So because of the Jungle Disk + Cloud Files hoopla that seems to have been addressed now, I decided to try out Backblaze for a couple of days as a possible alternative/complement to Jungle Disk. And from what I see, it is a hassle free online backup solution. Something I would recommend to a regular Internet user if asked what online backup solution they should get.
I’m trying out the following Mac software for the next couple of weeks:
- TextMate – I’ve read a lot of reviews saying it’s the best text editor on the Mac and I’m starting to believe them. It’s very intuitive, the way it automatically indents code, closes tags and a lot of other helpful things when writing lots and lots of code. This is probably something I’d use a lot.
- Things – task management software. I’m just trying to be a wee bit organized and its simple interface and workflow seems to be working well for me.
- BackBlaze – unlimited online backup for $5 a month, which I’ve decided to try after some horrendous and unexplained Jungle Disk+CloudFiles downtime. (almost a whole day of outage) And from the looks of it, it just might replace Jungle Disk for my automated online backup needs. I’d probably still use Jungle Disk as an online drive though — for files I need to access from different computers and for archiving stuff that I might need but don’t want to store locally.
- Transmit – Panic’s FTP software which I might actually keep since I miss the dual-pane interface that I’ve been used to.
- Coda – Panic’s all in one web development software. Somehow I keep comparing it to Dreamweaver (which is still my favorite web development IDE).
- Postbox – an email client that’s basically Mozilla Thunderbird Mac-style.
JsMag (the magazine for JavaScript developers) has released their first issue. It features quite interesting topics:
- Debugging JavaScript without alert()
- Introduction to ExtJS
- The Object Literal pattern
- Community News
- Unit testing with YUI
- What’s new in jQuery 1.3
- Functional Programming in JavaScript
Jungle Disk, one of the services I use for cloud storage, now has Cloud Files support. Previously, it only supported Amazon S3, which made the sign up process a bit cumbersome. You had to sign up for your own Amazon S3 account before you are able to use the Jungle Disk service.
I just signed up for a Cloud Files account a couple of days ago because I wanted to try it out with Jungle Disk. However, after updating my Jungle Disk to the latest version, it never prompted me for my Cloud Files account when I created a disk based on Cloud Files. Apparently, it’s already integrated to your Jungle Disk account. I guess this is because Jungle Disk is now under Rackspace owner of Mosso, provider of the Cloud Files service.
There are some caveats though with regards to the Cloud Files integration though. There seems to be no clear way of tracking how much space you’re using on Cloud Files since you’re not using a personal Cloud Files account. Also, migrating your files from an S3 disk to a Cloud Files disk requires you to manually copy from service to service (which I am doing now). They are developing a service for data migration but can’t give a timeframe as to when it will be available.
[via Jungle Disk Blog]
Hotmail apparently has a beta version of their mobile interface (accessible via http://m.mail.live.com on your handheld devices). It looks a lot cleaner and seems to show more information than the current version. You can also click anywhere on a message row to show the actual message. The current only allows for clicking on the subject. But as with most things Hotmail, it’s slow and not very responsive, compared to the mobile interfaces I’ve tried — i.e. Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. Screenshots below. Continue reading ‘Windows Live Hotmail Mobile Beta’
Finally, Apple has updated its desktop line of computers, which means that my long wait for an updated Mac Mini has actually paid off.
Early this year, I was contemplating on either getting a netbook or a desktop as an alternative machine to my MBP. After much contemplation and discussions with the gf on what to get, it was decided that getting a desktop would be the most optimal for both of us. But, I was still in a bit of a dilemma on getting either a Mac Mini or an iMac.
The annoying thing about using Wireless@SG is you always have to login with your username and password through some website before you can start browsing. My flatmate recommended an app to make that cumbersome process easier, at least on my iPod Touch. SG Wireless is a little app that helps you login to Wireless@SG automatically. Once you’ve saved your login info in Settings, just open the app then it tells you if you get connected, close it. And you’re all set to use any of your apps that need Internet connection without opening Safari and having to key in your Wireless@SG user+pass combo. I wonder if there’s a desktop widget that can do the same thing.
Update: For iPhone, iPod touch with OS 3.1 and up (except first generation devices), you can now download apps from the 3 Wireless@SG providers that would generate a certificate for your device. Installing the certificate will make your device automatically connect to Wireless@SGx without you having to input any password. After the certificate is installed, you can just delete the app. App Store links below:
- I like the new tab management, i.e. tabs on top, drag and drop and no more title bar. It’s more intuitive and reminds me of another Webkit browser — Google Chrome.
- The address bar (or address field) is smarter now, reminiscent of Firefox’s awesome bar.
- Top Sites which displays screenshots of your frequently used shots when opening a new tab is nifty and reminds again of Chrome. Safari4 just makes it prettier with the perspective and shadows and black background. Although I think Opera was the first to have that thumbnail grid interface.
- Just like Firefox, it now has full-page zoom, but it seems to be slow when rendering a zoom in. I tested it on Safari’s feature page and there’s some kind of lag when zooming in.
- On OS X, it now natively supports Ctrl+Tab when switching tabs.
- There’s cover flow for bookmarks and history, which I think is a nice way of trying to find something you’ve visited specially if all you have is a visual memory of how the site looked like rather than keywords.
- It’s supposed to have better developer tools although I have yet to explore them, although looking from the feature list it’s almost everything Firefox+Firebug can do .
- I still need to run the sites I usually more to see if it can actually be my main browser on OS X as Google Chrome is still nowhere near available. But, overall it’s a refreshing experience.
One of the things I wanted to do this year is to read at least one book a month. So far I’ve read two books and about to finish another. All of them by Malcolm Gladwell. I first read his latest book — “Outliers
My laptop’s back from the service centre and it looks and feels new again. They had to replace the whole top case to replace the LCD. So my laptop’s now shiny new and the hinge is still tight. It’s good to note that they were quite fast. Their supposedly standard wait time was 5 working days. So kinda got on a mindset of having no laptop for a week. But I got it after 3 working days. I brought it in Tuesday lunch and it was already available for pickup by Friday. I only got to pick it up Saturday since I didn’t have time to go to Funan on Friday since it’s always a busy day for us at the office.
