V12.03 March 2010
From DreamHost
0. Introduction 1. I'm back. 2. ePub, Bud. 3. iPad Contest Winners! 4. Git 1.7.0 5. NEW One-Click Install: Piwik! 6. DHSOTMs ######################################################################## 0. Introduction Allow me to take you back in time. Back when things were simpler, people were friendlier, the globe was cooler, and taxes weren't due. I'm talking, of course, about March of 2010. It feels like it was only two and a half weeks ago. Ah, memories. ######################################################################## 1. I'm back! This month Josh just flat-out *gave* me his password and *told me* to write the newsletter. After I guessed his password last month to write it, I have to admit this isn't quite the response I was expecting... Maybe I should start writing myself company checks for $50,000 every Tuesday! ######################################################################## 2. ePub, Bud Speaking of Josh, he's taking a little time off. And when I say taking a little time off what I really mean is "working feverishly through the night to write and support a new web app". The result? http://www.epubbud.com/ ePubBud is an eBookstore where everything is free, children's books make up the majority of the catalog, "DRM" is a dirty word, and you can upload your own books to share instantly with the rest of the world. If you're not able to upload files you can even mail in your physical books - he'll digitize anything and make it available free of charge! ePubBud will accept books in nearly any file format and convert them to the .epub standard - one of the most widely compatible eBook formats in the world... Unless of course you've got an Amazon Kindle, which I hear hates .epub, openness, freedom, and anything that doesn't directly contribute money to Jeff Bezos' yacht-upkeep fund. Learn more at... http://blog.dreamhost.com/2010/04/12/ipad-iglad-or-isad/ Stanza and other iPad apps will even let you download ePub books directly into your iPad - freeing you from the tyrrany, expense, and exclusivity of Apple's own for-profit iBooks app. Speaking of the iPad... ######################################################################## 3. iPad Contest Winners! It took a little longer than we would have liked, but we finally got our hot little hands on 20 iPads. http://blog.dreamhost.com/2010/04/14/weve-got-20-ipads/ That means our Twitter contest is officially over! You can find a list of winners on our blog...and also get some creative ideas about how to get the most out of your iPad *without ever opening the box*. You can of course continue to tweet about DreamHost, but doing so will no longer enter you into a contest. Unless we're talking about the online popularity contest that's always running in the back of my mind. Each winner has 30 days to claim their prize after which point we'll head back to the ballot box and pick new winners for any unclaimed iPads. ######################################################################## 4. Git 1.7.0 Coke vs. Pepsi. Windows vs. Mac. Subversion vs Git. Some matchups may never have a clear winner, but that won't stop some people from clogging up message boards for years-on-end with caffeine- fueled nerd rage. In the world of version control systems, Subversion and Git rule the roost. It's not up to us to say which is "best", but we can certainly show love and support for both of them as they grow and mature into responsible young adults. We're in the process of rolling out Git 1.7.0 to all of our customer hosting machines. There isn't *yet* a webpanel-based management system for Git like there is for Subversion: https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=goodies.svn ...but this new version of Git gets us one step closer to someday making that happen. ######################################################################## 5. NEW One-Click Install: Piwik! Every DreamHost account has always - at least as long as I can remember - included a free installation of Analog. Analog's a free, old-as-dirt website log analyzer that hooks you up with all kinds of useful data about your site's visitors. http://www.analog.cx/ (visit https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=status.stats to get started) As great as Analog may be, it's getting a little long-in-the-tooth. It also doesn't provide stats in real-time. So we're now offering a NEW log analyzer in the form of an optional one-click-install: Piwik. http://www.piwik.org/ Piwik bills itself as the open-source alternative to Google Analytics and from what we've seen they're not far off. If Google one day changes their business mantra to "Let's be evil!" (and I suspect they may,) you'll be able to rest soundly knowing that your site stats are safe and secure from the prying eyes of the "Almighty Privacy-Eliminating Service Hoovering Internet Traffic" as they will come to be known. Just visit the One-Click Installs section of your account control panel and our software installation robot will go to work, makin' the magic happen. https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=goodies.installer You'll need to embed a small JavaScript tag into each site you'll want to track, but the payout is worth it! ######################################################################## 6. DHSOTMs The March 2010 DreamHost Site Of The Month contest has TWO winners. As judged by our customers, these are they: The #1 winner in the CONTENT, DESIGN, and ORIGINALITY categories is "ZTS Photography - A personal and competitive photography experience." http://www.ztsphotography.com/ The #1 winner in the STRUCTURE category is: "AW Industries - A simple portfolio website" http://www.aw-industries.com/ ######################################################################## Your pal, Brett D! P.S. Do you prefer not to receive informative newsletters from informative people who themselves are informed and like to inform others...informally? You can unsubscribe from this one at: https://panel.dreamhost.com/id/?tab=contact
