As a professional PC Tech, I come across countless customers who have gigabytes of important data (files, pictures) on three year old computers and no data backup strategy in place. Every week I have a customer who’s hard drive has completely died and they want me to get the data back. Unfortanatly most of the time a mechanically dead hard drive is not recoverable, unless sent to a specialty data recovery service, which costs between $1000-$2000 dollors to recover the files.

I usually recommend an online service called Carbonite instant backup. Carbonite monitors and stores data online up to their servers, in a relatively intrusive process. Here are the steps to using Carbonite:

1. Download the software and install it.
2. Tell Carbinite what files or drives to backup
3. Carbonite will make an initial backup of your files
4. Carboite will then monitor your files and watch for any changes
5. If your hard drive dies, reinstall Carbonite on the new hardrive and tell Carbonite which files to recover

Pros

• Cheap ($50 dollars a YEAR)
• Ease of Use
• Encrypts files before uploading them
• Backs up file when you are not using the Internet

Cons

• Initial backup takes around two weeks

DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It is a service that makes the use of existing copper telephone wires for delivering data services at extremely fast speed rates. It does not hamper the existing telephone line. You can surf the Internet and talk on the phone, simultaneously.

DSL offers speeds that are around 5 to 25 times higher than a typical 56Kb dial-up connection. It is an always-on type of connection. This implies that websites would load quickly, downloads would be faster, buffering of videos would be fast and smooth and the domain of Online games would be illimitable.
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If you have two or more computers at home that are wired together to share resources, then you have a home computer network. Anyone who uses a computer, which encompasses almost everyone, should be aware of the need to back up important data. There are options available for network data storage that may not be available for the single computer. The first step in deciding how to conform your network data storage is to determine the type of backup you should use. Usually a backup is done by making a copy of all of the existing files, like a snapshot in time, and then adding backups of the changes as they occur. The other decision to make is the location of where to keep the backups.

Here, There and Everywhere

If you don’t store very much on your home computer network, you may be able to manage your home network data storage project on DVD’s. With a small amount of information needing backup, you might just use rewritable DVD’s and make a full copy of chosen files as needed. If there is one or more computers on your network that is primarily used for internet use, email, web surfing and games, then the need for data backup is limited. The benefit of this type of home network data storage is that you have control over whether or not to back up a file and you choose how often to do the backups. The downside that many people don’t update their backups often enough and frequently the discs become lost or damaged due to inadequate storage practices.

The next step up is to create a server to store backup files for all of the computers on the network. A server is simply a hard drive, and software is available for small home networks. There are also network-attached storage (NAS) devices which act as a dedicated backup server. The benefit here is that the software can be set to automatically perform backup procedures at regular intervals. The drawback is that the backups are in the same place as the computers, and may fall victim to whatever type of disaster makes it necessary to use the backups.

Finally, there are remote services that will automatically use the Internet for home network data storage. Once signed up, the user is charged according to the amount of storage is needed. The benefit is that data is stored remotely and the updates are automatic. Drawbacks are that large amounts of data can be costly and that it’s only as reliable as the company. The decision on the type of home network data storage to use is based on the needs and resources of the network users.

Written by Roland Jefferson

Everywhere you turn phone companies offer 3 or 5-cent long distance phone calls, or even unlimited long distance for a flat fee monthly. Now you can make reliable calls using the Internet for anywhere from 0 to 2.3-cents per minute.

Welcome to Skype, the Internet telephony company that has set the traditional telephone world on its ear.

Recently purchased by Ebay for 2.6 billion dollars, Skype stands ready to revolutionize worldwide voice communication simply because they enable you to carry on crystal clear voice communication with anyone else in the world with a either a phone or Internet connection.

What’s the catch you ask?
Well, to make phone calls, you need a computer, a microphone, speakers, a modem, an Internet connection and the free Skype software you can download from www.skype.com To make a free phone call, you need someone on the receiving end with a computer, Internet connection, and the Skype software installed. To make a call from your computer to a land-based phone virtually anywhere in the world, you must pre-pay for calling minutes in blocks of 10 Euros (approximately $12 U.S.). One block of calling minutes gets you about 500 minutes of calling time, or a little over 8 hours of talking time. Skype uses a technology called IP telephony.

IP Telephony
IP telephony first appeared commercially back in the lat 1990’s with services like Dialpad.com, which initially offered phone calls from computers to land-based phones in exchange for watching online advertising. This model soon failed, but the thought of making ultra-cheap phone calls through a computer did not. And, as the recent mega sale of Skype reveals, a market now exists that can put Internet telephony to work on a grand scale, or at least large enough to make eBay pony up with a lot of cash and stock to give it a try.

Once you install the software, you log onto the service and can make phone calls to other Skype users through their computers at no charge. You can set up a call list, much like an instant messaging “buddy list” so with a couple clicks of the mouse you can ring your friends up for a chat. Or, if you pre-pay for calling minutes, you can enter in the country code and phone number of your pals, click a button, and their phone or cell phone will ring.

Skype also allows you to hold conference calls with up to 4 other people at the same time, making it easy to hold group meetings. Skype includes a group chat feature which allows you to hold a group chat session with up to 48 other people at the same time… excellent for “webinars” or even planning that next family reunion. Skype also allows you to transfer files to and from other users, perfect for sharing photos, music and short video clips with your pals.

Tip: Get a good headset microphone.

It makes using the service more enjoyable and also eliminates the echo created by your own speakers feeding back into your PC’s microphone.

By: Jim Edwards

At Macworld expo Apple announced the new iphone. It received a lot of hype and scepticism. The jury is still out about it place in the cell phone market. I have to admit it is a pretty slick looking piece of electronics.

I am not sure if about the touch screen. If anyone can change a market like the lucrative cell phone market, Apple could.