Jana Borst – Breaking Windows

In Data Recovery

Why You Need to Have a Data Recovery Software

May 13, 2021 No Comments

You need to use data recovery software on your computer if you’ve ever had a PC crash or had your data lost and cannot access it. It’s crucial to be able to retrieve the lost data. So, are you in dire need of data recovery software but are unsure where to begin? This article can help you.

All the Information You Need

It’s easy to lose data as we all make mistakes. Even the slightest slip while uploading or when downloading a file can result in lost data. For instance, what was done five years ago might be completely different from the version that is present on your computer today due to some changes in the hardware. Therefore, you need to have data recovery software to make sure that no problems arise.

Many options

There are many pieces of data recovery software available for purchase and download on the Internet. However, it’s important to remember that not all of these work in the same way. There are many different types of software, and each one is designed to do a particular kind of data recovery. Hence, you must know which program will help you achieve the results that you require.

For specific tasks

If you wish to recover data from a lost USB drive, then the software designed specifically for this task is the way to go. You should check that the program you’re looking at can recover data from hard drives with physical issues such as bad sectors per track. This is particularly important if the drive is formatted and the data has been lost due to formatting.

If so, the program you’re looking at must be able to recover data from the hard drive without making any mistakes. Otherwise, you’ll simply be wasting your time. The program must also be designed for your operating system only.

Operating system

If you have a PC or laptop that has suffered some kind of logical damage (for example, if your PC has gotten infected with spyware), then the best data recovery software for you will be the one that supports the majority of operating systems on the market. This doesn’t mean that you should only buy recovery software for Windows. The program should be able to run well on any version of Linux. It’s also worth keeping in mind that Macs use a different file system than PCs, so it’s important to make sure the data recovery software you get works on this platform as well.

Patience is key

Once you’ve found the program you can trust, you must be a patient when you are recovering your lost data. This is because the more times you can look for the data, the higher the chances of you being successful.

It’s important that you don’t panic if you’re unable to recover all of the data right away. You’re going to have to invest some time in recovering the files, but it’s definitely worth the effort when you find all the data that you need. Just be patient!

Ways in which the software can work with your data

You might be wondering how you can get the data recovery software to work with your data. There are many different ways you can do this. For instance, you can purchase a program that comes with an online service that will help you to retrieve all of your lost data.

You can also pay for data recovery services that will allow you to access their massive database and help you with your data recovery efforts. If you’re a bit savvy, you might even be able to find an older version of data recovery software that you can use to get the job done.

In Conclusion

If you need to use data recovery software to recover lost data, it is time to act fast! Don’t keep waiting any longer. Otherwise, you have the chances of losing even more data. If you’re lucky, you’ll have minimal lost data (maybe just a few pictures or a small amount of other unimportant data). If you’re not so lucky, you’ll likely have lots of lost data.

In Games

A Delicious Request

May 11, 2021 No Comments

The other night I was adding new games to my Delicious Library (Library) when I found a game that was indeed in the Amazon.com library, but was not showing up within Library (which uses Amazon.com). I thought it would be great if I could do a lookup in the Title field of Library of the ASIN number. This would undoubtedly pull in the correct info.

I sent out an email to the Delicious Monster folks at 8 PM. By 11 PM I got this reply:

Voila, it is so. You can type in an ISBN or UPC or ASIN into the field under Title and Creator.
It must have been a server side change because I did not have to download a new version of Library. Indeed, when I did a lookup of the game’s ASIN, it pulled the data right in.
That was quick service, if you ask me. And one more reason I just love this app.

In Windows

Happy Birthday Breaking Windows!

May 2, 2021 No Comments

Can you believe it? I have been blogging for 2 years now. I must say that the blogging community is a great place to be part of, I have met really great people just through blogging.

So much for this site being about “A Mac User in a Windows World!” From here on we are “Rants & Raves by Ken Edwards & Matt Paprocki.” Since rantsandravesbykenandmatt.com is a rather long URL, we will keep this domain, its catchy, and its been here for 2 yrs!
The most I do with Windows these days is fix someone’s PC from the trials and tribulations of spyware hell.

I no longer have a PC, and I am very happy with that. When I need Windows I now use Virtual PC 7. It is just so therapeutic to quit Windows and put it out of sight when not needed (which is 99.9% of the time).

The site will still contain a healthy portion of Mac news and reviews – don’t you fret. I am, after all, a Mac user through and through.

Thanks to all my readers out there. Without you I am sure I would post much less.

If I have any wishes for this site in the next year it is to finish the transition to the new template! I simply do not have the time. Between Art History 145, Student Publications, and my freelance stuff, blogging gets the short end of the stick. Oh well. That is life.

So, what have I learned after two years of blogging?
1. I can type faster and am much more accurate.
2. I would even go as far as to say that my grammar has improved, ever so slightly.
3. I need to be interviewed for a Wired article more often.
4. I can get stuff for free and review it.
5. I think Jake was right, I really am a Spoiled Little Bitch.

Why do I continue to blog?
1. It makes me a better writer.
2. It gives me a “safe” place to try out new web techniques in a “production” environment.
3. I like to rant, even more then I like to rave.
4. Family & friends can keep up with what I am up to.
5. Blogging is a big stress reliever, if you can believe it.

In Memtest

Memtest CLI for OS X

April 27, 2021 No Comments

I want to thank Rob for pointing this out. You do not even have to compile it. Which is great. Memtest does a exhaustive test of your RAM. The readme says you should run it multiple times. And as it tests available RAM, I would restart first, and don’t load anything. That or run it in Single User Mode, that is really the best way to run it.

In Turf Cams

Super Bowl to feature tiny ‘Turf Cam’

April 20, 2021 No Comments

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) — Some of the most interesting shots of next Sunday’s big Super Bowl game could come from a small camera.A very small camera.

Fox Sports has planted so-called Turf Cams around Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida — including four on the field where the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles will play Super Bowl XXXIX. Eight more of the Turf Cams aren’t in the turf at all — they’ll be mounted at the end zones.

Is it just me or has the real game on TV started to look more like a video game then the video games themselves? Why is it that the TV broadcasts have to mimic what the video games like the Sega/Visual Concepts 2K series. I liked my football games without all the wild 3D motion graphics and without the SkyCam (I just love it when you see that SkyCam zipping accross the fields right above the players, the camera man cannot get the damn thing out of the picture). Give me a few camera angles of the field, the blimp shot, nice looking stat overlays on the screen, a camera on the end zone so I can see Randy Moss moon the crowd, and we’ll call it a football game.

No one understands ‘simple’ anymore.

But really folks: let video games be video games and let TV broadcasts be TV broadcasts.

Remember that “Diamond Cam” or whatever the heck they called it during the World Series. It was right in front Home Plate in the dirt. Those shots sure looked great, and added so much more to the telecast, let me tell ya’.

In Xbox Review

Opening the Xbox Book Review

February 11, 2005 No Comments

With a title like “Opening the Xbox,” you should likely assume it’s one of many hacker type books geared towards Microsoft’s game console. It’s not. There’s not a single line even mentioning the hobby. What author Dean Takahashi has written is an excellent history on the console and how it came to be. It’s a great companion to other books like “The Ultimate History of Video Games” which don’t have the space to discuss the latest systems at length.
Following one of the creators, Seamus Blackley, through his disaster “Trespasser” on the PC to his rise inside Microsoft, the book chronicles just about every event leading up to the launch of this system. Turmoil was constant, and Takahashi does a fine job of bringing those heated boardroom meetings to life. There’s a surprising amount of information in the PC and how it became a more viable platform for gaming. You’ll learn plenty of information on those key people as well.

What “Opening the Xbox” does so well is cover all aspects of launching a console. In fact, this is probably the most detailed account of the process, far eclipsing any other book on the history of the industry. He provides very technical terms about the chips, operating systems, stock quotes, total system costs (screws are not cheap), and it’s all done on a simple level so anyone can understand it. It shows excellent research on his part and flawless writing so everyone can get a handle on the situation.

If the history portion doesn’t grab you, all of the trouble caused either by the malfunctioning consoles or by the creators makes for a great read. You simply have to smile at the Microsoft employee who took a prototype Xbox over to the UK and didn’t adjust for their different power current a day before a major show, frying it in the process. The funniest story happened to Horace Luke who did most of the design work. While going door to door to gather information from the public about what they wanted in consumer electronics, he came across this:

“For one example, in one home he asked ‘What does power mean to you?’ The man went into another room and came back with a gun. ‘This is power,’ he said. Luke found an excuse to quickly end the visit.”

Lots of interesting little facts are strewn through the book. Microsoft actually went to both Nintendo and Sony to propose a deal to launch their system through them. Both companies, obviously now, declined. The separate Web TV team inside Microsoft put up a huge fight over the system, almost derailing the Xbox team at a few points. All of this is covered with great depth and detail, almost reaching exhaustive levels at some points.

It’s not just the Xbox that gets all the attention either. Most of the staff gets a few pages dedicated to them and their personal lives. It’s amazing to see just how much of a strain that black box put on these employees. Most of the team doesn’t see it through to the end. It alleviates the book from constantly being about chips and various electronics while giving readers something else to focus on.

Some gamers wonder why more companies don’t release game systems. This book chronicles why. If you ever thought it was just about setting up a piece of hardware and throwing it out there for the public to consume, this is a must read. If you already know the struggles, then the human portion is more than enough to get you through the 350+ pages.