AE Follow-Up: Adhesives, Mozy.com, & Week In The Life Banner

Adhesives


Today I'm following-up on a couple things I've posted about in the past year. I have waited to post about each because I really wanted to make sure that I was happy (or unhappy) about the products before posting about them again.


ADHESIVES

Since learning that Kokuyo was discontinuing the US manufacturing of my favorite dot-n-roller adhesive I have been on the lookout for, and testing out, other adhesive options.


After trying out quite a few, including the highly recommended Scotch ATG, I have been consistently happy with both the Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller ($8.99 for 49 feet) and American Crafts new This To That Adhesive Dispenser Dots ($4.95 for 32.8 feet).


After using Kokuyo for so long I really wanted to find another that uses dots (vs. tape), that was a similar size and fit in my hand (I found that I really like the smaller ones the best), and that really stuck (I like permanent adhesives). I have found that both the Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller and the This To That Adhesive Dispenser Dots are really meeting my needs. Both get big thumbs up.


And just in case you didn't know, you can still find my favorite Kokuyo adhesive (the one manufactured in Japan) online at Jet Pens ($6.67 for 52.5 feet).



ONLINE BACK-UP SERVICE


Last June I did an initial product review of online data back-up service Mozy.com for Today's Mama.


I love the idea of the product - an off-site service that can back-up my data (specifically my photos & project files) automatically. When I first posted about Mozy I was in the process of doing the initial back-up.

Not long after that post, and while that initial back-up was running, my main computer had some major issues (totally unrelated to Mozy) and died (luckily I run Time Machine on my Mac with a couple external hard-drives and lost nothing). I decided to wait a couple months to try it again since I was then in the middle of my Yesterday & Today class and I didn't want to be dealing with any computer headaches at that time (actually, I never want to deal with computer headaches).


Once I was ready to start trying it out again (about two months ago now) it was still a pain to get the initial back-up completed. More than once I thought it wasn't going to work at all. It would freeze up at the same spot for days at a time. I kept getting impatient and to be honest I was lacking in trust that it was going to work. More than once I communicated with customer service reps and didn't really feel like it was much help.


In the end what I did do was change the size of the initial backup just to see if I could get it to work at all. I de-selected some of my external files and photos and just did some of my basic contacts and such. By making the initial backup smaller it worked. I was super excited to see it work at all.


On subsequent days I selected additional files (including ones from my external hard-drive) and have not had an issue since. I set it up to do daily backups at 1:0am and it has been doing it regularly without a hitch. I currently have it backing up 232.5 GB including my address book, mail files, iCal, Designer Digitals products, a couple projects I am in-progess on, and my Aperture & iPhoto libraries.

Feeling totally satisfied with Mozy at this point. I can't speak to how it will work in the event I actually need to retrieve those files, but at least for now I am feeling good that I have another back-up in place.




WEEK IN THE LIFE BANNER

AE_WeekInTheLife2010Ad Thanks to those of you who have requested the code for the 2010 Week In The Life banner.

Here's the image source code and a link to the post announcing the dates - feel free to share it on your blog or website (the process you go through to add this to your blog/site will vary depending on what service you use - check the help area for your particular service for how-to's on adding banners):

<a href="http://aliedwards.com/2010/03/mark-your-calendar-week-in-the-life-2010.html"><img src="http://aliedwards.com/AE_WeekInTheLife2010Ad.gif"></a>

Related Posts

Sign in or sign up to comment.

36 thoughts

  1. nic says…
    03/11/2010

    question - how long does Mozy take, or is taking to back up that much? I am halfway through an initial backup using Carbonite, and though the initial is purposfully slow so as not to interfere with anything, I am only half way through about 400Gb. Just wondering for comparisons sake.
    thanks

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Judy Lucas says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi Ali-
    I have Apeture too- and I am just getting around to really familiarizing myself with it. Can you give me some tips or secrets that you have found?
    Thanks
    Judy

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Ali Edwards says…
    03/11/2010

    I ended up doing a very small initial backup - like a couple GB just to see if I could get it to go. That took a day maybe...maybe a bit longer. Then each consecutive day I added something else to get up to that 200+ GB size. I know they say that sometimes that initial backup can take a week or more.

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Ali Edwards says…
    03/11/2010

    I don't think I have any tips yet Judy...I am storing my photos in folders by month. I would definitely recommend watching some of the support videos on apple.com.

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Grace Hester Designs says…
    03/11/2010

    Thanks for the roundup on the adhesives. I have been so frustrated with all the adhesives I have used so far. I think I am going to try out the options you mentioned.
    Can't wait to see the results from you and the readers of this blog for Week in the Life! Always so inspiring.

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Stacy says…
    03/11/2010

    Wondering if you use Dot adhesives for all of your scrapbooking pages or if you also use other types of adhesives.

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. Ali Edwards says…
    03/11/2010

    I use the dot rollers the most. I also use foam squares (love them) and red tape. Sometimes I use a glue sticks - when I was doing a lot of minibooks I used those quite a bit.

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Adele says…
    03/11/2010

    I signed up for Mozy for the specific purpose that they claim to support backups for external drives. I didn't have too much of a problem with my initial backup of my internal drives, but it didn't work on the external. I also communicated with customer service a number of times, tried the "fixes" they suggested, and it still didn't work. In the process of this my external drive died. Totally and Completely Died. and Yes - it contained all my pictures and all my video! I wanted to die, myself!! Fortunately I had all but a little over a year of those pictures on other disks and such, sadly not so for the video. And, horribly, that year was my Baby Girl's first year! So now the only record I have of those zillions of pics is what are on my blog, trying to remind myself to be grateful to have at least that!
    So, moral of the story - backup in multiple different ways, on multiple types of mediums, and keep it in multiple different places.....with everything on-site a fire would still do you in....
    also - since that time my "automatic backup" through Mozy still doesn't work most of the time. Wishing I had just called them and cancelled the subscription I had pre-paid for. Not a company I would recommend any longer, sorry.

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Ali Edwards says…
    03/11/2010

    Totally appreciate the input Adele.
    The back-ups for external drives is totally why I went with them as well. I was really glad that I finally got it to back-up those drives.
    Multiple back-up locations is definitely the way to go.

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Christina says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi Ali!
    I think you are missing an ending "/>" in your badge code. I changed it to this to get it to work:
    And THANKS! Can't wait for the next Week in the life!

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Christina Tryon says…
    03/11/2010

    Ok that was totally NOT what I meant to show up in my comment-I'll try again:
    The /> should go here after the .gif"/>
    Hope that helps!

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Ali Edwards says…
    03/11/2010

    Got it - thank you!

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Leora says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi Ali! I have started using Mozy, too. I finally got an initial back-up, but then made some major changes in the organization of my photos and I am having to wait again. I did find that bandwith is a major issue. I am using a laptop with an external hard drive. I discovered that if I take it to work and "borrow" the bandwith there, it goes much faster! I did have to work with customer service to get the EHD back-up to work...
    So, you have turned me into a kukoyu lover/hoarder. I am wondering if you prefer either of the other two or if you still prefer the kukoyu. It does feel really good in my hand.

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Ali Edwards says…
    03/11/2010

    The Kokuyo is still my first choice...then probably the American Crafts and then the Scotch.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Rachelle S. says…
    03/11/2010

    I had been wondering about your thoughts on Mozy~ thank you so much for the follow up! Am still trying to figure out which way to go (Mozy or Carbonite).... want to be able to back up from two different computers at two different locations.... can't find the info on their site. Do you know if that's possible with Mozy? To have 2 different computers backup up to the mozy site?

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. Lisa Jackson says…
    03/11/2010

    Hey there, sugar! I've planned a post about your Week in the Life album on my LSS's blog, which I keep (http://scrappinbunnies.wordpress.com/). I treasure both my albums I made with you (WITL and Evolution) as two of my all time favorites. Thanks so much for sharing this process!
    Hope all is well with you and your sweet family!
    Lisa
    XXX

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. lori says…
    03/11/2010

    Hey Ali,
    Thanks for the update on adhesives you have tried and like, really helpful!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Julie Ziolkowski says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi, Ali,
    Thanks for the update on where you can still purchase the refills for the Kokuyo Dot n Roller. I, too, have been using it for years, and was very sad when it was discontinued. Do you happen to know if the refill that is manufactured in Japan fits into the U.S. version?
    Take care, and thanks for all the great info!
    Julie

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Sara B. says…
    03/11/2010

    Thanks much for the adhesive recommendations! It's so hard to find a good one. I will definitely try these out. I'm looking forward to the Week in the Life!

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Gaby Acosta says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi Ali. I'll take the link to the "Week in the life" for my blog. I can´t wait to begin.

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. scrappysue says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi everyone, sorry to hear about the Mozy issues, mine worked perfectly from Day 1. I am currently backing up 160GB of photos on my EHD. It seems to back up about 10 - 30 GB a day depending on how slow our connection gets. Haven't tried a retrieve yet, might just give that a little test once its all downloaded.

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Angela says…
    03/11/2010

    Hi Ali, I am still very new to scrapbooking but a bit obsessed with all the pretty paper and embellishments. I have made a couple of mini albums and some 12x12 pages but just couldn't seem to "discover" my own style. The 12x12 canvas sometimes makes me feel a little overwhelming. However, I have decided to follow you in the Week in Life project. I am hoping to be able to handle one page divider at a time. You have been a great inspiration.
    One quick question - is there a reason you prefer the dot adhesive other than the tape runner?

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Marge says…
    03/11/2010

    Good morning, Ali. I have often noticed that your posts are very early. As I am writing this, it is 4:54 am. We are from far north Alberta, Canada. CRAZY what you do for your teenagers! My son is going on a Jr. High school ski trip, and I just got back from taking him to the bus, which leaves at 5:00. As I walked in, I happened to think of your Week in the Life project, and I'm getting excited about doing it. Thank you for your (almost) daily posts. I love when you include detailed instructions or steps of layouts or albums. Looking forward to posts related to the WITL!

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. Jill says…
    03/11/2010

    Hey Ali,
    Just had to smile about the MOZY post. About a year ago my husband became the 1 millionth customer of Mozy. They came out and gave us dinner and presented him with a cruise. I recommend MOZY to everyone I know and not just because they gave us a cool prize.

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. {vicki} says…
    03/12/2010

    Thanks for the follow up on the adhesives------
    Did you not like/try the tombo mono dot? I just know Jennifer McGuire is really giving that one a big thumbs up lately on her blog and wanted your input too? Thanks ALI!

    Reply 0 Replies

Sign in or sign up to comment.