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Migrating WordPress from Lightsail to S3 + CloudFront
After almost a decade of running MannanLive.com on WordPress via Amazon Lightsail, I finally decided to pull the plug and move everything to a simpler, static setup using Amazon S3 and CloudFront. Why the change? A few reasons, really. First, while Lightsail is pretty affordable at $5 USD a month, the cost adds up –…
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Serverless Backup Magic: Exporting Aurora Snapshots to S3
Automating Daily Database Backups from Aurora to S3 with AWS CloudFormation Running a successful business like RosterPortal.com.au since 2007, I???ve always relied on MS SQL Server for database management. Our daily text exports to S3 have been an invaluable part of our backup strategy. Now, as we migrate to Babelfish Aurora PostgreSQL, we’re faced with new challenges, one of which is…
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Streamlining Ticket Migration: A Journey from Assembla to GitHub
Background In the tech world, adaptability is key. As our startup, Roster Portal, evolved over the years, so did our needs. We started our journey with Assembla.com back in 2011, leveraging its robust source control and ticketing system. For reference on just how old that is, we were using Subversion – not Git back then!…
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Supporting a Grieving Coworker – Tech Industry Perspective
Recently my family went through a loss of a loved one. When I tried talking about it to my coworkers, it was clear that they were wanting to be supportive. However the condolences they gave to us were very difficult to respond to, and at times impossible. I am sure anyone that has been in…
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Generic IIS URL Rewrite Rules – Three common scenarios
Download & install rewrite module The first hurdle in achieving this is that you don’t want to use the Redirect IIS module, but the Rewrite one which has to be downloaded separately. You can download it from here, but I script my server bootstrapping so preferred to use PowerShell for this. See below for an…
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Mt Tamborine – Final COVID-19 Honeymoon Part 3
Deciding to make the most of the facilities at the InterContinental, I decided to try out the pool. There is a super heated spa, a heated pool and an artificial beach (think South Bank) pool. As the entire hotel was inundated with guests for the long weekend, the only one that was almost empty was…
MannanLive
Tech, Travel & Thoughts
This is how it all started…
MannanLive.com began back in June 2012, during one of the most exciting early chapters of my career. I was a graduate software engineer working at a financial company in Australia when I was sent on a month-long work trip to China to collaborate with our contracting partners at ThoughtWorks. It was my first time working overseas, and I wanted a place to document the experience – not just for others, but for myself.
What started as a simple travel log quickly grew into something more. I found myself writing not only about the places I visited but also the things I was learning along the way – technical problems I solved, tools I was discovering, and the odd bit of geeky enthusiasm that didn???t quite fit into a formal work report.
Even before then, tech had always been part of my story. From tinkering on my parents’ word processor as a kid, to studying IT in high school and uni, to launching my own rostering SaaS while still at university (which – somehow – is still alive and well today at RosterPortal.com.au).
These days, I use MannanLive.com as a hybrid of sorts: part personal journal, part technical reference. It’s where I post walkthroughs of problems I???ve solved (mostly so I can remember what I did!), share side projects, and occasionally reflect on where this journey is taking me.
Mannan
Tech Enthusiast and Mocha Lover
