Time Capsule

Time Machine on the Mac has been a great step in keeping a backup of my machine. That warm fuzzy feeling of having everything in two places makes you feel a bit invincible when making changes or hacks to your stuff. I think I have restored my iPhone 10 times, jailbreaking it and bringing it back to factory. Apple now backs up your iPhone every time you sync it to iTunes.

So when my 500Gig USB hard drive (with my MacBook backup) began to fail. I sort of cheered a bit. Its just the excuse I needed to justify picking up a new Time Capsule (router and backup drive in one). My only hesitation came when I wondered how the Time Capsule would fit into my routines. In thinking about the time capsule, I had a few questions, and as it turned out, the Geniuses at the Apple store didn’t have all the answers. I don’t think they had even tried the device before. They kept telling me things like, “Theoretically, that is possible.” when in fact really, its not. Read the rest of this entry »

Protect your Mac

The first thing you should think about when you get a new Mac is security. There is always someone else who thinks they desurve it more than you. I like to keep a photo of my devices and their serial #s in a folder on my website. This ensures I can retrieve them for insurance purposes if all my stuff is stolen.

A friend of mine just turned me on to Adeona. Its a program that sits on your computer (Mac, Linux, Windows) and randomly sends its current location (by IP Address) to a server. If you have a Macbook with a built in web cam, it even snaps a photo. This allows you to look up the computers last logged on locations if the computer is ever stolen. Its not fool proof. If the drive is wiped and the system re-installed the program is lost. But most thieves are not tech savvy and odds are they will use your laptop without a re-install.

Adeona is totally free. I have looked up my own computer and found that if it was stolen the info would be very helpful to relay to the police. I fully recommend this software, its easy to use and I see no downside to letting it sit on my machine, hoping that day never comes where I need to use it.