Technology

Backing Up, Carbon Copy Cloner, Time Machine & Mozy

Backing up is something most computer literate people will be aware of, yet it is something that is often neglected my millions of computer users in varying disciplines all over the world. I myself fall into this category to some degree, I do have Time Machine backups and a good part of  my data stored on external hard drives but I do not manage the process with any degree of regularity or indeed care. Listening to a few of my favourite podcasts The Mac Attack, Mac Power Users and generally real...
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Transmission – Torrents Are Viable

The very mention of the word torrent signifies illegal activity and the acquisition of files in a non-legitimate fashion. It's a shame because for all it's misuse BitTorrent is actually an extremely useful protocol that when used properly provides a fast and reliable way for people to share data. I guess it's fair to say that it's not so much the concept but how people decide to use it or in this case misuse it. In today's digital media society the connected nature of our existence and the exten...
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Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB

After about a week of waiting my recent order with Amazon arrived yesterday evening. I had almost given up on it coming and disappointingly got more than a little upset with the courier, at around 8.30 however a van pulled up at the door with the much anticipated brown parcel. I was surprised by the late delivery and also really happy it had arrived. One of the items in my box of goodies was a new external hard drive. I already own three Western Digital External drives each having served me well...
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Pakuma K1 Choroka Returns

I've mentioned the awesome Pakuma messenger bags before on the blog in conjunction with my purchase of the Pakuma K1 Choroka, but lately for various reasons I have been using other forms of messenger bag for tech transport. However as I now enter the crunch period of work for the academic year I thought it would be a good idea to return to the Pakuma. The move was somewhat inspired by listening to a recent episode of Mac Power Users podcast where the main topic of discussion was tech transport. ...
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Review: Joby Gorillapod Original

I'm always on the look out for new gadgets and technology that will make daily activities easier. Having already picked up the fantastic Hama 61 tripod some weeks ago I thought I had everything that I needed in terms of a tripod for Kodak Zi8 usage. However as good as the Hama is, it is somewhat inadequate for indoor desk filming which is something I very much want to do. I could work around it but why would I when the fantastic Joby Gorillapod Original provides me with the perfect solution. ...
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Hama 61 Tripod

To provide a more professional look to any video or images that I capture with my new Kodak Zi8 I thought it best to invest in a decent tripod. Even though the Zi8 has EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation) it still is no match for a properly rigged camera placement on a tripod. While wanting a professional setup I was only prepared to pay what I considered an affordable amount - tripods can cost thousands of pounds and while they may bring added bang for buck at that price point, fundamentally so...
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Kodak Zi8 Preview

Over the past few months I have been carefully considering investing in a HD video recording solution. At first I thought that it would be much too expensive with most HD equipment far exceeding my basic recording needs and indeed my budget. The GeekCaster News Network and GeekCaster Store however both need HD video elements to support development, with e-learning development and indeed blog entries such as product reviews also benefiting from it's availability. I was left in something of a pick...
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Twiducate

A screencast overview of Twiducate, a social networking platform for education. Minutes after completing the screencast the developers updated the platform to include functionality for multiple classes, everything else in the screencast is still relevant so I thought it worthy of distribution. This was my one main drawback for the concept so I encourage anyone involved in education to investigate further, I think there is a lot of potential. I for one will be using the platform to support my tea...
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Cool Stuff 2009

As the end of the year draws in I thought it would be a good idea to look back and reflect on some of the things that interested me or that I enjoyed in the year gone by. It's been quite a difficult year for me personally with the loss of my Gran, and lots of work related issues, but at the same time there have been many enjoyable things in the year gone by. I have made some great new contacts through social media apps, established friendship with some great new people, developed the blog & ...
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Review: HP Photosmart C4780

I have been without a printer or scanner at home now for a number of weeks and have found that to be greatly restrictive. It's a classic case of not missing something until it's gone I guess, the amount of times I went to copy a document, scan an image or simply print a document for reference and couldn't was numerous to say the least. Thankfully that has all changed with my purchase of the HP Photosmart C4780 - without doubt a great step forward for HP and the best print hardware I have owned. ...
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Review: Bush USB Headset With Mic

Never content with just one way of doing things and always keen to investigate different approaches to commonly performed tasks, I recently purchased a Bush Headset with microphone. I already have the integrated microphone on my MacBook Pro, my recently acquired Blue Snowflake and an M-Audio condenser but each microphone serves a particular purpose and situation. Out of the box the headset looks pretty damn cool, it oozes professionalism; from it’s cool black tones, to the chunky build design...
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Blue Snowflake – Review

I finally got the chance to try out my newly acquired production microphone this evening, the Blue Snowflake is a USB condenser microphone with a cardioid pickup pattern. It is widely acclaimed as one of the best professional portable USB microphones and is suggested by many as a great microphone for voice overs, podcasting, narration and portable recording - pretty much everything I need then :D Setup was quick and painless, simply connect the microphone via USB and change the input selectio...
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