Strange, but true. My website was hacked. Not for my contacts, or anything to do with my actual website really. It seems that little websites like mine are targets for someone who just wants an IP address. It all sounds like Greek to me (which is why I have John Charlton take care of these nasty details), but apparently some outfit from China was using my IP address to send out anti-Trump stuff. I would never have noticed this. I’m told that my site became suddenly unweildy, slow, and was taking up tons of space on the server. Who would think of this, eh?
Now, if they had asked me, I might even have given permission to send out anti-Trump stuff … at least I would have until I learned that there’s this weird kind of back door attack. It is totally bizarre. How do you know what is real and what isn’t when this kind of thing can happen to regular folks like us?
Anyway, after John came over to explain the situation and give me a few hints about making the site faster for people who use hand held devices (like ipads and phones), I started to work on the Sale page for the site. This is when it would be lovely to have a 13 year old on hand … I had originally meant to put up bells and whistles like paypal, etc., but since websites now have to be ready for anything (maybe even floating under water, who knows?) I picked an easy route. Like most artists/artisans I have a ‘Square‘ for people who want to use credits cards. It’s easy. It’s cheap. You don’t have to rent one of those darn machines (that cost about $35/mo whether you use them or not!). I would use paypal, but like most of you, I get tons of emails from all over the world from sources that claim to be paypal — who are trolling for info, or carrying viruses, or want access to your friends. And, that brings me back to being hacked.
I love my website, and I even like doing a blog. I enjoy sharing thoughts and pics of pots, music, videos, and so on. That’s the upside of all of this technology. The downside is that we are open to whatever is floating around in the disembodied ethers of the world wide web. So we have to make some choices …
If you have a minute tell me what you think of my Pot Shop. Too many pics? Want to see more?
I’m just about snowed in here today, so it’s a great day to work. I’m headed to the studio to do some more of the ‘ancient series’ (they sold out over Christmas, so that’s a good sign, eh?). After that I might put on a pot of coffee and start to tackle the income tax stuff. Have to figure out how much I owe the gov’t before I can plan my trip to the UK … Might be a trip to the Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo (Ontario) instead!
Hope you’re having a great day!
Susan McD
