Dave Zatz, Author at Zatz Not Funny!

When Disaster Strikes

As we recently read, Mari’s beloved Asus netbook gave up the ghost. As they are wont to do. After a short period of some basic troubleshooting, she went the practical and conservative, perhaps costly, route of having a technician recover her data. It’s inevitable. Hardware will fail. And we’ve talked backup here several times over the years, so I’d rather now focus on a few (PC) disaster recovery tips.

Assuming you (or your mom, spouse, brother) don’t have a recent disk image or file backup from the impacted system for whatever reason, the top priority is to recover personal data from the drive. If it’s operable. OSes and software can be reinstalled. While videos of your kid are probably irreplaceable.

As Mari’s hard disk was still functional and she had an external optical drive handy, I had suggested booting into some other OS as a means of mounting the original drive and copying her data onto a USB stick. My first thought was for Mari to bring her laptop up with the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD), which contains a variety of useful tools for these situations. However, we were both a bit discouraged when we learned it had to be built off a local Windows XP disc. (I keep a copy of UBCD in the closet for emergencies, along with a few other tools, and I don’t recall how I built or acquired it.) So my next suggestion was to download an Ubuntu .iso – not to install, but to run as a Live CD. I wasn’t certain if it would automatically mount NTFS file systems, but figured it was worth a shot given the zero cost and minimal investment of time to try. But, at this point, Mari was ready to move on to other projects and we never went down this path. I also know there are a few custom recovery/technician sort of Linux builds out there. Possibly including the (skinned?) Geek Squad OS that Best Buy ultimately used to dump her data.

If Mari didn’t live about 2.5 hours away, I would have offered her a variety of drive enclosures and docks to take the Asus hardware entirely out of the equation in recovering her data. My latest addition, the Thermaltake BlacX SATA dock, was acquired about a year ago to recover a family member’s docs from a harddrive containing a corrupt Windows OS install. The dock connects to a good computer via USB and supports both desktop (3.5″) and laptop (2.5″) drives. For $30 or less, it can’t be beat. Optionally, there are a variety of cables that provide the same functionality. (Either would also come in handy for DIY TiVo drive replacement/expansion.)

Installing Google Chrome OS as a Virtual Machine

I’m not quite sure what prompted Google’s Chrome OS briefing yesterday, as we could be up to a year away from retail delivery of their Linux-based cloudbooks. It’s also a bit puzzling that Google would simultaneously pursue two distinct mobile operating systems. (see Android) However, I was looking for a project at 4AM and fired … Read more

What’s next for TiVo?

Over at EngadgetHD, Ben Drawbaugh lays out a case (and wishlist) for the imminent release of new stand-alone TiVo DVR hardware. Given the recent TiVo price drops, upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, and long gestation period since the last hardware refresh (Summer, 2007), it’s not an unreasonable proposition.

However, when it comes to tru2way, the cable industry as a whole isn’t quite there yet. CableCARD separable security was federally mandated, whereas the vision of a universal tru2way infrastructure is merely an unenforceable memorandum of understanding amongst many industry players. Who blew right on past their self-imposed deadline. So any new (imminent) stand-alone TiVo box would either need to forgo tru2way capabilities or remain operable in non-tru2way cable environments.

As far as CES is concerned, I get the sense that TiVo fears any big product announcement would be overshadowed amongst thousands of other companies vying for attention. In the years I’ve been attending, TiVo’s CES presence is usually understated — they’re tucked away off the show floor, in a back room conducting mostly invite-only briefings/meetings. Also, if TiVo isn’t prepared to begin shipping new hardware within a few weeks of a show product announcement, they’d potentially cannibalize TiVo HD sales while customers wait it out. And given timing of the new, super-powered Broadcom chip announcement, I don’t foresee it being implemented anytime soon. (Not that this is/was known to be a TiVo Series 4 component.)

The Nokia Netflix App and $5000 Giveaway

Last month, Nokia published an official Netflix app to their Ovi store for a variety of Symbian handsets. (Joining the official Windows Mobile Netflix app, developed with Microsoft.) Of course you can manage your DVD rental queue, search for titles, and receive recommendations. But, using Flash Lite, movie trailers can also be streamed to Nokia’s … Read more

DISH Network next up with an App Store

Looks like DISH Network is next in line with an app store offering, following in the footsteps of rival DirecTV. EchoStar’s repeatedly delayed Slingbox-loaded 922s DVR, now slated for delivery “early next year,” will provide access to a variety of home grown and third party apps. The SDK and API has already been made available … Read more

AT&T & Apple Should Halt US iPhone Sales

Based on my personal experiences, and tales of the blogger elite, from where I’m sitting it appears that AT&T’s inferior 3G data network is oversold and oversaturated. When airlines are oversold, impacted customers are compensated. But when it comes to mobile access, we’re all locked into two year contracts and there is no recourse for … Read more

Sezmi Launches LA Pilot, Lands $25M

Given a year of radio silence, I’d assumed Sezmi had gone the way of the dodo Akimbo and Moviebeam. However, after speaking to president and co-founder Phil Wiser last week, it seems they’ve quietly been working deals, raising new capital, and refining the Sezmi experience. And, today, they’re launching a public pilot in Los Angeles. … Read more

Do you want a Chumby? Or a Smartphone?

I’ve been percolating a post on iPhone software enhancements I’d like to see rolled out as part of a 3.5 OS update. However, my requests are largely unchanged from the shortcomings I described back in January. And thanks to the Chumby One previews popping up across the blogosphere, we can focus instead on my top … Read more