LinLog

It seems my web host is doing funny things with the mail server. Last week, when trying to send an e-mail, I got a strange error message - something about an unauthorized server, which I didn't bother to write down. Anyway, a quick Google search revealed that the fix was to switch KMail to using authenticated SMTP.

Tonight, I try to send a message, and what do I get? An error message saying I'm already authenticated. So I turn off authentication and my message goes out. What the heck is going on?

Incidentally, I think I might have decided on a new web host: ICDSoft. Their personal hosting plan is only $6/month and they're currently ranked #4 on Web Hosting Jury. They seem to be a fairly no-nonsense kind of hosting operation, which appeals to me. Their plans don't offer the big numbers and huge feature sets of companies like Lunarpages or DreamHost, but they have a lot more than my current host and they meets my needs.

I actually view the smaller numbers, i.e. 1GB storage and 20GB bandwidth, as a selling point. Most web hosts these days seriously oversell their disk space and bandwidth on the premise that most sites will only use a small fraction of it. However, with the really big numbers, you have to be skeptical of the company's ability to make good on the service. For example, can DreamHost really give any significant proportion of its customers the 200GB of storage ahd 2TB of bandwidth they promise? Their service may be very good, but they're basically claiming they can host Slashdot for $8/month. Sounds too good to be true if you ask me.

I guess this should be filed under "too funny to make up." It seems that some crazy person has been threatening one Dean Hunt because his blog is ranked too high on Google. Apparently Dean's site ranks higher for the same of some product that the crazy guy is selling and he wants Dean to do something about that, by God. There's a short and humorous summary at Search Engine Journal.

Now, I think we can all agree that this unnamed merchant doesn't have a clue. The fact that he would even make a bizarre request like this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has no idea how Google works and probably hasn't worked too hard on his site's SEO.

However, I don't think Dean's response was really appropriate. While the merchant's request was certainly misguided and unreasonable, it was apparently made in earnest. As such, I think the obvious contempt in Dean's response was a little much. It certainly didn't do anything to resolve the situation.

This kind of attitude is how "computer geeks" get a reputation for being arrogant. When someone makes an unreasonable request, there's no need to say or imply that they're stupid. Instead, give the person the benefit of the doubt. You don't have to devote hours to patient explanation of the underlying concepts, just politely say that it simply doesn't work that way and there's nothing you can do about it. If the person continues to be unreasonable after that, then just walk away. Insults and alienation are seldom productive (unless you're goal is to piss people off).