Musings of Old Man Joe

Irish guy living in Los Angeles

computing

I want to write about website design.

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gandalf using the computer
I feel like this quite often!

For the last few years I have been working toward having my own website design company. I have designed about half a dozen websites for friends and family. This I would say is most web-designers start in the business.

Younger ones may even have the chance to go to a code camp and get hands on coding experience, which is great of course. I actually want to go to a camp next year if I can afford it. Of course you have different opportunities if you’re in your twenties and even thirties than when you’re in your late fifties!! My expectations have to be more what I can do for myself as any company would prefer to hire a coder that would be a bit younger. I get this and I’m not complaining. I think I would much prefer to be a freelancer than part of a design business. But that is where getting into the business becomes a bit more of a challenge.

Where to begin?

As I mentioned before most people start this business helping out friends and family. It’s a great way to get the feet wet and you get an opportunity to iron out the bugs (should there be any of course!!)

It’s also really common for newbies (hate that term), to charge much less as they don’t have the confidence to ask for the $60-$90 per hour a full stack web developer can earn. For your info there are front end developers who create websites, there are coders who can also use software to talk to the server/database in case you had a store or needed some specific actions to take place like a membership etc: Facebook. The dynamic aspects require server side languages and having that knowledge makes you a full stack developer. Personally I am studying it but not sure if I want to go into applications as such, the answer is still out on that one!

What I have learned (short version)!

There are so many ways to build a website it’s crazy, but the things that you should consider are really not too hard to grasp.

How much are you willing to spend on a website?
The answer to this is how important is a website for what you are trying to achieve.
If you have a online business and this is the way you intend to make money it’s crazy important you don’t skimp. If your site goes down for a few days and you lose hundreds of dollars it would be a hard lesson to learn.

Is your website not an online business but just to promote a static business?
I would still make sure it’s hosted with a good website hosting company. You don’t want any downtime and you don’t want to hacked! Yes I secure my websites and many attempts have been made. The cheaper hosting companies will look after their computers but not your website, you are responsible for that. Always back up you’re site!

Mobile/Tablet friendly
Nearly 50% of website traffic is now either mobile phone or tablet, if your website is responsive you’re good. if not you will go down in google rankings!

WordPress or not WordPress?
It was only recently when a friend asked me to look at her website as it needs updating, it’s not mobile friendly it is not WordPress or another CMS (content management system). So in order for her to update the content she would have to use an FTP (File transfer protocol) to update her website using html and she doesn’t know code.
I looked at the code for her website and it was fine, but just being the html there was no easy interface for a regular person to add or change content.
I have coded many websites and some are interactive using different CSS libraries like Bootstrap. But to have the non coder use their website it truly needs a CMS either WordPress or Drupal.

Free Websites
Last I want to talk about the free websites, you can create a website using wordpress.com or wix.com and with wordpress for a not too large sum of money you can even have your own url (yourname.com).
There will be advertising and you are limited to what you can add but it’s doable for a web presence. Wix to be honest I don’t know much, it’s probably quite reasonable for the free page but any more content and functions will probably require some kind of payment.

In the end the choice is always yours, but don’t bet tempted to spend money on this unless it’s required. Remember you have choices!

Peace!

Blade Runner 2019

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I remember watching blade in the early 1980’s, and to be honest although I loved the movie I was young and appreciate it much more today than I did then. Just like 2001 a space odyssey which was also way ahead of it’s time, I wondered back then what the world would truly be like in the years to come, and if I would even see it!

Flying through Los Angeles in 2019

It’s funny how science fiction in many ways is being brought to science fact, but not exactly how we envisioned and not in the time line we thought.
After the Moon landings in the late 1960’s until 1972 we all (well myself anyway) thought that after such an event there would be no turning back.

Well as we know now those missions were not really for science but just a pissing contest between the USSR & the USA. It was a shame but just after that the world stepped back to the time before the moon shot and carried on arguing about money and religion and rights (all very worthy subjects but not for this post).

So in the 1980’s and 90’s the world of computers, hardware and software start the play on the technology of our time. Hardware & software have always been almost racing to see who can get ahead, it was never an even race. It was probably when the iPhone came out in 2007 it was the catalyst for the tech companies to get their shit together and produce the solid state hardware in bulk and at a decent price to let the technology move forward.
it would seem there always has to be a profit or war for things to move forward.

blade runner movie poster with Harrison plus cast

Blade Runner Final Cut Set in Los Angeles in 2019

So here we are in 2019 the time of replicants and Blade Runners out to find them. How have we done with the real world?

Well due to Star Trek we have our mobile communicators, automatic doors are all over the place. We can ask computers and most of the time they can give us an answer (excluding Siri of course). Uber states it will have flying cars in or around 2020.

So considering we the people did stop after the moonshot due to budget cuts and domestic stuff, the timeline hasn’t been too bad considering!
It’s not as dark in Los Angeles as it is in the movie, but of course it was trying to get across a future when people didn’t try to stop climate change or worry about genetic manipulation or disease. In George Orwells 1984 big brother was the government and people for years have been worried about the government watching you. Well in many countries the government does watch you. But even worse is corporations using apps and the internet to watch not only what you do and see, but save the information to sell that information to whoever, and the people went willingly!

I will be optimistic for the future and say even though some people voted against their best interests that the times will change, mistakes have been made in the past and they can be rectified.

Peace!

Social Media & Privacy

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So I finally let Facebook, Instagram, Whats App go as I am sick of wondering where they will either sell my stuff or just plain lose it due to carelessness. If you wonder what Facebook takes from you read their privacy policy it will scare the shit out of you  click here.

I have been agonizing about this for a long time (Go Figure!). Later this year I will formally be starting my own business in website design, and I felt it was correct to have an online presence as my business was online, but I changed my mind, more about that in a later post!

I have found that these social apps don’t really make me more sociable (personally). I just get to see what all the people I know are reading but not how they are feeling or what is going on in their lives. Not that I particularly need updates that much. The only reason it took me so long is there are many people I have worked with and hung out with. I may never see them again in real life but I could keep contact in some way. But at what cost if my info is hacked and I have to change my passwords and all the other crap that’s involve when your data is stolen. So I wanted to come on here and say that if you look there are alternatives to Facebook that are in fact the next generation of social media, and it’s quite exciting!

One Facebook alternative that I may try is MeWe as it’s based around privacy, and when you post a picture of your kids you still own the pictures not the company you posted it to.
The difference is that you pay for services, which is the model in Asia, and means you are not the commodity, the services are the commodity. This is a fundamental difference and it’s important. There are many other social apps, but they are very specific in the types of social interaction they present. I felt this was the closest as a replacement of Facebook.

This is from their website:
MeWe is free for members because privacy is not something anyone should ever have to pay for. All the great features that people love in social media and none of the BS are free and standard on MeWe including: private 1:1 and group chat; private and open groups; disappearing content; custom camera with Gif creation; live voice and live video; next-gen voice messaging; personal social cloud; custom group profiles; and much more.

In addition there are optional special features including extra storage (8GB is free, and 50GB is $4.99 per month), Secret Chat (like WhatsApp only without their egregious tracking) for $.99 cents per month, Custom Emojis at $.99 cents a packet, plus MeWe Pages (coming soon) at $2.99 per month, and special games exclusive to MeWe members.

At the moment I am burned out of social media, but I just wanted to share.
(pun intended)!

 

 

Passwords

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cmdr-shane-610506-unsplash

I freely admit I have been quite lax when it comes to certain things & the internet. I have some very secure passwords that I use, but I tend to reuse them because they are secure! For a while now I have been working towards becoming a website developer, front and back end. That process continues, but it has been part of the process that the old way of dealing with passwords is no longer viable. And making sure the passwords I use will actually stop a person gaining entry to the site I am trying to protect.

My initial intention was to just pick a password manager that works well and there you go all done. I am kind of like that, rush to get it sorted type. When it comes to certain types of software I either will be patient or I won’t; let me explain!

I am mostly on a mac or Linux so I don’t use virus software, but because of the nature of virus software (protect my system) I expect it to work, from the get go! I shouldn’t have to trouble shoot it on the installation, it’s a trust thing!

So I am checking out some password managers, 1password & Lastpass,  I will give a review after a few weeks testing them. There is a bit of a learning curve as I already have Key Chain on my mac and at work I use chrome which already do a great job remembering  passwords. The difference is that a password manager will stop or try to dissuade you from reusing the same password all the time. Let you know when it’s weak aka dogs name! And they have a password generator that creates strong passwords.

Although both password managers I am looking at have their differences I do trust they are both fairly secure. Nothing is completely secure but the chances of them being hacked are slim to almost none. Which leaves me to consider install and ease of use, there is also a price difference which I will take into consideration.

Regardless of what I am doing if you don’t use a password manager you should consider it in this day and age, even if you just used it for your financial websites. It pays to have the extra layer of security these days.

Be safe People!

Dealing with the Internet these days.

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I work in the security business, I also deal with other aspects of security in regards to the internet. This means bad bots & malware and privacy are things I focus on often.
I try to keep myself informed in regards to data and where it’s going these days, not just the general stupidity of Facebook. But also what will be the deal now that AI is taking over much more of the daily grind when it comes to pretty much anything online.
Google Duplex Demo:

It’s apparent that AI, machine learning is moving ahead in leaps and bounds. The world moves on and even though our fool of a president eliminates the cyber security department to allow his Russian friends to do their stuff unimpeded.
It’s still an issue that I want the people who can make our data safe as possible are in fact doing so?
The internet as you probably know is or has for a while been moving to mobile. Google ranks websites on not only loading times, security certificates, but also if the work on mobile devices. malware on mobile has increase and so has robocalls.
If you are interested on checking what google has on you they are fairly open and transparent about it. go here Google sign  in and check your stuff.

For Apple go to Apple’s Privacy Policy page:
(https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/)
Scroll down to the section titled “Access to Personal Information.” It’s worth reading and says explains that Apple will provide you with a copy of the information it holds if you request it.
Click the “Privacy Contact Form” link.
Choose your language.
Select “I have a question about privacy issues” from the drop-down box.
Fill in your first and last name, email, subject and comments.
Click submit.

Apple is much better with privacy, and Google is transparent, for Facebook we are just a commodity so don’t be surprised!
As for the future, if we can get passed the sharing our lives on the web without thinking about the consequences of how and what we share. AI will I think come to the rescue as computer systems can be taught to defend us.
AI will also be used to attack our systems and learn from it’s mistakes at speeds we can only imagine.
If I seem to contradict myself it’s because we are probably going to see both. To win we will have to take out the players, in the same way servers are taken when dark web actors are arrested these days.
I have a Facebook account, and I believe that Facebook learned a lesson after Trump won. You have a responsibility to the people who provide you with their data as much as you do to the companies you allow us the data to make money. I personally think Facebooks biggest mistake was the new Feed, Facebook isn’t a news source, it’s a social network, it takes no responsibility for the news it shares on it’s feeds. When legitimate news sites are not trusted and Facebook is we have a serious problem.
Our Data whether we like it or not is a commodity, and we should treat it as such. This feels like we are moving into Black Mirror territory!

Just another day in paradise!