Jim Becher

Magento Patch – SUPEE-5994 – PEAR Error

Magento

There have been a series of Security issues recently.   The major systems that power the web Magento and WordPress have had critical vulnerabilities (wordpress) (magento).  I won’t go into the details of both, but the important part is that you need to patch your systems. In particular Magento had 3 patches that need to be added to your system.  One …

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Secure Home Network for Kids – Safe Browsing

Secure Your Network for Kids I have 4 children and often have family over to our home.  At any given time there are around 30 plus devices on our network.  My wife and I have talked to our children about safe usage of the web but I am just as concerned of malicious websites and adware as I am of my …

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Wifi in Car – No More DVD’s – Spring Break Tech

I love technology and I love my family. However these two have collided and we have had some challenges. One of those challenges relates to cords; yes I mean power cords.   Some years ago I purchased a few portable DVD players.  These great little items allowed my children to watch movies while we traveled. My parents and family live more than …

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Lenovo ix2-dl NAS – Home Backup

Home Backup History Every year I spend the holidays making sure that our home computers and items are backed up.  I have a mixture of systems and media that need to be backed up.   For the past few years I have used a combination of external drives and computers to create a robust backup and storage system.    This year when …

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iPfire vs PFsense – Firewall Review

I have posted in the past about all the great things you can do with DDWRT or with PFsense.   After a few years with PFsense I have changed to iPfire.  If you have not heard of iPfire I would suggest reading about this awesome firewall platform.  The main focus of iPfire is for Security.  This is my simple review of the two systems …

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iPfire – ClamAV and Customization

I have been very happy with my current Firewall setup of iPfire (ipfire.org).  The system has done a great job of performance and security.  I use many features from Squid, Snort, openVpn, and others.  I even tried the TOR proxy routing. This weekend with lots of family over for Thanks Giving it was great to watch the proxy reports and see …

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Windows Media Center – Windows 8.1

I recently updated my basement and purchased a new TV.  In doing so, my projector and TV are both connected to my Windows Media Center.  I needed up update my older PC running windows media center since Comcast turned to digital.    Here is the setup and configurations I use to run a Windows Media Center that shows live tv and allows …

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ShellShock – How to test your system

In the past few weeks the number of security incidents in the news has increased.  Home depot, Jimmy John’s and also Shellshock.  From credit card theft via malware to online security vulnerabilities you need to keep on guard. This most recent ShellShock vulnerability is going to be big.  Since a very large portion of the web is using Linux or some …

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Change WordPress Theme from Database

I recently had an issue with a theme when updating wordpress.  After the upgrade I was unable to get into the site or the admin.  What I discovered was the Theme was causing the issue.   I needed a way to change the theme outside of the admin.    This post will show you what to change in the Database to …

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Minimal Footprint online – No Google

I attempted a while back to see if I could limit my exposure on the web.   Looking at all the security concerns and even my own security fun I decided to see what i could limit. First Steps The first place I looked was to stop all the online leakage and “free info” I was sharing while browsing.  You know …

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What are you reading?

I read a few blogs but recently have been so busy at work have not really kept up with any technical blogs or news. I find that HackerNews keeps me up-to-date as much as possible.   If you don’t subscribe to the newsletter I would recommend it – go here to signup for hacker news If I don’t want to wait …

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VPN – Why you should use one

It is summer time and people are traveling for vacation.    Heading to hotels, campgrounds, parks, and friends.   If your like my family you have many devices you take with you; tablets, smart phones, laptops, and all kinds of wifi devices.     As people travel they see free public wifi for use.  Please understand that these networks are not …

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To use WWW or not – Naked Domains

I recently read an article from Mads Kristensen (http://madskristensen.net/post/url-rewrite-and-the-www-subdomain).  He was posting regarding using a url rewrite for IIS and the use of a subdomain. After reading the article and viewing some info regarding the two camps of “use WWW” and don’t use “www”.  I could not help but reflect on my own experiences. For years, I been fortunate to both …

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Selling domains

Selling Domains A few years ago I purchased a few domain names.  I got a great price and have held them since.   Recently I decided to sell off those domains.    I have not had much experience selling a domain before.   The experience I have had, was around purchasing domains. In the past I have been part or brokered …

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Quickbooks Alternative

My old Thinkpad that I used as a mini server died, and on that machine I ran an old version of Quickbooks.   I have used Quickbooks for invoicing and accounting for about 7 years.    It has served me well, however when the machine died I decided to look at upgrading from my 2009 version to the newest.   As I …

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