fallen dramatically, but not here. I can get the same (or very similar) type of hosting package but with more space for about US$7/month on a server in California, Texas or Canada compared to NZ$50/month for hosting here. I’d rather stay with a kiwi host, but it doesn’t make sense to.
Kiwis: what do you think?
The debate over whether or not the USA should have gone to war in Iraq will rage for years. In my opinion GWB had no choice.
Disclaimer: this isn’t pro-Bush, anti-US or anything else. Nor is it comprehensive. It’s just my brief observations.
It goes back to before World War I: Winston Churchill was the top guy for the British Navy. He made a decision that changed how the world would work for years to come: He believed his engineers when they told him that they could get their ships to go faster if they were powered with oil instead of coal. Largely unproven as a naval fuel, Churchill took a big gamble, but it proved fruitful. The British Navy totally dominated against the slower coal fired Germans.
So it is now established that oil is the wonder fuel. The US automobile market is growing rapidly thanks to the efforts of Ford and others. America loves them.
World War II sees a different type of war. The mobility of the forces is paramount. Also fuel for the factories manufacturing everything needs to come from somewhere. Significantly, the inability of the Germans to retain oil fields led to fuel shortages and reduced their fighting effectiveness.
The Japanese, resource poor themselves also failed to hold their South-Asian conquests and the potential energy wealth.
The lesson was valuable: reduce your enemy’s access to energy while maintaining your own.
From the end of WWII till now there has been huge growth in energy demand. The US demand outstripped supply in the 70s. They have been maintaining stockpiles for decades (mainly for defence and essential services).
Unfortunately the large infrastructure for the manufacture and supply of oil products and oil fueled machines perpetuates this need. If nuclear energy had proved safer and less contentious it might be different.
So there we have it: The US needs oil for its security. Those that argue that the war is about security are right. Those that argue that the war is about oil are right. The US need to secure their energy suplies for their future security. It didn’t matter who was president; it would have happenned anyway. The US have slowly been condemning themself to this course of action because of their increasing energy demands.
Just got an email from CoffeeCup saying they are giving away free software for a link, so here goes
CoffeeCup – HTML Editor & FTP Software
I had a theory that I tested last night. So far it stands up to testing, but thorough scientific analysis should be performed.
It goes like this:
- Ethanol does not occur naturally at concentrations of 50%
- Therefore there are probably no bacteria that would survive in 50% ethanol
- Therefore it could be used to kill bacteria (and it is the main ingredient an many products for this purpose)
- Therefore gargling with 50% ethanol should kill any bacteria living in my throat
Zambuka was my elixer of choice. I woke up this morning feeling much better. My throat is no longer sore.
Warning: try this at home.
It blows my training budget out of the water, but what an opportunity!
I get to learn from some of the best live in Sydney.