Finally Fixing My Backups After the Maersk Mess
A ransomware outbreak that knocked out shipping giant Maersk finally pushed me to fix my embarrassing backup setup. Here's the boring, forty-minute fix I'd been avoiding for years.
Tutorials
Tutorials
Finally Patching My WordPress Install (Thanks, WannaCry)
WannaCry finally guilt-tripped me into patching my neglected WordPress install — here's what I found, what broke, and the monthly habit I'm setting up so it doesn't happen again.
The Backup Routine I Should Have Had Two Years Ago
After watching WannaCry take down hospital systems on ancient Windows machines, I finally built an actual backup routine. Here's the boring, twenty-minute version that works.
Patching Dad's XP Box After WannaCry
A weekend spent patching my dad's forgotten Windows XP box after the WannaCry mess, plus the actual steps worth taking if you've got a similar zombie machine at home.
The Wi-Fi Bug That Finally Got Me to Stop Ignoring Software Updates
Apple quietly patched a nasty Wi-Fi chip firmware bug in iOS 10.3.1 that needs zero clicks to exploit, and it finally got me to stop ignoring my update badge.
Firefox 52 Called Out My Login Form, So I Finally Set Up HTTPS
Firefox 52's new warning for HTTP login forms caught me off guard on my own site, so here's how I finally moved everything to free HTTPS with Let's Encrypt in an afternoon.
Getting the New Pi Zero W Talking to WiFi Without a Monitor
A walkthrough for getting the new $10 Pi Zero W onto WiFi with no monitor, keyboard, or ethernet cable involved, plus some griping about actually finding one to buy.
What GitLab's Bad Weekend Taught Me About My Own Backups
GitLab's database disaster last week turned out to be a backup problem, not a deleted-files problem — which sent me to go check my own, with predictably embarrassing results.
Finally Turning On Two-Factor Everywhere
A step-by-step walk-through of finally locking down email, Dropbox, and everything else with two-factor authentication, plus the one dumb mistake that almost locked me out of my own inbox.
What I Found Poking Around My Own Router After Friday
After Friday's big DNS outage knocked out Twitter and Netflix, I spent Sunday afternoon auditing my own webcam and router logins instead of doing something useful.
A Week Living Inside Bash on Windows
A week spent actually using Bash on Windows instead of dual-booting into Ubuntu, including the filesystem trap Microsoft warns you about and a symlink issue that bit me on day two.
iOS 10 Is Out Today. Here's What I'd Check Before You Hit Install
iOS 10 dropped today, September 13. Some actual, specific things worth doing before you tap Install, from someone who already got burned once this week.