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Saving your surfing on the Mac
I'd wager that most of you spend as much of your time on the web as I do, and that it's one of the first places you look for answers to just about any question. As a web designer, I look there for inspiration, solutions and am constantly learning how to improve my design and my code with the help of the internet community. It's become important, over time, for me to be able to re-locate the answers I've found, and to archive things that have made a difference for me. I don't just want a folder full of bookmarks, I want to be able to search my local repository in a more abstract way. The tools for doing this are abundant, and many of them free. I thought I'd share part of my current system for saving my tracks across the 'net.
Millenniata's Millennial Disk should last longer than you, your memory
Considering that we're still waiting patiently for any company (we're looking at you, Call/Recall) to produce a commercially viable holographic storage solution, we're required to tackle Millenniata's newest assertion with a sprinkle of skepticism. The claim? It's specially lubricated, fortified and homogenized Millennial Disk is said to last some 1,000 years, making it the world's finest and most longevous archive solution. If it's legitimate. We're told that digital information is carved into layers of hard, "persistent" materials, and somehow, those carvings are able to stay fresh and readable for more years than you care to count. Still, we reckon the robot apocalypse will be in full effect by the time 3009 rolls around, so even if it only lives up to half of its claims, we'll still be impressed.[Via Slashdot]
Panasonic DMR-BS850 Blu-ray DVR gets reviewed
Infuriatingly restrictive DRM aside, Panasonic's FreeSat+ Blu-ray burning DVR brings some new capabilities to the UK, apparently enough to impress Home Cinema Choice. A few downsides, like ITV marking its HD broadcasts Copy Never preventing any disc backups, and an inability to connect to other devices on the network didn't take away its DVR features, h.264 compression capabilities and solid Blu-ray playback. Of course the entry price for the DMR-BS850 is high, but take a look at the rest of their notes before deciding whether or not all those arrows and padlocks are worth the trouble.
Panasonic bigwig talks up Blu-ray archival potential
We're chalking up the lack of Blu-ray archival talk to the ridiculous price of BD-R media, but now that prices are slowly but surely beginning to sink somewhat, it seems that Panasonic is taking advantage of the situation. Hiroyuki Hasegawa of Panasonic's AVC Networks Company recently stated that "from an environmental perspective, Blu-ray and other optical discs are promising for archival purposes." He delivered that quote while giving a seminar on the current state of digital archives, and he also made mention that Blu-ray Discs were superior to other media including HDDs and magnetic tapes in terms of "non-contact recording and playback, removability, random accessibility and long product life." Quite honestly, we have serious doubts that BDs are superior to HDDs in most situations, but Mr. Hasegawa pointed out that discs were better suited for "long-term storage of fixed data." Call us crazy, but we're totally waiting for the rebuttal here.
The Photo Archival Company offers Blu-ray archival solution for camcorder footage
For camcorder owners with mind enough to know what Blu-ray is (and own at least a Blu-ray player), yet not enough time / knowledge to bother archiving your footage onto the format, The Photo Archival Company is ready and willing to take your dough. The archiving outfit has formally introduced a solution that involves placing old (albeit valued) content on USB hard drives, camcorder tapes, etc. onto Blu-ray Discs for safe keeping, though there's no mention of just how costly this convenience will end up being. But no, it won't be cheap.[Thanks, Anthony]
LG's N4B1 NAS auto-archives your junk to Blu-ray
When we're thinking NAS, we're thinking Terabytes of network attached storage. Fortunately, while LG's N4B1 might be the world's first NAS with integrated Blu-ray recorder, it also supports up to 4TB of disk... with room to grow thanks to 3x USB and 1x e-SATA jacks. LG puts that 50GB of dual-layer, Blu-ray storage to good use by automatically archiving your old data for off-site storage. You do store your data off-site, right?
Got any tips for archiving / streaming DVDs?
If you've stumbled upon the perfect solution for archiving your DVD collection and streaming it via a DLNA server (you know, like the PlayStation 3), this week's Ask Engadget question is just begging for your input. Head on over and give those two pennies a toss!
Ask Engadget: What's the optimal DVD archival solution?
This week's Ask Engadget question is a bit on the specific side, but it's one we've heard asked time and time again. Thus, we figured it was time to finally get it out in the open for you readers to debate."I have an extensive DVD library that I would like to archive on a network drive and be able to access via my PS3, menus and all. I am currently using TVersity to stream videos from my PC to the console. I've seen walk-throughs for archiving DVDs, but I haven't seen anything that will present these via a DLNA server (to my PS3) with their original menus intact so that you can access special features such as commentary tracks and featurettes. I am not even sure that it is possible to navigate the menus via the PS3 remote. Any recommended solutions out there?"Can't you just hear the hopelessness in poor Ron's voice? Throw the guy a bone, will ya? And while you're at it, throw our highly sophisticated email sorter a question of your own at ask at engadget dawt com.
Check out the Wii Fanboy review archives!
Tired of wading through the categories to find exactly what you want? Feel like looking at a nice, neat list of reviews instead of searching for specific articles? We've got the answer that you didn't even know you needed: the brand new Wii Fanboy review archives. Whether you're looking for a retail title, or something from WiiWare, we've got you covered. Retail reviews WiiWare reviews
Delkin's 25GB Archival Gold BD-Rs will be around longer than you
Archive master Delkin has stepped up to the plate once more, this time aiming to please those with way more horror films than a typical CD-R can hold. The Archival Gold Blu-ray recordable media is the first of its kind "guaranteed to preserve data safely for over 200 years." The 4x discs feature the outfit's proprietary ScratchArmor technology, which is designed to fend off the terrifying effects of UV light, heat, humidity and careless fingernails. The units are available now in 1/5/10/25 packs for an undisclosed price.
Mac 101: ZIP files for easy e-mail
We're all faced with the problem of e-mailing large files. This task can be made simple by using Mac OS X's built-in "Compress" tool. This feature makes it easy to not only compress one file into a ZIP archive, but also multiple files or entire folders. Just select the files you need to ZIP and right-click on one of them. When you select Compress, then in a couple seconds (this will take longer depending on the file size) you will be presented with a nice ZIP archive containing all of your files in it. Just drag the ZIP file into your e-mail and send! There are alternatives, such as StuffIt Expander Deluxe, but if all you are doing is compressing files, there really is no need to spend money since Mac OS X will zip and un-zip the archive handily.
MailSteward archiving app for just $34.95 at MacZOT today only
After I realized that I needed to find a way to archive and search the healthy amount of email I deal with in Apple Mail these days, I finally decided on MailSteward. There are indeed a number of email archiving options available (and Hawk Wing's list is probably still as good as any), but MailSteward's powerful array of features and ability to search the archives it creates won me over.If you're looking for a similar solution and MailSteward just might be it, today is a great day to make the jump: software discount site MacZOT is offering the MailSteward for just $34.95. That's a savings of 30% off its normal price of $50, so it's a good opportunity to finally get into the habit of archiving all that mail that you can't entirely delete just yet.
Pyro 1.6: Campfire client gains search, drag and drop file transfer enhancements and more
It's been over a year since we first mentioned Pyro, the powerful Mac OS X client for 37signals' Campfire web-based chat service for groups and businesses. While I personally didn't pick up a copy back then since I wasn't a Campfire user, I'm not entirely familiar with every change that has come since April '06. Still, even the most recent list of changes warrants Pyro another mention, especially since I'm looking at using Campfire for a few uses and projects. In addition to already offering a dashboard and central location for all your Campfire chats and displaying message status alerts in the Dock icon, check out what's new in Pyro 1.6: Any file type can be dragged onto Pyro to share in a Campfire chat Pyro will automatically zip a folder or .APP Dragging an image from a web browser will insert a URL for that image instead of uploading it Campfire's new sidebar search field now works in Pyro Support for the new WebKit installed by Safari 3 beta (mentioned on the Pyro development blog) and of course, bug fixes As Campfire's example uses page details, there are a lot of great scenarios for such a slick web app, and Pyro looks like the perfect tool to bring together the coolness of Campfire with the power of Mac OS X. Surprisingly, Pyro is still offered free, and even though Campfire primarily focuses on business users by offering a few paid accounts, it too has a free account with which you can register and tinker around to see if Campfire is right for your use.
Script to archive Mail.app messages by month
For pro-email users and organization aficionados, Mail.app's archiving abilities leave just a tad to be desired. There are of course a few 3rd party options for archiving and/or exporting messages from Mail.app, and Tim Gaden's excellent Plug-ins and add-ons list at Hawk Wings is a great resource to track down a solution that works for you. Fortunately, in his never-ending quest to find all things Mail.app, Tim found yet another solution in the form of an AppleScript called MailArchiveByDate written by Doug Hellmann. As its name suggests, this script will archive selected messages into a mailbox structure based on year and month the message was sent. You'll get a structure like so: 2006 01 02 etc. Doug also includes instructions for setting up this script to work with Mail Act-On, the excellent plugin from Scott Morrison (developer of MailTags) that allows you to execute rules via keyboard shortcuts. Altogether, this is one powerful (and relatively cheap, considering Mail Act-On is donationware) system for archiving Mail.app messages while at the same time keeping them accessible right inside of Mail.
Apple Support doc: retrieve files from an Archive and Install directory
I probably wipe my Macs once or twice a year, sometimes after a particularly grueling semester of work and screwing around with loads of 3rd party haxies and utilities in the name of TUAW. Each time I go through this hand-washing process, I make sure my continuous backup (thanks to Econ Technologies' ChronoSync) is as up-to-date as possible, and then I wipe the machine clean, installing a fresh copy of Mac OS X. I've always seen the option to 'Archive and Install,' but I never bothered to learn about the process, as I was always worried about how to retrieve files at a later date if I took that path. Maybe this 'clean slate' is a holdover from my Windows days, but I've always felt 'safer' starting with a fresh hard drive (but a guy can change).If you're not like me and actually are more curious about taking the Archive and Install route, this Apple Support doc will shed some light on how to handle these archived users after all is said and done, as well as how to create a disk image of your previous user directory and then retrieve files from said image. The doc certainly streamlines the process, offering a few simple steps to get your archive on.
CGW archive launched, download first 100 issues free
Computer Gaming World has opened a digital archive that includes its first 100 issues, dating back to November 1981. Each issue is available for download in PDF format via FileFront -- for free. Go getcha hoard on!Keep in mind, the archive might not be online for long since Computer Gaming World will be transformed into Games for Windows: The Official Magazine starting with the December issue (released in mid-November).
Delkin takes burning on the go with DVD BurnAway
In a long overdue update to its original BurnAway device, Delkin is finally launching the new model to embrace the not-exactly-fresh technology known as DVD. While it doesn't get much of a facelift (externally or otherwise), this portable burner rocks a rechargeable battery, CD-R / RW and DVD±R / RW compatibility, music playback, and instant slideshow support via the built-in S-Video / composite outputs. The biggest boons here, however, are the twin flash memory slots -- supporting CompactFlash (I and II), MicroDrive, SD, MMC, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, MS Pro, and xD (with adapter, naturally) -- that bypass the computer entirely to allow direct card-to-CD / DVD burning. Of course, this could be utilized as a plain ole external burner for your PC, but where's the fun in that? While battery life is (frighteningly) not mentioned, we assume it stocks enough juice to burn at least a couple discs while road trippin', and the DVD BurnAway can be picked up anytime before your next pre-planned journey for $369.99.[Via MobileWhack]
iSticky offers notes with reminders, sending via Bonjour, more
Sticky notes are great, but sticky notes that can have reminder alarms, be sent to other Macs via Bonjour, sent over the web and SMS, archived and more - are better. If any of these features have your inner nerd excited, then check out iSticky - a sticky note app on steroids. Also on the feature list are themes, categories, encryption, document linking and more.While we don't think iSticky is Universal yet (at least, the author isn't bragging about it on the site), a demo is available. iSticky also offers a wide range of licenses depending on which features you need and whether you need a family/business pack. Prices run from $16 USD (single license, Bonjour sending but not over the web) up to $90 USD for a 12 license pack with all the toppings. Check it out if Apple's Stickies just aren't cutting it for you anymore.
GmailUI Extension for Thunderbird
If Gmail's UI floats your boat but you prefer using a desktop email client for 'no waiting for a refresh' feel, Ken Mixter has developed a Thunderbird extension just for you. The GmailUI extension brings many of the shortcuts and search expressions of Gmail to Mozilla's Thunderbird client. Keyboard shortcuts like J and K for moving up and down through messages, as well as search expressions such as 'subject:' and 'from:' can now be a part of your Thunderbird experience. Ken even went so far as to include Gmail's 'archive' functionality and (oddly) a quick calculation function, right from within Thunderbird's search box.The extension appears to be completely free, and Ken is accepting feedback and suggestions at his site. Head over to Mozilla's addons site to grab the extension, or check out Ken's site for a lot more details of everything GmailUI is capable of.[via Gmail.pro]
Stuffit 10.1 finally goes Universal, loses installer
Allume Systems has finally cranked out a (beta) Universal Binary of their 'hate it but gotta have it lying around' free Stuffit Expander. It seems they were going for bonus points with this release, as they removed some of the 'hate it' factor by finally doing away with an installer; it is now a DnD .app from a mounted disk image.This version is also localized into Japanese, French and German, and is available from either VersionTracker or Stuffit.com, though as of this writing that page still says the latest release is 10.0.
