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| We’ve made so many improvements to our services this month that I have decided to make them a feature in our UKFast News, so please keep on reading to see how they benefit your relationship with us. Also I’ve spent some time this month learning about one of Britain’s most popular and addictive past times. One that UKFast likes to actively encourage. A participant said; “I wish 30-40 hours a week was unusual but I think it probably isn't. An 11 hour stretch isn't that surprising.” You guessed it. I was an Online Gaming virgin – but that’s all changed since Technical Director Neil talked me through the hugely popular UKFast gaming servers. And I’ve thrown the spotlight on two more clients by looking into just how important it is for businesses in the entertainment sector to have a solid Web presence.  Securing a network to last. There is a buzz about the North of England at present. Businesses are realising that when it comes to the Internet, London is no longer the place to be. Manchester is looking to provide new strength to the Northern Network by combining its 3 major data centres and UKFast is placing itself at the centre of this massive project. This multi-million pound project will give the North a network comparable if not more reliable to that of London and the South East. The outcome of discussions will hopefully give UKFast a closer eye on the way networks are managed in the North and provide us with a gigabit connection around a triangle of data centres designed to finally edge our reliability balance right up to 100%. |
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Great new offer – Pick off a UKFast techie with a sniper rifle.  Have you got involved in online gaming yet? If not, perhaps you’ve been living in a hut in some South Korean backwater. Although, that’s unlikely as online gaming is a national obsession in that part of the world. And it’s fast becoming that way over here as well. In the past, top selling games would shift up to 300,000 copies in the UK. This February, the new World of Warcraft game sold 400,000 copies in its first 2 days proving the renewed popularity. UKFast have been quick to get in on the act. Technical Director, Neil Lathwood is making a name for himself as ‘laf’ on UKFast’s Counter Strike Source gaming servers. I got ‘laf’ to talk me through the basics. “You need; an Internet connection (has to be broadband really) a legit copy of the game, and the URL of a gaming server – our gaming server! The next step is to sign up to the gaming server and prepare to blow fellow gamers to pieces.” Paul Warner, Junior Technical Administrator likes to unwind with Counter Strike. “There’s nothing like it. It might not seem so, but you’ll find it really relaxing!” Of course you don’t have to join a game peppered with gratuitous violence, but veterans of the circuit will tell you that they are definitely the best. And it’s certainly not an all male pursuit either. In the UK women make up a quarter of the total gamers. One of the nets most visible female ‘clans’ is the PMS team, short for Psychotic Men Slayerz. Apparently, falling in love with someone you meet online while annihilating them with a lightening gun is no longer unheard of! The UKFast servers are performing exceptionally well. After only two months Neil’s servers are subscribed to by over 8000 gamers and rank in the top 100 (out of over 8500). Each game takes up to 28 players and those unable to join immediately wait patiently in line to unleash their online ability. The first thing you notice as an outsider to this sport is the community feeling. Gamers know each other by reputation and have their own ‘tags’ that they spray on virtual walls. Father Ted jokes with Spidey as he blows Brain Potter up with a grenade. There are even professional commentators and World championships. There’s big money to be made at the top. For now though, I'll ease myself in by escaping occasionally to a virtual world, with friends around the globe and fatal bullet wounds that translate to marginal blows to the ego. Some folk are less happy though. Perhaps we’ll leave the last word to a Gaming widow; “I believe he is addicted to online gaming and that is the cause of his depression and restlessness.” Nah, lets give it to a gamer from Bristol who would prefer to remain nameless. “When I was made redundant I told my partner I had a new job for three months whilst every day I played EverQuest from 7:30am till 5:00pm. When she came home I pretended I had just got in and was able to justify playing it all evening as well!” Spotlight on the client - Promoting performers with KMC and GetintoJazz Many of our clients work in the Internet sector but we also have a number of long standing clients from other business sectors. This week, I take the opportunity to look at companies who promote performing talent online. Three years ago most performers agencies in London sent actor’s CVs by fax, chased leads on the telephone and contacted clients by post. In 2001 I worked with a London agent who could see no reason why the Internet would ever be of use to her. At this time in Manchester, Kay Hilton was talking to UKFast about building a Website and improving her email at KMC Agencies. Four years later we still host www.kmcagencies.co.uk and it’s a great looking website. KMC provide an interactive experience for people looking for actors as well as actors looking to be represented. The site has proved an excellent way of alleviating staff workload and Kay appreciates the part it plays in the business. “Two key aspects are our clients’ biographies and our news section. Both are constantly updated, providing information about all the work undertaken by our clients. Our website gives us visibility in an extremely competitive market, and is an indispensable part of the business.” And it really is a competitive market. The UK has well over 100 actors agencies and with more than 30,000 performers appearing in Spotlight (the definitive directory) there’s just not enough work to go round. On the other side of Manchester Lucy Power is the dynamite behind another stylish arts resources site. www.getintojazz.com works in conjunction with the Manchester Jazz Festival. “The aim is to complement the existing National website developed and hosted by Jazz Services,” enthuses Lucy. “We are bringing together artists, promoters, venues, educators and audiences by providing a virtual forum for discussion, information concerning all aspects of jazz activity, and a directory of relevant resources on a regional level. Such a task would not be possible without the Web and UKFast provide us with a network that allows our easy to navigate, yet labyrinthian site to function seamlessly.” As the site improves and more and more venues place their listing up, the hits are also rising month on month. Lucy’s vision is that in time the site will service not only Manchester but the Northwest as a whole. The response to the site suggests that Lucy has made as shrewd a decision about her online solutions as Kay has and development beyond Manchester seems like a future guarantee for both of them. |
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Netscape is the commercial arm of the Mozilla foundation, which also provides the Firefox and Mozilla browsers. The latter is described by Chris in UKFast Support as “the complete package allowing you to take everything including the kitchen sink onto the web.” Mozilla are leading this rebel alliance into battle and report that 25 million people worldwide use their browsers to surf the net. And there really are a shed loads of Browsers! Especially when you include all those supported by the Internet Explorer engine. Microsoft has pretty much held a monopoly for 5 years. But things are changing. 2 years ago Opera reported that 5 million people had downloaded their browser. In 2004 over 20 million around the world had chosen to give Opera a go. Some of the major innovations that the alternative browsers have come up trumps on are security software and applications to block pop ups and other devices that mar many Web users enjoyment. Microsoft has been playing catch up when it comes to annoying ads. Gates is concerned as his market share reduces down to 89%. At a recent RSA conference the tycoon announced that Internet Explorer 7.0 will “provide even stronger defences against phishing, malicious software and spyware.” Boiling it down, some browsers won’t work on some systems and certain websites aren’t configured to certain browsers. Safari, Apple’s browser for Mac computers, for instance is estimated to be unable to load 1% of all Websites. Every aspect of the Gate’s Empire has grown in tandem and this is perhaps why it has taken 5 years for the Mozilla Foundation to shore up a market share of 7%. Opera may have 20,000 applications downloaded globally, but only manages a 1% share in terms of use. Safari holds a similar percentage, leaving the rest 2% between them. I’d be interested to know which browsers you tend to use at work, or at home and if many of you ever consider using a browser other than Internet Explorer.
Details from www.thecounter.com And before we close … Stephen’s unfortunate nag! And finally, please do spare a thought today for UKFast Sales Executive Stephen Westgarth before the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Stephen merrily trotted into his local bookies on Saturday and placed £10 each way on Farmer Jack. Odds weren’t bad, always good to take a chance with the Gold Cup. Turned out to be more of a chance that Stephen thought. There was distress in the office early on Wednesday, when he discovered that Farmer Jack had collapsed and died in a practice session. Still, he got his money back, which is more than most folk will. Good luck to anyone having a flutter this weekend and please feel free to get in touch if you have anything you’d like to develop with us or any good tips for future racing meets! Best wishes, Jonathan 
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Web Browsers used in the first week of February 2005
