Be Better Blog

EDITOR’S NOTE: I have no f*cking clue about technology. I just learned what an external hard drive was like…15 minutes ago and I described it as a “cute, little black box with a tail”. So… I am leaving this SUPER tech-related post to my dear friend Brad. He’s knowledgeable about all things computer and there has been more than one occasion that I’ve called Brad frantically because the spinning rainbow wheel of death won’t leave my screen. ANYWAY…here’s his 2012 techie guest post! Show him some love y’all. 

2012 is upon us and the new year is the best time to resolve to get all of the technology around you in order. Technology surrounds our lives and we continue to interact with it more and more so there’s no better time to get better at it. I should back up quickly and tell you a bit about myself…I am a self professing Apple and computer nerd. The most important people in my life pretty much go: Jesus Christ, Steve Jobs, and everyone else—this makes me the person who often gets the 1am text or phone call that a hard drive has crashed, a phone isn’t syncing or just that their computer is running sluggishly. The things below are a good start to making sure this year your software, phone, email, Macs or PCs, GPS, etc. work great all year long.

1. Run Your Updates

I cannot tell you how many times I have taken a look at someone’s Mac or PC that isn’t running quite right and noticed they have tons of Software Updates that are waiting to be installed. Whether it’s a Mac or PC, those updates can be very important security patches, bug fixes, and even new features. If things are sluggish when you surf the internet, you might double check if you have the latest version of your browser. Google Chrome updates automatically, but browsers like Safari and Firefox have recently pushed updates—and if you are still using Internet Explorer, I don’t know what to tell you. #itstimetoupgrade Don’t forget about your GPSs, phone updates, and other non-Apple or non-Windows apps that need to be updated frequently like Skype, Adobe apps like Photoshop or Illustrator, and even Microsoft Office.

On a Mac just look for “Software Update” and on a PC you’re looking for “Windows Update”. Turning on Automatic downloading for updates is usually a good idea if you think you’ll forget to update.

(Note: Brad slated a photo of something computer related, but I couldn’t resist a Juvenile “Back That Thang Up” reference. Apologies Brad.)

2. Backup Everything

Please, please please, please, PLEASE! let this be the year you start backing up if you already don’t. That hard drive sitting inside of your computer that was made in some random factory somewhere is NOT going to work forever. Just realize: IT COULD FAIL TOMORROW. Or today. You never know. One time I had an external hard drive fail on me and then my computer’s hard drive fail on me, in the time span of 48 hours. No warning, just out of the blue, boom, I have no data. Now, I am a backup ninja. I have so many backups it would be hard to lose something—and don’t just think you have to guard against a failing hard drive. Having your computer stolen or a fire can be so much more devastating. Data storage is at the cheapest rates they have EVER been at…EVER. There is no reason that you shouldn’t back up your data. Your computer is going to fail at some point, just make sure you’ve got everything somewhere safe.

Mac users can use tools like Time Machine (update this daily!) or Carbon Copy Cloner, and PC users have: Also, cloud storage paces like Dropbox, Box, Carbonite or Mozy have great solutions for keeping you backed up via the Cloud.

http://mozy.com/

https://www.dropbox.com/

http://www.carbonite.com/en/

(Again, something technology related got replaced by a boy band. Eeesh, sorry again Brad)
3. Sync Everything

I saw a stat a few month back stating that somewhere around 50% of people who come into the Apple Store with a problem on their iPhone have never backed their phone up. Once your’e at the store with an issue, you’re going to run the risk of losing music, pictures, contacts, text messages, etc, simply because you haven’t synced in sometime. Plugin your phone, make sure the software is updated for all of your apps, and the operating system, and keep it plugged in until everything is completely synced.

4. Embrace the Cloud

Whether it’s iCloud, Evernote, Dropbox, or the new Windows Live services Microsoft keeps rolling out—the Cloud is here to stay. The Cloud is basically a big hard drive in the sky that’s your’s whenever you’re connected to the internet. If you’ve got thousands of little notes, journals, grocery lists, etc sitting in your Documents folder, consider moving things over to Evernote so you’ll always have the most current copy whether it’s on your phone, computer or on the web. There are lots of ways that apps on the phone, computer, and web apps are coming together and now is the best time to embrace that fact. Do you need to have 82gb of music in your iTunes or do you think you might be okay using Spotify? If you’re looking for new apps, check out if that app syncs their content to the cloud so that you’ll never need to think about if or if it’s not backed up.

https://www.icloud.com/

http://www.spotify.com/

http://www.evernote.com/

 5. Inbox Zero

If you’re one of those people who have 674 unread emails in your Gmail (or God forbid Hotmail), it’s time to fix that immediately. Select all of them and archive them, then start from zero. If there is anything in there that you really need, it will be there for you, it’s not gone, just archived. Also, take this as a time to unsubscribe from all the email lists that you shouldn’t be signed up for. Lastly, don’t use your email inbox as a todo list, download a legit task manager app and put it to good use. (Doing this alone just might save you an ulcer in 2012)

 http://inboxzero.com/

http://www.davidco.com/

 6. Know about SOPA/Protect IP

If you use the internet, you need to know how the government is trying to legislate it. Our government is looking into passing legislation that would dramatically change the outlook of how the internet is used and give Hollywood and the Record Industry the ability to sue websites they don’t like. The bill is going to be debated heavily in the first quarter of 2012, and you still have time to tell your congressperson how you feel about the bill. There are resources below to better inform you about what changes they are trying to make.

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/22/2648219/stop-online-piracy-act-sopa-what-is-it