More on Backup

This morning during class, I was able to work directly on my home machine via this nifty, free app. The app does a remarkably good job, and is worth a look. Here is a link to the quick start guide.

I also recently found a Web service, also free, called Home Pipe. This app allows you to access files directly from your home machine--handy in cases where you forgot your homework.

Otherwise, click here to display underneath of this post older posts on this topic . These posts contain other backup methods. And remember, never use a jump drive or any other external medium to transfer files. If nobody uses these devices this semester, perhaps this will become the first ever class in which a student didn't lose something important, or even all of his files, because of a lost device.

Never mind. Someone has already lost his jump drive.

Maybe next semester.


Quik 'n Dirty Tip of the Day
How I made the logmein logo shown above.

This sort of thing happens frequently: You have to reproduce a logo or letter face where you don't have either the font or the artwork.

I snagged the logo shown above by searching Google Images for the name. Unfortunately, none of the returns had the tag line, "Simply Connected." (Note that the tag line should show a SM.) I saved a selected image, then opened it in Photoshop.

For the tag line, I uploaded the logo to What The Font, a site that returns the names of fonts based on scanning images of characters--in this case the logo. The name, Info Disp Bold Tf-Roman was returned. A quick check for a corresponding knockoff font returned nothing.

What The Font has an input text box for creating sample text in the face. So I typed in the tag line, took a screen shot of that, and brought it into Photoshop. I put the image of the text onto a new layer, and then sized it down.

Finally, I exported the combined image to JPG, and uploaded it to the blog, where you see it now.

This method is not suitable for print, as the edges of the characters have been aliased. However, with the advent of HTML5 and vector @fonts, the method may have a future in print as well. Whether or not print for publication is still around when this happens is questionable.