To Protect and Secure

In his incredibly prolific technology blog, The Brooks Review, Ben Brooks shares his ideas and thoughts on software, hardware, and gadgets, pulling no punches in detailed posts from the avid user’s perspective. Ben credits his father and grandfather for helping him form his approach and shape his opinions.

“I have my father and grandfather to thank,” says Ben. “From a young age my dad always taught me to pay attention to the details—from a finish on a wall, to a nick on a car. Both of them really dig into items before they buy them—they want to know what they’re getting is the very best. That has always sat with me and because of it, I am really bothered when I know that what I have isn’t the best and I really notice little things—things that I just don’t think other people care to notice.”

The germ for the The Brooks Review popped into Ben’s mind on a flight to his honeymoon.

“I’ve had various tech blogs going back to about 2002, but the habit of regularly writing never really stuck for me until I started The Brooks Review,” says Ben. “I actually had the idea for it on a flight to Hawaii for my honeymoon—my wife was transitioning jobs and I was trying to help her come up with something she should do from home. Turns out that while brainstorming for her, I started to really like the idea of writing a site about technology that really tells it how it is. I hated that sites would always skip over small details of software or devices—details that I thought made or break the product. A prime example of this: typing on the slew of touchscreen phones that were coming out at the time—not to mention the just release iPad.”

For Ben, The Brooks Review is his creative release—a way for him to connect with others on his interests.

“The Brooks Review is my outlet,” says Ben. “I don’t have a group of techy friends that I can converse with regularly. I don’t have a buddy I can go to a bar with that I can assume not only knows the current tech news, but that also cares about it. And trust me, my wife gets bored of hearing about it. So I write and through writing I get to speak my mind—and that is a great outlet for me.”

The Brooks Review isn’t the only place on the internet where you’ll find Ben. He also co-hosts The B&B Podcast with Shawn Blanc.

Ben started out on WordPress.com back in 2006. From there he migrated to a self-hosted install of WordPress.org and never looked back.

“WordPress has been my go-to platform every time I go to start up a new website,” says Ben. “A few months back I went and tested just about every other CMS I could—only to realize that I just really like, and am comfortable with, WordPress.”

We cannot be more delighted that Ben Brooks chose VaultPress to protect The Brooks Review. You can learn more about how VaultPress can protect your content, theme, plugin, and site settings and customizations. Contact us with questions, or you could put us over the moon, and sign up to protect your site.

Photography was Thad Allender’s first love. A wish to precisely control how his photographs were displayed on the web and in print inspired him to learn the art and science behind design. He made his first WordPress theme in 2005, and with that, Graph Paper Press, a design firm dedicated to minimalist themes and building plugins for creative people, was born.

“In college, I made zines that focused on bike culture, music, and photography,” says Thad. “Making zines, coupled with classes in art and design, made me fall in love with the interplay between photography and design. After graduating from college, I worked as a photographer at a publication and I wanted total creative control over how my images were displayed, both in print and online. I picked up a couple books, learned html, css, and started dabbling in php, largely out of frustration with how my images were displayed on the web. In 2007, I released my first WordPress theme on my photo portfolio website. I had a massive traffic spike. Soon thereafter, I launched GraphPaperPress.com, which to this day still focuses on building solutions for photographers, artists, and other creative people using WordPress.”

Thad started using WordPress back in 2005 and has never looked back.

“In 2005, I moved to New York City where I worked as a freelance photographer,” says Thad. While in NYC, I also landed my first web design client, a small architecture firm. I built the site using MoveableType and hated it. Soon thereafter, a friend introduced me to WordPress and I started building themes. I haven’t looked back since!”

As a photographer and designer, Thad understands the needs and wishes of creative folks. Graph Paper Press’ work focuses on making sure content takes centre stage.

“I have always worked in the creative industry, first as a photographer and later as a multimedia producer for USA Today,” says Thad. “I’d like to think that I know the needs and frustrations of creative folks pretty well. For most creatives, the perfect design is invisible. Content is king. Our themes cater to this.”

Plugins are also a big part of Graph Paper Press’ work.

“Like our themes, our plugins attempt to solve common problems that creatives face when publishing work on the web. We’re actually getting ready to release a new plugin that turns attachments uploaded into WordPress into products that buyers can license and download. There are hosted solutions that provide this service, but many could simply exist inside WordPress. A web presence that is splintered around the internet with no cohesive branding or design sensibility can get expensive, confusing, and becomes a major time suck to maintain. We think there is a lot of room for growth in this area. For us, WordPress is becoming more of an application for solving design, ecommerce and archiving issues facing creatives.”

Thad learned of VaultPress during a talk Matt Mullenweg gave in Washington, D.C.

“I remember hearing about VaultPress from your very own Matt Mullenweg, who spoke at the WordPress DC meetup group we used to sponsor in Washington, D.C.,” says Thad. “VaultPress has saved our butts a few times. It’s worth every penny.”

We’re proud as punch to have graphpaperpress.com in the vault. You can learn more about how VaultPress can protect your content, theme, plugin, and site settings and customizations. Contact us with questions, or you could make our day, and sign up to protect your site.