Backup that boot drive

I am posting this so that my process may either inspire or save someone from hours of work.

On my system I use a 120GB SSD for OS and Apps, data and all other items are stored on secondary hard disk. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make backups of my SSD onto an inexpensive USB external HDD.

Yesterday my Mac locked up and when rebooted would not load, took SSD out and could not mount it on my MBP or MacMini, couldn't mount it on Windows7 to even reformat it. Its under warranty so no beg deal there, I have a spare HDD and restored my backup clone to that drive and I was up and running except for a few small things that need to be done.

What could have been hours of down time was mitigated by keep an up to date clone of the boot drive. It only takes about 20 minutes to clone your boot drive. I do it when I go to lunch and its done.

Enjoy

related link - free software

http://www.bombich.com/

Baofeng UV-5R

As others have said, this cannot be compared to other HT's from the big manufactures. this must be compared with other HT's that are $52 with free shipping and come with all the accessories. once you do that you will find that this unit is a great value and works very well. I have a Quansheng TG-UV2 and the USB programming cable worked with this radio.

Read through the reviews and you will see some mixed experiences with this radios, weakest part of this radio is the antenna, if you are going to buy one of these get the SMA Female to BNC adapter and use a better antenna. the programming cable will make programming the radio easier but it can be done without it, some videos on youtube on programming the radio will help with this.

iPad 3rd Generation

The new iPad 3rd Gen has been announced and I have mine on order, I skipped the iPad 2 knowing that Apple would do something like this with the high res display and quad core A5X chip.

In addition to the new iPad, Apple has released iOS 5.1 and some OS X updates as well; the good news is that with iOS 5.1 we can now edit delete photos in photo stream.

Head over to Apples to site for all the details

iPhone 3Gs white screen of death

I dropped my iPhone on my desk and it seemed to be fine, when I plugged in head phones I noticed the screen was all white, the phone was still working so I figured it was something software related, did a reboot and the phone was working only until it when to sleep and then white screen, doing some google searches reveled that its a LCD issue with 3Gs iPhones.

The fix is to replace the LCD display, if this is something you are not comfortable with then you would need to take it get fixed or sell it on ebay and get a new phone.

I replaced the LCD myself, $18 off Amazon for a working replacement, replaced LCD and all is working again. Instructions for replacing the LCD are on youtube.

I would rate this repair a 3 out 5 for difficulty, 1 being easy and 5 being very difficult.

iPhone 3G and 3GS AT&T GoPhone (no contract account)

I have tested this with a iPhone 3G and 3GS, it should work with an iPhone 4 but I do not have theAT&T version to test, this will not work with a Verizon iPhone.

Very simple and affordable way to use your iPhone off contract. you do not need to jail break your iPhone or unlock it.

here is what you need and the steps

iPhone 3G or 3GS (Maybe iPhone 4, not 4s)

AT&T GoPhone SIM card (I got mine from Amazon for $3)

Active the SIM card by going online or customer service, they will ask you for the SIM card ID and the EMI number, I had an older AT&T phone so I gave them that or you can just tell them you do not have one yet. Do not give them the iPhone EMI number.

Place SIM card in iPhone and it will search the network and you should be ready to go, you will need to fund your GoPhone account from your credit card and then you will be able to go online and by services.

In most cases the data plan will work but you will need to create a custom APN setting for it, just go to http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/ on your iPhone (make sure you are connected to the internet through WiFi) and select the Cingular APN for iPhone. once you have done that turn off WiFi and test the data.

Thats it, no jail breaking or unlocking, My GoPhone account is setup with 10cents per minute and 10MB of data, I don't use this as my primary phone much and just wanted an iPhone for some data.

Post a reply of your experience

OSX software update 10.7.2 and iOS 5

Some are reporting problems but I have had no issues with 10.7.2 on my MBP or my wife's MB, on Hackintosh 10.7.2 works great but you will need an updated Chameleon boot patched to work with iCloud and FaceTime.

Having no issues with iOS on our iPhone 4 and iPad, iCould works but really needs some improvement, I am not sure I am liking the photo stream yet as you cannot delete just one photo from it.

Windows 8 Developer Preview

Downloaded and installed on my backup machine. install process is very simple and typical of Windows but after that, things are very different. You configure your computer much like a Mac and once that is done you are no using Microsofts Metro interface, this interface is designed for touch devices and the look and feel is not that good, clunky and messy. This is a developer preview so I am sure the release version will  be much different (it better be). I was able to learn the new OS with in 20 minutes and navigating around you can find all the familiar tools and things that you have in Windows 7. I installed apps that I use and a click on the desktop in metro brings me to a familiar windows desktop. boot time is ver fast compared to Windows 7 and all my hardware was found and working.

Note:
I installed this on my older laptop and it did work but the graphics experience was slow and lagged, better use a new PC if you want to check this out.

I recommend you install this onto a different hard disk and keep your main OS intact as this OS may not be stable enough for long time use.

If you want to see it without installing it (recommended), go to youtube and watch some videos on it.