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Mozy - all backed up and no data to show

May 4, 2007 – 9:36 pm

We’ve been trialing the new Mac version of Mozy - the online backup and storage system for a week or two and my initial impressions were favourable, but something appears to have gone alarmingly wrong.

I’ve always had my doubts about using an internet based service over a standard broadband account (actually ours is rather fast) due to the length of time it would take to upload a serious amount of files.

It has taken a week of off peak uploading to get several gigabytes onto their server, but we’ve persevered.

Until today that is. It appears that all bar a couple of hundred megabytes have been lost.

I immediately emailed Mozy support, and several hours later I got this response:

“We had something go wrong with one of our backend servers that requires that you back up several of your files again.

Mozy should be able to re-associate some of your files with what is currently on our servers which will speed up your backup.”

Quite what this means, I don’t fully understand. It is onerous to put it mildly.

So are they saying that my week’s backups are lost? Or some of them? Have they lost my files?

I’ll keep you posted with their response. One thing’s for sure, I have no intention of having to upload everything again.

In every other way Mozy had impressed me.

But to me, a backup service losing a clients data is akin to a bank losing their customer’s money. You’d think your data was rock solid - going nowhere. It will be interesting to see where we go from here.

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By Clive | Posted in Backup | Comments (3)

Copper Project - Project Management review #2

April 27, 2007 – 9:34 am

On paper, Copper Project from Australian developers Element Software has it all. It has everything we could wish for from a content management system.

We took a look at the $29 a month hosted (or $499 download for your own server) versions.

This is a fully featured system. A great deal of thought has gone into what’s needed in a system and they have all the elements in place.

There’s an excellent multi project overview in the “Springboard”. Here you can see the progress of your various projects and the current tasks within those projects.

You go to the clients section to drill down into the various projects that you’d be doing for a client. Each client is split into Projects, Files and Contacts.

Your Projects section at the top level gives you an overview of the status of each project and the tasks contained within. Clicking on a project and you have various options as seen below:

Interestingly within this section you have gantt charts, displayed in Flash, complete with dependencies. Whilst this is a commendable idea, I found the gantt chart fiddly to operate and mildly confusing, so in the end I didn’t bother with them, which was a pity.

Copper Project also offers a Calender which can start to look a little confusing with you have a lot of information stored in it, a little work on the interface would improve things immeasurably.

There’s also a Contacts facility which seemed to work very well, and very useful it is too.

All in all, this system has pretty much everything I am looking for. It is fully featured and in the main well executed.

So the downside? Again, as with so many web applications, lack of personalisation means that you are stuck with the colour palette the developer chooses. Blue in this case.

I found entering task information to be a bit cumbersome - as a company we are entering tasks all the time. I’d like to be able to enter a task as soon as I enter a project, not have to go through the menus.

My biggest problem with the $29 a month system is that I cannot import or export my information. I’m damned if I am going to enter 5,500 contacts one by one into the system.

I’d also say that the pricing and what you get for your money is confusing. $29 a month buys me a 10 user “Standard 2007″ system. $99 buys a 50 user “Corporate 2006″ system. Why do you get a 2007 version for less money, what’s the difference between the two packages? All very confusing.

That said, Copper Project is an very well featured product, and if I could get around the import/export problem and ease the entering of tasks, then I could quite easily switch from our Basecamp/Highrise setup.

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By Clive | Posted in Business, Project Management | Comments (0)

Project Management Review #1 - Project 360

April 25, 2007 – 2:42 pm

I thought I’d start with a lesser known web application for my review of project management.

Project 360 claims to have “all of the features you need and none of the features you don’t. It makes your life easier and your work more efficient. ”

Well I can certainly say that it has some features that I do need - eg gantt charts (although this is one of the system least impressive features). But just how usable is the system?

It is very pastel and grey in appearance. I have no problem with the design per se, but one of the biggest bugbears I have with some applications is the lack of personalization and that appears to be the case here. At the very least I’d like some color palettes to play with.

That said, the system is very easy to use and seems quite responsive. It is easy to figure what goes where and what to do without having to resort to the user manual.

There seems to be a couple of fundamental points that would stop me using Project 360.

1. No way of importing information. Unfortunately this is often the case with web applications - developers take note!!

2. No way of exporting information. This is more serious: let’s suppose we enter a mountain of information, and then six months later decide to move to another application. Well you can export all the data, it is effectively locked in.

3. Lack of personalization

All in all, Project 360 is a good product, that with a few extra bells and whistles could be a great product. But there’s nothing here to sway me away from our existing set up.

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By Clive | Posted in Content management | Comments (0)

Interactive floor plans without the bulky software.

April 25, 2007 – 9:40 am

Want to change the layout of your kitchen? Perhaps you’re thinking of adding an extension to your house? floorplanner.com could be a solution to figuring out exactly what should go where.

This site allows you to create and share interactive floor plans for your living or working space. It’s very precise - you can get everything marked up to within a centimetre of what you require. It also includes template furniture and other typical items found in the home or office which are also resizable, with options of textures and colours to give you complete control over the environment you are building.

floorplan

It’s really like those plans you get at the back of the Ikea brochure, but with more control and no scissors required.

Joining is a easy and you can begin for free - they allow you to have a project with 1 floor. You can save up to 5 different designs. If you need more you can pay 29 Euros for pretty much unlimited amount of floors and rooms on two projects. I imagine you’re unlikely to need more.

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By Chris | Posted in Project Management | Comments (1)

Project Management web applications - quest for the best

April 25, 2007 – 8:21 am

We make no secret of it, we currently use Basecamp for managing our various clients and projects. And for the main part, it does the job. We have a system that we can feed projects, milestones, tasks and time. We use a number of different contractors and freelancers who are based in various locations, and the system allows us to collaborate.

It isn’t perfect. In fact, if I am totally honest, it is far from perfect. We’d desperately like to see some Gantt charts. I’d love to be able collaborate on a calender from within the app. There’s a whole host of features that are missing - but according to 37 Signals this is intentional - they want to avoid creating “bloatware”. Just the basics, and done well. And in that respect they have achieved that.

But deep down, I want more. I want more features. I want the gantts. I want the bloat, dammit!

So with this in mind I have decided to road test various project management web applications, and I will be posting the reviews here. The first, Project 360 will be here shortly.

And lets see if we can release ourselves from Basecamp’s vice like grip.

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By Clive | Posted in Business | Comments (0)

Basecamp 2 - the sequel? Or just a dressing up?

April 24, 2007 – 9:18 am

37 Signals are masters of generating a buzz about their applications, and there’s no better example than the way they feed users of their various applications previews or teasers of features they are working on.

They built anticipation of Highrise up to fever pitch, and only 30 days after that product’s launch they seem to be turning their attention back to their flagship product, Basecamp.

But what was most interesting about the article on their blog was the screenshot (below). The title of the site is clearly marked as Basecamp 2. 37 Signals wouldn’t have put that there if they didn’t want to tease you.

So, I think we can safely assume that Basecamp is coming up for an overhaul. Lets just hope that overhaul includes some much needed integration with their other applications such as Highrise.

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By Clive | Posted in Business, Collaboration | Comments (0)

Eyejot - One giant step for email?

April 24, 2007 – 7:24 am

Eyejot - a web-based video email system which is simple and intuitive to use. It’s got a good look, with Flash based video, it’s very quick and it’s free. The beauty of this kind of system is that once you have an account and have added a few contacts it’s easier than leaving a voicemail message with only a few clicks from beginning to end. The quality of the video and sound is high.

There is also the option of downloading an Eyejot widget that you can place on your blog or MySpace page.

As opposed to videoconferencing, which requires people in different locations to take part at the same time, this system allows users to view the video when they choose. If you need to send someone a video message on the other side of the world - be it for family or business then this is surely the way to go.

Perhaps the only real issue that users may have to consider is what the camera reveals in the background.

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By Chris | Posted in Video | Comments (0)

Coghead - the next generation of web applications?

April 23, 2007 – 4:16 pm

It seems that the first generation of web applications has hardly been upon us whence along comes an application that will surely form the advent of a second generation. The site makes me very excited indeed.

It has just come out of beta, and I urge you to take a look. In their own words: “A simple, powerful new way to create web-based business applications that can be used by anyone, anytime, anywhere! Coghead is the one do-it-yourself web application platform that can handle all of your projects from beginning to end.”

Essentially, this is a do it yourself web application. You take the features you need, discard the ones you don’t. Need a feature that isn’t there already? You can write it yourself and share it with other cog head users.

The application looks good (albeit if a little blue, and I couldn’t find how I could change the color settings) and works well although it launches in a pop up window and rather frustratingly you cannot see the status bar.

It is not so much what it is now as what it could potentially become. If the future of web applications doesn’t take its lead from this enterprising company, I’ll be very surprised indeed.

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By Clive | Posted in Business | Comments (3)

Mozy - all backed up and no data to show

Copper Project - Project Management review #2

Project Management Review #1 - Project 360

Interactive floor plans without the bulky software.

Project Management web applications - quest for the best

Basecamp 2 - the sequel? Or just a dressing up?

Eyejot - One giant step for email?

Coghead - the next generation of web applications?

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