[GSBN] Libraries can still burn

Fri Jul 8 20:31:34 UTC 2016

I echo everything Derek said.  Hard drives can and do die.  Laptops get 
lost and stolen.

For websites built in WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and similar content 
management systems (CMSs) there are usually tools available to do 
automatic backups of both the files and the database.  Make sure those 
are in place, and are backing up to one or more separate locations other 
than just to the web server where your site lives.

Also it is absolutely critical these days to keep your CMS and all its 
themes and plugins up to date.  A majority of the updates include at 
least some fixes for security issues which have been discovered.  Once 
those security issues are known on the internet, hackers immediately 
start looking for vulnerable sites.

We've seen so much hacking activity in the past year that we've started 
offering monitoring/updating services for WordPress sites.  Prevention 
is so much easier than rebuilding!

On 7/8/16 1:06 PM, Derek Stearns Roff wrote:
> Very sorry to hear about these problems, Bruce.  I hope for the best 
> for your rebuilding and restoring the library.  Hopefully, the Roman 
> and Egyptian navies will not come into conflict over your site, as 
> they did in Alexandria.
>
> This sad event could also serve as a good reminder to all of us to 
> establish a good backup system for our own computers, and check to see 
> that the backups actually work.  It’s cheaper and easier to do good 
> backups now than ever before.  A robust system should have at least 
> one local and one remote backup.
>
> Not everyone is comfortable with cloud backups, but they do offer a 
> level of redundancy, accessibility, and isolation from local events 
> that none of us could match with our personal resources.  If you have 
> any interest in cloud backups, I’d like to recommend one cloud backup 
> company for your consideration, Bruce, and everyone else.  I have no 
> financial or personal link to this company, but I have been following 
> them for years, and they are outstanding in their honesty, 
> transparency, and innovation.  They also provide some very interesting 
> information and training materials, which are accessible whether you 
> are a customer or not.  In my view, the cost is reasonable, at $50-$60 
> per year for an individual or small business.  I think plans at that 
> level would cover a site like Bruce’s, but he might need a higher tier 
> of service.  The company is Backblaze, Inc. https://www.backblaze.com
>
> My personal backup system is to have two separate versioning backup 
> disks (using Time Machine, on the Mac).  One of them is constantly 
> connected to my computer, and the other I update every few days.  I 
> also maintain two bootable clone backups (using Carbon Copy Cloner), 
> which I store in different locations.  It takes a little time and 
> attention to keep my updates current, but it sure feels good when a 
> disk or computer crashes, or a backup is corrupted.
>
> Best wishes,
> Derek
>
> Derek Roff
> derek at unm.edu <mailto:derek at unm.edu>
>
>
>
>
>> On Jul 8, 2016, at 11:19 AM, Big M Construction <bigmconst at gmail.com 
>> <mailto:bigmconst at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Bruce,
>>
>> You are in so many ways the captain of this big ship we are all on 
>> trying to make the built environment better, safer, healthier and 
>> kinder to this planet. I echo Jacob’s thoughts and offer any of my 
>> time that you might see fit. An attack on your website is an attack 
>> on all of us.
>>
>> Rebuilding can allow for changes that have been on your mind in the past.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Mark
>>> On Jul 8, 2016, at 11:07 AM, Anthony Novelli 
>>> <anthony.novelli at gmail.com <mailto:anthony.novelli at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Should you need support in rebuilding things, sing out Brucie.
>>>
>>> Glad Bill pointed out archive.org <http://archive.org/> before I 
>>> did. I would be willing to put some time in searching and 
>>> downloading, etc.
>>>
>>> Would first steps be to work with a list of content, which could be 
>>> made into a google.doc spreadsheet, and we could all comb the 
>>> internets and check stuff off as it’s found?
>>>
>>> I guess I’m also curious how you have adapted things to avoid them 
>>> in the future? I had to completely rebuild TimOK’s site after 
>>> somebody figured how to get past the not-too-secure Wordpress 
>>> logins, though thankfully they just loaded it with clickbait links. 
>>> Again, let me know if you need support.
>>>
>>> Peace to all.
>>>
>>> Tony Novelli
>>> Professional Support Services
>>> Design • Web • Print
>>> 520.360.8858 voice/text
>>> LinkedIn Profile 
>>> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-novelli-a4bbaa1?trk=hp-identity-name>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Gsbn mailing list
>>> Gsbn at sustainablesources.com <mailto:Gsbn at sustainablesources.com>
>>> http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/gsbn
>>
>> Mark Jensen
>> Owner
>>
>> Big M Construction
>> PO Box 1596
>> Bozeman, MT 59771
>>
>> (406)599-4220 (Cell)
>> (815) 305-1393 (Fax)
>>
>> bigmconst at gmail.com <mailto:bigmconst at gmail.com>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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-- 
Bill Christensen
http://SustainableSources.com
http://LinkedIn.com/in/billc108

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