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Google Takeout introduces transfer tool for Google+ circles, merges your work and personal life
Those who extol the virtues of keeping one's personal and professional life separate probably never had to juggle two Google+ accounts. Folks saddled with a Google+ profile for both their personal Gmail account and their organization's Google Apps account can now migrate circles, blocks and other information from one account to another using Google Takeout. The new tool won't eliminate your double digital life completely, however -- content such as posts, profile information and comments don't migrate. The process takes time, too, kicking off with a seven day waiting period before restricting the user's Google+ access for 48 hours while Takeout boxes up the data. Still, this should make managing Circles across multiple accounts a little simpler. Check out the official Google help page at the source link below.
Review: ioSafe SoloPRO fireproof external hard drive
If there's one thing I always tell people who work with valuable, irreplaceable data it's "back up your files!" Thankfully most of us do back up our data. We usually use an external hard drive. Or sometimes, we only rely on cloud-based storage, like Dropbox or Apple's soon to be defunct iDisk. However, if any of you work with very valuable data -- data which would leave your business or family in dire straits if lost -- I highly recommend you buy an ioSafe SoloPRO external hard drive. I've been testing out the 1 terabyte USB 3.0 version ioSafe SoloPRO for about a week and I can't imagine carrying out future data backups without it now. You see, the ioSafe SoloPRO isn't your typical external hard drive. For one thing, it weighs almost 18 pounds. That's because it's built like a tank and it's the size of a small printer. I know, I know, people like their external hard drive sleek and sexy. And actually, the ioSafe SoloPRO is rather sexy looking. But it has its mass and bulk because the drive is built for one thing and one thing only – protecting your data from physical harm. Data protection: Cloud storage versus physical storage. This week I've debated with a friend of mine who says people who want true security for their data should just back it up to a cloud-based service. That way no matter what happens at their location, their files are always secure elsewhere. While my friend does have a point to some extent, there are some very important facts people should consider before thinking cloud-based backups are the best way to go for their most important data. First off, people need to think about cost and speed. I have another friend who produces videos for a living. For him, backing up hundreds of gigabytes of video to a cloud-based solution would be both time consuming (for the upload) and costly (hundreds of gigabytes of cloud storage costs a lot in annual fees). For huge file backups, external hard drives are the way to go. Second: easy access. I'm also a big fan of externals for sensitive data like wills and contracts. If you've got such data saved to an online storage solution and something should happen to you, would your friends, coworkers, or family know how to access it? If all they have to do is plug in an external, there's really not many accessibility problems that could arise. But as my video producing friend found out, your data on those hard drives is only as safe as the hard drives themselves. Even though he backed up his video files to three different drives, everything was lost when his studio caught fire. The drive. The ioSafe SoloPRO is both fireproof and waterproof – and when looking for the ultimate in data protection, you want both of those. If your office or house catches fire, the ioSafe SoloPRO enclosure can be engulfed in flames and hit head on with a fire hose. The hard drive that resides inside will come out without a scratch on it. As a matter of fact, the "fireproofed computer" mentioned in this article was actually an ioSafe drive, according to the company. The ioSafe SoloPRO I tested was the 1 terabyte USB 3.0 version (it also comes in eSATA and USB 2.0 flavors up to 3TBs). It worked fine on my MacBook Pro's USB 2.0 ports and will work on any Mac running all the way back to OS 8.6 or later. As for the beating the drive can take, it can survive in temperatures as high as 1550°F for up to 30 minutes. It can also survive submerged in ten feet of water for up to three days. Also, the drive includes up to $2500 in forensic recovery services should such services be required. Best of all, the SoloPRO is Time Machine compatible, and using it with Apple's backup software is like encasing your Mac in an armored safe each night. This obviously isn't a drive for everyone, especially those that need to transport a lot of data from one location to another. As I've said, the drive weighs almost 18 pounds and won't exactly fit into a pocket. However, if you run a business where your digital files are of the utmost importance, or if you simply want to ensure that all your family's documents and photos can survive almost anything, I highly recommend the ioSafe SoloPRO. ioSafe is a relatively new company in the storage scene, only having been around since 2005. However, its hard drives are some of the best I've ever tried (I'm also testing out a bullet-proof, portable dual-Firewire 800 external of theirs). Since it's at the higher-end of the hard drive world, you won't find the ioSafe SoloPRO in Apple Stores just yet, but you can buy the 1 TB USB 3.0 version that I tried directly from ioSafe and also on Amazon for US$249. %Gallery-136567%
Google Takeout comes to Voice, get your SMS and voicemail to go (video)
Those militant leftists at the Data Liberation Front are at it again, bringing their tool for fomenting revolution, Google Takeout, to Google Voice. With the information emancipating service, users will be able to download their call history, voicemail and text messages, recorded calls, and even greetings. All audio is delivered in MP3 format, while SMS is spit out as an HTML file. Check out the video below for a brief, if not entirely informative, announcement from the guerrilla data warriors.
IBM developing largest data drive ever, with 120 petabytes of bliss
So, this is pretty... big. At this very moment, researchers at IBM are building the largest data drive ever -- a 120 petabyte beast comprised of some 200,000 normal HDDs working in concert. To put that into perspective, 120 petabytes is the equivalent of 120 million gigabytes, (or enough space to hold about 24 billion, average-sized MP3's), and significantly more spacious than the 15 petabyte capacity found in the biggest arrays currently in use. To achieve this, IBM aligned individual drives in horizontal drawers, as in most data centers, but made these spaces even wider, in order to accommodate more disks within smaller confines. Engineers also implemented a new data backup mechanism, whereby information from dying disks is slowly reproduced on a replacement drive, allowing the system to continue running without any slowdown. A system called GPFS, meanwhile, spreads stored files over multiple disks, allowing the machine to read or write different parts of a given file at once, while indexing its entire collection at breakneck speeds. The company developed this particular system for an unnamed client looking to conduct complex simulations, but Bruce Hillsberg, IBM's director of storage research, says it may be only a matter of time before all cloud computing systems sport similar architectures. For the moment, however, he admits that his creation is still "on the lunatic fringe."
Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video)
A team of khaki-clad Google engineers, calling itself the Data Liberation Front, has taken up the cause of freeing your data from the restrictive confines of El Goog's servers. Google Takeout, as the program has been billed, rips your various stashes of data from Buzz, Circles, Picasa, Contacts, and your Google Profile, and quickly bundles them in a zip file for download. The resulting booty is yours to do with as you choose. Takeout was announced the same day Google's latest social initiative sprung to life, offering an alternative to the notoriously hard to transfer data of its obvious competitor. But we're sure that was just a coincidence. Right? A hilariously nerdy promo video awaits you after the break.
Facebook introduces new data backup feature, updated groups
Face it: you've posted hundreds of drunken status messages, mobile uploads, and inside joke-laden wall posts to your Facebook, and until now, that's where they stayed. However, the social network is having a press event at its Palo Alto headquarters this morning, and has just introduced a slew of new features. Most interestingly is the new data backup feature of your personal information -- wall posts, friend lists, those new high-res photos, and other information. No doubt a response to privacy issues and complaints, you'll be able to retrieve all your possible blackmail important information in a neat .zip file with just one click from the settings page of your account. Additionally, Facebook is revamping groups to include new group chat and document editing features, while simultaneously attacking the age old problem of work / family / that one guy / friends sorting. It sort of sounds like a crowdsourced version of that lists privacy solution we described a little while ago, with Facebook assuming that your friends will build the relevant groups for you if you can't be bothered. Yeah, it's not nearly as entertaining as a Facebook phone, but on the bright side, your "muploads" are now easier than ever to keep track of. Awesome.
Android photo backup app reveals burglars' identities, stupidity
Burglaries are an unfortunately commonplace event in daily urban life, but on some very rare occasions their outcomes give cause for celebration and maybe even a smile. Two young men from the Portland area, keen to get on the smartphone bandwagon without paying, broke in and stole a pair of Motorola Android handsets (along with other electronics) from a nearby household. What they didn't foresee, however, was that one of the phones would have the free Lookout app, which automatically backs up all photos taken with the handset to a user-accessible server every night. So, in the midst of testing out their ill-gotten loot, the criminals provided the phone's legitimate owner with enough visual clues for the police to swoop in and apprehend one of them. The search for his partner in crime continues, but the "gadget versus man" fight has already concluded with a clear win for what we presume was a Droid. [Thanks, John]
