The demise of a friend’s hard drive prompted me to take a quick look at the online backup market, hence the delicious links. While the shortlist is down to 3 companies, I’m testing AOL’s XDrive service first, as it offers 5Gb storage for free. The software still has to prove itself but its difficult to beat at that price.
Online backup solutions3
links for 2006-10-310
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Today’s topic: online backups. First some comparisons…
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Download the PDF for full report
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Another article comparing online backup providers
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And another one
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Shortlist #1
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Shortlist #2
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Shortlist #3
Comments are go…0
I’ve done a clean install of Wordpress 2.0.5, and it looks like I have comments back. So, if you were one of the three people who tried to comment on a post in the past 6 months, you should be OK now (I know, I know, it helps to post). I won’t install anything clever unless I’m sure it doesn’t break anything. Honest.
Reviewed you Spam settings recently?3
This morning I finally got round to vsiting my email hosting providers and checking what my email forwarding settings were. I’ve been getting a lot of spam through certain addresses, and also one of my sites sees to be being used as a spam sender address, which is a pain - not least because I’m geting all the bouncebacks.
So, I’ve just been online. Lo and behold one of my providers now has an enhanced spam filtering service, another now has an “auto-delete” of the bouncebacks so while I can’t do much about them for everyone else, I can at least reduce the pain for me. I had no idea about the services, perhaps they’d been mentioned in a bulletin at some point but I quite possibly deleted it - as spam, no doubt.
So - it might be worth visiting your hosting provider and seeing if they have enhanced their services while you weren’t looking! Of course if you’re the kind of person to do this on a regular basis, then I take my hat off to you.
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Why I like Zoundry0
… for my blog editing:
- because it doesn’t need me to install any frameworks
- because it doesn’t crash
- because it auto-creates thumbnails
- because it is usable and straightforward
- because it doesn’t clog up the editor with click-through advertising capabilities
I’ll add if I think of anything else! I also still use Perfomancing a little.
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Torchwood and Cardiff0
Just watched the first episode of the Doctor Who spin-off, which is not only set in Cardiff, it proudly advertises its Welshness. Very good, very enjoyable. Mention of “the rift” takes me back to when I saw BT announcing that it would be launching its 21st Century Network trial - in Cardiff. Was I the only person to think - “no, they can’t do that - it’ll be right on top of the rift in the space-time continuum!”
And then I remembered that one of them was just an imaginary story about a fantastic collection of technologies set some time in the future, and the other … was a TV programme.
Sorry, couldn’t resist it 
Keane at the Wolverhampton Civic, 22/10/061
I was full of trepidation about this event, not just because Tom might have rushed back to rehab at any moment, but also that we didn’t have any tickets - I was assured they would be available for pick-up at the box office, but the only proof I would have would be after the hour-and-a-half drive. As it turned out both Tom and tickets were there, and what seats - balcony right, just above the stage (Tip: never believe them when they say lines open at 9am, call 15 minutes earlier).
Given that Keane are considered about as middle of the road as a squashed hedgehog, to put it bluntly, they kicked ass. Tim played keyboards like Peter Crouch plays football - a gangling mass of energy, playing without letting up but always in control - I wouldn’t want to be his keyboard tech. Trim-looking front-man Tom seemed geniunely surprised at the level of support he received from the well-lit West Midlands crowd, and responded accordingly. Drummer Richard Hughes was understated but solid and capable, as I think he probably is in real life. Not much to say about the set list as the band aren’t yet over-endowed with material, yet each song was bashed out with energy and abandon.
Say what you like about Keane, but there’s a band that are doing it for love and they are getting it paid back in spades. Long may they continue.
Ben Folds in Second Life0
Interesting article here on Ben Folds and his Second Life gig. More interesting perhaps for the comment trail - I don’t know much about the music but its a good indication of what works and what doesn’t.
Comment apologies1
I’ve been asked why comments aren’t working on this site, I’ve tried to fix things but the answer still eludes me. Something to do with .htaccess/xmlrpc/other php files and the fact the blog is in a “wordpress” subdirectory. Normal service will be resumed… but in the meantime, do please email me and I’ll post comments that way. Anything(at)joncollins.net should reach me.
The best conference giveaway ever0
Just back from Storage Expo, which was a surprising amount of fun - generally beacuse it was great to catch up with a number of people I’d happily call friends if I ever saw them more than once a year. The sessions were good as well, particularly the Dragons Den thing. Those vendors really can be good sports!
But anyway, I just have to comment on the Gyrotwister I picked up at the PCICASE stand. Its a gyroscopic spinner that you have to try to keep going by the power of your wrist. Forget the hats, t-shirts and pens, this is the business! Though it could get you some funny looks if you tried it out in public… it comes with a CD-ROM, which can measure the RPM by listening through the computer microphone. Just how cool is that. I thought the USB hub and cup warmer I picked up at a Dell gig was the ultimate, but this thing wins hands down. You can even get one with lights…
