if you haven’t updated your website to version 8.0 yet, you should. It came out early this year. There should not be anything in it that would break a site. The first main reason you should update is that support has ALREADY ended for versions 7.1 and 7.2 and and is in the timeline (the clock is running) until support for version 7.3 will also be ended. I updated 4 sites today without a glitch on any of them.
Some of the newer additions are the JIT compiler, which should add a little speed to your site, “union types” which is an interesting coding feature that allows more than 1 type to be used in conjunction, and “attributes” which now allows you to add meta data to a class. Also added are “name arguments”, a “match” expression which is like a super switch element, Constructor properties have also received a “step-up” in the game. There are new return types, and many other fun toys you will like if you are a programmer.
If you are not a programmer, you will just enjoy the added abilities it will give your site for any new code that is written in PHP 8.0, and the updates are likely coming if they are not already here, so you want your back-end to have the necessary tools to comply any new theme or plugin updates that are using it. If you don’t update the code version in your hosting environment, you can’t benefit fully from some of the updates. If you are not a “techie” but you still want to benefit from this new update, give Everything I.T. a call, and let them safely backup your site and do the upgrade for you, or better yet, consider one of their annual maintenance plans.
So I recently was trying to figure out “how” and “why” money can leave 1 account, and not show up posted or pending at my banks account yet, but still not actually be “missing” (which everyone kept telling me, and told me to sit around and “wait” for it, which no one knows is easy, right?) What I did was try to transfer money from 1 account to another account, the money CLEARLY left the 1st account RIGHT AWAY…but when I logged into my bank account, it never showed up. Not today, and not the next day. And neigther was it even a “pending” transaction. So I began to panic…when everyone told me everything was fine and I still couldn’t find it, I began to panic. After I panicked, I did some research, and discovered this information.
If this has ever been you, you may want to read this clear and comprehensive article to how and what ACH payment processing is and how it works. It was very interesting and helpful information to me. I hope you find it helpful as well. (I’m amazed at how many bank and financial institution supervisors could never explain this information to me!) You would think they would be able to explain this simple process to me.
Just a little 2020 Covid-19 Mask Humor For Your Day
It’s not THAT bad, right? We know you will look back on this year at times in the future, and this year was such a struggle for so many. We will look back with affection and remember how IMPORTANT it was to maintain a little light humor during all of it. When we are on the other side looking back, I want to give you a warm feeling.
You may or may not be aware, that if you own the worlds BEST wordpress plugin DIVI, that you ALSO get ALL the other Elegant Themes products included with the original cost of your license…in other words, NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. Divi in itself, is completely worth the purchase price of the theme simply by itself, it does hundreds of times more than any other theme on the market, all without needing to know any coding at all to design your website. It will literally do anything you want it to.But to get all these other products included with it, just puts the icing on the cake. How can you NOT be working with this awesome website tool?
But now, in addition, you can also this amazing new plugin that allows you to customize the mobile menu…a new feature. (There are other amazing plugins as well, social network sharing, email account contact management connecting, and others) To check out the new plugin, go here:DIVI MOBILE PLUGIN
To check out DIVI, if you don’t know what it is yet perhaps…you should go here and play with the demo…it’s awesome! Check the links below…
yes, Hacking is at an all time high right now, so it’s not a time to be slack on security at all…and being as Zoom is so popular right now, there are really good quality Zoom phishing attempt to get into your system and they are working.
How it works is you get a phishing email saying you ‘missed a scheduled Zoom meeting” that will contain a link that promises a video of the meeting and recording. If you click the link it will take you to a malicious website that dupes a Microsoft Login page, and if you login, guess what, they now have your Microsoft credentials which they can now use to log in to your computer. It is very effective. If you want to read more on how the attack works, read about it in more detail here: Phishing Campaign
The attack is successful because it will appear to have your legitimate information…it will have your real name in the email. These are TARGETED attacks usually for certain company employees.
Here is another article on ZOOMBOMBING which is an entirely different Zoom hack…read about that one also.
If you do get hacked, you can get a hold of us, and we can clean up your system pretty thoroughly. I’ve done 3 people in the last week, so don’t feel like you are the only one. These guys are sitting around in lockdown/quarantine with nothing better to do than improve their hacking skills, and wreak havoc. Don’t give them an open door, lock it down folks. 🙂
If you are using this plugin, you will want to upgrade to version 1.8.3 immediately. If you want the details of the vulnerability and how it works, you can read the rest of the long post here:
Do you have security on your email account? How much…a good password maybe? It’s not enough. And here is why…
Your email account gives access to ANY other account you may hold. If someone can access your email account, they can ‘verify’ and get into ANY of your online accounts. Maybe you think people don’t try? Well that would be a very bad mistake. Here is my account that someone has been trying to get in to unsuccessfully for 24 hours now. It’s been unsuccessful because #1 I have 2-step verification on my microsoft account. And #2, because I have 2-step verification on, you need another ‘special’ password to set up email, because the regular password won’t work in an email setup if you have 2-step security turned on.
If you look at the image, you will see the protocol they were trying to access was/is IMAP …which is email. When the request hit my phone today, I changed the password to make it even more difficult, now they have to start over if they want to continue…but somehow they got my email password, or I would have never got a request on my phone. So that should be proof to you that passwords alone are not enough.
There are certain accounts that need to be protected harder than other accounts…these are banking, hosting, and email accounts. Don’t take chances with them. You may never need it for 5 years…but if you have it in place and use it regularly…the 1 time you do need it, it will protect you.
Call Everything I.T. if you need help with security. We can help you.
Don’t Fear Hackers, Just Protect, and Sleep At Night
I just wanted to write a brief post, in light of all the internet hacking and malware that is going on lately. There are some pretty nasty infections going around the web at the moment. But people shouldn’t fear them. If you have your security up tight, if you have done all the basics, and follow all the rules, life will go on, and everything will be ok. Most hackers are not actually that intelligent. Granted, there is a handful of extremely bright coders/programmers out there. But you need to know that this is NOT the majority of the crowd out there. The majority of the crowd falls into the category of what we like to call “script kiddies” …people with zero skills, who download malicious programs from the internet and the darkweb (if they actually survive without getting hacked themselves) and attempt to put them to work. (more…)
AMAZING launch returns boosters to the pad for the first time!
It’s not I.T. related, but being a veteran, and also working for both Lockheed Martin, and Astro Aerospace in the past, I have a great appreciation for these projects as well. In any regard, this is a tremendously amazing acheivment, and glorious to observe. I watched this video on my TV …full screen! Don’t check out early, or you will miss the best part.
The latest version of WordPress, 5.1, has some great improvements. You will want to read about them: (REF: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/02/08/wordpress-5-1-field-guide/ ) CHECK IT OUT!
There are even more goodies in 5.1 like updates to values allowed for the WP_DEBUG_LOG constant, new test config file constant in the test suite, new plugin action hooks, short circuit filters for wp_unique_post_slug() and WP_User_Query and count_users(), a new human_readable_duration function, improved taxonomy metabox sanitization, limited LIKE support for meta keys when using WP_Meta_Query, a new “doing it wrong” notice when registering REST API endpoints, and more!
Bootstrap/Load: WSODs protection returns incorrect content type for JSON Requests (#45933)
Cache API: Allow object caches to degrade gracefully (#22661)
Customize: Improve browser compatibility of X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy headers for window in preview iframe (#40020)
Customize: Use iframe sandbox attribute to restrict browsing in Customizer preview instead of attempting to rely on JS to intercept top navigation (#42341)
Customize: Fix counting of sections for widget sidebars, allowing non-sidebar sections to not interfere (#43556)
Customize: Prevent wp_targeted_link_rel() from corrupting Customizer changeset data (#45292)
Media: Parse the creation date out of uploaded audio files (#42017)
Media: No placeholder for ico file in list view of Media Library (#43458)
Media: media_handle_sideload() may unexpectedly return 0 on error (#44303)
Menus: Improve headings and instructions for better accessibility (#43397)
Menus: Show an appropriate message when no menus exist (#45155)
Networks and Sites: Improve site creation in multisite (#40364)
Networks and Sites: Introduce ms-site.php and ms-network.php files (#40647)
Networks and Sites: Implement wp_initialize_site() and wp_uninitialize_site()(#41333)
Plugins: Disable “Install Plugin” button for PHP required version mismatch (#43986)
Privacy: Show the comment / awaiting moderation message even without opt-in (#43857)
Query: post__in orderby not working when passed in an array to orderby (#38034)
REST API: Allow to filter the query in the search controller (#45454)
A humorous amplified look at some typical office problems Everything I.T. can help with. Even if you don’t need help right now, take a break and have a laugh with your morning coffee (or dinner, depending)
Everything I.T.’s gift certificates make the perfect Christmas (or other occassion) gift for the person that is difficult to buy for, because they can be used for so many different things. If the recipient is non-technical, they can be used to set up email, for computer tutoring or training, or for remote technical assistance if they get in a jam they just can’t resolve on their own. It can be used for a computer repair, for home or business. For the more technical person, it can be used for computer hardware upgrades (for your favorite gamer) like graphic cards, hard drives, extra memory, or whatever. It can use used to help them get that website going that they know they need but haven’t been able to afford, or if they already have one, they can get upgrades to it, or even an annual maintenance contract. The best part is, …you don’t have to choose. You just chip in, purchase the gift certificate, and let them use it however they want! It’s perfect really…There are very few people who can’t find some use for it. You can purchase the gift certificate for any amount you choose, from $35 and up. ($35.00 is still the minimum 1 hour rate for any job) It’s perfect for young and old alike. I tutor students, and work with seniors, I’m very patient, and can help anyone who needs it to adapt to the technical era. Get one today!
So what’s up with Microsoft? Major changes, that’s what. I just read today that Microsoft is changing pace and direction yet again (good new if you are a stockholder, bad news if you are just trying to hang on with old technology) Starting this month, it’s closing doors to almost all of it’s Windows. Support for them anyway…they are stopping for support for a whole list of stuff. You may want to take a look:
The support for the below products will be discontinued across different forums in the Community.
Windows 7, 8.1, 8.1 RT Microsoft Security Essentials Internet Explorer 10 Office 2010, 2013 Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, Surface RT, Surface 2 Microsoft Band – this topic will be locked. Users are invited to participate in Microsoft Band 2 topic. Mobile devices forum – Microsoft support will continue in “Other Windows mobile devices” topic Zune – this topic will be locked, but will remain available for browsing
Microsoft Community participants are welcome, however, and encouraged to continue to use the forum to ask questions and post answers with “each other.” In other words, there won’t be any more “Microsoft” responses to questions and issues posted there. They are dumping everyone. Microsoft Support Forum Changes Microsoft is moving even MORE to the cloud, and in some arenas, into the open-source industry as well.
Also, a new version of Office, Office 2019 is supposed to come out later this year. and will supposedly have the same life support as Office 2016. (but if you don’t have that, better get with the program) Office 2019
Since the new CEO Satya Nadella joined the game in 2014, these shifts and acquisitions took place: $2.5 billion acquisition of Mojang, the Swedish maker of Minecraft shortly after his arrival, then in 2016 acquired Xamarin for a rumored $500 million, and then, announced just days before the cuts to product support, Microsoft’s $7.5 billion purchase of the world’s largest code repository, Github, underscores its commitment to open-source software development. Read the full article here: Microsoft closing Windows’ doors.
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