Teach your MP3 Player new tricks

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I have to admit I am hooked. Although Podcasts have been around for some time now I have really gotten into them. What is a Podcast? To put it simply it is an Audio or Video file that you can listen to. It can be a round table discussion or an interview like I TV show. There are many podcasters out there that use it as a blog. You can listen to the file on your PC or transfer it to an MP3 player. You do however require a Video capable player if you want to watch Video podcasts on your player.

I have found a few Podcasts that have caught my interest. There are some very good technology based ones as well I have some Astronomy based ones. Using the include ZenCast software that came with my Creative Zen Vision M 30 GB players I can set up subscriptions, automatically update them from the web, and download the audio files to my PC. After that I sync them to my Creative Player so that I can listen to them anywhere at any time. Most RSS Reader Software will also let you subscribe to podcasting feeds (including IE7), the only problem is that it may be a manual transfer to your player, which shouldn’t be a big deal if you know how to transfer music.

You can try Googling for podcasts for any subject you may be interested in, check the results to see if there are any podcasts that you might be interested in, for example you could use the terms astronomy podcasts . You might be surprised at what you find as there are podcasts for virtually any subject you may be interested.

If you don’t already have an MP3 player this may be the reason to get one!

Stephen

Don’t throw out that old PC yet!

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If you are planning on upgrading to a new PC in the near future, think twice before getting rid of that old PC. As you may have read I am a part of the Beta Test Program for Windows Home Server, a new software product that will be coming out soon. The idea is that this is a file and print sharing, backup server for your home. Hardware requirements aren’t that strict (P2 1 Ghz, 512MB Ram and 80 GB HD with DVDR) and even if you have a single PC in your house this could help. So far I have just started playing with it and haven’t had much time to test. I have set up 2 PCs with the automated backup solution, SWMBO’s laptop and my Dell D600. Both have been working well and backing up every night (wirelessly at that). The server software is easy to set up, expandable (you can add storage space easily) and provides either full or partial restores to a PC.

I soon plan on testing a complete hard drive failure and restoring via the Home server. I believe that this is a much needed product for almost every home user and if it doubles functionality and keeps a PC out of landfill then all the better.

Stay tuned as I will continue posting my experiences with WHS.

Stephen

Blogging in Word 2007

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A little while ago when I was playing with the Office 2007 beta I noticed a great feature in Word 2007 that I could actually publish blog entries directly from Word. I tried it and it worked but I found I couldn’t post a category and it didn’t look quite right so I never used it again. Today while sitting in a Hotel I decided to give it another try. Well guess what. The interface seems to work better with WordPress (my site’s blogging software), So I am trying to post it again. Yes now I can even add categories.

If this works well I can actually post more as I’ll be able to do them offline as well and publish when I get a connection!

That’s it for now

Windows Home Server Beta 2 installed finally!

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I finally got Windows Home Server Beta 2 installed. On the machine I wanted to run it on it took several hours as it was hanging. Finally performing a Bios update on the machine got the software installed. This machine just meets the minimum specs so it will be interesting to see how it performs on it. I also installed it on Virtual PC 2007 while I was testing the downloaded images. It seems to work fine there and I will be reporting more after a few more tests. Now it is late and I am off to bed

 Stephen

Stephen

DST Change, Did your system switch?

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A quick check of 3 or 4 of my managed servers have all shown that they have successfully changed over to DST. Email tests have also shown that exchange is functioning properly. We are advising Sysguy clients to check their appoints in Outllok as soon as possible to ensure that meetings are correctly booked for the next three weeks.

If you haven’t already you should check your own PC and make sure that the time flipped over successfully this morning.

I am sure that we will have to go through this again all over in the first week of November. Hopefully by that time Microsoft will have a patch out or at least make sure that the current patches work and that they are not releasing patches and changing Knowledge Base articles 3 days before the change.

Stephen

Coming Soon – Windows Home Server!

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We have just received word that we have been invited into the Windows Home Server Beta 2.0 Program by Microsoft. As I post this I am downloading the software to set up my first Windows Home Server. While it is anticipated that this will be sold as a complete hardware/software solution, we are getting the opportunity to try it in a PC that we have kicking around.

It is somewhat unusual for most Beta programs, but we have been granted the right to public disclose and discuss this product. This means I will post the trials and tribulations of Beta testing software here on the blog, after reporting issues back to Microsoft.

What is Windows Home Server? I discussed it in my previous post regarding backups, but it is proposed as a headless hardware/software appliance device that will connect to a users home network and do file and printer sharing, security checks and network health monitoring etc. It is based on Windows Server 2003 technologies. At this point I am still unsure if it will be available as a software only product.

Keep checking this blog out for updates!

Stephen

Getting out of Remote Control Hell, at a price!

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Like most home theatre owners we had a problem with remote controls. With our older TV we could get away with 2 remotes most times and needed a third at times. Our TV, DVD Player and Audio system were all controlled from one remote (all Sony Products) but our Motorola HD Digital Cable Box had it’s own remote as did our Linksys Media Center Extender.  There were also separate remotes for the TV, DVD Player and Pioneer DVD Recorder. But these were rarely used. I suppose I could have configured one of the other remotes to add some of the functionality of one of the other devices but it didn’t give us all the control we needed.

Then we upgrade the TV to one from a different manufacturer. This created more problems as now we had at least 3 and sometimes 4 or 5 remotes. As well, with a couple of young children, we were always looking for one or the other remotes as they were behind the couch, under blankets etc. Because I set everything up I knew what combination of inputs were required on the different devices in order to watch a certain device. Anyone visiting the house and trying to just turn on the TV would be lost!

Enter the Logitech Harmony remote series. These have been out for a few years and they are fairly expensive. There are several remotes in the line going from Touch Pad screens down to a standard remote type. The premise with these remotes is that they are truly universal. Why? Becuase you program them via the internet from your computer and then download the code into the remote via a USB cable. There are thousands of devices available to be programmed on their web database.

For our home I decided upon the Harmony 880 Remote (available for 209.00). This remote features a LCD screen, a rechargable Lithium Ion battery, charger, AC Adaptor, software and usb cable. The charger itself is a flat device that sits on the a table and holds the remote level while charging so you can use it if your batteries run down. The disadvantage is that you need a coffee table with a power outlet nearby so that you can recharge the battery without having to put it in a another room.

When the remote arrived I pulled it from it’s packaging and read the instructions (yes I actually did). You have to put in the battery and charge the remote prior to programming it. I installed the software on Windows XP without any hitches. Once the remote was charged I plugged it into the PC via usb and it was immediately recognized. You start the up software and set up an account with Logitech. Then a wizard walks you through the process of adding activities and devices.

The first step is setting up all the devices that you have. Before starting I would suggest that you jot down the model numbers and manufacturers for all of the components you want to add. You add all of the devices you want to control (you can add others later). Once this is done the software starts to set up your activities. For example to Watch my TV, it walks you through what input the TV has to be on, do you use the TV speakers or an Audio reciever, do you use a Digital or Satellite box etc. It also asks what inputs all the devices have to be on to accomplish the task. Once you have answered all of the questions and set up all of the activities you want to do, you download the programming into the remote and try it out. With our home theatre, now pushing the Watch my TV activity button, turns on the TV and set’s it to the proper input, turns on the Audio Receiver and sets it to the proper input and turns on the Digital Cable box. From the remote we can control most of the basic and some of the more advanced controls without having to push or switch the remote to a differnt device. Pressing the off button shuts off all of the devices as well. To change to another activity push the button for it, Watch my DVD, for example and the inputs are switched, the DVD player is turned on and away you go. After you hit the activity button a help window pops up and asks if everything was turned on properly, if you select yes it asks to hide the help function or if something didn’t work it asks you questions and help troubleshoot the problem. The remote has most of the common buttons programmed to use the most of the features you will need during the activity, but if you still need more control you can push the device button and, select a device and work with virtually any button for the selected device. Via the software these controls can be changed or more added, remapped or removed. In addition using the software if your device is not available in the database you can add it by using the two remotes and having the Harmony learn the controls.

I programmed my remote for the following activities. Watch my TV (Digital Cable Box) Watch my DVD, Watch my Media Center, Record TV on DVD Recorder. I downloaded the programming and went upstairs to test it out. I pushed the activity button and voila everything turned on properly. Then I pushed the watch my media center and the TV switched inputs as did the Audio Receiver and the Media Center Extender came on. It worked perfectly on every device I set up. The only beef I had was that it turned off unused devices when I switched activities, which was a pain because my Media Center Extender has to connect back through the network to the Media Center PC after it is powered off, which can take a couple of minutes. This was fixed easily using the settings online to leave devices on and re downloading the code into the remote. For some people this may not be a problem but for us we will often decide to record a program and have to switch to the MCE device to start the recording.

I was doing this late at night on a Friday, so I put the old remotes away and just left the Harmony out. The next morning my wife and kids were up before me and SWMBO figured out with no difficulties how to use the TV and she is not very technical.

One thing that can happen that the remote can come out of sync with your devices. For us it does not happen often as we only use the single remote now and just about everything we do is solely based on the activities. The remote remembers the status of a device (powered on or off) so if you happen to use another remote to power off the device and then go to the Harmony remote it will usually do the opposite of what you want. So if I power off the DVD player manually after watching a movie, then hit the off button it will turn everything off and then turn the DVD player back on. If this happens just shut everything down and use the Harmony remote to turn it back on or off again.

Battery life. We get about 4 to 5 days off of a single charge. Usually when we get the battery low indicator we put the remote on the charger as we head off to bed. So this has not been an issue.

Since flipping over to Vista I have installed the software and it seems to run fine (although it needs basic mode), I have not yet needed to reprogram the remote so I haven’t connected it back up yet but will be doing that soon to look for firmware.

In the month we have been using it has it been worth it? For us yes! Since we don’t get out much and DVDs and recorded TV are our usual weekend entertainment the Harmony 880 has made things much easier. Could we live with out it? Yes but then we would have the clutter of 3 to 4 remotes and the frustration of finding these when the kids knocked one behind the couch. Could this be accomplished with a regular Universal remote? Yes it probably could, but not to the same degree of control I have now, and adding a new device in the future is fairly easy. Another thing that is great is the fact that we can control the Set top Digital box, the audio receiver, and the TV without having to set the device type on the remote or flipping a switch as I have seen on some remotes.

There are several models of Harmony to choose from and they start at about 129.00 and go up to 500.00. Visit Logitechs website if you are interested at http://www.logitech.com and check out the different models. Some work with the Xbox 360 and other consoles as well. Let us know if you are interested and we can track down a price for you for any model.

Stephen

 

RASC Calgary Centre, Annual Spring Star Night Mar 24th 2007 Fish Creek Park

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On Saturday March 24th the Calgary Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is holding their annual Spring Star Night at Fish Creek Park in SW Calgary. This event is free and open to all. Members of Calgary Centre will be on hand with Telescopes pointed at all types of Celestial Wonders, including Saturn (in a prime position for observing now).

The event runs from 7 PM to 10 PM whether the sky is clear or cloudy. Inside the Shannon Terrace Environmental Learning Centre, there will be games, astronomy and “Rings in the Park” displays. RASC members will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

To get there from the end of Anderson road SW (west end) turn south on to 37th Street SW. Turn east off 37th st SW onto 130 Ave SW, turn right on Woodpath RD SW into Fish Creek Park. Follow the road down the valley to the Shannon Terrace Environmental Learning Centre.

I hope that we will see some of you there and we may be there with a couple of our own scopes displaying objects!

Stephen

Are you ready for DST!

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As Canada has adapted the 2005 US Law changing Daylight Savings Time, there are a couple of steps you may follow to ensure that your computer changes time properly this weekend, Mar. 11, 2007.

If you have recently performed the latest Windows or Microsoft updates you are probably fine. I would suggest that if you are not using Microsoft Update you get it set up as it updates products other than just Windows.

To check I usually suggest opening an Internet Explorer session, and then click on start, then help and support, then click on keep my computer up to date. If at the top of the next screen if you don’t see the option to get Microsoft Update, then you probably have it. Go ahead and select custom update and wait to see what updates are required for your PC. You may want to go through the optional updates and add any you may think necessary. If you have not yet installed Internet Explorer 7.0 please consider doing this as some people have complained about i, and it does affect some older applications that use explorer. Go ahead and install all the updates you selected and if required reboot the PC. I would also suggest that after the reboot you go back in and run the update again to pick up any additional updates.

There is mroe information regarding DST changes and Microsoft Products available at http://support.microsoft.com/dst2007

Other products will also be affected by the changes. If you own a Blackberry or other organizer you may have to do updates as well. Please Google the device or visit the manufacturer’s web site to see if there are patches available.

Windows 9X and ME don’t have official Microsoft updates as these products are no longer supported. Google for several unofficial patches that have been created on the Internet.

Hopefully, Sunday when you go to use your computer, the time will have properly changed with the new DST.

Stephen

Back up, Back Up, Back up!!!

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Well I started writing this post some time ago and saved it. Today I have started re writing it all over again to stress the importance of backups!

If you read some of my earlier entries from last week you will know that I started building a new Intel based Core 2 Duo machine on Vista. I started transferring data from my old pc and had done the most important files on my secondary drive. I usually build machines for myself with two separate hard drives. One for day to day use and the other for important data (accounting, some pictures etc).

Last night I was transferring some photos from the old machine to my new one as I just added a 300 GB external USB hard drive that I was going to store pictures on. I got almost all of the photos moved over then went to bed. When I came down this morning, I heard a sound that made my heart pound. The old machine was making the un mistakable clicking sound of a bad hard drive. I hoped it wasn’t the newer drive in the machine. I signed on the the machine, saw the dreaded write failure warning in Windows and opened my computer. Phew, the 300 GB primary drive was there but the 2 partitions from my 160 GB drive were gone.

Luckily last week I had moved a majority of the important files last week (and last night for some photos) over to the second drive in my new machine. I should buy a lottery ticket! It is just dumb luck that I had moved the stuff over before the drive went South on me as there was no warning at all. The machine and the drive were functioning perfectly yesterday, and hard drives going bad usually give you some sort of a hint before the do. My last one for example a couple of summers ago, clicked and gave me errors that I ignored for too long before it went bad. Luckily using some special software that time I was able to recover some of my data. I and also been doing some DVD backups as well, but I wasn’t so religious about them.

Most of us today under estimate what we have on our PCs. How many of you back up your systems? Most people will say that they don’t have much on there that is important, until they look deep at what they have stored there. With Digital Camera pictures stored all over the machines, important receipts in email, contacts, homework and tax and accounting software are you really sure that there is nothing there that you don’t really need? Pictures themselves are gold, and that is one of the reasons I recently added the external drive only for pictures. What would happen if you lost photos permanently of your kids while they were younger or those magical vacation photos.

After my last hard drive crash I got into the habit of burning my pictures (at least newly downloaded ones) off the system onto DVDs more regularly than I had in the past. These were stored in a CD binder. My plan for the external hard drive was to do another full DVD backup and then sync newer pictures between my main c: drive and the external hard drive using the Vista Sync toy tool. I also create slideshows on DVD of my pictures so at least I have a backup copy that way too.

Today there are loads of inexpensive devices available to back up your systems so there is really no excuse. Pocket flash drives, DVD burners, external hard drives, online backups, online photo sites, even digital media cards can do the trick. Most devices even come with backup software for doing this and XP users do have the backup utility built in.

Here are some basic tips for backing up your system and saving that important data!

Figure out what you want to backup (pictures, my documents folders, accounting software etc) and figure out how much space you will need. Open Windows Explorer find the folders you wnat to backup, right click on them and select properties. Record the size of the folder. Once this is done you can decide what type of backup device you need.

If you don’t mind taking the time to backup you can use DVDs or CDs (DVDs are much more economical). If you don’t have a DVD burner, one can be purchased for around 50.00 including basic burning software. Each disk can hold 4.7 GB of data at a cost of about .30 to .50 cents per disk. This is a great option except there few things to be wary of.

If you have a lot of data, you will be burning a lot of DVDs and it can be time consuming. As well this is typically not an automated process so you would have to be there putting in disks if needed.  A great use for the burner though is to do periodic backups. Say every month just backup the latest data. It is a bit more time consuning if you have to restore later but at least your data is safe. Another tip check your disks after they are burned, open them on your system and check the files, the store them in a safe place. For ultra security burn 2 copies and store some in another location (garage, office etc). I just use Media binders to store the discs and keep some hidden in the garage and some in various locations around the house.

External Hard Drive. This is another good option. You can buy external drives specifically designed as backup devices or you can put your own together. This gives you a few more options, and is much faster than the burning method. You can currently buy drives up to 750 GB and then use backup software to back up to them or sync the files using software (Vista sync toy for example). You can automate the process telling Windows to back every Sunday night at 1 AM and just leave the system on. If you want you can use 2 drives and swap them between PCs, storing the other in a safe place. This is often how I set up Small Business Server backups for clients.

Design your system for backups – When buying a new computer there are a couple of things you can do to help you with backups. One look at a system that has Raid 1 capability. With Raid 1 you have the system built with 2 identical hard drives, and the main hard drive get’s mirrored to the other hard drive. This way if one drive fails, the other kicks in and away you go. There is a slight hit in performance but you have the added safety. Alternatively you can add a second drive and just copy important data to this drive on a regular basis so that it lives in two locations. Again the MS Sync Toy does a good job in maintaining this as long as you remeber to run it periodically.

Online Photo sites are also a good way to backup your pictures. If you publish all of your digital photos to an online site, they are stored on the companies servers as well. Just because these sites are made for sharing, doesn’t mean you have to. Be prepared however to pay a few to get larger accounts (storage space) and make sure to check to see if there is any limit to the lenght of time a picture can stay online. Try Googling photo sharing for some ideas.

Online backups – There are several sites that offer online backups for a small fee. Again look into these. Typically they charge from 10.00 US and up per month but important Data is worth it.

Build a server or Network Attached Storage – Huh? Many people have multiple systems in their homes now with Internet sharing and a small home network. Kids often have PCs, there is the main machine, maybe a laptop. Before getting rid of an old PC (or buy an inexpensive used one), install a bigger hard drive and say a DVD burner to that machine, then synchronize data to a shared folder on the hard drive of that machine. Main backups can be done on the “server machine”. Again the data lives in two places so if one machine crashes the data is still in another location. There are also what are called Network Attached Storage Devices available, that reside on a network and are just storage devices (network attached hard drives). The jury is still out on how well some of these work, so if you keep your eye here, as I will soon be reviewing D-Links latest NAS device. Using either method, again the data has to be synced and the tools are freely availalble. This is actually the idea behind a product that is currently being Beta tested by Microsoft, Windows Home Server.

Windows Home Server – Coming soon from Microsoft. Currently in Beta 2, my understanding that this will be a headless appliance for home networks. It will be a small box that you plug into your network but will not need a keyboard,  mouse or monitor. It is based on Windows Server 2003 technology and will include software to run backup and share files and printers from the home server. This looks to be a very interesting product and could greatly benefit most home users and a number of small businesses!

As you can see there are lots of options available to backup your important data. Most people overlook the fact that they are storing digital photos (essentially their memories) on their PCs. They don’t realize this until after they lose data due to hard drive failure or virus wipes their drives!

If you would like assistance in setting up some sort of back up solution, please contact us, we would be glad to advise on your situation.

Stephen

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