Today sure feels like a holiday… Wouldn’t you say, iPhone lovers? The iPhone 5 seems to not only have lived up to, but surpassed all hype and expectations, in innovative features and anticipation alike. It would have to, to make it worth waiting in the lines that are wrapped around blocks and buildings in nearly every Apple store in the country—well, world, actually. Did you pre-order your new smartphone, or show up to wait amongst your fellow iPhoners and iPhonettes a few (dozen) hours early? Lines in New York City could be measured per-hundred in the wee hours of the morning today! If you’ve been camping out for several days, we pass no judgment. Whatever it takes, right?

The iPhone 5 is expected to blow all previous models’ sales completely out of the water. So what’s all the fuss about? When Apple released the 4S, a quick once-over didn’t reveal all that much of an aesthetic difference from the 4. However, the 5 is a different story entirely, from the shiny surface of its larger screen all the way down to the bottom of its redesigned ear buds. It’s thinner, it’s lighter, it’s faster—oh, my!—and boasts a plethora of new technological advancements that I could go on for days about. It’s going to be so cool, guys.

Now, I am not personally an iPhone user—“yet,” as my friends like to remind me. However, the iPhone is very near and dear to all of us here at TurnKey Internet… For the obvious, we-heart-technology, tech-R-us, reasons, but also for some that live a little deeper. For instance, when Apple introduced the world to the iPhone phenomenon in 2007, it simultaneously paved the way to the modern day cloud. Now, let’s back up a few steps. Apple did not invent the smart phone. It also did not invent the cloud. However, their innovations with the iPhone brought the hand held device that could connect you anywhere, anytime, to anything, into the mainstream spotlight. Thus, the cloud hurdled forward in its wake, creating infrastructure repositories for applications, data, and storage, that the iPhone—and now, every other device from Android phones, to iPads, to desktop PCs—can remotely connect to.

Anyway, we know you’re just as excited as we are. Go ahead and put that iPhone 4S back in your pocket for the precious culmination of your time together, and have fun getting to know your new best friend. We wish you a wonderful journey together!

Howdy-do, TurnKey Lovers?

Jeremy here, with another entry for you to gobble up. “Gobble”? Well, that’s a funny use of the word, but it actually deals directly with my current post. The word “gobble” results in thoughts about turkey. Now, this could be due to the fact that I’m hungry. Any reference to food incites a bout of extreme hunger, causing me to crave that 5-piece spicy nugget from Wendy’s that I have left over. But, I digress.

The reason that I mention “gobble” is really to talk about turkey—not TurnKey—but turkey. That, sometimes dry, meat that you have to cook perfectly on Thanksgiving, or start looking for a gallon of water to just get through the meal. Turkey brings us to Thanksgiving; one of the joyous occasions most Americans celebrate every year by engorging themselves with as much food possible, and then passing out an hour later. Ok, that might just be me who does the passing out part…

There is also another GREAT benefit to this time of the year. Have you figured it out yet? Did you even guess? I’ll give you a hint; it’s the day after you recover from stuffing yourself with delectable food. Queue the jeopardy theme song—BLACK FRIDAYYYY!!!

Black Friday isn’t considered a holiday, but with the sheer amount of people out shopping, you would think it was the busiest holiday of the year. I will give you a bit of history on the day Black Friday:

This day, Black Friday, is the official kick-off to the Christmas shopping season. You will see/hear/read about many retailers opening up at 4AM or earlier to accommodate the large rush of customers expecting to find ridiculous deals on different products. Consumers every year look forward to this one day, so that they can purchase those headphones they’ve been eying for months that were a bit too expensive, or that new 50-inch LCD flat screen that they’ve been wanting to hang up over their fireplace since first seeing the ad on television.

To put this in perspective, I’ve included the table below from our good buddy Wikipedia, which depicts the average amount of money that is spent on this day:

Retail Sales

The National Retail Federation releases figures on the sales for each Thanksgiving weekend.

Now, you may be wondering, “What on Earth does this have to do with hosting?” Well, my friends, we live in a world with a digital economy now, and it seems that everyone and their mother has a website. Almost every major retailer has some sort of ad space where they post their upcoming deals for Black Friday. With so many consumers looking for the best deal, you can imagine that sites will receive heavy traffic spikes due to the demand of finding the best deals.

These large spikes of traffic need to be handled as smoothly as possible, so that retailers and consumers do not experience any downtime during this whirl-wind of a day. Enter stage left—expandable cloud servers, multiple VPS’s (virtual private servers), or another dedicated server to handle the increase of traffic. All of which you can find here, at TurnKey Internet.

Each solution has its unique benefits. For example, let’s say you have a cloud server. On Black Friday, your traffic quadruples. Well, one of the main benefits of a TurnKey cloud is the ability to add more resources without incurring downtime. You could have more RAM allocated, increased disk space, or even increased bandwidth. The scalability is very enticing. Then, after Black Friday has concluded, you can downgrade your cloud server with no issues.

Or, let’s say you purchase an additional TurnKey VPS to handle your increase of traffic. You could then have those extra VPS’s decommissioned. You see, the real winners on Black Friday are the consumers/retailers that plan ahead. They purchase the additional bandwidth or add another server before the day occurs. As my college professor would say, “Prior preparation prevents poor performance.” That could be increasing your Turnkey cloud resources, adding an additional Turnkey VPS, or purchasing a new Turnkey dedicated server ahead of time. That way, you can keep your sales flowing in and your customers happy.

Now, my chicken nuggets are calling. Until next time, TurnKey lovers!

The holidays bring cheer, presents and a fresh new round of scams to our Internet. It’s a time of year when folks are busy shopping online and we’re all feeling a little more giving. Unfortunately, our giving attitudes and rush to get gifts for everyone on our lists make us likely targets for the opportunistic crooks in our midst. So hunker down, have a cup of cocoa and learn how to protect yourself from the 12 scams of Christmas, 2011!  Thanks to the folks over at McAfee for reprising the list! We’ve included some from them and some others we’ve seen in our own travels. Enjoy!

1. Online Shopping

Everyone buys gifts online these days. It’s a great way to find the perfect items without having to leave the comfort of your home. But beware of the scam store! If you’re shopping somewhere unfamiliar, be careful to check out the store’s credentials. Otherwise you may purchase a gift that never arrives.

2. Mobile Malware

As mobile devices become ever more popular, malware that targets them does too. As more consumers than ever use their mobile devices to shop, check bank accounts and redeem coupons, more of us are in danger. You should pay particular attention to QR codes this year. Malware exploits the little black and whites to gain access to your phone (particularly Androids).

3. Fake Apps

Who doesn’t love apps? They’re cute, cheap and entertaining. Unfortunately there are many malicious apps out there that will steal information from smart phones or send out expensive fake texts. They’re often masquerading as games or cute applications.

4. Fake Antivirus Software

It’s ironic: you get this stuff to protect you from viruses and here it is causing them! Fake antivirus software or scareware, as it’s now known, frightens users into installing it with a fake alert about an active infection. Once the user clicks “install” the real infection takes hold.

5. Scammy Facebook Promotions

Facebook is chock full of fake promotions, contests and prizes. While this is always true, users are particularly susceptible around the holidays. Protect yourself from this one by simply refusing to click! Just say no. If something seems too good to be true… well… you know the rest.

6. Holiday Screen Savers

They’re so cute: Rudolph and his glinting nose, 3D santa, a festive tree, but be careful! Downloading anything from a site you don’t know and trust can be dangerous. The scariest part is you may never know you were infected!

7. Mac Malware

This is a first! Until recently Mac users have been protected from your typical spammy malware, but not so anymore. According to McAfee, there were 5,000 pieces of malware targeting Macs at the end of 2010. You better believe that number is only going up.

8. Phishing at the Holidays

Phishing scams are a matter of course all year round, but at the holidays they take on a decidedly trickier hue. Many holiday phishing scams claim to be charities, social holiday greetings from friends or coupons for holiday shopping. Always be suspicious of any unsolicited communications!

9. Online Coupons

Speaking of coupons, watch out for them! Everyone is looking for coupons while they’re doing holiday shopping, and scammers know it. Most coupon scams involve entering personal information. Never enter personal information on an unfamiliar or untrusted site.

10. Mystery Shopper Scams

Who doesn’t want to be a mystery shopper? It’s a fun job doing what you already enjoy (if you’re like me). In this tough economy, many people are looking for extra work to make ends meet around the holidays. If you’re attracted by a mystery shopper job offer, beware. Don’t enter any personal information and you’ll be safe.

11. Tickle Me Elmo

Okay, so this particular “it” gift isn’t so much the rage anymore, but every year there is some toy or gadget that everyone simply must have. Scammers love to use that raw desire to their own advantage. If you see that special something offered for a deep discount or on a strange website, don’t bite. Read all the text carefully. Poorly written copy is often one of the only signs that a scam isn’t the real deal.

12. Away From Home

This is an old-fashioned scam in a new-fashioned world. Don’t announce on Facebook that you’re going out of town. You might not realize it, but chances are good you’ve got some followers you don’t know all that well. Chances are even better that they’ve got followers you know even less. Take a simple precaution and keep your travel plans to yourself.

We would like to extend a hearty welcome to all the new folks who took advantage of our Black Friday extravaganza. Welcome! It’s been a bit crazy around here, but that’s just how we like it. We are really looking forward to providing whatever support you all need as you get up and running with your new web hosting packages. Let us know if you need any help, have any questions, or just want to say hello to our friendly staff.

Welcome to the TurnKey family and happy holidays!

As you may have noticed, TurnKey Internet is offering a series of deep discounts on a wide range of products for the traditional Black Friday holiday sale. Because we love the idea of holiday specials, we’ve started our promotion early! You can now purchase TurnKey products including our line of web hosting (dedicated servers, virtual private servers, SEO hosting packages, Cloud packages, and much much more) at up to 75% off FOR LIFE!

What does this mean exactly? Exactly what it sounds like! These discounts apply to new and existing customers purchasing any new discounted product or service, and the discount never expires. As long as you continue to enjoy the product or service, you continue to enjoy the deeply discounted rate.

Browse around the website to learn more about what we have to offer and feel free to jump on our live chat if you have any questions or need any help with your purchase.

Happy Holidays!