Alleba Blog

March 13th, 2012

How to Recover a Hacked WordPress Blog

written by Andrew

Hackers attack one or more parts of your WordPress blog, namely your core installation files, plugins, themes and database by inserting malicious code into PHP and Javascript files to deliver trojans, viruses, harmful links or simply get off on the fact that they’ve hacked you. How do you know that you’ve been hacked? If you visit your blog on your browser either the browser will stop you from visiting the URL or your anti-virus program alerts you of a potential threat. To confirm, have your blog undergo a scan at Sucuri.net. Having been hacked thousands of times in the past, I’ve developed a surefire way to fix a hacked blog. I’ll guide you through each step, and suggest ways to circumvent the hack.
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Posted in Wordpress | 2 Comments »

February 25th, 2012

Space-Friendly Speakers by Hohrizontal 51

written by Andrew

Hard-pressed to decide which gadget to play your music on? Or simply where to put them? German company Finite Elemente combines the beauty of furniture and technology with its Hohrizontal 51 line. Basically, they’re shelves (neat-looking one at that) yet they double as powerful speakers as well. There’s an dock in the middle where you can place your iPod plus extra USB and auxiliary sockets on the back. The floating shelves themselves can withstand up to 25kg. Place only a few books and whatnot or risk damaging your slew of gadgets in one disastrous fall.

Posted in Gadgets, Geekery | 2 Comments »

February 24th, 2012

Philips’ Not So Bee-rilliant Idea

written by Andrew

Seeing the decline of bee populations in cities worldwide, Philips invents the ‘Urban Beehive’ which gives urban dwellers an option to, well, have these stingy critters as pets. It works this way: a flower pot is placed neatly behind the contraption for bees to extract the pollen, then pass through a funnel on top to enter the synthetic hive encapsulated in a glass shell. The freaky-looking shell (which resembles an alien cocoon), filters light to emit orange wavelengths to allow the bees to see.
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Posted in Gadgets | 3 Comments »

January 9th, 2012

Best 10 Web Hosting Sites

written by Andrew

This is a paid review.

WP Web Designer has come up with a list of its own compiling various Webhosting Sites and ranking them according to a strict criteria. This criteria takes into consideration the price, server uptime, reliability, ease-of-use, control panel and customer support. These are indeed factors you should watch out for before deciding on a webhost.

I’m happy to see that Dreamhost is on the list. I have been with Dreamhost since 1997. My relationship with them has had its ups and downs. Despite my constant bickering, they have been continuously providing me excellent customer service and that is why I have stuck it out with them ever since. Dreamhost provides many levels of webhosting packages depending on your needs. They have shared webhosting that is perfect for beginners and bloggers. They also have Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and Dedicated Servers for sites requiring serious amounts of disk space and bandwidth. I signed up for their VPS service, because some of my sites were beginning to get a lot of traffic that a shared account could no longer handle. They have a neat feature in the control panel that allows me to control the amount of bandwidth I only need, so I pay only what I consume. Pretty cool eh? Aside from Dreamhost I recommend Bluehost and Hostmonster. Be sure to check out WP Web Designer for credible webhosting reviews and ratings.

Posted in Webhosts | No Comments »

January 9th, 2012

Best 10 Webhosting Sites in Canada

written by Andrew

The following is a paid review.

Best10Webhosting.ca is a great resource in deciding what is the best webhosting providers in Canada that suits the needs of your personal or business website. Well, you may ask, why Canada? The web hosting industry in Canada is shaking up the web hosting industry with its recent advances in reliability, customer service and technology, giving their American counterparts a run for their money. My webhosts, Dreamhost, Media Temple and A Small Orange, are all based in the United States, but I have heard many good things about Canadian webhosts Hostmonster and Bluehost as well. Many of my friends are in fact hosted on Bluehost and are very happy with them. It is not to say that one is better than the other, but it may be something to consider.

On Best10Webhosting.ca, you can see that details of each webhost such as pricing, disk space, bandwidth, reliability and speed are provided in a clean, easy-to-read interface. At the end of each row is an overall score of the webhost that is based on customer reviews and other critical factors like ease-of-use, uptime, support, and cost. Also provided is a link pointing to actual reviews from users. I highly recommend Best10Webhosting.ca for anyone wanting credible reviews and ratings to help them make sound decisions in picking the perfect webhost.

Posted in Webhosts | No Comments »

October 6th, 2011

Adieu, Steve

written by Andrew

Posted in Asides | No Comments »

June 7th, 2011

Nintendo Previews the Upcoming Wii U

written by Andrew

Nintendo announces its next generation console, the Wii U. People are buzzing about the new controller that sports its own 6.2 inch screen. The screen doubles as a visual and motion accessory for better accuracy in certain games, as well as a sketchboard and video chat platform (see video below for more). The Wii U hits store shelves in 2012.

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Posted in Gadgets | 3 Comments »

May 27th, 2011

Personal Finance on the Web

written by Andrew

Managing my finances or investing in stocks are things that I haven’t had the time or guts to delve into. Now that I think about it, now might be a good time for me to explore that idea. It’s been well, years, since I seriously touched a calculator. Yes, no one could not have guessed that I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Economics. When I graduated, I swore to myself that I’d keep away as far as possible from anything that resembled ledger paper. Accounting terrified me as much it does now. That might be one of the reasons why paying the bills is not on my list of favorite activities. I found sites such as Mint.com (US and Canada only) and Wesabe to be useful in that area, since each allows me to track my savings, spendings and investment performance. I create an account, and these sites collect my financial information, letting me keep track of credit cards, home loans and bank and brokerage accounts all in the comfort of a website interface. For Facebook nuts, Wesabe works similarly as a social network where users can share tips and advice on a range of financial issues.
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Posted in Google, Me | 1 Comment »

March 3rd, 2011

Create a Kick-Ass Business Card Contest

written by Andrew

In lieu of my previous blog post, Awesome Business Card Ideas, I’d like to start a contest that’ll challenge your creativity and craftsmanship. Not many bloggers, including I, have their own business cards ready when the situation calls for it. Why is it important? The gesture of handing out a business card imparts professionalism and courtesy. It shows that you’re serious about what you do, and you want to leave that impression on the person you’re giving it to. The person may or may not keep the card, but if it looks fantastic, there is a big change that he will.

The challenge of this contest is not to create just a business card. I want a business card that tells a story — your story as a blogger. No, I don’t want your autobiography printed on the card. Be creative! Use colors, paint, textile, cement, samurais and stardust. Whatever it takes, I want it to be original and kick-ass! Look around for inspiration. Google is your friend

What’s at stake:
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Posted in Contests | 8 Comments »

February 27th, 2011

Awesome Business Card Ideas

written by Andrew

Anyone who wants to succeed in blogging should not only make a good impression online, but also offline. How? Like anyone who is serious about their craft, having a nice business card to give around is a must. I scoured around the internet in search of the best and quirkiest business card designs. Here they are:

Melvin
This one, by Jenni Mattson, features cutout lock picks. Cool!