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.