Ok, so here is a list of Microsoft provided online storage/sync solutions, all of which are free. Windows Live Mesh offers an alternative to Dropbox if you need more than 5 gb of storage space and don’t need Mac/Linux support. These are all good options.
Tommy
It’s a good idea to have an online backup of your important files, provided the service that provides the online space is reliable and secure. There are many such services (I have previously recommended Dropbox and Mozy). Those who need lots of space (for pictures, for example, or to have your music available anywhere you go) might be interested in Livedrive, which unlike all other services allows you an unlimited amount of space. Check out Lifehacker’s take on the subject here.
The only problem at this point is lack of information. I have not been able to determine how my files are secured and protected, among other things, and I would also be interested to know how the service plans to make money (particularly since you have to give them your address and phone number to sign up). But still, unlimited space is pretty awesome, so if you have some large files that you want to store or share online, Livedrive might be worth a try. Just don’t rely on it as your only backup (at least not yet) or use it to store private information.
Update: After further poking and prodding it appears that Livedrive will not be free past the initial Beta period. I guess this proves the old addage: if it sounds to good to be true… Sorry for the hasty post, I should have done more research before publishing this.
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.
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.
Though the interface is not perfect, online web application Remember the Milk works well for those practicing any kind of “Getting Things Done” methodology. Here is an excellent guide for that.
To integrate RTM with Gmail, Thunderbird, or other services, check out this post.
For those willing to get their elbows a little dirty, you can also tweek RTM’s interface.
Dec 162008
Ever wanted to see what Jerusalem looked like in Biblical times? Biblical Studies and Technology Tools tells you how in this post.
You can find another site with high quality maps at BibleMap.org. This site will map out places based upon selections of Scripture, which is very handy indeed. The functionality for this and the aforementioned site is provided by Google Earth, so image quality is good and you have multiple overlap options.
Once your done examining Jerusalem, take a tour of ancient Rome.
Dec 152008
Google Calendar now syncs with Apple’s iCal, Mozilla’s Sunbird, or Thunderbird (with the Lightning extension) without any additional plugins or even all that much work. Follow these instructions.
Google Calendar with one of these applications provides the perfect online/offline solution to scheduling. Individuals and organizations alike can benifit from this.
I’m not an über-PC kinda guy, but in papers I try to use non-biased terms like “c.e.” and “Hebrew Scriptures” and gender neutral language where possible. But what about the word “Biblical”? Should it be capitalized? This question has always given me a bit of trouble, since you see it both ways in journals. Well, here is the answer.
Dec 132008
Fostertribe has finished compiling his list of Bible Software reviews. This is a very handy guide to (largely introductory) Bible software. Bibleworks doesn’t make the list, nor do a couple of online tools, but the guide is very helpfully organized. Anyone interested in an introductory desktop program for reading and searching the Bible should check it out.
For an in depth look at the upcoming version of Bibleworks, check out this series of posts.
For online software, go here and here.
And anyone interested in a quick and handy tool for searching and listening to the Bible online should read my Ubiquity guide.
Dec 122008
Obama was hailed by supporters and detractors alike for his tech-awareness (Twitter, Blackberry, a very well put-together web site, etc). It seems, however, that Obama has the same problems with technology that everyone else has. He may have to give up his Blackberry, for example, over security issues.
More interestingly, Obama’s “Open for Questions” website, a Digg-like system that allows interested parties to ask questions of Obama and vote on those of other users, has run into problems. Politico reports:
It was suggested when it launched that the tool would bring uncomfortable questions to the fore, but the results so far are the opposite: Obama’s supporters appear to be using — and abusing — a tool allowing them to “flag” questions as “inappropriate” to remove all questions mentioning Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich from the main pages of Obama’s website.
The Blagojevich questions — many of them polite and reasonable — can be found only by searching words in them, like “Blagojevich,” which produces 35 questions missing from the main page of the site. ….
Declaring a question “inappropriate” is different from merely voting it down; it’s calling foul on a question, not just disapproving of it.
Community reporting systems like this are often vulnerable to abuse from committed partisans — YouTube has wrestled with a parallel problem — and the only solution is conscious efforts to remedy it.
So far, Obama’s team does not seem to have stepped in to allow uncomfortable questions to rise to the top, and instead is allowing his supporters to sanitize the site.
Read the whole article.
The Blagojevich question is not the only politely inquiry question to be flagged. Justin Taylor posted a link to his question about the Freedom of Choice Act here, and according to the comments in this post (and my own visit to the site), it was flagged shortly thereafter as inappropriate.
Obama’s tech savvy is laudable, but it may be that in practice his administration will not differ all that much from what McCain’s might have been.
