65 posts related to: My Shortlist for Managed VPS Hosting

After 25+ Years, It’s Goodbye Hotmail

For me, 2024 is all about simplifying workflow and removing any speed bumps in my routine. Next stop: Goodbye to my two long-lived Hotmail accounts. I’ve had these accounts since forever, set up way back in 1998. For the first few years, I used my Hotmail accounts for everything. Then I got into web development and learned how to host my own email. As time went on, I used the Hotmail accounts less and less. Until now they are mostly […] 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 »

What Those Three Linux “CPU Usage” Numbers Mean

Just a quick note to self (and anyone looking for the same information). A common question I get for my free WordPress plugin, Dashboard Widgets Suite (DWS), is “what do the CPU Usage” numbers mean? Users get curious because the DWS plugin displays something like this on the WordPress Dashboard: Displaying CPU Usage and other stats on the WP Dashboard (click image for full-size view) Notice in the screenshot, where it shows the three numbers for “CPU Usage”: 0.75, 0.55, […] Continue reading »

Self-Hosted, Domain-Based 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 self-hosted email is THE WAY to go. 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 »

Enabling ModSecurity (Updated)

For years, I’ve not used ModSecurity for any of my own sites. Way back when I first tried ModSecurity, there were just too many false positives, so I stayed away from it, opting instead to develop my own fast Apache/.htaccess firewall. But my web host now is telling me that ModSecurity is required on all of their managed VPS plans. Continue reading »

Remove __MACOSX and .DS_Store from ZIP Files on Mac

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 »

Customer Anti-Support

Email support can be great or it can suck horribly. It’s a spectrum. For my own products and services, my average email response time is around 1 hour in general, and 5 minutes if I am online. Seriously, I am right there ready and glad to help anyone who needs it. Contrast that strategy to what seems to be the typical email support response time of an entire day or much longer. It’s just crazy to have to wait that […] Continue reading »

xy.css moved to Perishable Press

Recently I’ve been implementing SSL on my domains and have been streamlining and updating some projects along the way. Consolidating properties is a great way to simplify workflow and boost productivity, so I’ve went ahead and moved xyCSS from its own domain, xy.css, to its new home here at Perishable Press. Continue reading »

WP-Mix – A fresh mix of code snippets and tutorials

Wrapping up 2012, I finally launched xyCSS, which is all about responsive, grid-based design. To showcase xy.css, I used it to design WP-Mix.com, which also serves to house a growing collection of choice code snippets. Currently WP-Mix features over 100 snippets, tutorials, and other useful bits to help with WordPress development and web design in general. The topics are similar to those at Perishable Press (e.g., WordPress, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, etc.), but the posts are less-involved and aimed at intermediate […] Continue reading »

xy.css – Responsive Grid Design

For the past year or so, I’ve been heavy into responsive, grid-based design. In December, I “soft-launched” my new site, xyCSS with a simple tweet: Bringing it all together: https://perishablepress.com/xycss/ As implied (and explained), xy.css is a lightweight CSS template for creating semantic HTML5 designs on a responsive liquid matrix. Continue reading »

What I did in 2012

It’s been an amazing year across the board. Here is a quick recap of some of the things I did in 2012. I don’t keep a journal of every little detail, but here are some of the things I remember specifically setting out to do, sort of organized by month. So much more to report, these are just the highlights. Continue reading »

Media Temple (dv) 4.0 Migration & Optimization

[ Comparing differences in the Plesk Migration Manager ]

About a month ago, I received an email letting me know that my host, Media Temple, is discontinuing their (dv) Dedicated Virtual 3.0-3.5 servers. Everyone hosted on the old servers must migrate to the new (dv) 4.0 servers. The friendly (mt) email says: The migration is a fairly simple process and you’ll have until early summer to complete it. Having now performed the migration, I can assure you that solid preparation is required to make it a smooth and “fairly […] Continue reading »

Switching to New Server

Just a note that PerishablePress.com will be migrating to its new home at Media Temple. Thanks for your patience as the DNS propagates. If you encounter anything seriously weird, like unexpected errors or anything, please comment on this post or send an email. As always, thank you for your help. Okay – here goes nothin’! Continue reading »

Recent Drama, News, and Other Stuff

Okay so it’s been awhile. That’s a good thing because it means I’m busy. But it also sucks because life moves too fast to blog about everything that happens. Especially with web design: you get started blogging about your discoveries, and then you find yourself learning and doing too much to post or tweet about even just the big stuff. But now I have some time to write and share some of the awesome and insane things that have happened […] Continue reading »

Another Boring Personal Update

It’s been awhile since I have taken some time to just blog a little bit about what’s been happening in this crazy little world of mine. Normally, I like to keep my articles focused on web design, social media, and other online topics, but every now and then I like to take some time out and share some personal news. Needless to say, lots of awesome stuff has been happening both online and in my personal life, so here’s a […] Continue reading »

123…5 • Previous Posts »