google has released a version of picasa (3.0x) for the mac which puts google’s tool inline with Apple’s iPhoto. Though not as tightly integrated as iPhoto the tool is free and will allow the import and basic editing of images into the mac.
I have used the PC version of picasa and the mac version is similar and has the same tools for uploading and editing the images to the web, blogger (googles blogging service) and email.
If you are looking for something to do basic editing and work on the mac for your images, check out picasa from google. it is worth a look!
Roxio has updated Toast to version 10. They have released two versions. Titanium 10 and a pro version.
The pro version costs about $30 more and has more bells and whistles that the “standard” version. The system is an good update to the new version and if you have a previous version the upgrade costs about $60.
Check it out if you have Toast and want to have the latest and greatest version to run optimally for your shiny mac.
In another post in the last couple of days, further conversations about a unibody 17″ MacBook Pro (highly believed for release following the keynote Tuesday) as well as an updated Mac Mini with a new look and some changes to the graphic architecture to support Snow Leopard (10.6) and expected iWork and maybe iLife software should flow from Apple this week.
In last day, some talk of updated TimeCapsules, and AppleTVs have been making me very interested in where Apple could be taking these products. Many like the AppleTV but wish it had one more thing - an onboard tuner for recording over the air programs as well as holding your media library. Could this be the year (I hope so).
Stay tuned…
This morning I read an article on lifehacker about journalspace and a “oops” with their database…
There are some great things technology provides these days. Cheap and big disk (1TB disk costs about $150). Many people take a number of drives and create a RAID. Many times it is just a mirrored drive (two drives with the exact info on both of the drives aka: RAID 1). The issue that can happen with RAID 1 is exactly what happened with journalspace (a blogging service) - a change is made to drive one and drive two does it’s job and mirrors the info to the other drive. Delete a file and it is deleted on both drives…
There is some thought this could have been a disgruntled former employee - ouch!
The database was deleted and the RAID did it’s job and made sure the exact data was on both drives…
If drive one had a hardware failure, that would have been fine. Drive two would take over and the admin can replace drive one. The system re-syncs and all data is “protected” again.
If there is no dated backups using something like backup exec or retrospect on a regular basis (or even a timed copy of the database to another location) there is no way to recover. If this had been done once a week, journalspace would exist (maybe with a maximum 1-week hole in the data). As it is, there was no data anywhere else and no way to recover and journalspace is GONE!
Protecting hardware (hard drives and the server) is good and important and making sure there is a way to revert to another system or backup is imperative!
On a side note: i looked at journalspace a while back and started using wordpress. On my own wordpress site (here) I have the system set to send an email with my database to me weekly so again, the most I would loose is one week of data…
Have any important data (music, pictures or databases)? Back it up using a couple of tools and some serious thought (or talk to someone like me) to protect your time and business…
Monday (Jan 5 @ 10a PST) is the start of the first Macworld with Phil Schiller and the last Macworld for Apple…
The thoughts continue to roll along since the banners are up at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA but all hidden.
The thoughts echo around the following topics:
- New Mac Mini (with the look and feel of the new aluminum macs)
- New iMacs
- New MacBook/MacBook Pro
- Updates iWork ‘09 (with online/”cloud” integration)
- Updates for iLife for 2009 (again with online/”cloud” integration)
- Bigger iPhone (which I’m not sure about)/iPhone nano (which I would love to see)
The questions will be answered Monday around 1p EST - stay tuned for my updates following the keynote.
Here is a great little article from freelanceswitch.com about how to protect a small business from the issues that may befall someone who works out of their home or office ranging from power outage to earthquakes to health/life insurance.
As someone who has provided disaster recovery for larger offices and businesses, my recommendation to the individual is treat your self-run business or small business as a big business. Invest in a backup tool/tape/drives. Move data off-site every week or so and have something to allow you to get up and running as quickly as possible.
I have forgotten (until painfully obvious) that a laptop is a great solution during a time of power issues (especially if you have a broadband card). Power even blinks in the house and I do not notice since I’m still working with a fully-charged battery.
More thoughts or concerns about protecting your home or small business from the “disasters” that may come upon your profession, read further…
The latest rumble has been about iWork ‘09 [via MacRumors] being available online (vs. a CD/DVD local install).
This year I considered buying iWork ‘08 since it would give me the flexibility of working with the Office apps from Microsoft without spending $300+. iWork ‘08 cost is about $80. Much more reasonable.
Now, with some of the issues Apple had with MobileMe this year, online may be a tough sell (though Apple could also prove how much they have learned from this painful experience).
I also go back to the desire to have access to this data whenever and wherever I am (not just when I am online). If Apple figures out how to provide the same tools (online and off) and makes the cost more along the lines of $50-75 I am seriously going to look at this for 2009…
Over the last year since I have been back in NJ and owning an old home, I have been thinking about ways we could be more “green”. Solar seems the easiest for the little things (e.g. driveway lights and lights on the front stairs).
I was talking to my brother-in-law about the prospects of them buying a home with a pool and one of the big drawbacks (aside from the weekly cleaning, chemicals etc.) is the pump to circulate the water through the pool. He said a lot of the newer pools are using larger pumps that use more electricity to kick on for a shorter time vs. being slower, lower power and on longer…
I thought what about having a solar panel on top of the pump to power and charge the system to use 50%+ of the power from the sun…
What about just having solar panels or a small turbine on the roof to off-set some of the electricity used on a regular basis. Here in Maplewood NJ we have our share of windy days - what if I could pull down the old TV antenna and replace it with a small turbine?
Just some thoughts for 2009…
I have been using twitter for a while now and really like it… Twitter is simple and a great way to update people on what is going on (140 character “what i’m doing” updates). What I have found is that organizations are looking for keywords (company names, personal names) they can respond to quickly and directly.
For example I really like Freshbooks but was struggling with it since I was torn between the online/offline world for this kind of info. I tweeted about it and within minutes got a tweet from the CEO about why I was torn - we passed messages back and forth a few times and he agreed it may not be the solution for me - but he “heard” me and opened a dialog! AWESOME!
Guy Kawasaki has a great blog post about twitter and using it as a “twool” for business.
There are now more tools or apps to work with this - summarize allows you to do a search of all tweets and then respond or communicate quickly and easily with someone who may be commenting on you to the big ‘ole internet…
Check out twitter. Even if you use it for dropping little daily updates, it is fun and easy…
December 31st, 2008 in
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With about a week before Macworld SF (January 5-9, 2009), the rumors are swirling about new Macs (specifically iMacs, Minis, and iPhone “nanos”).
What every you are doing or thinking about a new Mac in the new year - WAIT until the 2nd week of January! There may be no changes in the line you are looking at, but better to be safe or save yourself some money.
There will be some interesting changes with Steve Jobs not presenting the keynote (Phil Schiller will be doing it this last go round) and Apple announcing this will be their last Macworld)
Personally I am hoping for the release of 10.6 (I know it won’t look or act that differently), BUT would love to see how the Active Directory changes and if there are speed changes in the way the system works and operates in every-day situations.
I would love to see the release of a new iMac and iPhone “nano” especially if it has 90% of the features of the iPhone 3G but is smaller (and reasonable cost). I still am thinking about the Apple TV, but believe that is something I will look at in 2009 (maybe in conjunction with a flat panel HDTV)…
Know anything or “thinking” of anything for Jan 5, 2009 - share!