Need inspiration to code? Code.org

Need inspiration to code? Code.org

I just came across this brilliant video about getting people to learn how to code. It’s amazing. It features a handful of creators in the past century who have created something with code and who have become successful.

The Code.org website is about teaching people to program and to encourage those who may have had a slight interest to have an even bigger interest. It has certainly got me excited. Perhaps, I won’t have to go to university after-all, and I can learn how to program completely free – this I think is the premise behind Code.org.

Hard Drive failure and what to do.

Hard Drive failure and what to do.

Recently, my 500GB hard drive failed on me and I looked on the internet for anything that could recover my files from the hard drive, which admittedly, I should have backed-up.

Hard drive failure

F:\ is not accessible. Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyclic Redundancy Check Error & what I did.  

I searched on the internet for a solution and found out what the error message means. CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check), I looked at a few solutions however none of them worked for me. So, I thought instead of trying to get my hard drive accessible again, I thought I’d just get the data off first that I needed. (The data I should have  backed up)

Recovering files on a failed hard drive

Recovering files on a failed hard drive

Recovery

So, I found this as a solution. I’ve managed to already get access to around 1,000+ files (Though they aren’t the files I need, so I’m continuing the scan), however there is a data-limit on the program, since I’m using the trial version. (The program, bought, costs around $59.) The paid version allows you to download as much information from the defective hard drive, while the trial allows you to only take off around 1GB of data.

That’s all I need as I’m purely trying to recover a web design which I originally bought and I want to place it for free on my website over at SimpleTemplates.org. It’s only a small file.

How long?

However, according to the program to scan the entirety of the 500GB hard drive, I need to wait 255 hours, which is around 2 weeks of concurrent scanning. I can do this, but eventually or before all that, it will find this web design, so I no longer need to continue any more scans.

So, what program are you using to do this?

The program I’m using was created by Power Data Recovery. (Google search; not direct link to their site) – They make other premium programs for hard drive failures which includes automatic back-ups and the like.

Also for future reference, I have also done some research into other programs that have been recommended in the blogosphere:

  • PC Inspector File Recovery
  • NTFS Reader
  • Restoration
  • Undelete Now!

Hopefully, someone will have found this useful. Hardware failures, especially hard drive failures are not fun at-all.

Need to find out if your site has been compromised?

Need to find out if your site has been compromised?

In this day and age security is a concern as there are assholes out there who will do anything to find exploits on your site, no matter how small of a site you are running.

I recently came across an awesome website that details any issues with your site that you may have not noticed. Whether that be a javascript line prompting a java applet/download onto those who visit your website etc.

The website is called:

Sucuri

It successfully located some malware, such as the described one above, on my website. I was finding difficulty tracking it, and then finally solved the issue. Although, I still need to look for any back doors, otherwise if I can’t find any or if this issue prompts up again, I’ll likely have to do a full re-install of WordPress.

I just had to give a shout out to that website as it proved incredibly useful.

Secure your website, don’t neglect it!

Secure your website, don’t neglect it!

I wrote an article about this around two weeks ago, and website security is paramount, especially so when leaving your website unattended for a while. I did this an faced the consequences of having my sites hacked/cracked and I regret neglecting my website in such a way, as it was such a pain to sort this mess out.

I lost a lot of my Google rankings in search results, which hit my traffic big-time, however considering I don’t worry about that much it isn’t much of a problem. However, for others who won’t know how to fix an infected site, it is better to totally re-install whatever script you’ve got installed. For example, most of my websites run on WordPress, and when my sites became infected as I hadn’t updated the latest version, the best thing to do was totally re-install my WordPress installation. – This takes care of the following:

  • You can be at ease and know that whatever virus which has infected your site has been removed. So as long as you have totally replaced all your files, other than your images in your WordPress installation.
  • You get rid of any back doors the hacker may have injected into your website because of any script vulnerability.

Trust me on this, don’t neglect your website. It is much easier to first take care of your website rather than have to worry about it later, as it will become much harder to ‘fix’ the longer you leave it.

Why website security is important.

Why website security is important.

I’ve recently just experienced something which has inundated my experience as a person who runs websites that are online. Security is a big thing and as soon as you let your guard down, there are people out there who will go out of their way to find ways to exploit websites which haven’t been updated. i.e. Easy targets

Since I’ve been working full-time, my main website armour.ws faced a few attacks from people trying to upload .html files which contained phishing websites, mainly or only to do with banks.

I first noticed this when my web host informed me and when Google also informed me. I’m not surprised at-all if they’ve penalised my website. But all that matters is that I’ve secured my website.

I’ve totally re-installed WordPress on that site, backed up everything again, looked at the MySQL database for any anomalies and I’ve started anew with the design to ensure that it wasn’t the theme/design causing any cracks in terms of security. I’ve also installed a few firewall scripts for WordPress, essentially a tool which will scan all my files for any anomalies.

I just let my guard down, stopped updating my website and suddenly I find myself being attacked. Now things should be okay, but I’ll say something, it would have been a lot easier to keep my site updated from the start. I spent most of the day making modifications, backing up, optimizing the MySQL database and changing a few aspects and fixing a few things on the website itself.

I will also stress, as would other experienced webmasters, MAKE BACKUPS constantly. You never know when you’ll need a backup to help you out of a disastrous situation.