For longer than I care to admit, my entire collection of music and photos have lived on a single external hard disk attached to my MacBook Pro. In an effort to make a backup I used Mozy but recently it stopped working and Mozy’s tech support gave up on me.

I looked long and hard at Network Attached Storage from Synology (and Apple’s Time Capsule) but there were limitations with iPod syncing and streaming to my Xbox 360. The solution was another external drive but in what configuration?

Having good experience with Newer Technology’s miniStack V2, I opted for their Guardian Maximus. A hardware-based RAID-1 solution using the Oxford chipset, it’s a sleek aluminum housing with a single fan and myriad connections of USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800.

I chose the “add your own drives” version and saved myself about $100. Unscrew the case, screw down your drives, reassemble, plug-in to your Mac. I used two Western Digital SATA drives of 750 GB formatted to two volumes: 400 GB to hold my media and another 300 GB for Time Machine (or any other backup method).

What’s to say so far? The Maximus works.

The Enclosure

The case is well-built, aluminum, and jet black. I wasn’t sure how this would look contrasted with my aluminum MacBook Pro but it’s perfectly discreet.

Small and not over-bright LEDs provide a status display for Power, HDD activity (each drive), and a Rebuild indicator. Colors for HDD and Rebuild cycle green/orange/red based on status.

The Maximus isn’t silent like the IcyDock due to the fan at the back of the case. It produces a modest whir but nothing distracting and would be fine in your office or living room. Using FireWire, each drive goes to sleep if your settings are configured as such. I didn’t test this under USB 2.0.

There is no heat coming off the case or fan.

RAID-1 in a Box

According to Newer Tech’s documentation, any failed drives will automatically rebuild once replaced in the case. I didn’t have (or take) the opportunity to test this but you can use the device while the array rebuilds. Newer Tech does state the drives should match in make and model which could present an issue down the road with replacements but I’ll take the chance.

Unfortunately you can’t expand your mirrored pair by replacing one drive at a time (the Synology NAS can do this). Using an external drive as an intermediary should work then populate both (new) drives into the Maximus case. Just a theory.

Missing RAID-0

If you want to operate the Maximus in RAID-0 or independently you’ll need to look at OWC’s Mercury Elite instead. Considering each enclosure looks identical (except color), there must be an agreement in place to offer products with opposing features. A shame, really, because I’d love a matching set of Maximus’ in whichever configuration I choose.

Both cases have jumpers which are used to change operating modes but Newer Tech tells you to leave them alone or void your warranty. I’m guessing RAID-0 is but a jumper away for the Maximus if you wish to dabble.

Real World Usage

I’ve been using the Maximus for about 24 hours with excellent results. Hammered it with file copies. Chained it to a G-RAID2 via FireWire 800 and captured DV footage into Final Cut Pro. No issues.

The Maximus would make an excellent device for editors wishing to have disk redundancy at a smaller cost than RAID-5. However, a second external drive synced with ChronoSync would work similarly.

What’s Enough Backup?

What else of my backup strategy? The Maximus gives me disk redundancy for my media and a Time Machine backup for my MacBook Pro’s hard disk. I will make periodic dupes to my wife’s external drive. Lastly, I’ll balance this off with another shot at Mozy or uploading my photos to Flickr.

My front disc brake pads were wearing out - so the dashboard LED display told me. Deciding to be a smart shopper, I bought new pads from AutoZone and had a local shop put them on. Even after “turning” the rotors (fancy word for making them smooth all around) the brakes let out a very, very, loud squeal any time I was coming to a stop. Think of Freddy Krueger running his fingers on a chalk board.

The brakes worked fine aside from that ear-splitting squeal. It didn’t go away after a couple of weeks and when my two-year-old started asking about the noise I knew it was time to do something.

I sucked it up and went to the dealer. Laying down $600+ for new discs and pads, the squeal got quieter. Only quieter, not gone, but still too loud for comfort.

A phone call to the dealer revealed this incredible suggestion: cruise on the highway or a local road doing about 50 and slam on the brakes about four or five times. He went on about “pads being engineered for the autobahn” and glazing.

I didn’t believe him but it was worth a shot. Unfortunately LA isn’t the best place to find wide open road where you can engage the ABS without freaking out everyone behind you. This afternoon a nice stretch of the 110 near Long Beach served as the test track. With a few inadvertent slams (damned lane cutters) and some of my own quick braking I was hoping for a cure-all.

I slipped off the freeway and come to a slow stop at a traffic light with…no squeal. There is a bit of one but for all intents and purposes it’s gone. I’m wondering if a few more good slams on the brake pedal will render it completely silent (and warping my rotors no doubt) or if the noise will return some hot summer day.

For anyone confused, I’m not talking about “brake quiet” grease, rather the contact between pad and disc. You can read about what causes the squeal when pad meets rotor and how Georgia Tech is going to fix it someday.

EDIT: although the squeal did improve for a short time it came back. The final resolution was a new set of pads from Pagid which contain a softer material than the OEM pads. No more squealing.

eBay is a great place to sell stuff but I’ve discovered that being a seller isn’t as lucrative as it used to be. Auction fees and PayPal fees have increased. More and more buyers don’t complete auctions and eBay’s dispute resolution is a joke because they don’t take into account the negative feedback you’ll receive if you challenge a buyer who defaulted.

The hassles aren’t worth it and I’ve been donating my wares to the woman who cleans my home, The Salvation Army or the e-waste bin at Best Buy rather than selling it on eBay. However, a recent post at Uncluttered has changed my tune.

SecondRotation buys used electronics such as mobile phones, GPS units, laptops, MP3 players, and more. They don’t buy everything but I found a number of my old mobile phones (sadly dropped into the Best Buy e-waste bin last month) on their list: Sony T68i, Blackberry 7100t, even a Nokia 8210.

Find your device then rate its condition and what original pieces you have such as product manual, charger, battery, etc. You’re not going to get a premium but they pay for shipping and send you a check or deposit to a PayPal account.

For example, my 7100t fetched $24 (comparable to completed eBay auctions) without paying listing fees and finding someone interested in an old Blackberry. I could have gotten a dollar more for including an original manual but it wasn’t worth my time to find it.

The convenience and free shipping is worth trying SecondRotation. What they do with everything is a mystery but don’t wait forever to dump your old gadgets (like my Palm Tungsten T3) otherwise you’ll be stuck with eBay.

Awhile back I came across this site with photos of how people took the crap on top of their computer desk and placed it underneath. I’m not talking about a slide-out drawer but actually placing equipment like external hard drives, USB hubs, etc., out of sight.

Short on time? Visit the image gallery.

Taking a cue from the examples I built my own rendition. The parts:

• Sheet of pegboard
• Hanger bolts
• Wing nuts
• Washers
• Lots of zip-ties

First off I measured the underside of my desk and bought a sheet of pegboard from Home Depot and had them cut to fit. Pegboard comes in varying thickness so judge what you need; I went slightly thicker.

Rather than use lock shackles and dowels for attaching my pegboard, I went the route of hanger bolts. Tip: go to a local hardware store like Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) because the selection of sizes from Home Depot and Lowes was very limited. When choosing the length of bolt, be sure to include these variables:

• Depth into the desk
• Thickness of the pegboard
• Thickness of the wing nut + washer
• Space occupied by zip-ties between desk and pegboard

Flip your desk onto the floor so you have complete access. Lay down the pegboard and select five locations to place the hanger bolts. I chose four corners and center, although not too far to the edges. The center bolt was set toward the rear of the desk to avoid hitting it with my leg. Hint: get your orientation correct now because it’ll be different when you flip the desk upright.

Drill pilot holes and screw in the hanger bolts. Chances are you’ll need to use two wrenches and/or square nuts to screw down the hanger bolt (shorter bolts don’t have a center turning surface). Secure the pegboard using a washer and wing nut - leave some slack for installing zip-ties.

Place equipment onto the pegboard while the desk is upside down to get an idea of location. Lots of zip-ties later you can see how I ran cables and devices. When done, flip the desk upright and enjoy! It took almost a day to complete with driving to hardware stores, measuring twice, and installing everything. Total cost was around $35.

The front of my pegboard (near keyboard) sags a bit because there is no wing nut installed (to avoid scraping legs and other personal parts). In this case a machine or wood screw should suffice to close the gap and be sure to turn it flush. There may be better options.

Keep in mind the zip-ties will create a gap between the desk and pegboard; this is important when sizing the hanger bolts. With everything being positioned toward the sides and rear it gives me ample room for my legs and avoid hitting anything. It’s important to trim zip-ties close and/or rotate them to avoid a nasty cut later.

I haven’t added new equipment yet and it’ll probably be more difficult with the desk being upright. During the installation I left extra room for new cables and attaching new equipment under existing pieces, building downward to the floor.

Click here for more, and larger, photos in my image gallery.

Our home’s garage door uses two torsion springs. Torsion springs are wound tight on a long rod and provide the force required to effortlessly move the garage door up and down. Since they’re wound tight and under tremendous pressure they can be dangerous if they break loose.

Back to our torsion springs… One was broken and our new garage door opener was having trouble lifting the door. A local garage door business offered to replace the spring for $350 and after some Googling my father and I discovered this is a one or two hour job in the realm of $100-150 for labor. We also discovered a very detailed installation guide by Richard Kinch called “How I Replaced Deadly Garage Door Torsion Springs - And lived to tell the tale.”

At first I wasn’t sure about the sarcasim (or humor if you like) of his web page but further Googling revealed the answer. Everyone with an opinion (and access to the Internet) repeated what they’ve been told by others: DIY replacement of torsion springs is extremely dangerous and many people have been mained or killed through improper installation.

Duh. People are also killed by improperly changing a tire, smoking cigarettes, and having sex with an infected partner.

Yes, torsion springs are dangerous due to the forces involved but if you have a brain (step #1), read some instructions (step #2), get a friend to help (step #3), get the right tools (step #4), and take your time (step #5) the installation is a breeze.

Two torsion springs and installation bars from a local dealer: $70. Time for us to install: 60 minutes including take down of existing bar, springs, and fitting new springs.

Don’t believe the foreboding hype of decapitation as long as you understand the job and take your time doing it.