Turns out they’re actually hosted by Bluehost, which offers a very similar hosting package. Hosting discussions seem to be coming up a lot lately in various places I frequent, so I thought I’d share what little I know about finding a good web host.

“Unlimited” != Unlimited

First of all, “Unlimited” hosting packages are not unlimited. Even in the virtual world of computers and the Internet there’s no such thing as limitless resources. In fact, hosts that offer unlimited packages know this, and they have specific disclaimers in their terms of service that repeatedly point this out, though rarely in explicit terms. From the Bluehost TOS:

BlueHost.Com does NOT provide unlimited space for online storage, backups, or archiving of electronic files, documents, log files, etc. …In most cases, a Subscriber’s web site will be able to support as much traffic as the Subscriber can legitimately acquire. However, BlueHost.Com reserves the right to limit processor time, bandwidth, or processes in cases where it is necessary to prevent 

Hosts that offer unlimited packages always have things like this in their Terms of Service, and it basically means they can shut down your site if you start using excessive system resources. Because the plans are described as unlimited, though, what constitutes excessive is left entirely up to the host. This page offers a little more detail on what unlimited really means and when to consider choosing a host that offers unlimited hosting.

Know What You’re Getting

Continuing from the previous point: read the Terms of Service. You’ll be entering into a contract and you’ll need to know what your rights are and what the rights of the host are. Dreamhost, another unlimited provider, has this interesting bit in their Terms of Service:

DreamHost is under no obligation to compensate Customer for downtime, whether the downtime be caused by Customer, DreamHost Web Hosting, or DreamHost’s upstream providers.

And that’s for dedicated hosting at $395/month. Any good webhost should be able to gaurantee something in the are of 99% uptime, with some kind of compensation for excessive downtime (especially if you’re looking at dedicated hosting plans). Like unlimited claims, though, don’t fall for “100% Uptime” claims.

ICDSoft, who Michael Online currently hosts with, doesn’t have anything like that in their terms of service but does explicitly forbid all kinds of things on their servers, including porn, warez, running IRC servers, proxy software, etc. Read the Terms of Service.

Limits and Support are your Friends

If you look at ICDSoft’s packages, you’ll notice that they look almost meager compared to what Bluehost or Dreamhost offer. What they do offer is top-notch service. One thing to always keep in mind is that your entire website is basically at the mercy of the host and their servers; if something goes wrong, you’ll be going to them for help. Look for quick turnaround on support requests and check to see how helpful the host actually is.

Like good support, limits are actually worth paying a little more for. ICDSoft doesn’t offer “unlimited” packages, but they do offer explicit limits, so you know exactly what you have to work with and what will happen if you go over those limits. For a higher-end example, however, take a look at MediaTemple, which offers a selection of hosting packages (none of which offers “unlimited” anything). Notice the complete lack of “Unlimited!” claims, and the rather high cost of hosting: their basic plan starts at $20/month, and plans can go as high as $750/month.

Pay for What You Need

The most important thing about finding a good web host is understanding your own needs and finding a plan that best matches them for a price you can afford. No one really needs “unlimited” resources, and hosts that offer unlimited storage and transfer know that. They understand that most well-designed websites actually have pretty modest resource requirements. If you know you’ll need a lot of storage space or bandwidth, you’re always better off finding a host with hard limits and paying a little extra.

• The opening may be the best in the series. It’s heavily inspired by Jacob’s Ladder, and serves well to crank up the dread right away. It’s also a big nod to the Silent Hill 3 opening, though this is definitely more elaborate.
• Alex is by far the most emotive of the protagonists. It’s a pretty sharp contrast after the near-emotionless Henry Townshend in Silent Hill 4: The Room, and I think he’s the only one that’s ever sounded genuinely terrified at what was going on (and all this just from the brief opening).
• The controls are easily the best in the series, though this comes at the cost of dynamic camera angles: the camera is now fixed directly behind the protagonist. No more (that I’ve seen or heard of, anyway) interesting camera tricks designed to disorient, confuse, or scare you.
• How the camera decision affects the cinematic feel of the game is arguable. The graphics are gorgeous, and all the cutscenes appear to be done in-game. While I’ll miss the interesting camera angles, the improved controls may be worth the slight hit to in-game cinematography, and the cutscenes may pick up some of the slack (like the opening, which is awesome).
• The overall look of the game seems heavily inspired by the film, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
• The Steam version suffers a bit from a decided lack of graphic options… there’s no way to enable AA (that I or anyone else can find, apparently), there’s no way to adjust various levels of detail (shadows and lighting vs the environment vs character models, for example), and the game actually crashes when you try to change the resolution (though there’s a dead simple fix for this; still annoying).
• The Steam version also suffers from control customization. You can use an actual controller, which I love, but the default button mappings make no sense and the game refuses to save your customizations. The only way to get permanent, correct button mappings is to edit a config file, which is not the right way to do things. I actually spent most of this morning figuring this out, a large part of why I haven’t actually played very far yet.
• It took me a little while to notice, but the environments are now seemless: there’s no fade-to-black pause after opening a door while you wait for the next room to load, it’s just one big area. This is incredibly cool, and has the potential to increase the lethality of combat (enemies may be able to chase you from room to room, though I haven’t had the chance to test this yet).
• Those nurses are very distracting. *cough*

That’s all for now.

Regardless: a Merry Christmass and Happy New Year to all!

At least part of this has to do with my financial situation: totally broke and in desparate need of a job. Even if there was a game I just had to have I couldn’t afford it anyway. But the problem is bigger than that: there really aren’t very many games that make me want to buy a PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii. There’s Silent Hill 5, but that’s also availabe via Steam. I’m not interested in mediocre First-Person Shooters like Halo 3, and Metal Gear Solid wore out it’s welcome for me after the second installment (seriously, I want to play my games, not watch them). The Wii has Super Mario Galaxy et. al., but as much as I’ve played with it I’m still not totally sold on the wiimote (blasphemy, I know).

Brutal Legend, however, may change my mind. Unless it’s released on Steam, I’ll purchase a PS3 (income willing) just for that game.

The following is basically a breif summary of the Gurren Lagann series with a couple of personal comments thrown in. If you don’t want to read it, this is all you really need to know: Galaxy. Sized. Mecha.

Epic

Gurren Lagann is a single, epic story told in very distinct segments. The first eight episodes comprise Kamina’s story. We’re introduced to Kamina and Simon, who live in an underground city. Kamina is something like the town nut, going on about “the surface” while everyone tells him to shut it. Simon is a digger, constantly working to expand the underground city, and one of the few that believes in Kamina.

After (another) failed attempted at breaking through to the surface, Kamina is locked up and Simon stumbles upon a “giant face” burried underground. Freeing Kamina, the two head off to figure out just what it is but are interrupted by a gigantic mecha crashing through the ceiling. Never one to back down, Kamina quickly takes charge of things while everyone else cowers, challenging the towering mecha with nothing but a katana.

Big Gun

Lucky for him the stunning (and deadly) Yoko quickly intervenes, fending off the ganmen with her high powered rifle. Yoko, Kamina, and Simon quickly join forces and head for Simon’s discovery which turns out to be a much smaller–though infinitely more powerful–ganmen. With their new found engine of descrution the three make quick work of the enemy and burst onto the surface…

The Surface

Only to find that things are even worse there. The surface world is largely desolate and crawling with these towering ganmen, whose sole purpose is to scare the crap out of or kill all humans that don’t stay underground. This is nothing to the fearless Kamina, though, who proceeds–with the help of Simon, Yoko, and others–to destroy everything in his path. He captures enemy ganmen, performs incredible transformations to form the powerful Gurren Lagann with Simon, and inspires a full-on rebellion amongst the Earth’s human population against their Beastmen overlords.

How much you enjoy the first arc is largely dependent on how much you enjoy Kamina. Though other characters get plenty of screentime Kamina is at the center of it all; he’s reckless, maybe a little stupid, constantly upbeat and enthusiastic, and won’t let anything stand in his way. I loved ‘em.

Episode nine starts the second major arc as we shift focus from Kamina to Simon. The human rebellion is in full swing as the Dai-Gurren Brigade battles on towards the enemy capital of Teperrin. Along the way they learn of the Helix King Lordgenome (ruler of the Earth) and his Big Four generals, each of which must be overcome. They also have repeated encounters with Viral, an enemy Beastman who’s repeatedly beat by Gurren Lagann… and his fellow beastmen.

The final confrontation with Lordgenome is as epic as the previous episodes would require. The Helix King is an imposing, powerful figure, and Simon and the Gurrne Brigade throw everything they have at him and still just barely manage victory. Despite all their struggle and the joy from a seemingly final victory, though, Lordgenome’s final words are ominous indeed, warning Simon and the others that if humanity flourishes on the surface the moon will become a “messenger of Hell.”

The Helix King, Lordgenome

This arc is a little slow going. The shift from Kamina to Simon is a little jarring, and Simon is basically the anti-Kamina for the first couple episodes. He eventually finds his groove, but be prepared for a couple of painful episodes unless you like little emo agnst boys (I know some of my readers do).

After the defeat of the Helix King and the fall of Teperrin we jump ahead seven years to the beginning of the final arc. Simon and many of hte core Dai-Gurren Brigade members have formed a new human govrenment, with a large, advanced city springing up around the remains of Teperrin during the interveining years. Lordgenome’s words ring true, however, as a new, deadlier threat appears: the Anti-Spirals. The final arc is truly epic, spaning just a little less than half the series but covering tons of ground. The final battle against the Anti-Spirals is long, painful, and not at all safe. Many of the characters we’ve come to know sacrifice themselves, and some old ones return to offer assistance.

Lagann!

And at the end of it all, we jump another twenty years into the future to see how those that did survive end up. It’s a truly epic story that starts—quite literally—in a whole in the ground and expands until it encompasses not just the entire universe but multiple universes across multiple dimenions. The characters are loveable, the action is intense, and while their are many touching moments the series never takes itself too seriously.

1. Watched the most awesome machinima ever, Red vs Blue
2. Worked on InkBlot and WebComic

That about covers it. I really need to get out more.