Category: ifttt

By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – March 21, 2010 at 12:00PM

Online backup has many benefits—safety from local catastrophe, storage on professionally maintained servers, etc.—but economy, control, and 100% guaranteed privacy aren’t among them. Check out these five popular tools for making safe and sound local backups.

Photo by Miss Karen.

Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite tool for backing up your data offline—off the web, using only drives physically connected to your computer or available over a local network. Now we’re back to highlight the five most popular tools.

Whether you’re already in the backup habit or you’ve been meaning to get around to doing it, we can’t recommend reading our guide to proper backups, You’re Backing Up Your Data the Wrong Way, quite strongly enough. It recommends backing up complete system images to a local drive, but also keeping your most important files in an online space, like Dropbox. When it comes time to choose a local backup app, here are the five we heard about most from our readers during the week:

SyncBack (Windows, Basic: Free/Pro: $50)

Syncback is a robust tool for synchronizing your files to a different drive, other mediums (disc, removable drive, etc.), and over your local network. The basic edition is free, and does a more than adequate job for simple file transfer and syncing. The mid-level version, SyncBackSE ($30), adds in the ability to backup both open and locked files, and the professional version SyncBackPro ($50) adds even more features, like encrypted backup and tons of customization options. You can compare the three versions of SyncBack with the aid of this extensive comparison table.

Windows Home Server (Windows, $99)

Windows Home Server (WHS) is essentially Windows Server 2003, but designed to be as consumer-friendly as possible, with heavy emphasis on ease of setup, ease of use, and a fire-and-forget system of backing up files. You can buy a compact home server with WHS already installed, or build your own server and buy WHS for $99. WHS backs up all the Windows computers on your network automatically every day, and you can restore everything from a single file to an entire machine. While you can’t run the Home Server Console and backup tools on non-Windows machines, you can still use tools native to Mac OS X and Linux to backup to WHS, sans the convenience you get on a Windows machine. Windows Home Server is an OS, not an application, and requires a dedicated machine for installation.

Acronis True Image Home (Windows, $50)

The personal and home office version of Acronis’s True Image software has a full array of tools for backing up your data. You can image whole disks, back up entire disks, or perform incremental and differential backups, and set an automated schedule for doing some or all of the above. After you configure Acronis True Image Home to your liking, it runs in the background, backing up and versioning your files. You can restore files, folders, or entire disks from the app in the event of accidental file deletion or disk failure, making it helpful for both hard drive deaths and oops-wrong-button moments.

Time Machine (Mac, Free)

In keeping with their history of releasing tools that satisfied users will tell you “just work”, Apple’s Time Machine is a very polished and streamlined tool for incremental and versioned backup. Time Machine backs up all the files on your Mac, then checks on an hourly basis for changes. Hourly backups are saved for a day, daily backups for a month, and weekly backups for as long as space allows before newer backups take precedence. You can supplement the power of Time Machine with the purchase of a Time Capsule, a wireless external hard drive that will backup your machines wirelessly. Time Machine is free and comes with Mac OS X.

Rsync (Windows/Mac/Linux, Free)

Rsync is a powerful synchronization tool originally invented for use on Unix-based systems. Since its release in 1996, it has been ported in various ways to Windows, Mac, and Linux environments. The biggest strength rsync has is its ultra-efficient transfer of data. If you change a single kilobyte out of a 30 gigabyte file, rsync will swap just that single kilobyte. In the command line form, it’s as spartan as you would imagine a ported Unix-based command tool would be. Fortunately, graphical “wrappers” abound for the rsync to slap a more user-friendly interface on it. You can check our guide to setting up rsync here.

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Now that you’ve had a chance to look over the five top contenders for best offline backup tool, it’s time to cast your vote in the poll below:

Which Offline Backup Tool Is Best?polling

Have a backup tip, trick, or want to suggest an application that wasn’t highlighted here? Let’s hear about it in the comments. If you have an idea for a future Hive Five, send an email to tips@lifehacker.com with “Hive Five” in the subject line.

By Phillip Torrone, MAKE – March 21, 2010 at 11:46AM

Paralyzed Graffiti Artist Draws With His Eyes @NPR…

A group of artists and hackers have crafted a gadget that lets a paralyzed graffiti artist continue making art using only his eyes. And it costs about as much as an iPod shuffle.

Zach Lieberman of the Graffiti Research Lab started working on the EyeWriter with one man in mind: Los Angeles-based graffiti artist Tony Quan. In 2003, Quan was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, leaving virtually every muscle in his body paralyzed except for his eyes. Lieberman and developers from Free Art and Technology, OpenFrameworks and the Ebeling Group were inspired to create low-cost, open-source hardware and software for eye-tracking to help Quan draw again.

Eye-tracking technology, where computers and small cameras harness eye movements for writing, highlighting Web site text and other tasks, has lead to digital tools for disabled users. However, as Lieberman tells NPR’s Liane Hansen, those devices usually have hefty price tags.

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By Kevin Purdy, Lifehacker – March 20, 2010 at 12:00PM

Streaming recorded TV to your hotel room. Grabbing files off your home computer from work. Checking on the dog walker. Your computer can do amazing things while you’re nowhere near it, and these 10 killer remote access apps help you do them.

Photo by Xjs-Khaos.

10. DJ Your iTunes Playlists From Any Room

The Remote app for iPhones and iPod touch is a convenience in letting you control a single computer’s iTunes output from anywhere within range of the same Wi-Fi network. Throw in an AirPort Express and some other gear, and Remote can become a multi-room wireless remote for as many iTunes setups as you’ve got going during your ultimate birthday party.

9. Install Wake-on-LAN for Remote Power-Ups

The coolest remote streaming apps in the world won’t do a thing if all your computers at home are powered off. Set them up to wake up whenever you ping them from afar by configuring them with Wake-on-LAN. Sometimes written as WOL in geek circles, Wake-on-LAN’s weakness in this modern age is that it requires a wired ethernet connection, so your wireless laptop won’t be able to wake up. Your media center PC or desktop, though, will be glad to hear from you.

8. Be At Home Anywhere with OpenVPN

Getting at shared folders, accessing sites restricted by corporate firewalls, and hooking into your iTunes library as if you were on the same network. VPN connections can make such convenience happen, and OpenVPN is the free, open-source way to get there. It works as a server running on a computer you keep going all the time, and it’s also integrated into the Tomato and DD-WRT firmware that we’ve used to upgrade our routers into home network superstars. (Original post)

7. Watch Recorded TV with Remote Potato

Once you get Remote Potato set up, you’ll get nearly full access to your Windows 7 Media Center anywhere you have a browser up and running. Through a Silverlight plug-in, you can watch shows you’ve recorded, set up new recordings, and otherwise fine-tune your fairly awesome setup. (Original post)

6. Control Torrent Downloading Remotely

When you’re not home, or away from home, you can still make use of that broadband connection just sitting dark around your house. We’ve gone in-depth on uTorrent and its great remote web interface, but other torrent clients, like Transmission, can just as easily let you add, throttle, start and pause, and cancel your torrents. Whether you’ve just thought of something to watch when you get home, or your spouse can’t figure out why their web access is glacial, it can be quite a helpful feature.

5. Give Remote Tech Support with CrossLoop

What if the computer you’re trying to fix, or grab a file from, isn’t your own, and so isn’t set up with all kinds of neat VNC servers and remote desktop access? That’s where CrossLoop comes in. The free PC and Mac application pares down the remote control protocols to simply require the person giving up control to provide the controller with a small authorization code, and from there, it’s like magic net juice. You’re connected, you can grab files and click on things, and you’re good until the other party decides to disconnect. It’s one of the best ways to give tech support, and receive it, too.

4. Keep an Eye On What’s Happening at Home

Unless your dogs perform amazing tricks when you’re not around, this away-from-home setup isn’t quite as fun, but it can elicit some ooh-neat responses. Setting up a motion-sensing, remotely monitored webcam, like Vitamin D, Motion Detection, or HighlightCam, lets you see what’s happening in your home when you’re not there, and maybe even keep tabs on the paid dog walker. (Original posts: Vitamin D, HighlightCam, Motion Detection)

3. Stream Media Anywhere with Orb

What Orb does isn’t new or entirely novel, but Orb does make streaming your media very easy. Whether between PC and Mac computers, from computers to a Wii, or to an iPhone app, Orb is the pain-free way to ensure that if you’ve invested in ripping CDs and DVDs, or downloading good stuff from the web to your main computer, it’s always available to wherever else you happen to have a screen in front of you.

2. Do Everything Else with a Home Server

Whether you’re creating a dedicated Windows Home Server, modifying a desktop to be a personal web server, or getting a bit more geeky with reader favorite Ubuntu Server Edition, having a server at home, and opening it beyond your home network, can be really useful. You can easily assign a domain name, run an FTP server, stream music through Jinzora, and do much, much more.

1. Use Your Home Computer Through LogMeIn

It’s available for free on Mac and PC, it’s a reader favorite, it makes setting up a remote VNC connection between systems fairly simple, and it has many uses. It’s good at remote tech support, running boring maintenance while you’re away, and you can go beyond the free offerings by augmenting it with other free apps. With a strong enough connection, you can theoretically do anything on your computer from a distance with LogMeIn, and that’s a great thing.

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What apps do you use to connect back home when you’re away? How do you get at your home media when you’ve got downtime? Tell us about your tips and tools in the comments.

By (author unknown), Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine – March 19, 2010 at 07:16PM

Members of Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks, the Graffiti Research Lab, and The Ebeling Group communities have teamed-up with legendary LA graffiti writer, publisher and activist Tony Quan aka Tempt One to develop a low-cost, open source eye-tracking system that will allow graffiti writers and artists with paralysis to draw using only their eyes. Their product, the Eyewriter, recently won the Interactive Award at the celebrated Brit Insurance Design Awards. ..

Tags: Computer Human Interface,
Disease,
Glasses,
Graffiti,
Interactive

Related Articles:

• Graffiti-proofing our history
• Invisible digital post-it notes
• Old-fashioned British plug gets a space-saving design overhaul
• Porsche convertible wins automotive beauty award
• Bullimore off to a difficult start on round-the-world record attempt
• Cars from The Sopranos up for auction

By Rosa Golijan, Gizmodo – March 18, 2010 at 07:00PM

There’s little action, no sound, and the footage is grainy. But this brief clip may be the only existing video of writer Mark Twain and his daughters Clara and Jean. It was captured in 1909 by inventor Thomas Edison. More »

By John Baichtal, MAKE – March 18, 2010 at 04:00PM

A hundred times stronger than steel at one-sixth the weight, carbon nanotubes are one of the hottest technologies right now. But if all the hype is starting to sound like Wesley Crusher rerouting the flux capacitor through the main deflector array, check out this fun 5-part series of videos put out by WomenInNano in collaboration with nano2hybrids and the The Vega Science Trust. The above video introduces the concept of a carbon nanotube. Part two tells how they’re made. Part three shows us what they look like in an electron microscope. Part four shows how nanotubes are being used today, and the final video discusses different types of carbon nanoforms like scrolls, cones and fullerenes. [via openMaterials]

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By Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution – March 18, 2010 at 07:06AM

You can find it here, described here, and hat tip to Greg Mankiw and Scott Cunningham.

By (author unknown), certified bullshit technician. – March 30, 2010 at 08:14AM

LARGE HADRON COLLIDER WEBCAM!!!:

MIND BLOWING!!!!!

(via @secretsquirrel)

By (author unknown), certified bullshit technician. – March 30, 2010 at 08:03AM

Everest College Commercial.

By Dennis Crouch, Patent Law Blog (Patently-O) – March 30, 2010 at 07:17AM