HerringLaw: Civil Rights & Discrimination Law in Iowa

How to get files onto your iPhone [esp. the 3G S]

I needed to get some files onto my iPhone 3G S so I could travel with them and read them.  Not so much edit them, although some programs do the same.  My main issue was this, could I put files on my iPhone for later reading fairly easily?  And for access without needing to be on WiFi to access the data. The answer is yes, but it depends on the application you're working with.  I tried several, and here is my quick review of them [all are available at the iTunes Apps store, some for free]:

Air Sharing:  A great program which allows you to move files through the Finder's Connect to Server method or using Bonjour.  Once you have the iPhone on your desktop, just the same as any other disk, you can click and drag files and folders to it.  I had better luck with Bonjour, but they're all there and readable. Nothing fancy but very straightforward.

I used Evernote and SugarSync and put documents in them, but they require WiFi to access the documents in their respective clouds in the sky.  Good programs and lots of features to justify using them. Both of them [and Dropbox] allow people to have 1-2 G of space free to access, which is a great way to share files and materials.  But WiFi is needed to access the data, which is not what I wanted.

I had data in Tripit.com and TravelTrackPro and both showed up fine on my iPhone, without wifi.  Not all the files I wanted, but the trip details came through just fine.

Discover, DataCase and FileAid all seem good, but I had trouble accessing them to place files on the iPhone.  My understanding is that Discover does need WiFi but Datacase and FileAid do not, once the documents are on the iPhone.  SavySoda's Document requires WiFi as does Documents2.

I tried FilesLite which is a free version of Files.  Both take in and display the data [Files will allow some other features but the free version is just fine - other than my data is now in the free version and I'm not able [as far as I know] to easily move it from Lite to Files.  Plus the uploading of the documents is only one file at a time [whereas Air Sharing just lets you click and drag to it].

There's also ZumoDrive, which operates somewhat like Evernote, SugarSync and Dropbox, but I had some problems placing some files on it and had found other options, so didn't go further.  It seems to operate like an iDisk, as it mounts on the desktop as a Device.

Right now my vote is for (1) Air Sharing and (2) Files.  Both at the iTunes App. Store.

Amendment:  I stand corrected = I just used Cyberduck and WebDAV access [you can 

also use Bonjour] and did a simple click and drag to the phone....all 

is well!!!

Sometimes even Duplicate backups don't pull you through!

Read this on another list.  A sad tale of lost data despite the person's having two methods of backing up.  Murphy's Law truly exists

"I went on vacation and upon return the server storing the file "died" because of a defective hard disk rendering the data inaccessible. At the same time, believe it or or not, the backup NAS storage device (4 hd, raid w/parity) suffered a physical defect also rendering the backup data inaccessible. The data on the server is gone for good, as the drive is fatally dead,non repairable and beyond any hope. The NAS backup has hope left"  

And, fortunately, maybe 'only' 2-3 months of data is gone since the file was sent 2-3 months ago to someone else to work with.

So, it may not be enough to have two backups after all, particularly not of essential data.  

IT'S UP TO US!!

Robert Reich explains it all.  "WHAT CAN I DO???"

Someone recently approached me at the cheese counter of a local supermarket, asking "what can I do?" At first I thought the person was seeking advice about a choice of cheese. But I soon realized the question was larger than that. It was: what can I do about the way things are going in Washington?

People who voted for Barack Obama tend to fall into one of two camps: Trusters,who believe he's a good man with the right values and he's doing everything he can; and cynics, who have become disillusioned with his bailouts of Wall Street, flimsy proposals for taming the Street, willingness to give away 85 percent of cap-and-trade pollution permits, seeming reversals on eavesdropping and torture, and squishiness on a public option for health care.

In my view, both positions are wrong. A new president -- even one as talented and well-motivated as Obama -- can't get a thing done in Washington unless the public is actively behind him. As FDR said in the reelection campaign of 1936 when a lady insisted that if she were to vote for him he must commit to a long list of objectives, "Maam, I want to do those things, but you must make me."

We must make Obama do the right things. Email, write, and phone the White House. Do the same with your members of Congress. Round up others to do so. Also: Find friends and family members in red states who agree with you, and get them fired up to do the same. For example, if you happen to have a good friend or family member in Montana, you might ask him or her to write Max Baucus and tell him they want a public option included in any healthcare bill.

New Feature of the iPhone 3G S - Searching

This is a great new feature.  I wanted to find an email from my daughter and put her name in and up popped all the emails to and from her.  Better yet, I wanted to know if I had an application on my iPhone that would provide translation when overseas...put the root of the word "transl..." in and up popped two apps that did that..great feature!!!  

Informed Comment: Iran's Situation

Informed Comment Shared via AddThis -  Jonathan Lyon's discussion of the religious history of Iran and the contending views of clerics and how they view the 'Supreme Leader' - recommended reading

With the supreme leader’s address to Friday prayers in Tehran affirming the election result and warning protesters to stay off the streets, it is hard to see how the protests can end in anything but a violent crackdown. Any move in that direction will certainly increase the pressure on President Obama, now chiefly from the neo-cons but likely to spread, to “do something” to support the protesters. In the current circumstances, however, any White House response is virtually certain to backfire and will only entangle the United States in a struggle it cannot see or fully understand. The West must not allow itself to be so destracted by the political street theatre in Iran that it falls back on its default position – that the end of clerical rule is at hand.

It would serve us well to remember Iran, like it or not, is a sovereign country and the last time we 'meddled' with such a country in Iran was and is a disaster.  And we might want to remember what has happened in this and other countries when we've tried to insert ourselves into political issues in another country.

Salmon, grilled by Mark

If your favorite celebrity were coming to your house for dinner, what would be the main course and why?
Submitted by Noshtopia

 My husband grills a mean salmon and it's delicious and good for you as well.

Amazing feat of Technological Wizardry...

Not my brilliance, but the brilliance of Mac OS X [although I am sure there is a way to do this with other systems, I don't know about that but just learned and did this] and it just blew me away.

I have a MacPro and an iMac that is just running but not being used [getting ready to clean it off] and needed to get some information on it to work with.  A few days ago, a friend of mine [CWSmith, who handles Win & Mac service and repair here in town] showed me how to use Screen Sharing rather than pulling in the computer onto my desktop.

What Screensharing does is it allows you to share the screen of the other computer on your own and work on the other computer as if you were sitting in front of it, doing your work there.  So, I had the data on my MacPro and wanted to work with it on the iMac so I opened screen sharing and pulled in the view of the iMac's monitor.  Thus, I'm sitting at my MP and looking not only at its desktop but also at the desktop of the iMac [I can go inside folders as well, though I don't need to do that].  I did a reverse connection from the iMac to the MP and saw the folder I wanted on the desktop and clicked and dragged it to the iMac from the Mac Pro.

President Obama's speech in Egypt, conclusion

Meaningful & well said.

All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort - a sustained effort - to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.

It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples - a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us, "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."

The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.

How to get rid of those pesky & dangerous CFL light bulbs

Having a couple to toss I checked with Iowa DNR and online.  You can drive way out to Bondurant to the recycling center there or, better yet, go to Home Depot and dispose of them there:

At each The Home Depot store, customers can simply bring in any expired,
unbroken CFL bulbs, place them in a plastic bag and deposit them both into a collection
unit. The bulbs will then be managed responsibly by an environmental management
company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to maximize
safety and ensure environmental compliance. Customers will be able to locate the CFL
receptacle on the front end of the store near the entrance, by the Returns desk or near the
exit doors inside the store.

Go to the Home Depot Eco Options page for further information.

and yet another backing up alternative!

Crash Plan

Seems like a really easy and useful idea, particularly for those things you keep forgetting to plug in and backup [such as laptops and the like].

Again:  it's not a Q of when your data will go 'poof' - it's when.

[GREAT discussion of pros and cons of online backup, in a movie format: Movie about online CrashPlan]