Backup is important. Disk drives don't last forever and, when they fail, they often do so with little or no warning. That's why I use multiple backup strategies that include local hot backups, an image backup of my boot drive, USB-drive backup, and online backup. My objective is never to lose an important file. And all files are important.
Backup is a topic I touch on freqently. On April 10 of this year, I described a problem with Carbonite that caused me to reconsider using that service. After many years of recommending Carbonite, it was no longer possible for me to do that. This week, I'll decribe the multi-part system I use. One backup is not enough. Here's what I use:
If you write "duct tape" someone will complain that it should be "duck tape"; if you write "duck tape", someone will complain that it should be "duct tape". What's the story here?
Wikipedia says both are right. "Duct tape or duck tape is cloth — or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape — often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesives. One variation is gaffer tape — designed to be cleanly removed, unlike standard duct tape. Another variation is heat-resistant duct tape useful for sealing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning ducts, produced because standard duct tape fails quickly when used on heating ducts. Duct tape is generally gray or black but also available in other colors."
To continue the story: "The first material called 'duck tape' was long strips of plain cotton duck cloth used in making shoes stronger, for decoration on clothing, and for wrapping steel cables or electrical conductors to protect them from corrosion or wear. For instance, in 1902, steel cables supporting the Manhattan Bridge were first covered in linseed oil then wrapped in duck tape before being laid in place. In the 1910s, certain boots and shoes used canvas duck fabric for the upper or for the insole, and duck tape was sometimes sewn in for reinforcement. In 1936, the US-based Insulated Power Cables Engineers Association specified a wrapping of duck tape as one of many methods used to protect rubber-insulated power cables. In 1942, Gimbel's department store offered venetian blinds that were held together with vertical strips of duck tape. All of these foregoing uses were for plain cotton or linen tape that came without a layer of applied adhesive."
Now, of course, there is a Duck (brand) tape. If you want their story, you'll find it here.
Most of that isn't new, but CrashPlan is and it replaces Carbonite. If you'd like to know why, read my earlier comments from the program on April 10. This is not a condemnation of Carbonite. I used the service for several years and it still offers some features that my selected replacement does not, but the replacement service offers some features that I consider to be essential.
One of my long-time frustrations with Carbonite was the decision by developers to omit numerous file types: Executable files, dynamic link libary (DLL) files, and video files. A user who doesn't read the fine print would risk not having backups of family videos. Crash Plan takes the opposite approach and backs up just about everything. I had to explicitly exclude files that I considered unnecessary.
Caronite costs slightly less than Crash Plan (the difference is $12 per year) and offers file sharing, which Crash Plan doesn't.
Both Crash Plan and Carbonite are very easy to use and both will take a long time to complete the initial backup. That's because even high-speed cable systems have low-speed up-links. It's not uncommon for the initial backup to take weeks (or months) depending on how much you need to back up. After the initial backup, files are generally backed up whenever they change.
Crash Plan's security is stronger than Carbonite's (448-bit encryption compared to 128-bit). Crash Plan also offers file versioning and retains files in the cloud that you have deleted from your computer.
During the setup process, you'll specify which drives you want Crash Plan to back up and, on each drive, which folders.
Some of the folders on some drives in my computer are mirrors of other folders and I have omitted the mirrors.
In other cases, some directories contain files that don't need to be backed up.
This may be because the directory contains nothing but temporary files. Whatever the reason, it's easy to exclude a directory or an entire drive.
Crash Plan's Settings panel contains 5 tabs and is far more extnesive than what Carbonite offers. You may not need to change any of the settings because the developers selected reasonable default values, but it's easy enough to make changes if you decide that you need to.
A History panel provides a detailed view of exactly what Crash Plan did and when. This is a function that is not available in Carbonite.
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Crash Plan's restore function is amazing.
Select an entire drive, a directory, or drill down to a specific file. Then click the disclosure triangle to select which version of the file you want to restore.
Even more great features are shown at the bottom of the panel. Users can decide to restore the most recent version of the file or the version from a specific date, with either the current permissions or original permissions, to the Desktop or any other location, and rename or overwrite any existing files.
Crash Plan already looks like the better choice, but there's more. You can download the software without charge and use it for several types of backup without ever paying a penny for it. The software will back up files to an external hard drive or to a friend's hard drive without cost.
If you back up to a friend's drive, your friend also needs to have Crash Plan installed and must give you permission to backup files to their computer.
On-line backup that's free for off-line backupsCrashPlan is free for local backups, backups to a USB drive, and backups to a friend's computer. Using the online service requires a small annual fee, but backup space is unlimited, multiple versions of files are maintained, and even if you delete a file from the computer, CrashPlan will maintain it until you explicitly mark it for deletion from the cloud.
Additional details are available on the CrashPlan website.
BQ, a Spanish company, is shipping a tablet computer that runs Ubuntu Linux. The Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition sells for about $400 and weighs just slightly more than a pound. That's a good price, but whether it's a good deal depends on what you need.
The Aquarius somewhat resembles Microsoft's Surface tablet, but the keyboard is separate instead of being something that can be attached to the tablet. It's the first tablet that runs on Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu has been around for a while and is one of the more popular Linux variants. The British company behind Ubuntu, Canonical, has modified the operating system so it can be used in phones and other protable devices.
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The Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet is on sale now at BQ's online store. Because it's a Wi-Fi-only tablet, buyers won't need to be concerned with matching the device to their callular provider. This also means that for connectivity of any sort you'll need to have a nearby Wi-Fi signal.
Plug a monitor into the HDMI port or connect a keyboard and mouse with Bluetooth and the interface switches from being touch-centric to desktop mode in which it works the way we've come to expect desktop systems to operate. In tablet mode, apps are full screen. In desktop mode, they're windowed. A full version of Libre Office is installed on the tablet.
The specifications are reasonable: 10.1 inch multi-touch screen (1280 x 800 at 149 ppi or full HD 1920 x 1200 at 224 ppi), MediaTek quad core MT8163A processor up to 1.5GHz, high capacity Li-Po battery (7280mAh), full HD (1080p) camera for video recording, 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory, MicroSD slot for extra storage (up to 64GB), 8 megapixel rear camera with autofocus and 5 megapixel front camera, front speakers, Micro HDMI slot, dimensions: 246 x 171 x 8.2mm, and 470g (a little over a pound).
If you have a spare $400 lying around, you've always wanted a tablet, and Linux either pleases you or at least doesn't frighten you, one of these little Ubuntu tablets might be a good fit. There's more information on the BQ website.
Password managers use a single password to protect all of your other passwords. This could be dozens or hundreds of sets of credentials. Allow your master password to fall into the wrong hands and you'll be up to your eyebrows in trouble.
Crooks and thieves know this and they do everything they can to trick users into giving their master passwords away. So while most people really need an application such as LastPass (the one I prefer) or one of the others such as 1Password, Keychain, and Dashlane, everyone needs to watch out for phonies.
Writing on the Malwarebytes blog, Jovi Umawing reminds readers to download password managers only from the developers' websites or from trusted app sites such as Google Play, the Chrome App Store, or the Apple Store. Perform a Google search for most of these applications and you'll probably see several sites that offer what they claim is the real application. And even the official app stores can't always be trusted.
"Recently, we spotted one such app claiming to be LastPass on the Chrome Web Store." Umawing says. Careful observers will see that there's something wrong immediately. The ratings are too low and "the named developer, AdGetBlock, seem to be the wrong brand to offer such a product."
Umawing describes how he downloaded and installed the fake LastPass app on a test machine. The installed application took the computer to a site that attempted to install unwanted applications.
In this case, Google has already removed the bad app, but you can be sure that others will take its place. Read the entire article on the Malwarebytes site.
In the middle of last week, I stumbled across Nacho Mail. It's an app for Android and IOS devices. What led me to it was a news release from the publisher about the addition of "Work-Chat". The idea is that it adds a chat application to your smart phone or tablet. I never did find the Work-Chat feature, but I did find a promising e-mail client for this "post-PC world".
What makes the application appealing to me is that I was able to set up 4 e-mail accounts (2 IMAP, Outlook, and G-Mail) in about 10 minutes. When I'm using the application, I can view any one of the accounts individually or look at a mailbox that combines mail from all accounts. In addition to Outlook and G-Mail, Nacho Mail works with Exchange, Google Apps, Hotmail, ICloud, Office365, and Yahoo. It detects and uses your calendar and contacts.
"We are headquartered in Portland, Oregon," the developers say about themselves, "where we drink beer, ride bikes and dream of the warm surf in San Diego." Any developer who lists beer high on the list is probably a good developer.
The interface is fabulous and setting up an IMAP account (something many people find tedious or confusing or both) is quicker and eaiser than I've seen on any competing application.
It's a new applicaion and so far has been downloaded only by a few hundred people. Despite the great interface, there are problems. Sometimes Nacho Mail becomes confused. You're supposed to be able to swipe from right to left and then click the trash icon to get rid of a message. When the swipe function works, the message can be deleted. Sometimes it doesn't, though, and the message just quivers for a bit. There's a delete button at the bottom of the screen, but the program goes back to the inbox when you delete a message instead of showing the next message. I've also had some problems sending messages. The send icon is rather small and seems not always to recognize a tap. In one case, a message simply disappeared; it hadn't been sent, wasn't in the outbox, and wasn't in the saved drafts folder.
So it's not perfect, but it has a lot of promise for a completely new application. It'll be interesting to see how Nacho Mail develops over the next few months. Expect a complete report on what I find after I've had time to work with it. And maybe sometime I'll be able to find Work-Chat.
