No-ip.com

No-ip.com is a must see for any computer enthusiast or a business person. It's hard to explain without actually seeing it yourself, but basically it allows you to host your own ftp, http, pop or imap server on your own computer, even when you are given a dynamic ip by your isp.

For people who don't understand those abbreviations above (ie. non-geeks) here are the translations:

• FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A method of tranferring files, in a very reliable manner, over the internet. Usually requires one of those big fat computers called a server.
• HTTP: Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol: This is the way a typical web page is sent. If you have one of these servers you can host your own web page (with a few other things).
• POP and IMAP: Can't remember what these stand for but POP allows you to download your email to an email program (eg. Outlook, Eudora or Thunderbird) and IMAP gives you remote access to your mail, instead of downloading it. Having a server for this means you can have people send email directly to your computer, instead of say to the hotmail web server.
  

This all works by finding your current IP (Internet Protocol: your address on the internet) and saying "Everytime someone looks for blah blah blah (a url, like DigitalMission.no-ip.com) it will go to your computer. It's really useful and has a number of practical applications.

If you need help from me setting up an FTP server just post a comment. I'm happy to give advice. I'm not too confident with the Email or Web Page set-up so maybe you should search their help pages in those cases.