Neat and useful software

When we talk about useful software, it is important to remember that what is useful to say me is of absolutely no interest to anyone else in the world (seriously). So I have found two useful programs that are both FREE and USEFUL to the majority of people out there. Also, understanding that some readers may be using Mac’s I have tried to find programs that can work on both Windows and Mac (if your using Linux get WINE so you can run Windows apps, but Linux distros come pretty stacked).

1) SharePod --- http://www.getsharepod.com

            Recently my friend Anthony upgraded to a new laptop because his old one had seen better days. There was a problem however, how to transfer his music from one computer to another. Although this is a simple task in most cases, for poor Anthony it was anything but. You see he had forgotten the information that was used to set up his iTunes account, and like everything that rolls out of the Apple Computer Corporation, it was a pain in the ass to trouble shoot. So after weeks of surfing the net, looking for hacks to allow transferring music outside of iTunes (via Windows Explorer) I came across SharePod. This free program allows you to simply drag and drop media between the iPod and PC. It also allows you to create a backup of your iPod, just in case disaster strikes and you loose everything that keeps you going day to day. So if you have an iPod, I suggest you get SharePod and try it out!

2) Dropbox --- http://www.dropbox.com

            Many of us have faced the evil that is data loss, whether it is your media or important documents, the sudden loss of files can really cause problems. Now we all backup our computers right? We all have servers that read out minds and know that this history paper needs to be backed up onto three separate RAID arrays…………….. Despite all the warning we geeks throw out there, people still don’t understand that the only way to protect your data is by being proactive. So before I go any further, I am going to get on my electronic soap box and tell you one thing… YOU NEED TO BACK UP YOUR FILES, YES YOU, NO THE COMPUTER WILL NOT FIGURE IT OUT. With that unpleasantness out of the way, let me tell you about a piece of software that may just help you out. Dropbox is a really neat solution to creating online backups of your documents. Simply go to there website and download the software. Follow the instructions for installation and select there you would like your Dropbox folder to me (on the Desktop, Documents ….). Once you are done you will see your folder and a little icon in the System Tray (right by the clock). Now all you have to do is drag and drop files that you deem important to the Dropbox folder and bam, it will automatically back them up to there online servers. (I recommend that you make it a habit to save important documents to you Dropbox folder every time, that way you can’t forget the drag and drop). Also, every time the files are updated, Dropbox will automatically make the changes on the server. If your computer every crashes, or you need to remotely access the files, just go online and sign into your Dropbox account (created during installation) and there are all your files ready to go. The free account gives you 2 gigs of storage (more than enough for documents), but you can always upgrade to more space for a monthly fee. GET DROPBOX IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE, or at least help you out…

Thanks all for today, send me requests on what you want to hear more about (I was thinking about cool new laptops etc…)

--Devang