Jeff, a hard-working 1L law student with a heart of gold, is burning the midnight oil again working on a paper for tomorrow morning.

At 2:13 AM, as he reaches over to take a sip from his third cup of coffee, he accidentally knocks it over, spilling the contents all over his MacBook.

AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

F&#*ING PIECE OF $#!+!!!

His paper, due at 9:00 AM, is gone, along with dozens of essential papers and notes.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of personal photos lost, never to be seen again.

Thousands of songs, some of them actually legally purchased, made up his carefully crafted iTunes collection, which now needs to be rebuilt from scratch.

He doesn’t have the several thousands of dollars in cash that it would take to professionally recover the data.

…But wait a minute…

Jeff is actually fine. He knows how important it is to back up his files, so he has his hard drive cloned using SuperDuper on an external Western Digital Passport, and he’s been emailing updated drafts of his paper to himself on his Gmail account every 30 minutes.

Things certainly could be better. His laptop is toast, and that will cost a thousand bucks to replace. He’ll be working out of the school’s computer cluster for the rest of the semester until he saves up to buy a new one.

But things could also be MUCH worse.

If you’re thinking this won’t happen to you, think again. From my days working IT as a university student, I know that laptop hard drives fail, on average, within two years of purchase. It’s happened to me and almost all of my friends who use laptops.

How do we keep this nightmare scenario from happening?

Back up your files.

You’ve heard it before, several times. Now it’s time to do it.

It isn’t that hard. It’s not as simple as putting on your seat belt, but it’s close. Once you have the backup hard drive and the software, you’re all set.

Which brand for a hard drive?

Western Digital and Seagate have outstanding reputations. I’ve also seen consistently solid reviews for LaCie.

I use a Western Digital Passport with a USB 2.0 cable. (Having a Firewire drive makes things much faster.) It has worked well for me for 3 years, even before I had Time Machine, and it is small enough to fit in my pocket.

Just make sure your backup drive holds more space in GB than your laptop or desktop drive.

*NOTE: Windows users can go here or here for software recommendations.

Time Machine Or Cloning?

I used to use Time Machine, but I recently dumped it so I could clone my hard drive. SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner both create “bootable” exact backups of your laptop hard drive. This means it is a 1-to-1 copy with the operating system installed and everything. If your hard drive dies, you can plug in the backup and run your computer off of it.

For me, cloning was a more important feature than having several updated versions of certain documents (which is Time Machine’s specialty).

Technically, if you really want to, you can use both a cloning program and Time Machine. All you need to do is buy a large enough hard drive and “partition” it (split it into two separately dedicated sections). But I won’t go into more detail here.

SuperDuper Or Carbon Copy Cloner?

I’ve heard that Carbon Copy Cloner is very reliable.

I have personal experience with SuperDuper, and I recommend it. Apparently it is better than Carbon Copy Cloner by a hair, and costs a bit more, but I made the investment because I didn’t want to scrimp when I backed up my files.

With an 80 GB laptop hard drive and the Western Digital USB Passport mentioned above, the entire SuperDuper backup took about 3 hours.

Can the backup drive go bad at the very moment I need it?

This rarely happens. And this discussion can quickly devolve into increasing paranoia about how many backups you need and what happens if they all get lost in a fire.

You could get that unlucky once in your life, but you probably won’t, so that won’t be addressed here.

For 99% + of the cases, having one backup and regularly checking on the health of your primary hard drive will be enough.

How do you check up on your hard drive’s health?

• SMARTReporter: This freeware app, once installed, automatically checks on your hard drive and alerts you with a color-coded icon. Green means good, gray means unknown, and red means failing. Simple and useful.
• MainMenu: Another freeware app that can be easily set up to perform maintentance tasks, repair disk permissions on your hard drive, and clean out cache on an automated schedule.

So go back up your files NOW! Protect yourself!

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I have a confession to make.

My favorite birthday memory of all time is NOT time spent with family. It’s not even a great gift I received.

It was the year I successfully extracted the audio from U2 – Rattle and Hum and burned it onto an audio CD.

I had prayed for this for years, and I knew it had to be possible because it was just a matter of converting digital formats, but I had no clue how the hell to do it. But hearing the final product play gave me an intense high that Thomas Edison must have felt when he finally put together the working light bulb.

U2′s Rattle And Hum film, to quote an anonymous Amazon review, has “definitive live versions of several songs ONLY on this film,” including Sunday Bloody Sunday (with Bono’s furious “Fuck The Revolution” speech the day of the Enniskillen bombing), Where The Streets Have No Name (with the insanely epic intro), Bad (with the Rolling Stones snippets), and With Or Without You (with the solo and extra verse), none of which are on any officially released CD.

Lance Armstrong (via Twitter) recently declared it “seriously badass” and “highly recommended.”

In my opinion, it’s their true Greatest Hits, capturing the band live in their heyday as they dominated the late 1980s. And being able to finally hear it at will, whether in my car or on my iPod, makes life much, much better.

So what about you?

Do you have a great live concert or stand-up comedy DVD that you want to listen to in your car, but can’t because it was never released on CD?

Do you want to capture your favorite musical on your iPod in its uncut glory because the CD soundtrack doesn’t cut it?

Do you want to make a dent in your queue of marketing DVD trainings by listening to them on the go instead of sitting down and watching them?

For Mac users, you have a couple of options.

You can pay $25 for a program like DVD Audio Ripper for Mac that’s super-fast and customizable.

Or you can do it yourself with 2 free programs in about an hour.

Since the former approach needs no explanation, let’s focus on the latter.

What You Need

• A decent computer running at least OS 10.4 with a DVD-ROM drive (CD-burner optional)
• About 2 GB free on your hard drive per DVD ripped. (You can always delete the original files and free up 95% of that space for later but you’ll need it to upload the files).
• OSEx for Mac (DVD Ripper, copies DVD raw audio files called .VOB and converts to .AC3)
  - FREE
• MPEG Streamclip (Audio converter, from .AC3 to .AIFF) – FREE
• iTunes (Converts from .AIFF to .MP3)

INSTRUCTIONS

Once you download and install the 2 programs, put in your DVD and run OSEx.

Using 0SEx (estimated time = 20 – 30 minutes)

OSEx UI

*Turn off your Airport (or other) Wireless Card and shut off as many background applications as you can. This will free up the machine’s resources to focus only on ripping the DVD, which will make the process faster and the results more accurate.

Leave the following on default settings:

Ti = Title (Default, main feature selected)
Ch = Chapters (Default, all selected)
An = Angle (Default, angle 1 selected)

Change the following settings:

Vid = Video Streams
UNCHECK #1, which is checked by default. We don’t need any video streams, just audio.

Aud = Audio Streams
ONLY leave the 2-channel (2ch) audio stream checked; this is normal stereo. UNCHECK the 6-channel (6ch) audio stream; this is surround sound and unusable for our purposes.

Sub = Subtitles
UNCHECK all subtitles; not needed.

Fmt = Format
CHECK “Elem. Streams,” which is the SECOND choice from the top; this converts DVD audio files (.VOB) into AC3 streams, thus saving us an entire step. (The default choice, “Prog. Streams” on top means leaves the .VOB files as they are and would require an extra program and step to complete the process.)

Seg = Segment
CHECK “Chapter,” which is the SECOND choice from the top; this uses the DVD chapters so you don’t have to manually split one giant file into 20 smaller ones by eyeballing it. The default choice on top is “Title,” which leaves the entire Title feature as one enormous AC3 file.

Then click “BEGIN.” You’ll have to choose a name and directory, and I recommend leaving it on the Desktop.

Since we unchecked all the unnecessary junk, the AC3 file should take up about 150 MB instead of 4 GB.

Using MPEG Streamclip (estimated time = 15 minutes)

File menu > Open Files…

Find the AC3 file for the first DVD chapter in the directory, presumably on the Desktop.  If you can’t select it because it’s grayed out, then change the option from “Video Files” only to either “All Files” or “Audio Files” so you can select it.  Then click “Open.”

Click File > Export Audio…

Choose either AIFF or MP3 and then OK.

Personally, I prefer to leave them as AIFF for now so I can burn them onto a CD at the highest quality possible or back them up before converting them into lower quality MP3.

You’ll have to do this MPEG Streamclip step for each AC3 file you have, one at a time.  Sorry that part’s a repetitive pain, but it’s really not that bad: it’s 15 tedious minutes for a lifetime of enhanced enjoyment.

The AIFF files can take up to 1.5 GB of extra hard drive space.

Now you can import the files into iTunes and burn the CD or convert to MP3 or any other supported audio file. You’ll have to insert the Artist, Album, and Name tags manually, but again, it’s not that difficult.

Burning From iTunes (estimated time = 10 minutes)

As I said before, burn the CD in AIFF quality BEFORE you downgrade the quality to MP3, because once you lose the AIFF’s you can’t get them back without starting over from the very beginning.

When burning the CD, I always recommend using “Disc-At-Once” (DAO) mode instead of “Track-At-Once” (TAO) because DAO allows you to play the songs “gaplessly” with no silence, clicks, or pops between the tracks. This is especially important in a live DVD recording.

Here’s 2 steps to make sure that happens correctly.

1. Highlight All Tracks And Mark Them As A “Gapless” Album
Highlight all the tracks, and go to “Get Info” by either Ctrl-clicking or on the File drop-down menu. It may ask if you want to edit the info of several songs at once; click yes.

In the “Multiple Item Information” window, you should see an “Options” tab all the way on the right next to “Sorting.” Click on it, and on the bottom check “Gapless album: Yes.”

Gapless Album

2. When Burning, Choose “Gap Between Songs: none”

Gapless Burning

Converting AIFF Files To MP3 (estimated time = 10 minutes)

If you prefer Apple’s proprietary AAC format, feel free to use that. But I recommend MP3 because it is accepted as the compatible standard by a wider variety of audio players than any other format.

• Go to iTunes > Preferences > Import Settings.
• For Import Using, select MP3 Encoder. For Setting, select Custom…
• For Stereo Bit Rate, select 256 kbps, then underneath check “Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding” and click OK.
• Select all songs to convert.  Then, Go to Advanced > Create MP3 Version, and you’ll have a duplicate copy of each AIFF file in MP3 format.  This will save up space if you want to store it on your iPod.

And now you’re done. Congratulations! Enjoy your soundtrack like you’ve never been able to before.

(And then go ahead and delete the AC3 files and the AIFF files to save space on your hard drive for the next DVD audio rip.)

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If you are happily using Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari for your OS X browsing needs, do you need to bother trying out any other browsers?

Software-savvy forum users are quick to point out that you’re missing out by not trying Camino, Opera, Flock, or Omniweb, depending on their particular poison of choice.  And they usually make convincing arguments…

But to the unconverted masses who haven’t yet sampled these or other underground browsers, you’ll probably find them unnecessary.

Good enough is good enough, assuming your needs are met. Having to download a new program and fumble around for a week until you get the hang of it is a pain in the ass start-up cost that isn’t justified unless you’re:

• A bona fide computer geek and a compulsively up-to-date maven.
• 110% certain, based on reviews and/or word of mouth, that it serves a useful function (preferably several) that isn’t being met with your current set-up.

For me, the leap from Safari to Firefox was justified. Firefox is open source, it has so many incredibly helpful add-ons, and it has worked for me since Day 1. Plus it also felt cool to leap on when I did, which was a little before “everyone else” found out about it.

Now, Camino, for instance, has its fans as the “faster, lighter Firefox native to Macs that won’t leak your memory.”

And I’ll believe that. But in my experience, Camino wasn’t noticeably faster than Firefox on my 2007 standard MacBook with 1 GB RAM, and it has limited tab capabilities (explained below).

But I’m not here to waste your time complaining about an otherwise very good browser; I’m here to make a recommendation that I believe is useful and unique enough for most users to try out.

Flock Browser, called “The Social Web Browser,” is my recommendation for 4 reasons:

1. The best social media integration
2. Useful features that actually work
3. Fully functional tabs
4. Aesthetics (obviously subjective and not essential from the standpoint of function, but a visceral part of the experience that makes me feel glad I put in the time to try this browser out.)

Flock Social Media Internet Browser

The Best Social Media Integration

Social media integration is Flock’s unique selling point. No other browser comes close to Flock in allowing one user to log into multiple social media services simultaneously, to save the log-in information for future use, and to transfer content quickly and easily between them.

The default services bookmarked in a brand-new copy of Flock are more than any one person uses, including (but not limited to) Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, WordPress, YouTube, Digg, Delicious, Flickr, and Photobucket.

The collapsible sidebar running down the left side of the browser window is where the integration magic happens. The sidebar shows you all of the services you are currently logged into, and it allows you to toggle between them with a click. You can also update Facebook and Twitter statuses from here.

Useful Features (That Actually Work)

• Blog Editor that beats the web-based user interface at WordPress.org. It looks like a simple text editor with 3 view modes: plain text, source code (HTML, etc.), and a real-time preview that doesn’t require a save and refresh.
• RSS Reader, fully powered and customizable, which allows you to organize your feeds as you wish and view any simultaneous combination in a number of different possible layouts.
• Photo Uploader that plays well with Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, Tinypic, and others.
• Favorites that can be programmed to automatically synchronize with web-based Favorite services like Delicious.
• Web Media Clipboard where you can copy and paste various file formats to post later.

It’s worth noting that none of these features come at the expense of raw browsing power. Flock is based on Mozilla’s Gecko engine and is open source, so it has a great foundation and is subject to rapid improvements.

Flock also has an enthusiastic and expanding fan-base. Its strong brand loyalty encourages frequent constructive feedback and decreases the likelihood that the browser will collapse any time soon.

Fully Functional Tabs

I need to click-and-drag tabs at will (although fans of Leo Babauta’s The Power of Less know that this is not conducive to maximum productivity).

Firefox and Safari let you do this, but Camino does not. Flock gets points for allowing it.

Also, I have become dependent on Firefox’s “Recently Closed Tabs” tool, in the History drop-down menu, on a daily basis. (In Safari, it’s “Reopen Last Closed Window” under the History menu.) It’s as amazing as the Command-Z “Undo Typing” option.  Lacking this feature is a deal-breaker for any browser I am considering.  So Flock rocks for including this feature the exact same way it appears in Firefox.

Aesthetics

A note on tab appearance (my apologies for being a tad tab-crazy).

I absolutely loved the way Firefox 2 looked on OS X — plain and bubbly.

Firefox 2 for Mac

Unfortunately, Firefox 3′s tabs are squared off and metallic with engraved text, copying the tab style from Safari 3. (This is before Safari 4 went postal and split the application title bar into tabs.)

Firefox 3 for Mac

So Flock’s plain bubbly tabs, which are reminiscent of Firefox 2, are a hit with me.

Any Complaints? Yeah, I have 2:

1. Lack of Multiple User Profiles: I use the web for different functions, including work & blogging, procrastination, and allowing friends to browse without accessing my history, cache, cookies & passwords. I prefer managing multiple user profiles in Firefox, one for each purpose. Flock currently lacks such an essential feature, which is surprising considering the security risks inherent in having all your passwords logged in simultaneously in your lone existing browser profile.
2. Lack of Video Compatibility: I couldn’t catch my missed episode of 24 last week from Fox.com because their video player is only currently compatible on OS X with Firefox & Safari.

So if you’re intrigued, go give Flock a spin right now and leave your thoughts and rants on Flock in the comment box below.

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Apple prides itself on building computers that work perfectly the very first time you take them out of the box.

That being said, there’s also a wealth of free, useful programs available for download on the Internet.

Here’s a list of 15 apps that can make your life a whole lot easier.

(And by the way, if you just scanned the list and perceptively spotted 16 instead of 15, that’s because Perian and Flip4Mac are grouped together here as one collective tool instead of two separate ones.)

WEB BROWSING

Even if you’re completely satisfied with Apple’s stock Safari browser, you may want to consider rival Firefox along with its younger cousin, Flock.

• Firefox: Mozilla’s open source project that took the world by storm in 2004, Firefox is still fast, powerful as ever, and customizable with useful add-ons.
• Flock: This “social web browser,” also powered by Mozilla and championed by a rabidly growing fanbase, streamlines and connects all of your separate social media accounts, including (but not limited to) Gmail, Twitter, WordPress, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Digg.

VIDEO PLAYBACK

QuickTime Basic, which comes pre-installed on all new Macs, unfortunately can’t play most video formats besides MOV and MPEG. A tag-team of two plug-ins (Perian and Flip4Mac) fixes this problem, as does the stand-alone player VLC.

• Perian: The self-proclaimed “swiss-army knife for QuickTime,” Perian supports many video formats including AVI, DivX, and XviD.
• Flip4Mac: Allows WMV (Windows Media Video) files to be supported in QuickTime.
• VLC media player: This open-source, stand-alone application plays all the same audio & video files supported by QuickTime (including Perian and Flip4Mac) and then some. Interface includes playlists, shuffling, and a volume control that goes up to 300%. (That’s right, Spinal Tap fans: this one goes to eleven.)

INSTANT MESSAGING / PHONE

• Adium: The gold standard of instant messaging on the Mac. This program is the “Trillian for Mac.” It connects with multiple protocols including (but not limited to) AIM, MSN, Jabber, ICQ, Google Talk and Yahoo.
• Skype: Allows you to make phone calls over the Internet using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Calls to other Skype users are free, calls to landline and cell phones cost a small fee. Other features include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.

WORD PROCESSING / OFFICE SUITE

• NeoOffice: The most stable, most compatible free alternative to Microsoft Office out there. There is no true substitute for Word-Excel-PowerPoint, but if you’re on a tight budget or just waiting for the real thing to ship, NeoOffice can do the trick in a pinch.

BACKING UP FILES

• Carbon Copy Cloner: Literally “clones” your entire hard drive onto the backup drive. If anything happens to your regular hard drive, you can boot your computer off of the backup created by Carbon Copy Cloner. (You can NOT boot off of a backup made by Apple’s Time Machine.) He asks for a donation of $5-$10, but the download is free. You’d be hard pressed to find a better backup system without paying a lot more.

FILE TRANSFER

• Cyberduck: The best free FTP client for Mac. Also handles SFTP, WebDAV, Cloud Files & Amazon S3. Some users prefer Fetch (not free) or FileZilla, but Cyberduck gets the vote here.

EXPANDING / DECOMPRESSING FILES

• UnRarX: Expands RAR files. Has a reputation for successfully handling files that competitors StuffIt Expander and even The Unarchiver cannot.

DVD BACK-UP

Interested in backing up your legally purchased DVDs before your younger brother gets scratches all over them and you have to repay for your entire collection?

• HandBrake: Highly reputable DVD ripping program. More powerful if VLC media player (featured above) is also installed.
• Burn: This versatile program burns DVD, audio CD, MP3 CD, DVD-audio, VideoCD, and DivX discs.

BIT-TORRENT CLIENTS

• Transmission: Lightweight, open source BitTorrent client. Bare-bones in terms of customization, but completely functional and very easy on system resources. First-time torrent users can navigate intuitively.
• Azureus (now called Vuze): Powerful, resource-intensive BitTorrent client. Lots of options for expert customization, and better than Transmission for private trackers. Potentially difficult for the newbie, though.

SOFTWARE UPDATE / VERSION TRACKER

• AppFresh: What good are all these cool programs, anyway, if they’re gonna become obsolete in months, if not weeks? Enter AppFresh. It automatically checks for application and widget updates.

Go test out one of these, and respond with your feedback. Happy computing!

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