Going into archive mode!

Dear all,

Amazingly, I think it’s still possible to buy all the parts to build a Handy Board. That’s pretty cool.

I’m taking this site off of WordPress. When it comes back, it will be a static collection of HTML pages, so… archive mode.

Please get in touch with me if you’re still using your Handy Board! I’d love to hear from you.

Fred Martin, May 14, 2020

fredm@alum.mit.edu

Handy Board site restored!

I was running an old version of WordPress, and my site was hacked. I was able to restore it. The solution involved:

  • I downloaded a clean version of WP (matching the last version I was running) and used that as the basis for the restore.
  • All the stuff in wp-content needed to be copied over.
  • There is an .htaccess file in the root directory that’s critical.

After bringing it back online, I updated a bunch of links, and then upgraded WP to the current version.

The new version auto-updates now. So that should help with attacks.

Finally, I disabled comments, presumably another vector.

If you still use the site, drop me an email. I’m at fredm@alum.mit.edu.

—Fred

PowerPoint slides for Robotic Explorations available

Robotic Explorations

Hi all, I used the WayBack Machine (aka, archive.org) to find my publisher’s set of materials associated with my book. After a business transition, my publisher had pulled the site down without warning back in 2007, and there was material there—a great collection of PowerPoint slides—that I was never able to save.

I found the old “Companion Website” on the archive. It turned out the PPT resources were located on an FTP server, which the WayBack Machine did not store.

But, the FTP site was still up! (Here’s the link).

So I immediately copied off the eight PowerPoint slide shows and put them up on this site. They’re now available in the Book section.

Hello world!

The Handy Board
The Handy Board

Hi everyone, welcome to the new handyboard.com! I’m hoping the blog will encourage me and others to contribute.

Most of the content from the old site has been moved to the WordPress-based site. If you’re looking for something that’s not here yet, check in the General FAQ’s for “where is the old site.” Also, please let me know if you’d like something copied over that’s not already here.

Please give your feedback and ideas!  Feel free to make an account, or just leave a comment.