Mozy Drops Unlimited Backups, Introduces New Pricing

Mozy—our previously favorite tool for setting up foolproof, off-site backups—has changed it's pricing, most notably dropping their unlimited backup plans. Bummer for Mozy users. Here are the details:

Under the new plan, you can back up 50GB on one computer for $6/month, or 125GB on up to three computers for $9.99/month. Current Mozy unlimited can keep their unlimited backup through their last payment term (for example, I'm pretty sure I paid for a year last month, so I should be good through December 2011). For all other existing customers, the new plans will take effect on March 1. As a loyal Mozy unlimited user, I admit I didn't really know how much I was backing up, so I checked the computer I back up the least from: Turns out, it's 226GB. Uh oh.

You can add an additional 20GB of storage to the 125GB account for $2/month per 20GB, so we're talking an extra $10/month for an additional 100GB. In my case, for example, I'd need to pay $20/month to back up this one computer—up from my previous $5/month for the unlimited plan.

I love Mozy, and have been using them loyally for years, but this is a pretty huge price jump. Mozy explains the increase by discussing how much more data users are making these days—which I suppose is true, but then storage gets cheaper every year, too, right?

From a business perspective, we can sympathize, but from a user perspective, this is potentially a big problem. Mozy seems to think all backup services that offer unlimited plans will be heading in this direction, and that may be true. Either way, it looks like we may be on the hunt for alternatives.

While we do our hunting, you may want to check out our Hive Five best online backup tools. And if you've got an online backup alternative with unlimited plans that you're happy with (I know a lot of people like Carbonite), we'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Halle launches custody battle 

       Sour: Halle Berry is filing for custody of her daughter with ex-boyfriend,  Gabriel Aubry. Source: The Daily Telegraph

ACTRESS Halle Berry is launching a custody battle against her ex-boyfriend model Gabriel Aubry.//

A few weeks back we reported on Gabriel Aubry filing documents at an LA court that officially declare him as the daddy of two-year old daughter, Nahla.

And today, it turns out that our initial suspicions were correct - things have definitely turned sour between the formerly loved-up couple.

Berry - who split from the 35-year-old model last April after almost five years together - is now definitely taking a 'gloves are off' approach as she prepares to go to court to fight for custody.

A statement released by Halle's representative said: "Halle has serious concerns for her daughter's wellbeing while in the care of her father for any extended period of time and is prepared to take all necessary steps to protect her.

"She has attempted to resolve these custody issues amicably with her daughter's father, Gabriel Aubry, directly, but given his lack of cooperation, Halle has no choice but to seek swift judicial intervention."

"Halle has always made the needs and safety of her daughter her first priority and, both while Halle and Gabriel were a couple and since their break-up, Halle has only acted in her daughter's best interest."

The Oscar-winning actress was also forced to pull out of her new movie, New Year's Eve, which was due to start shooting this week thanks to the pending custody battle. She has since been replaced by Katherine Heigl.

Royal Rumble is Real Road to Wrestlemania

 

 

Royal Rumble is Real Road to Wrestlemania

The Royal Rumble kicks off Road to Wrestlemania. Last night’s WWE Royal Rumble Pay Per View was once again very entertaining. This year’s Rumble took the number of wrestlers from 30 to 40. I have to say, it went unnoticed. The 10 extra men did little to ratchet up the excitement and shock of previous Rumbles. In the end, Albert Del Rio was left standing. We will see him at Wrestlemania.

While not adding anything in the way of great surprises, the 2011 Royal Rumble was exactly what it claimed to be. It was a good night of entertainment, just not much more. The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every January by professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event was created in 1988 with the inaugural event held on January 24, 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. The event however was not a pay-per-view but was originally shown as a television special on USA Network.

The following year’s event was the first Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. The first Royal Rumble match was won by Jim Duggan. The event’s main feature is a Battle Royal-type match, entitled the Royal Rumble. The pay-per-view is a part of WWE’s “Big Four”, along with Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. The Royal Rumble has been classified as being one of WWE’s most popular pay-per-view events.

Yesterday’s Royal Rumble saw the Return of Booker T and Big Sexy Kevin Nash, known in WWE circles as Diesel. Both had short stints in the Rumble but manage to get WWE fans pretty excited about their return. Look for both of them to have significant story Lines leading up to Wrestlemania

Australia evacuates coastal cities in path of cyclone

 

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia evacuated northeast coastal cities on Tuesday as a cyclone rivalling the strength of Hurricane Katrina bore down on tourism, sugar and coal mining areas and threatened areas already devastated by floods far inland.

Cyclone Yasi is expected to generate winds of up to 280 kph (175 mph) when it hits the Queensland state coast early on Thursday (2pm Wednesday, GMT), matching the strength of Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

With a strong monsoon feeding Yasi's 650 km-wide front, the storm was also expected to maintain its intensity long after crossing the coast and could sweep inland as far as the outback mining city of Mt Isa.

"This storm is huge and life threatening," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters, warning the storm was intensifying and picking up speed on its path from the Coral Sea, and destructive gales would begin from Wednesday morning.

Queensland, which accounts for about a fifth of Australia's economy and 90 percent of steelmaking coal exports worth about $20.4 billion, has had a cruel summer, with floods having swept the eastern seaboard over the past month, killing 35 people.

"There's no time for complacency," said Mike Brunker, mayor of the Whitsunday area which is known for its islands resorts close to the Great Barrier Reef.

"People in low-lying areas are evacuating to friends and family or, if they have to, leave town," he told local media.

The popular tourist state, home also to the country's main sugar industry, bore the brunt of the floods and now risks being battered by Yasi, which authorities said could be the most powerful tropical storm to ever strike the area.

The cyclone could threaten around a third of the state's sugar cane crop, an industry official said on Tuesday.

Island resorts in the Whitsundays and parts of the tourism hub of Cairns and military town of Townsville were being evacuated along with other areas in the danger zone, between Cooktown in the north and near Mackay, a port, further south.

Military C-130 transport aircraft also evacuated the main hospital in Cairns. Extra commercial flights were scheduled to cope with an expected exodus of holidaymakers and residents.

Police were also empowered to forcibly move people from danger zones in an area that is home to around 250,000 people.

"This is not a system that's going to cross the coast and rapidly weaken out," Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Gordon Banks said, warning winds could reach up to 280 kph and the storm could reach Mt Isa, 900 km inland.

"We could see this system pushing well in across northern Queensland as a significant tropical cyclone with damaging winds and very heavy rainfall," Banks said.

COAL INDUSTRY ON ALERT -- AGAIN

Kim Kardashian Silver Paint 'Art' Photos, Soon to Be Another Regret?
January 31, 2011 04:51 PM

Kim Kardashian appeared on the cover of "W" magazine nude back in November, 2010. Inside the magazine Kardashian was covered in silver paint. The photos are once again a top Google trend because they were featured on "Kourtney and Kim Take New York" on E.

According to a post at Babble, Kardashian showed off her butt and boobs in the "Art Issue" of W magazine. Interestingly enough, Kim had just recently been upset about Playboy photo's that were released from 2007.  She expressed regret for having done the Playboy photos.  Will Kim Kardashian Silver Paint photos soon be an additional regret for the 30-year-old socialite?

While the photos do appear rather risque, there have been photos depicting much more graphic content in the name of art. If she were really so bothered about having nude photos of her floating around -- why allow more to be taken, even if they are within the context of "art."

Thoughts?

Remember Alex Brown: Emma Roberts and Justin Bieber join 'Extreme Makeover Home Edition' in support of safe driving

Starlet Emma Roberts ditched the awards show glam and joined Justin Bieber and NASCAR stars Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle to appear on ABC Sunday's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in honor of the Remember Alex Brown Foundation, a nonprofit organized after 17-year-old Alexandra Brown rolled her pickup truck and died on her way to school. She was texting and driving.

After being alerted that her daughter hadn't made it to school, Alex's mother Jeannie drove out to find the wreck of the truck. "Although no other vehicles were involved, Alex was not alone," she writes on the Foundation's official website. "The cell phone on which she had sent and receive over 10,000 text messages in the weeks preceding her accident was with her."

Volunteers arrived at the Brown home in Lubbock, TX to rebuild their home - now occupied by the remaining three family members, Jeanne, Johnny Mac, and Alex's 12-year-old sister Katrina a year after Alex's death.

"If Alex was here and seeing all this she would be so excited for us," Katrina told reporters. "She'd be like, 'I'm so glad y'all are getting this! Y'all are doing good. Keep going.'"

The Browns decided to start the Remember Alex Brown Foundation the day she died. "I chose to do it that day at the hospital," her father says. "We have to put the [wrecked] truck on a trailer and we have to go to schools and tell people about the dangers of texting and driving."

"Extreme Makeover" asked Roberts to join in for two reasons. "She's an incredible young actress," said Ty Pennington, "and she's a teen so she understands how big of an epidemic texting and driving is."

"After hearing Alex's story I just think texting and driving is really a problem," Roberts says. "To hear that this happened to someone so young -- that really kind of was a little bit of a wake-up call. I have a nine year old sister and to think of her losing me, or me losing her -- I can't even comprehend that."

Is Whitney Houston Pregnant: Why Did This Rumor Start?

Seriously people, do you really think Whitney Houston is having another baby?

There are new rumors that Whitney Houston could be pregnant. But the odds that she is are doubtful. She is forty-seven, has reportedly battled with substance abuse issues, and she is a mother to her sixteen year old daughter Bobbi.  So why did these rumors start?

Recent photos of Whitney Houston have shown a more full-figured Whitney. But there may be a reason why she is bigger, and it doesn’t have anything to do with being pregnant.

One rumor that is swirling about is that she had a sudden weight gain from steroid injections for a respiratory infection. The other is that the after effects of becoming clean and sober attributed to the weight gain.

Do you think there is a chance she could be pregnant or is it just another silly fake baby bump rumor?