“Open Source” collection
Discover the best in free, community-driven software and transparent digital platforms. These evaluations focus on versatile, accessible tools that empower users through open collaboration and innovative digital freedom.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →September 27, 2020
Hidden WordPress Fix for “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” Error via WP CLI
How to fix "Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page" on WordPress using WP CLI to easily repair missing items within WordPress.
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September 27, 2013
Site Performance Optimization: MaxCDN, Nginx, CloudFlare and WordPress Caching
My blog has a problem. Or rather it had a problem but I'm making some big improvements to it to make it perform better. For many years, my site has suffered from slow performance. Much of that is my fault though. I tend to overload WordPress with lots of plugins. Plugins are bad, but they are in many ways, quite…
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June 21, 2013
How To Fix “Login to server imap.mail.me.com failed” Issues on Postbox or Thunderbird
There is nothing more annoying than getting repeated email error messages in your email client from an email server. Sometimes this can be caused by issues with the server, or perhaps the connection, or because some configuration has changed or simply because you have not set up your email properly. Recently in my Postbox app (which is based on the…
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January 21, 2011
How To Automatically Set Up your Mac’s Work Environment Based on WiFi Location Detection – AirPort Location
There is a lot of great free software out there that provides tremendous value. Smart programmers always want to showcase their talents and I love the fact that there is a never ending stream of interesting applications coming from the developer community. I won't even start to mention some of the free Mac apps that I use that help me…
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July 13, 2010
Laptop Got Stolen? Send PREY Out to Find It, for Free!
I'm sure that many of you have heard of the Find My iPhone service for MobileMe that helps you locate missing iPhones or iPads. Or the equivalent on Windows Mobile phones called My Phone. And I'm sure you know about LoJack that helps you locate stolen cars. LoJack also offers a service for computers as well, for a price. There…
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January 30, 2010
20+ Ways to Harden and Secure Your WordPress Blog
Recently, some high-profile blogs that are running WordPress have been hacked or hijacked by malicious users (e.g., TechCrunch). The worst thing is having to try to recover from such an event, you not only have to repair your site, but also your reputation. So, spending a little bit of time trying to prevent or at least make it a bit…
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March 18, 2009
How to Move a WordPress Blog from One Domain/Host to Another
Over that last couple of days, I have had the "pleasure" of moving a blog from one hosting provider to another (not that difficult of a task) but ALSO changing domains in the process. While I don't think this post should the definitive set of instructions, it is a combination of information that I read and gathered, in conjunction with…
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February 20, 2009
Review: GUNNAR Optiks – Fine Tuning your Digital Perspective
"Hey Bono" my boss says every time I put on my GUNNAR Optiks SheaDog "computer" glasses. I laugh and then focus down on a variety of tasks at hand, one of them being to really put my GUNNAR's through some real-world tests. If you haven't heard about GUNNAR, a 15 person eyewear company based in Southern California, you probably will,…
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February 3, 2009
Social Experiment: Twitter Dad Tuesdays #twitdadtues
This morning I had some interesting Twitter conversations with a few Dads who are on Twitter about how frustrated their spouses are with them at times. The conversations and threads were brought on by reading through this interesting article ("Moms Everywhere are Pissed Off") as well as from my own experiences trying to be a "technologist", a loving husband and…
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July 7, 2008
Social Messaging Communicators: Ping.fm versus HelloTxt.com
While Twitter seems to be ruling the airwaves of Social Messaging Platforms, there are plenty of other services that do just as well (or better) at keeping in touch with or sending messages and status updates to your friends, colleagues and family. These services can be broken out into different segments: services that just provide status updates and ones that…
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May 16, 2008
I wish a WordPress Developer would make the following plugin
I'm not a developer, more of a tinkerer, looking at people's code and tweaking things. Never had an hour of coding schooling in my life but I can step through some stuff and get the jist of it and even mod it to my own liking (fixed a few WP theme issues and plugins). There are a couple of plugins…
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May 15, 2008
Transition from DD-WRT to Tomato on Linksys Router
I decided I was tired of waiting around for the next version of DD-WRT to come out (v24) which, as of this writing, was at RC7, I believe. I twittered today that I was tired of waiting and got a tweet back saying that I should check out Tomato and that people were saying some good things about it. I…
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