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June 20, 2008
Floppy Disks/Drives: End of Life
I've recently created this Policy blog for WOU & UCS Policies and possible explanations.
Today I'll be covering the end-of-life support for floppy disks and drives (hereafter referred to as FloppyTech).
As you should well know, FloppyTech has a maximum storage capability of 1.44 MB. Many ages ago (before I was born) FloppyTech was a tried and true technology allowing simple, though perhaps slow, transfer of files from one computer to another (also called a "Sneaker network"). Though relatively stable, FloppyTech quickly became a slow and limited data storage/transfer mechanism. Larger hard disks, (wireless) networks and flash memory became the standards for data storage/transfer.
Then came Windows XP. Here's a feature for you: Pop a windows 9x floppy into an XP machine and what do you get? Corruption! Hear that sound FloppyTech? It is the sound of inevitability...
Thus came the beginning of the end for FloppyTech.
People decided they were useful no more.
Dell even stopped selling them (you can special order them). It's a brave new world, and it is FloppyTech-less.
Most importantly, UCS no longer supports FloppyTech at WOU. Floppies are not to be used for anything (storage / transfer / etc...) and UCS does not support their use. Flash drives are cheap, fast and durable (seriously, try washing a floppy). Obviously, anything truly important needs to be in two places, but flash drives are a much much better alternative to FloppyTech.
So for all you FloppyTech users out there - stop using them! Your data is screaming for its life. Your computer doesn't like it's floppy drive. Upgrade. You have only to lose your chains.
Posted by ellism at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
June 7, 2008
Apple iLife
For those of you who are frequent readers, it may strike you as odd, that I'd be writing about Apple. My disdain for Apple's marketing campaign is well-known (though perhaps poorly blogged). However, I'd like to blog about my latest (and really only) experience with iLife.
As my wife and I recently had a child, I had a new expression of celebration on Mother's Day. I had never celebrated the motherhood of my wife before, so I was looking for something thoughtful, unique, loving and that was distinctly me.
So I purchased a Mac Mini sometime ago. I instantly installed Windows onto it using BootCamp and had only run Windows after that point. After selecting multiple still images of my wife and child (some including me) I copied those to my NAS. I booted into the Apple side of my Mini, and used iPhoto to catalog the images, then iTunes to rip some music to files. I then used iMovie to put the images to music we both have enjoyed. Finally I used iDVD to load my movie into a DVD menu with a picture of my wife and child. Sum total, I spent about 2 hours to learn and use the applications and finally burn the DVD to a DVD+R.
Honestly, she loved it and was a feat I would have never attempted on a PC. Why? The iLife suite is all integrated with itself. iMovie can pull images from iPhoto, music from iTunes and create transitions, text, etc... iDVD loads files from the logical place the other apps put them and allows easy drag-and-drop access. I was very pleased. I began to understand the allure of Apple's iLife suite and the cute single-mouse-button using applications and tools.
PC users are now aghast at my "review". How could a known PC addict and proponent support Apple openly? I've never argued that Apple wasn't good at what it does. Graphics, movies, and integrated tools like blogging, web info posting etc... - Apple accels at these. However, the world is not based on blogs, pictures and movies (though owners of Blogger, Myspace and YouTube would argue with me). Money is created through business. Business is still based in spreadsheets, documents, and databases. iLife is all well and fun. But I'm interested in a larger scope of computing as a whole. Unix rules the server world (sorry Mr. Gates). Windows rules the desktop environment. Apple rules the art and graphics world - though honestly each competes somewhat in other markets. So I applaud Mr. Jobs for creating a viable, functional set of applications that non-computer junkies can really use. But I'm interested in so much more that I'll keep my PC.
Posted by ellism at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)