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A Look Back At Hosting In 2015

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As we enter 2016 and leave 2015 behind, I sat here reflecting on the history of JoeTech.com and what’s to come.

A Little History
When I first started this blog in 2006, I had a nine year old web development company and we provided hosting to our clients, but I wanted this to live away from my own servers while I figured out what I wanted it to be. I registered a domain name, found affordable hosting with Aplus.net and began an adventure. As time passed, the blog gained loyal readers and I enjoyed having an off-site dedicated server that I could add more project sites to and maintain as I wanted. In 2009, Aplus became Codero and the reliability and service only improved. From uptime to billing to real-time customer care, I watched Codero get better is my blog grew with it. In 2012, Codero’s new CEO Emil Sayegh was in Phoenix for their new data center and invited me to lunch where we discussed the past and present of Codero and hosting in general over Thai food. It was refreshing and memorable to have a CEO sit down one-on-one over lunch and ask how his company could be what a customer like me needs.

Codero in 2015
Codero was growing pretty steadily before, but 2015 looks to have been a pretty busy year for the company. In June, they announced their acquisition by a group of 32 telecom providers. This not only expands their market reach, but it opens the door to a new array of edge data centers, which should easily speed up that “time to first byte” for a lot of hosting clients. Continuing to focus on speed, the Codero Cloud went 100% SSD-powered just one month later. This is critical when you need to spin up a new instance and scale immediately. Of all the things happening with Codero in 2015, though, I really enjoyed the client stories. The one that stood out to me was the Midtown Comics success story. Although I don’t collect comics, I do collect sports cards which pose similar challenges in terms of cataloging and searching online. I love that they built their own system from the ground up and I recognize how important it is to get the technology stack right for such an endeavor.

What’s Next?
For Codero, it looks like there’s going to be continued focus on the growth of their cloud and the new edge data centers as well as how this will help clients succeed with big data and the Internet of Things, both of which I have heightened curiosity in. As the Codero Cloud evolves, I imagine I will evolve my hosting needs with it. Like Midtown Comics, I’m planning a lofty collectible catalog system build from the ground up and building it in their cloud seems like the only way to spend my 10th year with Codero.

Security Tip: 5 Easy Ways to Remember Your Strong Password

With all the information we keep on our computers, our USB drives, our email accounts, and all other kinds of digital systems, it’s not rare to easily collect half-a-dozen passwords, or even more, that one needs to remember. Strong passwords are important, of course. And many times you simply can’t have the same password for multiple applications; what one system demands for a password might not be the same as another. While multiple passwords will certainly make it harder for prying eyes to get a hold of your data, it can also be counterproductive. Keep reading for 5 easy ways that you can remember your strong password.

Use a Password Manager

Alright, this might be cheating, as you won’t technically have to remember much. But a password manager is a welcomed solution to the problem of having countless passwords to remember. With a password manager, you just remember one, and it will handle all the rest. Unfortunately, though, password manager only work on computers that they’re installed on.

Use Random Words You Love

The most secure passwords are the ones that are long and full of random characters. This makes them almost impossible to guess. It also defeats the vast majority of hacking attempts that try to break in through the sheer brute force of constantly entering option after option.

Unfortunately, random characters can be very difficult to remember. Random words, on the other hand, are much easier to commit to memory. Best of all, they have proven to be almost as secure when it comes to protecting your data. Try your first pet’s name, the street you grew up on, and the day of the month you were born on. Or have it be your favorite animal, your dream car, and your mother’s maiden name. Though opinions may vary about this, you can probably afford to write down a reminderâ€”somewhere safe, perhaps in your cell phoneâ€”that simply says, “favorite baseball player, sister’s birthday, dream vacation.” That makes for an easy reminder that practically no one should be able to figure out.

Use Mnemonic Devices

Because random characters are such a strong password, there’s a very good argument to choose them. “I always get my password on the first try”, for example, can be changed to “Iagmpot1t.” This is an extremely strong password that’s easy to remember.

Write Down Your Passwords and Keep Them Safe

If you’re particularly concerned about forgetting all your passwords, it’s ok to write them down. However, it’s then of the utmost importance that you store them somewhere safe. They should be nowhere near the computer you use them for. So, if your passwords are for an office computer, keep them locked away at home. If you have a home office, consider writing them down in the back of a favorite book kept on a shelf in another room.

Rotate Passwords

Most systems that require passwords also require you to change them regularly. When possible, simply rotate your passwords through systems. This helps keep you from making countless passwords that you’ll have a hard time remembering. So long as none of your systems have been compromised, there’s no point in wasting a strong password.

Source:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2014040/how-to-remember-passwords-and-which-ones-you-should.html
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/tips-to-help-users-remember-their-password/

The Hottest Mobile Gaming Trends of 2013

Mobile gaming started off with humble beginnings, much like the original video game industry. For awhile, many people were stuck with nothing but Snake, which found its way onto Nokia cellphones for years, starting in 1998, according to CNN.

As smartphones took off, and app developers discovered how to get the most out of the hardware, many games started rearing their heads. The iPhone and iOS were particularly instrumental in helping the mobile gaming industry. After all, the homogenized hardware and operating system was a much easier pill for developers to swallow, compared to the disparate equipment offered by Android phones. Today, the mobile gaming industry is seeing games that would look right at home on the console, a game development app to help create your own mobile games, and even a 64-bit process to make everything run smoother.

64-Bit Processing

Apple’s recently released iPhone 5s features a 64-bit processor, the first of any consumer smartphone to do so. This hardware advancement opens up the way for higher-end gaming, due to better and more efficient processing on the CPU’s part. The Verge reports a 64-bit processor allows the smartphone to use more than 4 gigs of RAM, as well as improved operations handling. While most developers have not yet created games that take advantage of 64-bit architecture, it’s in the works.

Create Your Own Games

Over a gamer’s life, there comes a time when they think to themselves, “I could make a better game than this pile of garbage.” Now, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Geek Gamerz reports Napkin Game Studios is a game development app that facilitates the generation of mobile games in a few minutes, working off of templates, wizards and other tools. It’s an object editor that allows you to work with every item in your game, letting you tweak physics settings, and add in your own graphics. The level editor is also easy to use, with a drag-and-drop interface for creating challenging levels.

Battlefield 4-Integrated Second Screen

Many video game companies are beginning to see the benefits of second screen technology, but none are more useful than the techniques used by the Battlefield 4 download game uploading. Your smartphone or tablet is used as an essential part of the Commander mode feature, a game mode that allows you to have a complete overview of the battle map. You can look for enemies and attacks and track your squad through the app. This gives you an entirely new way to experience Battlefield 4 and gain domination over the map.

Infinity Blade

The Infinity Blade series is the pinnacle of mobile games that push the hardware’s limits. It looks right at home on an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, but it’s on your iPhone chugging along happily. The latest game in the series, Infinity Blade III, is one of the first games that utilizes the 64-bit iPhone 5S chip, and it shows. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay continues to be solid, and the story finally concludes with the end of this trilogy.