Month: August 2021

August 23, 2021

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

If digital connectivity isn’t an integral part of your life these days then you haven’t been living on earth, or at least anywhere outside of North Korea. What’s kind of ironic is the fact that those folks are kept off the information superhighway entirely for the most part, while their cousins and next door neighbours in South Korea have the best Internet on earth. The logistical challenges that come with a country as large as Canada make those types of internet networks and speeds comparatively impossible, but there’s recently been a major development at the federal level that promises to make quality internet available to more Canadian than ever before. Here at 4GoodHosting we imagine we’re like most Canadian web hosting providers in that the recent news that the federal government is directing 1.4 billion-plus dollars to Telesat satellite internet is something we NEED to talk about. The very basis of the service we provide is dependent on the web functioning as it should, but it’s been a well known fact for years that people in urban centres enjoy much better connectivity than those in more rural areas of the country. Considering that the web is for so much more than browsing or streaming and is increasingly key to participating in life and personal advancement, that’s not right. Telesat is a Crown-owned Canadian satellite communication company, and what is in design is their Lightspeed low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The investment is in the development of the first and second generations of satellites, plus establishing domestic employment targets and – in the bigger picture – aiming to reduce costs for regional providers who rely on Telesat products to provide internet connectivity to customers. This has the potential to be a MAJOR development for people in quieter parts of the country who have been disappointed in the inferior internet they’ve had for more than 20 years now. Previously it was a problem without a real practical solution, but satellite internet is poised to be that solution now. 298-Strong ‘Constellation’ Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation is going to be made up of 298 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites that will be equipped to deliver gigabit...

August 16, 2021

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Reading Time: 6 minutes

The appeal of VPNs won’t need much explanation, and as data storage and access needs continue to grow all the time we will see more and more organizations making the move to them. There’s been plenty of times the masses have been told that some new wrinkle in their digital product is innocuous or harmless, but at least some of the time that’s just not the truth. Many VPNs employ tracker apps, and the reasoning given for them is that they are part of offering you a more personalized experience and the like. That in itself is true in the bigger picture, but in the smaller one for some it may be that tracker apps are actually putting you at risk. Here at 4GoodHosting we’re a Canadian web hosting provider that takes the well being of our customers to heart and given that some of you may the ones making IT decisions for your business, venture, or interest then this is a topic that’s worthy of discussion. The industry consensus very much seems to be that tolerating VPNs with tracker apps is something you shouldn’t be so indifferent to. But of course, convincing is always required and so with that understood let’s get right to laying out why that’s the consensus, and why a less intrusive VPN may be best for you. Important Protocols Most of these types of people will be at least somewhat familiar with protocols and encryption methods used by VPNs. Usually that level of understanding doesn’t make it at all clear as to why VPNs with trackers are creating risks. But let’s start at the start and begin with what a tracker is and what a tracker does. It’s actually a fairly basic explanation – a tracker is something that tracks the choices you make when moving around the Internet. It’s true that most websites and apps use trackers in some way and they’re inclined to follow you nearly everywhere you go. The information gathered by the trackers about you is then used for targeted advertisements and the like. The trackers are built by software developers at the behest of businesses that want to create greater...

August 9, 2021

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

It’s best to be cool, and we’re not talking at all about ‘being’ anything at all outside of not to being too hot. Anyone who’s ever had no choice but to put a computer through its paces will know what it’s like to hear the cooling fan whirring furiously and failing to make much difference with a PC that’s running too hot, but there are things you can do to try to have yours be cool and have nothing to do with shades and a leather jacket. CPUs aren’t the only component that get run a little ragged and start feeling the heat. There’s a whole lot of people who are harder on their GPUs than anything else, and if you’re an avid gamer you also probably don’t need to be told what it’s like to have a fan that sounds like it’s seize up and die if it’s made to go any harder. Here at 4GoodHosting we’re like most good Canadian web hosting providers in that there’s but a few of us here who are real hardware experts. Most are more savvy on the soft side, but even if you’re not the type who could do open-heart surgery on a PC you can still make your PC less likely to overheat and perhaps shut down at the worst time possible. That’s what we’ll share with our entry this week – 7 ways to keep your work or gaming station from overheating. Clean out your PC When we talk about cleaning here, we’re talking about it literally and not meaning getting rid of superfluous files and scripts and the like. Through those vents goes a lot of dust and dirt that ends up settling on the interior components of your PC. That can have negative effects depending on where the bulk of that crud builds up. Pet fur can be a part of it too. So actually opening up the casing and using a fine brush and / or some isopropyl alcohol to clean up problem spots can be a good idea. Make Sure Fans are Properly Installed It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes cooling fans are facing the wrong...

August 3, 2021

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

To say much has been made of the potential of quantum computing would be a big understatement. We’re really only just scratching the surface of what its reach can be, and it holds so much promise for improving our lives along with major contributions to the efficiency of business. And nowadays quantum computing is coming on leaps and bounds. Previously the capacity of it meant that the physical hardware was expansive and the farthest thing from portable, but now that’s changed and having quantum computing go desktop is a big development. This has the potential to reach into every industry and interest, and here at 4GoodHosting we are like any quality Canadian web hosting provider in that it has the potential to revise our landscape and those of the people who choose us to host their websites. Computing industry experts are calling an operating system available on a chip to be a ‘sensational breakthrough’ About 50 quantum computers have been built up to this point, and all of them use different software, as a quantum equivalent of Windows, IOS or Linux doesn’t exist. But this new development means an OS enabling the same quantum software to run on different quantum computing hardware types. Let It Flow The system has been named Deltaflow.OS and runs on a chip developed by consortium member SEEQC using almost nothing of the space required with previous hardware. The chip is about the size of a coin, and has all the same power and capacities as previous versions that were much larger. This new quantum computing chip is said to be about the size of a coin, and its relevance for the future of quantum computers is huge, especially as it look like they can be produced cost-effectively and at scale. A little bit of explanation may be required here - quantum computers store information in the form of quantum bits, or ‘qubits’ as they are called. Qubits can exist in a pair of different information states at the same time. Being truly powerful requires scaling up to include many more qubits in order for it to make solving seriously challenging problems possible. Racks full of...