Nearly Free Speech

[fos]

I discovered a web hosting service that has a very interesting business model.

They are NearlyFreeSpeech.net (http://nearlyfreespeech.net)

For a low volume web site they have very low rates. They charge for the actual bandwidth and storage used. For example, they charge a penney per day for a mysql database instance that includes multiple databases. They charge for the database storage and bandwidth but it is nominal. You could literally have a modest web site for pennies per month.

I set up a wiki site just to try it out. So far it has cost 3 cents for about a week online. You can visit the site: Crosby Amateur Radio Club (http://crosbyarc.com)

There isn't any content there, but I will add to it when I have the time. It isn't published other than here.

Jeff

[autek]

Google offers free web sites. Limited somewhat but still very useful. I set up a web page for Amateur Radio contesting using a digital modem application named fldigi. I have been an Alpha tester for the software for the past 3 years. Open source and GPL. Multiple platforms Linux-M$-Mac and BSD.

Ed

[fos]

Hi Ed,

Do you have to use one of Google's generic names or can you have a real domain name?

With NFSN you have shell access, sftp, ftp, mysql, and can run just about any internet application. It is basically a standard LAMP based web site.

Jeff

PS. One of these days I'm going to get around to writing up my activities on AWS. If you are willing to prepay for an instance, you can now get a very healthy server and bandwidth for less than $50 per month including bandwidth, redundancy, and easy scalability.

[autek]

Jeff, here is a link to my webpage. Like I said, pretty basic.

https://sites.google.com/site/edshamradiopage/

This is a WIP and I really need to spend some time to bring it up to speed. I didn't have to use a Google provided name.

This is a link to the basics.

http://www.google.com/support/sites/

I gave your idea of a wiki a 2nd thought, but to tell you the truth I prefer to have complete control of the content. Be my luck some idiot would post something inappropriate.

Don't think I've not been lurking around here. This is one of my favorite stops over morning coffee. I visit the Debian forum as well as the mail list at Debian.org. Wish Lenny was up to speed on clearing bugs. There are 2 that stop me in my tracks to go back to Debian. I do miss Libranet.

Take care

Ed

[fos]

That is nice indeed. I like Google. They provide a good service. Their mail interface is just about the best and free of advertising.

I will probably use DreamWeaver for Crosbyarc sometime in the future. PmWiki is pretty slick though.

My class website at: Mr. Greer's Far Out Science (http://greersfos.com) is based on the same wiki. I have found it easy to modify and quite secure. (Knock on wood)

I'm rather limited here in our current house. Our neighborhood is severely deed restrict. We have a hyperactive homeowners association that sends out notices for the least little thing. I usually get one or two a month for missing a blade of grass or something.

Jeff

[autek]

Well like I said the site needs a lot of work and I hope to add some screen shots. Its all new to me, so I just need to stagger along till I think it looks like something useful.

I have no problems with Gmail or their web interface.

We have no HOAs' here. We are know as the Mayberry of the South. Small town, 2000 people if we are lucky. When City Council wrote the tower ordinance to keep out cell towers they asked me for input on the Amateur Radio tower exemption.

We are going upscale, a McDonalds opened out on the highway and we actually have pizza delivery.

Just so people don't get the wrong impression, the city school system has a 80% graduation rate and 60% go on to higher learning. We exceed all state and federal minimum core requirements every year.

So when you are ready to retire, move on over here, its a great place to live.

Ed

[danieldk]

Jeff: they (Nearly Free Speech) have a nice concept! I'd love to hear actual experiences. We now have two Gandi VMs, but that's slightly overkill, especially in the current economy.

[fos]

Hi Daniel,

For a quarter you can try out their system. You shell access with ftp, mysql is 1 cent per day. Bandwidth is $1 per gigabyte. That is a lot of bandwidth if you aren't streaming graphics. I have been playing with the account for over a week at less than 10 cents. Without the mysql, it wouldn't have cost anything. It is a great idea. When I graduate, I may try something similar for teacher web sites.

Jeff

[fos]

Hi Ed,

Your town really sounds tempting! Do you have a junior college? As soon as Debbie graduates we intend to move back east. My youngest son graduates in June and Melissa will finish her EE in May. Heck, just the book budget reduction will be like a pay raise!

73

PS. My favorite rig is an Elecraft K2 - Serial no. 155

[danieldk]

Jeff, thanks for the report! I have a site that runs on a Gandi VM at 14 Euro per month, which is quite a waste. So, I am interested to use affordable shared hosting there. I have created a nearlyfreespeech account, and am now testing. At least the setup procedure was painless.

[autek]

Chattanooga State is the only Jr college in the area and they accept North Georgia residents as in-state for tuition. There is also Dalton State which is in the Georgia State University System offering both 2 and 4 year courses.

All of our "babies" are long gone from home, there's a lot to be said for an empty nest. Just the food bill alone !!

My youngest son has an EE from Georgia Tech and works in Huntsville, AL, the rest of the kids are everywhere.......doing everything. (except having grandbabies)

We do indeed have a unique town here, kind of laid back, but not without some problems. One impressive feature is we pay no city property tax, just city school tax. Of course we do pay county property tax, but at a discounted rate.

I did pass along the information on the web hosting, I don't know what the cost of the current web service is that hosts the software that is being developed on an ongoing basis. We use Yahoo to maintain an email list. I was "volunteered" to be one of the moderators.

I stick with my trusty Omni6 and picked up an Icom 735 for a good price. The K2 is an impressive rig, one of the club members has one, a 10 watt version.

Take care

Ed

[fos]

I have spent a lot of time near that area. I have been vacationing in the mountains of north Georgia since the mid seventies. We usually go to Amicolola Falls near Dahlonega and then travel from there. I particularly enjoy hiking the Appalachian trail. I first started using qrp rigs while on a camping trip there in the 90s.

I was interested in the junior college for a possible part time teaching position. I would like to ease back teaching two or three courses per semester.

At one time I was heavily involved in amateur radio. It is easy to get volunteered into things. As long as you have a nice group to work with, it is nice.

An old ham buddy and his new wife visited just last weekend. He is now retired and motor homing around the country.

TenTec makes really nice equipment. Would you believe I had an aviation version of their HT that I carried as a backup while flying IFR in the early 90s. I remember talking with them at a display at Sun-N-Fun in Florida back at the time. A lot of amateurs are aviators too.

Jeff

[fos]

Daniel,

I'm still pretty impressed with NearlyFreeSpeech. There service seems quite good. They have been around for several years so they aren't a flash in the pan. I really like their philosophy and business approach.

I have still only been charged 8 cents and that is all for the mysql service.

Jeff

[fos]

I moved a couple of sites to NearlyFreeSpeech. I have also installed an SMF forum at http://crosbyarc.com to try out the mysql server. Response time is very good. Check it out.

I finally clicked over to 1 cent worth of bandwidth today. My total expense so far is 12 cents, mostly for the 1 cent per day for the mysql server.

I'm still very impressed. Pennies per month!

Jeff

[jpaulb]

I am using http://iweb.com/ to host my site.
cost is 1.67$ or about 1Euro/month.

[fos]

Another very inexpensive web hosting service! They offer failover servers and redundant backup storage. They also provide virtually unlimited space and bandwidth. I don't see how they can do that for as little as $1.67 per month.

I guess web hosts are becoming the Walmarts of the internet.

Thanks for another option,
Jeff

[danieldk]

Another very inexpensive web hosting service! They offer failover servers and redundant backup storage. They also provide virtually unlimited space and bandwidth. I don't see how they can do that for as little as $1.67 per month.

They don't. Once you start using 100GB per month permanently, they will ask you to upgrade. Most shared hosters do, and they can't do anything else, because they are overselling. Usually that's no problem, because one out of ten customers will barely use bandwidth and compensates for more demanding users. Of course, this doesn't work anymore once everybody starts using hosting up to the limits they provide.

[fos]

Re: iWeb

I had no doubt they were overselling, just about everyone does these days. The really big companies can get away with it. The service agreement notes that you can't use more than 2% of any of the computer resources without being forced to a dedicated server.

BTW, you only get the low prices if you prepay for 10 years of service. I hate to plan THAT far in advance, particularly on an internet service. :cool:

Jeff

PS. With Amazon's new reserved instance you can get the monthly cost for a pretty healthy cloud sever down to about $30 per month with only a three year prepay. That is almost tempting.

[danieldk]

I have mentioned Gandi (http://www.gandi.net/) more than once. They don't oversell (hardly possible with Xen), sponsor various opensource projects, such as Debian, are more affordable than most competition, and have a splendid interface with detailed statistics and options to change your server resources on the fly. In virtual server land I have found no equal.

Oh, and their customer support is very kind, and usually quick to respond.

[fos]

There is no question that Gandi is a good option. Their prices are very reasonable and their servers can be reconfigured on the flow to increase or decrease resources.

The only caveat I have is the fact that they are located in France. No, not the fact that they are French, it is their geographic location relative to the location of my potential clients. I don't think that I would be subject to a VAT but the pricing and ultimate tax burden would be a consideration.

Sooner or later, the US politicians are going to figure out a way to squeeze more money out of internet usage and goods transfer and sales over the internet.

Jeff

[danieldk]

The only caveat I have is the fact that they are located in France. No, not the fact that they are French, it is their geographic location relative to the location of my potential clients. I don't think that I would be subject to a VAT but the pricing and ultimate tax burden would be a consideration.

Hmmm, in The Netherlands I could purchase from Gandi without VAT (when I still had a business), but maybe that's an EU-only thing, not sure. What about the geographic location, are you worried about latency? By the way, they have an UK office now as well (not sure if that helps either VAT-wise).

[fos]

Gandi's site seems very responsive so I doubt that latency would actually be an issue. I don't think US customers would have to pay the VAT but I hear it is quite steep. I will certainly consider their service when I get beyond doing web activities as a hobby.

[danieldk]

VAT is around 19-20% in most EU countries (except for some product groups, such as books). But you probably wouldn't believe our income tax rates. Not that I mind, they paid my education, and pay for our retirements. Now its my time to contribute ;).

[jpaulb]

VAT is around 19-20% in most EU countries (except for some product groups, such as books). But you probably wouldn't believe our income tax rates. Not that I mind, they paid my education, and pay for our retirements. Now its my time to contribute ;).

You do get some benefits from that. What do you pay when you are in the hospital? How high is you university cost, or prescription drugs?

[jpaulb]

Another very inexpensive web hosting service! They offer failover servers and redundant backup storage. They also provide virtually unlimited space and bandwidth. I don't see how they can do that for as little as $1.67 per month.

Thanks for another option,
Jeff
I 've been with them since I pulled my site out of the US. How they do it I do not know. They are actually hiring right now when the word is layoff and bailout.
Then Quebéc is a different world. At times I wished that we had moved there. Great food, boulevard cafes, open minded, artworks that makes the Anglos pale.

[danieldk]

You do get some benefits from that. What do you pay when you are in the hospital? How high is you university cost, or prescription drugs?

You don't hear me complain :). I am happy to pay the taxes, they provide a good safety net for people who need it. By the way, the things you mention are not fully covered by taxes. Having a health insurance is mandatory but not paid fully through taxes, I think mine is ~120 Euro per month. Of course, parts of the healthcare system is financed with tax money.

University costs are indeed low thanks to taxes, I think around ~1600 Euro per year. But this is for any university in The Netherlands. So you pick the university you think is best, and pay the same amount. Though, there is also an investment on the student's side, especially when the parents' wages are above some level, the grant is fairly minimal compared to the high rents. (I think during the years I had a grant it covered ~25-30% of my costs, minus the tuition fees).

I am completely in support of our taxing/welfare system, it's very fair. Of course, it needs some minor tweaks here and there. But what doesn't? ;)