This past decade, will be known for the massive growth of Technology and I wanted to highlight the biggest developments this past decade!
At the end of every year, I predict what are the big Technology developments for the next year. I will be putting out my predictions for 2010 soon but, let’s review how accurate my predictions from last year.
1. More Ultraportable Laptops
Definitely happened, netbooks exploded this year and every major computer manufacturer, except for Apple!
2. More Android Phones
This year showed major growth for Android with the introduction of the amazing Droid from Verizon and many other Android Phones.
3. New Nokia Internet Tablet
The Nokia N900 which is not only a tablet, but a phone as well was released this year! Although it is not as good as the iPhone or even an Android phone it is out and has some potential.
4. Affordable 3G Modems
Modems have become cheaper and sometimes free with a contract but, contracts are still ridiculously expensive.
5. All-In-One Desktops become standard
This was a little too much forward thinking! Maybe in the next 5 years!
6. Nationwide Wifi
Hopefully, this is still in the works!
Copying or ripping your DVDs to your computers is something everyone should do not only for backing up, but also for a copy that you can take with you anywhere you take your computer. Back-ups is the biggest thing for me, because what if a fire destroys all my DVDs, that would be awful. So, one of the first things I do when I buy a DVD is rip it to my computer using Handbrake and keep it on my external hard drive. This way I can watch it on my computer if I choose or just make sure I have a copy of my movies if disaster strikes. Also, as a extra precaution, I have the external hard drive backed up using Backblaze so my movies are safe even if my hard drive breaks. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act permits you to make a digital copy of your movies for “Personal Use” so I recommend getting a external hard drive and ripping all your DVDs so, you know your movies are safe. I actually don’t take any DVDs to school and just use the digital copies to watch movies when I am at college.
Security for a personal computer has become essential because so many things have had to go digital. However, computers are still very new technology and have issues and one of the largest issues is keeping you information safe. Here are some tips so can keep you computer safe.
With all the accounts you need to keep password protected, including your user account that you need to login. But it is a good idea to change your password regularly. When choosing a password, make sure it is not a word or something easy to guess. It is best to use: lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and symbols in your password. If you don’t want to make your own password, then there are password generators like the one made by GRC. I recommend that you change a few letters in the password so that you can be sure the password is safe.
If you want to keep your data extremely safe then, you should encrypt your hard drive so even if your hard drive is stolen, your data will remain safe. Both Windows and Mac OS have encryption tools built-in to the operating system, even though it is only in the business versions of Windows. If you don’t want to spend more on your operating system, then you could use Truecrypt which can be used to make an encrypted volume or just encrypt the entire hard drive.
To make sure unwanted guests don’t log into your computer, you should turn off the guest account and make sure all your user accounts require a password.
Firewalls are essential for keeping hackers from being able to gain access to your system from the internet. The Firewall will, control who and what can access the internet and the computer.
Since the year is almost over, you might want to have a fresh start with your digital life and get rid of all the digital clutter that has been accumulated on your computer. The best way to do this is reinstalling your operating system and clearing off your entire machine. This is incredibly easy thing to do, but, very few people in my experience actually do it! Before doing anything, make sure you backup all your data and make sure you have your hardware drivers easily accessible, I like to keep them on a external hard drive or thumb drive so that I can just pop it in and install everything I need. You will also need to have either a Windows Installation Disk or a Restore disk that should have come with your system!
You might wonder why, you want to spend the time to do this. Well first, especially on Windows, the disk drive gets fragmented which causes the computer to run slower and make the read and write speeds with the hard drive much slower. There are also all those extra files from things you have downloaded, or programs you may have had installed and uninstalled. Buy reinstalling your operating system, you can get rid of all the junk on your computer. I try and do this at least once a year with my Windows computer, although I have yet to do it on my Mac! One tip, if you really want to get rid of all your just is to run a Hard drive wiping tool such as Darren’s Boot and Nuke to completely wipe the drive making sure nothing remains after the reinstall. This is just a great way to eliminate all the junk slowing down your computer and it really only takes about an hour and then however much time it takes you to restore all your data, The computer will definitely run better and you can have a fresh start for the new year!
As you might of heard on The Weekly Spin or on my Twitter feed, my old Logitech headset that I used to record The Weekly Spin and used for general Skype use broken and I had to return it to Newegg! Luckily it was under warranty and because of that after I returned it I was able to get another microphone with the same value which was $20! There were not many USB microphones or headsets for $20 except this one so, I knew it was really my only option. The Logitech USB Microhphone was my choice and I am so grateful that I made that choice. After I plugged it in for the first time and tested out recording I found out that this microphone is extraordinary! The voice quality is great and even when I put it directly in front of my old Dell Laptop that makes a lot of noise all it picks up is my voice. This is because of the noise cancellation built into the microphone which makes this great for podcasters as well as anyone who needs to do voice-over work! The only compalint that I have is because I have gotten used to having a headset with the microphone directly in front of my face, having a standing mic takes some getting used to and requires some pre-recording testing to asure good audio levels.
Overall, I recommend anyone just starting doing professional recording it is completely worth the money and will not disappoint! I am excited to begin using this for The Weekly Spin and other projects because of it’s superior quality, it makes me almost glad my old microphone broke because this microphone has much higher quality!
Ok it was true that in my younger years, I was very hateful towards the Mac and Apple. It was a long time ago and Apple changed it’s way and has now become my platform of choice. It all started in Grade School, my school used old Macs, still running OS 9 and using a Power PC processor. In addition to all that, they also used Mac Manager to allow students to log-in, but control what they had access to. The worst part was that it was totally slow, applications took forever to launch and a lot of the software was very outdated. For example, until High School, the primary Word Processor they had us using was Apple Works and the browser was Netscape Communicator 4. Needless to say this added to the slowness issue and made it very unpleasant. The PowerPC platform was much weaker than the Intel which came with most Windows machines at the time and Mac OS 9 was extremly outdated making the more Modern-looking Windows XP look to be the better platform.This hatred towards the Mac continued throughout all of Middle School.
Then, in High School, we switched over to Windows XP and they were just as slow and had just as many if not more than the Macs and continued to have problems. Apple had also upgraded their operating system to OSX and made the system much better and more evolved than Windows. Then in 2006, Apple moved to Intel Processors in their machines using a much more powerful platform and making their computers a lot faster. It was around that time I began to follow Apple and consider changing my mind about Apple. I realized that with a Mac, you get a much more reliable system, with few if any errors, and Macs take much less work to setup and manage. Plus, I began tv become more interested in video production and podcasting both things that Macs can do amazingly while Windows machines do poorly with it. Apple also makes computers that aren’t just the average beige box, the computers standout becuase they don’t just use plastic, and they always put a big glowing Apple on the computer. Then after seeing the power of Final Cut Studio compared to other Windows editors I knew that the Mac was the computer for me. Now having a Mac for almost a year, I have had much fewer problems than my old PC and am very happy for switching to the Mac. Yes, they are more money but, if you want a computer that you just turn on and it works, the Mac is the computer for you.
The Following is an Essay I wrote for College Composition Class and thought would make a great Blog post!
Technology has had a huge impact on me and has completely altered the course of my career path. The three most influential devices are: the personal computer, the Video camcorder and the iPod Touch. One of these devices caused me to become interested in Technology and shaped much of my childhood, another developed an interest in a field that I am now pursuing as a major and after college as a career, and the final device keeps me organized, connected and entertained wherever I go. These devices have shaped my life and have developed my plans for adulthood.
The device that has changed my life the most is of course the personal computer. I began using a computer when I was three years old running Windows 3.1 and at the time the computer was so slow that I did not learn how to do much. Then around the age of ten, my family bought a new Gateway desktop computer that ran Windows ME, which although the operating system was not good either, I began spending much more time on the computer and taught myself how to surf the internet, troubleshoot problems, use Microsoft Office, and many more skills. These new skills helped me meet some close friends in school and these friendships caused me to become more interested in technology and learn more from my friends. I also learned from technology club in Middle School called “Tech Time” where I met other people interested in computers and developed more computer skills. I also began to be known as an expert in computers and had classmates, neighbors, and even teachers asking for assistance solving their problems and still do to this day. Then, while I was a sophomore in high school, I created a TV show with two close friends about technology that aired on the local access channel in my hometown as well as on the Internet as a video podcast, called Tecker 911. I originally wanted to be a computer programmer majoring in Computer Science in college, but I discovered I am not very good at programming. I knew I wanted to remain working on something technical which began my interest in website design, and eventually I created my Blog all about technology and some other topics. I decided to use my blog to share the knowledge that I have gained over the years about computers and share it with the world, so that they can fully utilize their computers as well as make the knowledge freely available so that anyone with an Internet connection can learn more about technology.
This is where the next big piece of technology came into my life, the video camcorder. My first experience that I had using them hands-on was in Tech Time in Middle School. While in that group, I produced several videos from pre-production through post-production and I also made several short movies at that time as well. This was my first introduction into video production until I joined the school TV studio and created my own TV show. Tecker 911 was a show that focused on technology topics that were relevant to new computer users and we produced 100 episodes. After producing Tecker 911, I decided that I would major in video production in college and pursue it as a career because the major changes with camcorders made me realize how much I love video production. If there were no computers and camcorders, my college major and future could have been totally different.
The final piece of technology that has had a major impact on my life is one of my newest, which is my iPod Touch. I know it is mainly just a music player, but I use it like a pocket computer that allows me to do work and keep organized no matter where I am. Although I had two pocket computer devices prior to the iPod touch, one a Windows Mobile Pocket PC, the other an open source Linux mobile device, neither are as simple or intuitive as the iPod Touch. The iPod Touch not only serves as a music and video player but also has games, applications and the ability to surf the Internet. It also allows me to synchronize my Email, contacts and calendar from Google to my iPod, so I can stay organized everywhere and keep in contact with people whenever I need to. Applications also add additional features making it both an entertainment device and an organizer all in one!
Technology is probably one of the biggest influences on my life today and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The computer was the biggest factor making me chooses to further learn about technology and create media for others that teach them how to use it like my TV show, Tecker 911 and my blog. The camcorder helped me discover my passion for video production and made me discover what I wanted to major in for college and what I want to do for the rest of my life. The iPod touch keeps me organized and helps me stay in touch with people wherever I go and has proven to really help me. Technology has defined the majority of my life and has shaped my decisions and plans for my future.
When I first started using Mozy last October, I truly enjoyed the service and having a backup service where you just “Set it and Forget it” . However about 4 months ago, I have begun to experience issues backing up my data and have not been able to back-up my data ever since. I contacted Mozy support however, they were unable to help me and told me to do the same thing everytime: uninstall, reboot and re-install. I also realized that Mozy for the Mac, although it is a paid service for unlimited data for $5 per month per computer, the Mac version is still in BETA! I do not want to pay $5 per month for a beta program.
After four months of much wasted time and trying in vain to make Mozy work, I decided that it was time for me to begin to search for a replacement. The first alternative that I looked at was the very popular Carbonite. It provided the unlimited storage that I want however, it did not let me backup data off external hard drives, which for me is necessary because I keep all my video editing files and other very important data on external hard drives and I need to keep that data safe. After some more searching, I found Backblaze. Backblaze, like Mozy, has unlimited storage for $5 per month per computer and allows me to backup my external hard drives.
Don’t get me wrong, when Mozy worked, I loved using it and liked having peace of mind knowing that my data was safe. however, I don’t want to continue wasting time trying to fix a beta product that definitely has its share of bugs. I still like what Mozy is doing and if they repair their issues, I woulod consider going back to them. However, I am very happy with Backblaze and hope it does not have all the problems Mozy has.
Long gone are the days where hard drives cost a fortune and only large companies with hundred-thousand dollar servers could afford terabyte hard drives. Now, you can get terabyte hard drive for well under $100 and terabyte notebook hard drives, although still very expensive, are beginning to reach the market. With storage becoming so affordable there is no reason to delete data and all the more reason to digitize as much as you can because it makes the data easier to access! I know that computers are still considered to be a “new” technology however, as long as you backup, preferably off-site with a good service like Backblaze or Carbonite they even if a tragedy occurs like your hard drive crashes or your computer gets stolen, your data is still safe!
If you are a content creator such as a photographer or video producer, then you may want to make a large storage device that can hold several terabytes. Long ago, the only way was to build a large Network attached storage device or NAS which could be very expensive to build and took a lot of management. Now a company called Data Robotics make a device called the Drobo, which simplifies having RAID and protects data by striping it across multiple hard drives making sure your data is safe. With devices like Drobo, you can keep all your digital data safe by keeping it backed up. I have saved data for most of the time I have been using a computer and no have very old data that I can look back on and can easily find because it is all on my hard drive all because digital storage has become so much cheaper. Hopefully cloud storage will become this way as well!
Recent Comments