Spring Sale! Save 30% on all books w/ code: PLANET24
Web Dev + WordPress + Security
49 posts related to: Customer Anti-Support

Sync News Feeds on All Devices for Free with Inoreader

There are plenty of ways to sync news feeds across all of your devices. There are free services, paid services, and even scripts that you can host on your server. This quick tutorial explains two ways to sync your feeds on any device. The first method uses the free service from Inoreader, which works via web browser on any device. And the second method combines Inoreader with the Reeder app for a better experience on macOS and iOS. Continue reading »

Why Automated Phone Systems SUCK

You’ve been there. You know what I’m talking about. Why do companies insist on making our lives difficult by implementing horrible automated phone systems? Continue reading »

Get Yourself Some Backup Internet Service Providers

As a full-time web developer and typical human being, I rely on the Internet for a great many things. So when the Internet is not available, my work (and play) comes to a grinding halt. Fortunately my primary ISP is pretty solid, but it still goes down every once in a while. So to maintain my workflow (and general sanity), having a backup Internet service provider is absolutely essential. Here’s one way to do it.. Continue reading »

Online Tools for Traceroute & Ping

Traceroute not working correctly via macOS Terminal app, which is how I’ve been doing it for years now. For some reason, the traces hang up and never complete for certain sites. After some time troubleshooting and not finding any solution, I decided to look for alternate ways of performing traceroutes and site pings. Fortunately there are tons of free tools. Here are some of the useful services and apps that I’ve found.. Continue reading »

Domain-Based, Site Specific Email Addresses FTW

I use domain-based emails for 99% of my email activity. The other 1% is comprised of assorted 3rd-party email services and temporary slash disposable addresses (like for testing purposes and one-off sign-ups, etc.). I can tell you whole-heartedly based on 20+ years working online that domain-based email is THE WAY to go. Continue reading »

An Epic Design Fail

Stack of three different Moto phones

We’ve all experienced design fails. Sadly, they happen so often as to be unmemorable, not worth mentioning. Design fail examples include things like form controls not working, or confusing user interfaces, or problems with folding phones, or myriad other mobile phone design fails. But every now and then you encounter a design that fails so badly, that you just have to share it. Continue reading »

There is No Operator

I’ve posted before lamenting the absolute pathetic state of big company phone support. Here is a transcript of a recent phone call with a big bank, trying to speak to a representative, but getting the run-around from their crappy telephone system. This was an extremely frustrating experience.. perhaps you can relate? Continue reading »

Replacement for JavaScript Errors Notifier (Chrome Extension)

Heads up about the JavaScript Errors Notifier extension for Google Chrome. Looks like it was removed from the Chrome store sometime last year. Not sure of the reason behind it, but can tell you that currently there are no suitable extensions to replace it. Kinda sucks because JavaScript Errors Notifier was one of my favorite “always on” extensions. It makes it easy to spot any JavaScript errors as you develop, design, or browse the Web. Fortunately there’s still a way […] Continue reading »

Check Your Spam Folder

Check Your Spam Folder

It’s sad that we’ve arrived at a place where it needs to be said. Unfortunately, 3rd-party email services such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, and so forth have to deal with tons and tons of spam. So they tend to use very aggressive spam-filtering rules. Overly aggressive, in many cases. Continue reading »

Important Notice for Email Subscribers

Whoops! I spaced off sending this before July, so figured better late than never :) Hello! As you may have heard, Google/Feedburner is dropping support for their “Subscribe via Email” feature. This free service grabs the latest content from a site’s RSS feed and delivers it via email to a list of subscribers. So whenever a new post is published here at Perishable Press, Feedburner delivers an HTML-formatted copy direct your inbox. The subscribe-via-email service has been available for years […] Continue reading »

Roll Your Own Simple Password Manager on macOS

Password Manager

I’ve tried 1Password and Dashlane, and several other popular password managers for both Mac and PC. It always seems to be the same thing: things start off great and then go downhill from there. For example, I was loving 1Password, and then it locked me out of my password file/account. Likewise for a couple of years Dashlane was great, but then they started making drastic changes like moving from standalone app to browser extension Web-based UI. The confusion involved with […] Continue reading »

Disable Ask for Location Prompts in Google Chrome

Chrome location prompt

Want to stop Google Chrome browser from constantly asking for permission to “know your location”? This mini tutorial shows how to do it quickly and easily, for Google Chrome versions (around) 83 and better. Continue reading »

Switching from Photoshop to Affinity Photo: Lessons Learned

Affinity Photo

This post is a bit different than my regular in-depth tutorials. This is where I scribble down notes and thoughts about my experience switching from Photoshop (PS) to Affinity Photo (AP). As I continue to learn AP and collect more notes, I’ll add them to this post. It’s an informal work in progress. To give some context of where I’m coming from, I have around 20 years experience working with Photoshop (and other Adobe apps). Like many others, for me […] Continue reading »

Remove __MACOSX and .DS_Store from ZIP Files on Mac

[ The Cleaner ]

Zipping files on Apple/Mac is a chore because of all the hidden files and folders added by macOS. Like .DS_Store and __MACOSX are two of the most common files and folders that are added to zip files when compressed on macOS. The folder named __MACOSX especially is problematic because it contains duplicates of every file in the zip archive. So for example, if you use Finder to compress 20 files, the resulting zip file will contain the original 20 files, […] Continue reading »

How to Ask for Help and Get It

[ Screenshot of pathetic Facebook post ]

I see so many technical (and other) questions in forums and social media that go unanswered. Not due to lack of trying, but due to lack of understanding. People posting questions like this (an actual post in a popular PHP group on FB): Continue reading »

How to Disable Chrome Scroll to Text Fragment

It is debatable whether or not Chrome’s new scrolltotextfragment feature is a significant security concern. When in doubt, play it safe. This quick post explains how to disable (or enable) Chrome’s scroll-to-text-fragment functionality. Continue reading »

Welcome
Perishable Press is operated by Jeff Starr, a professional web developer and book author with two decades of experience. Here you will find posts about web development, WordPress, security, and more »
USP Pro: Unlimited front-end forms for user-submitted posts and more.
Thoughts
I live right next door to the absolute loudest car in town. And the owner loves to drive it.
8G Firewall now out of beta testing, ready for use on production sites.
It's all about that ad revenue baby.
Note to self: encrypting 500 GB of data on my iMac takes around 8 hours.
Getting back into things after a bit of a break. Currently 7° F outside. Chillz.
2024 is going to make 2020 look like a vacation. Prepare accordingly.
First snow of the year :)
Newsletter
Get news, updates, deals & tips via email.
Email kept private. Easy unsubscribe anytime.