All I want for Christmas is Offsite Backup …

My wife’s most precious Christmas gift was also the least expensive: the $4 a year we’re paying Amazon to backup two gigabytpes of digitial memories of Christmas past.

Despite the backup CDs, and backup USB drive, she still worried that our digital photos would one day turn up missing. A few days before Christmas, a friend turned me onto Jungle Disk, an Amazon S3 application.

Jungle Disk makes using the Amazon cloud as easy as using a local disk drive. Simply install the client software (for Windows, Mac, or Linux) on your computer, like any other application. Sign up for an Amazon S3 account, and suddenly, you can backup up anything you like to the Amazon cloud.

What’s the cloud? Technically, cloud computing is “An emerging computing paradigm where data and services reside in massively scalable data centers and can be ubiquitously accessed from any connected devices over the internet.” Colloquially, it’s using the web like a computer peripheral.

Raw storage on the Amazon cloud starts at $0.15 a gigabtye a month ($1.80 a year). The rate compares well to applications like Google Picasa. A free Picasa account comes with 1 GB of storage. For $20 a year, Google gives you 10 GB more. If we did need 10 GB of A3 storage, we’d be paying $18 a year. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s Flckr gives .1 GB (100 MB) to free accounts, and offers unlimited storage for $25 a year.

Of course, Jungle Disk and Flckr are very different applications. JD lets you backup or store any kind of file, just like it was a remote network drive. Flckr is restricted to photos, but lets you share those photos with anyone you like (in strange and marvelous ways).

There are two primary ways of using the Jungle Disk Desktop Edition– you can choose to use one or both of these options.

 

• The second option for using Jungle Disk is the automatic backup feature. The Automatic Backup feature allows you to keep files and folders on your local machine backed up automatically off-site to your Jungle Disk. If you mainly want to use your online storage space for backup, the Automatic Backup feature makes it easy and eliminates the need to copy files to your mapped drive manually on a regular basis or use 3rd party backup software. Once backed up with Automatic Backup, your files will also be available via the mapped drive.
   

You can easily open or copy backed up files from your mapped drive back to your local machine. If you need to restore a large number of files to your machine you can also use the built-in Restore feature that allows you to select a large number of files and directories and restore them in a single operation. The restore feature also allows you to restore previous versions of files, which are stored in a special directory on your Jungle Disk.

JD does come with some startup costs. In addition to the storage costs, a small charge applies to every data transfer. Usually, the transfer fee is lost in the rounding, but if you upload several gig, it could add up to folding money. In my case, the first month’s bill from Amazon totaled a whopping thirty-two cents for uploading and storing 1.5 GB. Even better, I setup S3 to use my existing Amazon.com account, leaving me one less login to manage.

The only bump so far is that the Windows backup doesn’t run if the user is logged out. One workaround is to set the backup to try again as soon as it can. Then, the next time that login is used, the backup will launch. If you’re using incremental backup, it won’t be a noticeable performance hit.

Note that there’s a one time $20 charge for the JD client software. But, it’s a double saw buck well spent. Jungle Disk is quick and easy to use. The user interface is clean, and it’s very easy to indicate what files to backup, and how often to refresh the backup.

Welcome to the Jungle!

In a prior blog, I overview moving a personal site to Google Apps. Before taking the leap yourself, here’s a grab bag of gotcha’s and pleasant surprises.

Googley gotcha’s:

• Yes, you do need a domain. :)
• During the initial setup, I inadverently closed my Google Apps window while entering the CNAME changes. Eventually, I went back to , I was able to pickup where I left off. (The “a” is for “apps” – Google likes to use one-letter IDs when it can.)
• The Mail and Chat services weren’t enabled by default. To enable additional services, look for the “Add more services” link hidden next to the Service Center heading.
• Transferring the MX registration can take 24-48 hours, depending on your timing and your registrar.
• The Google App accounts have their own login area . Trying to login using your domain at the standard account prompt won’t work.
• Along the same vein, the Google Apps Account is separate from a regular Google Account. To access all that Google has to offer, you need both. (Happily, the cookies don’t conflict, and you can be logged into both accounts at once.)
• The applications are useful and usable, but not truly ready for prime time, when compared to conventional suites, like OpenOffice, or Microsoft Office. The Sites can be especially frustrating. (Can you say “GeoCities”?)
• While GA “Starter Pages”, iGoogle, and Blogger, all seem to utilize the same “Gadget” plugins, they seem to be using different code bases. It would be great if there were all shared between the three platforms.
• The starter pages can be configured by anonymous users. Once a user has configured a start page, the administrator can’t push start page changes. (So, an anonymous start page isn’t a good fit as the domain welcome page.)
• If you delete a page in a Google site, you can’t reuse the name. The site will stubbornly append a numeral to the end, so instead of having a new “Welcome” page, you end up with “Welcome2”.
• • Google Documents (which is different than a Google Site) don’t expose a shared folder structure. You can setup your own folders to organize documents, but no one else will see those folders.
• Google Calendar’s “Find Next Available Time” feature can be set to search only “Working Hours”, but you can’t configure the working hour span (it’s 8a to 6p, M-F, like it or not!).

• Not all Google assets play well together. For example, I tend to draft blogs in Google Notebook first. Pasting directly from Notebook to Blogger generates some ugly HTML. I have sanitize the copy first by pasting from Notebook to Notepad to Blogger.
  And some pleasant surprises:

• While some application features are missing, and performance can be choppy, the collaboration features help pick up the slack.

• If you source a new domain through a Google Apps vendor, the domain setup is pre-configured.
• The Standard Version starts out with 200 user ceiling, and you can ask for more.
• Any user can be deputised as an Administrator.
• You can create additional CNAME records for quick access to different services, like calendar.yourdomain.com.
• You can map Sites to addresses under your domain, so that the clumsy Google Apps link is not shown.
• Gmail now lets you import mail (new or old) from other GMail accounts using POP (in case you already got one).
• The Apps allow some quick-and-easy color and logo customiizations.
• Individual assets can be shared with Google Accounts outside your domain (if the administrator doesn’t disable external sharing).
• GMail handles rich text quite well, so you can paste a table from Word into an email.
• The Calendar is easy to share with people outside your domain, like contractors.
• The Premium Accounts ($50/user/year) also have access to free video conferencing!
  And, of course, everyone in your domain still has access to all the other Google goodies, like Notebook, Blogger, Knol, and more .

HTH, Ted.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I moved my personal website (husted.com) to Google Apps. The GA move will save me website hosting fees (the Standard Edition is free), while providing me new services my plain old HTML site didn’t have. Since we also use GA at VanDamme, I’ll also have a familiar, seamless environment, whether at work or at home. The trade-off is that my website’s look and feel is harder to customize, but, after ten years without an overhaul, I’m ready for a change.

Google Apps refers to a set of Google “point” applications, which, when used together, can create a virtual workplace. In practice, Google Apps is the equivalent of Microsoft Office and Outlook. Google Apps is free and delivered over the web. There is nothing to install, and you can access your assets from a web browser anywhere on the Internet.

The applications in the Google Apps suite are

• Mail
• Talk
• Calendar
• Docs (word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
• Start Page
• Sites
  Mail (aka GMail) is a popular email client, that many people may already use. Mail is the core of Google Apps and shares resources with Talk and Calendar.

Chat (aka GTalk, aka Talk) is featureful instant messaging application, and includes handy voice mail and file transfer utilities. Talk is exposed through Mail, and stores chat transcripts as Mail messages.

Calendar shares its contact list with Mail, making it easy to schedule appointments with other people in your organization. It’s also easy to overlay any other Google Calendars that might be part of your busy modern life. Mail will also scan messages, looking for items that you might want to add to Calendar. I can display my personal Husted dot Com calendar alongside my VanDamme calendar, without commingling appointments.

Docs provides online editing of word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. While not as powerful as offline equivalents, Google Docs offers powerful collaborative features that you won’t find elsewhere.

Start Page (aka iGoogle) is an personalized portal lending instant access to other applications in the Google Apps suite.

Sites is a web page builder that can be used to create special-purpose project portals. You can create a basic web page with a WYSIWYG editor, or add special page types, like a filing cabinet or message center.

But, wait, there’s more: Apps can also integrate with applications hosted by the Google Apps Engine, among others.

Finally, the services are a la carte, and you can disable any you don’t want to use with your domain (including mail).

Moving a site over is relatively painless. To use Google Apps, you do need a domain – either one you already own or a new one (that Google will help you purchase at a discount). To move an existing domain to GA, you need access to the CNAME and MX records. (The Help center has articles with specific instructions for most domain registrars.) The CNAME record will route request for addresses like “www.your-domain.com" to the Google servers. The MX record will route your domain email

If you’re looking for a way to use a web site as a collaborative tool, either for home or a small office, give Google Apps a gander. As a suite, it’s far from perfect, but Google Apps is still solid and useful platform.

Ready to get started? See these quick-start videos:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-o0QmS5TzM&NR=1
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg&feature=related
• http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/resources/setup/setup_video.html

As is our habit, VanDamme Associates introduced its latest bundle of newbies to a team building workshop provided by Unlmited Coaching Solutions. In preparation for the training, we were asked to answer a long (and annoying) series of questions in an online survey, which all took the format.

Select the one phase that best describes you at work.

• I like challenges.
• I like interacting with people.
• I tend to be relaxed and easy going.

• I tend to have high standards.
  When training day came around, the delightful woman leading the session presented us with the result of our surveys. The training had headlined a self-actualization model called “The Four Agreements“, but, as it turns out, the training also covered our Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness, or DiSC, behaviorial dimensions. The notion is that each of us have the four DiSC qualities in varying degrees. Team communication goes awry when someone with a high Dominance dimension interacts with someone with a high Conscientiousness dimension. One person is focussed on function, and another is focussed on form. Reasoning that would convince one person, fails to convince the other, and people end up taking past one another.

• Dominance - relating to control, power and assertiveness

• Influence - relating to social situations and communication
• Steadiness - relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness
• Conscientiousness - relating to structure and organization
  The DiSC behavioral model was pioneered by William Moulton Marston in 1928 (who also created the polygraph and the Wonder Woman comic book), and refined by other researchers over the years. The Unlimited Coaching package includes a bar chart showing each of our four DiSC qualities in relation to one another, and pages of predictive advice based on the how those qualities interact. I can’t speak for anyone else, but the result of my own DiSC assessment is just plain spooky. I’d love to have a set of these for the wife and kids :)

Meanwhile, to keep things even more interesting, the training included a run down of the Four Agreements, as promised. Coined by a Mexican surgeon, Miguel Ruiz, who returned to his family’s Toltec roots after a near-death experience, the Four Agreements are designed to help us live happier, more productive lives.

1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take it personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.

As principles go, the 4As are quite nice, and even strangely complementary to the DISC assessment.

As a longtime dabbler in self-improvement texts, I’m a huge fan of Stephen Covey’s the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. Covey mentions that many behavioral models have four key focal points, such as the biblical qualities of Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength. Since we have four DiSC dimension and four habits, let’s try mapping the two together.

Marston

Ruiz

Dominance

Don’t take it personally,

Influence

Be impeccable with your word.

Steadiness

Always do your best.

Conscientiousness

Don’t make assumptions.



Hmmm. Covey recently added an 8th habit (“Teach the habits.”). Each of the habits is considered to be either a public habit or a private habit. If we combine the public and private habits into one, we are left with, waddyaknow, Four Habits. Let’s map all four systems together.

Bible

Marston

Covey

Ruiz

Heart

Influence

Be Proactive. Think win/win.

Be impeccable with your word.

Mind

Conscientiousness

Begin with the end in mind. Seek first to understand and then to be understood.

Don’t make assumptions.

Strength

Dominance

Put first things first. Synergize!

Don’t take it personally.

Soul

Steadiness

Sharpen the saw. Teach the habits.

Always do your best.



Going back to my DiSC assessment, from a Biblical perspective, I now see that I’m a high Strength, with nearly equal measures of Heart and Mind, followed by a healthy dose of Soul. Somehow, that’s comforting.

PS: For extra credit, try adding your own mappings for the four physical dimensions: Width, Height, Length, and Time :)

Back in the 20th century, I tried every PIM (Personal Information Manager) that I could beg, buy, or borrow: Sidekick, Outlook, Time and Chaos, Goldmine, the list goes on. On my technology memorabilia shelf, I still have a copy of Ecco (right next to a copy of Clarion). Eventually, I gave up the the search for a PIM El Dorado, and devolved to use a series of plain-old Notepad text files, organized by week. The Notepad advantage being I could just jot things down without worrying about pigeon holes.

Lately, instead of my trusty Notepads, I find myself turning toward Google Notebook . I remember trying it some time ago, and it failed to satisfy. I don’t remember why, but trying it again this year, it’s been working well for me. Maybe because I’m using it as a PIM, rather than a surfing tool.

The Notebook paradigm is a hearty step up from a plain-old text file. We can create any number of “Notebooks”, each of which contains one or more Notes. Each note is essentially a simple text file, but with some simple formatting options, like bullets, links, and fonts (oh my!). A Notebook can have zero or more Sections that contain zero or more Notes. A Google Notebook account can contain any number of Notebooks, and we drag Notes or Sections between Notebooks.

Like most Google critters, Notebook lives on the cloud. (Meaning the good news is that I don’t have to back it up myself, and the bad news is that I don’t have my own backups.) Being on the cloud, Notebook offers sharing options, much like Google Sites or Google Documents. I haven’t tried to share a notebook with anyone yet (but knowing VanDamme Associates, and our penchant for sharing, eventually I will!).

Two other organizational features (that I literally just noticed) are comments are labels. The comment feature provides a secondary tab where a collaborator can add a remark without editing the main Note text. Essentially, the label feature is a persistent search. We can list arbitrary labels to apply to any given note. As soon as we do, the labels panel is updated with the name of the label and the number of notes that use it. Selecting a label from the panel open a search result, listing the approptiate notes.

Whenever some bit of data comes along, and I need a place to tuck it away, I can pull up my Google Notebook and bang it in. Later, if I want to transfer the data to another artifact, up comes the Notebook, and out goes the Note.

Plain-old weekly text files do provide one great feature: Auto-archiving. Each week, I opened up a new text file and started with a clean slate. With the Notebook, I may need to do some occasional housekeeping to keep my data stream tidy. Film at 11 …

If you have any Google Notebook experiences, or PIM stories to share, feel free to post a comment!