Mozy Beta for Mac Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

I've been waiting for this since I heard that Mozy was coming out with a version of their client that'll run under OSX, although I was slightly sceptical about how well something ported from Windows would manage. After all the "look and feel" of OSX is radically different from Windows, but while it isn't Delicious Library, it does look like they've built their Mac client from the ground up and not attempted a straight port. Well done to Berkeley Data Systems, you just figured out a crucial point a lot of companies miss, Mac users like their software to look like it was written for a Mac.

Basically, as Ars Technica says, this is what .Mac backup should have been. In fat you have to ask yourself why Apple, with access to the OS at a level no third party vendor could possible hope to match, and with .Mac integrated directly into the system preferences, didn't do this first?

Update: The bad news? It doesn't work, at least not for me. The Mac Mozy application hangs during configuration as it rummages around on my disk indexing all my Microsoft Powerpoint files. The response from customer support was less than helpful, which was surprising, I guess I've got used to really good customer support from all those small Web 2.0 start-up companies that are really interested in their product and how you interact with it...


After setup it just hangs trying to index things...
Update: Well, it sort of works. Somehow I managed to get it past the hang by mucking around deleting preference files and other stuff you really shouldn't have to do, and managed to do my first backup. Except I don't trust it, after running for a couple of days now its continually mis-reporting the number and size of the files its sending for backup. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence that my files would be there if I needed them. So in summary, looks good, but not quite there yet. Like the customer service, I guess those pesky Web 2.0 start up companies have left me wanting more from a 'beta'.

A second office? Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

I nice to see that I'm not the only one to think that the Air Canada lounge in Vancouver is actually pretty civilised, it looks like Tim Bray thinks so too...

Two dollars to the pound... Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Reaching a twenty six year high the pound broke the two dollar exchange rate barrier today. Which possibly means that it's actually cheaper for me to get to New York than it is to get to London, and it'd certainly be cheaper to eat out once I arrived. Time to draw up a big shopping list for my next trip Stateside...

Update: Of course if you live State-side you might not be as happy about things, well, unless you're trying to sell your product in the UK. I'm sure if I'd done a lot more economics that I have done, the idea of using a fluctuating exchange rate to try and figure out what the demand curve looks like for your product wouldn't be such a novel idea. But as it is, I thought Joel Spolsky's derivation of his demand curve was a pretty cute trick...

Live(ish) from the Web 2.0 Expo Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

So I'm sitting in my office in Exeter watching Eric Schmidt giving his keynote at the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco via a Skype call from John Taylor who is sitting in the Moscone Centre. I think I'm more impressed with this slight of hand than I should be...

Live from San Francisco...

I guess I owe John a beer, after all he's currently sitting in the keynote with his Macbook Pro on his lap turned the wrong way around so I can see Eric talking using the built-in iSight. It's not exactly life casting? Anyway, Eric is talking about some good stuff here so I'm going to stop typing and listen...

Update: If I hadn't been listening to it live, I could have blogged it first. Nick Carr has more coverage of Google's acquisition of Tonic Systems.