Monthly Archives: March 2009

March 2009 Links

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Links for the month of March.

Here are a few links of interest to the folks who read my books and articles or watch my training videos.

Back it Up or Lose It

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What’s your backup strategy?

This morning, on Twitter, I read a tweet from one of the folks I follow, @SeeTTL :

RT @JCDean: PSA: Please back up your computer! My wife just went to console a friend who may have lost EVERY pic of her kids.

This sad story really hit home with me. No, not because I have kids. And not because I’ve lost the contents of a hard drive forever — despite the fact that I’ve suffered three total hard disk crashes since 1989. But because I could imagine how badly I’d feel if I’d trusted my hard disk to hold the only copies of all my photos.

As a computer user, the data you create is the only thing that can’t be replaced when lost. I’m talking about photos, diaries, accounting records, address books, original manuscripts, and more. Sure, a lot of this stuff can be recreated with some effort, but some of it can’t. Like all those photos.

The only way to protect this data from loss is to create reliable backups and, whenever possible, store them offsite, away from the computer.

Mac users have a few options for automated backups:

  • Time Machine is truly transparent. It goes to work in the background to faithfully duplicate what it finds on your hard disk. You can use it with its default settings or customize settings to limit what’s backed up. All you need is an attached hard disk or Time Machine-compatible network disk. Time Machine does the rest. Best of all, it will even keep copies of stuff you deleted by accident — at least for a while — so you can get it back. With external hard disk prices so low right now and Time Machine free with Leopard, why not take advantage of it?
  • Backup is backup software that comes with Mac OS X. It’s highly configurable and can be used to back up to a hard disk, optical media such as CDs or DVDs, and a MobileMe account. This last option is probably the best because it automates off-site storage. I wrote about using Backup in “Save Yourself (and Your Data) with .Mac Backup,” which I wrote for Peachpit.com in 2006. It might be dated, but I’m sure you’ll find some good tidbits of information there.
  • iDisk SynciDisk is part of a MobileMe account. You might not think of it as a backup solution, but it can be. First, you can simply drag and drop the things you want to back up to your iDisk to copy it to your MobileMe storage space. That’s an offline storage solution for you. But what you might find easier is to enable iDisk syncing so a copy of your iDisk space is available on your computer’s desktop. Then simply store data in it. The data is automatically copied to your iDisk space on MobileMe when synced. Not only that, but if you more than one Mac, all of them can share the same iDisk. That means the documents you copy there are available with you on all of your computers.
  • Third party backup solutions are also available to you. There are quite a few out there and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not up to speed on them. I haven’t needed them. I have a very good backup strategy without them.
  • Fetch and iCal can also be used together to create an automated offsite backup solution. I wrote about that in ““Creating an Automated Backup Plan with Fetch and iCal”,” in 2007.

CDs and DVDs can always be used to back up data to. This is what some people seem to forget. And it’s what probably could have saved the woman referenced above a lot of grief.

Last week, I wrote a blog post for my personal blog that outlined my workflow for geotagging images. In it, I included Step 4: Backup. That’s the step where I copy all of my images from my hard disk to a CD or DVD before erasing the camera’s data card. I have dozens of these discs, nicely labeled, in my office. I’d be smarter to have them offsite. But at least I have them. Anyone who makes a lot of digital images and does not perform this step is looking for trouble. Don’t say a hard disk crash won’t happen to you. It will. It’s just a matter of time.

Heck, it happened to me three times already.

My Geotagging Workflow

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How I add GPS coordinates to my photos.

A while back, I decided I wanted to include the GPS coordinates in the EXIF data for my photos. Because my cameras (a Nikon D80 and a Nikon CoolPix something-or-other) don’t have built-in GPS features or communicate via bluetooth (or any other method) with a GPS, I have to manually attach the GPS coordinates to the photos.

I say manually, but I do this with software that automates the process. (I’m not a complete idiot.) Still, there’s a slightly convoluted workflow to get this all together. I thought I’d outline it here for two reasons:

  • Some blog readers might be genuinely interested. I’m not the only photo-snapping geek around.
  • By documenting this, I can look back, years from now, and see yet another example of how technology changes to make things easier and how I solved a “problem.”

So here’s the workflow rundown. I skipped the nitty gritty details to keep it short. (I read somewhere that people don’t like to read long blog posts.)

Step 1: Acquire the Photos

GlobalSat BT-335Bluetooth GPS w/ ChargersWhen I go out to do photography, I take minimal equipment. I don’t like to carry a bunch of stuff. But one of the things I do take with me (other than my camera) is a GPS data logger. I bought a GlobalSat BT-335 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger. I made my choice after lots of research, including this excellent review on bioneural.net. Three things sold me:

  • Price. It’s $69.95 on Amazon.com.
  • Size. It’s small and lightweight.
  • Connectivity. It’s Bluetooth, so I don’t have to deal with cables. (I hate cables.)

As an added bonus, when paired with my MacBook Pro, it puts live GPS data on my computer. Which is kind of cool, even though I currently have no use for this capability.

I’m not saying you should go out and buy this. I’m just saying that I did and I’m very satisfied. And while I certainly welcome comments that suggest other models, my choice has been made, so please don’t try to sell me on your solution.

A GPS data logger like the BT-335 does one thing, and it does it well. It keeps track of where you’ve been by recording GPS coordinates and corresponding times. It stores all this data inside itself with virtually no user interface. I attach it with a wrist strap I bought at a camera store to my camera’s shoulder strap. Before I start shooting photos, I turn it on and it does its thing. I basically forget all about it.

So when I go out to do photography, I turn on my GPS data logger and use my camera to take pictures. Pretty simply stuff, no?

It’s important to note here that the time on my camera must be right — at least within 10-20 seconds (if I’m on the move) or 1 to 2 minutes (if I’m moving more slowly). I check it against my computer’s clock (which is set by atomic clock) and adjust it a few times a year. The GPS data logger gets its date/time information from the GPS satellites.

Step 2: Get the Data and Photos on the Computer

The next step is to get all of the GPS data and the photos onto my computer.

LoadMyTracksAlthough GlobalSat has a perfectly fine utility for getting the data off its unit and onto a Mac, I use the freeware application, Load My Tracks. I tell it I’m using a GlobalSat DG-100 and because the unit is paired to my computer, it finds it. I can then download tracks into either GPX (which I need) or KML format. I download both — heck, why not? — into the folder where I’ll soon be downloading the photos. I then erase the data logger so I don’t have extra track points in it the next time I use it.

Next, I use a card reader with Image Capture, which comes with Mac OS X, to download all photos from my camera into the folder where I saved the track logs. They don’t have to be in the same folder, but I like it that way. Nice and neat. And it makes it easy to back up the logs with the photos.

Now I’ve got the GPS data and photos on my computer.

Step 3: Match GPS Coordinates to Photos

Next, I launch GPSPhotoLinker, another freeware application. I use the Load Tracks button to load up the GPX data file for the photo shoot. Then I use the Load Photos button to load all the photos I took during the shoot. I go into batch mode, which has my settings saved from the last session, and click Batch Save to Photos.

GPSPhotoLinker uses my settings and the data to write the GPS coordinates, including altitude, to each photo. It displays a progress bar as it works. When it’s done, the Latitude and Longitude for each photo appears in the appropriate columns in the list of photos. Here’s what it looks like while it’s working. (Yes, I took pictures of very big, red rocks.)

GPSPhotoLinker In Action

As for the big, red rocks, you can find them here. (But it seems to be off by a 10-20 feet; maybe it’s time to adjust the camera time again.)

Step 4: Backup

After losing a hard disk for the third time two years ago, I have become fanatical about backing up my data. After importing photos and linking the GPS data to them, I burn them onto a CD or DVD (depending on the capacity needed). When the burn is done, I check the CD or DVD to make sure it functions properly. Then I apply a label with the date and some descriptive information and file the CD or DVD in a box with a bunch of others.

I format the memory card for my camera in my camera to clear it out completely.

I then feel good about deleting photos off my hard disk, adding them to iPhoto, or modifying them in Photoshop or some other image editing too.

Sounds Like a Lot of Work?

It really isn’t a lot of work. It’s a whole workflow thing. Do it enough times and you can do it quickly. Steps 2 through 4 take about 15 minutes from start to finish.

That’s my flow for geotagging. What’s yours? Got a camera with a GPS or GPS connectivity built in? Please do brag about it by adding a comment here. I’d love to learn more.

Five Tips for Composing a More Effective Social Networking Bio

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Is yours saying what you really want to say?

I’m a member of several social networking services: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, Yahoo Groups, etc.

All social networks have the same idea when it comes to setting up your account. You provide information about yourself in a “bio.” The maximum length of a bio can vary from site to site. Twitter, on the low end, allows only 160 characters. LinkedIn has no maximum length. Other services fit in between.

Your bio is your primary way to tell people who don’t know you what you’re all about. If they’re heard about you from someone else or stumbled upon one of your Twitter tweets or Facebook wall posts, they might be interested in learning more. They might even want to become your . . . wait for it . . . friend.

Whatever.

The point is, they’ll start with your bio to learn more about you, so it’s in your best interest to create a good one.

Here are some tips for creating an online bio for social networking:

  • Be brief. This is required on Twitter, which allows only 160 characters. As such, you’ll need to keep the text tight and specific. Lists usually work well here. Even if the service allows longer bios, don’t get carried away. Start off with the basics — the “must-know” info about you. Then expand in additional paragraphs. Nobody is going to slog through hundreds of words just to decide whether you’re someone they want to follow or be friends with.
  • Be accurate. Include the things that are important to you, keeping in mind the audience of the social networking service. The things you put on a Twitter or Facebook bio are likely to be very different from the ones you put in a LinkedIn bio, since the services are set up for different purposes. Don’t make stuff up. If you have to make up things about who you are, you really need to step away from the computer and get a life.
  • Be meaningful. Sure, lots of folks think it’s cute or cool to have a one-line bio with some spiffy saying, possibly snatched from a punch line in a movie. If a movie-one liner describes you to a stranger, I’m impressed by the shallowness of your character. The folks I want to know tend to be a bit deeper.
  • Be aware of turn-off words. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be friends with anyone who is a self-proclaimed guru or expert. These are words that other people should apply to you — not words you apply to yourself. Other turn-off words vary from person to person. If you are a woman and describe yourself as “sexy,” a heterosexual woman like me is not going to be impressed. But a teenaged boy or a lesbian might.
  • Be aware of providing too much personal information. Do we need to know that you’re rebuilding your life after a divorce? Or that you’re a recovered alcoholic? And while you might be proud to be a “Christ follower,” when you include that in your bio, you shouldn’t expect to make many friends with people who aren’t fundamentalist Christians or not religious at all.

Learn it all.Think of your bio as bait on a fishing line. Who will it attract? But, at the same time, how many people will ultimately be disappointed by the mismatch between what your bio says about you and who you really are?

What do you like or hate about things people put in their social networking bios? Use the comments for this post to share your thoughts.

Twitter Primer: @Reply vs. DM

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Get ‘em straight! Use ‘em right!

Twitter logoI’ve been a Twitter user for about two years now and seen enormous growth in this social networking phenomena.

One of the things I’ve noticed lately, however, is that newcomers often have trouble distinguishing between the two methods available for addressing a tweet to a specific user. I hope to clear up some of the confusion with this brief article.

@Replies

An @reply (pronounced at reply) is a public communication to a specific person on Twitter.

It has a rigid format. It begins with the @ symbol followed immediately (without a space) by the account name of the Twitter user you’re addressing it to. This must be the very beginning of the update or tweet — if it’s buried within the tweet, it won’t go onto the recipient’s @Replies page on Twitter or be specially identified in third party clients like Twitterrific and TweetDeck.

So, for example, an @reply to me would look something like this when composed:

@mlanger Great post about the difference between @replies and DMs!

You use an @reply when you want to reply to an update made by another Twitter user or send an update directly to a Twitter user. In either case, the update is public — it appears on the Everyone (Public) Timeline and it could appear to your followers, depending on how their @reply notices are set.

@replies are what make conversations in Twitter. One user tweets, another user replies. The first user replies again. Perhaps a third user joins in. By correctly using @replies, you can interact with other Twitter users publicly, in a way that’s effective — and might get you new followers.

Direct Messages

A direct messages or DM is a private communication to a specific person on Twitter.

A DM also has a rigid format. It begins with the letter d followed immediately by a single space and the account name of the Twitter user you’re addressing it to. This must be at the very beginning of the update or tweet — if it’s buried within the tweet or not formatted correctly, it will be published as a regular tweet. It might look like this when composed:

d mlanger Give me a call about flying next Tuesday. My number is 602-000-0000.

DMs are special on Twitter:

  • DMs do not appear in the everyone or public timeline.
  • DMs appear in the sender’s and recipient’s Direct Messages page. They’re on the sender’s Sent tab and the recipients Inbox tab:
    DMs
  • You cannot send a DM to someone who does not follow you.
  • If you have device updates enabled, DMs addressed to you are sent to your device, even if device updates are not enabled for the sender.
  • You cannot use Twitter’s Reply button to reply to a DM with an @reply. This is usually true with third party Twitter clients, too.

DMs are private, but they’re not secure. Don’t use DMs — or any other online communication method, for that matter — to share content you must keep private, such as personal or banking information.

Which to Use?

This may be what confuses new users the most. Which method of addressing another Twitter user should you use?

Learn it all.I believe there are two points to take into consideration:

  • If the tweet is of a private nature and you don’t want it seen by other Twitter users, make it a DM. Similarly, if it’s of a public nature and you’re inviting other Twitter users to join in on the conversation, make it an @reply.
  • If the tweet is part of a lengthy exchange between you and one other Twitter user and no one else seems interested in joining in, you might want to move it to a DM discussion.

What do you think? Use the comments for this post to share your point of view.