Archive for the ‘ Tools Tips & Tricks ’ Category

Oosah – 1TB Free Online Media Storage

Thanks to Lifehacker, I think I may have found the perfect solution for backing up the gigs of photography that I have already backed up on an external hard drive.  

Oosah.com boasts 1TB of online storage available for free.  Sound too good to be true, well there are some limitations which you need to know up front

  • Only media files (jpg, mp3, wmv, etc…) can be stored online
  • Size limitations in place include 50mb/image, 9mb/mp3, and 200mb/video
  • There appears to be a limitation as to how many files can be uploaded at a time
  • No drag and drop utility yet available meaning you will need to create your own folder structure online
Seeing as how these maximums were more than enough for my personal use, I began to investigate more.  Some major benefits in my opion… 

  • Drag and drop uploaded images/video to a linked picassa, flickr, or youTube Account
  • iPhone optimized interface for browsing files (additional features soon to be available)
  • Media can be syndicated – RSS feeds are only a click away
  • Analytics available for uploaded content
  • Create oosahs – Presentations made using the media uploaded to your account.
  • RAW files accepted from all major camera manufacturers
I am intrigued enough to begin using primarily for photography at this point.  At some point I may choose to back up my mp3’s.  It seems like a great way to backup data which won’t fit on DVD’s
Just a side note…be careful if your ISP has any limitations on the amount of bandwidth your account is allowed before incurring additional charges!

Google Chrome on your Thumb Drive

Now that Google Chrome is available, IT departments everywhere are panicking with all their employees wanting to upgrade.  IT hesitant to install Google Chrome? Have a Thumb Drive?  Check out the link below for a portable Google Chrome solution

http://stadt-bremerhaven.de/2008/09/03/portable-chrome-021510/

Source: Lifehacker

Anyone who has had any issues setting up Microsoft Exchange on their iPhone has obviously come across hundreds of sites, each with a different explanation.

In other words, no two situations are the same

Not everyone is lucky to have a network admin willing to help. Here is what I have been able to work out with mine. (keep in mind, I am not an exchange pro. Just anxious to get it working)

Exchange Server Setup

  • Exchange 2003
  • Standard SMTP (80) and SSL (443) ports open
  • Outlook mobile access is enabled (this was key for me). Test by logging into mail.example.com/oma and pay attention to the message you receive. If working correctly, you will see a list of hyperlinks resembling your outlook folder structure.
  • Forms based authentication is disabled (this was the final hurdle for us. Not 100% sure what this does but like I said, every situation is different.

iPhone Setup

  • Enter your full email address.
  • Enter DOMAIN\username (the domain may not be the same as the email address, you will need you IT folks to verify)
  • Enter password
  • Enter a description
  • Certificate may not verify immediately, this is okay. Accept anyway
  • Enter webmail domain (ex. mail.example.com)
  • If all worked, exchange should verify and email, contacts, and calendar should begin to push instantly

Like I said, every instance is different, but this worked for me. Out NA had the philosophy that it is better to work out the kinks now before the CEO buys an iPhone and wants his/her email setup instantly. Try that logic if you IT team tells you to go away…unless of course you are the CEO and then your IT team should be doing the research for you ;)

iPhone 3g sync with Google Calendar

Wow…i spent a long time searching for a way to sync google calendars in Windows Mobile 6, but now only after a couple of days…have found a way to do it on my new iPhone. Nuevasync offers an exchange like system so that you can “push” calendar data to your iPhone. It appears only Calendar and Contacts are supported right now and Google is a choice for both, with an option for Plaxo Contacts.

Within minutes, I was able to set up an account, add my google calendar information and poof…my iPhone was instantly synced with all of my google calendar data. Be sure to follow the provided instructions and you should be off and running in a few minutes.

Afraid of killing the already shortened battery life in your iphone 3g? Turn off the push feature and rely on the fetch function every 15 minutes (or greater).

I guess anyone with a jailbroken first generation iPhone was already aware of this, but I am glad to see this is an option without having to unlock my phone.

Oh, and of course, it will sync any and all calendars in your google account.

I recently purchased a new cell phone which operates on Windows Mobile 6. As addicted as I have become to having full time access to email and the internet, one feature I have struggled with is the calendar. I am somewhat cheap right now so the idea of paying to sync my calendars does not sit easy. There is some freeware available to accomplish OTA (over the air) syncing but depending on how you manage your google calendar, not all may be ideal for your use.

A few programs I have tested are…

  • OggSync – Works well. Free version does not allow multiple calendar syncing
  • GCalendarSync - The only program I have found which allows multiple calendar syncing. The best I have tested. However, I am experiencing some issues with the timezones. The developer does not seem to provide much info on how to fix. Would love to know if anyone else has gotten this to work and if so, how to fix. The only download link I have found which works is here.
  • GCalSync – Compatible with WM5 but not WM6. No claim is made on the developers page, but I will save you the trouble of trying this one if you are currently using WM5.
  • GMobileSync – Another program which works well. However it does not allow for multiple calendar sync.
  • GooSync – A subscribtion based utility.  Free version is limited in the number of future dates which can be synced.

I have gone back to using Outlook 2007 which allows me to categorize my appointments which at least allows me some organization.  Now that Google has released the Google Calendar Sync, you can now 2-way sync your outlook calendar with your Google Calendar.  This will work for me for now but I am looking for a better solution.  And by better I mean a method other than importing an iCal file into Outlook.   Ideas anyone?