Complete Backup Strategy

In the past few days I wrote about protecting your data and offered up some solutions for both the smartphone/tablet and computer. Given the fact that most people own at least a computer and one if not two portable devices, as a conclusion, I wanted to offer a cross platform solution that will ensure that all of your data will be safe, unless of a natural disaster that is.

This solution consists of a three stage backup solution which will do the following;

Backup the content of your portable devices to the cloud and computer.

Backup your computer to an external data storage.

Backup some of the files on your computer to the cloud.

This will ensure that your most important content is available to you from any device that has access to the internet all the while backing up the entirety of your computer to an external source so you can easily recover from a system crash.

Step one: Get a DropBox account here.

Step two: Install DropBox on your computer and portable device(s).

Step three: Configure DropBox to automatically archive pictures taken by your camera.

Step four: Buy an external hard drive that has at least 2TB of capacity.

Step five: Set up backup of your computer using Windows Backup (on a PC) or Time Machine (on a MAC).

By following the five steps above, you will have in place a backup strategy that will allow you to ensure that your most important files are backed up to at least two locations. How is that? By installing DropBox on your PC, you will have access to your pictures and videos from your portable devices on your computer and they will also be on the cloud. By backing up your computer to the external drive, your DropBox folder will also be included in the backup.

In the next few days I will explain in detail how to properly configure windows backup and time machine.

Backup a computer

So I talked about backing up a smart phone yesterday. But how about pc’s and macs? These also need to backed up regularly.That is is you care about your data and your computer's configuration. So how do we go about this? There are several options. However, all options except one require a common tool. An external storage drive. I recommend that you buy at least a 2 terabyte hard drive that connects by USB.

Once you have your usb drive ready, then we can go forward;

Option 1; Let the operating system manage your backup

Both Windows and Apple offer backup solutions embedded into the operating system. Windows Users will find Windows Backup in Control Panel. It is easy to set up. I will write in depth and step by step how to set up Windows Backup in another article. Apple offers Time Machine in OS X which also backs up your data and settings. This will also be the subject of a future article. Using Windows Backup and Time Machine is the easiest way of backing up your data and settings.

Option 2; Manual Backup

This option is good to backup your data BUT IT WILL NOT BACKUP YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM AND SETTINGS. This is useful to selectively copy files such as pictures, videos and documents. In essence it is to copy your files and folders to an external source. The disadvantage is that this is a manual and not automated process which can become time consuming. And it requires discipline to do it systematically.

Option 3; Third Party Application

This option may be good for you if you need to backup your entire hard drive and do a mirror copy of it. My favorite option is Acronis True Image. This application is available for Windows and Apple computers. The software allows you to take a mirror of your hard drive and then use the mirror as a recovery source in case of disaster or breakdown.

Option 4; Online solutions

This is good for backing up files and such but you cannot backup an entire operating system since you need a functional os to actually get online. An advantage of using a cloud solution is that integrating files from multiple devices becomes easy as you can backup several devices onto one cloud account.

Bottom line is, regardless of which method or combination of backup solutions you choose, backing up your data is essential.

Protecting your Data and Files

I never repeat this enough; BACKING UP YOUR DATA IS ESSENTIAL. In this day and age where records and all kinds of content is digital, keeping a backup of your most important data is essential. And with several low cost options available, THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO BACKUP YOUR STUFF. I am writing about this as the aftermath of an event that happened last week. A family member came to me with a smartphone that , allegedly, reset itself to factory default settings. This resulted in the loss of family pictures and videos that dated back for over a year, not to mention their contacts and texting history.

So, how is it possible that this happens? Because people are careless and do not keep in mind that hardware and software can fail. Even more so, they do not realize the potential amplitude of damages. Some people don’t know how to, others think that it won’t happen to them. So what can be done? There are many options available, and I will lay out a few. Today I will look at backing up a smartphone and I will write a separate post about backing up a pc or mac.

So you have a smartphone, and you use it as a digital camera and as an mp3 player amongst other features. But what to do to save and secure your pictures videos and other files? There are a few options available, from the automated online backup solutions to manual or software enabled possibilities.

Option 1: Backing up to the cloud

There are many services that can be used to backup your data.automatically. From Drop Box to One Drive and Google Drive. Apple offers iCloud as well. Drop Box offers to automatically backup your pictures and videos to the cloud once your phone is connected to a wifi network. Google Drive does too. This enables you to have an automated backup of your pictures and videos. For Android based devices, synchronising with your gmail will save your contacts and calendar. For iPhone users, you can use iCloud. There are also third party apps available to backup text messages and other content. However, for most people the key is to backup pictures and videos.

Option 2: Manual backup

This is the most time consuming option as it requires that you connect your device to a computer and then copy over the content to a backup media. You also have to be methodical and systematic to do backups on a regular basis in order to not loose data.

Option 3: Use a software

For Apple users, this is really simple as you can use iTunes to sync all of your phone to your computer. For Android users it depends on the device. For Example, LG includes an app to sync your phone. But quite frankly I do not use any of those.

Best solution:

The best solution is to do a cloud backup and periodically back up manually. This insures a double backup and also you will not have to worry about backing up every week in terms of your pictures and videos. Keep in mind that your content is online and can be accessed so keep it clean and decent, unless you feel comfortable in potentially sharing your personal files with unwaranted users (there is very little risk to this BTW.)

Software as a service or traditional licensing?

So I had mentioned in my last post that I would discuss Software as a Service or SAAS. I was busy lately so I took a break from the blog. So what about this SAAS thing?

Software as a service is the fact of offering an application as a subscription rather than as a lifetime license. This has many advantages, but also several downsides. The perfect examples of SAAS are Adobe and Microsoft. As the most popular providers of enterprise and consumer software these two tech giants decided to offer their most popular software offerings such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

So, as a consumer am I better off to buy a software license outright or to “lease” the application? It honestly depends on your needs. If you need an application for a short to mid term timeframe, the cost of subscription may be more advantageous as opposed to the license itself. However if you intent to use the software in the long run, you are usually better off to buy the application outright.

A major advantage of SAAS is that you get access to the latest version all the time, whereas if you buy a specific software you get updates only until the developer is actively offering the version you bought. So if you tend to always upgrade to the most recent version, SAAS may be worth considering.

However, if you tend to work offline, SAAS is not a good solution as most SAAS subscriptions require a continuous online connection. So if you tend to work in a remote area or in an isolated environment this is not your best option.

And what about cost? In the short run, SAAS is less expensive than a license in the short to mid term. The perfect comparison for this is Microsoft Office;

If you compare MS Office Home and Student to Office 365, here is what you get;

Office Home and Student 2013 sells for 139.00 on the Microsoft Store.
A One year subscription to Office 365 Personal costs 69.00 from Microsoft.

Office 2013 includes Word, Excel, Power Point and One Note;
Office 365 adds Outlook, Access and Publisher with on top a 1TB shared space on OneDrive.

So which one to choose? If you want to save money in the long run and the apps offered by the Home and Student edition meet your needs, then by all means get the lifetime license. But be prepared that in a few years it will become obsolete as it will no longer be updated and patched.

If you want the latest apps then you can subscribe to the Office 365. As a bonus if you have multiple family members that use different apps, then you may want to consider Office 365 Home, which allows you to use apps on up to 5 devices.

Milestones: A Thank You to all who have read my blog

With yesterday's post, I reached two milestones;

I penned my 50th post and reached 750 visits on my blog. To me this is unbelievable and when I revived the blog, I did not expect this. I did not resume the blog in order to reach such heights. I just wanted to have a creative outlet where I can voice my opinion and share some experiences.

I want to thank all my readers, regardless if you read one post to kill some time or if you are reading my column on a regular basis.

The fact that I have an audience on four continents proves that social media knows no borders and that people far and wide share some common interests. l am thankful to each and everyone of you who has taken their time to visit my blog and I hope that you have found on it interesting and perhaps entertaining content.

I will return with a technical post later this weekend on the topic of SAAS (Software as a Service).

Once again, many thanks to you all.

Greg

Introducing Technology to Kids: When should we?

So lately I was kept busy taking care of my kids who got sick. When they are not feeling well, little ones tend to be very tired and attached to some object offering comfort. To some, this object may be a game console or a tablet while others may want to watch their favorite TV show.For my older boy, who’s three and a half, this means watching YouTube videos.

Given the presence of technology today and the amount of time that I spent with the kids in the past few days, I was debating what is the proper age to introduce technology to kids. Be it TV, a tablet or a kid friendly computer, your child (ren) may be exposed to technology sooner or later.

For my oldest boy, I guess his first exposure was around 17 months old when he started daycare and his demand for media content increased as he developed his speech and vocabulary. By the time he was about two years old he was able to ask for specific TV shows and music content. Because we live in a cable free house, this means that most of the kid’s entertainment comes from YouTube. By the time he was about three, my son was able to vaguely use my phone to browse through pictures and had an understanding that YouTube was where you watch TV. At some point this winter he took me by surprise when he powered on the TV and changed channels on his own (I have an antenna to get basic channels). Also, his grandma bought him a Leap Pad for Christmas, which I promptly returned to the store.

Why? Because the last thing that I want is for my kids to become hooked up to gaming or other multimedia content. We use this sort of activity as a reward for good behavior or as a comfort (such as when they are sick) rather than as a part of daily activities. I don’t believe that my son needs a Leap Pad at his age and even if I would, the Leap Pad would be far from my first choice as a child’s first personal device.

So what would be an appropriate age? Quite frankly it’s very much dependent on the child because I would not want kids to become addicted to this sort of stuff at an early age. I understand however that today there is a lot of beneficial uses for a tablet such as educational content and apps. My own idea is to buy my older son a tablet for his 5th birthday so that he can familiarize himself with it before going to school. I will also use my own tablet and smartphone with him to introduce him slowly and still be able to control the usage time and content. And yes I am aware of the existence of parental control settings but I want to avoid attachment to the device.

So there you have it, a geek’s input on parenting and technology. Now let me go play Lego blocks and Little people with my kids as soon as I get out of work.

Older PC vs Full HD

So yesterday I concluded the old laptop trial with a clear failure. So this got me thinking about a specific issue: what are the minimum requirements in today’s era of resource hungry media content when it comes to personal computers.

In order to determine this, I decided to do certain specific tasks on three separate machines with different hardware specifications. The tasks are;

1. Watch a streamed HD video from a web source in 720p and 1080p;
2. Watch a downloaded video file in 1080p that is in .mp4 format stored on a usb 3.0 stick;
3. Edit a picture while listening to music in a separate application and browsing the web.

My test machines are;

1. My Uber Station; Windows 7 64 bit,  i7 4th gen cpu, 32gb ram, SSD drive,
   GForce 670 2gb video card;
2. My Theater PC; Windows 7 64 bit, i5 2nd gen cpu, 8gb ram, SSD drive,
   GForce 610 1gb video card;
3. My in law's PC; Windows 7 32 bit, Amd Athlon 3800 xp, 2gb DDR2 ram, sata drive,
   GForce 8400 512mb video card.

I connected each of the machines to a 27 inch lcd monitor running at full HD (1920 x 1080) and started testing. The idea is to see how would a six year old pc handle HD content versus a mid range 3 year old one versus a top of the line modern workstation.

As expected, the Uber Station had no problems completing any of the tasks due to its overkill hardware setup. I was able to easily watch full HD video while running multiple applications on a dual screen display.

What I did not expect however was the behaviour of the mid range Theater pc. Let me explain;

When I Did the initial test, streaming HD video online I had no problems, my kids happily watching YouTube videos in full HD. However, when I plugged my USB key into a USB 3.0 port and launched a 1GB full HD file, VLC froze. Once the file was transferred to the desktop, it ran just fine. The music and web surfing test concluded without incident.

On my inlaws’ PC, I was surprised that I was unable to play any HD content despite the dedicated video card and the files being copied to the local desktop. Also online content was choppy and only the 3rd task of music and web surfing was successfully completed. In an effort to get their PC optimized, I will try to upgrade the memory in the in laws’ computer and see if this solves the issue.

The bottom line is that outdated hardware is generally incompatible with today’s high definition media content. Does this mean that you need to replace your computer every year? No, but when you do you should invest into a future proof device that can potentially be upgraded as its purpose evolves.

Old Hardware Challenges

So after a break, I am getting back to the project of Linux on the old laptop. In my last post, I introduced Linux base concepts and talked about distributions, or distros. With that in mind, and knowing my hardware limitations I headed over to http://distrowatch.com/ to take a look at some options.

My immediate thought was to download Puppy Linux because of its known compatibility with older hardware and low resource requirements. I downloaded the Live CD and was on my way.

Once the live cd loaded, I was surprised at how slow and sluggish everything felt. I am talking about the menus, seup and everything, not just online content. I was hoping to render the old laptop useable for basic functionality such as playing preschool games for young kids and printing recipes and using it as an online access point to browse for recipes and such.

However, I was seriously disapointed. I thought that by using a minimalist operating system and not expecting to access highly graphical content, I would be able to put the old laptop to good use. Quite frankly, the end result is that it becomes a typewriter, with limitations. I thought about installing windows XP, but I figure that since it is no longer updated or supported it will become a security threat if I connect it to the net.

Other than that, I do not see how I can use the old laptop, within the spectrum of my interests and work. So in the end, I will bring the device to a recycling centre as I would feel ashamed to give it to someone. Because today being able to access online content is the root of using a computer or other such device, this old laptop no longer cuts it.

If all you want to do is type letters and listen to mp3’s then may be you would be ok, if not then get even the most basic tablet or laptop and you will be much better off.

Technology, an evolution but not always an improvement

So I took a break from the blog this weekend to spend some time with my family. A family that lost one of its most influential and oldest member as my Grandmother passed away a few months shy of her 90th birthday.

So you may wonder as you read this what does my Grandmother have in common with technology. Quite frankly it depends on your point of view. She never touched a computer on her own and was very old fashioned so even when computers and the internet came into the mainstream and became household essential services rather than luxuries about fifteen years ago, no one ever got her on the band wagon. I was fortunate enough that some of my family members who visited my Grandmother on a regular basis were tech savvy and I could see her on Skype a few times and she was able to see her great grand kids.

But to me, when I look at people like my Grandma, I see individuals with a diversity of knowledge and experiences. Many just like her who were born in a time when electricity and running water were luxuries. These people and their experiences are crucial to us as we sit in front of our connected device of choice, frustrated that our connection is slow or spotty. Why? Because these people went through real hardship.

A few weeks ago, there was no water in the house for over 12 hours due to a burst water pipe on our street. With two toddlers at home, water, especially hot water, is essential but taken for granted. All we have to do is turn the tap and 99.9% of the time we have hot water instantly. Kids can get messy, especially when they are trying to become autonomous around mealtime. I was frustrated because I had no water at supper time and had to use wipes and paper towels to make do. I also thought about Grandma and the stories told by my Dad about living in the country in the fifties without running water and let alone a hot water tank. I must say that my Grandma and others from her generation were quite brave and hard working to cook, clean and do laundry all by hand. Today, we have a washing machine, a dryer, iron free shirts and the internet.

As we can see technology has rapidly evolved over the past 60 years or so. Today we have instant access to information electronically whereas before, students in schools had books (I know they still exist and I enjoy them from time to time). I remember my Grandparents reading newspapers and magazines as a pastime and a means of keeping informed. I still have tucked away post cards and letters they sent to me, hand written. I also have a few black and white photographs and a camera that belonged, I believe to my Grandfather. I also own a record player and a few records. Today we have one device, mainly a smart phone, which allows us to take unlimited pictures and videos, listen to music, read a digital newspaper and contact each other through Skype or Face Time.

So one device has replaced my Grandmother’s TV, VCR, newspaper, magazine and stationary. But nothing can replace her vast life experiences and resilient determination in a world where self-entitled individuals who believe that all is due to them find ways to complain even though they are warmly tucked in with their smartphone or tablet and have access to content so vast that most of it is rubbish, while their microwave oven cooks their processed dinner, their washer washes their clothes and they have disposable diapers to clothe their children.

So there you have it, a salute to my Grandmother as well as all of those who like her have witnessed life first hand without digital interference.