iPod vs. Zune

I recently listened to the Diggnation podcast, If London’s Calling…, starring Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht. During part of the podcast, they were discussing the old Zune getting new features and then they started talking about the new Zune and the features that the iPod Touch is missing.

I have never really been a fan of the iPod, but I do have one (30GB iPod Video). I love it because it takes up very little space and I can listen to music and podcasts and watch videos no matter where I am. There are a few things I don’t like about it:

• The click wheel is the most annoying way to move through menu options. Sometimes it even causes me to bypass the option I want. Having to remember which part to click to go back is annoying as well. If the click wheel was labeled better, it might be slightly easier.
• The battery drains when I’m not using it. Maybe mine came with a bad battery, I don’t know. But, it could be just a week that I haven’t used the iPod (fully charged battery) and I will turn it on and it tells me it needs to be charged!
• The blinking “Do not disconnect.” icon.
• iTunes may have a few nice features, but it is slow! Let me choose how I want to put my music on my iPod, please. And, in the format I want it in!
• Calendar, Contacts, Notes, etc. I don’t really care about any of that if I can’t edit directly from the iPod.
• It’s not wireless. (I know the iPod Touch has this, but I don’t own one.)

Even though there are several things I don’t like about the iPod, I still like it. But, the Zune has some nice features that the iPod is lacking:

• Playing Windows Media Audio (.wma) and Windows Media Video (.wmv).
• Wireless. (Again, I know the iPod Touch has this feature.)
• FM Radio! There are many times I’d like to listen to just the radio.
• Faster charge time.

I would gladly trade my 30GB iPod Video for either a new Zune or even better, an iPod Touch. I know the iPod Touch is currently at 8GB and 16GB, which is much less than 30GB, but I know the size will eventually increase, right Apple?

My Desktop Computer Is Wasting My Time

If you have noticed the lack of blog entries from me, you can blame my computer.

I don’t know about anyone else, but my desktop computer wastes a lot of my time. Something goes wrong with the hardware and I have to figure out what is wrong. Is it the hard drive, the RAM, the cable, the motherboard?

On Friday, my computer crashed in the middle of working. I use my laptop and Remote Desktop Connection to access my desktop computer. My laptop can’t handle a lot of software running due to the lack of available memory, so I use RDC to use my desktop computer’s resources instead, with the convenience of sitting wherever I want to. While on the laptop, I noticed read/write errors just popping up and then the Internet disappeared (I use my Nintendo DS WiFi Dongle).

Anyway, there were a lot of read/write errors and Windows wouldn’t start up again, just show blue screens after trying to load. And I couldn’t read the blue screens because they would flash and the computer would restart. Trying to repair the hard drive didn’t work either. Nothing would work. I even tried installing Windows on another hard drive, but there were read/write errors with it. One try even had the setup telling me that there wasn’t enough space on the 80GB (empty) hard drive. That had to be a joke! It said I needed to remove some things from installing, because it required 2211958.7 MB! What!? (I have a picture to prove it.)

Just yesterday I tried removing RAM to see if any of the memory sticks were bad. I have 2.5 GB, and my computer has always been very picky about how they are put in there. Now I cannot even get all three of them to be happy in their original spots. My computer just beeps. So far, only the 512 MB one will go in just fine without me hearing beeps! If I want only 512 MB I will use the laptop!

I have even looked at the book for my motherboard for correct placement of the RAM, but the computer still doesn’t like it. I think when I had upgraded the RAM, everything had to be taken out (video card, etc) before it would take the RAM. How annoying huh?

My computer appears to work okay right now with just the 512 MB in there. But I’m not giving up. If I can only have 512 MB, my computer is dead to me! Over the weekend, I will probably try again.

Anyone else have more problems with desktops than with laptops?

The History of Backup

History of Backup is a very well written article, which discusses the different backup solutions that have been used over the years. It all starts in 1951 with punch cards and ends with network and online backup solutions.

For years and years, people have always known the importance of backing up information and files. This caused the need for larger storage. I even find myself making more than one backup of the same thing. Paranoid? Maybe, but at least I’ll know when one backup fails, I have another.

I remember when using floppy disks were very common and now it’s hard to find computers with floppy drives in them. Eventually though, with stacks of floppy disks, it made more sense to purchase larger storage solutions, such as CDs and then DVDs. With the constant need of backing up more and more files, better solutions are created.

According to Graziadio Business Report, Pepperdine University, hardware failure in 2003 was the number one cause of data loss, which means you would need to create multiple backups because of the possibility of a backup becoming corrupted due to hardware failure or physical damage. This article shows a table of causes and episodes of data loss.

It is very interesting to see how backup solutions have evolved over the years. There is even a timeline at the end of the article displaying when backup storage from punch cards to blu-ray disks and HD-DVD first came into use. It also shows when network storage and online backup solutions started coming around.

Besides reading History of Backup, check out the links provided throughout the article for more related information, especially The Evolution of the Major Computer Storage Devices PDF.

Read this article if you’re interested in seeing how data storage is evolving through the years. And, as always, I recommend backing up your data and if needed, make a second copy to be stored online so it’s in another location in case of fire or water damage.

Where do you think data solutions will be in several years from now?

Sponsored by SoftLogica

Organize Your Desk With the Electric Table

I read over at Gizmodo about an Electric Table from BRDA. To find the table, click on PROJECTS and then DESIGN.

I wouldn’t mind having one like this because I have a lot of cables behind my desk. All I’d need to do is somehow have shorter cables!

They also show some other neat (possibly useful?) things, such as the Stuff Bowl and Tilt. The Tilt might be a fun clock to have. Go check it out!

Blog Battle Royale: Vote on Your Favorite

The time is finally here to vote on your favorite entry from the five finalists. They each received their iRobot Roombas and wrote their entries. Now it’s our turn to vote on the best one.

I submitted my vote for It’s not Civic Doody, but Roomba does its Duty! I voted for that one for a few reasons. I like the original entry, I like the video she included, the title is clever and the entry is the easiest to read. I know the latter doesn’t have to do with the contest, but it is still very important!

Please go check out the five finalists and vote for your favorite! Not sure which one to choose? Vote for the one I did!