rain spider
Catching it and taking it outside was quite the ordeal;
- They are really aggressive as can be seen in the photo. No trying to run away, these things come right at you.
- They are really fast… it almost got to my hand a few times. I took it out in a 5l ice cream container but it tends to not sit still as other spiders usually do.
- Have a look at the fangs…
- It freaken jumps at you.
But luckily I eventually got it outside and safely released in a far corner of the garden, where it now feeds on neighbourhood cats. And who says spiders are not usefull? Damn noisy parrot eating cats.
See here for a bigger version of the above photo.
registering your .co.za domain name
(This is for .co.za domains only)
The first step in setting up email or a website for your company/private use, is getting your own domain name.
A domain name is basically the yourdomainname.co.za part that makes the whole thing work. For a more in detail description about how DNS (the domain name system) works, this is a pretty good article, on Wikipedia. It does not have to be .co.za extension, it could be anything from .net, .com to .org etc. I am doing .co.za because it is the most widely used in South Africa and if you can register a .co.za domain the other types will be pretty easy thereafter.
Why would you want to register and administer a domain name yourself instead of letting an ISP take care of it for you?
- You always maintain full control over your domain, so you are never at the mercy of any provider. Much like Open Source software. But different in the sense that it is DNS.
- You can make changes to your DNS as you wish and at any time without all the jazz that surrounds getting your ISP to make changes for you. Ever tried getting large ISPs in SA to alter your DNS? Case in point.
- You will save some money.
- It is really not as hard to do as you might think it is, especially if you have the basics down
- It is cool
basic introduction
If you are a small company doing business in South Africa, you will most likely be used to paying ridiculous and ever increasing amounts of money for just about everything. From diesel (the new petrol) to power your fossil fuel abusing German urban wagon, to your promised ADSL connection due for installation next week - touch wood.
In fact we have become so used to things becoming more expensive every so often, that paying R10 for a Castle is now considered a bargain?
After finishing your one Castle and not tipping the bar lady, you realize that your ISP is charging you R400 per year, just like that - for your domain name. And most likely in the region of R20 per mailbox per month. How did things come to this you may ask yourself? You really want another Castle but cannot afford it. It is only the 19th now remember? Payday is on the 25th.
my new blog
At last, the time has come to give the whole blogging thing a proper bash. See my Twitter badge to the right? You bet you, I am micro blogging too.
The past five years of my life, I have been working in IT as a Systems Administrator. Most of my time is spent looking after web servers, which, as other SysAdmins would surely tell you, is a truly terrifying job to be doing in this day and age. Not sure what we do? This is what we do.
My core focus with this blog will be entry level tutorials/basic info posts, aimed at the “normal guy”. For instance how to make use of maturing technologies like Google Apps to give your small company a proper web presence. Every so often I might post something not so entry level or about things I find interesting.
I have a keen interest in the new wave of technologies coming from the likes of Google, Microsoft and others. Working at an ISP/web design/hosting company it affects me directly to a large degree.
