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How does web hosting actually work?

tomargue — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:08:51 -0800

How does web hosting actually work? I need to host a web application that I've made. I've had a look at a few forums, a few reviews, and now I'm more confused than ever. I've set up a web application using Netbeans on my home computer, then opened up the appropriate port. However, our connection often goes down. As an experiment, I recreated my web app on the Amazon Cloud by setting up one of their pre-defined Windows 2003 Servers, and installing everything exactly how I had it on my computer. I would log in using remote desktop and configure everything.

It works well, but Amazon Cloud is expensive. It's only a prototype right now that I'm showing my friends, colleagues and anyone else interested.

How does web hosting actually work? I mean, do most hosts give you a virtual computer in which you can log in to? Or do some give you a text-based login where you can upload and run programs? Or....?

These are my requirements:

* The ability to upload libraries such as GWT, javabib, javamail, htmlparser, apache-fileupload, amazon aws etc.
* The ability to run the GlassFish Server (although, I really could run it on any number of java web servers, eg Tomcat)
* Ability to persist user data via java serialization.
* Probably about 2 GB of disk space + an as yet unknown IO data limit.

Something that gives me an xterm screen and the ability to upload and run stuff would be sufficient. Is this how things work when it comes to hosting web applications? It's all very confusing!

Do I have a chance with this mortgage?

fogster — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:00:30 -0800

I applied for a mortgage. What have I done? (And what should I do?) I'm fresh (well, since May) out of college, and have been looking for a place to live. Against my better judgment, I let my mom coax me into using my bank's "instant pre-approval" mortgage application to see if I could get an FHA loan to buy a condo, which would be cheaper than an apartment. "Instant pre-approval" turns out to mean, "We'll send you a letter in a week asking questions," and I, in turn, have a lot of questions for the hive mind.

With what I'm making, I figure I can afford about $2,000 a month for rent after all my other expenses, though I'm hoping for something closer to $1,250 a month, which puts me around $200,000 (ballpark) for a condo. I've found several places in the $150,000 range that still manage to be nice enough.

The past couple years I was working part-time in college, and made between $6,000 and $9,000 a year. I've since graduated and now have about $20,000 in student loans; this is a $200/month payment, and I intend to get ahead on payments once I get settled. (For now, I'm socking away as much as I can...)

I now have a letter from my bank stating that I need to provide them with a recent pay stub, past W2s, and an explanation for the gap in employment. ("Finishing college and finding a real job.") They also sent me a letter with my credit score; I don't have it on hand, but it was somewhere around 700. I'm meticulous about paying things off, having never carried a balance on my credit card and so forth, but I do have the $20,000 student loan, and am pretty new to having a credit card or anything of the sort, so I have a short credit history.

My parents have excellent credit and have said they'd be willing to cosign, but what I've read is that this really wouldn't help me that much if my parents weren't going to live there with me.

I'm spooked by something, though: the credit score mentioned that the number of recent inquiries/applications was hurting my credit score. I applied for an auto loan and was denied a couple years ago. So I'm worried that having applied for this loan is going to hurt me further. Thus my question is twofold:

- Are my chances of being approved for mortgage, "Slim but worth trying" or "Don't even waste your time" slim? Besides the fact that my credit report and history are quite unfavorable, banks aren't at their most eager to hand out money right now...

- Can I back out of this inquiry with a "Nevermind, I don't want your loan" before it's done and keep it from showing up on my credit rating? I was under the impression that it would be a quick thumbs-up or thumbs-down when I did it online, but it's actually a grueling mortgage application. If I don't/can't back out, and I'm presumably denied, how badly is this going to hurt my credit?

Sorry if this is something that's plainly obvious to most people, but I'm new to this whole thing and worried about doing more damage.

(Very) Remedial Sports Lessons

fogster — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:39:10 -0800

Teach me about sports like I'm six. Specifically, American football and basketball. Or, where can I learn the basics? So I'm a male in his 20's. I was never much interested in sports as a kid, so, much to my dad's frustration, I never paid it much attention. I get baseball, but I don't grasp anything but the very basics of other sports. And now all of my peers talk about it day in and day out, and I respond, "Oh, it's football season?" I never found watching other people throw a ball around a field that interesting, and certainly don't wish to start playing these sports, but I'd like to achieve the same level of understanding of the sports as, as, say, my grandma.

In football, you want to get a ball into the other team's endzone. There are bonus kicks where you try to get the ball through the fork. That's about my knowledge. I'm not sure what lines of scrimmage are, or what all the numbers ("their own first and ten!") mean. Players have all sorts of different names, like wide receivers or tight-ends, but I just see a bunch of guys running around.

I'm also tall, so everyone assumes I'm big into basketball. I get that you have to dribble the ball, and that you want to get it into one of the baskets. (But not the other one! I learned that one in gym class the hard way.)

That pretty much sums up my knowledge of the two sports. I'm not sure how points are awarded in either case, nor do I have a clue about the finer points of either.

The problem is that this isn't something I can find easily online. There aren't really that many good primers to the sports, and the Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks pages seem more interested in discussing the exact composition of a football, and the history of their manufacture, than on how the sport is played. I've tried just watching, but when you have no clue what's going on, it's not that helpful.

I get the very, very basics, but if you pretend that I've just come to America from some obscure country, or that I'm five, what would you explain to me about the sport as I sat next to you watching a bunch of people throw a "an inflated, polyurethane bladder placed in cowhide covering and laced with gridcord material" [link] around the field? Remember, I'm totally clueless. In lieu of writing an epic novel attempting to explain sports, are there any good sites that cover these sports for an utter beginner? Remember, I don't want to play, or even become a big fan, but I'm sick of being embarrassed by how much more my grandmother knows about the sports than I do.

TMI, Camera ! TMI !

duckus — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:36:35 -0800

I am a lame newbie who does not know how to operate her SLR. Please help me make this box go away ! Every time I take a picture with my Nikon D40 there is an informational box on my LCD viewfinder that displays the following settings: Camera, Metering, Shutter, Aperture, Exposure Mode .. etc. It Will Not Go Away, no matter how many settings I muck about with.

The manual is lost, and I'm at a loss as to what to google.

Please help ! I'd like to see the pictures I'm taking !

PerHaPs SeQuentiaLly?

prophetsearcher — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:45:22 -0800

Which version of PHP should I start to learn, and how? I know HTML and CSS, and intend to build with Drupal (or similar) and its many extensions. I've decided to start learning PHP, and I'd like to do it right. My end goal, for this initial project, is to ultimately build a Metafilter-like site with PHP and MySQL, perhaps with something like Drupal on top of it. I'd like to have a strong sense - if not a complete understanding - of each layer of the process, but I need some direction.

I do well with books and videos (rather than pdfs or websites), but in browsing Amazon, I realize I don't know if should be reading about PHP 5 or 6 - as I expect most of the modules I'll want are only 5-friendly. Any advice? Are there specific Dummies, and Dummies-like books you can recommend? Ideally, it will also cover MySQL. I'm also open to books on Drupal, if they're any good. Does anyone have feedback on the Lynda videos?

So:
Learn PHP 5 or 6?
How?

Finally, a bonus question: I'm certainly going to have many questions going forward - from installation right on. Can you recommend a good resource for someone at my level? I know there is certainly no dearth of forums (fora?), but I'm looking for the BEST one to devote myself to and invest in.

(I have spent days looking through previous threads - they do exist, but they're either old or not exactly on-target).

Seeking the Internet Clueless

gusandrews — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:49:10 -0800

Have you seen blog threads where commenters seem not to have read the initial post, and are way off topic? I'm seeking more examples of this for my dissertation research. Looking for blogs which have garnered comments similar to those mentioned on the earlier MeFi threads Tuesdays with Maury, Jeremy Jordan Loves Demon Dogs, and How Hawkish. Basically, commenters show up and start commenting as if they haven't read the original post at all, and they don't seem to have any idea what the discussion is about. In many cases they seem to think they're talking to a celebrity, or they are just seeking information in the wrong place. Has this happened on your blog or on blogs you've seen? If you need a better sense of what I'm looking for, check my profile for a link to a page where I'm collecting these.

It's either Ad Center or this. I want to do this.

parmanparman — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:51:42 -0800

I have been asked to put together a portfolio for a couple of jobs on the creative side of the advertising world. I am very quick with new ideas for marketing and advertising, but I have never put an ad together. Help me put a portfolio together! I have practically no computer design skills, but I have been asked to put a creative advertising and marketing portfolio together pronto. I have never, ever done anything like this before and I cannot draw, but I know that if people saw my ability to come up with amazing brand marketing ideas they would hire me. What should a person who has never designed an ad, but who has a tremendous capacity for promotion otherwise, do to put a portfolio together? I would love ideas, experiences, thoughts, everything. Thank you all so much!

If you want to be more in-depth, you can feel free to drop me a letter to my mefi mail and I will respond.

Once I have this portfolio together, anyone who gives me some pointers, ideas and advice will get a PDF of the finished product, but I'll e-mail you first to make sure you want it.

I bet chicks always roll Windlings, don't they?

ArsncHeart — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:35:46 -0800

I have been invited to participate in an EarthDawn campaign. I know nothing about "pen and paper" RPGs. What advice can you give me? So a group of my friends are all experienced, um...face-to-face RPGers. I play WoW. One of the guys mentioned that he's starting an EarthDawn campaign and invited me to participate. I'm excited about joining up and experiencing a different form of gameplay than I'm used to, but I'm a total neophyte, and therefore slightly nervous.

Some of my questions and concerns:

1. I'll be the only chick. I don't expect that to make TOO much of a difference, as none of these guys are the OMG GIRLZ LAWL type... If you've gamed with women before, or if you're a woman gamer, do you have any specific advice?

2. I'm not too worried about rolling a character; I'm sure I can get the GM to help me out with that. But how does actual gameplay work? As I said, I play WoW. I'm used to everything being handled by a game engine.

3. Besides Wikipedia, where can I find information specifically on EarthDawn's storyline, gameplay, and ruleset? I've taken a look at earthdawn.com, but it seems full of information for people who already know what they're doing. Has anyone here played EarthDawn? Can you give me anecdotes?

4. Tell me about roleplaying. We're all silly, fun, actor-types, so it shouldn't be too hard, but what helps?

Any other tips, tricks, or hilarious stories you have to share are much appreciated.

incoming sewing n00b alert

divabat — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 04:30:06 -0800

I've been inspired by t-shirt surgery and am thinking of getting into sewing. However, I've never sewed something in my life. Where do I begin? A request from a friend to design a t-shirt for her (odd, because I've only used an iron-on transfer before, but eh) and my fascination with t-shirt surgery has inspired me to delve more into it. I've been experimenting with cutting up stuff (right now I'm wearing a rudimentary skirt made by chopping a t-shirt in half) but know next to nothing about sewing.

I used to hate sewing. We had to do it as part of a Life Skills course in school and I just tossed the work to my mum. I get the basic idea of sewing, but can't tell you how to do a hem. I'm not even interested in fashion; I find it utterly boring. However, I like the creativity of turning something into something else, and t-shirt surgery seemed fun.

My qs:

1. I live in Brisbane, Australia. Are there any sewing classes in the area? Google doesn't get me anything specific (there is a Sewing Guild but that's all). Is it worth going? I'm a uni student, so time and money is a concern.

2. I've been reading up on sewing machines for beginners and I'm not sure where to get a good deal. I saw a beginner Singer for $199 at Lincraft but I have the feeling they're cheaper elsewhere. Any tips for where to look?

3. Where can an absolute beginner seamstress start? Assume I know nothing. I've been reading up things online but even the name of stitches elude me.

4. How do you do a hem?

Any info appreciated, though if it's Brisbane-specific even better. Thanks!

Help me get out of this closet before the house burns down!

Anonymous — Wed, 31 May 2006 17:27:21 -0800

I've never dated a girl before. Where do I start? Oh, and I am one, too... I've suspected myself of being a lesbian for a long time and am definitely attracted to women, but I wouldn't feel comfortable coming out without any actual experience to validate this. In the meantime, it seems incredibly awkward, and even selfish, to initiate anything with someone who is more experienced and certain of themselves - as though it were her responsibity to wait for me to figure everything out and get off my training wheels (I can imagine I probably wouldn't want to waste my time with someone who was just experimenting, either). I feel this anxiety equally when thinking about the possibility of a casual sexual encounter or a relationship. I've also noticed the term "curiosity" used with a distinctly negative connotation on many gay websites, etc. which makes me feel less than welcome, in addition to being ashamed of my general ignorance and ineptitude concerning, um, everything involved. I also have the (wrong?) impression that most people realize they're gay in the context of an attraction to a specific person, and things follow naturally from there; it seems less clear how to go about it the other way round.

More background info: A couple people have asked whether or simply assumed I was gay previously, but I've only recently started to acknowledge it myself. I'm generally a shy and introverted person, so I already have some difficulty meeting people and entering into new social situations, especially point-blank, and I don't have anyone else who's openly gay in my social circle at the moment (which is actually quite small, because I've moved recently). I've gone to a couple lesbian events (monthly "parties" at local bars) but freaked out and ran away before I could start relaxing and meeting people. There's really no one I'd feel comfortable bringing along to future events like this for moral support, either. I also don't live in an area with any gay coffee shops or more casual meeting places. Oh yeah, and I have pretty long hair.

So, my questions are, roughly, the following:

1) Is "curiosity" generally tolerated as little as I fear, and if so, how should I go about resolving it?

2) How can I get a date without taking advantage of someone (or at least feeling like I am) by inflicting my n00b-ness on them?

3) How does dating work in general for lesbians? What should I be doing to send out the right signals, and what should I be watching for? And what happens next?

This question is meant to be as broad as possible. I feel like this is going to be adolescence all over again - or like that "40-year-old virgin" movie. Not pleasant. I'll be grateful for any information and advice that might make it easier.