Blog

The thoughts, opinions, happenings, and just plain ramblings of a seemingly boring person.

Trying Out Online Backups

Crashplan logoI first published my backup rant almost 7 years ago, and my catch-cry for anyone who owns a computer and cares about some data (i.e. everyone), is that there are no excuses when it comes to backing up important data.

To quote a wise man from the end of that post:

If your digital belongings are really that important to you, you should guarantee that only the most inconceivable of disasters should be able to rob you of them; anything less is negligence.

Since that post, only the medium and frequency of my backup regime had changed: weekly backups … Read more →

10 Years of Blogging!

10 Years BloggingWow. Today marks 10 years since I started this blog. I must have missed the 10 year mark of the website itself (which was on 13 July 2013), but it was with the launch of this blog 10 years ago that things really started to get interesting (at least for me 😛 ).

If I was honest, 10 years ago I don't think I would have bet that this would still be going a decade later. At the five year mark I was seriously considering giving it up, but over the years I've come to the realisation that this … Read more →

Tweets for 2013

Tweets for 2013These are my tweets for 2013 (minus replies and retweets). All the URLs are still Twitter's 't.co' ones, as the API doesn't spit out the original URL text.

  • Time machine back to year 10, 1998! http://t.co/FDjrAzCA #DrWorm was my favourite Jan 02, 2013
  • Gold! 'Old Cops Discover The Internet': http://t.co/47ITSJrW Jan 05, 2013
  • Darn. Oh well, it was worth a shot http://t.co/BuoySrn4 #DeathStar Jan 12, 2013
  • lots of profanity, but loads of hilarity "Darth Vader Voiced By Schwarzenegger": http://t.co/2SY7sm7z Jan 14, 2013
  • What a joke that Brave won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film! Does Pixar get the awards
Read more →

Why Haven’t You Turned on 2-Step Verification?

two-step verificationWe've all heard of it, or even seen it personally many times: "my account was hacked!". Usually I'll get the scam emails from a friend's email address saying they are trapped overseas and to send them money to help them out, or maybe the general spam or phishing attempts from one of their online accounts.

You might think it won't happen to you, but all it can take is logging in on a computer that might be infected by something, or using the same password for your account on another site that had its servers hacked.

There is … Read more →

Getting Into Podcasts

Pocket CastsAfter starting a job in the city, and now for the first time having to travel to Brisbane's bastion of capitalism on public transport, I have had to find ways to fill in the time whilst being on the train.

Reading on the train is not an option for me; for some reason, when I read on transport (cars, trains, etc.), I develop headaches, so I usually limit my reading to checking a few emails or briefly catching up on news.  For the first few months of the commute, I have been listening to my music library on my phone, … Read more →

Feedly is My Choice as a Replacement for Google Reader

Feedly Logo After the gnashing of teeth that greeted the news of Google's decision to close down Google Reader (effective in a few days), over the past few months I have tried out more than a few possible replacements.

I have been surprised by how many 'Reader replacements' have popped up or gained attention since the announcement. It definitely seems like Google had largely killed-off a market when they developed Reader, and now have almost single-handedly recreated it by shutting down their service.

A lot are aiming to just re-create Google Reader and it's features (or previous features); The Old Reader, … Read more →

The End of Eras: LucasArts & MSN Messenger

The announcements of the closure of two things, one a game development studio and the other an instant messaging application, have had me reminiscing on days gone by; namely, the mid-to-late 90s. Both closures are very understandable and not very surprising. It makes them a little easier to accept, but it's still hard not to feel a little sad.

LucasArts 1982-2013In my opinion, the bigger announcement of the two was that Disney, following their acquisition of all of Lucas-land, have decided to close down LucasArts as a game development studio. It's not unexpected, as the once mighty and innovative developer … Read more →

The End of My Affinity for Google: Reader to be Shut Down

Google Reader Shut Down

Today it was announced that Google will be shutting down its online RSS-feed aggregator, Google Reader. Ironically, I first found out about the announcement through Google Reader as I am subscribed to the Official Google Blog through it.

To say that I am disappointed with this news is an understatement. Along with Gmail and Google Calendar, Google Reader is one of three Google products that I use all day, every day.

After trying to find a suitable RSS aggregator almost seven years ago, I eventually settled on Google Reader and have been using it every day I've been on … Read more →

Tweets for 2012

Twitter2012I was thinking it might be good to have a new annual entry at the end of each year which lists all my tweets for the year. My Twitter account hasn't been given access to the new backup/export/archive feature, so all the external links contained in the tweets below are Twitter's 't.co' URL shortened ones.

  • Unfortunately I have have been moved over to the new @Gmail look 🙁 Twas good while it lasted classic look! Jan 04, 2012
  • @LiaParadissis You can buy the 3D bluray and watch it over my place if you want 😉 Jan 07, 2012
  • @LiaParadissis Hopefully
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Is Google Becoming Evil? Free Google Apps No More

Google Apps Not FreeI'm a big Google user; and by that, I don't just mean that I use their search engine.

Over the years, I've increasingly centred my online life around the company's products: I use Gmail for email, Google Calendar is now my organiser, I have an Android phone that syncs to both, and recently I also used Google Docs (now 'Drive') for collaborative docs and spreadsheeting during the house construction, and so on.

But in considering all that, probably the single product that I've voluntarily advertised, espoused, and assisted friends and family in terms of setting them up with, is Google Read more →