Everyone is familiar with their computer’s desktop. It’s what we stare at as we type, or surf the web, or do any work on our computer. It contains our menu, and our windows, and our icons, etc. Before long, windows stack up on top of windows, and icons litter the entire desktop, and it just becomes one great big mess. We’ve all probably learned to deal with it over time, and may not even notice how frustrating it can be since we’re so accustomed to it. But there can be a better way, and everyone has access to this for free.

What if you had more than one desktop? What if you could easily switch between 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 desktops? What if each desktop could hold its own set of icons and windows? Imagine having your browser open on one desktop, the document you’re typing open on another desktop, your Twitter client open on another, and so on. Imagine just jumping from one to another with just a click, or a flick of the mouse.

Linux users are used to having multiple desktops, and that’s where I first stumbled across it. The video below is a screencast I just took of my 6 desktops. (I could use more or less if I wanted, but 6 works great for me right now). Five of the desktops always have one or two main windows open that I use regularly. The sixth is always a clean slate with nothing open, so I can do whatever I want with it. Actually, I can do whatever I want with any of the desktops. I mean, it’s not like I can’t open and close new programs and windows on any of them at any time. But I personally like to keep them mostly the way you’ll see in the video below – nearly all the time. Play the video now, quickly, to see what I’m talking about. It’s less than 30 seconds long. (Sorry about the low quality of the video).

That’s my computer, and a quick glance at all six of my desktops. This ability to segment my work and keep a visually clean desktop at all times, keeps me much more productive – and much less frustrated – than I used to be.

You can have it too. It doesn’t matter if you run Windows or Linux or Mac. They all have free programs you can run to give you multiple desktops. I’m not very familiar with the various ones available for Windows and Mac, but I’ll list a few for you to investigate on your own. I just quickly searched for these, so there may be others that are better out there.

For Windows, you can get Microsoft’s own PowerToys virtual desktop manager that lets you have up to 4 desktops. And yes, it’s free, or you can try Dexpot, which lets you have up to 20 desktops.

As far as I know, Mac, like Linux, comes with multiple desktop capability built-in, but there are programs available to manage them more efficently and/or give extra functionality. One such program for Mac is Desktop Manager, and the one I use for Linux is Compiz, which also does a ton of other things besides handle multiple desktops.

I recommend trying out multiple desktops for a week or two and see if it makes your workday a little saner and a little more productive. I know it’s helped me a lot, and I would hate to have to return to the old days of using just one desktop. Hopefully, this is one little productivity tip I can pass along to you to make your work days a little smoother.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: desktop, Linux, Mac, Microsoft Windows, Virtual desktop, virtual desktop manager
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I used to be like most people who would answer those questions with the following answers: “Huh?”, “No”, “No”, “Yes!”

I also burned through several computers and even more hard drives in the last few years. Each time, I wished I’d had a backup, but I didn’t.

I am fairly certain all that is behind me now. I’m a stickler for backing up, but I don’t have to even think about it anymore. That’s a good thing, because my memory is terrible, so I would never remember it on my own.

What’s the very best way to backup your computer? Automatically and off-site. You don’t want to rely on your memory (because then it won’t happen), and you don’t want it in the same location as your computer. These days, that is now extremely simple to accomplish with Online Backup services.

There are a few million online backup services these days. Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit there, but really, there are tons of companies that are vying for your business in the online backup field.

I had planned to present a long list of online backup companies, with comparison data on each, to help you decide which to use. But I changed my mind. Why?

Any service designed for someone like me – someone who likes things easy and at the right price – needs to pass 3 tests. (Four actually, if you want to include the requirement of backing up off-site, but since all online services would automatically pass that test, I’ve skipped that).

The 3 tests are:

1. Unlimited (backup as much data as needed)
2. Automatic (no need to remember to do it)
3. Less than $5/month

Amazingly enough, I was only able to find 2 services that passed all 3 tests.

• Most passed the second requirement of being automated (although not all did).
• Very few passed the “I’m cheap” test, but there were a few more than 2.
• But only two provided unlimited backup at such a cheap price (that I could find).

Most services charge x dollars per x gigs backed up, and depending upon how much data you have, that could mean nickel and diming you to death. It’s certainly possible that I missed a company that fits the requirements when I did my researching, but that’s ok. The two that meet the requirements are really great and there’s no reason not to pick one of them for your online backup service.

Ok, enough blah blah blah. Which two online backup services are the winners?

Mozy has unlimited backup for $4.95/month (or you can even limit yourself to 2 GB for free, if you want). If you want to save a little more money, you can choose the 1 year payment plan, which gets you one month free, or the 2 year payment plan, which gets you three months free.

The first backup will take a while, but after the first full backup, only files that have been added or changed are backed up, making it lightning fast. Backups occur at scheduled times.

There are 4 ways to restore files with Mozy. The first restore option is to simply right-click on the file or folder in Windows Explorer that you want to restore and select “Restore Previous Version.” You can then select the version to restore, from the most recent version up to 30 days back. You can also restore from the web (mostly useful if you either don’t have Mozy installed or you need to restore less than 20 GB), or you can restore from a virtual drive on your computer. Finally, you can choose a DVD Restore for large restores (order a copy of all data on dvd. This costs extra, but the DVDs are shipped overnight via fedx).

Carbonite offers nonstop unlimited backup for 49.95/year, which is $4.16/month, so it’s a tad bit cheaper than Mozy. Unlike Mozy, it doesn’t schedule backups. Instead, the moment you add or modify files, Carbonite swings into action to back up your new or updated data.

As far as I can tell, there are 2 ways to restore files with Carbonite. You can either click on the Carbonite Backup Drive found in your “My Computer” directory, or you can restore from the web.

Both Mozy and Carbonite are simple to use. If I had to pick, I’d say Carbonite was slightly easier to use, but both are straightforward and easy. Both come pre-configured with “suggested” files to download such as your documents, music, and photos. Both allow you to manually adjust those suggestions, of course. Both are set and forget. Once you spend the few minutes it takes to configure the software, you pretty much never have to think about it again – unless, of course you need to restore files. Again, the process is fairly simple to restore for both Mozy and Carbonite.

I can easily recommend either service. Which do I use – and why? Well, because I live in a rural area and therefore am limited to using satellite service for “high-speed” Internet access, my access is actually limited on a daily basis due to some regulation that imposes usage thresholds (FAP – Fair Access Policy). My satellite service does not place restrictions on usage during a two hour period in the middle of the night, so they encourage all automated usage processes (such as remote backup of files) be scheduled during this time. If I schedule my remote backup during that 2-hour time frame, I don’t have to worry about the transfer counting towards my FAP usage, so I won’t be penalized for using too much bandwidth. For that reason, I cannot use Carbonite, since it isn’t a “scheduled” service. I can’t tell it to only backup to the remote server during that 2-hour time frame. For most of you, that limitation won’t apply, so Carbonite will work fine for you (and may even be preferable to have it upload as files change throughout the day). But for me, it’s just not a workable solution, so Mozy is my remote backup service of choice.

[slightly off-topic] BTW, satellite internet service is the worst choice you can make, so unless it’s your only choice, don’t even consider it. If you have no other choice, be sure to read up thoroughly on the subject of FAP. Oh, and if you want my advice on whether you should pick Wildblue or Hughesnet … Hughesnet is by far the better satellite service in my experience, and I’ve used both. [/slightly off-topic]

Mozy
Carbonite

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2007. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Carbonite, Internet access, Microsoft Windows, Mozy, off-site, online backup, online backup field, online backup service, Online Backup services, remote backup, remote server, satellite internet service, satellite service, workable solution, Yes!
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My thought process on choosing Freespire is that it seems to be as easy as it can be to install and use, it comes with all the standard codecs and drivers I’ll probably need, and I’ll get to use the CNR service to make downloading and installing of software a one-click snap.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I hate Microsoft Windows. I’ve always been a fan. I’m not crazy about Macs though, so it’s highly doubtful I’ll ever bring one of those in my house. But Linux is appealing because it’s free and it’s geeky. I’ve been wanting to play with it for years, and now … well … it’s just time.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2007. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cent, desktop, Freespire, Frozentech, Linux, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Well, Windows Vista
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Approximate Conversion from Points to Pixels

Create any size wall posters from any size images

Guerrilla Mail – disposable e-mail addresses which expire after 15 minutes

PortableApps – carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more with you.

Open source Windows programs

That’s it for now. More to come as I stumble upon more interesting stuff. I love stumbling, btw.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: interesting sites, link lists, Microsoft Windows, stumbleupon
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