Date: July 14th 2005

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T h e K n o w m a d C o m p a s s
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July 2005

Welcome to the 1st edition of The Knowmad Compass. Our goal is to bring you
timely news and information that can help you make the most of your website.


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News & Announcements
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* Offices closed
Our offices will be closed for summer vacation during the week of July 18th. We
will reopen on July 25th. If you need immediate assistance during this time,
please send a short email message to 911@knowmad.com. This will page a
technician to answer your request. All other requests and emails will be
handled upon reopening.

* Website Update
If you haven't visited our website lately, we'd encourage you to take a look.
We have been working hard to revamp the site with new content, demos of our
products and links to our growing list of clients. We'd appreciate a link back
to us.

* YAPC::NA
Last month, our lead developer, William McKee, attended the Yet Another Perl
Conference for North America held in Toronto. Besides getting to meet fellow
developers and some of the leading luminaries in the Perl community including
language creator Larry Wall, this three-day conference was packed with ideas
and information which William has been implementing since his return.

* New Offerings
As part of our efforts to meet the needs of our clients, we are expanding our
services to allow us to offer a broader range of website solutions. New services
include a start-up website package ($600), website maintenance plans, web-based
calendar hosting ($25/yr), search engine optimization, wikis/weblogs (included
with hosting), and customized e-commerce integration (starting from $400). We
continue to offer website hosting, custom programming, and database-driven
website applications. Look for future articles which will explore these
services in more depth.
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"Do you own your domain?" by William McKee
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Although this may seem like a silly question, the reality is sometimes
surprising. I regularly work with clients who think they own their domain but
when it comes time to move their website, they are unable to access the original
developer or, worse, discover that the domain they have been paying for was never
registered in their name leaving them with nothing.

There are legal methods available to dispute domain ownership, but the most
effective solution is prevention. For starters, you should ask your host or
website developer if you are listed as the registrant or domain owner. This
entity is the legal owner of the domain. Never let another party assume
ownership of your domain! If any company registers ownership of your domain to
themselves, you should question it immediately.

The domain owner is the only one who has the power to make crucial domain
decisions, including changing contact information and transferring your domain
to another server. When Knowmad Services Inc registers a domain name(s) on your
behalf, you always own that domain.

In recent years, there have been domain name renewal scams. A company will send
an email or letter which looks like an invoice to renew your domain but is
really a domain transfer acceptance. This scam has been especially used by a
registrar called Domain Registry of America. You should ignore all renewal
notices from companies with whom you have not done business. Ask your hosting
provider if you are in doubt.

Another way to ensure that you retain control of your website name and content
is to know where your key Internet and e-commerce contracts and account
information is stored? If these are only in electronic format, make a hard-copy
that you can store in a safe place. This information can often be used to help
prove you are who you say you are when talking with tech support
representatives.

William McKee is the lead developer for Knowmad Services Inc. If you have any
questions about domain names or the registration process, please write to us at
info@knowmad.com.
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Thank you for reading,

Knowmad Services Inc.
Website Solutions & Development