Piping UptimeRobot alerts into Teamwork Chat
I hope this short essay helps anyone trying to monitor site uptime or pipe any kind of alerts into Teamwork Chat.
security
Apple OS X shortcomings got you down? Read some Windows 10 blog posts to cheer up
The price of a working computer on the "free" Windows 10? Two hours out of your life and storing all of your files on Microsoft's servers.
How to set up a Mac securely on OS X 10.11 Sierra (El Capitan)
We've recently upgraded our computer stock with a bunch of new (old) Mac Pros. These are the last computers which Apple built which can be upgraded (storage, memory, GPU, CPU in order of complexity). So I've updated our guide on deploying new Macs. I've often been asked about our special sauce for securing Macs and deploying them quickly so I've publishing this as a starting point for others.
Despite the title stating that this covers how to set up a Mac securely on OS X, it hasn't really been possible to secure a Mac since the App Store came into being (OS X 10.6.6 I believe). OS X 10.5.8 may be the last really secure full version of OS X ever created. Coincidentally Apple joined Prism in 2012.
Still one can make a good effort to make one's computer far less chatty. If you really want to be secure, don't use the app store at all and download your OS X updates. If you want to be a little bit secure, you have to avoid iCloud completely. Just ask the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence how iCloud turned out for her (I had no idea she was so sexy until those pics showed up).
Keep reading How to set up a Mac securely on OS X 10.11 Sierra (El Capitan)
WordPress 2017 Security Roundup: Shield, Sucuri, iThemes, WordFence
Paul Goodchild over in Belfast is an interesting chap who's done some great work in security and in WordPress site management. We're ManageWP customers and huge ManageWP fans (great new interface), due to the great development and enthusiastic support team. But if we were to look for an alternative, iControlWP would be at the top of the list. iControlWP's existence probably pushed ManageWP to accelerate their improvements and simplify their pricing. We did consider switching both before the release of Orion (older ManageWP wasn't nearly as pretty or reliable as the current Orion version: if you haven't had a look for awhile, you should give ManageWP another chance) and then briefly again at the time of the ManageWP GoDaddy acquisition as our clients had nothing but grief with GoDaddy hosting over the years. Fortunately ManageWP seems to run just as well as it did before the acquisition and the same people are in place. We in fact upgraded to the top package with built-in SEO and site performance reports for clients.
Keep reading WordPress 2017 Security Roundup: Shield, Sucuri, iThemes, WordFence
Saying Goodbye to Dropbox: BBEdit crashes on launch
We've been slowly removing American cloud services from Foliovision, as the extent of American duplicity about privacy and industrial espionage becomes apparent. One of the services with which it was relatively difficult to part was Dropbox.
Regardless, with international state terrorist and Bush security czarina Condoleeza Rice on the Board of Directors, Dropbox had to go. To the Dropbox founders credit, the requirement to openly appoint Condoleeze Rice on the Board of Directors suggests someone felt that founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi needed very close supervision. I would love to have been inside those meetings, before and after. "Remain professional everyone. We all have a job to do."
Keep reading Saying Goodbye to Dropbox: BBEdit crashes on launch
LastPass and the NSA: How Secure Is LastPass.com?
All the NSA needs are local encrypted copies. LastPass helps the NSA actively while 1password helps the NSA passively. Help to pick your poison.
VPN for OS X: Witopia 2012 review (from a three year user)
The Witopia Personal VPN is a great value, but watch out for tech support issues with WiTopia Pro OpenVPN SSL account. Same fast speeds on both.
Google Chromium Binaries: Here’s where Google hide the nightly builds of Chrome without the spyware
For some unaccountable reason, the URL 404's now (don't Google know about 301 redirects?) - here's the new working nightly build link.
Apple’s Privacy Policies look more and more like Microsoft
How to protect your privacy when using an Apple computer. The distance between Steve Jobs’s talk about privacy and Apple’s walk. Baked-in privacy invasion.
