New secure server for UK Free TV
Welcome to the new secure web server
I can't think of a better task to do when required for medical reasons to stay in bed for six weeks with your right foot elevated!
This site has been coded and developed by me over the last 13 years and suffered on many counts from being created in an ad-hoc way. Even with the cross-referencing capabilities of PHP Storm, it was very hard to make small changes or repairs without the risk of thing breaking.
So, to move the site to the new server (two servers, one for the website and one for the database) the whole of the code has been refactored into the many and various PSR coding standards.
This means that everything has been checked and rechecked. I've fixed some features that weren't quite working and improved some others.
Why a secure server?
The reasons are several. Firstly to protected your data and information as best I can. The second is to ensure that you can continue to use the auto-location for the prediction system, which is about to be removed from non-SSL servers. A third reason is to help with Google ranking. And it can't help to have more defences against the general attacks the server comes under. Also powerful SSD backed solution costs about a third of the old hosting for ten times the power!
New mail system
The new server is sending out the emails to you all using Sendgrid. This will allow me soon to detect defunct email addresses and stop them being sent pointlessly. It should also give your mail servers better confidence that the messages have a genuine source.
Other changes
I'll post an update later about the changes.
Should just add that you might find, for a hour or so at some point in the next few days, that comments are disabled.
This is to allow me to migrate the comments table to the new database.
I promise it won't be for long!
| link to this comment |
One more test to see if the new database server is working.
| link to this comment |
12:37 AM
Why has it only taken you recently to add a cookie consent message to this site when the legislation came in in 2012?!?!
| link to this comment |
No: Because I was advised that a pop up (rather than just the notice here Privacy policy ) wasn't required because the site carries no qualifying usage (no personal information such as addresses, phone numbers or real names). I have changed it because the T&C of Gooogle Adsense have changed to require a popup.
Once you click agreement the site will no longer send you the code for the popup.
You can see the setting for it by clicking the "settings" cog symbol at the top right.
| link to this comment |
9:47 AM
Thank you for all the hard work you have done on this, it is appreciated,
| link to this comment |
7:53 PM
London
Hi,Our post code is NW7 1NG, we are thirteen miles North West of the Crystal Palace Transmitter. However there is the high place of Hampstead Heath directly between us and the transmitter.All the aerials on our neighbour's houses are on long poles high above the roof tops. But the strange thing is some years ago we got a 'cheap as chips' aerial from Argos and it has worked perfectly just mounted below the gutter by our first floor bedroom window, until very recently.Then very recently we started getting our TV picture breaking up and the code YVM 302 appearing via our Humax Digi Box TV screen which the people at 'at800.tv' went on to tell us we might be getting 800mhz interference from 4g phone signals.The 'at800' people sent us a filter to plug in, but its not completely cured the breaking up problem. (Especially to the second television we run in another room from the 'same' aerial via a plug in 'signal-booster'. The signal on this second TV is now much worse than the TV nearer to the aerial).Can you advise if its likely that if we should buy another Aerial, but a better quality aerial than the previous cheapo one (I think an *A* type aerial is specifically recommended for Crystal Palace) that we can then successfully install it in the *same* location as previously on the back wall facing the transmitter. Rather than having it up on the roof, since it was an *adequate-location* before, even if the neighbours aerials are all up on the roof? At the moment our signal strength for BBC High Def is around the 45 to 50 percent according to our Humax Signal Strength reading.Sorry if this is a mish-mash of information, we would be very grateful for your informed opinion on what you would recommend; in terms of not going to all the extra expense of having an aerial put high up on the roof.Many thanks for any assistance.
| link to this comment |
john's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage