New services – Z End Casts https://www.zendcasts.com IT School Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:07:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.2 https://www.zendcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-ITScholl-32x32.png New services – Z End Casts https://www.zendcasts.com 32 32 Scaling Your WordPress Site Without Losing Your Mind: A Real Talk Guide https://www.zendcasts.com/houses/scaling-your-wordpress-site-without-losing-your-mind-a-real-talk-guide/ Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:07:34 +0000 https://www.zendcasts.com/?p=27244 So, you’ve started a WordPress site. Congrats! Maybe it’s a blog, an e-commerce store, or the online HQ of your wildly ambitious side hustle. Whatever it is, it’s yours, and it’s growing. Slowly but surely, more people are finding you, and suddenly you’re not just building a website—you’re building a thing. A thing that might...

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So, you’ve started a WordPress site. Congrats! Maybe it’s a blog, an e-commerce store, or the online HQ of your wildly ambitious side hustle. Whatever it is, it’s yours, and it’s growing. Slowly but surely, more people are finding you, and suddenly you’re not just building a website—you’re building a thing. A thing that might crash the moment too many people love it.

Welcome to the weird, wonderful, slightly terrifying world of website scalability.

But before you panic-order another cup of coffee (or let’s be real, your third for the day), take a breath. Building a scalable WordPress site isn’t as impossible as it sounds. It takes a little planning, a little tinkering, and maybe a few techie terms you’ll eventually understand (or at least pretend to when explaining them to your friends). Here’s how to make it happen without losing your sanity—or your audience.

The Humble Beginnings of Every Big Website

Let’s start with a confession: I once had a WordPress blog. It was a chaotic little corner of the internet where I documented my obsession with weird kitchen gadgets and obscure indie movies. It was simple, small, and honestly kind of adorable.

Then one day, a post I wrote about this ridiculous avocado slicer went semi-viral. Suddenly, people were emailing me. Real people. A food blogger linked to me. A gadget review site picked it up. I was living the dream—until my site crashed, taking all my avocado-related glory with it.

Why? Because my cute little blog wasn’t built to handle traffic. It was like trying to drive a go-kart down a highway. Fun, but completely unsustainable.

Lesson One: Start Thinking Big Before You Need To

If there’s one thing I learned from my avocado-induced disaster, it’s this: plan for growth before growth happens. Yes, even if you’re running a tiny blog that only your mom and three friends visit. Because trust me, growth can sneak up on you like a cat trying to pounce on your keyboard.

So, how do you prepare for a surge of visitors without going full Doomsday Prepper?

Pick the Right Hosting Provider (Yes, It Matters)

If you’re still on that bargain-basement $3/month hosting plan, we need to talk. Shared hosting might be fine for the early days, but it’s like renting a single chair at a party—you’re going to need more space eventually.

Look for hosting providers that specialize in WordPress and offer scalability. Managed WordPress hosting (think WP Engine, Kinsta, or SiteGround) is like having a personal butler for your site—automatic updates, backups, and better performance without you lifting a finger.

Optimize Like You Mean It

Remember those overly ambitious resolutions to “declutter your life”? It’s time to apply that to your WordPress site. Plugins are amazing, but too many will slow your site to a crawl. (Guilty confession: I once had 27 plugins running on a single blog. Don’t be me.)

Stick to the essentials. Get rid of plugins you don’t use. Look for multipurpose plugins that can handle several tasks instead of using separate ones for everything. And while we’re at it, consider lightweight themes that won’t bog down your site. Your visitors will thank you, even if they don’t know why.

The Dark Art of Speeding Things Up

Let’s talk about speed for a second. Have you ever clicked on a website, waited longer than two seconds, and thought, “Eh, I don’t care enough to stick around”? Exactly. Your visitors feel the same way.

Use a CDN (Because Geography Matters)

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is basically like having your site’s content stored in multiple locations around the globe. So when someone in Tokyo visits your site, they’re not waiting for a server in New York to wake up and deliver the goods. Faster loading times = happier visitors.

Cache Like a Pro

Caching is like pre-packing your suitcase before a trip—your site serves up preloaded content instead of scrambling to pull it all together at the last second. Plugins like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache can help you with this, and trust me, they’re worth it. (Bonus: no actual suitcase required.)

When Growth Gets Serious (a.k.a. Things You’ll Eventually Need)

If your site keeps growing, you’ll hit a point where you need to step up your game. This isn’t a bad thing. It’s like graduating from a cozy starter apartment to a house with an actual backyard—more work, but totally worth it.

Consider a CDN Load Balancer

This is the fancy cousin of regular CDNs. A load balancer makes sure that no single server gets overwhelmed by spreading traffic across multiple servers. It’s like assigning seats at a dinner party so nobody has to squeeze into the one broken chair.

Use a Staging Site for Testing

Once you start getting serious traffic, every little change on your site can feel like a high-stakes gamble. What if a plugin update breaks something? What if a new feature slows everything down? Staging sites are like your site’s personal sandbox—test all the changes you want without risking the live version.

Real Talk: You’re Going to Mess Up (And That’s Okay)

Can I let you in on a secret? Even the most successful websites have had their fair share of oops moments. Maybe you’ll install a plugin that tanks your site speed. Maybe your traffic spikes and your server gives up like an overworked barista. It happens.

The key is to learn from those moments. Treat every crash, every hiccup, and every “Oh no, what did I just do?” as a learning experience. The good news? The internet is full of people who’ve been there, done that, and written about it. Forums, YouTube tutorials, and WordPress communities are your best friends.

Bonus Tips from Someone Who’s Been There

  • Backups Are Your Safety Net
    Backups are like flossing—everyone tells you to do it, and you’ll regret it if you don’t. Use a plugin like UpdraftPlus or Jetpack to automate backups, and store them offsite just in case.
  • Monitor Your Traffic Like a Hawk
    Tools like Google Analytics or Jetpack’s site stats aren’t just for nerds. They’re how you spot trends, prepare for surges, and figure out what’s working (or what’s not).
  • Know When to Call in the Pros
    Look, WordPress is amazing, but it’s not magic. If you’re in over your head, hire a developer who knows their way around code and server setups. Think of it as investing in your sanity.

The Moral of the Story: Growth Is Messy, but Worth It

Scaling a WordPress site is a bit like raising a puppy. There are moments of chaos, a steep learning curve, and occasional feelings of, “What was I thinking?” But with patience, effort, and a few missteps along the way, you’ll end up with something you’re proud of.

And hey, even if you never plan on becoming the next big thing in your niche, building a site that can handle whatever comes your way feels pretty darn good. So go forth, optimize, and scale like the internet hero you are. And if you ever need a reminder that even the pros started small, just think back to my avocado slicer debacle. It’s proof that every crash can lead to a comeback.

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Google will fund adding Rust support to the Linux kernel https://www.zendcasts.com/houses/template-paginated/ Thu, 25 Mar 2021 07:50:14 +0000 https://demo3.secretlab.pw/?p=475 This week Google announced its intention to fund a project to make Linux more secure by writing parts of the operating system kernel in the Rust programming language. Such a change would represent a major technological and cultural shift for the open-source software project that has become the basis for vast areas of the Internet...

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This week Google announced its intention to fund a project to make Linux more secure by writing parts of the operating system kernel in the Rust programming language. Such a change would represent a major technological and cultural shift for the open-source software project that has become the basis for vast areas of the Internet and operating systems, including Android.

Miguel Ojeda, who wrote the particle gas pedal software for the Large Hadron Collider and worked on security for programming languages, will reportedly be writing parts of the Linux kernel in Rust. Google will pay for the contract through the nonprofit organization Internet Security Research Group.

Adding modules written in Rust to the Linux kernel is expected to reduce the likelihood of vulnerabilities caused by insecure memory handling. At the time of its release in 1991, Linux was written in C, a language which is more vulnerable than modern programming languages. Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds has said he is ready for a change if the value of using Rust for Linux is proven. So far, Ojeda has proposed 13 changes, which are necessary to run Rust modules on Linux.

Google thanked the Linux community programmers who are working on this project. “The community has already done and continues to do a great job of adding Rust support to the Linux kernel,” Google said in a statement.

As for the Rust language, it was developed by Mozilla, but is currently being developed by the nonprofit Rust Foundation. It pays special attention to secure memory handling. Microsoft’s security division stated back in 2019 that “Rust represents the best alternative to C and C++.”

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Microsoft and Open AI announced GitHub Copilot, an AI system that will finish code for programmers https://www.zendcasts.com/houses/microsoft-and-open-ai-announced-github-copilot-an-ai-system-that-will-finish-code-for-programmers/ Sat, 06 Mar 2021 08:02:00 +0000 https://demo3.secretlab.pw/?p=491 Microsoft has announced a system based on artificial intelligence that can give tips on writing code to software developers. This new product demonstrates the Redmond corporation's intention to simplify the programming process and make it more accessible for developers.

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Microsoft has announced a system based on artificial intelligence that can give tips on writing code to software developers. This new product demonstrates the Redmond corporation’s intention to simplify the programming process and make it more accessible for developers.

The new product is called GitHub Copilot. The tool uses source code uploaded to the GitHub code-sharing service, which Microsoft acquired in 2018. Open AI, an artificial intelligence research startup, participated in the implementation. Microsoft invested $1 billion in it in the summer of 2019.

Researchers at Microsoft and several other companies have been trying for decades to teach computers to write their own code. GitHub Copilot is a big step in that direction. The product relies on a large amount of code in many programming languages and Azure’s enormous computing power. Nat Friedman, CEO of GitHub, says GitHub Copilot can almost completely replace a programmer’s partner. The tool looks at existing code and comments on it, as well as the location of the cursor, and suggests adding one or more lines depending on the context. As the programmer accepts or rejects the suggestions, the model learns and becomes much more sophisticated and intelligent over time.

Friedman says the GitHub Copilot significantly speeds up programming. Hundreds of developers on GitHub, he says, have already appreciated the product’s capabilities and don’t shut it down all day long.

Experts point out that the main advantage of GitHub Copilot is that it saves the programmer from having to study piles of documentation, thereby saving precious hours. Copilot is reported to work best with JavaScript, Python and TypeScript at the moment. The tool will initially appear in Microsoft Visual Studio Code, a free open-source product, before the company plans to include it in a commercial version of Visual Studio.

Open AI co-founder Greg Brockman says the Codex model behind GitHub’s Copilot is a descendant of the powerful GPT-3 model, which the company’s experts have trained on many terabytes of publicly available code. Copilot, according to GitHub staff, has a number of security mechanisms built in, giving confidence that the product will generate high-quality code. Microsoft reportedly plans to release a version of the product in the future that companies can train to understand their own programming styles. For now, Microsoft offers a service that is only trained on code stored in publicly available repositories.

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Google will halve commissions for developers with up to a million dollars a year https://www.zendcasts.com/houses/google-will-halve-commissions-for-developers-with-up-to-a-million-dollars-a-year/ Thu, 31 Dec 2020 07:51:35 +0000 https://demo3.secretlab.pw/?p=477 Google has revealed the rules for lowering commissions for app authors in Play Market. The company will halve fees for Android developers as long as their products' combined revenue does not exceed a million dollars within a year.

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Google has revealed the rules for lowering commissions for app authors in Play Market. The company will halve fees for Android developers as long as their products’ combined revenue does not exceed a million dollars within a year. This is announced on the website of the IT giant.

The rules will begin to apply to all developers who agree to participate in the program. Detailed registration instructions and forms can be found on the Google website. Under the terms, developers will be required to deduct a 15% commission (instead of 30%) until their products have earned one million dollars within a year. If that happens, the company will raise the fee to the standard 30%. The offer applies to companies, not individual apps. If there are multiple linked accounts, the amount will be calculated from the income of all accounts. Once that barrier is reached, the fee will change for everyone.

The rules will take effect July 1, 2021. Due to the fact that they start in the middle of the year, the total barrier will be reduced to $500 thousand.

In addition, the IT-giant has launched a support program called Play Media Experience, which will reduce the commission to 15% for developers of media products and services. Only those who meet a number of criteria will be allowed to participate in the program:

  • Provide access to media files that are not created by users;
  • Have more than 100 thousand downloads in Play Market;
  • A quality interface and a high rating in the store;
  • High rating of the developer account;
  • Integration of Google platforms: Android TV, Google TV, and others.

There are certain content requirements for participants:

  • Books. Premium books, audiobooks and comics. Support for WearOS and Android Auto. Optimization for tablets and folding devices;
  • Video. Movies, shows, live sports broadcasts. Support for Android TV, Google TV, and Google Cast with multi-platform playback is required;
  • Audio. Premium music and subscription option. Support for Android Auto, Google Cast, Wear OS and Android TV, with playback across platforms.

Google did not give a launch date for the latter. The company also promised to reveal the changes for game developers at a special conference from July 12 to 13

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China has seen a surge in the number of companies developing AI technology https://www.zendcasts.com/houses/china-has-seen-a-surge-in-the-number-of-companies-developing-ai-technology/ Wed, 09 Dec 2020 07:57:34 +0000 https://demo3.secretlab.pw/?p=479 According to Chinese analysts, in 2020, the country began an explosive registration of companies in the field of artificial intelligence. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason may be the significantly increased flow of money from the authorities of the Celestial Empire.

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According to Chinese analysts, in 2020, the country began an explosive registration of companies in the field of artificial intelligence. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason may be the significantly increased flow of money from the authorities of the Celestial Empire. Americans fear China’s AI build-up for good reason. China’s scientific potential is growing, and the country spares no expense on it.

According to Qichacha analysts, China now has 439,000 registered AI-related companies. In 2020, the number of new organizations in the field of AI was 172 thousand, and in the first half of 2021 such organizations were registered another 153 thousand. Thus, the growth of registrations for the year was 150.8%, and the year is not over yet!

The transition from 2019 to 2020 showed an increase in the number of new AI companies in China at 292.8%, and 2021 promises to be even more “fruitful” for the field of AI in China.

The issue of finance is extremely interesting. Most Chinese AI companies declare quite large share capital. Apparently, local investors are willing and invest a lot of money in AI development. For example, companies with registered capital of less than 1 million yuan ($155,000) account for only 24% of the registered companies, while those with registered capital between 1 and 5 million yuan account for 39%, and those with capital over 5 million yuan (from $755,000 and more) account for 37%.

It is also interesting to note that the most AI companies in China are registered in three neighboring provinces on the southeast coast of the country: Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. There are 64,000, 50,000 and 40,000 AI companies in each, respectively. Programmers have always been drawn to the south and to the sea, which in the case of Chinese regional development programs is further supported by subsidies for provincial economic development.

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Malware developers are increasingly using exotic programming languages https://www.zendcasts.com/houses/the-value-of-seo-optimization-for-a-site/ Wed, 09 Dec 2020 05:31:00 +0000 https://www.zendcasts.com/?p=6892 Researchers from BlackBerry Research & Intelligence department published a report saying that nowadays malware developers began to use exotic programming languages more often in order to make subsequent analysis and detection of malware more difficult. Among the exotic programming languages for writing malware are Go (Golang), D (DLang), Nim and Rust. As a rule, these...

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Researchers from BlackBerry Research & Intelligence department published a report saying that nowadays malware developers began to use exotic programming languages more often in order to make subsequent analysis and detection of malware more difficult.

Among the exotic programming languages for writing malware are Go (Golang), D (DLang), Nim and Rust. As a rule, these languages are used to create malicious software aimed at large organizations and which exploits weaknesses in the protection of the corporate infrastructure. We are talking about malware that implements multi-stage, carefully planned and organized cyber-attacks.

Once on the victim’s computer, these software modules bypass traditional defenses to later download, decode and launch remote access Trojans, most often Remcos and NanoCore, as well as Cobalt Strike beacons.

In some cases, when the cybercriminals have sufficient resources, non-standard languages for these purposes are used not only for the modules performing the initial attack, but also for the whole malware package. The Go language is of particular interest to attackers. It is used by hackers on an almost regular basis for all major platforms.

According to the authors of the study, new or unusual programming languages make it difficult to decompile malware, circumvent defenses that use signature-based detection tools with relative ease, and simplify cross-platform compatibility of attacks. The code base of such malware itself is an additional level of disguise. Their developers, in fact, do not have to make any extra effort; the effectiveness of the attack is increased simply by the fact that one of these programming languages is used.

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