Don’t be an April Fool. Be prepared: Back up your files today, March 31st – World Backup Day.
Take a moment to imagine what it would be like if everything on your computer, tablet, or phone went away – permanently disappeared – 30 seconds from now. This is not some rare nightmare scenario. Devices are manmade, and things made by the hand of man must someday fail. It is known.
In other words, it’s not a question of “if.” It’s a question of “when.” And when it does happen, how badly would it hurt you?
Take a moment to imagine what it would be like if everything on your computer, tablet, or phone went away – permanently disappeared – 30 seconds from now.
Fortunately, there are simple, sensible steps you can take to make this a total non-issue. If you have a Mac, you have an app called Time Machine that makes keeping a current, local backup of your computer easy as pie. Windows 8.1 comes with a similar program called File History. In both cases, you’ll need an external hard drive dedicated to the task. Connecting Point can help you select the perfect external drive to fit your system and budget, with prices starting well under $100.
But to really, truly protect your photos, home videos, music, emails, and documents, you’ll want to supplement this local backup with an off-site one. As it happens, we offer a safe, affordable, and simple solution: SafeBox Automated Online Backup. For less than seven dollars a month, your important stuff is seamlessly, continuously backed up over broadband connection to a secure, remote location. Fires, floods, and wayward pets cannot touch your precious information.You can read all about SafeBox here.
So visit the World Backup Day site. Take the pledge. And sleep easier tonight, knowing your data is safe.
If you have a device that charges through a USB connection, you no doubt already have an AC charger for it.
But it might be nice to have a backup. One you can leave in the garage, or at the office, or in your totally-not-scary cabin in the woods. This week’s DOTW fits the bill nicely: Sturdy, compact, with a nifty collapsible AC plug that folds into the charger’s body.
Also, it comes in a Zune box. So, you know, nostalgia.
But its external packaging in no way affects the performance of the device within. This charger is world-ready, able to adapt on the fly to voltages from 100 to 240, and cycles from 47 to 63 Hertz. And it pumps out a respectable 5 volts / 1 ampere of juice.
To learn more about our latest Deal of the Week, click here.
Happy π* day, everyone! In honor of this hallowed event, we offer 3.14 reasons why you should be excited about this week’s DOTW:
This is not your father’s HDMI cable. It adheres to the latest, most stringent standards: v1.4, 3D television compatible, and support for resolutions above 1080p, all the way to 4K.
The connectors at each end are gold plated. Gold, baby. Gold.
We’re selling it for a quarter of its usual price ($4.99 instead of the retail price of $19.99).
You can use it to r
To find out all about our latest Deal of the Week, click here.
*In case your browser fails to properly display this symbol, it’s the one for Pi.
The quality of the recording is far from great (it’s a VHS transfer), but the content is pure gold…
Connecting Point introduced the Apple IIc to a lot of folks, back in the day. Its iconic design was innovative for the time, and doesn’t receive a lot of recognition these days.
Keeping devices fully charged on the go: It can be challenging.
But with this week’s featured gadget, as long as you have a 12V “lighter” socket available, you can keep that battery indicator pegged at 100%. Clean, simple, and compact, this mobile USB charger gets the job done, and done well – for less than five bucks.
Which means you can afford to keep one in each car, in the RV, in the boat, the corporate jet, the private ‘copter, or ‘off the grid’ in that solar-powered survivalist cabin nobody knows about. (Until now.)
Normally, we sell these for $19.99. For one-quarter that price, you can give this USB charger a good home – for the next week, anyway, and as long as our supply lasts.
So don’t miss out. Head on down and pick up one or more of these handy doodads. To find out more about our Deal of the Week, click here.
We know, we know. You already have way too many remotes.
Probably a whole drawer full. Or maybe yours bedeck the entire top surface of the coffee table. We get it, because these days, pretty much everyone has a lot of remotes.
But this week, you may want to make room for just one more. Because this one lets you control two different lights, tools, appliances – anything you can plug into a standard outlet. And control them from up to 100 feet away. Use it to activate lights on the front porch of your home, from your car. Or to turn on the heating pad in the doghouse. Fire up the coffeemaker before you even climb out of bed. Use it anywhere you wish you’d installed a switch, in seconds.
And setup could not be simpler:
Plug each controller into an AC outlet.
Plug whatever you want to control into their outlets.
Done.
These two-packs are normally 30 bucks, but this week only you can pick them up for just $12.99. Find out more about our latest Deal of the Weekhere.
As the ancient proverb goes: It is better to plug a single LED light into a USB port than to curse the darkness.
Stop cursing that darkness already. Next time you find yourself on the red-eye in need of better illumination for your workspace than that which the puny overhead airline light can provide, this is your solution.
Five well-directed LEDs flood your tray table and notebook with pleasing white light – without waking passengers on either side. You can also use it at your desk, when wanting low-key, indirect lighting while you’re gaming or the like. And if you need to re-connect cables in the back of your desktop PC, slip this light into one of the USB ports on it case – and bam! All the light you need to see what you’re doing back there. To summarize: Its flexible eight-inch stalk offers precise directing of light where you need it, when you need it.
You don’t have to worry about batteries, AC adapters, or electrical outlets. Find an open USB port, and you are in business. For less than 10 bucks, it’ll be hard to find a more useful, affordable, portable light. But that’s all we’re charging for this week’s DOTW.
Find out more about our latest Deal of the Weekhere.
Don’t be an April Fool. Be prepared: Back up your files today, March 31st – World Backup Day.
Our ever-popular Deal of the Week is on Spring Break this week. Look for the cavalcade of bargains to resume soon.
