Pardon the Appearance

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The site looks a bit freaky today because I was getting a malware warning, and the bleeping anti-malware company I had already just paid a bleeping $99 a couple of weeks ago to renew my annual subscription wanted another bleeping $180 to “clean” the site that they were supposed to be protecting. So I did it myself. Whatever I did wiped out most of the right sidebar and screwed up the masthead. But the site seems to work and I’m not getting the malware warning now, and it didn’t cost me any bleeping $180.  I’ll go back in and pretty it up again when I get some time. Do let me know if you are having any problems with the site, especially if they are new problems.

14 thoughts on “Pardon the Appearance”

  2. There's a line in the first "Star Wars" where the bartender tells Luke the druids have to wait outside. "We don't serve their kind in here!"  Aparently the scene replayed in real life – restaurant owner in VA threw out Sarah Sanders.

    LMAO! 

  4. Is the twit filter still working?

    If you can read this message you can safely assume it's not.

  5. As long as you're using WordPress code, why not just have it hosted/protected by the WordPress people themselves? They do all updates, with built-in malware protection for the millions of sites they host. Main downside is very limited [or no] 3rd-party plugins, but that helps with protecting the site. With the savings alone on anti-malware software you could get the Premium plan with 13Gb storage.

    https://wordpress.com/pricing/

     

    FYI I've been a longtime reader of yours, going back to about.com…..

     

    • Chip — I’m not hosted at WordPress, so I don’t know if that pricing applies to a WordPress blog hosted elsewhere. The Premium plan costs about what I’m paying now for Wordfence, but I was under the impression that Wordfence would provide more help than it did. I was stunned when I sent a support ticket telling them I was getting a malware warning and they responded by sending me a link to how I could use their tools to fix the problem (which I apparently did) or else I could pay them another $180 for them to do it, $280 if I wanted the job expedited. Since I had just paid for the annual subscription I’m going to let it go for now, but I’ll find another service by next year.

  6. Regarding Sarah Sanders getting thrown out of a restaurant I say there is still some justice in this world.  If a bakery can refuse to bake a cake for someone because of religious beliefs, then a restaurant can refuse service to a liar.

  8. Maha, I feel your pain. Congratulations on cleaning the malware out yourself. More power to you. yes I hope you find a better company to provide protection!

    • Wordfence got back to me and said they could get somebody to “look” at my site for only $80. I said no thanks.

  10. The digital quagmire traps us all at times.  It is a test of our mettle as we wallow though the mud of the widget world.  There is a term for it that predates this world that is apt. From Wikipedia:

    Resistentialism is a jocular theory to describe "seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects", where objects that cause problems are said to exhibit a high degree of malice toward humans. The theory posits a war being fought between humans and inanimate objects, and all the little annoyances that objects cause throughout the day are battles between the two."  

  11. "I’m not hosted at WordPress, so I don’t know if that pricing applies to a WordPress blog hosted elsewhere."

    Sorry if I was unclear. I was suggesting looking into dumping your current hosted arrangement and migrating the site to be hosted by wordpress.com – the commercial side of WordPress (the dot.com, as opposed to the dot.org software you can use and install anywhere, with any host) –  for your hosting and managing/protection of the site. That pricing is for a site with your domain that they manage on their own servers, not them managing your site hosted elsewhere.

    There are limitations in terms of plugins and commenting systems you can use, but the tradeoff is solid hands-off management and malware protection. 

    Years ago I had sites hosted (by asmallorange, before they got bought out and turned to garbage) but I hated site management and having to keep on top of updates – and still being susceptible to zero-day exploits. My research on stable alternatives to self-managed WordPress included Ghost.org, Tumblr, Medium, Typepad… and WordPress.com came up on top for the price and platform maturity for blogging and basic sites (like a psychotherapist friend's site). 

     

     

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