A recent conversation with a Zend employee revealed some good news for PHP and Google App Engine…
 
Ever since the launch of Google App Engine a little over two months ago there has been a lot of mumbling and grumbling over the lack of PHP support. I am sure that there are good reasons why Google chose to launch with Python but, even so, I expect that this raised several eyebrows (mine included) when App Engine was first released.

It was therefore great to hear from a UK Zend employee that Zend is currently involved in talks with Google regarding PHP and App Engine. I am very pleased to see that some form of progress is being made on this front as it will certainly be interesting to see a PHP API for App Engine. Of course, no timescale has yet to be announced but it is certainly food for thought.

Rolling this over in my head a little more makes me think that there may be some scope for Zend Framework integration in App Engine. The fact that App Engine does not currently provide implementations of any Python frameworks makes the provision of Zend Framework seem less likely, but the very loosely coupled nature of the Zend Framework could greatly simplify deployment (either by Google, or by individual users of App Engine).
I can also not help wondering if this will be somehow integrated into Zend’s various product offerings. For example, could we see a “Create App Engine Project” feature in Zend Studio for Eclipse? And what about debugging tools?

Whatever happens, I think that PHP for App Engine is coming our way, the only question is when. In potentially related news, I was told to keep an eye out for a number of Zend products launches in the Fall (aka Autumn) of this year…

Author: Adam Charnock

Popularity: 52% [?]

If adding streaming audio to a web site is a black art, what about video? Moving images are really the final step in the evolution of the web. Streaming video completes the loop, giving a communication tool that offers all the advantages of video tape without the problems of distributing hundreds of cassettes.

So why has video taken so long to catch on? The answer is simple - bandwidth. Reasonable quality video in an eight-centimetre window needs broadband speeds if it is to work. In reality this means between 200-400kbps (kilo bits per second).

That’s 25-50 kilobytes of information for every second you wish to stream, or 1.5 - 3Mbytes for every minute. As you can see, the file sizes get very big very quickly. My evaluations have shown that a stream rate of about 225kbps is required for reasonable, watchable video in a small-ish window. That’s five times faster that a dial-up modem can deliver and about half the speed of a typical broadband or office LAN (Local Area Network).

In comparison, you can stream reasonable quality audio at around 32kbps - low enough for even dial-up modems. In reality, things are not so simple. The trick with streaming video and audio is to pick a streaming rate that is SLOWER than your typical connection speed. That way, the end user’s PC buffers the incoming signal so that you have something “in reserve” if the connection falters a little.

If the connection doesn’t play ball you run the risk of a buffer overrun, which leads to that annoying stuttering and freezing that you so often see on the net.

But before you all rush out to put the latest corporate video on your intranet I suggest you speak to your techies first. While most corporate intranets are more than capable of streaming a file at 200-300kbps we have overlooked one problem.

What happens if 5,000 people all want to view it at once? Can your server handle that many people? Can the infrastructure cope with that much data? Will you stop other people from carrying on their essential work if you take up that much bandwidth?
Assuming that your office network is robust enough to cope what exactly can you stream and how? You can take any MPEG, WMV or Quicktime movie and stream it over the web. You can even convert DVD material into a suitable format and stream that too, although the level of complexity goes up accordingly.

DVDs are actually very clever devices made up of a host of different computer files. The trick if you wish to stream them is to extract the video and audio files from the DVD using a process called ripping.

Once extracted you can then convert the resultant .VOB files to smaller, faster MPEG or WMV files. Unfortunately, there are a lot of industry standards out there and one-size fits all approach is virtually doomed to failure.

PCs running MS Windows are generally happy receiving Window Media Files (.WMV), whereas Macintosh users are going to be happier with Quicktime movies. But if you host all your videos as Quicktime, the chances are that Window users won’t be able to view them. MPEG files are great, but again, older versions of Windows Media Player won’t like them.

A solution is to offer users a choice of file formats on the same page and let your users choose. Or, given that Macintosh users are in the minority anyway, just ignore them and settle for .WMV - I know it’s harsh, but if they are really keen they will download and install the Windows Media Player anyway.

Another solution involves using Macromedia Flash, the plug-in for which can be found on more than 90-95% of all machines in the world apparently. Flash is truly cross-platform, but your end user must have the plug-in Installed otherwise all they will see is a blank box.

The other advantage of using Flash is that you can build the video player right into the page, complete with stop, play, pause and rewind buttons.

Learning to stream video takes time. Get the stream rate wrong and your videos will stutter like Norman Collier. Get the CODEC wrong and half your users will hear the audio, but not see the video. Rip your DVD incorrectly and you will have video and audio that don’t actually synch up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is streaming video? A. It is video delivered to your computer that can be watched while it is still downloading.

Q. What do viewers need to have on their computer? A. A soundcard and speaker(s) or headphones, their normal browser software and a so-called plug-in - a small piece of software that converts the data into sound. If you opt for .WMV streaming they will also need the Windows Media Player.

Q. This all sounds expensive - is it? A. Not really. The programs needed to convert video into a streaming format are very reasonable. I recommend MSIVideo (http://hop.clickbank.net/?snichols/msincome) Its great, very easy to use and only costs $39.95. Another alternative is Webmaster media maker (http://www.webmastermediamaker.com/?hop=snichols)

Q. What is the quality like? A. Judge for yourself - visit http://www.infotechcomms.co.uk/info10.htm and watch the demonstration programme. The trick is to get the quality as high as you can, but still make it playable on an average modem-equipped home computer.

About the Author
Steve Nichols is a freelance journalist who runs InfoTech Communications (http://www.infotechcomms.co.uk). A background in radio means that Steve was ideally placed to take advantage of the arrival of streaming media via the web.

Popularity: 53% [?]

This article examines how PHP handles passing of variables internally, as well as how this relates to memory usage. This information is very useful for any professional PHP developer as it shows how passing variables by reference will normally result in more (not less) memory being used.

The Truth About PHP Variables
 
I wanted to write this post to clear up what seems to be a common misunderstanding in PHP - that using references when passing around large variables is a good way save memory. To fully explain this I will need to explain how PHP handles variables internally. I hope that you will find this interesting and useful and that it helps dispel some myths around references and memory management in PHP. First off, lets cover the basics…
Basic References in PHP(Note: If you are already familiar with references in PHP then feel free to skip this section)

In PHP it is possible to assign variables by value or by reference. The former method is the most common, and should look very familiar to you:

view plaincopy to clipboardprint?
<?php  
//Example 1: Assigning variables by value (the ’standard’ way)  
$var1 = ‘hello!’;  
$var2 = $var1;  
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;  
echo $var1; // Produces: hello!  
echo “<br />\n”;  
echo $var2; //Produces: goodbye!  
?> 
<?php
//Example 1: Assigning variables by value (the ’standard’ way)
$var1 = ‘hello!’;
$var2 = $var1;
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;
echo $var1; // Produces: hello!
echo “<br />\n”;
echo $var2; //Produces: goodbye!
?>
 
This should be no surprise to you, just simple assigning of variables in PHP. The next example is very similar, but we assign $var2 by reference rather than by value.

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<?php  
//Example 2: Assigning variables by reference  
$var1 = ‘hello!’;  
$var2 =& $var1; // Notice the ampersand. This means $var2   
                // is a reference to $var1  
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’ // because $var2 is a reference to $var1,   
                   // both variables now have the value ‘goodbye!’;  
echo $var1; // Produces: goodbye!  
echo “<br />\n”;  
echo $var2; //Produces: goodbye!  
?> 
<?php
//Example 2: Assigning variables by reference
$var1 = ‘hello!’;
$var2 =& $var1; // Notice the ampersand. This means $var2
                // is a reference to $var1
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’ // because $var2 is a reference to $var1,
                   // both variables now have the value ‘goodbye!’;
echo $var1; // Produces: goodbye!
echo “<br />\n”;
echo $var2; //Produces: goodbye!
?>
 
This may be more surprising to some of you, so I will explain what is happening. The first step is no different, we simply initialise $var1 with a value of ‘hello!’. However, in the next step we assign $var1 to $var2 using the ‘=&’ operator, which causes a reference to $var1 to be passed, rather than the actual contents of $var1. This means that both variables point to the same data in memory, so any changes to either variable will affect the other.

For more information on this I would recommend reading the References Explained section of the PHP Manual as it covers this topic in much more detail.

How PHP Handles Variables Internally (using zvals!)
While the above explanation of references is sufficient for a general understanding, it is often useful to understand how PHP handles variable assignment internally. This is where we introduce the concept of the zval.

zvals are an internal PHP structure which are used for storing variables. Each zval contains various pieces of information, and the ones we will be focusing on here are as follows:

The actual data stored within the zval - In our example this would be either ‘hello!’ or ‘goodbye!’
is_ref Boolean flag
A ref_count counter
The zval also knows the type of data it contains, but this is not especially relevant here so it has been omitted from the above list.

The first item in our list, the actual data, does not require much explanation. The second item on this list (is_ref) indicates if variables should address this zval by value or by reference, the implications of which are addressed shortly. The third item (ref_count) stores the number of variables that currently address this zval. If ref_count ever reaches zero (for example, if you call unset()) then PHP assumes that it can remove the zval and free up the memory it was using.

Now this bit is important: You may think that the ref_count value is only used when dealing with a reference (i.e. when is_ref=true), but this is not the case. The ref_count variable is used regardless of the value of is_ref. So what does this mean?

Being A Little Bit Clever
This is where, as the headline suggests, PHP is a little bit clever. When you assign a variable by value (such as in example 1) it does not create a new zval, it simply points both variables at the same zval and increases that zval’s ref_count by one. “Wait!” I hear you cry, “Isn’t that passing by reference?” Well, although it sounds the same, all PHP is doing is postponing any copying until it really has to - and it knows this because is_ref is still false. “Hum, so how does it work?” Ok, here is an example:

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<?php  
//Example 3a: Assigning variables by value (but with more detail)  
 
//Here our zval is created for $var1.  
$var1 = ‘hello!’;  
//Our zval now has ref_count=1, is_ref=false  
 
//We now assign $var1 to $var2  
$var2 = $var1;  
//Our zval now has ref_count=2, is_ref=false  
 
debug_zval_dump($var2); //Produces: string(6) “hello!” refcount(3)  
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)  
 
//We now assign a new value to $var2. So what happens to our zval?  
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;  
//Read on to find out…  
 
?> 
<?php
//Example 3a: Assigning variables by value (but with more detail)

//Here our zval is created for $var1.
$var1 = ‘hello!’;
//Our zval now has ref_count=1, is_ref=false

//We now assign $var1 to $var2
$var2 = $var1;
//Our zval now has ref_count=2, is_ref=false

debug_zval_dump($var2); //Produces: string(6) “hello!” refcount(3)
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)

//We now assign a new value to $var2. So what happens to our zval?
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;
//Read on to find out…

?>
 
An important note on debug_zval_dump(): php.net says this function “dumps a string representation of an internal Zend value to output.” This is true, but calling this function inherently causes another reference to the variable to be created, so you can (in these examples) subtract one from the ref_count value given in the output.

In the above example we see how both $var1 and $var2 refer to the same zval (as can be seen by the call to debug_zval_dump()). So what happens on the last line when we assign a new value to $var2? Does $var1 change too? Of course the answer is no, but why?

When we assign ‘goodbye!’ to $var2 in the example above, PHP examines the is_ref value of the underlying zval. If is_ref is false (as it is in this example) PHP knows that it can only change the value of the zval if the ref_count is 1 (as the change will not affect any other variables). However, in our example the ref_count is 2, therefore PHP realises that it is not allowed to change the zval’s value and so creates another zval to which $val2 is the associated. The is illustrated by the finished example below:

view plaincopy to clipboardprint?
<?php  
//Example 3b: Assigning variables by value (the complete example)  
 
//Here our zval is created for $var1.  
$var1 = ‘hello!’;  
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false  
 
//We now assign $var1 to $var2  
$var2 = $var1;  
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=2, is_ref=false  
 
debug_zval_dump($var2); //Produces: string(6) “hello!” refcount(3)  
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)  
 
//We now assign a new value to $var  
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;  
//We now have two zvals:  
//   The first: value=’hello!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false  
//   The second: value=’goodbye!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false  
 
?> 
<?php
//Example 3b: Assigning variables by value (the complete example)

//Here our zval is created for $var1.
$var1 = ‘hello!’;
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false

//We now assign $var1 to $var2
$var2 = $var1;
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=2, is_ref=false

debug_zval_dump($var2); //Produces: string(6) “hello!” refcount(3)
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)

//We now assign a new value to $var
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;
//We now have two zvals:
//   The first: value=’hello!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false
//   The second: value=’goodbye!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false

?>
 
So we can see that, in the case of passing-by-value, PHP only copies data if a value is changed.

For the sake of completeness, here is an example where we pass-by-reference;

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<?php  
//Example 4: Assigning variables by value (the complete example)  
 
//Here our zval is created for $var1.  
$var1 = ‘hello!’;  
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false  
 
//We now assign $var1 to $var2  
$var2 =& $var1;  
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=2, is_ref=true  
 
debug_zval_dump(&$var2); //Produces: &string(6) “hello!” refcount(3)  
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)  
 
//We now assign a new value to $var  
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;  
//We still have one zval, but with a    
//new value: value=’goodbye!’, ref_count=2, is_ref=true  
 
debug_zval_dump(&$var1); //Produces: &string(8) “goodbye!” refcount(3)  
debug_zval_dump(&$var2); //Produces: &string(8) “goodbye!” refcount(3)  
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)  
 
?> 
<?php
//Example 4: Assigning variables by value (the complete example)

//Here our zval is created for $var1.
$var1 = ‘hello!’;
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=1, is_ref=false

//We now assign $var1 to $var2
$var2 =& $var1;
//Our zval now has value=’hello!’, ref_count=2, is_ref=true

debug_zval_dump(&$var2); //Produces: &string(6) “hello!” refcount(3)
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)

//We now assign a new value to $var
$var2 = ‘goodbye!’;
//We still have one zval, but with a 
//new value: value=’goodbye!’, ref_count=2, is_ref=true

debug_zval_dump(&$var1); //Produces: &string(8) “goodbye!” refcount(3)
debug_zval_dump(&$var2); //Produces: &string(8) “goodbye!” refcount(3)
//(Why refcount(3)? See “An important note on debug_zval_dump()”)

?>
 
As expected, we can see that the zval for both $var1 and $var2 has changed to a value of ‘goodbye!’ and has a ref_count of 2.

A Little More Complex
So now we know how PHP handles values and references, and isn’t it is all wonderfully exciting? “Oh yes! Please tell me more!” I hear you say? Ok then…

There is one last thing to mention in this area, which I think is especially relevant to those of you who love to (ahem) save memory by passing around references - what happens when values and references meet.

You may have noticed that the zval’s is_ref flag does not permit a zval to be both a reference and a value at the same time (as it is either true or false). On the face of it this is probably for the best as I suspect it could lead to all kinds of strangeness from an internal perspective. However, a result of this is that if you are using a variable by value in several places (i.e. the variables underlying zval has a ref_count greater than 1) and then pass it by reference (for example, to a function), PHP will have to copy the value into a entirely new zval in order to set the is_ref flag to true. The following example illustrates how this can result in substantially increased memory usage:

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<?php  
//Example 5: Showing how mixing references and values can lead   
//           to increased memory consumption  
 
memory_show_usage(); //Zero bytes  
 
$v1 = str_repeat(’0′, 100000);//Generate 100kb of dummy data  
memory_show_usage(); //100kb  
 
$v2 = $v1;  
//We now have two variables pointing to a zval in the form:  
//   is_ref=false, ref_count=2  
memory_show_usage(); //100kb  
 
$r1 =& $v2; //We now assign our value by reference  
memory_show_usage(); //200kb  
//PHP has now had to create a second zval in the form:  
//   is_ref=true, ref_count=1  
 
$v3 = $r1; //We now assign second zval by value  
memory_show_usage(); //300kb  
//PHP has now had to create a third zval in the form:  
//   is_ref=false, ref_count=1  
 
$v4 = $v3; //Now assign by value  
memory_show_usage(); //300kb (no increase)  
//Our third zval now has a ref_count of 2  
 
//Both $v3 and $v4 now have the same zval, which may only be   
//passed by value as it has a ref_count greater than one  
 
$r2 =& $v3; //So now we assign $v3 by reference  
memory_show_usage(); //400kb  
//Here PHP has been forced to create a fourth zval with yet   
//another copy of the data. The new zval is in the form:  
//    is_ref=true, ref_count = 1  
 
//Simple function to show memory use from a baseline  
function memory_show_usage(){  
    static $baseline = null;  
    if(is_null($baseline)){  
        //Initialise to get an accurate memory use value  
        $baseline = 1;  
        $baseline = memory_get_usage();  
    }  
      
    echo (memory_get_usage() - $baseline) . ” bytes\n”;  
}  
 
?> 
<?php
//Example 5: Showing how mixing references and values can lead
//           to increased memory consumption

memory_show_usage(); //Zero bytes

$v1 = str_repeat(’0′, 100000);//Generate 100kb of dummy data
memory_show_usage(); //100kb

$v2 = $v1;
//We now have two variables pointing to a zval in the form:
//   is_ref=false, ref_count=2
memory_show_usage(); //100kb

$r1 =& $v2; //We now assign our value by reference
memory_show_usage(); //200kb
//PHP has now had to create a second zval in the form:
//   is_ref=true, ref_count=1

$v3 = $r1; //We now assign second zval by value
memory_show_usage(); //300kb
//PHP has now had to create a third zval in the form:
//   is_ref=false, ref_count=1

$v4 = $v3; //Now assign by value
memory_show_usage(); //300kb (no increase)
//Our third zval now has a ref_count of 2

//Both $v3 and $v4 now have the same zval, which may only be
//passed by value as it has a ref_count greater than one

$r2 =& $v3; //So now we assign $v3 by reference
memory_show_usage(); //400kb
//Here PHP has been forced to create a fourth zval with yet
//another copy of the data. The new zval is in the form:
//    is_ref=true, ref_count = 1

//Simple function to show memory use from a baseline
function memory_show_usage(){
    static $baseline = null;
    if(is_null($baseline)){
        //Initialise to get an accurate memory use value
        $baseline = 1;
        $baseline = memory_get_usage();
    }
   
    echo (memory_get_usage() - $baseline) . ” bytes\n”;
}

?>
 
Although this example only assigns variables directly, the same principles apply when performing function calls where parameters are passed by reference. You can see that, unless the developer is completely consistent, passing variables by reference can easily lead to increased memory usage.

Conclusion
 
If you concern is to conserve memory then it is best to simply pass data by value as the PHP language is smart enough to conserve memory automatically. If you really must pass a value by reference then make sure that it is done consistently as this will avoid consuming many times more memory (and CPU cycles) than is necessary. Alternatively you could wrap your data in an object as PHP5 (but not PHP4) will pass this by reference as the default behaviour.

As a side note I would like to point out that side affecting function parameters (which may be your intention if you are passing by reference) is generally discouraged as it can make some bugs very hard to track down (a similar argument to that against global variables).

Author :    Derek Rethans

Popularity: 41% [?]

Once a web site is ready, the next confusing thing is the server on which the web site goes on. Deciding on a web hosting service is something that might get anybody perplexed. There are mainly two types of website hosting services — Windows and Linux. If the business is small then you can even try out the Shared Linux and Windows hosting service. Windows as well as Linux website host services have different benefits and limitations.

Linux hosting is one of the most common and significant hosting service on the net. The main reason for this web hosting is that many companies which are using it are open sources and quite affordable compared to Windows. Linux is much easier to manage as the business grows online. Windows hosting supports all operational functions of Windows system. It maintains programming frameworks such as ColdFusion and ASP.net. It also backs SQL servers which is extremely useful when creating a website regarding a searchable list. Windows hosting service is apt for people who are used to Microsoft based technologies or equipments. The biggest difference between these two hosting services is the cost factor. Linux services are much low-priced in comparison to Windows. Money does play an important in website hosting especially when new web owners are starting off. But, the main reason for Windows hosting service costs to be higher is the fact that many Windows technologies are licensed. Windows also scores over Linux in the programming department; there are many Windows softwares which are not supported on Linux operating systems. After drafting out your needs, you can also consult professionals in the web site hosting field on which is a better option. But, it is always advisable to weigh the pros and cons before making that choice, so that you do not regret in any possible where. There are many hosting companies that can help you with the right web hosting solution which will take away all your tension and your entire job will be done within moments. But, make sure to do a reference check before hiring any company’s service.
Author: Arvind Sharma

Popularity: 65% [?]

Microsoft FrontPage 2002 permits consumers to take total control of their Web site, from how it looks and performs, to maintaining and managing its content ..
FrontPage is software that allows consumers to design Web sites without an in-depth understanding of mark-up languages such as HTML and XML. The software, an integral component of the Microsoft Office suite, gives users, especially novices, the ability to create, edit and add content to Web sites.
FrontPage is designed as a “what you see is what you get” or “WYSIWYG” application. It is a well-designed Web page editor, loaded with easy-to-use options and page elements that allow users to create a decent Web site quickly. The application is designed to mimic Microsoft Office in look and feel, allowing users to easily build Web pages with drag-and-drop functionality. With the software installed on a user’s computer, they can quick develop Web documents with elements drawn from other Office documents.

While the software makes the composition of a Web site simple, the down side of the software is that it does not conform strictly to compliant mark-up language standards. As a result, the code that the software generates has been described as bloated. For more control over the creation of Web sites, professionals hence elect to use more advanced Web design software packages.

FrontPage is mainly used by neophytes, but is quite an effective tool to get beginners online and publishing their Web sites. For this reason, the software is quite popular. One of the most powerful aspects built into FrontPage is its site management capability. The same interface that is used to develop Web pages is also used to manage and manipulate those pages online.

As a Web site grows, the content contained within the site can become outdated or inconvenient to update. Keeping up with the changes made to a site and ensuring that Web content is kept current is a time consuming task, often considerably larger than the initial development of the site. The use of FrontPage provides users with the power to easily manage content on a site-wide basis instead of on the level of the individual Web page.

The software provides a high-level view of site architecture. It also provides the capability for direct online integration and deployment of content created by FrontPage through Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions.

FrontPage Server Extensions are the server-side power behind FrontPage that lets the software interact directly with the Web server. Most sophisticated Web hosting firms offer FrontPage Server Extensions to both their customers and resellers. Server extensions are native to the Windows hosting platform, but are also widely available on Linux hosting platforms. Through the server extensions, users can upload and maintain their Web site directly through the FrontPage application. Web authors can also utilize other innovative features, such as traffic reports that can be generated daily, weekly or month. These reports can track hits, referred domains and search strings. The software also allows Web authors to develop database-driven Web sites. The Database Interface Wizard simplifies the creation of dynamic databases that can interact with the Web site.

The most unique element of FrontPage is its groupware function, known as “SharePoint.” SharePoint is a team Web site solution that allows users to edit straight from their browser. No Web authoring skills are required in order to add and edit content to a SharePoint-based site, which means that everyone within a work group or a broad organization can collaborate on projects, share documents and communicate more effectively.

While FrontPage has always attempted to offer a tremendous number of features, the software really functions as an easy-to-use, simple and straightforward Web authoring tool. For more code-intensive Web authoring, users need to select another package, but FrontPage should suffice for the novice.

Popularity: 64% [?]

In the industry of technology information today, website is the most important thing when you think about your existence in the world of internet. To stand out, domain name is one of hottest issue being chased. Everyone is trying to earn big buck just by having a presence in the internet. Whether possible or not, the internet is offering a whole new dimension in making money.
Building a website is never an easy task.

A website is equivalent as a shop that you have online. To build a good website, you need to put a lot of effort in it. If you are running a website that offers online loan, you will need to focus more on the content of your website. Some other business might need other specified function. No matter what sort of business, you will definitely need a good hosting company to have you website running perfectly without any problems.

As always, cost or modal for your business is your most concern. There are a few types of hosting to choose from. There is the free, shared and reseller hosting service. A free hosting should not be considered by you if you are serious in building a successful online business. If you want better service and function with your website, you will definitely need to pay for your website.

As for a shared web hosting package, you will have to use the same server with several websites. If you are using a reseller plan, you can host your own website. Depending on your preferences, whatever hosting that you choose must be able to serve you well. If you are looking for a cheap hosting plan, HostGator is one company that you can pay attention to. It offers a lot of deals that gives you discounts but still provide a great service. It will save you from getting a headache.

To profit from your website, you should be very serious in choosing the provider and a little investment is a definite must.
Author:  Phil Anderson

Popularity: 70% [?]

How do you know whether it is time to switch from a shared web host to a dedicated one? The answer is sure short. Suppose if you started off with a small website on a shared web host and now your e-business has grown rapidly, your website will require more disk space and bandwidth as well a fully managed dedicated server which does not have too many websites hosted on it - will become your top agenda. And this is where dedicated web hosting comes into play.

Dedicated web hosting might cause a little more money as compared to a shared one, but, once your website is a hit and you are attracting a lot of attention from users, you do not mind paying spending some more money on these services. With such competition between so many web hosting companies to provide better services, you can easily get this hosting service at a lower rate along with packages like Virtual Private Servers or Virtual Servers which offer power as well as flexibility, which are really important. A dedicated hosting can outsmart a shared hosting service on many parameters such as reliability, flexibility and support system.

Firstly, the full focus of a dedicated server remains on customer service for your website and you can be guaranteed to get your issues resolved quickly as compared to a shared web hosting, where you may need to wait for hours and hours for your turn to come as there are a long list of customers who might be getting their solutions. The uptime will also be good which will keep your website running; this will definitely get your website more customers and make it a more reliable source.

Secondly, you can be guaranteed that your information is well protected and free from any virus and spam which can be really harmful for your site and can ruin its future. Sensitive information is protected and treated with topmost priority.

Thirdly, the freedom that you get when you have a dedicated server to choose the softwares you wish to install or remove; as well as which operating system you would like to continue with or want to change as per your business requirements.

With such a lot of benefits available within dedicated web hosting and that too at an affordable price (mainly due to competition of providing better services), there is nothing better than this for a growing company.

By Alpana A

Popularity: 78% [?]

What is good site design?
And How does it contribute to search engine optimization?

We do believe that our client’s web site is one of the greatest assets that they may rely on, for any commercial or non-commercial purposes, with this regard, we are pleased to announce that we provide our clients not only with the latest available technology and tools in order to create a professional impressive web site, but also work closely with them to ensure that their web sites are marketed effectively.

There’s nothing like a poorly designed site to instantly lose traffic and alienate potential visitors to your site. You can have the best written content and the most targeted keywords on the Net,  but if your website is visually jarring or completely confusing navigation-wise,  then all your hard work has been for nothing.

How do you make your site optimized for search engines?
One thing to remember is that you’re not only designing to appeal to your visitors, but also to the search engine spiders. There are a few principles to keep in mind while designing your site to be searchable.

Please contact Hosting Bangkok for more information we can assist you when it comes to
Web design & Search Engine optimization and keep in mind that web design is the first step to your world wide web marketing with this regard choose the right people to go with or later you will find that you got to build everything from the scratch !

Author : Shahram Azin

Popularity: 78% [?]

If you want to build your Ajax application around a JavaScript framework, you will need to use Direct Web Remoting code. This article shows you how. It is excerpted from Hack 43 from the book Ajax Hacks, written by Bruce W. Perry (O’Reilly; ISBN: 0596101694). Copyright © 2007 O’Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission from the publisher. Available from booksellers or direct from O’Reilly Media.

 

HACK 43  Design your Ajax application around a JavaScript framework bound to Java objects on the server.

The Direct Web Remoting code comes in the form of an archived or zipped Java Archive (JAR) file, dwr.jar. The download address is http://www. getahead.ltd.uk/dwr/download.html.

 

The top-level web page for this open source software is http://www.getahead.ltd.uk/dwr/. Check out the license details for more information while you are visiting this page.

To get started with DWR, you must first set it up in your server-side web application. Place the dwr.jar file in the /WEB-INF/lib directory of your Java web application on the server, then restart or reload the application.

For those not familiar with Java web applications, they all have a top-level directory named WEB-INF. Inside WEB-INF are XML configuration files, the main one being web.xml. WEB-INF also contains a directory named lib, which encloses code libraries or JAR files that the application depends on, such as database drivers and helper classes. The dwr.jar file goes in this lib directory.

          By O’Reilly Media

Popularity: 83% [?]

3 columns, red, brown and grey colors, widgets ready, left and right sidebars, free Wordpress template for photoblog

3 column theme, Photoblog WordPress theme               Download    (385 KB)

Popularity: 100% [?]