Nerd Power

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Category Archives: Computers

Unlimited Domain Hosting

I’ve used a number of web hosting providers over the past ten years. Two years ago, I decided I’d host my own domains because it cost me nothing additional to do it from my home. With recent changes and my dynamic living condition, I don’t have a stable location to do this from anymore. Once again, I went on a hunt to find the perfect web host… this time I found it: HostMonster.com

I currently own and operate 19 domains. My biggest problem with purchasing a hosting package is that I have to pay for each domain. That gets expensive! HostMonster makes my life easy. For $5.95 a month, I get to host an unlimited number of domains. This beats the socks off every other hosting solution I’ve ever used.

The only limitation is the 200Gb of disk space and the 2,000Gb of monthly bandwidth. For me, these aren’t a problem. I have 22,325 files on the server for a grand total of 222Mb — I’m only using 0.11% of my allotted disk space. And my monthly bandwidth usage has never exceeded 5Gb so I have plenty of room to grow.

It was a little tricky getting multiple domains setup. I use NameCheap.com as my registrar (highly recommended!) and I had to change my DNS settings to point to HostMonster before I tried to add the domain in HostMonster’s control panel. But, the effort to figure it out was definitely worth the low, low price. I can’t imagine paying anything more for web hosting.

HostMonster is a Linux-based setup, running Apache and all the usual services such as PHP, MySQL, CGI, Ruby, Perl, etc. They have everything you’d expect from a good web host and it’s all available for only $5.95 a month. There are no setup fees and, if you’d like, you’ll also get your domain name free. (I like to keep name registration separate from web hosting so I purchase all my domains through NameCheap.com for only $8.88 each.) If you’re looking for a new web host, I highly recommend HostMonster and, if you have any questions about getting your account setup, feel free to ask me.

There’s a Booger in Your Pizza

(and your passwords aren’t safe)
The people on the “factory floor” of every business know what happens behind the curtains. It often isn’t pretty. We’ve all heard stories of what happens in the kitchen when servers get upset with a customer. But we’ve only heard the stories; restaurant employees actually know what goes on.

It’s the same in the software industry. Customers trust that companies are doing their utmost to protect their information. Unfortunately, a software company that takes the extra step to ensure the privacy and security of the information in their database is the minority.

When you create an account on a website, you enter a user name and password. You expect that password to be kept confidential. Your expectation of privacy is evidenced by the fact that you use the same password for all your accounts. If your privacy was compromised on that one website, all of your accounts that share that password would be compromised as well. Think for a moment. Did you use the same password at the free e-card website that you use for your online banking account?

A best practice of the software industry is that passwords shouldn’t be stored. I don’t need to know what your password is to know whether you typed in the correct password. We use something called a hash, which is a form of one-way encryption. When you first enter your password, I hash it and store the resulting information. I can not decode the hash to determine your actual password but every time you enter your password and I hash it, it will match the previous hash.

Using this password scheme, I never need to store your actual password in my database. Doing this resolves a number of security issues.

  • You remain the only person who knows your password. There’s no better way to keep a secret than to not tell anyone. That’s what this password scheme allows.

  • My unscrupulous employees can’t find your password as they joy-ride through the company database. It’s amazing what employees will do when they know they are about to quit their job.

  • If someone hacks into my system and downloads a copy of the database, they won’t gain access to your password.

    • That’s the perfect world. It’s not difficult to do but I see it over and over again where software companies do not employ this simple best practice. In fact, it’s not difficult to know when this is happening and I know you’ve seen it a number of times. Any time a website emails your password to you, whether it’s when you create your account or when you click the “forgot my password” button, is proof that they are not following this best practice.

    What does this mean to you? Have a healthy pinch of suspicion whenever you create a password-protected account. For every website, use a different password. Make it a random password that doesn’t contain easy to remember words and phrases.

    Unfortunately, this creates another problem. Since every password is different, you’ll have to write it down and store it either on paper or electronically. Either of these creates another problem, as someone who gains access to your private stash will gain access to all your accounts. This, however, is usually a more acceptable risk than using one password across all accounts.

    Here’s the pitch. I use a product called Sticky Password. I posted my review of this product here. Using this product, I only have to remember one master password. Entering that password unlocks my password database that stores all my account information. This allows me to use randomly-generated passwords on every website and avoids the risk of keeping those passwords on a sticky note attached to my computer monitor or in a text file that could fall into the hands of a determined hacker.

    Sticky Password is inexpensive and something that everyone needs. But whether you use this tool or not, stop using the same password at every website. Identity thieves are only a click away. Keep your accounts and your personal information safe.

    Password Management

    Where do you keep your passwords?  In a plain-text document file?  On a notepad next to the computer?  In that bear-trap-of-a-mind?

    At first, I used the same password everywhere.  The problem with this approach is that some services require passwords to be changed more often than others.  Soon, I had many different passwords.  It was difficult to remember which password was used where and there was no way I could remember everywhere I needed to go to update every password.

    My next attempt was storing all my passwords in a Word document.  This worked fine for a little while but was awkward to maintain and my passwords were at risk to anyone with access to my computer.  I gave up on this when I had six pages of accounts and I found the same account entered three times with three different passwords.

    I went searching the Internet for the perfect password management software and I found it!  Sticky Password is slick, secure, and hassle-free.  Here are the reasons why I love this software and why you should download your free 30-day evaluation today.

    1. It isn’t a black hole.  I can export my password list in plain-text if I ever need to find out my actual password.  This is useful when using a different computer or for making a backup.

    2. My passwords are stored in an encrypted and password-protected database that I unlock with one master password.  My web accounts are much more secure because they all have a different password but I only have to remember my one master password.

    3. Similar to Windows auto-fill, Sticky Password knows what website I’m at and automatically fills in the user name and password field when the page loads.  I don’t have to search for anything.

    4. If I need a password when I’m somewhere other than the log in page, I simply right-click the Sticky Password icon in my application tray, choose Quick Search, type in the first few letters of the account I need, and press enter.  Sticky Password places my password on the clipboard for me to use as needed.  After 30-seconds, it automatically removes the password from the clipboard to keep me protected.

    5. I’m no good at generating strong passwords.  Lucky for me, I right-click the Stick Password icon, select Generate Password, and it makes a random password for me.  I then use this when creating a new account.  Having random passwords keeps my accounts much more secure.

    There are many more great features of the product but these are the reasons I believe this is essential software that everyone should have.  We’ve all got passwords.  Make your passwords easier to manage and more secure. Try Sticky Password right now.

    Google Tools

    Google Toolbar
    I have always stayed away from browser plug-ins until I learned what the Google plug-in can do. The Google toolbar has three features that I care about:

    1. Spell check: On any web page simply click the spell check button and any editable fields are checked. Misspelled words turn red. When you click on a word, a list pops up of possible corrections. Once fixed, the word turns green. There is simply no better way to have spell check for every web page.

    2. Autofill: Take 2 minutes to enter your contact information (and billing if you’d life). On any webpage, if Google recognizes what the page is asking for, it shades the field yellow. Click the autofill button and your info is automatically entered. This is especially great for online purchasing and checkout.

    3. Search: Okay, this is nothing special but I never realized how much I enjoy not having to browse to a search page first. I can simply type in what I’m looking for on any page and it opens a new browser window with the results.

    Google Desktop
    I care about this for only one reason. It indexes every file on my computer and adds a search field to the task bar at the bottom of my screen. I can type in anything I’m looking for and it will show me every matching file on my computer, in seconds. This is many times better than using the Windows search function. It also indexes my Outlook email. I no longer keep separate Outlook folders for different topics. All my mail goes to one single archive folder. If I need to find something later, I simply type in what I need, click the Google email only link, and the email is available for me. Now that I’ve used this, I can’t imagine life without it.