Namecheap domain forwarding with TLS/SSL and HTTPS support, via Cloudflare
How to forward your domain with a secure certificate for free.
Apologies for the super long title, but I just wanted to do a quick write-up for anybody that might be in the same situation as I was just a few days ago trying to wrap my brain around why basic domain forwarding via Namecheap wasn’t working correctly.
I use Namecheap as a domain registrar and don’t really use it for anything else like hosting services. When I have an idea for something, I generally buy the domain and forward it here if I haven’t exactly flushed out the idea yet. I know I don’t need to forward it anywhere, but I like doing it. But lately Namecheap has been having some forwarding issues because their basic forwarding service does not include a security certificate, which means forwarding to an HTTPS domain (as is common now) creates a huge lag and hang-up in the forwarding process.
I solved this by using Cloudflare’s free DNS service which includes a free SSL/TLS certificate.
Essentially, I removed Namecheap’s DNS servers entirely from the equation since their free service was not using a secure certificate and moved domain forwarding and email forwarding over to Cloudflare, all at no additional cost. I had no idea this was even a thing.
No transfer of domain registrar needed to take place. You just tell Cloudflare to assume handling of the DNS records and Cloudflare basically does the rest. After you add a domain, you get pretty in-depth analytics about your domain being forwarded. The same applies to emails and catch-all email accounts to with that domain.
Cloudflare’s options are quite extensive, but if you’re like me and just need a domain forwarding service WITH a SSL/TLS certificate at no charge, this is a perfect solution.
The world of Portland graffiti
The good guys and bad guys of the Portland graffiti world.
Graffiti artist GIMER has been in the news lately because after many years of dodging the authorities, he’s been caught and arrested. The Portland police say he was caught after new evidence emerged from a video interview he did with CHAOSTOWN last year in which GIMER, whose real name is James S. Fischel, was shown giving a tour of his stash house. There are some rumors that the CHAOSTOWN creators were responsible for giving information over to authorities, but obviously none of that is verified by anybody for now.
But since the police themselves referenced the video shown above, it’s safe to say that CHAOSTOWN isn’t gonna land any new interviews with graffiti artists for a while.
Video of an early demo version of The Sims
Watch this very early demo of The Sims from 1998.
The Sims is being celebrated at Metafilter today and they’ve unearthed this video from 1998 showing an early demo version of the game. I spent countless hours playing the original The Sims when it came out. I had bootlegged the game on IRC channels (yes, I am that old) in many parts over an internet connection that probably wasn’t any faster than 56kbps. It was such a fun game of design and torture, with seemingly endless possibilities of life trajectories at the click of the mouse.
The first version of The Sims, released in 2000, was surprisingly not that different from this 1998 demo version. Pretty cool to see it in such an early development phase.
Getting rid of the LCD screen on a Fujifilm X100VI
An attempt to remove the “digital” part of a popular Fujifilm camera.
This is interesting…
PPP Cameras out of the UK are selling this custom LCD screen cover for the Fujifilm X100VI to mimic the feel of shooting on a film camera. The cover works by attaching to the camera’s hot shoe and the end effect is quite seamless to the original design of the back of the camera.
It’s more of a habit-inducing device I suppose, but hey, it looks pretty good!
An analysis of fire evacuation procedures in Pacific Palisades
A minute by minute analysis of how evacuations took place in the Pacific Palisades.
Approximately 24 days after their start, the horrific fires in Southern California (Altadena and Pacific Palisades) are finally 100% contained. There are various ongoing investigations as to their true origins, but what’s becoming quite clear already is that the emergency alert systems California has in place and the communication between government agencies fighting wildfires, needs a complete overhaul.
The Los Angeles Times posted this minute-by-minute analysis of the wildfire’s start in the Pacific Palisades and the subsequent confusion surrounding the evacuation procedures. Fire agencies and government agencies were slow to react and pass along information during the fast-moving fire. Much of the gridlock that prevented people from swiftly evacuating also prevented firefighters from reaching homes and hillsides where the fire continued to spread.
Maybe in the end there was nothing anybody could do to combat mother nature in this scenario, but there are undoubtedly lessons to be learned here about wildfire communication for future events like this.
DOOM running on Apple Lightning to HDMI dongle
A developer has ported DOOM to run on a Lightning to HDMI adapter.
This might be the most unusual place I’ve seen DOOM ported to, even after that incredible DOOM port on a PDF. Because of Apple’s walled-garden approach to chip designs, a lot of their peripherals also contain SoC (system on chip) designs that basically allow verified code to be injected and run. Normally this is very locked down but somebody hacked the Lightning to HDMI dongle to run DOOM.
Thanks MacRumors!
The salvage of TWA Flight 800
I had no idea this salvage video was public.
This is incredibly morbid, but I just learned that there is a lengthy documentary video consisting of raw footage of the salvage efforts surrounding TWA Flight 800. I’ve read and heard so much about this doomed flight but have never seen this mostly underwater salvage video before. It’s crazy. They really filmed it all while tethered to the boats on the surface.
The US Navy has a very detailed report (PDF) about this salvage operation that is pretty interesting if you care to check it out.
