Twisted Bits FAQs

general

How do I check how much disk space I have remaining?
You can do this using the Account Manager.

How can I change my E-mail or Web Site plan?
E-mail sales@twistedbits.net with the changes you wish to make.

Can I get web statistics?
Yes! We have an on-site utility to perform this function, or you can download your raw log files, and run a log analyzer on your PC which will read in the log and generate these statistics. Your log file is located in your home directory, in the subdirectory named "wwwlogs". In this directory, you will find two "links" to the current access and error logs for your site. The actual files are located in further subdirectories, named after the year and the month.

If you would prefer not to mess with downloading your log files and such, we have the ability to compile your web logs into a report which you can view with your web browser. In order to have this set up for your account, you must contact us. We do not enable it by default, because the report will take up some of your disk space. The log analyzer will go through your log files and generate a report for you every Saturday morning at approximately 4am. Once you view the report, if you do not want it sitting around taking up space, you can delete it - another one will be automatically generated the following week. Remember that because the log analyzer uses your log files, if you delete any of the log files to save space, the data contained in those files will not show up in your report. Your report will be located in the wwwlogs/reports subdirectory off your home directory. So, if your domain was www.mydomain.com, you could view your report at http://www.mydomain.com/wwwlogs/reports. When you are promted, you will need to enter your usercode and password.

Note that when you input your usercode and password, this will be via an insecure connection. You may wish to set up an SSH tunnel to connect through. For more information about how to do so, click here.

Is the Account Manager secure?
Yes, if you access the terminal version via an SSH capable telnet client. Click here for more details.

How can I change my e-mail forwards and aliases?
By using the Account Manager. The method is slightly different, depending on wether you use the terminal or web version; both methods are described in the Account Manager section of the Tech Support portion of these pages.

If you are just interested in the data format for the aliases and forwards, that information is available here.

I mistakenly deleted a directory and / or file, how can I get it back?
E-mail backup@twistedbits.net with as much detail as possible regarding the directory or files you need recovered. We will attempt to restore them from backup and notify you when we are finished. Note that we do not guarantee we will be able to restore your file(s). Although we do perform regular backups for this contingency, there are a few cases where you will not be able to get your file back. For example, if you created the file and subsequently deleted it before the nightly backup is performed, we will be unable to restore it... We recommend that you maintain a copy of your web site(s) locally, on your own computer so that if something were to happen to your site, you could simply re-upload it.

How do I change my password?
By using the Account Manager.

I forgot my password, how can I get it reset?
E-mail password@twistedbits.net with the request. You will need your user verification answers.

What is considered a strong password?
The security of a password depends upon the strength of the encryption algorithm and the size of the key space. The UNIX System encryption method is based on the NBS DES algorithm and is very secure. The size of the key space depends upon the randomness of the password which is selected. Compromises in password security normally result from careless password selection or handling. For this reason, you should select a password which does not appear in a dictionary or which must be written down. The password should also not be a proper name, your license number, birth date, or street address. Any of these may be used as guesses to violate system security.

Your password must easily remembered so that you will not be forced to write it on a piece of paper. This can be accomplished by appending two small words together and separating each with a special character or digit. For example,

Pass%word.

Other methods of construction involve selecting an easily remembered phrase from literature and selecting the first or last letter from each. An example of this is

Ask not for whom the bell tolls.

which produces

An4wtbt.

You may be reasonably sure few crackers will have included this in their dictionary. You should, however, select your own methods for constructing passwords and not rely exclusively on the methods given here. (Taken from passwd man file)

Whenever I access a secure portion of the Twisted Bits web site, I get an error along the lines of "This Security Certificate Was Issued by a Company that You Have Not Chosen to Trust"
Click here for an explanation and step by step description of how to remedy this problem.

Where can I get more help?
E-mail support@twistedbits.net. Include as much detail as you can. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

How do I pay?
If paying by cash, personal check, cashier's check, money order, etc. you may snail mail your payment to:
Twisted Bits
836 King Rd.
Forestville, NY 14062

You may also pay via Paypal which will allow you to use your credit card. The address you should send your PayPal payment to is billing@twistedbits.net

Last updated 02/23/2004 00:45 by Jon Steiger