Episode 5 – 10/26/08
Hosted by Jordan Drake and Jake Brown
Listening options:
Listen now:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Subscribe in iTunes
Download the mp3
Subscribe to the RSS feed
In this episode:
Tech News:
- The New York Times says that PC boot-up times are “…the black hole of the digital age”. Jake and Jordan use this article to discuss things you can do to speed up boot-times on your computer. For the PC, we recommend HiJackThis. For the Mac, go into your system preferences – accounts – login items to see what programs load every time you start your computer – Source – The New York Times
- OpenOffice.org sets a download record with version 3.0 of thei Open Office software. 3.0 million downloads, 80% of which from Window users. For those that don’t want to spend money on office applications – Open Office is a full featured set of applications that adaquetly replace Microsoft Office. Best of all, it’s free and works on Windows, OSX, and LinuxSource – PC World
Tech Topic – Backing up your Digital Life:
We start this week’s tech topic with a quick overview of what backing up means (for those that aren’t sure…), why you should backup your computer, and what kind of backups you can do. Jordan divides it into two types; data backups and system backups. Backing up your data is simply duplicating your documents, music, video pictures, etc. You’re not protecting programs, system files, or operating system settings. A system backup duplicates the entire contents of your hard drive including your operating system, programs, settings, and files. Anyone can drag and drop folders to backup your data, but protecting your system requires special software. Listen to the episode to hear more on the two different kinds of backups.
Listener Email – Backing up using Norton 360?:
David wrote in to ask: I have Maxtor external hard drive. I backup my files using Norton 360 backup program . When I try to open the Norton backup files on the external hard drive the computer does not know what program to use to open the files. How can I fix this situation? The Maxtor backup I used before opened the files automatically. (This option is no longer making itself available to me.) Thank-you, David.
The answer to David’s question lies in our definition of a Data vs. System backup. Because you need special software to completely duplicate your hard drive, you also need that same software to read the backup files that it creates. David needs to use Norton 360‘s restore option to examine the contents of the Norton backup.
Caller – Cory – Failing Hard Drives:
Cory called in to remind us that hard drives can go bad, even backup drives. He has about 80gb of pictures that he duplicates to an external drive, which he replaces every couple years.
Tech Tip – How to backup your computer:
Our hosts start with a quick overview of backup media. Some people try to use CD’ and DVD’s – we prefer instead using an external USB drive. Western Digital – Lacie – and Seagate are all good brands. One you have the backup drive, you’ll need software:
For the PC: If you just want to protect your data (pictures, music, documents) then Syncback is a free application that allows you to select a folder or series of folders on your computer and duplicate them on a regular basis on your external drive. For a full system duplication, you’ll need to spend $50 on Acronis True Image. Both programs have a bit of a learning curve, but are very good at what they do.
For the Mac: Time Machine – a built in backup program for OSX has a great interface for data backup and some really advanced features for restoring deleted files. System backups are easy with Super Duper, which runs for $30.
Caller – Shannon – Backing up your photos:
Shannon offloads her camera photos to her computer, and then automatically publishes those photos to Shutterfly (an online image hosting and management tool). She wants to know if Shutterfly is reliable enough to be a good backup for her images. We think that any online service should be used with caution and that Shannon should have a local backup as well as the online storage. Syncback would also be the perfect software to manage that backup.
Note: – The backup topics, callers, and emails took up multiple segments and covered a lot of content – listen to the episode to get the most out of our backup discussion and advice.
Tech Discussion – Are gamers more social than non-gamers?:
Our hosts share some fascinating statistics about gamers and families who play games. Listen to the show for the complete list and discussion. Some of the statistics include:
- Half of the gaming population is married
- 48% have kids
- Gamers are 13% more likely to go to the movies
- Gamers are 11% percent more likely to play sports
- Gamers are 9% more likely to go out with friends than people who don’t play games
Source – Gamsutra – The ESA – Resources for Parents
Next week:
Jordan will review an amazingly cheap and useful mini laptop – the Asus Eee PC 1000H
We air every Saturday at 3pm ET on AM 1200 WXIT – call in or email us – 828 264 8255 – contact@digitalliferadio.net
