Create Your Own Cloud with Opera Unite

 by Scott Nesbitt - February 14, 2010

Cloud computing. It’s one of the big buzzwords in the tech world. And whether you’re excited by it or turned off by it, cloud computing has the potential to change the way we use our desktop computers, laptop computers, and netbooks.

The idea behind cloud computing is to move applications off your desktop and on to the Web. That opens a very large digital can of worms, though. While you get access to your favorite applications no matter where you are, your information is in someone else’s hands. You don’t get much control.

Why not create your own cloud? Under normal circumstances, this is difficult even if you have experience programming Web applications. You can do the deed on your desktop computer or laptop computer for free using the Opera Web browser and a feature of that browser called Opera Unite.

What is Opera Unite?

A feature of Opera version 10 or later, Opera Unite is a file and application server. Whereas a traditional server can be difficult to set up, you can get up and running with Opera Unite with just a few mouse clicks. More on this in a moment.

Using Opera Unite, you can share files and collaborate with anyone. And, for the most part, they don’t need to be using Opera. The files and applications that you’re serving can be accessed with any Web browser.

With Opera Unite, you get a a unique URL that gives you and your collaborators access to your Opera Unite server. With Opera Unite, you can:

• Share files and photos
• Run a basic Web server
• Have instant messenger chats
• Play music files on your computer
• Share notes
• Back up files
• Use Twitter

And more.Note: If you have more questions about Opera Unite, you might want to check out the very detailed FAQ.

How does it work?

Opera Unite is built into the Opera Web browser. You need to enable and configure it. That’s a surprisingly simple process that only takes a few clicks.

To get going, download and install Opera. Start the browser and then select Tools > Opera Unite Server > Enable Opera Unite. This will start a wizard that will walk you through the process. Two things you’ll have to do are sign up for a My Opera account and create a name for your computer.

Your Opera user name and computer name identify your PC to the DNS server run by the folks at Opera Software. The DNS server directs all traffic  to your Opera Unite server using a specific URL. When you or your friends want to access the Opera Unite server that you’re running, you’ll type http://yourcomputer.yourname.operaunite.com – for example, http://zen.scottnesbitt.operaunite.com.

If you want to stop Opera Unite, click the Unite icon in the bottom left corner of the browser window and select Stop.

It’s all about the applications

You’ve got Opera Unite running. Now what? The best place to start is with the built-in applications. You can access these applications by clicking the panel button in the top left corner of the Opera window, and then clicking the Opera Unite icon (the third one from the top).

There are six applications bundled with Unite:

• File Sharing – exchange any type of file with your friends and colleagues
• Web Server – host a Web site
• Messenger – exchange text messages with other people in the My Opera community
• Fridge – A collaborative sticky note system
• Media Player – Play the music files on your computer, anywhere you are
• Photo Sharing – Displays a directory of your photos as a gallery

By default, the applications aren’t running. You can start them by double-clicking the application in the panel.

Remember that you can make the applications visible to everyone, or just give selected people access. For the latter, Opera Unite assigns the application a password. You might want to change that password – the default is four or five characters. Not the most secure passwords around.

I usually use the File Sharing and Media Player applications the most. But to create your own cloud with Opera Unite, you can install any of the available ones from the Opera Unite Web site. There were only 42 applications out there at the time this TechTip was written, but there probably will be more coming down the pike in the near future.

Applications: interesting and useful

Not every application will be of use to everyone. Here are a few of my favorites.

My business partner and I have different schedules and work in different parts of the city. A lot of our collaboration and brainstorming takes place online. When we brainstorming ideas, the Whiteboard application comes in handy. It lets us sketch out ideas and add corrections or comments. All without getting marker on our hands or shirts.

While the File Sharing application is good, it’s download only. I often work away from my home office using a netbook. Running Opera Unite on my main computer with the Document Sync and Document Courier applications, I can exchange files between the computers and synchronize any changes. Sort of like the online file sharing services that were covered in a previous TechTip.

Like everyone else, I have a lot to do. Keeping up with all of those tasks requires a lot of work on my part. The Task Manager application makes that a lot easier. I use it as a simple online to-do list, and often share it with my wife so we both know what we’re up to and can fit things into our schedules.

Finally, as someone who co-owns a small business I often have meetings with multiple people: my business partner, people I’m collaborating  with, clients and prospective clients. It’s tough to nail down a date and time where we can all meet. That’s why I find Meet so useful. It’s a meeting calendar, but one which allows invitees to vote on the date and time of a meeting. It sure beats juggling a bunch of emails and phone calls .

If you want to install an application, find it at the Opera Unite Web site, (in Opera, of course) and click the Install Application button.

Final thoughts

Opera Unite is definitely useful. In the short term, it might not replace your favorite desktop or Web applications. The lack of applications available for it could be a turn off. But remember that Opera Unite hasn’t been around for all that long. Its application ecosystem is small but it is growing.

In fact, it might be the start of the next step in using the Web: giving the average computer user a quick and simple way to create their own little clouds.

5 Essential iPod Touch Apps for the Mobile Geek

by Scott Nesbitt - January 31, 2010

The iPod Touch is more than just an MP3/MP4 player. And it’s far more than just a crippled iPhone. It’s a portable entertainment center, and a powerful tool for the mobile worker.

The key to the latter, though, is finding the right apps. Many of the applications for the iPod Touch that are available through Apple’s AppStore are fun. There are some that are … well, they’re interesting. Others are downright useless.

The apps that this TechTip covers are perfect for the geek on the go. They range in price from free to under five dollars. Best of all, they can keep you productive and connected.

 
Echofon

If you use Twitter, you’ve probably noticed that many tweets are sent from mobile devices. I’ve tried several Twitter apps for the iPod Touch and the best by far is Echofon.

Like any other Twitter client out there – whether for smartphones or a desktop computer – you can use Echofon to view tweets from the feeds that you’ve subscribed to. You can also view @mentions, direct messages, and any Twitter lists that you follow.  Obviously, you can also post tweets, reply to tweets, and retweet any interesting posts.

The interface is attractive and clean. It’s easy to scroll though tweets and the Echofon alerts you not only to any new tweets and @mentions but also how many of each. While I’m leery of calling any application intuitive, Echofon comes really close. Everything you want to do is a tap or two away. And you pretty much get  used to the interface after only a couple of minutes.

Unlike a number of for-pay apps, Echofon has a free version. The free version has fewer features than the pay version but gives you a good idea of what Echofon can do. If you like it, the full version will set you back $3.99.

Evernote

One way in which two million (and counting) people keep track of information and manage their lives is with Evernote. Evernote started as a desktop application for Windows or Mac OS X. But Evernote also has a Web-based component that you can access using a mobile device like an iPod Touch.

With the free Evernote app, you can read and edit your notes in the Web edition of Evernote. You can also create new notes and even upload images to your Evernote account.

Best of all, if you’re offline and want to write a note you can do that within the Evernote app. Once you’re back online, just tap the Sync icon to upload the note or notes to the Web

Obviously, you’ll need an account with Evernote. A basic account is free, or you can get a premium account (with more storage space and options) for $45 a year.

 
Stanza

Information. People can’t get enough of it. And for many, that information comes in the form of books. When you’re on the run though, carting one or more dead-tree volumes weighs you down – literally and figuratively.

I’m an enthusiastic user of an ebook reader. But sometimes, even that’s more than I want to carry. Luckily, there’s the Stanza ebook reader for the iPod Touch and iPhone.

A free app, Stanza offers the closest thing to print-quality text on a screen that I’ve seen. Unlike many dedicated ebook readers, it also has a backlight which allows you to read in low light.

Using Stanza is simple. Just choose the book that you want to read from the ones that you have on your iPod Touch. Once it’s loaded, tap the screen to turn the pages. You can change various aspects of the text – including font, color, and the amount of space between lines. You can also bookmark pages that contain interesting information.

On top of that, Stanza supports a variety of ebook formats. (Note: the reader can’t open ebooks that are protected by DRM.)

How to get books onto your iPod Touch? You can try transferring them from your computer to the device, but that process can be more than a little cumbersome. Stanza does include links to several sources of ebooks online – both free books and ones you have to pay for. You can also download ebooks from Web sites as long as they’re in the ePub format.

Dropbox

You’re away from your computer. But you need that file or document. And you need it now. What do you do? If you use DropBox, you can view that file on your iPod Touch with a couple of taps of the screen.

A previous TechTip discussed DropBox. Just to refresh your memory, it’s an online file storage and sharing service. You upload a file or set of files to DropBox, and you can access them from any computer or device on which you have the necessary software to get to your DropBox account.

You can download the free DropBox app for the iPod Touch from the AppStore or directly from the DropBox Web site. Once you’ve entered your account details, you can view files or upload them from your device with a tap or two. How do you think I got the screen captures in this TechTip onto my laptop?

Of course, you need a DropBox account – you get 2 GB of space for free, and can pay for even more storage. On top of that, you’ll need software to view the types of files – for example, word processor documents or spreadsheets – that the iPod Touch’s built-in software doesn’t support.

Boingo Mobile Client

I’d be lost without wireless – whether in my home or when I’m on the road. While there’s a lot of free wifi out there, there isn’t always a free hotspot where I am. Which is why I have a Boingo Mobile account.

For $7.95 a month, I get unlimited access to thousands of wireless hotspots in over 70 countries. Not that I’ll ever visit all of those 70 countries, but for the two that I do frequent, Boingo Mobile is one of the most useful apps on my iPod Touch. And the monthly fee is about the same as the hourly fee charged by many for-pay hotspots.

The first time you that you try to use a Boingo-enabled hotspot, you’ll have to manually connect to it. You do that by tapping Settings > Wi-Fi and then tapping the name of the network. Once you’re connected, go to the iPod Touch home screen. Tap the Boingo Wireless icon, then tap Login.

If you frequent one or more hotspots, make sure that your iPod Touch is set up to automatically connect when it detects a hotspot. To so that, tap Settings > Wi-Fi, then slide the option Ask to Join Networks to ON. Whenever you need to connect,  Tap the Boingo Wireless icon, then tap Login.

Summing up

The five apps discussed in this TechTip really only graze the surface of the body of apps for the iPod Touch that help make mobile geeks more productive and keep them better connected. They are, though, a great point at which to start building your library of mobile apps.

What apps do you recommend for the iPod Touch? Feel free to leave a comment or to share your favorites in the forums.

Analyzing the Pros and Cons of Switching to Windows Vista.

By Kimmy Powell - Sunday, May 27, 2007

After five and half years of non-stop hacking and patching, Microsoft finally got its act together and released the more security conscious Windows Vista in January 2007. According to Redmond Magazine, Vista is off to a running start, logging in 20 million licenses in its first month of availability and outselling Windows XP in its first two months of existence by 3 million licenses. That should propel any Microsoft fan to run out and snatch up his or her own copy of the vaunted program – or should it? Those numbers include new systems that would have come with one OS or another anyway, and, after all, we are talking about Microsoft, king of the vulnerabilities and patch-as-you-go operating systems. Contrary to what Microsoft would have you believe, old habits die hard.

That’s not to say Vista doesn’t have its positives. Vista is an exciting system to play with and is pretty to look at. However, forget about running Vista on any old machine. You need relatively fresh hardware to get the maximum return on investment out of new products in the Microsoft universe – running the new OS on “minimum” spec systems just won’t do. With our brief introduction over, let’s consider why you would or wouldn’t upgrade to Vista.

What’s In Your Machine?

If you’re running a system or OS more than a couple of years old, you’re a prime candidate for an upgrade. You’re working on, in Vista terms, a prehistoric beast and it’s time to go shopping. The good news is that computers are even more affordable now than they were just a couple of years ago, and you can get a very decent system pre-packaged with Vista for under $500. In fact, the very best way to get started with Vista is probably to buy it pre-installed on new hardware – because manufacturers have huge volume licensing deals with Microsoft, this makes the OS virtually free compared to buying a “shrink-wrapped” version of the OS, which can run upwards of $400 all by itself. Vista may present a bit of a learning curve, but don’t let that discourage you. Overall, Vista is a very intuitive and user-friendly operating system.

Meanwhile, those running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 have a choice. The fact that Microsoft plans to support the XP series for years to come means you technically don’t have to touch anything. If you purchased a new system that promised the Vista upgrade, you could take advantage of that and save yourself a couple of hundred dollars. If on the other hand, as a geek, you feel compelled to venture into new territory, at least run the Upgrade Advisor on Microsoft’s website to determine whether or not your hardware and software meet the compatibility requirements of Vista. Finally, you can adopt the attitude of most businesses – wait until Vista’s Service Pack 1 is released later this year (to address post-release bugs) and then jump.

The bottom line: if your applications run decently and perform satisfactorily, consider waiting. If your hardware rattles and hums incessantly and your applications slow to an unbearable crawl, it may be time to consider an upgrade that might include Vista.

How Much Will It Cost Me?

Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating systems make them the default consumer OS, but Microsoft complicated things beginning with Windows XP. XP was available as a Home Edition, Professional Edition (tighter on security and supports Windows Server domains and dual processors), and Media Center Edition (the multimedia lovers’ dream). These products varied in price from $199 (a verifiable upgrade is $99) for the Home Edition to $299 for XP Professional, and both editions consisted of essentially the same features. If you’re a power user, you probably opted for XP Pro. If you were satisfied with basic word processing and surfing the net, you kept the XP Home Edition pre-installed on your computer.

Fast forward to today and you’ll find that Vista now ships in no fewer than six editions. The barebones packages are Vista Starter and Home Basic, which lack many of the features that make Vista the OS you’d really want to experience. Most notable is the absence of the Aero interface. You’d have to purchase the Vista Home Premium Edition at $235.95 ($159 as an upgrade) to get the maximum bang for your buck. To get each and every feature lauded by Microsoft, you’ll need to purchase the Ultimate edition, which will set you back just over $400. Factor in the potential costs of hardware upgrades recommended by the Vista Upgrade Advisor and a new computer with Vista pre-installed becomes the more obvious money-saving solution!

Features = Upgrade?

By now you’ve read about the many new features offered by the Vista operating system: the animated and more photorealistic graphical interface, 3D task-switching with live content preview, the integrated search capabilities, built-in parental controls and RSS support, the ability to burn your own movies, and enhancements in overall security and performance. Microsoft has even gone the extra mile to make installation as seamless as possible (adopting an image based installation versus the traditional copying of temporary files to the hard disk drive). Porting over to Vista should be a no-brainer, but there are always issues that counteract the positive.

The flip side to getting better tools that will make you more productive is the time and energy you must invest in learning to use them, and dealing with the potential hassles of hardware and/or software compatibility issues. Reaping performance gains require that you invest in the technology (e.g., purchase new hardware or software that Vista supports). And all the security promises? That definitely has improved, but much to the point of annoyance. Vista requests your permission and approval to access underlying hardware resources and to make system changes. It’s possible to turn these notifications off, but first impressions are important, and requiring user intervention as a way to address security does not a happy user make.

Compatibility

Features, security, and super-slick new interface aside, compatibility with your existing hardware and applications should be a key factor in your decision to upgrade or continue to stick with the tried and true XP for a while longer. Reports from computer stores and service depots of people reverting from their Vista upgrades (or new installations) back to solid, working XP installations are commonplace, if not rampant, due to compatibility issues with some previously-working application or peripheral.

The Verdict

While Vista does improve upon previous versions of the Windows operating system, most notably in terms of User Interface (”UI”) enhancements, unless you have a compelling reason to upgrade to Windows Vista, you’re probably better off sticking with Windows XP, at least until Microsoft releases Vista Service Pack 1 later this year. If you’re a technophile or avid gamer, Vista can be a digital dream come true, but you may want to think twice before “fixing something that ain’t broke.”

In the final analysis, it sure is pretty on top, but it appears as if Microsoft may have taken Vista out of the oven a little early – it’s not quite done cooking on the inside yet.