I've been using .mac for most of the functions you've mentioned for the better part of a year and of course am now using MobileMe. For me, the functionality didn't really change. I just get e-mails faster on my phone than my desktop now.
The one that I don't really like is the idea of storing all my docs in something like Google Docs. If I need something across multiple machines, I make use of my iDisk, but it's rare that I need to do so.
Time Machine is a godsend.
Christy Dena
· 1 year ago
Speaking of utilising the cloud, Kevin Lim recommended Dropbox to me, and it has been good: http://www.getdropbox.com/. (Upload your backups to the web.)
Mark Figart
· 1 year ago
I recently dropped a new Macbook Pro and lost everything (ouch!). When I got it back, repaired (but wiped clean), I plugged in my external hardrive, started Time Machine, and wham-o! Back in business, like you, in around an hour or so. Time Machine is remarkable. I also use a Western Digital MyBook configured for RAID, which means I can stand to have a single drive go out without loss of anything. Except for the fact that my backup is in a single location only, it seems pretty solid. And it's totally transparent.
I haven't migrated contacts to the web yet. Had never heard of BatchBook, though it looks interesting. Do you sync it with your phone? That would be important to me. Other than that I'm right there with you on just about all the hosted apps.
Gavin Knight
· 1 year ago
Foxmarks is the firefox bookmarks add-on I think you're after.
For live sync-ing my active files into the cloud I'm currently trialling 2 services that are in Beta: Dropbox (www.getmydropbox.com - has a Mac client) and Windows Live Mesh (www.mesh.com - Mac client coming). Both services maintain a sync'ed local copy on your PC/Mac as well as sync'ing a copy to the cloud. You can login to either over the web from any PC, or setup other PC/Macs you own to also Sync.
You could also Jungledisk (www.jungledisk.com) but I've found it is more suitable for backups.
Gavin
Kitty
· 1 year ago
I bought my MacBook Pro last february- actually the day it went out. After a couple of months, I noticed that the menu bar wasn't showing transparency, not a big deal but it did tip me off. So I repaired oermissions and all that, then restarted. Then the unthinkabe happened: not even the little apple from the start showed. Nothing. I ended up staying up all night fixing it. I had Leopard's Time Machine enabled, used .Mac's app Backup for extra backups ((you can never be too paranoid) and since I'm a .Mac (MobileMe nowadays) user, all my restoring went painlessly... a bit slow since I had to make a complete reinstall.
MobileMe has that entire sync (calendars and address books.. previously bookmarks, now that feature is off in MobieMe) and webspace available for me.
For the record, I was not in the 1% of MobileMe users that suffered with no email (or intermitent) the last couple of weeks. It's service is by far the most stable I've used.
Chris Akelian
· 1 year ago
Time Machine is great for restoring your files and system. I also like to have a backup of my system only using a backup utility like Carbon Copy Cloner or the like just to have the ability to do a clean system restore in case I end up installing a new hard drive or just want to refresh my computer. The restore ends up being much faster than installing the OS from scratch and from there you can restore your files from your backup.
Glad to hear that you didn't lose months of work though.
Luis Sandoval Jr.
· 1 year ago
You know, I came to the same realization you did, minus all the tech problems.
A lot of my changing of habits stemmed from not being able to constantly remember to save my material to a flash drive or external. I would travel somewhere need files and remember that I never saved them on a portable device.
Transferring from desktop to laptop and vice versa can be tedious as well. I finally just made the switch and made every effort to make my work as online as possible, so that I have access to it pretty much everywhere I go.
So far it's worked great. When I need to quickly send files to clients, or pull up a blog in progress, or even edit a quick photo for someone, I only need to jump online and the internet is my office.
TheSleepyGeek
· 1 year ago
That's an awful thing to happen. I actually ran through that this week. My laptop hard drive died and I spent a few days rebuilding my system. NO FUN! At least with Timemachine things are a lot easier than with Windows.
Michelle Vandepas
· 1 year ago
Chris, It's a pain to to loose your computer hard drive. Last year after my laptop went down I switched to Google Docs for most of my documents, Firefox booksmarks and Google Outlook Sync. I've got many more applications, but I can be up and running on any computer in the world pretty quickly with those tools. I'm going to check out Everynote now.
Felix
· 1 year ago
Google Bookmarks works pretty well too, and seeing as you're using gmail and reader etc you're already signed in anyway.
Erica
· 1 year ago
These are really good tips - the more you can do via a browser, the better. With really important documents, I usually email them to myself via gmail just in case something happens.
P.S. I'm impressed that you received your new laptop by 3 pm. Your company is efficient!
Ed Shaz/ NextInstinct
· 1 year ago
We can take the per.io.ds. out of delicious now btw. ;~))
I had a lot of problems with Mozy (and when I tweeted about it, a lot of others did, too). If that doesn't work out, try JungleDisk, which I give six stars on a scale of five - simply awesome.
A remote backup is key, because your house can always be robbed or flood, etc. and a Time Machine backup won't be very useful. In a perfect world, you'd have both, as re-downloading 80GB of music isn't anyone's idea of a fun time.
Choose the folders you're backing up carefully. (I'm happy to help you via email.) Then restoring is a breeze. My MacBook HD has died on me twice, plus a clean install of Leopard, and I never lost a thing.
For good measure, I also keep del.icio.us tags called "firefoxextension" and "installed" where I tag websites for any extensions or programs I use. I backup the preferences/files, but it's nice to get a clean copy of the latest version when you're starting over.
Valto
· 1 year ago
Good topic. You may want to check Kevin at the jkOnTheRun blog. Hes being living "cloud computing" only for I guess past month. There are very good tips and experiences shared about that. I tried to find a tag link to take to all of his cloud blogs, but does not exist. So this link is the closes I could find.
So sorry to hear! My MacBook drive went a few weeks ago but like you I fortunately had a back up from the week before. In my case I only had a couple programmes that aren't online: my accounting and my art database. I to have .Mac (or MobileMe now rather) so email was fine. I need to increase my iDisk space though so that I can backup work in progress online.
You've all made me think I need to upgrade from Tiger in order to use TimeMachine.
Cody McKibben
· 1 year ago
Wow, hey at least you got a really fast turnaround on your new Mac! Awesome.
It's funny, I use almost every single one of the applications on your list regularly as well, with the exception of Keynote. The only other essential apps I'd recommend are twhirl as a Twitter client, Flickr Uploadr, Remember the Milk for task management, and AppDelete for really ridding yourself of old programs you don't need anymore. Life on a Mac is fantastic! :)
Good post Chris, glad you got your laptop sorted out.
Mark Harrison
· 1 year ago
The web app I'd add:
- Basecamp / updatelog
The useful app I found as a result of your post:
- TextWrangler
The thing I wish existed:
- GDrive :-)
Sandy Santra
· 1 year ago
Thanks for a fascinating read, Chris and everyone else.
I use 5 backup systems:
1. TimeMachine
2. SuperDuper (run nightly to clone my MBP to an external Lacie Rugged, and my photos drive to a separate external Lacie Rugged)--so that I'm never a day away from a full MBP HD restore (and full restore of my photos drive)
3. Weekly offsite swap of the 2 Lacie Ruggeds in #2 above with a second set (so that I always have an offsite restore less than 2 weeks old)
4. Daily backup via Backup 3 of settings, dock, dashboard widgets, etc.
I'd like to remind households/people with more than 1 Mac: if you have a bootable clone backup available (from SuperDuper or another program) for a machine that went south, take the clone to the working Mac, plug it in, hold down the Option key, and turn on the machine. This is the "mountable drive boot" option. You'll get a boot choice. Choose to boot from the external (the clone backup of the other, fried Mac), and boom, you're seeing everything from your fried machine now on a working machine.
Jack Repenning
· 1 year ago
Your last backup was a week old?
There is only one critical app, and its name is Time Machine.
Scott Leamon
· 1 year ago
Time Machine is brilliant, I agree! I went ahead and invested in Time Capsule. I prefer the incremental backups to be wireless, and transparent. I find myself using it more for those momentary lapses of reason when i delete a critical file in disguise from my desktop.
Another upside - as i'm sure you know - it also serves as a router. Lessens clutter. And has that sexy Apple look we have all grown to love.
Stephen Hopson
· 1 year ago
Hey Guys:
Am I the only one with a PC these days? LOL.
Is there anyone with a PC who can tell me what backup systems I could peruse online? I had one hard drive crash last year and didn't back anything up. I had to hire someone to recover files from the bad drive.
Anyone? Email me directly at stephen (at) sjhopson (dot)com with your suggestions - thanks! (no spaces in actual email)
Michelle Vandepas
· 1 year ago
Hi Stephen, Nice to see you over here. I've got a PC and all my ideas above are for the PC as well. Are you on Firefox? I'll email you directly. Michelle
Time Machine is great for restoring your files and system. I also like to have a backup of my system only using a backup utility like Carbon Copy Cloner or the like just to have the ability to do a clean system restore in case I end up installing a new hard drive or just want to refresh my computer. The restore ends up being much faster than installing the OS from scratch and from there you can restore your files from your backup.
Glad to hear that you didn’t lose months of work though.
All Comments
I've been using .mac for most of the functions you've mentioned for the better part of a year and of course am now using MobileMe. For me, the functionality didn't really change. I just get e-mails faster on my phone than my desktop now.
The one that I don't really like is the idea of storing all my docs in something like Google Docs. If I need something across multiple machines, I make use of my iDisk, but it's rare that I need to do so.
Time Machine is a godsend.
I haven't migrated contacts to the web yet. Had never heard of BatchBook, though it looks interesting. Do you sync it with your phone? That would be important to me. Other than that I'm right there with you on just about all the hosted apps.
For live sync-ing my active files into the cloud I'm currently trialling 2 services that are in Beta: Dropbox (www.getmydropbox.com - has a Mac client) and Windows Live Mesh (www.mesh.com - Mac client coming). Both services maintain a sync'ed local copy on your PC/Mac as well as sync'ing a copy to the cloud. You can login to either over the web from any PC, or setup other PC/Macs you own to also Sync.
You could also Jungledisk (www.jungledisk.com) but I've found it is more suitable for backups.
Gavin
MobileMe has that entire sync (calendars and address books.. previously bookmarks, now that feature is off in MobieMe) and webspace available for me.
For the record, I was not in the 1% of MobileMe users that suffered with no email (or intermitent) the last couple of weeks. It's service is by far the most stable I've used.
Glad to hear that you didn't lose months of work though.
A lot of my changing of habits stemmed from not being able to constantly remember to save my material to a flash drive or external. I would travel somewhere need files and remember that I never saved them on a portable device.
Transferring from desktop to laptop and vice versa can be tedious as well. I finally just made the switch and made every effort to make my work as online as possible, so that I have access to it pretty much everywhere I go.
So far it's worked great. When I need to quickly send files to clients, or pull up a blog in progress, or even edit a quick photo for someone, I only need to jump online and the internet is my office.
P.S. I'm impressed that you received your new laptop by 3 pm. Your company is efficient!
http://blog.delicious.com/
A remote backup is key, because your house can always be robbed or flood, etc. and a Time Machine backup won't be very useful. In a perfect world, you'd have both, as re-downloading 80GB of music isn't anyone's idea of a fun time.
Choose the folders you're backing up carefully. (I'm happy to help you via email.) Then restoring is a breeze. My MacBook HD has died on me twice, plus a clean install of Leopard, and I never lost a thing.
For good measure, I also keep del.icio.us tags called "firefoxextension" and "installed" where I tag websites for any extensions or programs I use. I backup the preferences/files, but it's nice to get a clean copy of the latest version when you're starting over.
http://www.jkontherun.com/web/index.html
You've all made me think I need to upgrade from Tiger in order to use TimeMachine.
It's funny, I use almost every single one of the applications on your list regularly as well, with the exception of Keynote. The only other essential apps I'd recommend are twhirl as a Twitter client, Flickr Uploadr, Remember the Milk for task management, and AppDelete for really ridding yourself of old programs you don't need anymore. Life on a Mac is fantastic! :)
Good post Chris, glad you got your laptop sorted out.
- Basecamp / updatelog
The useful app I found as a result of your post:
- TextWrangler
The thing I wish existed:
- GDrive :-)
I use 5 backup systems:
1. TimeMachine
2. SuperDuper (run nightly to clone my MBP to an external Lacie Rugged, and my photos drive to a separate external Lacie Rugged)--so that I'm never a day away from a full MBP HD restore (and full restore of my photos drive)
3. Weekly offsite swap of the 2 Lacie Ruggeds in #2 above with a second set (so that I always have an offsite restore less than 2 weeks old)
4. Daily backup via Backup 3 of settings, dock, dashboard widgets, etc.
5. MobileMe (for 24/7 near-real-time syncing of email, iCal, bookmarks, address book)
I'd like to remind households/people with more than 1 Mac: if you have a bootable clone backup available (from SuperDuper or another program) for a machine that went south, take the clone to the working Mac, plug it in, hold down the Option key, and turn on the machine. This is the "mountable drive boot" option. You'll get a boot choice. Choose to boot from the external (the clone backup of the other, fried Mac), and boom, you're seeing everything from your fried machine now on a working machine.
There is only one critical app, and its name is Time Machine.
Another upside - as i'm sure you know - it also serves as a router. Lessens clutter. And has that sexy Apple look we have all grown to love.
Am I the only one with a PC these days? LOL.
Is there anyone with a PC who can tell me what backup systems I could peruse online? I had one hard drive crash last year and didn't back anything up. I had to hire someone to recover files from the bad drive.
Anyone? Email me directly at stephen (at) sjhopson (dot)com with your suggestions - thanks! (no spaces in actual email)
Michelle
my comments are from a windows user
for backup specifically check out jungle disk
my review at http://www.gavinknight.com/2008/03/online-backu...
gavin
Glad to hear that you didn’t lose months of work though.