Dreamhost was hacked

It is highly infuriating to be a security person and have your own house knocked down. This was the case if you visited my site as of late and found broken links and spam spewed across it. This was not due to my own security mishaps. This website is: Scanned daily by WSD Security script Multifactor authenticated with a Yubikey for all logins and edits Weekly backup sent to offsite Strong passwords across the board Check for updates weekly and subscribe to security lists As we say in the security world if you lock the doors, but leave the windows open your security is not that strong. Hence was the case with my hosted site here. I locked the doors, but dreamhost left wide-open the windows. I have been a paying customer since 2007 and will now be looking for a new host. Here is the hack below: ...

March 12, 2012 · 2 min · Nick

iOS Apps for Business Owners and Travelers

Contents 1 Home Screen: 2 Productivity: 3 Finance: 4 Travel: 5 Transportation: 6 Personal: 7 Share this: I think I was one of the first to carry around a smartphone. I remember the marriage of a phone and PDA made me so excited and to see that technology in a single device…phew…love. The Treo 180 was severely limited, but it brought to the world an idea that phones were for more than phone calls. Fast forward a decade and now I can run the entire company from a smart phone. Out of all the travel gadgets I carry, my smart phone is the one most necessary. I wanted to run through my favorite apps that make it happen. ...

January 15, 2012 · 13 min · Nick

International Phones and Plans

Contents 0.1 GR&A 0.2 General Findings 0.3 Rankings by price per month <li> <a href="#Share_this"><span class="toc_number toc_depth_1">1</span> Share this:</a> </li> Its hard to travel the globe and not be connected. When we started Spec Ops Technology we had plans to simply use unlocked phones and purchase SIM cards in the country we would primarily be working. That is fine and dandy till you miss a meeting because you were not within WIFI range to check your email or can’t remember which of the 7 SIM cards in your pocket are tied to the country you are now landing in. There are enough logistics nightmares to toss phone management into the fire. I wanted to share my findings for those traveling a lot and those running international firms. ...

December 29, 2011 · 2 min · Nick

Dual Time Machine Wielding Backups!

Contents 0.1 The Ingredients: 0.2 Secret Magic Scripts: 0.3 Letting the Penguins talk to the Fruit: 0.4 Convince the Mac its right at home: 0.5 Location, Location, Location: <li> <a href="#Share_this"><span class="toc_number toc_depth_1">1</span> Share this:</a> </li> With the purchase of the Apple Thunderbolt Display my Air now has a jumbo-frame enabled ethernet port at its disposal. My current backup strategy is to utilize an encrypted external USB laptop drive while on the road and to just rsync the latest backup when I get home. This has been working great for a year straight (saved my greasy bacon when the airlines forgot my bag) but I figured it was time to reevaluate with my fancy monitor in the mix. ...

December 29, 2011 · 7 min · Nick

Apple Thunderbolt Display Review

Contents 0.1 Display 0.2 Cables 0.3 Ports 0.4 Speakers 0.5 iSight HD 0.6 Gaming 0.7 Going Green 0.8 Before and After <li> <a href="#Share_this"><span class="toc_number toc_depth_1">1</span> Share this:</a> </li> With the increase in travel as of late I am finding myself tied more and more to the laptop. Despite an extensive home lab with KVM switches and dual monitors, there I would sit with my 11″ MacBook Air. Simplicity was the main reason I found. Transfer files, syncing something to a new machine, etc. just was much more hassle than I needed. I had what I will call the semi-dock with my Air in which I’d sit it on a stand and then run the myriad of wires to tie it into the home desk system. GONE! ...

December 28, 2011 · 4 min · Nick