Here are some resources that I thought you will find useful.

Start Your Own Blog For Free!
If you have not already got your own blog yet, then blogging is something you should definitely try. There are thousands of blogs out their and each of them adds something different to the internet. You do not have to worry about setting up your blog or a sub-domain as FireBlogz.com offers these for you for absolutely nothing!

The sign-up process at FireBlogz is simple and quick, you can have your blog up within minutes and start posting. FireBlogz has a lot of changes planned for 2008 including the option for members to add their own advertisement code to their blog, so you have the opportunity to monetize your blog. Here are some more features;
- Advanced Security & SPAM protection
- Over 80 + Themes (and growing)
- Ability to have your own Podcasts
- Free iTunes submission

You have no excuse for not owning a blog now

Free phpBB3 Hosting
phpBB is great if not the greatest free forum software ever to be created. It allows communities to be created online and allows websites to add interactivity to their website. phpBB is released under the GNU General Public License so it allows for people to modify the pretty much what they like with the software. This is why many developers love this software so much.

You will love it to, as FireForumz gives you the chance to create your forum without any technical knowledge required. The service offers many features including;
- Search Engine Optimization
- Free Sub-Domain
- Forum Back-Ups
- Custom Logo

And many more which can be found here.

Something Else For Free?
The KittyFire Network offers free image hosting (in BETA stages) which can be found available here. FirePix currently host over 140,000 images.

These resources are there for you to use, so go take advantage of them!

A while ago I wrote about the company I registered my domain name with, which was GoDaddy. As I recently posted, I have changed web hosts. I spent around 3 or 4 days trying to find a new host and looked for reviews and the perfect plan that I would host my website on. I have had many hosts before HostGator and there are many things I was concerned about when choosing my host. There are many hosts I have looked at and they offer great plans, great prices, but when you read the fine print you see that they are great prices because they are maybe a 12 month contract for example. I do not want this, I want to be able to pay monthly and have control over my payments, if I can not pay for that month then I simply wont have the hosting.

I’ve known about HostGator for around a year and I do not know why I did not start using their hosting services sooner! I was hoping the process of moving from my old host to HostGator would have been a simple process but there were a few problems and my website had been down for quite a while until I fixed things. Once my HostGator account had been set up, their 24 hour support service was more than happy to help transfer my site for free and resolve any problems I had. I had many methods of receiving support from the HostGator team as shown below.

One that stood out to me most was the ‘Live Support’. This gave me the satisfaction and comfort that I knew a member of staff would be there to assist me whenever I needed help. The Live Support meant I got an instant response and as I was trying to get my site up as quick as possible again, this suited me greatly. The member of the team spent upto around 2 hours with me, going through everything that needed to be fixed. Needless to say I was extremely impressed with this.

How Much Do I Get and How Much For?
HostGator offers extremely competitive rates and amounts of space that you might not even be capable of using it all! The Hatchling plan that works out at $7.95 (paid monthly) for 350GB of web space and 3,000GB bandwidth! Wow! If you actually need something more powerful, their shared hosting plans go upto 1,000GB of web space and UNLIMITED bandwidth. You can get their plans cheaper if you pay in advance to. With your hosting you are given the best hosting panel on the web, Cpanel and with that comes Fantastico a script library that assists you without any technical knowledge required where you can install 52 different types of scripts. The amount of free stuff you get being a HostGator customer is amazing. They have won awards over the 5 years they have been in business for this amazing stuff you know. If you are not pleased with their service there is even a 45-day money back guarantee.

What Else do They Offer?
If your interested in reselling web space, you can look into buying a reseller starting from $24.95 each month or you can go to the next level and buy a dedicated server. Another thing I found out after looking around, as a customer I get access to 4,500 templates absolutely free! As well as domain registration services HostGator also offer the a nice affiliate program for you to participate in.

Take a visit to HostGator, they have to be the perfect web host for you.

What’s Is This About?
A very kind person and owner of Machine were kind enough to create my new logo for the website, in return of a website review. I am happy enough to actually review this website because of the work that is on it! It is the personal portfolio of the Machine where he displays his graphics, sound and writing for others to appreciate.

The Layout
When you first visit the site you are greeted with a very interesting website indeed. The flash work at the top of the page is very hypnotising to say the least. The sound is very drumming but this can be turned off at the viewer’s choice, but does not remember you if you return so this has to be turned off each time you visit. The fonts used on the layout are serif fonts and gives the layout a very ‘old’ feel to it, and this compliments the use of only black and white. The layout is somewhat skinny and leaves quite a lot of black blank space to the sides which in my personal opinion I would expand and make use of more of my page space.

You will need to have flash installed and change some of your security settings on your browser as advised when you visit the site to get the most out of your visit. Maybe this could be changed in the future so more people can use the site without the fuss of having to change things.

We do not really Learn Much About The Machine
Something I’ve noticed, is I do not really know much about the owner of the website when visiting as the ‘info’ page does not provide much information, an about section that outlines key facts about him and his journey to where he is now. It is always good to learn about the website owner.

The Work

This work which you are greeted with when you visit the 3D section is very creative and sublime. You can view the images fully by downloading them. Displayed are 3D creations of models like a Rolls-Royce and a Yacht, certainly striking to anyone who has not seen these models before.

There is also a photography section where you can view the photos that the machine has taken, as well as computer-generated images and screensavers. You can also read his published articles that he has written as well as other ‘random ramble’ that may interest you as a good read.

Its definitely a unique visit and worth a view of his work.

Whats Zymic?
Let me introduce you to Zymic’s new free hosting service. Zymic version 5 was a huge success and version 6 was destined to be even bigger and better! Zymic was founded in 2003 by Jack Cator and since then Zymic’s huge reputation has built. Building on the huge success of their free templates & tutorials in version 5, Zymic 6 has new features, a stylish new layout and all new free web hosting!

The website is very web 2.0, it has soft colours, nice fonts and the layout is laid out very well showing the tutorials section and free templates very clearly to the visitor as well as pointing out the free web hosting. The homepage has a news section to notify you of the latest website updates. The navigation is very easy to use as the pages are sectioned very well. There are millions of people on the internet looking for free hosting as sometimes people can not afford to pay for hosting. They have to look around the internet endlessly finding that another host has a draw back like advertisements are placed on your page or they do not provide PHP support, that’s until Zymic comes along…

Hosting
The hosting is really unbelievable. The hosting is packed full of features, you are provided with 2GB Webspace, 35GB Bandwidth, PHP 5/MySQL (5 databases), FTP Access, a range of sub-domains, support… all for free! as well as much more. The hosting is advertisement free, so you have no annoying ads popping up on your site or having to impede your design. That’s why providing as much as they do without advertisements is so good!

A Free .com Domain To!?!

Those are only the minimum requirements that you have to have met to apply for the free .com domain name. If your website is unique, contains content and you’ve let Zymic know that you are not leaving as you have been there for more than 30 days, they are probably more than happy to register you a domain.

Make Use of their Great Control Panel
Zymic have created their own file manager for their users which allows users to easily upload files and manage them (although it is recommended that users use FTP as it is quicker than uploading individual files). The control panel of a hosting account contains all the necessary links as well as providing you a link to phpMyAdmin to manage your mySQL databases. A support forum and hosting tutorials section is clearly presented if you have any problems. You are provided with statistics for your website, so you can keep track of your sites traffic and information you may find interesting. The control panel provides you with links to change your account settings but at the moment finding a button to delete your hosting account is not present. Zymic will be implementing this and new features in the future.

A Place that Answers Your Needs and a Place To Chat
The Zymic webmaster forums are very popular indeed. I’m one of the first 200 to sign up and there are now over 4,700 in a very short time, and still growing daily. The forum has a dedicated section for the web hosting, and being moderated daily you are sure to fix any problems you have very quickly as well as getting advice from other members on finding how to use your account if you are having difficulty. There is a wide range of posts in different sections, like helping you if you need help with coding your website or if you just want to chat about the week’s news for example.

Get Yourself Some Traffic To Go With Your Hosting
Zymic also offers a new option of buying traffic. For a cheap, starting from $3.49 you can buy traffic to get your website going. You have the option where to target your traffic as well as choose the amount of visitors you want to your site.

If you are really looking for that perfect free host, it is Zymic.

As a student, I’ve in the past looked for sites that have cured a little boredom here and there. I’ve looked at Miniclip, Candystand, but I took some time to look around for something new. It came to my attention a site called GamerGeeks had recently been launched (still in BETA) so I thought I’d take the time to review it and actually use it.

Some Key Points
The site layout indeed is very clean, easy to read, nice colours and has a lot of features. There are many different types of games types available on the website with many games in each, so you will not get bored very easily. Displays on the right side of the page include, game sorting options which assist you in finding a game. The site information provides the reader with an insight into the background of the website owner Steven Gibbons.

A list of competitive gamers with the most points gives the user of the website something to reach once they have signed up so a ranking system on ‘gamer points’ is a very good incentive to keep using the site. The 3 latest games are presented to you so you can try them, and the there is also a links section other websites. The website gives you key statistics like total games (2031 currently), Total games played, Total members, Newest Member and Users Online.

User Interaction
There is also a strong focus on the community within the gaming website. This is a feature many people enjoy when they are using this type of website as they can communicate with other fellow users.

There is a profile page where displaying a profile for other users to see, which includes how many ‘gamer points’ someone has. There is also the function for people to leave comments for each other as well as send messages. A friends system is also operative on the website so you can meet new people and discuss the games, or whatever you wish. The website gives you the option to favourite your games and also comment on them how you wish to give other users your impression of the game.

A Preview of the Games
I decided to take a look at some of the games and provide some links to some good ones. You are only allowed 2 game credits as a free user until you sign up so here is two games to try.

CounterStrike Training (Shooting) - http://www.gamergeeks.co.uk/game/1250/CounterStrike_Training/
Hone your shooting skills by playing this shooting game, be quick on locking onto the target.

Turnaus (Action) - http://www.gamergeeks.co.uk/game/538/Turnaus/
Battle to gain access by launching the other player with your sword to the other person’s door to smash it down, play against someone in your house to as you are both on different sides of the keyboard operating different players.

Visit The Arcade and enjoy GamerGeeks.co.uk.