Saturday, 29 September 2012
Monday, 23 July 2012
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Thursday, 24 May 2012
highest google adsensce paying key words
Insurance
Treatment
Gas
Electricity
Loan
conference call
Cellphone
Attorney
Lawyer
Mortgage
Recovery
Hosting
Rehab
Classes
Claim
Donate
Trading
Transfer
Software
Degree
Credit
Cord blood
Treatment
Gas
Electricity
Loan
conference call
Cellphone
Attorney
Lawyer
Mortgage
Recovery
Hosting
Rehab
Classes
Claim
Donate
Trading
Transfer
Software
Degree
Credit
Cord blood
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Friday, 16 March 2012
Long term data storag
I’ve had a few people ask me just recently what method I would recommend when planning a long term backup strategy. One elderly gentleman in particular was creating a family time capsule that he wanted his children and grandchildren to be able to view many decades from now.
The question isn’t as easy as you may think. You may imagine that the data could be burnt to CD,locked in a cupboard and that it would last forever however unfortunately this isn’t the case. There are literally hundreds of suitably stored but physically decayed CD’s from my teenage years which I could use as testament to that.
Therefore I’ve made a list of common formats one would usually consider for archiving a large amount of data so you can pick the most suitable one for your needs:
Hard Disk –When used on a regular basis a hard disk will typically last for around 5 years before it starts to decay and if it is being used as an infrequently accessed backup drive then we can assume that this can be at least doubled. Unfortunately degradation of the discs metallic surface,along with the inevitable seizing of parts would still occur over an extended period of disuse.
Optical –Standard optical media includes CD,DVD and BluRay. If choosing this media type ensure that you go for the highest grade money can buy you;a premium brand such as Taiyo Yuden may well last a decade but a more budget brand such as Memorex may only last half that time before the aluminium starts separating from the plastic.
Flash Media –Clearly you would expect that since Flash Media has no moving parts it would be ideal for a long term backup strategy. To an extent you would be right but the published data retention of a unused flash drive is only around 10 years and unfortunately once the device has reached the end of its life it is likely that it will go out in style,taking with it all of the information stored within.
Paper –Rather obvious this one –if left in a dark,dry place then paper will last for many decades;we recently recovered a number of newspapers from 1964 from below the flooring of a building we’re doing up and aside from being a little yellowed they’re in perfect condition. Primary problems do of course include having to find a safe place to store them along with the physical limitations relating to the amount and type of information that can be stored on sheets of paper.
Tape –This may come as a surprise,but Tape backup actually holds one of the best data retention rates hence its continued use in banking and government sectors. Typically a manufacturer will warranty a tape for 30 years with an expected life expectancy beyond that. Although the tapes themselves are affordable and the capacities typically high (between 72GB and 1TB compressed),the actual drives themselves are relatively expensive,starting at £250 for a basic model.
Unfortunately that’s it for this week;we’ll conclude next Friday by covering the remaining options,including a storage media that’s provided with a remarkable 100 year warranty.
The question isn’t as easy as you may think. You may imagine that the data could be burnt to CD,locked in a cupboard and that it would last forever however unfortunately this isn’t the case. There are literally hundreds of suitably stored but physically decayed CD’s from my teenage years which I could use as testament to that.
Therefore I’ve made a list of common formats one would usually consider for archiving a large amount of data so you can pick the most suitable one for your needs:
Hard Disk –When used on a regular basis a hard disk will typically last for around 5 years before it starts to decay and if it is being used as an infrequently accessed backup drive then we can assume that this can be at least doubled. Unfortunately degradation of the discs metallic surface,along with the inevitable seizing of parts would still occur over an extended period of disuse.
Optical –Standard optical media includes CD,DVD and BluRay. If choosing this media type ensure that you go for the highest grade money can buy you;a premium brand such as Taiyo Yuden may well last a decade but a more budget brand such as Memorex may only last half that time before the aluminium starts separating from the plastic.
Flash Media –Clearly you would expect that since Flash Media has no moving parts it would be ideal for a long term backup strategy. To an extent you would be right but the published data retention of a unused flash drive is only around 10 years and unfortunately once the device has reached the end of its life it is likely that it will go out in style,taking with it all of the information stored within.
Paper –Rather obvious this one –if left in a dark,dry place then paper will last for many decades;we recently recovered a number of newspapers from 1964 from below the flooring of a building we’re doing up and aside from being a little yellowed they’re in perfect condition. Primary problems do of course include having to find a safe place to store them along with the physical limitations relating to the amount and type of information that can be stored on sheets of paper.
Tape –This may come as a surprise,but Tape backup actually holds one of the best data retention rates hence its continued use in banking and government sectors. Typically a manufacturer will warranty a tape for 30 years with an expected life expectancy beyond that. Although the tapes themselves are affordable and the capacities typically high (between 72GB and 1TB compressed),the actual drives themselves are relatively expensive,starting at £250 for a basic model.
Unfortunately that’s it for this week;we’ll conclude next Friday by covering the remaining options,including a storage media that’s provided with a remarkable 100 year warranty.
Windows 7 Hidden Gems – Additional functionality
I’ve been living with Windows 7 for a good few months now and in that time have discovered a couple of little ‘hidden gems’ which I wanted to share with you:
Aero Shake
In Windows 7,when you click on the title bar of any window and shake it every other open window gets minimised straight back in to your taskbar,reducing clutter on your screen. This allows you to focus on the one window and then when ready shake it again and the other windows will reappear.
There are additional Aero user interface related features which make a welcome debut. These include Aero Peek which allows you to immediately see what’s going on in an application just by hovering over the icon in the task bar and Aero Snap which quickly allows you to rearrange your desktop by slamming any open window against the left,right or top side of your screen;try it!
Sticky Notes
Proof,if needed,that some of the simplest applications make the largest differences to the end user experience. One of the most commonly used applications on my PC used to be the incredibly simple ‘notepad’ as I find that my working life works a lot better if I simplify everything down in to lists.
Rather than jotting notes on random pieces of paper that will almost certainly get lost throughout the day I used to dump everything in notepad and ensure that every line was eventually cleared so I was left with a blank page before I went home.
Sticky notes have a similar application. To get started click on the start menu and type in ‘sticky’ and begin typing tasks for the day or things to remember in to little post it notes that stick to your screen. When complete either close or minimise the application to get back to the job in hand,safe in the knowledge that once Sticky Notes are reopened,these tasks will reappear exactly as you left them. When a task has been completed or the note simply isn’t needed,it can be deleted with one click of the mouse.
Improved Calculator
Windows 7 calculator has improved considerably;now rather than being an arithmetic only affair,it can be operated in four modes –Standard,Scientific,Programmer and Statistical. It can also perform unit conversion,for example grams to ounces,metres to feet and Celsius to Fahrenheit along with a couple of unexpected features such as the ability to calculate the number of days between two dates or the value of your mortgage repayment. Surely in the next version of Windows the calculator application will finally gain graphical capabilities.
Windows Disk Image Burner
For some time now the preferred method of copying and storing CD’s and DVD’s has been by using an ISO file;a single image which includes the contents of an entire disk. Reading these files used to require a specific application (the likes of which I’ve covered previously in Click) but every version of Windows 7 now includes support for these straight out the box;simply double click on the ISO file that you wish to burn,insert a blank CD or DVD and you’re done.
Aero Shake
In Windows 7,when you click on the title bar of any window and shake it every other open window gets minimised straight back in to your taskbar,reducing clutter on your screen. This allows you to focus on the one window and then when ready shake it again and the other windows will reappear.
There are additional Aero user interface related features which make a welcome debut. These include Aero Peek which allows you to immediately see what’s going on in an application just by hovering over the icon in the task bar and Aero Snap which quickly allows you to rearrange your desktop by slamming any open window against the left,right or top side of your screen;try it!
Sticky Notes
Proof,if needed,that some of the simplest applications make the largest differences to the end user experience. One of the most commonly used applications on my PC used to be the incredibly simple ‘notepad’ as I find that my working life works a lot better if I simplify everything down in to lists.
Rather than jotting notes on random pieces of paper that will almost certainly get lost throughout the day I used to dump everything in notepad and ensure that every line was eventually cleared so I was left with a blank page before I went home.
Sticky notes have a similar application. To get started click on the start menu and type in ‘sticky’ and begin typing tasks for the day or things to remember in to little post it notes that stick to your screen. When complete either close or minimise the application to get back to the job in hand,safe in the knowledge that once Sticky Notes are reopened,these tasks will reappear exactly as you left them. When a task has been completed or the note simply isn’t needed,it can be deleted with one click of the mouse.
Improved Calculator
Windows 7 calculator has improved considerably;now rather than being an arithmetic only affair,it can be operated in four modes –Standard,Scientific,Programmer and Statistical. It can also perform unit conversion,for example grams to ounces,metres to feet and Celsius to Fahrenheit along with a couple of unexpected features such as the ability to calculate the number of days between two dates or the value of your mortgage repayment. Surely in the next version of Windows the calculator application will finally gain graphical capabilities.
Windows Disk Image Burner
For some time now the preferred method of copying and storing CD’s and DVD’s has been by using an ISO file;a single image which includes the contents of an entire disk. Reading these files used to require a specific application (the likes of which I’ve covered previously in Click) but every version of Windows 7 now includes support for these straight out the box;simply double click on the ISO file that you wish to burn,insert a blank CD or DVD and you’re done.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)