Well, you'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking, because my answer is the same as always — no threesomes unless it's boy-boy-girl. Or Charlize Theron.

Harmony ,'First Date'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Theodosia - Jan 31, 2011 3:11:50 am PST #16004 of 25501
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"

I'm trying Carbonite -- which through cloud connectivity, lets me access backedup documents on other computers, INCLUDING my iPod Touch. Maybe I should try the Mozy free solution for the less critical docs on my Mac iBook....


Typo Boy - Jan 31, 2011 8:15:20 am PST #16005 of 25501
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

Dropbox is more expensive than carbonite for the paid versions. And Carbonite does multiple file versions too, though old versions of files do expire, so still backup not archiving. But have tried neither and if DropBox works better than it would be worth the difference.


le nubian - Jan 31, 2011 8:28:13 am PST #16006 of 25501
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

I have never used carbonite, but I understand there are people out there who have had problems with the service. I think this may have been an issue 2-3 years ago and they have worked out the kinks now.


Theodosia - Feb 01, 2011 3:13:34 am PST #16007 of 25501
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"

I'm letting the Carbonite backup run -- it's up to 33% after a day and a half.

I didn't realize I can use a Carbonite app on my iPod Touch to get at my backedup PC docs like photos and PDFs and whatnot. That's actually kind of useful.


Shir - Feb 01, 2011 4:58:54 am PST #16008 of 25501
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

Dear, kind techistas, once again I storm on this thread to ask for your kind advice, as I'm clueless who googled till she couldn't google anymore, and you're not as confused as I am, at this point.

Here goes: after the last consultation with you, I've been recommended on a certain portable document camera with projector. All is good and shiny, except for one thing: all of the portable document cameras with projectors I found are part of a whiteboard thingy, and we don't have the whiteboard in itself. Is that a problem? Will we be able to use it as a kind of an advanced overhead projector, without the whiteboard? In particular, I thought of this: [link] for its class recording/podcasting feature, but I can't see any evidence that it'll work without the whiteboard.

Help, anyone?


Deena - Feb 01, 2011 5:14:49 am PST #16009 of 25501
How are you me? You need to stop that. Only I can be me. ~Kara

If you look at the full description here: [link] it looks like it at least requires a computer monitor for output.


Shir - Feb 01, 2011 5:27:13 am PST #16010 of 25501
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

Of course, I forgot to state what I do need, not only what I don't need: I don't mind if the output is to a computer monitor or a projection screen or to a projection screen via another computer - as long as it's not a whiteboard mandatory.

Thanks (and thank you, Deena)!


Typo Boy - Feb 01, 2011 12:02:20 pm PST #16011 of 25501
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

On the drop box vs. carbonite, here is what someone said in a tech forum: [link]

Well, let's take a step back and think about the sync problem and what the ideal solution for it would do:

There would be a folder.
You'd put your stuff in it.
It would sync.

They built that.

Why didn't anyone else build that? I have no idea.

"But," you may ask, "so much more you could do! What about task management, calendaring, customized dashboards, virtual white boarding. More than just folders and files!"

No, shut up. People don't use that crap. They just want a folder. A folder that syncs.

"But," you may say, "this is valuable data...certainly users will feel more comfortable tying their data to Windows Live, Apple Mobile Me, or a name they already know."

No, shut up. Not a single person on Earth wakes up in the morning worried about deriving more value from their Windows Live login. People already trust folders. And Dropbox looks just like a folder. One that syncs.

"But," you may say, "folders are so 1995. why not leverage the full power of the web? With HTML 5 you can drag and drop files, you can build intergalactic dashboards of stats showing how much storage you are using, you can publish your files as RSS feeds and tweets, and you can add your company logo!"

No, shut up. Most of the world doesn't sit in front of their browser all day. If they do, it is IE 6 at work that they are not allowed to upgrade. Browsers suck for these kinds of things. Their stuff is already in folders. They just want a folder. That syncs.

That is what it does.


Morgana - Feb 01, 2011 2:37:06 pm PST #16012 of 25501
"I make mistakes, but I am on the side of Good," the Golux said, "by accident and happenchance.” – The 13 Clocks, James Thurber

Typo Boy, I don't know who Michael Wolfe is, but I think I may have a gigantic crush on him. 11 years of technical writing and software testing and talking to developers and trying to explain the users' points of view... just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be built into the damned software. Stop making it more and more complicated.


meara - Feb 01, 2011 2:41:07 pm PST #16013 of 25501

Hah! I DO sit in front of a computer all day...on IE6 that I'm not allowed to upgrade.