January 21st, 2007 - Created by jimiz

News Post from the Galaxy: http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20070111&content_id=81598&vkey=pr_lag&fext=.jsp&team=t106

The MLS finally has a cover boy or player to attract non soccer fans and soccer fans alike.  I am already planing a trip over to Chicago to watch the fire play the Galaxy.  Not to mention that a few players that I like already play for the Fire and Galaxy.

I have heard mixed reviews about David (bend it like) Beckham coming over the POND.  I am excited.

First, it is good to see someone in my favorite sport making some serious money in the US.  It is reported he will be getting 250 million.  That’s 50 million in Salary and 200 million in endorsements and sales.   That is a lot of money for any sport.  The only thing that would have made it better is if it was to an American player.  Our top soccer players in the MLS are barely making a Million.   But any progress in payment is a good thing for the guys who are playing in the MLS and making league minimum .

On the topic of salary, here is a great article into the MLS players payments. http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/articles/3607921.html

League minimum is 28K.  That has to be the lowest in pro sports.  But from the players I have known who have thrown on the jersey for the MLS they are just happy to get any money.  They play for the love of the game.  If they were playing pro sports for money they would have gone into another sport or gone over Seas to play soccer there.

The second thing I am happy to see about David coming to the MLS is that it may be a time where Soccer will be in the headlines again.  Yes you heard me right, AGAIN.  You see back in the 70’s Soccer was the in thing.  How can people forget the NY cosmo’s.   At one time they filled Giants stadium.   I hope that bringing in other star players will do the same again.  In the 70’s the pro league payed Pele millions to play in his elder years.   Even in his older years he was the star here.  David will probably be the same. I am not saying that he is a great player.   I would never say such a thing, he just happens to be a name that goes with soccer.  He has done a great job Marketing himself and wife.  I watch a lot of soccer, mainly English Premier league.  David is getting too old to be a contender in that league but in the MLS he will be one of the top contenders.

So I am excited to see this change in US pro soccer.

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January 21st, 2007 - Created by jimiz

Well the new version of wordpress (www.wordpress.org) is coming out tomorrow. I am debating if I should upgrade.  I always hate to upgrade to new technologies unless I know what to expect or have an issue.  With the few blogs that I do use I think I have the need to upgrade based on 2 items from the following list.

http://www.technosailor.com/10-things-you-should-know-about-wordpress-21/

I really would like to use the new AJAX settings that are now available. However the two items that are prompting me to upgrade are (auto save of drafts and the new image settings).  These two things may be enough for me to run the process tomorrow.  So check back for more info later

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January 17th, 2007 - Created by jimiz
I often get questions from both administrators and developers on the best way to secure their sites. By secure they are almost always talking about SSL (Secure Sockets Layer - more info). They ask which ssl provider is the best? Is it hard to setup? What does it cost? Which of the cheaper providers are the best? Should I self ssl? These are all great questions and I think they are worth exploring.
Lets tackle each of the above questions.

1. Which provider is the best?

There are a ton of ssl providers to choose from. I could spout off at least 10 from the top of my head. The first one people always mention when I ask them is Verisign. Verisign has the name recognition and probably has been around the longest. I have used them many times over the years, when clients complained about verisign’s cost (starts at aprox $700) I often refered them to Thawte Thawte was actually purchased by Verisign. These prices have changed over the years with competition and many new providers offering cheaper solutions. With all this said I would still rank Verisign the best by name recognition and over all security (they do their homework before issuing you a certificate.

2. What does an SSL certificate cost? I have seen prices range from 1000’s to free. A typical ssl will run between 800 (verisign) to 50 (godaddy). Price can very on the strength of the cert, security assurance, wild cards and warranty. Free SSL certs are available and you can generate your own.

3. Which of the cheaper providers are the best?
If you do a search for SSL purchase you will find dozens of providers and ranges of pricing. Almost all the major hosting providers offer ssl cert now. I am not sure when these providers started, but competition is good. In the early days of iis 4 you really only had a few choices of providers. I have not done a shoot-out or comparison of providers but I can say that in my experience that godaddy does offer a very attractive price and robust ssl cert. I have used them frequently in the last year with great success.

4. Should I self ssl?
Self SSL is a term where a server will sign it’s own certificate. This is commonly used in internal sites(intranet) where the data is needed to be encrypted by local trusted computers. Self SSL’s are good to secure data that is not of high value. It is not recommended to use a self signing ssl on your e commerce site.

5. Are their Free SSL providers?
Yes, there are some free providers that will validate and sign your certificate. I am a big fan of CAcert. I use them frequently. However, I will say the same thing, you should not use this on a site where security is critical say an e commerce site. I use these certs to secure (dashboards, admin sections of sites, development environments, QA sites, user administration, etc…)

All of the information I have discussed is from my experiences. There are a few great references out there for you to read before listening to my selections. I recommend reading the ssl comparison from (WhichsSL) http://www.whichssl.com/comparisons/index.html

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January 16th, 2007 - Created by jimiz

I currently use Firefox for all my browsing needs.  I still find times where I have to use IE as the browser (I.E. 7).  Our time entry system at the office needs IE to allow for text entry.  I have also noticed that one of the online applications I use requires IE for it’s navigation.  Other than that, I am always in firefox.  One of the reasons I like Firefox is the additional extensions that are available. Weather, Developers tools, and server type.

I have found that there are some tools also as valuable for I.E. - Developer Toolbar Beta - (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E59C3964-672D-4511-BB3E-2D5E1DB91038&displaylang=en)

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January 16th, 2007 - Created by jimiz

I am a firm believer in mobile computing.  I have a pocket pc (that I only use at home).  It controls my home stereo and music.  I also have a cingular 2125 a “candy bar” style smart phone.  I really do appreciate this phone when I am out of town.

First, i went away for training last week for 4 days.  During the drive down I was able to respond to a few time sensitive emails using the outlook client.  Second, during the class we did not have any internet connectivity.  This turned out to be great for training (I learned a ton… more about that later).  It was horrible for work, thank goodness for my smart phone. I was able to just keep synchronizing to read email and respond.   I do have to say the phone is great for reading email, but writing is another thing.  I am horrible on that little keyboard.

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January 15th, 2007 - Created by jimiz

Well we had a server crash and I lost all my posts from August on.  Not that I have been blogging much.  With a new year starting I am going to try and keep the content flowing.

New version of IIS reporter coming out.

I have a new site launching with a new app as well. (more to come)

Hopefully that will keep me busy.

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