Somewhat Calmer
Posted: Sun 18 January, 2015 Filed under: D4D™, Domestic, Geeky Leave a comment »Over the weekend, I’ve been working on reducing the impact of whatever/whoever was attacking D4D™ (and many others, I’m sure)
Looking at log files, it became apparent that a number of the issues were related to a particular site primary user-name that’d become known. Not massively surprising- it wasn’t the strongest in the first place, although the password was- and while it hadn’t been cracked/opened, it was getting hit so many times that it kept on getting locked out. And because it was the primary user-name (which I used all the time) it meant I was getting locked out as well.
As a result, that user has now been massively demoted, and I’ve created a couple of others with more-secure usernames and similarly secure passwords.
It’s not been the easiest of processes, and I’ll be keeping an eye on it over the next few weeks – but at least things now seem to be calmer and less slogged-down with hassles and shit.
Under Pressure
Posted: Fri 16 January, 2015 Filed under: D4D™ 1 Comment »For whatever reason, D4D™ has been getting hit hard this week, by a combination of spam-bots, brute-force log-in attempts, and a whole heap of other shit all flying my way.
I’m pretty sure it’s just an attack on WordPress-driven sites – and I’ve got a pretty decent security set-up anyway – but it’s thrashing the network and server quite impressively, which becomes quite frustrating.
Anyway, I’m working on repelling attackers, but it does mean that things may be a bit slower and sparser here while I do so…
Re-tyring
Posted: Wed 14 January, 2015 Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Getting Organised, M1 Leave a comment »As I said yesterday, I had to get two new tyres for the car again.
On Monday I drove back from the new contract in Leicestershire, through what could only be described as a deluge. Dire visibility (and of course plenty of dickwhistles with no lights) coupled with heavy rain and heavy traffic – and I could feel that all was Not Right with the back-end of the car. It wasn’t dangerous, wasn’t uncontrolled or anything – but it’s fair to say, there was less grip than I was happy with, and I could feel a bit of movement when it hit low-traction spots.
Safe enough to get home, but also enough to focus the attention somewhat.
I’ve known that the tyres were due for being replaced – they’ve been on a while, I’ve done a lot of mileage etc. – but I also know they were still legal. But in my experience, once I’ve lost the trust/confidence in them, it’s time to change and get it sorted.
So once I got home, I went online and got it all ordered for being fitted the next day. It’s sorted now, and I’m much happier. As it turned out, the tyres would’ve passed the MOT, but only just – and I’m far happier with “absolutely fine” than “only just”.
January
Posted: Tue 13 January, 2015 Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Festering Season, Finances, Getting Organised, Thoughts Leave a comment »Financially, January for me is always a bit of an odd one – mainly through being slightly disorganised, but slightly through the whole ‘working as a contractor’ thing.
For a number of reasons, January has a number of extra expenses in it that are a pain in the arse. High among those extras is the car MOT/service, and car-tax/road-tax renewal, which come in as well as the usual monthly bills. Additionally, a couple of utility bills come in within that time as well – quarterly billing being the shit-head bastard it is – which also adds to it.
And of course December is always a short month (i.e. I don’t work the full month, because it’s got a bundle of Bank Holidays and so on around the Festering Season) so unless I work the bit between Christmas and New Year, it all becomes a bit tight anyway.
All combines, it just makes January a bit interesting. Doable, but interesting.
The car MOT is booked in for this time next week. I’ve already had to buy two new tyres – I know they’re borderline OK, but that means it’s time to replace them, I’m not risking an MOT fail and having to buy them from the garage! – and also a new headlight bulb, as that went while I was driving last week.
So yeah, it’s all a bit interesting, but still fine and dandy. Life could be worse, frankly.
Ick – Temperature Control
Posted: Thu 8 January, 2015 Filed under: D4D™, Domestic, Health Leave a comment »One of the weirdest things about the batch of illness I’ve had this week was how much it messed with my body’s temperature. In some ways it almost went feverish, with extremes (or at least wider-than-normal ranges) of temperature from hot to cold.
It’s something I’ve had issues with before – although usually as a reaction to ridiculous stress-levels – where I overheat, and end up sleeping for about 18 hours. It’s been a long time since I had one of those episodes, thankfully. But each time I’ve had one, the verdict has been to take some paracetamol, which apparently helps to reduce core temperature. (That’s only on reported understanding, don’t quote me on it)
Anyway, this last couple of days I’ve been running hot enough that I wondered whether I might end up sleeping 18 hours again, but this time it hasn’t happened like that.
I don’t think there’s any real point of information on this, it’s just me dumping my brain onto a keyboard again.
Ick
Posted: Wed 7 January, 2015 Filed under: D4D™, Domestic, Health, Weigh Less, Weight Loss Leave a comment »There’s not been much written here this week so far – and that’s for a fairly good reason. I’ve been unwell. Not man-flu, nor anything life-changing etc., but just unwell.
More dramatic souls would probably attribute it to food-poisoning, but I’m not so sure. It’s just been a generally unpleasant bug – thankfully no puking, but all the other usual effects.
It started Sunday night, and lasted ’til this morning – and in that time, I lost half a stone. Today has been more about gentle recovery, letting things come back to a semi-even keel.
I’m tired, and feel horrifically unproductive, but OK. It’s just that it all meant I had priorities other than writing. Mainly getting to the facilities in time…