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May 2005: In this issue...
by Darren Chapman, element15 Computer Consultant
If you need to transport files or are looking for a storage device for backup, you'll want to understand how much "space" is needed to hold all your stuff and what kind hardware can do the job for you.
Are you still using floppy disks? Probably not. The standard 3.5" floppy disk has the capacity to hold 1.44MB (megabytes) of information - not even enough space for the basic files we use every day. Your favorite music file is probably 3 to 4MB at least. A single photo you take with your digital camera might fit on a floppy, but who wants to carry around a few hundred floppy disks?
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Enter the USB thumb drive. Having their start in small capacity, 32MB or 64MB, the smallest you're likely to find a USB thumb drive today is 128MB. Even the whopping 512MB thumb drive is now affordable at $60 or less. Thumb drives are the new standard for taking files back and forth from the office to the home. If you're still carting around floppies and zips, scrap them and get a thumb drive.
USB thumb drives are great, but what if you're passing files to other people? You don't want to give away your valuable USB thumb drive. In these instances you'll want to burn CDs or DVDs with the information. A regular CD holds about 700MB and a regular DVD holds about 4.5GB. Not only do they hold much more than floppies and zips, CDs and DVDs cost much less too. It's win, win.
If you need to store really large files or lots and lots of files. You can get thumb drives with 1GB (gigabyte) capacities too, but at this point you may want to consider getting an external hard drive or iPod with their wide range of storage capacity. Often mistaken as only a music player, iPods can be used as external USB or Firewire hard drives to hold data.
Since backup is essential to secure your data, you have a darn good reason to get a new iPod. If you'd like to learn more about home-office backup solutions, contact Darren Chapman with element15 - http://www.element15.com.
Need a cross-platform audio chat client? Skype is the answer.
| If you are an Internet user, you are probably familiar with chat programs. These programs allow you to type instant messages to other people over the Internet. What you may not know is that several of these chat programs offer audio chat capability along with the standard text mode. A microphone and speakers must be activated on your computer. |
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Audio chat works like making a phone call, but it’s over the Internet using your computer. In fact, by using audio chat, you can save money on phone calls, because there are numerous free services to choose from. Unfortunately, both you and the other party must use the same chat service. (The different chat services do not work as well together as different phone companies.) For example, if you are using AOL's instant message service, the other party must also and not be using Microsoft's instant message service.
Now, suppose you are a Macintosh user and you would like to audio chat with a Windows users. You have iChat which handles audio chat just fine, but there is no Windows version of iChat software. Since iChat works over the AOL instant message network and you can text chat with AIM members, your Windows friend should be able to use the AIM client then, you think. Unfortunately, AOL's instant message software does not support audio chats between Macintosh and Windows, so it doesn’t work.
Until recently, there was no good, free method of holding audio chats between Macintosh and Windows clients over the Internet. Fortunately, Skype has come along to change that. The free Skype software and network allows not only Windows and Macintosh, but Linux and Pocket PC clients as well, to participate in audio chats with one another. And, it gets better. One user can initiate a conference call with up to 5 participants at once. If you need to send a file to the person you are chatting with, Skype includes the ability to transfer files just like in iChat. Just drag the file to your friends chat icon and the file transfer begins. Also, just as you expect, you can text chat with your “buddies” too.
As an example of Skype in action, I (a Macintosh user) used it recently to communicate simultaneously with two friends - one in Texas, the other in Maryland (both Windows users) - while we played an online game. These conference calls were great. My friends and I could talk to each other while we played instead of trying to play the game and type messages at the same time.
This technology could play a major role in the business world, allowing conference calls between clients and employees without incurring extra charges. Skype also offers the SkypeOut service. This service allows you to call traditional phones and mobile phones from your computer. The SkypeOut service is not free, but is fairly reasonable. Most calls are only about two cents per minute.
For more information about Skype and all that it can do, please check out www.skype.com.
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Apple Computer, Inc. recently announced the latest version of the Mac operating system - Mac OS X 10.4, code-named "Tiger" - released on Friday, April 29, 2005.
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Join the Mac OS X Essentials (10.4) hands-on seminar on June 22, 2005 presented by the Pelarious Professional Skills Development Center. Guru Patrick McGraw will lead you on an expedition into the wilds of TIGER! Learn the new features and essential topics of Mac OS X 10.4 from the Pelarious Experts.
In the Mac OS X Essentials (10.4) seminar you wil learn...
- Navigation Tips & Techniques
- Computer security Essentials
- How to customize your Mac
- New features: Spotlight, Dashboard, Automator
- New features in iChat, Mail, and Safari
- How to handle fonts
- Printing in Mac OS X
- Access the Internet
- Classic
- How to keep your Mac in top form... And Much More!
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Random Playlists in iTunes
My iTunes has a lot more in it than just music. With spoken word and audio-book stuff, setting my iPod photo to shuffle songs has become a problem. I usually want to hear only music when I am driving around. So, I turn to playlists.
Initially, I wanted to generate a random playlist like the iPod shuffle does - a completely random playlist, limited to about 250 songs. To complicate matters, I wanted to restrict the pool of songs to particular genres of music and specific artists. I did some playing around and found exactly what I was looking for by using Smart Playlists.
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Smart Playlists enable you to generate new playlists based on various "conditions." For example, you could create a Smart Playlist containing pop songs recorded before 1998 that are no more than four minutes long. Read more…
The first step for creating my Smart Playlist was to go through my music and edit the genre tags. (I have found that the CDDB genre tags are not very reliable.) After that, it got easy.
Next, I created a new Smart Playlist to include music that matched my criteria. I restricted my playlist to 250 songs and set the Smart Playlist to "live updating," so when I add music that matches the Smart Playlist conditions it will be automatically included in the pool of songs.
The trick I use to "shuffle" the Smart Playlist is really easy. Highlight all of the songs in the playlist and delete them. The Smart Playlist automatically fills up again with a new random list of songs.
The drawback of Smart Playlists is the Match [any or all] of the following conditions: option. Since you are limited to "any" or "all", you cannot create a Smart Playlist that matches some characteristics and restricts others.
For example, if I choose to "Match all" with the following conditions: Genre contains Rock, Genre contains Soundtrack, and Artist is not Bill Hicks - the playlist has no music because no music matches all of these conditions. Likewise, if I change the Smart Playlist to "Match any," I still don't get a good list because, although the Genre selections are correct, every other song not by Bill Hicks is also included. It would be a great improvement to the Smart Playlists to have better control than any or all.
Smart Playlists are a very powerful way to organize music. This tech tip has just begun to scratch the surface of its capabilities.
We are always interested in your comments. Contact us with comments you would like to share. To speak with a Pelarious Representative, please call our office at 314-537-1330.
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