I do not use backup programs that store the backup in a proprietary format (I've been bitten by this). Instead I use a program that copies files and directories as plain old files and directories. One such program is Karen's Replicator which copies only those files that have changed.
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp
--
Carey
Interesting (and lots of) statistics, but what struck me the most was that over 50% of the respondents were getting 3 weeks or less of vacation a year. That includes people with a wide range of longevity in their jobs and years in the profession.
Got a high end machine: quad processor, 4G RAM, fast drives, and Vista's Media Player can't play MP3s from my hard drive without skipping. (No I didn't have other software running at the time.)
This is why I turn my auto-white-balance off in my digital camera. If I need to adjust the color, I'll do it later in Photoshop. (Another reason to shoot in RAW mode.)
--
Carey
I live in Colorado and I find this story interesting in relationship to another story about a year or so ago about a man in Colorado who installed a roof's worth of solar electric panels which gave him juice to spare. The spare electricity was fed back to the grid, causing his electric meter to spin in reverse. When the local power company found out about it, they installed a "special" meter that would only spin in one direction (in their favor, of course).
I think we need some legislation to require power companies to buy back any excess generated power.
CB
I get lots of spam advertising faster Internet downloads. Isn't that an option?
But seriously...
I had a friend in a small community where they formed a co-op for Internet access. All the members had to be within line-of-site of the co-op transmitter, but the transmitter could be located some place where they did have high speed access.
I started having problems with my Dell laptop in December. I sent it back for repair 3 times and each time it came back worse. It is now a doorstop. After it came back the second time and I was fiddling with it to try and get it to boot, I removed the battery. I was astounded to find a label on the hidden side of the battery that said "BAD BATTERY do not install in system". Their techs can't even follow their own instructions. No more Dell for me.
With all the clout of the media and slashdoters, I find it amazing that no one is willing to identify who these staffers (idiots) were. (S'cuse me, "alledged" idiots)
I had a Dell Inspiron 8200 note book that was fully loaded (2.4GHz, 1600x1200, 2G-RAM). It was heavy to haul around but it worked well - that is until recently. First the video card on it went out, no problem it was still under extended warantee. So I sent it back, when I got it back, video was fixed but now would only boot with battery removed from the system. Back it went again. Now it doesn't boot at all and warantee period is over. Thanks for the great service Dell. Bought me new computer at Gateway because I refused to give Dell any more money. Don't know if Gateway is any better - we'll see.
I was an early adopter of digital cameras and have almost 10 years worth of images. At first I backed them up to multiple gold CD's. Later when external hard drives went up in capacity and down in price I invested in several of those. However, with all this, I have no program that will let me know when I've lost a bit in one of those many files. I'm afraid I won't find out that some data has been damaged until I try to retrieve a specific image, and this, of course, is too late. I've been keeping my eye out for a program that will compute a check-sum (CRC, MD5, etc.) for my files so that when I rerun the program it will let me know if any data has changed so that I can recover files from an alternate backup. Seems to me that this kind of program should be fundamental to any digital archive. Any ideas?
--Carey
Things have mostly worked on my brand new Vista box (old box died). One annoyance that I encountered is that Photoshop CS2 would nag me to register each time I launched it, even though I had "successfully" (?) registered a couple of times. Adobe's response was that it was "a known issue". I then reset the compatibility mode so that it would run as administrator. That brought even more complaints from Vista and CS2. However, when I reset CS2 to run as a normal user the problem mysteriously went away.
Hope this may help someone else.
--Carey
Though, not for everyone, I highly recommend the 5D. I occassionally enlarge photos to submit to shows and here is where the 5D really shines. The 5D with its 12.6 mega-pixels and full frame sensor has been my best digital camera to-date. -- Downsides: $$$, hard-disk space, and sensor cleaning.
--
Carey
DENVER - The computer system that checks the registration of voters and allows them to vote was down citywide for around 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon. (Just pulled from www.9news.com)
DENVER - The computer system that checks the registration of voters and allows them to vote was down citywide for around 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon.
Just pulled from www.9news.com
Searching my credit history is bad enough but the release forms you sign to allow employers to do this usually has fine print that gives them permission without any time restraints. That is, they can check up on you whether they hire you or not and for an indeffinte period of time. I always modify their fine print to give them only 30 days of access.
Slashdot Mirror
I do not use backup programs that store the backup in a proprietary format (I've been bitten by this). Instead I use a program that copies files and directories as plain old files and directories. One such program is Karen's Replicator which copies only those files that have changed. http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp -- Carey
There was a recent article saying how some Maxtor hard drives manufactured in China shipped with viruses pre-installed.
FUD
Interesting (and lots of) statistics, but what struck me the most was that over 50% of the respondents were getting 3 weeks or less of vacation a year. That includes people with a wide range of longevity in their jobs and years in the profession.
Got a high end machine: quad processor, 4G RAM, fast drives, and Vista's Media Player can't play MP3s from my hard drive without skipping. (No I didn't have other software running at the time.)
Bravo! That's it in a nut shell. Our lawmakers are soooooo far behind the technology and privacy curve.
--
Carey
This is why I turn my auto-white-balance off in my digital camera. If I need to adjust the color, I'll do it later in Photoshop. (Another reason to shoot in RAW mode.) -- Carey
I live in Colorado and I find this story interesting in relationship to another story about a year or so ago about a man in Colorado who installed a roof's worth of solar electric panels which gave him juice to spare. The spare electricity was fed back to the grid, causing his electric meter to spin in reverse. When the local power company found out about it, they installed a "special" meter that would only spin in one direction (in their favor, of course). I think we need some legislation to require power companies to buy back any excess generated power. CB
You CAN'T get 54k if your friendly neighborhood phone company has installed a line-splitter along the way.
I get lots of spam advertising faster Internet downloads. Isn't that an option?
But seriously...
I had a friend in a small community where they formed a co-op for Internet access. All the members had to be within line-of-site of the co-op transmitter, but the transmitter could be located some place where they did have high speed access.
Arthur Dent: Is it safe? Ford Prefect: It's perfectly safe. It's just us who are in danger. -- Douglas Adams (HHGTTG)
I'll buy them when they can convince me that they've resolved the bit-rot issue.
Cheney is taking Scooter hunting.
Exactly what is "careful consideration"? -- CYA?
I started having problems with my Dell laptop in December. I sent it back for repair 3 times and each time it came back worse. It is now a doorstop. After it came back the second time and I was fiddling with it to try and get it to boot, I removed the battery. I was astounded to find a label on the hidden side of the battery that said "BAD BATTERY do not install in system". Their techs can't even follow their own instructions. No more Dell for me.
With all the clout of the media and slashdoters, I find it amazing that no one is willing to identify who these staffers (idiots) were. (S'cuse me, "alledged" idiots)
I had a Dell Inspiron 8200 note book that was fully loaded (2.4GHz, 1600x1200, 2G-RAM). It was heavy to haul around but it worked well - that is until recently. First the video card on it went out, no problem it was still under extended warantee. So I sent it back, when I got it back, video was fixed but now would only boot with battery removed from the system. Back it went again. Now it doesn't boot at all and warantee period is over. Thanks for the great service Dell. Bought me new computer at Gateway because I refused to give Dell any more money. Don't know if Gateway is any better - we'll see.
I was an early adopter of digital cameras and have almost 10 years worth of images. At first I backed them up to multiple gold CD's. Later when external hard drives went up in capacity and down in price I invested in several of those. However, with all this, I have no program that will let me know when I've lost a bit in one of those many files. I'm afraid I won't find out that some data has been damaged until I try to retrieve a specific image, and this, of course, is too late. I've been keeping my eye out for a program that will compute a check-sum (CRC, MD5, etc.) for my files so that when I rerun the program it will let me know if any data has changed so that I can recover files from an alternate backup. Seems to me that this kind of program should be fundamental to any digital archive. Any ideas? --Carey
Things have mostly worked on my brand new Vista box (old box died). One annoyance that I encountered is that Photoshop CS2 would nag me to register each time I launched it, even though I had "successfully" (?) registered a couple of times. Adobe's response was that it was "a known issue". I then reset the compatibility mode so that it would run as administrator. That brought even more complaints from Vista and CS2. However, when I reset CS2 to run as a normal user the problem mysteriously went away. Hope this may help someone else. --Carey
Though, not for everyone, I highly recommend the 5D. I occassionally enlarge photos to submit to shows and here is where the 5D really shines. The 5D with its 12.6 mega-pixels and full frame sensor has been my best digital camera to-date. -- Downsides: $$$, hard-disk space, and sensor cleaning. -- Carey
DENVER - The computer system that checks the registration of voters and allows them to vote was down citywide for around 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon. (Just pulled from www.9news.com)
DENVER - The computer system that checks the registration of voters and allows them to vote was down citywide for around 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon. Just pulled from www.9news.com
Searching my credit history is bad enough but the release forms you sign to allow employers to do this usually has fine print that gives them permission without any time restraints. That is, they can check up on you whether they hire you or not and for an indeffinte period of time. I always modify their fine print to give them only 30 days of access.
Coming soon: camouflage case for the Nano. Makes it look like the "other" MP3 player.
The concept of directories is the question that I encounter the most when trying to teach computer newbies.