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Use Droplr on Your PC with windroplr

By Matthew Guay on November 4, 2010 in PC Software, Techinch

If you’re a PC users but have friends or collegues that use Macs, you may have envied Droplr, the cool Mac file sharing service. Thanks to a new app, windroplr, PCs can now get in on the action. Let’s take a look at windroplr and the Droplr service, and see you can use it to quickly share files, links, and text with anyone.

What is Droplr?

Droplr is a dead simple way to share files, images, notes, code, or almost anything you can think of on the internet. Simply drag your content to the Droplr icon, and it’ll be uploaded and ready for you to share in seconds, no second step required. Until now it was only available on Mac OS X and iOS devices via Droplr for iPhone. Today PC users can get the same great service thanks to the brand new app windroplr, which gives you all of Droplr’s features on your Windows PC.

Getting Started

Head over to the windroplr site and download the installer, then install it as normal. Windroplr requires .NET 4.0, so if you’re still using XP you’ll need to install it first. Once it’s done installing, run windroplr and click Next to start setting it up. Droplr uses your Twitter account, so enter your username and password, then click Go!.

windroplr will verify your settings, then within seconds you’ll be ready to start sharing files and more. Once it’s done, you’ll see a Droplr drop target on the bottom right corner of your screen, as well as a new windroplr icon in your tray. You can press Win+Shift+W to show or hide the Droplr drop target.

Using windroplr

To start sharing files, just drag and drop any file you’d like to the drop target in the corner of your screen.

If the file you’ve selected is large, you’ll notice the windroplr tray icon filling up with purple to show the upload progress. Do note that you cannot upload any over 32Mb, so this works best for sharing smaller images and documents.

Seconds later, you’ll see a link for your file. Click the notification bubble to copy the link to your clipboard so you can share it in a tweet, email, or any way you want.

Here’s how our image looks online once it’s been uploaded. Droplr’s web interface gives you a very stylish way to share content.

Droplr also makes it easy to send a screenshot to someone. Right-click the tray icon and select Grab screenshot or press Win+Shift+S to capture and upload a screenshot automatically.

When capturing a screenshot, your screen will darken and you’ll be able to select any area to capture and upload.

You can also upload plain text in a drop. Simply right-click the tray icon and select Compose Note, and you’ll see a small text editor open. Alternately, just select some text in any application you’re currently using, and drag it to the drop and it’ll automatically open the text editor with the text you’re uploading. Now, type or paste any text and edit it as you want in the box, select whether it’s plain text, formatted with Markdown markup, or code, and click Upload.

Here’s how a text Drop looks:

Update: After using Droplr for a while, I discovered you can upload more than one file at a time, too. Simply select all the files you want, or a whole folder, and drag it to the windroplr drop button. Your files will be uploaded as a zip archive, ready to share just like any other files. This is a great way to send everything you need from a project to your coworkers or friends quickly and easily.

Viewing your Droplr Files Online

Once you’ve got some files uploaded to Droplr, you may want to manage them online. Simply head to the Droplr site and click Sign in in the top right corner to get started.

You’ll need to verify your account with your Twitter account before you’ll be able to see your files.

Once this is done, you’ll see your online Droplr dashboard with all of your uploads. You can view all of your uploads by type from the buttons on the top, or select a file to delete it. You can even see the number of times each file has been viewed and get its link again, or search for a certain file from the top bar. This gives you a great way to manage all the files you’ve shared as easily as you’d manage files on your computer.

Select the Gear icon to view the Droplr preferences. You can even add your own custom domain to Droplr if you redirect it to Droplr!

Conclusion

Droplr is a Mac app we’ve envied for a long time, and we’re excited to get to use it in Windows 7. Droplr is truly an easy way to share small files, and makes a great alternative to simply adding shared Dropbox folders will everyone you need to share files with. Since Drop.io is closing down this year, Droplr is a great alternate service that works similarly but looks much nicer. Plus, if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can get the Droplr app to add files to your account and view your old drops on the go. Give it a try and let us know your thoughts on Droplr below!

Download windroplr and get started sharing today! – Update: http://windroplr.com/ now works as well

Check out Droplr’s site

Hat tip to AddictiveTips for the link!

Comments { 6 }

Keep 37signals Backpack With You Everywhere With Satchel

By Matthew Guay on October 27, 2010 in iOS Apps

Would you like to keep up with your Backpack notes, to-do lists, and more, no matter where you are? Let’s take a look at Satchel, a great iOS app that lets you keep your Backpack with you, even if you’re offline.

We’ve covered many ways you can use 37signals Backpack to make your life simpler. It’s a great way to work together with a team or throw together a quick free website. It’s also one of the best to-do list apps, since you can create lists, move them between pages, rearrange them, and add notes to notes. I use Backpack to keep up with my college class info, coordinate team projects, and keep track of article ideas for my blogs, and more.

The only problem is, Backpack is only available when you’re online. Even if you’re online on a mobile device, the webapp doesn’t scale well to small screens. That’s where Satchel comes in. This app lets you keep your full Backpack account with you at all times on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. You can view and edit your pages, to-do lists, calendar, and journal, and even create new pages. If you don’t have an internet connection, Satchel will save your edits and new content and then sync the next time you’re online. In fact, it just might be one of the best iOS to-do list apps available since it’s so full featured.

Getting Started

When you first run Satchel, you’ll need to enter your Backpack account info or create a new account. Satchel works great with free or paid Backpack accounts, and for most personal uses, the free account will be plenty.

Enter your username, password, and the name of your Backpack account (yourname.backpackit.com), or enter your OpenID to sign in if you’ve added one to your account. Satchel may take a few moments to login as it’s downloading the content from your Backpack pages.

As soon as it’s finished, you’ll see your pages listed in alphabetical order. You can also browse pages by tag, or search the contents of the pages from the search bar. Press Edit to delete pages if you wish. From the bottom toolbar, you can access your Backpack alerts, calendar, and journal, or add a new page via the plus button.

Journal seems infinitely more useful on a mobile device, since you can quickly update what you’re working on within seconds without opening your browser.

The Accounts button on the top left takes you to your accounts list. Here you can add or remove your Backpack accounts so you can keep up with everything all together. This page also lets you access your Satchel settings, where you can choose how much data is saved on your device and more.

Putting Satchel to Use

Satchel makes it quick to get to what’s most important in your Backpack pages. Press a page name to see everything included on the page. Notes and to-do list sections on a page will be identified with different icons, so you can quickly jump to that section. The only thing that’s missing is Writeboards; unfortunately, you can’t view or edit Writeboards from Satchel.

Alternately, press one of the buttons on the bottom to view all lists, notes, or images together. Here in the Notes tab you see all of the notes from the page together; press the title of a section to edit the note section, or press the blue arrow to access any links in the section.

Editing a note works just like you’d expect, and you can even include Textile markup to format text like you would in Backpack online.

To-do lists are where Satchel truly shines. You can quickly browse through all of your to-dos on the Lists page, or simply browse to one to-do section from the first page. Press the blue arrow to browse to links in the to-do item. Once you’ve done a task, just press the circle to check it off, and it’ll fall to the completed section of your list. Adding new lists and tasks is quick and simple, and you may find yourself storing more data on one Backpack page than you ever imagined since it’s so easy to organize in Satchel. The only thing that’s missing is to-do item notes; you can’t view or edit any notes attached to a to-do item.

Backpack makes it easier than most service to organize your tasks and notes like you want by dragging and dropping them around on a page. Satchel supports this, too. Just press Edit on the top of a page, and then you can remove sections or drag and drop items to the order you want. Most to-do list apps only let you keep items in the order you added them, but I find it very helpful to rearrange items to their current priority, and this works great in Satchel.

Satchel worked great in our tests on iPod touch running iOS 4, and didn’t lag even when syncing online. We weren’t able to test it on an iPad, but if you’ve got one you can use Satchel to keep up with your Backpack, tasks, and notes on it, too.

Conclusion

Satchel is a great app that makes one of the best webapps feel at home on your iOS device, both online and off. If you’re already a heavy Backpack user, Satchel is an app you’re sure to want. If you’ve already been using Backpack but not too seriously, you may find yourself using it more than ever with the great notes and lists support on your iOS device. It’s still missing a few features, such as notes attached to to-do list items, sharing pages, and Writeboards. All in all, though, it works great and is fast and fluid.

Satchel is available in the App store for iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads running iOS 3.0 or newer, and costs $9.99. If you’re not sure you’re ready to spend that much on an app, you can try out Satchel View for free, which works the exact same as Satchel but doesn’t let you edit any items, check off to-dos, or add pages, but is still a great way to keep your Backpack data with your all the time. If you want fully editing, though, and want to use it as an advanced to-do list and note manager, Satchel is the way to go. Along with the official Campfire and Highrise apps, it’ll be easy to keep your all of your 37signals apps on your iOS device!

Download Satchel from the App Store

Get more info about Satchel from its publisher’s site

Comments { 0 }

Backup All Your Files Online Automatically with Backblaze

By Matthew Guay on October 26, 2010 in PC Software

Computers are amazing machines. What started out as crude scientific instruments turned into the main way we store most of our memories, important documents, to-dos, and more. For years, people have been telling us we need to keep our computers backed up, but it’s usually something we put on a to-do list and then forget about it. That’s often because it’s difficult to keep your backups up to date, plus it requires you to keep up with DVDs, portable hard drives, or other media.

The good news is, there are some easier ways to backup your computer. There are many popular online backup services today that can automatically backup all your important files to the cloud. No DVDs to mess with, and even if you lost everything, your files would still be ready for you to download and start using again quickly. We’ve been evaluating many online backup solutions, and have found several that work great, are economical, and protect all your most important files without much effort on your part. Today we’re going to look at one of our favorites, Backblaze.

Backup Your Computer With Backblaze

Backblaze is an online backup service that makes it amazingly simple to backup your computer. It finds all the important files, pictures, music, and more on your computer, then encrypts it to protect your privacy and uploads it to their secure servers. Whenever you need to restore your files, they’ll be waiting for you to download and restore them within minutes. Let’s see how it works.

First, download the Backblaze installer from their site, and run the installer on your computer. It’s available for Windows and Mac OS X, so download the correct version for your computer. Then, enter your email address and a password of your choice to create a new account, and click Install Now to get started.

Backblaze will now install and scan your computer for files to backup. This may take a few minutes, but you’ll only need to do it this first time.

Once it’s done, Backblaze will show you how much data it found to backup. Click Ok to finish installing Backblaze and let it get to work protecting your data.

And that’s it! Within seconds, Backblaze will start backing up your files to their secure servers. It’ll backup all files under 9Gb on your computer other than program files, virtual machines, and other files that would be installed by your operating system and programs. All of you data files, documents, music, and more will be automatically backed up, and you don’t need to do anything else. If you’d like, you can open the settings and select specific folders to backup or skip, but for most users, the default settings will work great. Just note that the first backup can take a long time to complete, but you don’t need to worry about it. Just use your computer as you normally would, and it’ll do its backups in the background whenever the computer’s running.

Whenever you open the Backblaze window to check on your backup or change settings, you may see a small tip on the bottom. But for the most part, Backblaze should live quietly in your system tray, happily keeping your files safe as you’re saving memories, meeting, memos, and more on your computer.

Encrypting Your Backup Files

By default, all of your files are encrypted on your computer, uploaded over SSL, and then secured on a protected and encrypted server. The backup key used, however, is accessible by Backblaze, so if you’d like an extra layer of security, you can add your own private encryption key. Simply open the Backblaze preferences, select the Security tab, and click Enter your private encryption key.

Here you can add and confirm a second password for your Backblaze account that is not stored on Backblaze’s servers. This encryption key is required to access your data, and you’re the only one who knows it, so make sure to remember it. If for some reason you can’t remember the key, your backup data will be lost as even Backblaze can’t access it.

Now your files are as secure as the can possibly be. Just make sure to never lose the encryption key you set, as otherwise you won’t be able to access your backups in the future.

Getting Your Files Back

If disaster strikes and you’ve lost all your files, or if you just accidently deleted the PowerPoint you were supposed to present today, Backblaze is ready to help you get your content back. Just head over to the Backblaze account page on their site, and login with your account info.

Alternately, open the Backblaze app and click and click Restore Options, then click Sign in in the popup window that opens.

Here, you can select to download a zip file of your backed up files for free, or order a DVD or USB hard drive with your full backup for a fee. Select the option that’ll work best for you.

Underneath this, you’ll see a file browser to let you select your files to restore. If you added an encryption key, enter it first to unlock your files.

You can now browse through your files and folders online, just like they appeared on your computer. Select any files, folders, or even the data from whole drives you want to download.

If you happened to make a change to a file, and want to download the older version, you can easily do that too. Click the Files backed up till menu, and select the time you want to view. Then select your files from that time snapshot.

Once you’re finished selecting the files you needed, click Continue with Restore to download your backup files or order a backup disk.

If you selected the download option and chose to download a large amount of files, you may be asked if you’re sure. Do note that it can take a very large time to download a full backup, so you may be better to download data from individual folders and restore them individually.

Once you’ve selected the files you wish to download, Backblaze will generate zip files for you to download. This may take some time, so Backblaze will email you when the files are ready. Just click the link in the email you’ll receive to go get your files.

Now just download the zip, extract your files, restore them to where you want them saved, and get back to work. Easy! Alternately, of course, if you selected to order a DVD or USB drive, you’ll need to wait for them to get to you, and then you’ll be able to quickly restore your computer.

Conclusion

Backblaze takes the guesswork out of backing up your computer, and lets you keep your data secure. It ran great in our tests, and unlike many backup programs, it used very few system resources. It also didn’t slow down our internet usage much even when creating the initial backup, as it automatically throttles its internet use based on current internet speeds and traffic. Most importantly, it made it easy to get our files back, even offering previous versions of files we’d edited.

Backblaze runs on recent versions of Windows and Mac OS X, and costs $5/month or $50/year per computer for full, unlimited backup. If you’d like to give it a try first and see what you think before installing it, feel free to download the free 15 day trial and give it a spin. Let us know how you like Backblaze, or if you have another favorite online backup service.

Download Backblaze and start protecting your data today!

Comments { 3 }

Keep Your Tasks Organized With GeeTeeDee

By Matthew Guay on October 12, 2010 in PC Software

Need a lightweight, easy to use tool to keep up with all the things you need to do each day? Although dozens of apps we use daily can be great for storing tasks we need to do, sometimes a dedicated app that just shows what you need to do is best. One app that does this really well is GeeTeeDee, a new to-do list app for Windows. Let’s take a look at how you can use GeeTeeDee to stay on top of what you need to do.

Getting Started

First, you’ll need to setup GeeTeeDee on your computer. You can download it either as an installable app or a portable app. If you want to only use it on one computer, simply select the Desktop Installer and install as normal. Otherwise, if you’d like to keep up with your tasks on multiple Windows computers, download GeeTeeDee Portable. Then, extract the files and save them to your flash drive or in your Dropbox so your tasks will automatically sync between your computer. I actually have an Apps folder in Dropbox just to save portable applications so they can sync between my desktop and netbook.

When you first start GeeTeeDee, you’ll be presented with a blank Inbox to store your tasks. You can click the link on the front page to add some default tasks, or just click New at the bottom to start adding a new task.

You can add a name, notes, and a due date to tasks. Once you’re done adding a task, click elsewhere and it will be condensed to just the title. Double-click a task to view or edit the due date or notes, or double-click in any blank area to add a new task.

If you’d like an even more streamlined interface, click the Compact button on the bottom. This will give you just a list of your tasks without the sidebar on the left. As you finish tasks, just check them off to show their completed. You can then click Cleanup to remove finished tasks from the list.

Organizing Tasks

Whether you’re trying to follow a plan such as Getting Things Done or you’re simply wanting to keep up with your tasks in an orderly manner, you’ll want to organize your tasks into groups. GeeTeeDee starts with a default Inbox, but you can double-click or right-click and select Add group on the left sidebar to add a new group to organize your tasks.

Select an icon for your group, then enter a name and click Ok to add the new group..

Now you can create new tasks in the group, or move existing tasks from your inbox into your new group. And, of course, you can make as many groups as you need to keep up with everything you need to do.

One complaint I’ve had with many to-do list programs is that you can’t move your task around easily. GeeTeeDee makes it very simple to move your tasks; simply click and drag a task to reorder them. You can drag them to the position you want in your task list, or drag them to a different group. This makes it easy to simply create all your new tasks in the Inbox, then sort them later when you have time. Now you can easily keep track of all your tasks in an orderly, efficient, and elegant manner.

Pros and Cons

Does GeeTeeDee include all the features you need right now? Here’s a quick overview of where it’s great and where it still needs work, though hopefully we’ll see new features added soon in upcoming updates:

[one_half]

Pros:

Elegant and clean interface
Easily manage your tasks
Works similar to Things for Mac OS
Portable
Lightweight – low system resource consumption

[/one_half]

[one_half_last]

Cons:

No keyboard shortcut support
Doesn’t support tags
No webapp or mobile device support (though mobile apps are planned)

[/one_half_last]

Conclusion

Could you just use your favorite note app like Evernote, or the task list built into Outlook or Gmail? Sure you could. But with a dedicated task management tool, you’ll be sure to not miss anything important, while keeping yourself focused on what needs done. GeeTeeDee lets you do this in an elegant and simple way, and we’re excited to see such a solid competitor to Things or OmniFocus on Windows. Sometimes an app comes along, and you wonder how you got along without it before: for me, GeeTeeDee was one of those apps. It’s my favorite new Windows app, and has helped me stay on top of all of my work and college tasks. Hopefully future updates and mobile apps will fill in the current gaps, but until then, it’s still a great simple way to manage the things you need to do from your PCs.

Find Out More and Download GeeTeeDee

Comments { 1 }

Bring the File Menu Back to AutoCAD 2011

By Matthew Guay on October 7, 2010 in Reviews, Techinch

AutoCAD 2011 includes a beautiful UI with a very nicely customized Office 2010 style ribbon. Everyone’s not a fan of the ribbon interface, though, so here’s how you can switch AutoCAD back to a traditional File menu without loosing any AutoCAD 2011 functionality.

The AutoCAD Ribbon Interface

By default, when you first run AutoCAD 2011, you’ll notice a prominent Office 2010 style ribbon interface, complete with an A button to access AutoCAD options and more.

In fact, AutoCAD improves on the default Office ribbon style with very helpful tooltips that explain features and functions when you mouse-over an element and wait a few moments.

The AutoCAD menu also includes some unique features, including a search box that makes it quick to find any function in the ribbon. These features are all helpful at getting new users used to the ribbon interface.

Switch Back to the File Menu

If you still can’t get used to the new ribbon interface, don’t despair. You can easily re-activate the traditional file menu interface so you know where everything is as before. To do this, click the drop-down menu on the top left beside the AutoCAD button and select AutoCAD Classic (or AutoCAD LT Classic if you’re using AutoCAD LT as we are).

Moments later, your ribbon will change to the traditional file menu and toolbar setup, including toolbars on the sides and pop-out palettes as before.

Menus and toolbars work just as you would expect from previous versions.

Even with the File menu classic UI, you’ll still have the new AutoCAD button so you can take advantage of the search box to find functions without wasting time looking through menus.

The File menu interface also looks great if you’re still using XP or are using the Windows Classic theme on Vista or 7.

This tip should help you stay productive, no matter which edition of AutoCAD you’re using. Once you’re used to AutoCAD 2011, you just might want to spend a little time with the newer ribbon interface, as I think it can help you work faster and be more productive than before. Either which way, it’s great that you can switch back to the File menu interface if you want; in Office 2010, you’re stuck with the Ribbon interface unless you install a 3rd party tool like UBitMenu. That said, if you’d like to get the file menu back in Office 2010, that’s a great tool to try out, too. That way, you can use the latest software with the interfaces you’re used to!

Comments { 1 }

Free Book Giveaway! Our Review of the Digging Into WordPress 3 eBook

By Matthew Guay on September 6, 2010 in Books, Reviews, Techinch

Are you wanting to learn more about WordPress? From mainstream websites to personal blogs, WordPress is one of the most important and powerful publishing platforms today. There’s a wealth of information of information available online, but it can be very difficult to learn everything there is to know about something as big as WordPress from scattered blog posts and articles. That’s where Digging into WordPress fits in. Keep reading for our review of the latest version of this impressive book, and for an opportunity to win one of 2 copies we’re giving away this week!

Digging into WordPress is a great eBook that gives you a through WordPress education in a fun and exciting way. It is aimed at users that know at least some HTML, CSS, and PHP, but if you even have the slightest knowledge of web design and have a strong desire to push on and learn more, you’ll be able to learn a lot from this book. Best of all, it was recently updated for WordPress 3.0! Whether you’re still trying to learn your way around WordPress, are trying to hack your favorite Elegant Theme or WooTheme to work the way you want, or are trying to become the new 3rd most important person in WordPress, this is the book for you. It covers all the following and more:

Unique ways to secure your WordPress site
Great ways to incorporate Twitter and other social media into your site
In depth SEO information
Using WordPress as a CMS with custom Taxonomies, fields, post types, and more
Creating and using WordPress child themes
Over 20 pages devoted to the latest WordPress 3.0 features, including WordPress MultiSite, custom menus, and more, with WP 3.0 specific updates throughout the book

With all that content, Digging into WordPress is a massive eBook, with nearly 450 pages of tips, tricks, and instruction. It’s also a beautiful book that looks great on your netbook or eReader screen!

If you’re a visual learner, Digging into WordPress will be especially helpful. It frequently includes screenshots of websites and WordPress admin screens to illustrate what its talking about. The whole book is beautifully designed, which makes it a pleasure to read while still giving you a ton of WordPress instruction.

The book is filled with sample code that can help you do exactly you want to with your WordPress themes and backend PHP, even if you only have a basic understanding of PHP coding. You always learn more when you learn by doing, so be sure to try out the code on your own site or WordPress test install so you’ll really understand how it works. And if you’re already an advanced WordPress developer, it can be a great resource of code snippets for those little, hard-to-remember functions.

But it’s not all code, work, and study … Digging into WordPress is fun, too. It’s filled with funny and inspirational quotes, pointers, and off-the-wall remarks that break up the monotony of studying. This book is as informative as a textbook, but if you’re any bit into web development, it’ll be as fun to read as a tech book can be.

As mentioned before, the book has been fully updated with WordPress 3.0 information, so you’ll be armed with the latest tools when you set off to create your own new themes. Best of all, if you purchase a copy of Digging into WordPress (or have purchased one in the past), you’ll receive free updates to the book when they’re published! So you’ll learn about WP 3.0 today, and will also get the latest information when new versions of WordPress are released in the future. Technology changes daily, so too often, books are outdated as soon as you buy them. Not Digging into WordPress … it’s a living eBook

We’re very impressed with the content and quality of this book, and highly recommend it. If you’d like to see more, be sure to check out the free sample chapter. Or take a look around the companion site, DigWP.com; it includes an amazing amount of WordPress tips and tricks, such as this great tip on using Tumblr-style link posts in WordPress!

Usually, when I finish reading a tech book, I think I wish it’d covered *whatever* better, but this book left no room for missing information. You’re supposed to point out where books came short in reviews, but I couldn’t find anything to critique. 450 pages of content, up to date information, full-color graphics, and free updates in the future … what’s not to love? If you’re wanting to learn more about WordPress, this is the book to get!

Win a Free Copy of Digging Into WordPress

Update: Our contest is now closed, and the winners are Roger and jawshua. Thanks everyone for participating!

Best of all, we’re giving away 2 PDF copies of Digging Into WordPress! To enter, simply leave a comment below and let us know why you want to read Digging into WordPress, or follow us on Twitter (@techinch for just Techinch posts, or @maguay for more random tech stuff and interesting posts), and tweet the following or just click Tweet at the bottom of this post:

Win a free copy of Digging into WordPress from @techinch! http://bit.ly/digwp3

Important: Make sure to mention @maguay or @techinch in the Tweet, or we may not see it and won’t be able to count it in this contest!

Want a better chance at winning? Leave a comment and retweet this post for 2 entries! The contest closes at midnight Friday, September 10th, EST time, so make sure to comment before then.

And a special thanks to Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr, the authors of Digging into WordPress, for sponsoring this contest.

Purchase Digging into WordPress

If you don’t win the contest, don’t despair. You can still purchase a copy and learn all the great tips yourself. The eBook version costs $27, and comes with fully free updates. Digging into WordPress has already gone through 3 major versions, and if you purchased a previous version, you automatically got a new copy for download as soon as it came out. It even includes several WordPress themes for free! This all makes it one of the best WordPress book deals available. You’ll be able to take advantage of all the tips and information in the current version, and will be able to keep your knowledge up to date as WordPress evolves!

Find Out More and Purchase Digging Into WordPress today!

Comments { 41 }

Backup Your Computer to Amazon S3 With Cloudberry

By Matthew Guay on August 25, 2010 in PC Software, Techinch

Would you like to backup your computer to make sure your data is always available no matter what happens? There are many ways to backup your computer, but the only way to make sure your data won’t get lost or destroyed is to store it in the cloud. Cloudberry makes it easy to backup your whole computer to a variety of online storage services, so let’s see how you can use it to backup your computer to Amazon S3.

Cloudberry Backup is a great application that makes backing up your data online as easy as backing it up to a DVD or external hard drive. We’ve previous covered how you can use Cloudberry to Backup Your Data to Windows Azure. We’re now going to look at backing up your computer to Amazon S3, which previously required a different version of Cloudberry Backup. The new 1.7 update, however, added all the backup options to all versions of Cloudberry backup, so you won’t have to worry about which version to buy. If you’re just getting started, you can get this version today, or if you’ve already purchased Cloudberry, you’ll have access to the new features for free once you’ve updated.

Setting Up Cloudberry Backup

Of course you’ll first need to install Cloudberry backup on your computer. Once you’ve purchased it or downloaded a trial, install it as normal.

Then, when you first run it, enter your email address and license key, and click Activate. Alternately, if you’re installing it as a trial, click Request Trial at the bottom instead of entering your license key.

After a few moments, you’ll be notified that your copy of Cloudberry is activated. Click Ok to get started.

You’ll be greeted with the launch screen as it loads. Note that now it doesn’t say what storage service it’s designed for, as the new 1.7 version includes support for all of the available storage options.

Now you’ll see the Cloudberry interface, where you can start your backup and keep your data secure.

Start Your Backup on Amazon S3

Now you can start backing up your computer online. Click Setup Backup Plan to get started.

Click Next to start setting up your backup plan.

Select the backup plan you’d like to use. Advanced Mode offers many special Cloudberry features, such as backing up files larger than 5Gb, resuming failed uploads, and encrypting data. The Simple mode, on the other hand, offers less features, but you may find it preferable since you can access your files on S3 with any S3 tools.

Once you’ve chosen the plan you want, select the Cloud Storage service you’d like to use. We’re selecting Amazon S3 in this test, but again, you can now use the same version to backup to Azure and several other services as well. Select Create a new account if you haven’t added your Cloud Storage info to Cloudberry yet.

For you S3 account, you’ll need to enter your Display name, Access key, and Secret key. If you don’t know where to find this info, or still need to setup your Amazon S3 account, checkout our article about How to Setup Your Amazon S3 Account.

Now, select the files and folders you’d like to backup. Most of the files you’ll want to backup will be in your Users folder, though feel free to select any folder that’s mission-critical for you!

You can then select to backup all the files in the folders, or to skip certain files. If you already have an existing backup and only want to backup new files, the new 1.7 version now lets you choose to only backup files created after a certain time.

Next you can choose to compress your files to save storage space, and if you chose Advanced mode previously, you can choose to encrypt your files as well. You can also select to use Reduced Redundancy Storage on Amazon S3 from this page. This lets you store files for only $0.10/Gb/month, versus the standard $0.15/Gb/month, though your files will not be stored as redundantly on S3. This is generally a fine option for standard personal backups, and I personally use it.

The next page is one of the most interesting. You can choose to keep multiple versions of files so you can access previous versions and revert changes, and you can also select to have files that were deleted locally deleted online after a certain amount of time. This is a new option to the 1.7 version, and is a great help at keeping your backups manageable while still letting you recover accidently changed or deleted files.

Now choose the schedule you want your backup to run on, and you can specify the time down to the minute. This is another new feature in the 1.7 version, and it’s very nice to be able to plan your online backups this much.

Cloudberry can automatically send you an email when you backups are complete or fail. Enter your info if you’d like to activate this feature.

You’re almost finished now. Enter a name for your backup plan, and click Next.

CloudBerry will now present you with an overview of your backup plan. If everything looks correct, click Next to finish.

You’ll now see your new Backup plan listed under the Backup Plans tab. Click Run Backup Now to start backing up your data immediately.

You’ll be able to see CloudBerry’s progress as it uploads and backups your files to Amazon S3 or other cloud storage accounts you may have chosen. You can pause or stop backups as well if you realize something is wrong. Do note that uploading your entire backup may take a fair amount of time, especially if you have a lot of data on your computer. It may be a good idea to start your backup at night or another time you don’t need your computer, and let it run unattended as it will take several hours to upload the files.

You can also follow the backup progress from your taskbar. Simply hover over the CloudBerry icon to see how the backup is going.

Once your files are backed up, you can browse them from the Backup Storage tab. Here you can see each individual file and folder stored in your Amazon S3 account.

If you realize later you don’t need some of the files on your backup, simply select them, right-click and select Delete Selected Items so they’ll stop taking up space in your online storage. You can also restore individual files this way, so if you accidently delete a file you can always quickly restore it.

For the most part though, you shouldn’t need to worry too much about your data taking up too much space. Amazon S3 storage costs $0.15/Gb/month, and an equal amount for uploading and downloading data. And, if you chose the reduced redundancy option, you’ll only pay $0.10/Gb/month for data storage. This means you’ll spend the most the first month, but after that you’ll likely spend at most a couple dollars a month on S3. You can store 20Gb for $2/month on the reduced redundancy plan, or $3/month on the standard plan. Not too bad, considering you’ll be almost absolutely certain you’ll never lose your backups!

Conclusion

No matter how wired your home and office are, today most of us keep some of our most valuable documents and memories in digital form. There’s no reason to risk your computer dying and losing all of your important files; with cloud computing, you can make sure you can still get your important files even if you lost all of your backup files since you can never lose the cloud. CloudBerry makes it affordable and simple to get started backing up your files online. Amazon S3 generally works out the cheapest right now, but Windows Azure is very similarly priced and is easy to setup for backup as well. Now you can backup to either service you want, or even both, from the same version of CloudBerry, so you don’t have to worry about making the wrong choice. The only wrong choice now is to not backup your files!

CloudBerry Backup costs $29.99, and updates are free, so if you’ve already purchased CloudBerry you’ll be able to get the latest 1.7 version absolutely for free! Amazon S3 and Azure are both free to setup, and will only cost once you have data stored in them.

Purchase CloudBerry Backup And Start Backing Up Your Computer Online Today

AutoCAD LT 2011 | Activation and Registration

By Matthew Guay on August 19, 2010 in PC Software

AutoCAD LT 2011 nicely offers a 30 day trial that’s full-featured, and even if you already own a full copy of AutoCAD LT 2011 it may be a good idea to run on the trial for a bit to make sure everything is set up perfectly. As mentioned in the article on Installing AutoCAD, you’ll be prompted to activate or continue in trial mode each time you open the program. You’ll be able to see how many days you have left until you’ll have to activate your copy.

You can click Try to continue in Trial mode, but you’ll see the prompt the next time you launch the program. Once you’re ready to activate, simply click the Activate button on the bottom right of this dialog. AutoCAD will immediately start the activation process over the internet.

Fill out the form with your personal information, and select a User ID and Password. Near the bottom, you can choose if you’d like to receive news and updates from Autodesk. Click Next to continue.

You may have to wait a few moments while AutoCAD activation contacts the servers and makes sure your user ID is available.

Next, select whether this copy of AutoCAD is being registered to an individual or a company, and enter the correct information.

Autodesk may send back a corrected version of your address with a full, extended zip code or corrected street names. Accept the corrections if they’re ok, or go back to edit your info.

Now that your account is setup, select it and click Next to activate your software to this account.

Moments later, you’ll see this screen letting you know that your product has been successfully licensed. If you’d like to see your registration information, click the html link on the left; otherwise, click Finish to close the window.

You’ll now notice that AutoCAD now says NOT FOR RESALE on the top of the window, instead of Unregistered.

Now that your copy of AutoCAD is fully licensed, you can use it as long as you want without restrictions. This copy is now registered to the computer it’s installed on, but you can move your license temporarily or permanently to another computer if you need. We’ll show you how to do this with the License Transfer Utility in an upcoming article.

If you haven’t already read our other AutoCAD article, be sure to check them out, and check back for more soon!

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Add Missing Features to Photoshop Elements With Elements+

By Matthew Guay on August 18, 2010 in Reviews, Techinch

Were you disappointed to find that Photoshop Elements doesn’t contain some of the features you need? Photoshop Elements is a great, economical solution to full Photoshop, but it’s missing some vital tools you may need to use with your images. Whether you’re trying to view layers inside groups, edit color curves directly, or use layer masks, you may have already been frustrated at some of the limitations in this otherwise excellent program.

That’s where Elements+ comes in. Elements+ is a $12 addon for Photoshop Elements that unlocks some hidden features and gives your copy of Elements new functionality. Elements+ is available for all versions of Photoshop Elements for Windows and Mac OS X, so even if you’re still using an older version you can take advantage of the extra features this tool will unlock for you. Let’s look at how you can setup and use these tools in Photoshop Elements.

Please Note: Here you’ll see Elements+ running in Photoshop Elements 8 on Windows 7, but the process is the same on any OS or version of Elements.

Setup Elements+

First, you’ll need to purchase a copy of Elements+. Head over to their website (link below), select the version of Photoshop Elements you own, and purchase as normal. Once the purchase is done, you’ll receive an email with a link to download your copy; click the link in the email and save the installer to your computer.

If you’re not certain which version of Photoshop Elements you’re using, open Photoshop Elements, select Help in the menu, and then click About Photoshop Elements.

This will open a splash screen that shows which version you’re running. As mentioned before, I’m using Photoshop Elements 8 in this article as you can see below.

Once it’s downloaded, you’re ready to install Elements+ on your computer. Close Photoshop Elements if you have it open, and then run the installer as normal.

Note that Elements+ will install itself into the main Photoshop Elements program folder so Photoshop Elements can access the new tools.

The installer will also ask to create a desktop icon for the Elements+ documentation. It may be a good idea to let the installer place this icon on your desktop even if you don’t usually, as this will be the easiest way to see the Elements+ help files. Feel free to move the shortcut elsewhere after the install is finished if you like.

The installation only took a few minutes, and once it’s finished you can run Photoshop Elements and check out your new tools. Let Photoshop sit for a few minutes after opening it, as it has to rebuild its icon cache before you can use it. This took about 5 minutes for me, but this may vary depending on your computer. You’ll know it’s ready when your computer quits showing the program is busy (clever trick, I know!).

Using Elements+

To find the new tools from Elements+, select the blue square Photo Effects button in the Effects gallery on the right side, and then select Elements+ in the drop-down menu.

This will show 8 new effects in the pallet that you can choose from, though each of these effects actually contain a number of tools. Photoshop Elements doesn’t let you see the effect names, so you’ll need to hover over each one to see what it does. The tools include:

1. Color and Tone
2. Selections
3. Layers
4. Masks
5. Smart Filters
6. Paths
7. Text
8. Scripts

For more info on what each one contains, check out the Elements+ online help file.

Just like any other Photoshop Elements Effect, click the Elements+ effect you want, drag it and then drop it on the image you’re editing.

Unlike most effects, the Elements+ effects will open a dialog where you can select extra tools. Some of these are custom-built tools included in Elements+, while others simply activate hidden features in Photoshop Elements. Depending on the effect you selected, a different Elements+ dialog will appear; here you see the dialog that opens when you drag the Color & Tone effect to your image. Double-click the option you want to activate it.

Photoshop Elements includes a hidden Curves tool that you can activate with this tool. Notice in the above dialog that you can select RGB or the individual colors, and then double-click Curves to open the nice curves tool you see below. Not as advanced as the full Photoshop Curves tool, but still much nicer than the built-in Elements curves tool.

There are tons of tools you can explore in Elements+. Want to quickly create a layer mask, or isolate an image from its transparent background? Try the Selections effect.

Double-click on Load Layer Opacity, and the non-transparent part of your image will be selected.

With another double-click, we can mask the selection. Very useful, and it only took a couple seconds.

One problem I quickly hit in Photoshop Elements was using layered PSD files. I enjoy tweaking WordPress themes, and most professional themes included layered PSD files that you can edit and tweak to style your theme like you want. Only problem is, most layered PSDs include the layers in layer groups, and Photoshop Elements can’t open layer groups by default!

Elements+ fixes this problem. Drag the Layers effect onto your layered PSD file, and a new Layers dialog will open. You’ll see all of your layer groups on the left side. Double-click Ungroup Current Set to see all the layers in this group.

Do note that this tools is somewhat resource intensive, and took a few minutes to load on larger PSD files.

After a few moments, you’ll see your new layers open under the Layer Group folder on your Layers panel. You can now tweak and edit them as you wish, and even re-group them with the Layers tool when you’re finished! This tool alone is more than worth the cost of the plugin if you need to edit layered PSD files from others often.

Another nice feature for web designers is the Text tool in Elements+. Here you can convert text into a path or shape, set anti-aliasing settings, and more.

The Scripts effect gives you the ability to extend Elements+ with your own scripts or those you find online. There are some handy pre-installed scripts included as well that can let you batch process images, stamp images with meta data, and more. You’ll also find some Elements+ stuff in here too, such as Options and a link to the website.

That’s just a quick sampling of the features included in Elements+. Feel free to explore Elements+’s online help to see more, or just go ahead and purchase it so you can take advantage of the features for yourself!

Conclusion

While Elements+ won’t turn your copy of Photoshop Elements into a full-blown copy of Photoshop CS5, it does unlock some handy features that will make your design life easier. I’ve been amazed at how powerful and fast Photoshop Elements 8 is, and use it as my primary image editor for personal photos and images I use in writing. One problem I’d run into with web development was working with layered PSD files in WordPress theme files in Elegant Themes and other themes, so Elements+ has let me take full advantage of my themes by letting me open layered PSD files. Try it out, and let us know in the comments what Elements+ feature is essential for you!

Want to know more about Photoshop Elements itself? Check out all the features in my new review of Photoshop Elements 8 on How-to Geek!

Links:

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AutoCAD LT 2011 | Installation and Setup

By Matthew Guay on August 10, 2010 in PC Software

Now that you’ve got AutoCAD LT 2011 out of the box, let’s get it installed on your computer. AutoCAD LT is a rather large program, so it may take several minutes to get it installed, but you can easily start it installing and work on other projects while it finished. Here’s how the setup process goes.

Getting AutoCAD Setup

First, you’ll need to know which edition to install. As mentioned in the unboxing article, you’ll find 2 DVDs containing the 32-bit and 64-bit editions, respectively, in the box. The 64 bit version is the best option if you’re running a 64 bit version of Windows, but if you’re running a 32 bit version, make sure to use the 32 bit installer. If you don’t know what edition of Windows you’re running, here’s how you can find out.

Quick Tip: If you’re running Windows in a virtualization program such as Parallels or VMware Fusion on a Mac, or VMware Player or Workstation on Linux, then you’re most likely running a 32 bit edition of Windows in it. Still, you may want to check to be on the safe side. AutoCAD is an intensive application, but AutoDesk does support it on Parallels for Mac.

Once you’ve decided which edition to run, insert the correct DVD into your computer. If the installer doesn’t automatically open, run the Setup.exe file on the disk.

Setup may take a few moments to initialize.

If you’re just wanting to install AutoCAD LT 2011 normally on your computer, click the Install Products link on the left side. You can also create specialized deployments for enterprise and network use, but for standard individual use you’ll just want to select Install.

Now, select the language and products to install. Your AutoCAD LT installer should additionally include Autodesk Design Review 2011, a program that can display files from other Autodesk products so you can review and mark them up. It will not be checked by default, but we recommend that you go ahead and check the box to install it.

If you’d like more info about the installation or Design Review, click the links on the left to open the appropriate help topics. Otherwise, click Next at the bottom to continue.

You may notice a progress bar on the bottom left as the remainder of the installer opens.

Once its loaded, accept the license agreement and click Next.

Enter your name, organization or business, and your AutoCAD LT Serial number and Product key. Alternately you can select I want to try this product for 30 days to install with a full-featured trial.

Note that you must enter a name for your organization, so if you’re installing it for personal or educational use or a self-employed job, you could enter your personal website or even your name in the organization field.

Now review your installation settings, and if everything looks correct, click Install on the bottom.

If you simply accept the defaults and don’t change anything, you may be prompted for confirmation. Click Yes to go ahead and install it.

That’s all! Now you can sit back and wait, and AutoCAD LT will install. The installer is very beautiful, and inspired us to want to go design a bicycle as soon as we got done installing it! If only we had a clue where to start…

You can follow the installation progress from the left side, which shows which components have been installed as they are installed. Do note that Autodesk Design Review is a 32 bit application, so you’ll notice that it installs both 32 bit and 64 bit components on 64 bit systems, but this is fine and will work the exact same.

If you want, you can even check out the installation progress from the window preview on your Windows 7 taskbar.

After a few minutes, the installer will inform you that the installation is finished. It took about 15 minutes in our test to install, though this may vary depending on your computer. Click Finish to exit the installer.

Running AutoCAD LT 2011 the first time

Once the installation is finished, you’ll be able to easily find your new AutoCAD products installed under Autodesk in your start menu.

Here’s the splash screen that displays while AutoCAD LT is loading.

You’ll need to activate AutoCAD LT 2011 within 30 days of installation, so you’ll be prompted to go ahead and activate it when it first loads. Click Activate Now to go ahead and activate it, or click Try to activate it later.

Then, you’ll be asked to submit data about your computer and product usage to help improve the product. You can choose to enter your email address as well if you like.

On the bottom of the dialog, you can select to see what data will be transmitted for the customer improvement program. If you select to preview your CIP Data, you’ll be directed to a page online that will show your system stats compared to those of other users around the world. This can be interesting even if you don’t want to participate in the program.

Finally you’ll see the welcome screen. This gives you several options to preview some of AutoCAD LT’s newest features.

Mouse over the entries to view more information, or click the play button that appears to open a screencast in your browser explaining the feature in detail.

Now you’re ready to start designing in AutoCAD LT 2011. This version features a slick and functional ribbon interface that takes great advantage of the Aero interface in Windows 7 and Vista. We’ll explore more features and how it integrates with the latest Windows features in the next article. Stay turned for more soon!

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Getting Started

Using windroplr

Viewing your Droplr Files Online

Conclusion

Getting Started

Putting Satchel to Use

Conclusion

Backup Your Computer With Backblaze

Encrypting Your Backup Files

Getting Your Files Back

Conclusion

Getting Started

Organizing Tasks

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Conclusion

The AutoCAD Ribbon Interface

Switch Back to the File Menu

Win a Free Copy of Digging Into WordPress

Purchase Digging into WordPress

Setting Up Cloudberry Backup

Start Your Backup on Amazon S3

Conclusion

More Links

Setup Elements+

Using Elements+

Conclusion

Links:

Getting AutoCAD Setup

Running AutoCAD LT 2011 the first time

Sponsors: