John’s Ramblings

I think I've done some beer drinking in this same outfit...

So, like Twitter and Facebook before me, I guess I became a victim of an internet attack by Kim Jong Il.  My site was hacked a few days ago and even I could not get to it for a time because it had been flagged as “distributing malware”.  I think maybe the North Korean dictator was jealous of my well developed musculature, so he had his minions shut me down.

I noticed the shutdown when I tried to post a boring workout summary on Sunday, at noon.  I’m not sure when the actual hack occurred, nor exactly what the malware “payload” was on the site.  I do apologize for the inconvenience, and if you have had any repercussions from the attack.  If you have visited my site since June (which, I’m gathering from the internets, is when many WordPress sites were hacked) I’d urge you to scan your computers for any malicious code.  If you don’t have a good antivirus/malware detecting software, you really do need to buy some in this day-and-age.  You can also get a free online scan by TrendMicro’s HouseCall utility.

The warnings about my website generated by Google didn’t give a whole lot of detail.  Rather than hunt-and-peck through 100′s of files on the site I just ordered a backup restore from a week or so ago.  I also removed several old web pages from my original “static” website.  Once the restore was complete, I was unable to find any of the typical signs of malware, or re-directs to bad sites.  I asked Google for a re-review of my site, and as of this morning I was in the clear.  I’ve put new & improved passwords on all my stuff, so I think I may have thwarted ol’ shorty for now.

Thanks.  Boring posts about workouts coming soon…

Mr. early-adopter saw a new release of WordPress had been announced, and just couldn’t wait to upgrade. Usually, my hosting service makes this rather painless, with their one-click install/upgrade process.

The changes in this release are just significant enough that the existing theme I was using for my blog was not immediately compatible. Changing one’s theme is similarly a one-click process, as is evidenced with my having wiped out my perfectly good theme 6 months ago with just such an errant click.

During morning coffee I did a quick comparison scan between “available themes” and “themes that work with version 2.3″. Criteria was:

• functional
• simple to view
• simple to tweak

I thought the fonts on the last theme were a little obscure, requiring the old blogger to clean his glasses before reviewing comments. This one seemed to meet my criteria, and I could actually read it. Bonus points for having orange accents, to match pics of my bike in action, whenever I actually get my ass back on the damn thing. Therefore, I present to you Limau Orange, my theme of the moment.

Until I change my mind, or hit the wrong button again.