Grabbing DVD and Flash video
RT wrote:
“We would like to integrate more forms of media (DVD, Youtube etc.) into our keynote presentations.”
Out of curiosity, have you yet familiarized yourself with tools such as Handbrake and the various YouTube video downloaders?
http://handbrake.fr/
TubeTV is an example of a downloader. Of course I recommend to starr with freeware:
http://www.chimoosoft.com/products/tubetv/ Haven’t tested this one, but it’s the basis of apps like that:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070420014456930
http://www.chimoosoft.com/products/tubetv/ Haven’t tested this one, but it’s the basis of apps like that:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070420014456930
May 21, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Found the right remote-support solution
I’ve been using GoToAssist for a couple of weeks. It’s the only remote-support service I’ve found that has a reasonable price and doesn’t require the client to download anything. Just a couple of clicks and I’m in! Way better than VPN or LogMeIn or iChat or anything!
May 19, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Cash for your gadgets
http://www.gazelle.com/
Enter your gadget model (e.g. “iphone 3gs 16gb”), tell ‘em what condition it’s in and whether you have the original cables (e.g. “good, makes calls, no to A/C & cables”), and they’ll tell you what they’re gonna pay you ($190 in the previous case). You say “Great!”, they send you a box, you send them the gadget, they send you a check.
If you’re a non-profit organization, Gazelle will give you a page through which donors can send their gadgets, and Gazelle will give the money to the non-profit.
Stellar.
May 19, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Frost Mobile Expanded to Include Text Messaging
Yet another reason I love banking at Frost:
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We are excited to introduce the addition of text messaging to Frost Mobile, our mobile |
I just tried it. If I have a payee named, say, Bob Brown, I can give him the nickname “bob,” and text “pay bob $200.” Done! I love that. Boffo, Frost!
May 19, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Rackspace’s newer, more affordable services + backup calculations
For the longest time, I had the perception that using the top-shelf service of San Antonio’s own Rackspace came solely at a top-shelf price. But their non-Exchange Rackspace Apps email service, at $2/user/year for 10GB email accounts, is the price level I’ve been seeking for non-free (read: non-Google Apps) hosted email. It’s a number my clients can quickly figure.
I have not yet tried the apps myself, but I wanna get these bookmarks up now, cos I think I’m going to be referring to them a lot:
http://www.rackspace.com/apps/email_hosting/rackspace_email/
http://www.rackspace.com/apps/backup_and_collaboration/online_file_storage/ Now, the data backup service — http://www.rackspace.com/apps/backup_and_collaboration/data_backup_software/ — is through Amazon S3, currently the go-to host for unlimited online storage. S3 exact pricing is found at http://aws.amazon.com/s3/#pricing but we can sum it up as $0.15/GB (gigabyte)/month storage, and $0.10/GB transfer each way. So… Say you have 50GB of data on to backup. It will cost 0.15×50 = $7.5/month storage, and 0.1×50 = $5 to get all your data backed up the first time. Now, let’s suppose you change 200MB (megabyte) of your data each day. That’s 0.2×0.1 = $0.02/day, or 0.02×30 = $0.6/month. And after 5 months, you’re paying another $0.15/month for storage. OK, that’s an easily affordable fee for most healthy businesses to afford. But what if you have more? Say, 400GB: 0.15×400 = $60/month storage, and 0.1×400 = $40/first transfer
0.1×1 = $0.10/day for backing up 1GB/day, which after an average month is an extra $3. 60×12 = $720/year, growing by $36/year, is going to be totally fine for some, but it’s enough to give many business owners pause. Nevertheless, it’s among the cheapest cloud storage out there, excepting services such as Carbonite. I’ve been recommending and installing Carbonite $5/month “unlimited” service, but I was disappointed to run recently into their 200GB ceiling, above which they throttle upload to 1GB/day. So maybe we use Rackspace for the bigger data stores. OK, enough numbers. I just needed to get those up here. Point being, Rackspace has some good stuff to look at, and I’m going to see how it goes with them. A couple of clients have already signed up. And, BTW, apropos of a previous post, I like Rackspace’s “What is…?” page, too:
http://www.rackspacecloud.com/what_is_cloud_computing
http://www.rackspace.com/apps/backup_and_collaboration/online_file_storage/ Now, the data backup service — http://www.rackspace.com/apps/backup_and_collaboration/data_backup_software/ — is through Amazon S3, currently the go-to host for unlimited online storage. S3 exact pricing is found at http://aws.amazon.com/s3/#pricing but we can sum it up as $0.15/GB (gigabyte)/month storage, and $0.10/GB transfer each way. So… Say you have 50GB of data on to backup. It will cost 0.15×50 = $7.5/month storage, and 0.1×50 = $5 to get all your data backed up the first time. Now, let’s suppose you change 200MB (megabyte) of your data each day. That’s 0.2×0.1 = $0.02/day, or 0.02×30 = $0.6/month. And after 5 months, you’re paying another $0.15/month for storage. OK, that’s an easily affordable fee for most healthy businesses to afford. But what if you have more? Say, 400GB: 0.15×400 = $60/month storage, and 0.1×400 = $40/first transfer
0.1×1 = $0.10/day for backing up 1GB/day, which after an average month is an extra $3. 60×12 = $720/year, growing by $36/year, is going to be totally fine for some, but it’s enough to give many business owners pause. Nevertheless, it’s among the cheapest cloud storage out there, excepting services such as Carbonite. I’ve been recommending and installing Carbonite $5/month “unlimited” service, but I was disappointed to run recently into their 200GB ceiling, above which they throttle upload to 1GB/day. So maybe we use Rackspace for the bigger data stores. OK, enough numbers. I just needed to get those up here. Point being, Rackspace has some good stuff to look at, and I’m going to see how it goes with them. A couple of clients have already signed up. And, BTW, apropos of a previous post, I like Rackspace’s “What is…?” page, too:
http://www.rackspacecloud.com/what_is_cloud_computing
May 9, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Article: The real reason why Steve Jobs hates Flash – Charlie’s Diary
The real reason why Steve Jobs hates Flash – Charlie’s Diary
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/why-steve-jobs-hates-flash.html
(via Instapaper, which is soooo cool. Just bought Instapaper Pro [iTunes link] for the iPad. Makes reading the web fun and practical.)
I’ve about had it with on-site servers, especially the over-spec’ed variety. IT people think they have users over a barrel, and it’s only a matter of time before people wise up and discover how much they’ve been robbed, by technicians who don’t advise people about the most cost- and time-efficient uses of technology. I reserve judgment on whether the consultants don’t keep themselves educated out of laziness or selfishness.
I just spent two days bailing a business out of a wrongly configured server (it’s always DNS) — and that server was hosting their mail. I set ‘em up with Google Apps, just because I needed them to have email while I was retooling their server. I’ve asked them to hang onto it for a while and see how they like it. At the very least, it’s still going to be the best method for calendar syncing. Meanwhile, I am anxious to work with them on finding alternatives for those time-worn, ubiquitous, and bothersome legal-practice apps such as Timeslips and Pro Docs. (A search for something like “legal” in Google Apps Marketplace is always fun.)
May 8, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Looking for good videos to explain “cloud computing”
Salesforce has a nice one: http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/
It’s amazing how many pencil-sketch cartoons like this look like they’re going to be helpful and elementary, and then they start using terms like “infrastructure.”
May 8, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Reservations about cloud services
While I fully understand the pros of a web-based “cloud” solution, I also consider the cons. These being: 1) if our internet connection goes down, so does our database, and 2) less data security as the database would be stored on someone else’s server. We could still copy data over to laptops for use away from the office – it just wouldn’t be updated/synced with the office database until return.
I really really really encourage you to examine the online CRM options, such as SugarCRM, and the ones listed in the Google Apps marketplace (which is where I look to find services who are keeping up with the Joneses).
Online apps are, without question or doubt, The Future. I cannot state this strongly enough. The services being designed now make both life and business transactions so easy and flexible. Businesses who don’t buy into this future are wasting money and productive time — consider the cost, time, and often frustrating effort of designing a custom database from scratch, on an expensive platorm for which you have to buy a seat for each workstation. With the online apps, there’s nothing to install or update, and you can use it outside the office. User training is way faster.
I started using an online invoicing solution called Freshbooks recently, which has changed my life; check out the list of online CRM add-ons that integrate with their service.
I understand the reservations about internet going down and such, but that brings up the larger issue that, just by dint of email, if you have a single internet connection, and it craters, it’s likely to bring your business to a halt, or at least a stall, anyway. Which is why everyone should have at least one backup connection, preferably starting with an iPhone or Android phone. The second one could be something like a MiFi, although some of the Sprint phones let you turn them into a wifi hotspot for a few computers, which is awesome.
You knew I was going to say the next thing, but the most amazing and satisfying alternative second internet connection is an iPad with 3G. I’m very excited about how iPad and Android tablets are going to change the landscape, and online, cloud-based, Software-as-Service solutions are big, snow-peaked mountains in that landscape.
May 4, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | 3 Comments
modulR iPad accessories: iPad Wall Mount, iPad Car Mount, iPad Shoulder Strap, iPad Kick Stand, and more to come in Summer 2010.
May 4, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
Got the iPad
3G model, with 32GB, arrived Friday. I activated it, absurdly decided to sync most of my hundreds of apps (most of which I very quickly deleted), and immediately headed out camping in Meridian State Park… where there was no reception. Ach! Fortunately I had grabbed a book and a couple of comics, and one game that the kiddo liked (Angry Birds (iTunes link)).
Managed to grab some wifi on Saturday in front of the Meridian Public Library, for some more apps and syncing mail and RSS feeds (Feedler (iTunes link)). It’s safe to say the tablet is way more fun when connected to the internet.
Got back to my happy-fast wifi and now I’m completely pleased.
May 4, 2010 | Filed Under Tech | Leave a Comment
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