One of the great privileges that come with the “virtual office” lifestyle is the ability to travel whenever and wherever you want. One day you could be in Thailand, and the next you’re in Costa Rica. And your employers don’t care where you are, because you do all of your work over the Internet. Life is good. But with this privilege, also comes risk. Carrying a laptop makes you a prime target for theft. And, because laptops tend to get thrown around a lot, they also stand a greater risk of damage than a desktop PC would.

That’s why, in this article, we’ll give you some basic telecommuter-specific advice for picking an online backup solution that will help protect the data on your laptop while you travel.

Look for point-in-time file recovery features

When most people think of online backup, they imagine simply sending their files away to some far-off server on the Internet. But there’s a bit more to online backup than just off-site file storage.

If you accidentally write over an important file or get a computer virus, you need a sort of “digital time machine” that will allow you to roll back to a previous version of your data. This way, you can recover your file from the way it was this morning, or yesterday, or even a week ago.

This is why it’s so important to pick a solution that maintains several file versions into the past.

Keep your “data loss window” to a minimum

Regardless of which method you choose for data protection, there will always be a small risk of data loss. The trick is to select a method that keeps that risk down to a bare minimum.

If you perform your backups every day after work, you potential window for data loss would be roughly 24 hours. If anything should go wrong at 4:30pm, you would lose an entire day’s worth of work. Not good!

One way to minimize this risk would be to select an online backup service that uploads your data continuously… every time you save a file. By doing this, you risk losing only a few minutes of work in the event that something bad should happen. This is much less painful than losing an entire day.

Pick a solution that protects you both online and offline

One of the biggest concerns that we hear from telecommuters and travelling businesspeople is that they don’t always have convenient access to a reliable Internet connection. Although this might’ve been a problem 5 or 6 years ago, online backup has changed a lot in recent years to accommodate business travelers.

Today, there are solutions available which – in addition to storing your data online – will also create a local hard drive partition for your backups. This way, you can still backup and restore your data when you’re off-line.

And as soon as you connect, these systems will instantly synchronize with the backup server. It all happens in the background, without having to lift a finger. (Easy is good)

Pick a solution that can minimize your bandwidth usage

Internet connection speed is a major concern when it comes to backing up data for business travelers. That’s why you should look for a solution that offers “block-level” incremental file uploads. With block-level upload technology, the backup software will analyze all of your files to see what has changed since your last update, and it will only upload that portion of the file.

This technique is so effective that it can often reduce your bandwidth usage by up to 90%.

Pick a solution that’s easy to use

This is the most important feature. There’s no point in having a backup solution if you’re not going to use it.

Any service you select should be very intuitive and user-friendly, and they should offer fast, friendly support if you have any questions.

If you’re a telecommuter who works from the road or abroad, these 5 features should be a good starting point in selecting an online backup provider that’s right for your needs

About The Author

Storagepipe offers online backup and backup software that’s designed for small businesses and telecommuters.

Today Google Docs team released 20 Wedding planner templates. Wedding templates will help you easily estimate and track your wedding budget, collect addresses for invitations, compare vendors and much more. Google Docs team has also teamed up with StyleMePretty.com, a popular wedding blog, to add tips from wedding experts to each template. StyleMePretty is also hosting a sweepstakes and asking engaged couples to share their wedding planning experiences. One randomly selected winner will receive free consultation with celebrity event planner Michelle Rago and a $500 gift certificate to Wedding Paper Divas.

Google Docs : Planning a Wedding Video

Google Docs Wedding Album Template

Google Docs : All in One Wedding Planner Template

Google Docs : Wedding Address Book Planner Template

Google Docs : Wedding Write your vows Template

Google Docs : Wedding Gifts and Favors Template

Google Docs : Wedding Hotel Blocks Template

Google Docs : Wedding Guest List Template

Google Docs : Wedding To Do List Template

Google Docs : Wedding Seating Chart Template

Google Docs : Wedding Music List Template

Google Docs : Wedding Day Schedule Template

Google Docs : Wedding Reception Menu Template

Google Docs : Wedding Photographer Template

Google Docs : Wedding Write your vows Template

Google Docs : Wedding Gift and Favors Template

Google Docs : Wedding Hotel Blocks Template

Google Docs : Wedding Choosing your florist Template

Google Docs : Wedding Invitations/Stationery Template

Google Docs : Wedding Dress Template

Google Docs : Wedding Choosing a Venue Template

Google Docs : Wedding a Cake Template

Google Docs : Wedding Makeup Artist / Hair Stylist Template

Google Docs : Wedding Caterer Template

Google Docs : Wedding Entertainment/DJ Template

Google Docs : Wedding Videographer Template

We define a computer as a device which is used to help us out performing some computational jobs, many of you will be raising your eyebrows as the usage of computer extends to listening to music, downloading albums, watching movies and many other entertainment purposes too. We know players such as the default Windows Media Player, VLC Player and Real Player and what are their strengths and weaknesses. They are sufficient to fulfill most of our needs but do they provide everything you need? Perhaps you should look at some media players like Audials One to answer this question.

Features At a Glance

• Find, listen to, record, manage web radio, get MP3
• Music Search Engine
• Find, subscribe and download podcasts
• Find, record and convert music videos
• Use the wish list community
• Copy and convert DRM-protected music and audio books
• Record and convert web videos

Audials One Features

About.com calls the media player as a ‘Digital Swiss Army Knife’ for downloading free and legal media with large set of tools. We were initially concerned about how they can manage such large set of tools, but after installing we found that they were quite intuitively arranged with tabs located at the tops named Radio, Search, Wishlist, Web, Podcasts and Converter. Lets discuss them one after another.

Radio

It has a radiotracker that connects to a large number of radio stations with its huge database. You can listen to your favorite radio station based on your favorite requirement such as genre, favorite stations and wish list. I hear you saying what is so big with that, there are many many softwares available for that. Yes, but its specialty is that you can also record the audio output to MP3 format. Coool! isn’t it?

Search

The Search facility gives you access to a meta search engine only for music and videos. Isn’t it exactly what you were wanting? I just searched for Bob Dylan and it gave me results within seconds and there you can see my favorite song “Blowing in the Wind” from esnips – Exactly what I was searching for!

WishList

Make your wishlist and it will search for the songs when it is available.

Web

This feature lets you record audio and videos from Websites. Select a particular portion on your browser and it will record the videos that are being played in that portion. I could imagine nothing simpler.

Podcasts

A few days ago, there was two podcasts came at the same time and I had to make my mind that I would load this one first and not that one next. But it seems that now, it is not necessary to make the sacrifice. The podcast in Audial can record multiple audio streams in parallel and making the efficient use of your time and bandwidth. If the URL isn’t already present in the database, you can simply add the URLs to the list by clicking on the button.

Converter

The converter is really a bonus for media player but when we used it we did not get the quality that a full fledged converter could deliver. The conversion quality was not satisfying and also it seemed to take too long when converting the files in our Intel Dual Core system with 1GB RAM.

Pros

• Impressive UI
• Wide range of tools
• Price seems to be a value for money for this ‘Do it all’ Application

Cons

• Video Conversion quality not up to the mark
• Though tools are intuitively organized, it is sometimes difficult to find them
• If you want a single feature of this application, the price may seem expensive.

Conclusion

What we all want is to set music free. Audial exactly hits that target. With its access to over 20K internet stations and international video, music and podcast portals, you get the entry to a free entertainment world you were looking for. You can also convert the media to the format you want removing the annoying DRM copy protection. After using the using the players like Windows Media Player, VLC Player and Real Player.

As the size of hard drive is double in every two years , computers users and business storing huge amount of data in their computers , laptops and storage devices. what if data storage device is crashed or stolen ? To handle these type of situation online data storage becomes very handy and cost effective. There are many online data storage services available and it is not possible for me to write about these services in a single post so i am starting series of online data storage services.

According to wikipedia

A remote, online, or managed backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files. Online backup providers are companies that provide this type of service.

Online backup systems are typically built around a client software program that runs on a schedule, typically once a day. This program collects, compresses, encrypts, and transfers the data to the remote backup service provider’s servers. Other types of product are also available in the market, such as remote continuous data protection (CDP).

eSnips provides 5 GB of free online storage. Here you can not store files but you can also share Your thoughts,Files and documents,Pictures and photos, Video, Music and voice, Entire folders ,Snippets from the web ,Entire web pages ,Links And even create your own voice & video content online.eSnips allows you to create folders to organize files and helps to decide which folder to keep private, which to share with a select group, and which to publish and share with the world. eSnips is not just for storing file online but it also allows you to promote your business by setting up marketplace at esnips.com. 

The eSnips Uploader is the quickest way to upload files, record and publish audio and video, and save web snippets and pages. The Uploader also includes a Toolbar you can use in a bunch of cool ways.

Mozy offers 2 GB of free data storage. If you need more space to store then you can go for MozyPro option ,in that you get unlimited storage. One interesting Mozy offer is Automatic or scheduled backup, just tell MozyPro when to perform your backups. Automatic is the simplest method in which backups are performed while your computer is not in use. Scheduled backups can be performed daily or weekly at a specified time of day. All files are encrypted before sending to backup servers and can not be copied or  downloaded by unauthorized users.

Image Source  : blogsolute

Microsoft planning to launch Windows 7 on 22 October 2009. Apply online to host a Launch Party. Choose a day from October 22-29 and if you’re selected, you’ll not only receive a special Signature Edition of Windows 7 Ultimate but your very own Windows® 7 Party Pack.

It’s a global Launch Party. Windows 7 Launch Party. Be there!

If you are looking for a free copy of Windows 7 and living in US then this might be a good opportunity for you to get a free copy of Windows 7 professional. Microsoft is hosting The New Efficiency launch events in 25 cities between September 28, 2009 and November 9, 2009 for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Exchange 2010. All attendees will be receive a free copy of Windows 7 Professional. The events are targeted at IT professionals (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Exchange Server 2010) and developers (Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2).

The following session tracks will be offered at the launch events:

• Developer Windows 7 Track (9:00am – 11:35am):
  • Optimizing Your Application for Windows 7
  • Creating New and Exciting Users Experiences – Part 1
  • Creating New and Exciting Users Experiences – Part 2
• Developer Windows Server 2008 R2 Track (9:00am – 11:35am):
  • Windows Server 2008 R2, What’s New and What’s Changed
  • Windows Server 2008 R2, Build Solutions that Scale Beyond 64 Processors
  • Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise Network Solutions
• IT Professional Windows 7 Track (1:15pm – 4:45pm):
  • Introducing Windows 7 and the Windows Optimized Desktop
  • Make People Productive Anywhere with Windows 7 and the Windows Optimized Desktop
  • Manage Risks through Enhanced Security and Control with Windows 7 and the Windows Optimized Desktop
  • Streamlining Deployment of Windows 7
• IT Professional Windows Server 2008 R2 Track (1:15pm – 4:45pm):
  • What’s in Windows Server 2008 R2 for IT Administrators: A Technical Overview
  • What’s in Windows Server 2008 R2 for IT Administrators: A Technical Overview Part 2
  • New Server Deployment and Migration
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Virtualization Technologies – Savng IT Costs
• IT Professional Exchange 2010 Track (1:15pm – 4:45pm):
  • Introducing Exchange Server 2010
  • Exchange 2010 Voice Mail enabled by Unified Messaging
  • Exchange 2010 High Availability and Storage
  • Exchange 2010 Archiving and Retention

Find an event near you!

• Atlanta – September 28
• Baltimore – November 9
• Boston – October 5
• Chicago – October 20
• Cleveland – October 12
• Dallas – November 4
• Denver – September 24
• Detroit – October 28
• Houston – November 9
• Kansas City – November 4
• Los Angeles – October 28
• Miami – September 24
• Minneapolis – September 24
• New York City – October 20
• Orange County – October 26
• Philadelphia – September 28
• Phoenix – September 28
• Pittsburgh – September 30
• Portland – October 14
• San Diego – October 26
• San Francisco – October 20
• San Jose – October 5
• Seattle – October 12
• St. Louis – November 9
• Washington – November 4

Registration for all these events is completely free so you only have to pay your travel expenses.

Adobe started two new open source framework projects to help media companies and publishers to build rich Adobe flash Applications. On Tuesday Adobe announced the availability of  Open Source Media Framework and Text Layout Framework.

Open Source Media Framework

Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) is an open software framework for building robust, feature rich video players and applications based on the Adobe® Flash® Platform.

OSMF reduces the complexity of player development, allowing the developer more time to focus on the overall user experience. OSMF’s flexible architecture allows the developer to easily customize their player for the browser or the desktop, incorporating plug-ins for advertising, reporting and content delivery along with standard player features such as playback controls, video navigation, buffering, and Dynamic Streaming. The OSMF media framework can be integrated into your own custom applications using the simple API, or you can deploy the ready-to-run dynamic SWF player without compiling or writing custom scripts.

Open Source Media Framework version 0.3 is now available.

Please review the Downloads page for an explanation of the different downloads available.

More downloads

Text Layout Framework

The Text Layout Framework is an extensible ActionScript library, built on the new text engine in Adobe® Flash® Player 10 and Adobe AIR 1.5, which delivers advanced, easy-to-integrate typographic and text layout features for rich, sophisticated and innovative typography on the web. The framework is designed to be used with Adobe Flex® or Adobe Flash Professional and is included in Flex 4, code named “Gumbo”. Developers can use or extend existing components, or use the framework to create their own text components.

The Text Layout Framework and source are bundled with the Flex 4 SDK. See the Flex SDK page

AWS Start-Up Challenge 2009

Amazon is looking for hottest and coolest startup or startup ideas for their AWS startup contest for year 2009. Developers and entrepreneurs from United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Israel are eligible for entering in AWS startup challenge contest. AWS startup challenge winner is going to win  $50,000 in cash, $50,000 in AWS credits, mentoring sessions from AWS technical experts, and AWS Premium Support Gold for one year.

How to Enter in AWS Startup Challenge?

By filling this online application form before August  26, 2009 you can enter into AWS startup challenge. The judges will review all applications and choose 5 finalists based on the following criteria: originality and creativity of the idea, likelihood of long-term success and scalability, how well it addresses a need in the marketplace, implementation of payments functionality, quality of presentation, and implementation of AWS infrastructure services and/or other paid services.

In October, the finalists will be announced and Amazon is going to post a video of each finalist on AWS Website where the community can vote for their favorite start-up as they prepare for the final judging round.

New Bonus Award for 2009

The AWS Start-Up Challenge finalist with the most creative monetization model using Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) or Simple Pay from Amazon Payments will receive $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in Amazon Payments credits. Also, all finalists using these payment services will receive $2,500 in Amazon Payments credits and will be included in various promotional activities.

See the Official Rules and Prizes for more information.

This is the first time in India when people can watch Indian union budget online. Economic Times of India is going to use Microsoft Silverlight Technology to stream live Indian union reported by Vasudev.

According to Vasudev

The event will be hosted at

http://budgetlive.economictimes.com You can also get minute-by-minute update and live news feeds if you are interested in specific parts of the budget. Powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight, users will get to watch a high quality video stream on the web- like TV, only significantly better.

Nautanki.tv is also streaming India Union Budget 2009 live in association with UTVi and Facebook. The live stream is scheduled for two days – 5th of July (prelude) and 6th July (main event).

You can watch the live stream here also

Gmail team has added some cool feature to Gmail. Some days back Gmail team has added some new buttons and new key board shortcuts to Gmail and today they added drag and drop, show and hide features to Gmail labels.

Gmail labels get a new location in Gmail they will sit in left side in your Gmail inbox.  Labels are now located above the chat list in Gmail, grouped with default labels like Inbox and Drafts

Hide and show:

If you have labels that you don’t regularly click on, you can hide them so they only appear when you click the “more” link. That way, your left navigation  is only filled with labels you consider to be a priority. Show, hide or delete labels by clicking the down-arrow to the left of a label.

To make changes to multiple labels at a time, go to the “Labels” tab under “Settings” where you can edit labels in bulk.

Drag and drop
You can now drag messages into labels, just like you can with folders. This does the exact same thing as “Move to” — it labels and archives in one step.You can drag labels onto messages too. It’s the same thing as using the “Label” button. To label or move many messages at once, first select the messages and then drag and drop the label.