Hump Day Hardware: USB Flash Drives

If you don't know what a USB flash drive does, it is quite simple. It is a small device that plugs into the USB port of most any computer and holds a large amount of data. Think about it as the floppy disk for a new generation.

I remember my first USB flash drive quite well. It held 128 MB of data and doubled as an MP3 player. I didn't go anywhere without it. That was five years ago and I'm not sure I could find that one today if I needed it. It just doesn't hold enough data. After about a year, I got one that held 512 MB. Then a 4 GB drive and now I regularly use two different 8 GB drives.

These things are pretty versatile. You can use them to transfer data from one computer to another. This is especially handy if you have to take a big chunk of data to or from a client site. You can also install software on the drive so that you can take your most used applications with you on the road. This makes a great tool for checking e-mail or browsing (with all your bookmarks intact) at an Internet cafe.

The current drives I carry are both SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8 GB drives. They support holding data as well as installing applications and sell for only $22. If you want a larger version of the drive, it is available in a 16 GB model for under $40. You can also get a 4 GB model for under $11 each. At these low prices, they even provide an inexpensive way to back up your important data and take it off-site. I wouldn't rely on it as my only backup device, but rather an easy way to backup the most important data each day.

If you don't already have a drive, you should seriously consider it. And if you do have one, it is probably time to buy another bigger one. I find that I "upgrade" at least once a year.

Share

Adobe Unveils Acrobat 9

About a week ago there was an announcement from Adobe about the upcoming Acrobat 9. One of the biggest features is that Acrobat has native support for Adobe Flash technology. This means you could embed Flash video inside of a PDF file.

The new version will begin shipping on June 26th and I'll be anxiously awaiting a chance to try out the new version. My CorelDRAW X4 Unleashed book uses both PDF and Flash technology to deliver the written word and movies respectively. If I understand the new features correctly, I would be able to embed the movies directly into the PDF file in the future. This will make for one huge PDF file, but it would also integrate the two main features of the book in a really cool way.

Sure, there are other new features and I'll let you read the release to learn about all of them. But it is the integration with Flash that has me excited. If you'd like to order a copy, I've put together a page listing each of the flavors of Acrobat 9 as well as related books.

Share

Add Flair to Your Presentations

I've talked many times about the very cool WildPresenter Pro application. Sometimes it is hard to describe exactly what it does because it does so many things. I guess that is why the folks at Wildform have released a new version and renamed it Flair. That's a pretty good description of what it can do.

The first feature that always comes to mind for me is that it can convert a PowerPoint presentation to Flash format. That even included PowerPoint 2007 files. For those creating e-learning materials, it can create LMS compliant quizzes and surveys. Throw in the screen recording, video conversion, cool effects and you have a very powerful tool.

If you want to check it out, you can get a free trial. I think you'll find flair to be not only very powerful but also a lot of fun!

Share