Tretakoff Musings
Sunday, April 20, 2008
In Praise Of Hulu
I'm usually one of the first people to simply roll my eyes at the efforts of traditional broadcast media companies to adapt to the new paradigms of online penetration. Witness the debacle of various networks as they hemmed and hawed about putting their shows on iTunes, only to pull them off over perceived pricing disputes. Or watching movie studios and television networks turn on their ardent consumers who would gladly pay to watch their content on alternate devices (iPods, laptops, etc.) by suing them. I have been patently disgusted with the 19th century approaches most have taken in the past, so months ago when I read that NBC and Fox were planning to respond to the constant "piracy" of having their shows show up on YouTube by building an online site dedicated to video streaming, I snorted in derision, and passed it off as another lame attempt to convince less knowledgeable viewers that they truly were "cutting edge."
Ok, I can admit it: I was dead wrong.
Hulu.com is the result of this effort, and I have to say after a couple of months of use, I am absolutely floored. Let's start with the basics: it not only offers all of the current episodes of the major TV shows from both networks, but is stocked with classic series, to boot. Miss Studio 60? Got 'em. Hankering for a little 1980's TV? Check out Airwolf and the A-Team. How about catching up on those series that everyone's been talking about, but you missed the start of, so you don't want to come in halfway? Say hello to Heroes and Battlestar Galactica. I mean, the list goes on and on. And it doesn't stop with TV: movies, movies, movies. The Usual Suspects, Dude, Where's My Car...impressive selection.
The streaming is flawless. I don't know how they do it, but it starts playing instantly, and none of the dreaded buffering that plagues YouTube. The interface is elegant, simple and functional: from the concept of "lowering the lights" to darken everything else on the page, to perfect positioning. And the full screen is amazing. Hear me out: most sites, when they stream video, you go full screen, and you might as well be looking at a Roy Lichtenstein painting, with pixels the size of baseballs. Hulu somehow gets it at even better than broadcast quality.
Let's talk ads. Obviously, this has got to be paid for, right? So Hulu inserts ads at logical points of the stream. On TV shows, when the commercial break happens; movies, at scene transitions. The ads are usually what drives me away from streaming, but here, they are extremely well done: not more than 30 seconds, with a counter indicating when the ad will be over. And the ads are actually good: non-intrusive, rich in quality. I can say I have watched more ads on Hulu in the last 2 months than I have watched on TV in the last 2 years (my DVR lets me skip them all). Even better, Hulu is experimenting on ads: on some shows, they will start by giving you an option to watch the show with the inserted ads, or choose to watch a 2 minute movie preview to start, eliminating all ads. It's your choice. Very cool.
Now, why would you use this? First, most TV's being sold now are flatscreens: LCD or Plasma. They are, essentially, big computer monitors that you can plug your desktop or laptop in. In our kitchen, we got a flascreen. Comcast came out, couldn't figure out how to get the TV wired up on the wall we have it without draping wires all over the kitchen. Instead, I opted to pick up a small HP Windows Media Center desktop, popped in a WiFi adaptor, and voila. At first, I was watching shows I had downloaded (ahem), but quickly realized what a pain that was. I added a SlingBox to watch our cable/DVR in the kitchen, and while it works well, it has some occasional connectivity issues. I'd tried streaming some video from ABC.com and Fox, but the quality was not there, and their "players" were buggy. Hulu was a hail Mary, and it paid off like a perfect Doug Flutie pass.
They've added a number of new features since exiting beta, such as favorite subscriptions, and a community function, but the core is still as good as ever. The major complaint about Hulu has been the scattershot depth of content. For instance, we just started watching Hell's Kitchen on Hulu, but they only have episodes from this season, not the previous 3. They claim to be importing new content as fast as they can, and they have already sold out of online ad inventory from their advertisers, so I'm prepared to say it looks like a bright Hulu future.
Ok, I can admit it: I was dead wrong.
Hulu.com is the result of this effort, and I have to say after a couple of months of use, I am absolutely floored. Let's start with the basics: it not only offers all of the current episodes of the major TV shows from both networks, but is stocked with classic series, to boot. Miss Studio 60? Got 'em. Hankering for a little 1980's TV? Check out Airwolf and the A-Team. How about catching up on those series that everyone's been talking about, but you missed the start of, so you don't want to come in halfway? Say hello to Heroes and Battlestar Galactica. I mean, the list goes on and on. And it doesn't stop with TV: movies, movies, movies. The Usual Suspects, Dude, Where's My Car...impressive selection. The streaming is flawless. I don't know how they do it, but it starts playing instantly, and none of the dreaded buffering that plagues YouTube. The interface is elegant, simple and functional: from the concept of "lowering the lights" to darken everything else on the page, to perfect positioning. And the full screen is amazing. Hear me out: most sites, when they stream video, you go full screen, and you might as well be looking at a Roy Lichtenstein painting, with pixels the size of baseballs. Hulu somehow gets it at even better than broadcast quality.
Let's talk ads. Obviously, this has got to be paid for, right? So Hulu inserts ads at logical points of the stream. On TV shows, when the commercial break happens; movies, at scene transitions. The ads are usually what drives me away from streaming, but here, they are extremely well done: not more than 30 seconds, with a counter indicating when the ad will be over. And the ads are actually good: non-intrusive, rich in quality. I can say I have watched more ads on Hulu in the last 2 months than I have watched on TV in the last 2 years (my DVR lets me skip them all). Even better, Hulu is experimenting on ads: on some shows, they will start by giving you an option to watch the show with the inserted ads, or choose to watch a 2 minute movie preview to start, eliminating all ads. It's your choice. Very cool.
Now, why would you use this? First, most TV's being sold now are flatscreens: LCD or Plasma. They are, essentially, big computer monitors that you can plug your desktop or laptop in. In our kitchen, we got a flascreen. Comcast came out, couldn't figure out how to get the TV wired up on the wall we have it without draping wires all over the kitchen. Instead, I opted to pick up a small HP Windows Media Center desktop, popped in a WiFi adaptor, and voila. At first, I was watching shows I had downloaded (ahem), but quickly realized what a pain that was. I added a SlingBox to watch our cable/DVR in the kitchen, and while it works well, it has some occasional connectivity issues. I'd tried streaming some video from ABC.com and Fox, but the quality was not there, and their "players" were buggy. Hulu was a hail Mary, and it paid off like a perfect Doug Flutie pass.
They've added a number of new features since exiting beta, such as favorite subscriptions, and a community function, but the core is still as good as ever. The major complaint about Hulu has been the scattershot depth of content. For instance, we just started watching Hell's Kitchen on Hulu, but they only have episodes from this season, not the previous 3. They claim to be importing new content as fast as they can, and they have already sold out of online ad inventory from their advertisers, so I'm prepared to say it looks like a bright Hulu future.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Tretakoff.com, iPhone Style
Oooh...I've written about MoFuse before, and the seamless free way you can create a mobile version of your own website/Blog. Looks like they took it up a notch, now offering a free iPhone ready version of the same, automatically available:
Saturday, January 26, 2008
iPhone Favicons
Remember Favicons? Or did you ever wonder why some websites have a little icon in the address bar? Those are favicons. Firefox lets you drag them to your bookmarks bar, and it keeps the favicon. If you like a lot of bookmarks, you can edit the bookmark to lose th text, and just keep the favicon. After all, you know that miniature eBay icon is not a symbol of their diminished earnings in the wake of overpaying for Skype or Meg Whitman's retirement: it's the eBay logo.
Now, fast forward to the iPhone. With the latest firmware release, you can create "web clips," which are just Apple's way of saying bookmarks, right on the Home screen. Easy to do: visit a website on your iPhone, click the "+" button, and it prompts you if you want to save it as a bookmark or Web Clip. Problem? The icon of the Web Clip is often a mini snapshot of the page. Some sites, like Plaxo Mobile, are smart enough to pass along the magic icon resource, so the Web Clip is the Plaxo logo, rather than a snapshot of the login page. But what to do about the other sites?
Enter Clipalizer. You can create your own 57 x 57 PNG images, and tell Clipalizer what URL they are for. Clipalizer then gives you a special URL to visit on your iPhone. Visit it, and you are prompted to add the page as a Web Clip. Voila, your icon, with a direct link to the site you specified. The image on the left is my quick and dirty TripIt icon, thanks to Picnik letting me edit it down.
Oh, did I mention it's free?
Now, fast forward to the iPhone. With the latest firmware release, you can create "web clips," which are just Apple's way of saying bookmarks, right on the Home screen. Easy to do: visit a website on your iPhone, click the "+" button, and it prompts you if you want to save it as a bookmark or Web Clip. Problem? The icon of the Web Clip is often a mini snapshot of the page. Some sites, like Plaxo Mobile, are smart enough to pass along the magic icon resource, so the Web Clip is the Plaxo logo, rather than a snapshot of the login page. But what to do about the other sites?
Enter Clipalizer. You can create your own 57 x 57 PNG images, and tell Clipalizer what URL they are for. Clipalizer then gives you a special URL to visit on your iPhone. Visit it, and you are prompted to add the page as a Web Clip. Voila, your icon, with a direct link to the site you specified. The image on the left is my quick and dirty TripIt icon, thanks to Picnik letting me edit it down.Oh, did I mention it's free?
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Your Blog/Page, Mobile
Ever wanted to have a version of a page or site that you could browse on a mobile screen, but you weren't into the complex programming it requires for it? Welcome to Mobile for Dummies, courtesy of MoFuse. As Download Squad puts it:
And man, does it work. In just seconds, I created a mobile version of this blog! Check it out here on your mobile device.
I love it when technology gets reduced to brain-dead simple. If Linux was like this, we'd be Windows-free already.
Ever wanted to have a version of a page or site that you could browse on a mobile screen, but you weren't into the complex programming it requires for it? Welcome to Mobile for Dummies, courtesy of MoFuse. As Download Squad puts it:MoFuse lets you make a mobile version of pretty much any site. The entire process basically boils down to:
1. Create an account
2. Name your site
3. Enter the RSS feed
4. Tweak if you like
And man, does it work. In just seconds, I created a mobile version of this blog! Check it out here on your mobile device.
I love it when technology gets reduced to brain-dead simple. If Linux was like this, we'd be Windows-free already.
Labels: cell phones, free, iPhone, Web 2.0
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Take a Flight with Google Earth
The headlines scream every day: although Google will deny it, they are clearly taking aim at Microsoft's desktop dominance by releasing free versions of traditionally paid software. Word? Hell, check out Google Docs. Excel? Um, there's this Google Spreadsheet. But now, Google has really upped the ante on Microsoft's monopolistic hold on a segment of desktop software: Google Earth now has a Flight Simulator mode.
Yep, it's true. Just download the latest version of Google Earth, fire it up, and hit Ctrl+Alt+A. Voila, you're ready to fly. No, this not just a flythrough: takeoffs, landings, but with Googlicious real maps and terrain. Want to take a spin with a prop pusher? Gotcha. Looking for a racier challenge? How about an F-16 Viper? And yes, it's FREE. Oh, Mac users? Yeah, you get in on Air Google, too. Someone's just gotta add in a real-time audio layer for United's Channel 9, mapped to the location you are flying, and we've got a whole new entry into killer app land.
No word yet on the keyboard shortcuts that open the bomb bay doors and drop ordinance, but I'm guessing you might find them if your flightpath takes you over Redmond, WA. ;-)
Yep, it's true. Just download the latest version of Google Earth, fire it up, and hit Ctrl+Alt+A. Voila, you're ready to fly. No, this not just a flythrough: takeoffs, landings, but with Googlicious real maps and terrain. Want to take a spin with a prop pusher? Gotcha. Looking for a racier challenge? How about an F-16 Viper? And yes, it's FREE. Oh, Mac users? Yeah, you get in on Air Google, too. Someone's just gotta add in a real-time audio layer for United's Channel 9, mapped to the location you are flying, and we've got a whole new entry into killer app land.No word yet on the keyboard shortcuts that open the bomb bay doors and drop ordinance, but I'm guessing you might find them if your flightpath takes you over Redmond, WA. ;-)
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Am I Getting A Good Seat?
Thanks to a clever link from my new favorite travel site, TripIt, I found SeatGuru.com. Ever wondered whether the seat on the plane you are choosing is any good? Does it fully recline? Are there power outlets for the laptop? Does it suck? No more guesswork: SeatGuru has the answer.
A service of the always great TripAdvisor.com, SeatGuru has a hell of a mission statement:
With it, I was able to book seats for an upcoming Texas trip on American Airlines, avoiding the "Poor Seats" and "Be Aware" seats with complete confidence. Interestingly, even some of the First Class seats on my flight were marked to "Be Aware." Thanks, SeatGuru!
Thanks to a clever link from my new favorite travel site, TripIt, I found SeatGuru.com. Ever wondered whether the seat on the plane you are choosing is any good? Does it fully recline? Are there power outlets for the laptop? Does it suck? No more guesswork: SeatGuru has the answer.A service of the always great TripAdvisor.com, SeatGuru has a hell of a mission statement:
"In October 2001 frequent flyer Matthew Daimler launched SeatGuru.com with a single color-coded interactive airplane seating chart. Having realized the vast differences between airline seats, he was determined to build a repository of this useful information and share it with other travelers. Over ten million visitors later, SeatGuru has enjoyed incredible success and has expanded to over 275 airplane seatmaps from over 40 different airlines."
With it, I was able to book seats for an upcoming Texas trip on American Airlines, avoiding the "Poor Seats" and "Be Aware" seats with complete confidence. Interestingly, even some of the First Class seats on my flight were marked to "Be Aware." Thanks, SeatGuru!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Dude, I'm So Tripping
I travel a lot for work and fun. I tend to book trips on the individual airline's websites (after I use Farecast and SideStep to find the best deals), so I get the mileage bonuses. The pain of that is that you get all of these different confirmations, emails, and tracking numbers, so it's not easy to consolidate them down to my schedule. I use TravelTracker for the Treo to type it all in, but it's time consuming, and annoying.
Enter TripIt. That email confirmation you got? Forward it to plans@tripit.com. In under a minute, you head over to TripIt, and you get this:
Want to add more to the trip, like a car rental? Just forward it on, and TripIt adds it to it. Want to track some activities you want to do while on the trip? Use the TripClipper to bookmark it to your trip.
I like the service a lot: they focus on ease of use and solving a problem. There is definitely room to improve here, though: syncing with Outlook or Google Calendar, for instance. Consolidating Frequent Flyer accounts is another area they can help with. But for sheer, purpose-driven Web 2.0 approaching a difficult problem with a cool effortless solution. it works.
I have 5 invites I can give out if you're interested in trying it; let me know.
I travel a lot for work and fun. I tend to book trips on the individual airline's websites (after I use Farecast and SideStep to find the best deals), so I get the mileage bonuses. The pain of that is that you get all of these different confirmations, emails, and tracking numbers, so it's not easy to consolidate them down to my schedule. I use TravelTracker for the Treo to type it all in, but it's time consuming, and annoying.Enter TripIt. That email confirmation you got? Forward it to plans@tripit.com. In under a minute, you head over to TripIt, and you get this:
Want to add more to the trip, like a car rental? Just forward it on, and TripIt adds it to it. Want to track some activities you want to do while on the trip? Use the TripClipper to bookmark it to your trip.
I like the service a lot: they focus on ease of use and solving a problem. There is definitely room to improve here, though: syncing with Outlook or Google Calendar, for instance. Consolidating Frequent Flyer accounts is another area they can help with. But for sheer, purpose-driven Web 2.0 approaching a difficult problem with a cool effortless solution. it works.
I have 5 invites I can give out if you're interested in trying it; let me know.
Labels: beta, free, Google Maps, Software, travel, weather, Web 2.0
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Backup your Treo
I know, I'm still overdue on two reviews: one for my Jawbone headset, and another for my Treo 680. Suffice it to say, for the moment, I am impressed with the Jawbone, but have reservations on the fit...more will come, I promise. The 680, on the other hand, is more than I hoped for, and is truly a worthy pre-iPhone device, with actually a lot more going for it. I will be sitting down to devote some serious time to share the joy.
For the moment, I will instead pass along one of the many surprises I've had since becoming a Treo owner. and it's about my least sexy topic, backups. Palm has released a beta application for backing up most of the essentials for your Treo, automatically, every night, over the air. Yup, like Mozy, the app comes up, contacts a Palm server, and backs up your contacts, Favorites, and more. You do need a significant data plan from your carrier, and you have only vague controls on the timing, but it just works. And, of course, it's free...for now.
Damn, this is smart. I already use RescoBackup to backup my Palm, nightly, to an SD card, but secure offsite storage for free? Count me in.
For the moment, I will instead pass along one of the many surprises I've had since becoming a Treo owner. and it's about my least sexy topic, backups. Palm has released a beta application for backing up most of the essentials for your Treo, automatically, every night, over the air. Yup, like Mozy, the app comes up, contacts a Palm server, and backs up your contacts, Favorites, and more. You do need a significant data plan from your carrier, and you have only vague controls on the timing, but it just works. And, of course, it's free...for now.Damn, this is smart. I already use RescoBackup to backup my Palm, nightly, to an SD card, but secure offsite storage for free? Count me in.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
March Musings
Just a random post to share, of some great tidbits.
- I always like to use this blog to share the new and cool online applications I find. Well, today I've found a blog that does nothing but this: I bring you MakeUseOf, a directory/blog of some of the coolest sites on the web for free things to make your life interesting. Although the visual style is closer to a wiki than a blog, it definitely offers a great, constantly updating collection of some of the more interesting sites that provide useful services to the consumer. Think Original Signal without the (ahem) noise.
- Yahoo has released version 4 of Yahoo Widget Engine, promising less memory hogging, and new mini-docking, to allow your widgets to be displayed in an intuitive collection, for neatness. It also introduces a drag and drop upload widget for Flickr, as well as support for just about all old widgets. Seems like a worthy download, and is definitely sucking less of my precious resources.
- Speaking of Flickr, they migrated everyone to a required Yahoo account this month. I have no objections to this, but the tool they have to merge an existing Yahoo account with your Flickr account definitely needs work: it kept getting confused. C'mon, guys...QA this stuff if you are going to require it's use.
- Looking for some new ringtones or audio clips? Check out Entertonement for a HUGE collection of freebies. Best of all, they have search and browse, and some really cool ones, such as the ticking clock for 24, or various TOS Star Trek clips. Movies, music, TV, commercials, sports, video games...they have them all.
- Need a logo, or a great stylized text image? Check out the venerable CoolText for the ability to create like a pro, for free.
- Yes, the Jawbone arrived, and is as good as advertised. Controls are a bit cryptic, but it completely eliminates background noise to the people you call. Got a convertible, or like to drive with the windows open? This is your headset. Style is ultra cool, noise reduction is simply the best, volume is just OK. Bonus: charger is USB based, so you can always get a charge from your laptop: no need to lug that AC adaptor around on your trips.
More as I think to write...
- I always like to use this blog to share the new and cool online applications I find. Well, today I've found a blog that does nothing but this: I bring you MakeUseOf, a directory/blog of some of the coolest sites on the web for free things to make your life interesting. Although the visual style is closer to a wiki than a blog, it definitely offers a great, constantly updating collection of some of the more interesting sites that provide useful services to the consumer. Think Original Signal without the (ahem) noise.- Yahoo has released version 4 of Yahoo Widget Engine, promising less memory hogging, and new mini-docking, to allow your widgets to be displayed in an intuitive collection, for neatness. It also introduces a drag and drop upload widget for Flickr, as well as support for just about all old widgets. Seems like a worthy download, and is definitely sucking less of my precious resources.- Speaking of Flickr, they migrated everyone to a required Yahoo account this month. I have no objections to this, but the tool they have to merge an existing Yahoo account with your Flickr account definitely needs work: it kept getting confused. C'mon, guys...QA this stuff if you are going to require it's use.
- Looking for some new ringtones or audio clips? Check out Entertonement for a HUGE collection of freebies. Best of all, they have search and browse, and some really cool ones, such as the ticking clock for 24, or various TOS Star Trek clips. Movies, music, TV, commercials, sports, video games...they have them all.- Need a logo, or a great stylized text image? Check out the venerable CoolText for the ability to create like a pro, for free.
- Yes, the Jawbone arrived, and is as good as advertised. Controls are a bit cryptic, but it completely eliminates background noise to the people you call. Got a convertible, or like to drive with the windows open? This is your headset. Style is ultra cool, noise reduction is simply the best, volume is just OK. Bonus: charger is USB based, so you can always get a charge from your laptop: no need to lug that AC adaptor around on your trips.
More as I think to write...
Labels: blogs, cell phones, commercials, free, fun, gadgets, Software, Star Trek, TV, Video Games, Web 2.0, widgets, Yahoo
Thursday, February 22, 2007
VOIP continues to pay me off
Did you know the IRS is refunding Excise taxes collected between 2003 & 2006 this year, if you have long distance service? Depending on how many deductions you claim you could get up to $60 back. Hell, $30 is there for the taking.
Curiously, this new blog, Nextlust, was what turned me on to it, but they implied it was VOIP users only. My bad.
Did you know the IRS is refunding Excise taxes collected between 2003 & 2006 this year, if you have long distance service? Depending on how many deductions you claim you could get up to $60 back. Hell, $30 is there for the taking. Curiously, this new blog, Nextlust, was what turned me on to it, but they implied it was VOIP users only. My bad.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
AT&T CallVantage: putting the Service in VOIP service
I've mentioned before that I ditched my landline some time ago in favor of a Voice Over IP (VOIP) line from AT&T, with their CallVantage service. $29.95 a month, with unlimited local and long distance calling, with crystal-clear sound quality. Uses your broadband Internet connection, and comes with almost every feature you can imagine: voicemail, caller ID, privacy time, and dozens more...all included.
What I have not mentioned is why I think their service is the best thing going. Yes, Vonage has a few more features I would like, and is $5 less; yes, SunRocket will give you a deal for $199 for 2 years of service. What AT&T gives me is some of the best customer service I could ask for, as well as the best phone quality you can imagine: far better than any landline I ever had.
Examples of their service: call them, and speak to a human, 24 hours a day. Try that with any other VOIP provider. Got a problem? They will patiently try to fix it, and, if all else fails, they FedEx you a new VOIP adaptor, FREE. While troubleshooting my internet connection, I spoke with them about the speed reduction in my connection. They offered to replace my adaptor, and even timed the delivery to my return from vacation.
Imagine my surprise and delight to see that they not only delivered it when they said they would, but that the adaptor they sent was a full fledged 802.11G Linksys router, with the VOIP service built in! FREE! I had just bought a $50 WiFi router, practically the same one, from Amazon, days before, which I can now return. This AT&T/Linksys box replaced my router, my VOIP adaptor, my old 802.11B WiFi access point, and my residential gateway (splits and shares the internet connection across multiple computers). It even works with my now-banned Linksys WiFi signal booster! Setup took a 10 minute call with them, and I now have 54MB per second wireless, with 3 less boxes!
The icing on this cake? My bandwidth went from an anemic 1MBPS to a full 16MBPS! I'm in the fast lane, wireless, for free, thanks to these folks. AT&T CallVantage, you've got a customer for a long, long, long time. GREAT example of how service trumps price in a competitive marketplace.
I've mentioned before that I ditched my landline some time ago in favor of a Voice Over IP (VOIP) line from AT&T, with their CallVantage service. $29.95 a month, with unlimited local and long distance calling, with crystal-clear sound quality. Uses your broadband Internet connection, and comes with almost every feature you can imagine: voicemail, caller ID, privacy time, and dozens more...all included.What I have not mentioned is why I think their service is the best thing going. Yes, Vonage has a few more features I would like, and is $5 less; yes, SunRocket will give you a deal for $199 for 2 years of service. What AT&T gives me is some of the best customer service I could ask for, as well as the best phone quality you can imagine: far better than any landline I ever had.
Examples of their service: call them, and speak to a human, 24 hours a day. Try that with any other VOIP provider. Got a problem? They will patiently try to fix it, and, if all else fails, they FedEx you a new VOIP adaptor, FREE. While troubleshooting my internet connection, I spoke with them about the speed reduction in my connection. They offered to replace my adaptor, and even timed the delivery to my return from vacation.
Imagine my surprise and delight to see that they not only delivered it when they said they would, but that the adaptor they sent was a full fledged 802.11G Linksys router, with the VOIP service built in! FREE! I had just bought a $50 WiFi router, practically the same one, from Amazon, days before, which I can now return. This AT&T/Linksys box replaced my router, my VOIP adaptor, my old 802.11B WiFi access point, and my residential gateway (splits and shares the internet connection across multiple computers). It even works with my now-banned Linksys WiFi signal booster! Setup took a 10 minute call with them, and I now have 54MB per second wireless, with 3 less boxes!The icing on this cake? My bandwidth went from an anemic 1MBPS to a full 16MBPS! I'm in the fast lane, wireless, for free, thanks to these folks. AT&T CallVantage, you've got a customer for a long, long, long time. GREAT example of how service trumps price in a competitive marketplace.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Free Headache Relief
I'm one of those "flirt with danger, laugh at hard drive loss" kinda guys. However, with the amount of photos, videos, and receipts I have been accumulating, I've got that little tingle that says I am just 1 Hard Drive crash away from saying, "if only I had backed up..."
Yeah, backups. The ultimate unsexy topic. Might as well talk about actuarial tables. Why, oh why, with this age of broadband and cheap hard drive space, is there not an easy way to automatically back up your files? I'm talking, no paying attention, all security handled, personal-slave-that-does-my-bidding backup here.
Um. There is. And, oh yes...one more thing? It's free.
Yep, say it loud, say it proud: I love Web 2.0. Presenting Mozy, the online backup service, that will back up as much as 2 GB for FREE. Need more than that? How about Mozy Unlimited? $5 bucks a month, and no more concern.
Ok, here's the scoop: you download a little program, choose the files you want to backup, and whenever your computer isn't busy, it backs them up. That's it. Automatic, as high security as you can handle, and great privacy. Freaked about choosing what files to backup? No worries: the wizard will actually scan your HD and suggest files to backup: it even groups them in types. What happens if you need to restore? Download the client, and go to it. No restrictions.
What's the catch? Well, you can't share the files, just back them up. That's fair. For the free product, you agree to be emailed; also fair.
I just installed it, and we'll see how it goes, but if it works well, I'm so plunking down my monthly Lincoln for this ultimate insurance.
Yeah, backups. The ultimate unsexy topic. Might as well talk about actuarial tables. Why, oh why, with this age of broadband and cheap hard drive space, is there not an easy way to automatically back up your files? I'm talking, no paying attention, all security handled, personal-slave-that-does-my-bidding backup here.
Um. There is. And, oh yes...one more thing? It's free.
Yep, say it loud, say it proud: I love Web 2.0. Presenting Mozy, the online backup service, that will back up as much as 2 GB for FREE. Need more than that? How about Mozy Unlimited? $5 bucks a month, and no more concern.Ok, here's the scoop: you download a little program, choose the files you want to backup, and whenever your computer isn't busy, it backs them up. That's it. Automatic, as high security as you can handle, and great privacy. Freaked about choosing what files to backup? No worries: the wizard will actually scan your HD and suggest files to backup: it even groups them in types. What happens if you need to restore? Download the client, and go to it. No restrictions.
What's the catch? Well, you can't share the files, just back them up. That's fair. For the free product, you agree to be emailed; also fair.
I just installed it, and we'll see how it goes, but if it works well, I'm so plunking down my monthly Lincoln for this ultimate insurance.
