Spider Oak – Is it better than Carbonite?

I was recently looking at online backup solutions for a new laptop I purchased.  I have Carbonite on my main desktop and have been quite happy with it.  So why switch?  We’ll I’m always on the lookout for something new and I’m been seeing a “slowdown” in backups with Carbonite so I wanted to compare and see if it’s their software or just my internet. 

So I found spideroak doing some quick searches on bing and it looked reasonable to try as they offer 2Gb of backup for FREE.  I currently have about 300 Gb backed up on Carbonite but, 2Gb would be a good start for my laptop.  In looking at spideroak it’s actually a lot more than just an online backup solution.  They also have a sync to keep data in sync across all your computers and online sharing of folders that you select.  I didn’t try the sync but, it looks straightforward to setup.  I’m currently using LiveMesh from Microsoft to sync my computers and didn’t want to mess that up.  The online sharing actually works really well.  You create a secure ShareId and then you can create “rooms” for collections of folders you want to share.  The rooms also have a password so when you share the website with someone they will also need the password to access the files.  Pretty slick and the website to download from is very clean and easy to use.

Another nice feature of spideroak is you can use the same account across all your computers and pay one price.  Carbonite requires a separate license for each computer.  Spideroak however does not offer unlimited backup storage but, increments of 100Gb.  The pricing for 100Gb is on par with Carbonite but, it you have significantly greater storage requirements Carbonite may be cheaper for you.  The interface to setup your backup is clean and easy to use.  Where with Carbonite you can right click a folder in explorer to add to a backup with spideroak this is all done with their application.  I can see the advantages of both but, my preference is they way Carbonite does it. 

All in all if you need backup, syncing and sharing of your files spideroak is a solid contender.  Is it better than Carbonite?  That’s for you to decide.

Technorati Tags: online backup,spideroak

iPad – Why no camera Mr. Jobs?

I’ve been thinking about this, Why didn’t Apple include a camera on the iPad?  It seems every electronic device has a camera these days; PC’s, laptops, smart phones, not-so-smart phones, iPods, etc..  So why not the iPad? 

I think I understand the challenge of putting a camera on device of the iPad’s intended use.  It’s primarily meant to be held like you would a magazine or newspaper in your lap.  So if you wanted to do a video conference holding the iPad in the same position what would you be showing a video of?  Your double chin?  Your nostrils? What ever it shows would most likely would not be very attractive.

Holding the iPad out like you would a camera taking a picture of yourself wouldn’t be comfortable either.  So what to do?  My thoughts are either a retractable camera that could be clipped to any handy objects or folding arm camera something like those book lights you see.  In any event I think the Apple engineers are hard at work on a solution.  In this day it’s pretty simple.  You need a camera!

Technorati Tags: ipad,apple

iPad – My thoughts

So I’m sure by now everyone is seen apple’s iPad.  Here are a few on my thoughts.  It’s a pretty good concept and it looks like they are going after the eReader market which is still immature.  That’s a good start as the Kindle is gaining acceptance so there IS a market for such devices.  

The device also may be a winner since it has Apple’s brand.  iAnything for Apple seems to turn to gold lately and this may be another hit for them.  I do not think however it will be an overnight success.  It’s going to take some time to sell the public on the new form factor and find the niche for it.  Games may help, high-profile periodicals, music and video content and the 100,000 iPhone apps can all help make it a success. 

So now to what I think is REALLY missing to make it a run away success.  I hear everyone talking multitasking but, that’s not high on my list although it would be nice.  A HDMI interface would be huge and also a camera for video conferencing.  Come on it’s 2010 and no HDMI? 

Like all Apple products I’ve learned to never buy the first release.  Remember the first iPod, first iPhone?  Seems like 6 months later the new rev was out and the first devices paled in comparison.  So although I like the iPad overall I’ll wait for the iPad 4G/HDMI/Camera version.

Technorati Tags: iPad,Apple

Vista – 129 years to compress a folder

I had made a backup of my system prior to installing a new 1TB drive.  I did this about a month ago and contemplated deleting the backup as I think I have everything I need but, I thought hey, I can recover some space by compressing the folder.  So I clicked the compression checkbox on the folder properties and let it go.  I knew it was going to take awhile and I was prepared for that but, I wasn’t prepared to see 47166 Days and 15 hours remaining. 

I figured this must be some miscalculation so I let it run for an hour or so.  It now says 47166 Days and 14 hours.  What????  I’m sorry but, I don’t know if I’m ready to change my will to ask my grandchildren who aren’t even born yet click OK when the compression finishes in 129 years. 

I think I’ll let it run overnight and if it hasn’t gone down a few decades I’ll click cancel and just delete the files.  I can’t wait to try this in Windows 7.

VPN errors on Vista SP2

This was really annoying.  After installing SP2 I could not connect to the several VPN sites I need.  After contacting Microsoft here is the resolution they provided that worked.  I’m posting here to save others the trouble I went through.

First turn on RAS logging to diagnose the problem.  You’ll need to open an administrative shell (cmd) to run these commands.

create a trace:
netsh ras set tracing * enabled
try your VPN connection (i.e. failure)
netsh ras set tracing * disabled

Look in your \windows\tracing folder for RASGCW.LOG
If you see a string like:
     ConnectThread:RasDialDlg failed with error: 800

This should fix your problem.  You’ll need to reinstall some drivers.

first uninstall:
netcfg -u ms_l2tp
netcfg -u ms_pptp

then re-install:
netcfg -l %windir%\inf\netrast.inf -c p -i ms_pptp
netcfg -l %windir%\inf\netrast.inf -c p -i ms_l2tp

That’s it.  Let me know if you had this problem as I am curious.

bluestring - photo mashup and sharing

Here's another photo sharing web site I ran across that is in beta.  What's different about bluestring is they are also a mashup so you can upload your photos to them or simply reference your files from photobucket, picasa, webshots or AOL Pictures.  Once you have your photos linked in which is a fairly painless process you can create simple slideshows with sound.  The site is flash based and does a good job of making photo management easy with their simple user interface.   Just select photos from "My Media" and drop them on the slideshow filmbar, add some music and it will generate your slideshow you can share with others.  The slideshow gets the job done but, it's no animoto.  I'll keep an eye on this site as I think there may be some more good features coming.  They have a good start and the keeping it simple model is working for them.

Shwup - simple photo sharing with a twist

We are all too aware of the run of the mill photo sharing sites out there Flickr, Snapfish, Shutterfly, PhotoBucket, etc..  They have some nice features but, sometimes sharing, and only sharing, with the people you want can be a little difficult. 

For example I may go to a party and want to show just those friends the pictures and also allow them to add to the collection with their photos. With other services I can show them to the world, force my friends to create an account just to see them and still they may not be able to add their photos to the collection.

Along comes shwup it's like misspelling show up (these web 2.0 names, I think I'll wait for web 3.0 with spell-checker but, I digress).  With shwup I can create the album and add the e-mail addresses of my friends then either upload the photos or grab them from Flickr, Picasa or a few other sites.  My friends get the e-mail and can go online and see the photos immediately, no signup, no waiting for e-mail verifications, Easy peasy.  If they want to contribute they'll need to create an account however.  I can create other albums just for family members to view and do the same thing.  Only the people I invite to view the photos can see them so I can keep family photos for family and my kids soccer photos just for the soccer mom's & dad's. 

They also have a feature that takes up to 15 of your photos and makes a quick movie out of them with different themes and music.  It's a nice touch but, may be limiting if you have lots of photos to share. 

Overall a pretty nice site, simple with limited flair but, a few nice touches.  It's still in beta so there may be more in the works.