Matt’s Desk: Editor’s Blog

A few weeks ago, SugarSync released new versions of its Windows and Mac apps.  I was happy with the new software, the SugarSync 2.0 Beta; the update streamlined the utility and made it much easier to add and manage synced folders.  It also has a generally improved UI.  But on the Apple side there was one annoyance:

SugarSync, which is preferably always running (so that your files are continuously synced), had an always-present Dock icon in the Mac 2.0 Beta version.  This was annoying because you rarely need to change the settings of the program – what you really need is to have it quietly running in the background to keep things synced with the Cloud and other computers. 

The Dock icon wasn’t present in the 1.x versions of the application unless you were changing settings.

But in the latest version of the SugarSync 2.0 Beta – Build 1.99.9 – while the Dock icon is still turned on by default, there is a way to hide it if it annoys you.

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I had several old audio recordings made with a microcassette recorder that I wanted to transcode to digital files.  Problem was, the resulting digital files had a lot of background noise I wanted to get rid of before archiving. 

But I don’t know much about audio cleanup.  I did, however, find a very easy-to-follow tutorial that teaches how to use Audacity, a free audio utility, to get rid of unwanted noise in a digital file.  I’m sure there are far more powerful (and expensive) solutions, but I was shocked by how well the noise-removal process worked in Audacity. My files sound better than ever.

You can read the tutorial here.  Of course, you’ll also need a copy of Audacity, which will run on Windows or Mac OS X. 

Much appreciation to the authors of both the tutorial and the software.

-M

While USB 3.0 has been around since early 2010, only this year has the newest, fastest universal port come into widespread use. USB 3.0 ports are now common on Windows 7 desktops and laptops (usually marked with a blue connector), and are even on the latest-generation MacBook Pros and Airs.

Faster USB peripherals aren’t nearly as plentiful, however, with only thumb drives and external hard drives getting widespread USB 3.0 treatment – and the latter far more than the former; in fact, while USB 2.0 remains the connection method of choice for USB thumb drive makers, USB 3.0 now dominates external hard drives.

Which is great.  After all, USB 3.0 drives can transfer data far faster than their 2.0 predecessors – up to 10X faster, in fact – which makes them more useful and and less time consuming. 

But there’s a problem:

USB 3.0 and the drivers that make the I/O technology possible are still new enough to have bugs, which can create some headaches for users.

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Over the years, I’ve tried just about every disc burning solution for Windows there is, both paid and free.  Most of the best (most reliable and core-feature rich) have traditionally been retail titles like Nero. And Nero is still a perfectly fine choice. But over the last few years – mostly to justify perennial paid upgrades – these titles have been loaded up with feature-list-lengthening bloat I imagine few people ever need or use.

My burning needs are simple: file storage, the occasional music CD, and ISO burns.   iTunes is just fine for burning music, so all I really need is software to burn files to a disc.  And for this purpose, the best solution I’ve found is ImgBurn.

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