On New Years 2021, I adopted the habit of posting something every day—and did so, undaunted by interruptions, pandemics, power outages, or sicknesses, among other encumbrances. That is until December 9, 2023, when met by my browser flashing a privacy, site-not-safe warning. My SSL certificate had expired and a fresh one not automatically applied to the domain. I could have logged in and posted but chose not to, particularly being confused why there was a problem.
Rewind: Some years ago, another company acquired my webhost, which didn’t affect this site so I wasn’t bothered. But a few months ago, the new owner finally started migrating customers to its servers and services—mine included. I worried about site outage, but needlessly. The transition was smooth sailing. However, unbeknownst to me something wasn’t quite right.
I learned what, when logging in to my account to manually apply the SSL. I knew one had been dispatched, because last month the issuer emailed explaining as much. But I couldn’t find a control panel for webhosting. Something was amiss. I contacted my host’s tech support, which escalated the problem to one higher level, and then another, of advanced investigation. Yikes.
As such, I delayed the post planned for that night, hoping for resolution the next day. None. So a second day passed. Then, this morning, I got email that the problem had been resolved. Yeah! I logged in and found the webhosting control panel, but when I separately tried to access the domain the error flashed. No SSL. So I called support once more, lucking in to a keenly-knowledgeable technician, who did what I will call the webhosting version of Windows troubleshooting: Reboot.
By temporarily releasing the domain from the underlying server identity and then reapplying, a series of processes and checks started that typically ends with domain verification and SSL cert application. Success! So, we are back in business, baby!
Which brings us to the Featured Image, captured this evening using Leica Q2. What could be more appropriate than another @Work Android Collectible: Tech Support / IT / Engineer. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 640, 1/15 sec, 28mm; 9:11 p.m. PST. I used the camera’s built-in Macro mode, which is activated by turning a ring wrapped around the lens. My first set of shots put too much of the figurine out of focus, because of shallow depth of field. Hence, my choosing f/5.6.
Say, is that laptop in his hand supposed to be a Google Pixelbook?