Backblaze not only helped me but helped a client too

March 10, 2010

I am sometimes asked to make backups of clients websites.  I download the backups on to my computer from their server and then I upload a compressed zip file of the backup to a web server for the client to download.  However they’re only stored there for the client for roughly 30 days.

Today I received an email from a client saying they needed a copy of their backup again and the file was no longer at the URL (it had been purged because it’s been almost 45 days since it being created).  So I started thinking, “is there anywhere I might still have this file?”  Then I remembered that I have Backblaze running constantly and had the clients backup on my local machine for roughly a week.  So I was hoping that perhaps Backblaze had backed up the file for me.

I quickly logged into the Backblaze website and searched back about a month.  Sure enough, there was the file.  I clicked a check box, hit the restore button and about 5 minutes later I received an email from them telling me my restored file was ready for download.  I went back to their website and downloaded the restore, uncompressed the file and sure enough, there was the backup I had made for the client over a month ago.

Huge success for me thanks to Backblaze.

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WordPress File Monitor – security alert

March 1, 2010

If you are using WordPress File Monitor on your site or a clients site, I would recommend you test it now and periodically going forward until I can release an update. I have found an intermittent bug that causes it to “hang” and stop notifying you of results. I need to look into exactly what is causing it and fix it, or at least make it realize this has happened and tell the admin to allow them to take action.

If, in your testing, you see that it is not notifying you of changes then you can use a tool like PHPMyAdmin to look in your *_options table for the option_name “wpfm_listing”. Simply deleting this should cause it to go back to working again.

For some reason it seems that it is losing the ability to update this option and I’m not entirely sure why until I can do some more testing so I wanted to go ahead and tell folks.

Please note — this is not notification of a discovered security vulnerability with the plug-in.  However, I know some folks are relying on it to tell them if a security breach happens.  I will also use this opportunity to remind you that in the end, you are responsible for your blogs security and what content is on it.  So … don’t get lazy and rely on my plug-in to do it all for you :)

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2009: Year End Review

December 27, 2009

Last year I started a series of Year End Review posts.  I figured it would be good to continue it this year as so much has happened in my life in 2009, that it’s likely not many people know where or what I’m doing any longer.

Unfortunately the year started off poorly.  Early in the year, as the economy tanked, I came really close to losing my job.  The guys I was working for fought long and hard though and were able to keep pulling in enough business to allow me to stay on which I greatly appreciated.  Around this same time, I thought it might be good to start cultivating other opportunities if I needed them.  I took a look at the things I was doing and what I really enjoyed, and thought about how to start making that be able to support me.

Early in the year, I announced that I would be organizing WordCamp Richmond.  It is an all day event where folks get together and discuss all things related to WordPress, the powerful blogging and Content Management System for websites.  It also helped me to get my name out there in the local area to let folks know that I was around and could help them work with this tool.  Anyhow, the event came and went, and was a great success.  We had more attendee’s then I thought we would, the speakers all performed amazingly, and we’re already planning another again in 2010.

Not too long after WordCamp I purchased a new-to-me car, a 2006 Subaru Outback, LL Bean.  It’s been doing great and really helped out with all the snow we got a week or two back.  Atticus enjoys riding around in the back and it’s an extremely comfortable car to ride around in.

Let’s not forget that I also met and started dating Carrie this year :)  We get along great and have spent a lot of time together the past couple of weeks.  Atticus approves of her, so you know she’s good stuff.  She attended WordCamp and at some point after it we started talking, and then talking some more, and eventually I worked up the nerve to ask her out and she said yes.  Things have been great ever since.

Towards the end of Summer, I switched jobs to become a contractor at Capital One.  This was my second time back and I enjoyed it, however my stay was brief.  In November, I began speaking with a friend in Denver, CO about a new opportunity.  The new opportunity involves me managing and staffing a help center for WordPress.  Individuals can call or email us, and receive professional support for their sites/themes/plugins at reasonable prices.  I started work on December 7th and so far things are going great.

So it has been a bumpy year, switching jobs, meeting new folks, starting my business, and many other things.  Even though is seems the year flew by, I’m not sure I can say it was because I was having so much fun.  I’m just hoping that some of what I accomplished this year is going to let me have more fun in the coming years.

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Picture of the Day

December 7, 2009


potd, originally uploaded by mwalters.



This post is part of the Picture of the Day Series for 2009.

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Picture of the Day

December 1, 2009


Atticus went to the groomers …, originally uploaded by mwalters.

Atticus went to the groomers today and was feeling extra spiffy for his photo :)



This post is part of the Picture of the Day Series for 2009.

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Snipit.me support for Tweetie

November 30, 2009

I got a little bored tonight, so I added in support on Snipit.me for Tweetie 2.x on the iPhone (for URL shortening, haven’t done images yet).  I’m pretty much the main user of the service (a few friends use it as well just because they trust me to keep it running for the forseeable future).  Anyhow, if you’d like to set this up, inside of Tweetie on your iPhone:

  1. Go to Accounts view
  2. Settings in the lower left
  3. Services
  4. URL Shortening
  5. Custom
  6. http://snipit.me/?url=%@
  7. Save in the upper right

That should do it.  Enjoy :)

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Picture of the Day

October 14, 2009


001, originally uploaded by mwalters.

Everyone needs a little help on the computer sometimes …



This post is part of the Picture of the Day Series for 2009.

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Picture of the Day

October 3, 2009

Potd, originally uploaded by mwalters.



This post is part of the Picture of the Day Series for 2009.

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I interrupt this silence to bring you an important message …

September 29, 2009

Those of you that have been around me, any at all, over the past 6-8 months know that I’ve been working hard on educating folks in the area about WordPress1.  For whatever reason it is something that I really have a passion about and for once in a really long time I’ve been pursuing that passion.  It all started earlier this year.  I had been reading a lot about WordCamp’s and really wished one was happening closer by.  So I sent out this tweet:

You would not believe how hard it was to find this tweet ...

You would not believe how hard it was to find this tweet ...

From there, the train started rolling and there was no stopping it.  Folks started replying.  I started getting ideas for topics and before I knew it WordCamp Richmond was born.  I have many people to thank for helping me make this happen, Chris Gatewood of Hirschler Fleischer, Andrew Miller of Your Search Advisor, Eddie O’Leary of CoLaB Multimedia, Business Bullpen, and all of the speakers that gave up their time to prepare presentations and then gave up an entire Saturday to share their knowledge with all those in attendance.  I am grateful to all of them, and all those who attended.

Over the past months I have been busy helping individuals with their WordPress sites, building some sites for clients of my own and expanding my knowledge around WordPress as a whole.  Many people in the area seek me out when they have a question about WordPress, and that makes me happy.  I’m glad that I’m able to give back some to the community that I have taken so much from.

It has become quite hectic these past couple of months.  I’ve been rolling multiple freelance projects at a time, small things here and there, but they’ve been slowly and steadily growing in complexity and size.  I’ve come to the realization that it’s time for me to take the next step in this evolutionary process.  I have decided to start my own business (after much prodding from my friends).  I recently was told by my lawyer (Chris Gatewood of Hirschler Fleischer by the way) that the formation of my LLC has been made official.  We’re just waiting for the SCC to send the certificate in the mail.

I am excited beyond belief at the idea of this.  I have met with an accountant and lawyer to make sure my ducks are in a row.  I’m signing up for insurance for the business to make sure I’m all official and protected.  I’ve gone through almost all of the motions needed at this point.  I’m also excited about continuing to give back to the community.  WordCamp Richmond will continue to be an annual event, I will continue to help folks, develop plugins and hopefully much more.

So what’s left you might ask?  Well, I’m still in the process of getting my website built.  I am teaming up with studioSavvy to have a design produced for the site.  We’ve worked together on a couple of projects now and I look forward to many more with them.  They’re fantastic if you ever need design work done :)

Other then that though, my plan is to continue working my current full time job and continue to grow the business.  Once I finally reach that tipping point I hope to be able to securely walk away from working for someone else and never look back.  This is something that I know I can make happen, and I can be very “dangerous” once I’ve made up my mind about something.

I will be releasing more information about my new company in the near future, and hopefully will have the website ready to launch by the end of the year.   But that doesn’t mean I’m not open for business right now :)  So if you’re in the need of some custom WordPress work (theme development, plugin development, or anything else), please think of me and please refer your friends to me.  I promise not to let you down.

1 Oddly enough though … I rarely find time to blog my thoughts ;) I hope to change that.

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Atticus and Seamus

September 4, 2009



Atticus and Seamus

Originally uploaded by mwalters

I took Atticus up to spend the weekend with his “Grandmother and Uncle Seamus*.” While I was there I took this quick video of them playing.

It always makes me laugh how Atticus treats other dogs. He’s 80lbs, so in general is extremely capable of taking care of himself, and potentially capable of causing great harm. However he always adjusts his play style to meet the other dog. If it’s a puppy or a small stature dog of any type, he’s always very gentle, soft mouthed, sort of lays around like he is in this video. But if it’s a dog of his size or large enough to really play with, then he *really* plays with them (assuming he’s in the mood). He’ll run around, chase, be chased, rough house, all that good stuff.

But also with the little dogs, after he’s had enough, he knows how to exercise his dominance and politely tell them to back off, like he does at the end of this video where he just stands up and half chases Seamus off so he can have some space for a few minutes.

He really is the perfect dog for me, as some friends have noted, we have similar personalities. We both like to go with the flow and have a good time. He lays around when I want to lay around, he runs outside to play when I take him out.

I’m definitely going to miss him this weekend.

___
* Seamus is my mom’s dog, she decided that means he is Atticus’s uncle

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