For someone who's digital (previous and present businesses/freelancing with records), I wanted to share with you my review on my server. This is the first server I've ever owned - which I got last May for my birthday. If you have a lot of crap - photos, paperwork, music, etc, etc - then this is the server for you.
It is compatible with BOTH Mac and PC. I do have to admit that I was skeptical at first. If you own a Mac, then this would would be your "Time Machine". Also, this would be your backup for your PC. Not only do you get these features, but this would also store your music, photos, etc. all in one place. I can go on and all about it. But I finally found out out how to do get remotely controlled.
I finally got it enabled last week. I figured this would be useful because I'm such a gypsy - plus you don't want your employers to see what's on your work PC. So guess what I found out just recently? I found out that I could log in REMOTELY ANYWHERE and upload my pix to My Flickr, Picasa, etc as well as viewing my pictures. Yes, I realized it's not as fast as if I'm doing it from home, but STILL... how cool is that???
If I want to get a file, I have to download it to whichever computer I'm at, which kinda blows, but still - it's better than nothing! Also, I can listen to all my music on my server (like Pandora, but why if you have Pandora and/or iPod?).
On top of that, you can backup your files on
Amazon S3 service - which I pay around $8/month. It's kinda like putting all your files on a ftp (it's the backup on top of the backup). It's pretty fucking easy to do all of this stuff using HP's software.
For my filing system, I use Neat Receipts:
I scan all my 911 documents here. I press this button that says "PDF" and it asks me where to save and then I scan (to my server). I just did the business card thing (it's OK since I don't use BC really) and I haven't really done the receipts, however, I will have to with the business I am doing soon. FYI - it does color too. So I'll do postcards and greeting cards too w/o the guilt.
Anyway, the reason why I asked you guys how you file and stuff, was just to see what you guys did... digital or not??
Unfortunately, since I am "updated" with this stuff, I am sorting out the pictures from my 3 old computers. OMG... it sucks. I winded up finding an old 120gb (yeah - hahaha) and now I am sorting out my pix from my iMac. The iLife Photo system was HORRIBLE and I will be using Adobe Bridge to tag and sort... eventually. This will take FOREVER.
Just recently, my server wasn't working and I was not too happy. It turned out that all I had to do was "refresh" my internet connection and router and I was all set. I winded up spending 2 days with HP Tech Support. Ugh. So that's why I worked all weekend. To make up for lost time.
Even though I'm angry at the HP tech guy for advising me to do that from the get-go, I realized that I must have an external hard drive for those important documents and photos and put them in a safe place. I'm really trying to be clutter free. Even though it takes some time to scan - it's faster than a flatbed scanner and I'll put all my mailings/paperwork in a file for me to do a monthly insert...
Just an FYI.
It's highly recommended by me. And btw - if you have multiple ppl in your household, you can get multiple users and PW set up so they can log in online too!
**** FOUR STARS!