Tommy

Dropbox Saved my Butt Today

Jan 022009

Well, I’m back after the holidays. Quess what happened on my New Years?

For reasons that boggle the mind, I decided to type in the Linux equivalent of “format c:/”. Seriously. The result? My entire Windows partition is irrevocably gone.

Not a problem. I back up my data. Everything iimportant is safe, and all my dissertation research is secure, largely because of an excellent backup utility called Dropbox. I put all my important files into my dropbox and they are automatically synced accross multiple computers, and online. So after a little drag-and-drop, I’m back to work.

Back up Zotero

As many of you know I am a big advocate of Zotero for research and bibliographic management. It is worth noting that by default Zotero puts all required files in your Firefox folder, which is generally not backed up by most software. You can always add it to your Dropbox, but a better idea is to change your settings. Go into Zotero’s Preferences dialog and the Advanced Settings to set a new location for Zotero files. Put it in your My Documents folder under a subfolder called “Zotero.” Almost all backup software will backup you My Documents folder by default, so this is the safest place.

One Dropbox Limitation

One thing to be noted: Dropbox is not true backup software. True backup software archives your files on a periodic basis. Dropbox does something a little different; it mirrors you files. Any changes you make on your computer are automatically changed in your dropbox. If you overwrite or delete a file, it will be overwritten or deleted in dropbox.

This might be a problem, except Dropbox saves all revisions, so if you do something stupid, and then your stupidity is mirrored by Dropbox, you can “undo” your changes by going to the Web interface and clicking “Restore my files.” That’s what I had to do, and it worked flawlessly and quickly.

Thanks Dropbox!

Make a New Year’s Resolution

I have two suggestions for nerdy New Year’s resolutions: (1) Backup your data, (2) Use Super-User priveledges responsibly.

Merry Christmas

About No Responses »

Dec 242008

A pixelated Christmas Tree. Probably EGA.

Merry Christmas from Nerdlets.org.

The ornament was given to me when I was eleven, shortly after my first BASIC program. My nerdiness manifested itself at a young age…

A Great Wireless Card for Linux

Linux No Responses »

Dec 242008

This is a post I wrote awhile back, but now includes a significant update (see below) that makes the whole thing worthy of re-purposing. Windows and Mac users should stop reading now lest their heads explode.

A Great Wireless Card

Switching to Linux from Windows is no longer as difficult as it used to be. I hope to post a full-fledged guide on switching to Linux in the near future, but in the mean time I would like to address one difficulty that has plagued would-be Linux users for some time: wireless cards and driver support. The persistent problem with Linux is that hardware manufacturers only program for Windows. The Linux community, with all its hacker ingenuity, has overcome this obstacle for most hardware, and big companies such as Intel and ATI have recently come-around and opened-up their drivers. Two problem areas remain, however: graphics cards and wireless cards.

The latter has given me a problem for some time, particularly with our old laptop. Built in cards usually work fine, but those PCMCIA and USB cards rarely include native Linux support. So, to cut to the chase, for all those Linux users out there, let me recommend the ASUS WL-107G. It redefines plug-and-play, which is not one of Linux’s strengths. Seriously, I removed my old card, stuck this in its slot, and with every expectation of needing to poke and proud, was sorely dissapointed to discover that the card in question “just worked.” OpenSUSE (and later Ubuntu) immediately recognized the card, installed the driver, accessed my WPA2-AES network, and was up-and-googling within 30 seconds. Amazing. If I hadn’t spend 2 months trying to get my Linksys card to behave, I would have said something like “Let’s see Windows do that!”

In short, the ASUS WL-107G is a PCMCIA notebook wireless card that runs in Linux, Windows, and Mac. It supports WEP, WPA, WPA2, with either TKIP or AES. In short, it will meet whatever security needs you have, in whatever Operating System you run, and for about $40 less than most other wireless cards with these specifications. If you are running a Linux box, and have had trouble with wireless, this is the card for you.

Important Update: Increase your Speed

For this and other cards based on the ralink 2×00 chipset (the WL-107G uses the rt2500 chipset), you may run into slow internet speeds when you first install. I did in Ubuntu. This is because the ralink drivers for some reason default to a 1 mbs data rate. To fix this, type the following into a terminal:

sudo iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

You should be operating at normal speeds. You can use http://speed.io to test your speeds before and after marking the change.

Ricoeur: Interpretation and the Surplus of Meaning

What I'm Reading No Responses »

Dec 212008

Beale: Right Doctrine, Wrong Text

What I'm Reading No Responses »

Dec 212008

Lee Irons Syntax Notes for the Greek New Testament

Biblical Greek 3 Responses »

Dec 212008

Lee Irons has been busy. His Syntax Notes of the whole NT are now complete. Everyone interested in the Greek New Testament should download these handy guides. You can find the links on this page.

Free Stuff at Bible Geek

Webapps and Websites No Responses »

Dec 192008

In the spirit of the season, Shaun Tabalt at Bible Geek is giving away a gift a day until Christmas (5 days left!). Each day has a different challenge, and a different winner, and a different gift. Check it out.

Desperate Times: Reinstalling Windows

Software No Responses »

Dec 192008

One of the real difficulties with Windows (at least versions prior to Vista) is the reinstall problem. After about 2 years or so your computer starts getting too slugish to be productive, and no amount of tweaking, defragmenting, or otherwise coaxing your computer to behave normally seems to help. Or perhaps something else has gone wrong. The bottom line: you need/want to start afresh, but are worried that you might loose something important in the process.

A Great Guide

Well, you’re right to be worried. Installing Windows is not a problem-free procedure. But there are steps you can take to make things easier and safer. Follow this guide for maximum security and minimum headache.

How to Backup your files (which you should be doing anyway)

One thing the guide does not mention (because it assumes you know to do this) is backing up your documents. You should already have a backup of your important files (Pictures, Music, Movies, regular documents, and program files such as your emails or Zotero database, etc.), so hopefully this step is pretty easy—just make sure that this backup is in a location that is not about to be erased when you reinstall Windows (the reinstallation will wipe your c:/ drive).

If you don’t already have a backup of these files, shame on you. You should. Really you should have 2 backup sets: one on an external hard drive, and one remote (that is, in an encrypted server somewhere far far away). As far as the remote backup set is concerned, Mozy Home and Carbonite are both great unlimited-space automated-backup solutions ($5 /month). Windows SkyDrive gives you 25 gb of free space (though you have to manage your files manually). And Dropbox provides 2 gb of free space and has a lot of great features like syncing across multiple computers.