Storage Instructions. The exegesis of James.
The exegesis of JamesArchive for Techno Tip
Techno Tip #2 – Phoenix Freeze
Yay, it’s time for… dum dum dum… TECHNO TIP number 2! *cue applause*
Okay, yes, I am lame. I know. Oh well. :D
Right, so the this week’s techno highlight will be looking at a software called Phoenix Freeze and it’s a pretty nifty little concept. What this program does, is that it basically turns your phone into a proximity “key” for your laptop and it all works through the magic called bluetooth, which means it will work with any bluetooth enabled phone (so any N-Series, E-Series, iPhones, G1 and pretty much every other “recent” phone in existence).
Phoenix Freeze is designed to automatically lock your laptop when you walk away from it, and to unlock your laptop automatically when you return. This means that your family can’t sneak into your Facebook account and change your status when you leave your laptop to go and get some tea – which is pretty cool :) It is really simply to use and all you have to do is install the program and then pair it with your phone (don’t worry if you don’t under this, just follow the on-screen instructions and make sure the bluetooth on your phone and laptop is turned on). Once this has been done, then when your phone is 3m (or whatever distance you choose to set) away from your laptop, your laptop will automatically lock itself or go into “green” mode which will save power. When you re-enter the room and is within 3m (and whatever distance you choose) of the laptop again, then everything will log back on automatically. It’s just like magic. There’s no fuss and no delays.
Or so they say.
Testing it myself, it hasn’t been as smooth as they claim but it has worked pretty well. It locks when I leave my room, but it doesn’t always unlock when I enter it, so I have to unlock manually using my account password. Also, unless you’re a fairly light user, leaving your bluetooth on the whole day does drain the power off your phone and laptop, and there’s also the problem of someone getting hold of your phone and then having complete access to your laptop. So basically, I’m not sure how practical this program is, but it definitely has a cool factor, is very nifty and can certainly be very handy. It all just depends on your priorities I guess :)
Techno Tip #1
Okay, so James’ techno tip of the week is DROPBOX.
Basically, Dropbox is an synchronization program which syncs files from your computer to an account on the internet. Now, most of you would be going “that’s nice, now why would I care about synchronization?”. Well, here is scenario 1; you need to access some files at varsity, but it’s on your home computer and you just can’t get it. Scenario 2, the printer at home has problems so you have to email your essay to your Gmail, so you can print it at varsity.
Now, this is where Dropbox becomes extremely handy. What it does is monitor a specific folder on your home computer and it syncs whatever files are in that folder, to an online account. All you need to do is paste your files (word documents, photos, music, whatever you want) into that folder and then it will sync it automatically. So for example, all I have to do is copy and paste my essay into that folder on my home computer and then I can access my essay at varsity by simply logging onto my Dropbox account at UCT. Simple, not so? Give it a try, it’s very good, and very simple to use – and it also does a lot more than what I just described.
Storage Instructions. The exegesis of James. 