Hamarana

I’ve mentioned acrobat.com in my last post, its the first one I found. Subsequently I have also found a few others. I’ll only mention here the ones which are Mac compatible. You can assume, unless I state categorically otherwise, that they are also Windows compatible. Linux is a whole other ballgame, I have no idea, but might look into it once I reinstall VMWare and some guest operating systems.

5G – Windows Live Skydrive. Yes, its Mac compatible. Its interface is easy to use, and it works. Its part of the live.com system and as such is more geared toward file, document and photo sharing etc. Screenies coming.

5G – 4-shared. Like Skydrive, also geared toward sharing of files, photos, documents etc. I believe this one is also Linux compatible but won’t swear to it

2G – IDrive for Mac and Windows. Has a downloadable desktop client from which you do your file choices and backups. Not designed for file sharing so not in the same category as Skydrive or 4-shared

2G – Mozy for Mac and Windows. Also has a downloadable desktop client from which you do your backups. Both of the latter have decent interfaces which are flexible in terms of choices you make.

I’ll create screenshots for all these and add more detail to the post, and I’ll also add a screenie for Acrobat.com as well.

Bear in mind all these are limited, but a bit of judicious choice and you can get most of what you need backed up online. And of course you are not like me, and you do have other backups of your important stuff, don’t you. Nobody who reads here would fall into the StupidUser category would they?

Addit: Mozy has a referral system. If others join from your link, you get extra space. This has to be a good thing. I am not going to pester everyone I know with emails, but I am going to place the link in the text here, and also have a small advertising piece in the sidebar. Soon.

Today I was looking for somewhere to store things, just in case I have another StupidUser moment. Yes, I am now using Time Machine with my external drive (a Maxtor 1-Touch 200G) but I am also looking for additional backup locations.

During the course of my search I found acrobat.com which is in beta and is a free service from Adobe. You get 5G of storage and the capacity to store, share, collaborate, create and conference online. Its a decent service. You can also embed previews of PDFs you may have stored, in your web page. I’m going to see if the embed code works well here, by embedding the code for the “how to use it” document that adobe provide.

Now that is pretty cool, don’t you think? If you have popups blocked, you likely won’t see it. Make an exception for acrobat.com, or temprarily disable popups. You can see the full version by downloading, or else click in the little arrow in the top right corner, which will give you the entire document in full screen. Its pretty nice, really.

I’m also looking at some other free 5G alternatives, and will post as I try them out.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28-K bridge camera is the one which is now at the top of my list of possibles. Its not due for release until September (actual date not known right now) but on looking at its specs, I think its probably the one for me.

Yes, I was seriously considering that Fujifilm S100FS but I found later that it doesn’t do RAW. The RAW thats available with Olympus cameras is something called “Olympus RAW” and I don’t know how that differs from any other kind of RAW but it set me wondering about proprietary formats and I did not want that either.

So I am left with what seems to be the only other bridge camera (aka superzoom camera) which does RAW, and thats the Panasonic range… specifically in my case, the FZ28. It will also focus down to 1cm for macro shots, and zoom to 486mm (in 35mm terms) or 18x zoom which is more than enough zoom for most people, most of the time. Its 10 megapixels and I know thats quite enough for me because currently I only use 5 megapixels in my 10 megapixel MJU1020. Also advantageous is its ability to take 8G mem cards. The 2G limitation in Olympus would soon become a pest.

According to the conventional wisdom, Panasonic cams are faster to start up, and faster to shoot and have much less shutter lag than the Olympus range. This may be due to a number of things but one of the aspects affecting shutter lag is the kind of shutter… the Panasonic is mechanical rather than electronic and this is, it seems, a very good thing.

I’m ready to buy now, so I guess I will be paying close to RRP for this one, I’ve seen prices quoted from $459 through to $699… and $749 is the RRP. I’m not going to shop around much, I am pretty sure this is my next cam and I just can’t wait to get my hands on it. I believe its going to be the best all-rounder I have had so far. Pix below lifted from the Panasonic site so as not to steal bandwidth.

That’s what my friend Gary told me this morning as I was bemoaning a moment of stupidity which has cost me the entire contents of my internal drive on the iMac. I had been down the path of a Bootcamped Windows partition before, and I knew what I was doing… I thought.

Somehow (and I really have no idea how) when I began the bootcamp process, in creating a partition for Windows to live in, it also created a dos-based MBR on the other partition, without so much as a by-your-leave. I have NO idea what I did to create this problem, but I cannot think it was the software because it worked perfectly well in the past. Anyway, damage done, around 4000 photos lost, music gone, and documents vaporised.

Lesson is only this: Backup and do it often. To which end I am about to begin using Leopard’s Time Machine with my external 200G drive. I am also looking into getting an external RAID array, and Gary has pointed me at some very nice kit (an external enclosure and a drive or two) at EYO, a company he’s used for years and recommends highly for online purchasing.

In the meantime, I need to see about things like: addressbook contacts and passwords… and download all the system and iLife updates i need… sighhh… all because I wanted Windows in a separate partition.

Oh well… Onward!

Its only good when you are young and healthy. There really isn’t much that’s scarier than being really sick in the middle of the night with nobody there to help. Especially if its not ambulance-worthy (ie life-threatening) and you just have to put up with whats happening. Been awake since around 2am and cannot return to bed, its not over yet

Fortunately I have no money free at the moment to pursue a camera, but I am on the hunt so that when I do have the cash flow, I’ll be able to act almost right away.

The Fujifilm S100FS is a bridge camera (I’ve been calling them semi-compacts until this week, only just found out the correct term). It is almost like an SLR except the lens doesn’t disconnect. It does the things I want: long zoom, 1cm macro, image stabilisation and so forth. It also does RAW which is excellent in terms of image quality. It has been getting excellent writeups and reviews, from Choice to yer average camera website…

Disadvantages: Its just as heavy and large as a DSLR and for the price (RRP in Australia $899) you might as well get a DSLR.

The Olympus bridge cameras I was looking at are now apparently obsolete. Nobody has much stock and we don’t have any idea whats coming. I already bought an obsolete Olympus, so I don’t think I want any more. And I can use my Olympus XD cards in the Fuji, so at first, at least, I wont need to buy any new storage media.

In Digital SLRs I’m attracted to the Sony Alpha Series, and the basic 10MP version the A200 with a twin lens kit is currently under $1000, and the Nikon D60 with a twin lens kit which goes close to $1500.

I think ultimately I will end up with another bridge camera, just because the DSLR money is too much for me. This, from someone who paid two month’s wages without blinking for a top-of-line Minolta 35mm SLR in 1973. The Fuji is looking like the only serious contender right now, with Olympus (the only other consideration which does RAW) in the midst of model changes.

[Edit] I read this past weekend (24/8) that the Sony cameras are actually Konika-Minolta. I had no idea they had bought that company out. Makes the Sony even more appealing to me, and in spite of people warning me off because the image stabilisation is in camera rather than in lenses, this appeals because it won’t matter which lenses I get, so a Sony body, a Tamron 18-250mm, plus a decent macro would do the deal for me entirely…

OR: the Fuji. Dammit. I hate these decisions. Maybe I should get both!!

Anyone got any thoughts on all this?

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