A few notes about SBBN that I’ve been putting off until there’s enough for one big post that’s easier to skip:
* Recently, the blog has had a couple of periods of downtime due to some glitches which no one at my webhost can identify. My theory is that the most recent WordPress updates aren’t compatible with a few old posts that were imported from Blogger. I think I’ve found all the posts with errors, but if you get an Internal Server Error on any post, please drop me an email at staciakj (at) outlook so I can check into it. Thanks.
* Part of the reason for my absence is that a blog is a lot of work nowadays, not in the posting but just in keeping the site running smoothly. There are always WordPress updates, there’s downtime and glitches, and worst of all, the spammers and hackers are relentless. Let me share a little glimpse at the hacking attempts I deal with:
That’s just one of three anti-hacking add-ons I use, coupled of course with various other methods of keeping the blog from being hacked. Each one of those 9300 blocked IPs represents someone — mostly script kiddies and hackers, but also the occasional disgruntled individual — who tried to brute force hack into the blog by guessing the password. They try so steadily that nearly 10,000 attempts have been racked up since I reset this batch of stats eight months ago. Nearly 1600 attempts per month, or about 52 per day. Spam comments range in the 50-100 per day range.
The administration of the blog is a pain, is what I’m getting at, and I can go weeks without ever posting while I’m still working for hours behind the scenes. Right now, I’m looking at a few options for the future, because I don’t want to give up the blog but really don’t have as much time as the blog needs to remain active, either.
* Another thing I’m looking into is some way to separate the new release reviews from the classic film reviews. I’ve been toying with the idea of a casual multi-author site, and will talk more about that if the idea fleshes out.
* And finally, I am testing out adding some Amazon Associates links to a few select posts. They won’t go on new posts, only on old posts, so no one who is subscribed to the blog via email will get ads. This blog isn’t free and every few pennies helps, but I’m not going to force people to see even more ads just to subsidize my writing. You can see an example of how the ads are gonna go down here in the Mitchell post.
That’s about it for boring administrative news. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to ask.