Friday, August 8, 2008
For years now I’ve subscribed to Mark Hurst’s Good Experience newsletter. This week he wrote A Warning Sign on the Way to Digital Utopia, which should be required reading for anyone that owns a computer.
Less than twelve hours ago I sadly had to repeat a conversation I’ve had dozens — if not hundreds — of times in my life.
When you are doing something on your computer, save it. If it’s important, save often. If it’s really important, save often and save it somewhere other than the computer you’re using. If it’s really, really important, save often, save it somewhere other than your computer, and save it someplace other than the same place where your computer is.
That’s it. It’s not rocket science and it’s not complicated. It can be tedious, yes. It can feel like a waste of time, yes. But when you’re on the last page of your novel and you spill coffee on the keyboard and when you get home from Starbucks to find that the dog has eaten your backup CDs, you’ll be very, very glad that you have an extra copy at the office (or your mom’s house, or a safe-deposit box).
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Just about everyone that uses iTunes has a hella hard time keeping their music files organized. This is a shame because (a) it’s actually pretty simple and (b) it is a colossal pain in the ass to move your library if it’s not organized correctly. (Note that I’m talking about the organization of your actual music files and not the appropriate tagging and categorization of your music library.) The bummer of the thing is that the folks at Apple unwittingly made this more complicated and difficult by trying to make it simple and easy. It happens. Trust me. I have been building software for just over a decade now and it happens all.the.time. Don’t get mad at Apple for this one. Let’s just fix it.
First I’ll tell you what you need to do, and then I’ll explain why.
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Monday, June 11, 2007
A friend of mine sent me a link to an iTunes song he thought I’d like. Of course I was unable to open it because it came delivered as an attachment. (Cue scary music.) Microsoft thinks that I can’t possibly be trusted to not open some flesh-eating virus, so by default Outlook blocks everything. It’s usually one of the first things I “fix” when I get a new computer. Here’s how to do it …
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Wednesday, June 30, 2004
If you’re sitting there with a new computer and scratching your head trying to figure out how to get all your music from your iPod and iTunes library on your old computer, scratch no longer! This is how you do it.
Update: And if you want to get your playlists on your new computer, you have to do this.
And you should also read this tip on Keeping iTunes Organized!
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
I saw a link to Singlefile sometime last week. I visited the site and poked for a minute, but I didn’t really look at it. Then I saw another link to Singlefile on a different site. I visited again for a second, but couldn’t really see why it was such a big deal. Tonight I saw another link to Singlefile. Finally I read the page and learned what Singlefile is. Singlefile is it. Singlefile is the best thing to happen on line since Blogger.
My flabber is gasted.
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
The FTP Search is now holding at v4.0 and I thought I’d share it with anyone who doesn’t use it. I’ve been utilizing this place since at least ‘95 and it has never failed me. It has gone through many incarnations, it was originally in some Nordic country if memory serves, and it has always been handy.
