caffeine, ramblings, and tech

Follow Friday – CardMunch

Shea Laughlin - FollowFriday 0413

This week’s Follow Friday recipient is…

Shea Laughlin - Follow Friday, CardMunch

Take a picture with the app and a business card
is converted to a contact automatically.
We’ll also show you LinkedIn profile information
and connections you have in common.

I think you get it… It’s pretty awesome!  Now that I get more and more business cards for work and when I go to events like Minnebar and Minnedemo, it’s worth having around!

Image Source:  http://www.cardmunch.com

Sparrow Revisited

Shea Laughlin - Sparrow for iPhone

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Sparrow for iPhone… I’ve been using it for a while now and have noticed a few glitches and annoyances… Here’s what I found.

  • Incorrect count of unread emails in “all mail” – Right now Sparrow says that have 14 unread messages but if I log into Gmail… I have 0 unread messages!  Inbox ZERO!
  • There seems to be a glitch when you delete message quickly (using the swipe method) the app panics, removes the message from view, adds it back again, and then a few seconds later it disappears.
  • Just like the native mail app there are times when you add a label and archive (move an email to a “folder”) but when you log into Gmail from a computer you might notice that the email is still in your inbox and has the label… but not archived.

Other than the above… I still think it’s a pretty solid app and would pay the $2.99 all over again!

I’m still a huge fan of the following features:

  • A different signature for each account
  • Swipe gestures
  • Gmail label integration
  • Profile avatars/icons

What are your thoughts?

Weekly Review – 4/8/2012

Top off your coffee and check out some of these interesting links from last week…

Follow Friday – STEARCLEAR

This week’s Follow Friday recipient is…

STEARCLEAR is a Designated Driver service that uses sophisticated GPS technology delivered through a smart phone application to connect customers with professional drive teams that get them and their cars home safely.

I bet you’re asking yourself why did Shea pick this for Follow Friday!?  Simply, it’s interesting.  For some reason I’m intrigued by these “crowdsourced” businesses – Create a business, find others in the world to execute, and take a cut.

There are other companies that have done similar businesses (Uber, TaskRabbit, Field Agent, Ground Crew, and etc.) where they enable individuals to complete a type of task for someone else while utilizing mobile technology.  There are many opinions stating that technology is degrading how humans interact but it just might be enabling us to meet new people and interact in a different way.

I have a suspicion that technology will have an adverse effect on how we interact but will allow us to collaborate even more.  We are already seeing this in corporate America and in some freelancing communities.  However, it all depends on the human being and if they are or want to be a people person.

Back to the topic at hand…  STEARCLEAR is definitely a new way of interacting with new people but is also an enabler, both positive and negative.   Looking to make some money in a not so booming economy?  Have a drivers license?  This might be your ticket!

  • Set their own hours, work schedule
  • Earn part-time income in the evenings and weekends
  • Get paid directly to your bank account through our automated system
  • Manage your schedule, pick-ups and payments through the STEARCLEAR app

Image Source:  https://www.stearclear.com/

WordPress Security

Source: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/better-wp-security/

Symptoms of Malware

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a few WordPress sites that I host (on Dreamhost) and manage were magically infected with some malware. In my case there were a few signs that this happened.

  • Random redirects while watching the files load in the browser.
  • The WP dashboard lost all of its styling
  • Google Chrome would not load the site because it contained malware
  • SLOW

Manual Remediation

  • Changed the FTP owner for all files.  You could take this one step further and create an FTP user for each one of your domains.
  • Changed the WP database password.  This has to be changed on my host and wp-config file.
  • Created new Authentication Unique Keys and Salts.
  • Changed the permissions of certain directories and files.  The .htaccess is a must change!
  • Enabled SFTP for editing and transfering files.  You could always get an SSL certificate for an additional layer of security.

Activated the Following Plugins

  • Exploit Scanner - Scans your WordPress site for possible exploits.
  • Password Reset Removed - [...] want to remove the password reset/change option from WordPress, then this is what you have to do.
  • WordPress Firewall 2 - This plugin intelligently whitelists and blacklists pathological-looking phrases, based on which field they appear within, in a page request (unknown/numeric parameters vs. known post bodies, comment bodies, etc.).
  • Limit Login Attempts - Does what it says.

After writing the draft of this post I found another blog post from wplift recommending Better WP Security and coincidentally, it does everything that the above plugins do  (with the exception of Password Reset Removed) and more!

Better WP Security – My Favorite Features

  • Scheduled database backups.  Backups can also be emailed!
  • Email notifications for file changes.
  • System status dashboard.
  • Easily activate new features with a simple check of a check box.
  • Intrusion detection and email notification.

Better WP Security – My Least Favorite Features

  • Tons of options – this can be overwhelming at first.
  • A lot of red text warning you that activating a certain feature could impact your theme or other plugins.
  •  I wasn’t able to get the “Hide Backend” feature to work, oh well.

Additional References and Resources

Weekly Review – 4/1/2012

Top off your coffee and check out some of these interesting links from last week…

Follow Friday – CrashPlan

This week’s Follow Friday recipient is…

Protecting the world’s data with high-performance hardware and easy-to-use software solutions.

CrashPlan is a one stop shop solution for backing up your data!  They have multiple service offerings to fit your needs – yes, there is even a free version.  CrashPlan was developed locally here in Minneapolis, MN (another reason to use it) by a company called Code42/codefortytwo.  To the fun stuff!

CrashPlan Options - www.crashplan.com

Why do I like CrashPlan?

  • First and foremost, it works!
  • It’s simple to use!
  • There are numerous backup options to choose from
  • Cross platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris)
  • Online backups
  • Mobile options
  • Free! (if you use the free version)

 How do I use CrashPlan?

I currently use CrashPlan to backup my main Windows PC.  I have an external harddrive hooked up at all times so I have a real time backup.  In fact, when I upgraded my PC to Windows 7, I performed a clean install and used my CrashPlan drive to restore all of my personal files – Simple. Fast. Reliable.

There is another neat feature that I didn’t mention above and that’s the remote backup feature.  You can use an external harddrive to create a backup, give it to a friend that’s running CrashPlan, and continue backing up to that drive.  You now have offsite backups!  I would recommend that you do this will a really good friend and hopefully someone that’s less than a 30 minute drive – in the event that you need that bakcup immediately.

 

Weekly Review – 3/25/2012

Top off your coffee and check out some of these interesting links from last week…

Follow Friday – Buffer

This week’s Follow Friday recipient is…

Buffer makes your life easier with a smarter way to schedule the great content you find. Fill up your Buffer at one time in the day and Buffer automagically posts them for you through the day. Simply keep that Buffer topped up to have a consistent social media presence all day round, all week long.

What do I use Buffer for?

  • Updating Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – I’m able to pick which social site to update.  For example, I usually update Twitter and Facebook at the same time.  Example 1
  • Updating the above social media sites all at once and right away.
  • “Scheduling updates”.  With Buffer you have the ability to set an update schedule – 4 different time a day for each.  I can write something in the morning and update my social media sites after it’s published  Example 2
  • Queuing multiple updates.
  • Analytics – track when and how my links were clicked.  You can do this with Buffer or with bit.ly, if you use it.  Examples 3 & 4
  • Webapp and iOS application – I can use Buffer while staring at the computer or while on the go!
  • Google Chrome extension – make sharing articles even easier

Other Things to Note

  • I currently use the free version.  However, I have contemplated the paid version since you can add multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts.  Workaround – create another account.  I do this for Dented Box Design.
  • My favorite feature!  When updating Facebook with a link it shows up correctly – Facebook parses the update and adds the appropriate picture.  I used to use RSS Graffiti and it didn’t include the image.  Great feature!

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

 

Sparrow for iPhone – First Impressions

After reading numerous articles on Lifehacker, twitter, and other sources I finally decided to take the plunge and spend the $2.99 to get Sparrow for iPhone. After completing the installation I of course had to enter all of my account information, which is a pain, and decided to only test out a few of my accounts (3/7). Here’s what I think.

Likes

  • Integrates with Gmail – labels, address book, profile pictures, and more!
  • Grabs profile pictures from Facebook. However, I have this turned off. Sparrow doesn’t need to know all of my personal information and the pictures aren’t that important to me.
  • Adds “profile” (icons) pictures for known applications. For example, LinkedIn has the LinkedIn icon when there is a mail from them. This makes sorting through email even easier.
  • A different signature for each email account. Have a personal and business email account? You can finally have a different signature for each.
  • Swipe gestures and other useful shortcuts.
  • Worth the $2.99!

Dislikes

  • Lack of landscape mode
  • No iPad version – yet?

Dislikes (for others but don’t impact me)

  • No support for POP accounts.
  • No push notifications

Never Heard of Sparrow?

Image Source: http://www.maxiapple.com