email – ZekeWS

This summer, I finally followed through on a couple of experiments I’ve had nagging at the back of my head for a while:

Seeing if I can tolerably get by on standard IMAP email hosting after 9 years on Gmail, just to know if it’s a viable alternative in some kind of hypothetical doomsday scenario
Moving my blog – the one place where I’m not a CMS/blog developer, but a writer – from a traditional server to one of the more modern “app-as-a-hosted-service” platforms. ZekeWeeks.com is now hosted on WordPress.com Business – I’m just at the start of this experiment after a few years of “not good enough” attempts on various managed WordPress services, and will write about it later if anything interesting comes up. 🙂

Even though I was interested in seeing the current state of email outside a proprietary host, I approached that experiment with skepticism and low expectations. And I certainly didn’t expect it to turn out like it did!
Continue reading On Standards and Switching from Gmail to FastMail.FM

I got several emails today informing me that several corporations entrusted my data to a contractor with sub par security, my email was compromised, and that they “seriously regret that this incident occurred.” (Hey, Target: nice non-apology. You have the final responsibility to your customers, even when your contractors fuck up.)

Right now, many are fuming over the fact that the spamonauts now have their emails on a “confirmed live and breathing people who need weight loss and boner pills” list. And it will happen again. It’s simply impossible to ensure total privacy of your personally identifiable information.

But me? I just laughed, hit a few buttons in my mail client, and knew I’d never have to worry about some retailer’s mistake. I have a system that over many years has saved me from people who mismanage my identity –and even given me proof positive of the responsible party.
Continue reading How to keep your email protected when companies don’t