Chet Davis - Your Technology Tutor

Cloud Based Data Storage... What's The Best Plan?

A client today asked me if I know anything about a cloud basec company called OpenDrive. 

 

I believe my reply may be of interest to others as well... what do you think? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments below.

 

A quick look, it appears to be a good solution. I do not know anything about the company, it's longevity, etc.

As you likely know there are a number of solutions similar to this company.
I believe what sets companies apart is perhaps their history, their ability to stay in business (with your precious data), and what features they offer that would be important to you (remote access, sharing across devices, etc).  If it were me I would also select a service that is platform independent... in other words that works on both Mac and Windows comptuers.

With the recent government crackdown on Megaupload, the provider in New Zealand accused of internet piracy - a lot of other innocent, law abiding folks had their data become unavailable , if only for a few days.  I am afraid to say that the best option is to not only store precious data in the cloud with a reputable firm but also locally, on an external HDD (Hard Disk Drive) in perhaps a safe deposit box.

Anyway, that's my 2-cents -- what's your opinion, or experience with cloud-based storage?

Helpful video from Consumer Report: Fine Tune Your TV settings

If you have a big-screen TV it is possible your display is not giving you the best picture. There are a host of menu options that can be easily set to provide you with optimum colors, etc. Here is a helpful short video (by the folks at Consumer Reports) to help you set your own display.

"When watching the Big Game—or anything else on your TV, for that matter—you'll want to optimize the TV's settings: fix the color, contrast, brightness, and so on, to make your picture as realistic as possible. With today's televisions, that can be an intimidating prospect! In this video, our lab expert Chris Andrade goes through the steps to make it easy for you to set up your TV yourself. Your Super Bowl party guests will thank you."

Want to watch the SuperBowl 2012 via your Computer? Mashable has the details

For those who are fed up with expensive bills from their cable TV provider and choose to view TV and videos from the internet via a PC, her  e is a good article with the info you'll need to view the Super Bowl live at on your computer.

I'll be connecting my PC up to our big screen TV and watching the event myself via the link at NFL.com. You can read the details on the Mashable website: Super Bowl 2012: Everything You Need to Know About Watching It Online

As Mashable pointed out in an earlier article "This is a huge move for major sports... Offering a simulcast online opens up the game to fans who may have decided to cut the cord (or who don’t even have TVs anymore). This is great news for advertisers, who get additional eyeballs as well."

A Day Made of Glass 2: An Intriguing Look Into Our Possible Near Future with Technology

Wow! This afternoon I saw a video that was very cool, intriguing and exciting. I honestly never thought how a glass company (Corning) was so heavily involved in technology implementation but with all the touch-screen tools, it's obvious to me now!

It was one year ago that Corning released a video on YouTube called A Day Made of Glass showing off future technological innovations that revolved around high-tech glass surfaces, etc.

And they're just released a follow-up video called A Day Made of Glass 2. If you're ready for an exploration in how technology might play out in our near future... this 11-minute video will open your mind.

And here is the video that Corning released in January 2011 - A Day Made of Glass (1)

Consumer Reports validates there IS a benefit to using premium batteries

I saw an interesting post on the Consumer Reports on-line blog - it addressed a conversation we have every now and then in my household.... how about those generic, cheapo batteries?

I had heard in the past that the inexpensive batteries at the Dollar Store or drug-store perform as well as the much more expensive name brand premium batteries. 

Turns out - according to both the Consumer Reports tests and recent tests by a  professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University - that there is a definite difference. 

Summary: for energy draining devices like digital cameras - use the premium quality batteries.  For living room remote controls, etc. use the cost efficient bulk batteries.  Read the entire post: Are no-name batteries a good value?

Helpful List of Symbols Availalbe On Your Computer with the ALT Key

A friend discovered some of the symbols available by using the ALT key on your computer keyboard, and wondered if there was a good resource that showed the many symbols available to us. 

Yes, indeed - I found a list of the 255 symbols available by using your ALT key in conjunction with the numerals 0 through 255.  Here's a sampling of these codes (compatible on your Windows OS computer)

You'll find this handy chart on the Alt Codes web site

Want Some Tangible Encouragement to Use the Gym This Week?

How about your own money? 

GymPact lets you set the financial stakes of not getting to the gym, plus earn real cash for every workout you committed - paid for by those who didn't get to the gym!

I saw this on Ski Mag.com this morning and thought it was a great idea!  For those folks who joined a gym as part of their new year's resolutions but find that other choices keep 'getting in the way' of your intentions to work out... you can now install this app on your iPhone and then put your money where your mouth is! 

Basically you indicate how much money you're wagering that you will make it to the gym this next week. If you don't, then your credit card will be debited the amount you agreed to -- and those folks who did make it that week will share in the pot of money from those who did not make it.

You can read more about this new service/app in the article
by Deborah Williams here: Get Paid To Work Out With GymPact

You'll find the GymPact web site here and the GymPact iPhone app here.

 

Facebook Begins Inserting Adverts into the News Feed

On the CNET Digital Media Blog author Dara Kerr reports that Facebook has begun inserting ads into Facebook Users News Feed stream.  While ads on Facebook are nothing new, this is a different approach as the ads used to be in the 'Stream' at upper right side of the page. These sponsored ads will appear in your regular news feed. 

As Dara suggests:

To figure out whether a post is legitimate or an ad, Facebook users can hover their mouse over the word "featured" and a black box of text will pop up saying, "A sponsor paid to feature it here." The only way to get rid of the ads is to click the "x" on the right corner of each post, deleting them one by one.

You can read the full article here: Facebook inserts ads into users' news feeds

A Satirical Look at the Power of Photoshop in the Advertising & Fashion Industries

There has been increased concern and scrutiny in recent months about the effects of models and celebrities who are 'Photoshopped' to look even more beautiful (or perfect) than they already appear.  It's no huge secret inside the fashion and advertising industries that the use of photo retouching software (like Adobe Photoshop) have been used for quite some time to give the image just the 'right look'. Even the American Medical Association has expressed concern about the effects of this practice: American Medical Association Pushes to End Photoshopped Body Images in Ads

I do share some concerns about how media impacts our society - especially the great impact such practice can wield on younger people and affect their self-esteem, etc.  Here's a fun way to poke at this issue - with praise today for filmmaker Jesse Rosten, who produced the following 2 minute video titled 'Fotoshop by Adobé'.

According to Jesse's blog "I was watching TV one sleepless night and stumbled upon an infomercial for some beauty product. The commercial showed before and after portraits, that to my eye, looked like the same photo just photoshopped. I laughed to myself. Then I made this video."

 

Computer 'worm' steals 45,000 Facebook logins

An article on Digital Trends.com shared news that computer malware called 'Ramnit' - which has previous history of sophisticated attacks in the financial sector - has recently turned it's sights on Facebook. 

The article indicates that some 45,000 Facebook log-ins have been stolen or compromised.

The long and short lesson of this threat is that we should always be careful what we click on, whether it's in your email in-box or on your Facebook status feed. We're reminded of this as reports surfaced this week about scams that were attracting Facebook folks with promises of returning their accounts from the new Timeline view to the 'classic' old Facebook (these are totally bogus links, some just referring you to on-line videos or websites, others possibly containing computer malware or other viruses)

And as privacy experts recommend - do not use the same password for Facebook and other accounts, especially any accounts tied to your finances or personal security. 

You can read the article here on Digital Trends.com: Ramnit worm switches focus from financial to Facebook, steals 45K logins