tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92036192963097383932024-02-19T05:16:23.546-08:00Athena BlogA blog about the development of the Athena family of software to protect, backup and share personal files.Andrew McGregorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10982873477835767849noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203619296309738393.post-49890314101783358992008-03-25T12:05:00.000-07:002008-03-25T12:53:52.018-07:00People and PermissionsOne of the questions that we've been discussing recently is the question of who should be able to see what in a multi-computer environment (e.g. a home or small office).<br /><br />We spent time thinking through a number of approaches:<br /><ul><li>each user could have private and public files (like the "shared folder" concept)</li><ul><li>Pros - easy to mix private and public</li><li>Cons - Requires the user to organize their work in a specific way<br /></li></ul><li>different computers could encrypt files differently so that even the administrator could not access a user's files</li><ul><li>Pros - One user can be completely private from the administrator</li><li>Cons - A user can be completely private from the administrator, accessing files remotely becomes difficult<br /></li></ul><li>there could be an "administrator" class and a "limited" class of users with administrator class being able to do everything and limited users only being able to see their files</li><ul><li>Pros - This is familiar model. In a high-trust environment everyone can have administrator rights. In a privacy-conscious environment there can be one administrator and a series of limited users. For total privacy, each user should have their own account.<br /></li><li>Cons - There's no way, other than separate accounts, for a limited user to protect their data from the administrator.<br /></li></ul></ul>In the end, we decided to opt for the two classes of user because:<br /><ol><li>It is simple to understand</li><li>It covers several key situations well:</li><ul><li>a small business owner and a number of staff</li><li>a family where someone takes care of the computer(s) and other family members are users</li><li>a small business with an IT person<br /></li></ul><li>It is straightforward to implement all of the Athena Backup features in this context</li></ol>You can look forward to seeing this feature released in the next month or two!<br /><br /> Andrew.Andrew McGregorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10982873477835767849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203619296309738393.post-73701832774942872672008-03-11T07:09:00.000-07:002008-03-11T08:50:47.430-07:00Extending Online BackupOnce your files are on a remote server there are some really useful things that can be done with those files. We've been working to get these capabilities out to Athena Backup users.<br /><br />Here are some of the useful new features that we're working on for Athena Backup.<br /><br />Basic file access can be provided via a web page. This is great to allow retrieve a specific file by drilling down through a set of folders when you're somewhere else (e.g. work) and you need to get a file from your computer at home (or<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span> vice-versa). Here's a screenshot of a prototype <a href="http://athenabackup.com">Athena Backup</a> website viewing files.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiahNnVwZoGw8gf27fWR_vLopDLZ8Dl8NWBfxI59Hj7lpJMdDWOYbcaMW9Y3y1D0FAXe2Cff4gYNBi85z2YUCUZTc9NBLJqcpBQJ03at51k_zWuW-Xnrvdek6jRIR8oCfKoxujYp7lzu-0/s1600-h/pdv_browse.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiahNnVwZoGw8gf27fWR_vLopDLZ8Dl8NWBfxI59Hj7lpJMdDWOYbcaMW9Y3y1D0FAXe2Cff4gYNBi85z2YUCUZTc9NBLJqcpBQJ03at51k_zWuW-Xnrvdek6jRIR8oCfKoxujYp7lzu-0/s320/pdv_browse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176508701566544194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />The next level of functionality is for the system to understand more about the files. Providing a search by file type and/or date, especially across multiple computers allows users to easily find the file they're looking for, especially when it isn't obvious where it is. Here's a screen shot of a prototype of the web-based searching functionality for <a href="http://athenabackup.com">Athena Backup</a>.<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5LEkdLsWuruDNzfd7gf-GG4VE8hNxGm1leF6JoBHCkD6PKkj2lYRcqHRJ5tlB8lOBpxYy8DZw59TnaNuHajHfbO3uKhWOrTiJRA_mJ_4lABP6BtN-4dLYhJn-2w1n8hLa-W0ydPwd2lo/s1600-h/pdv_search_with_date.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5LEkdLsWuruDNzfd7gf-GG4VE8hNxGm1leF6JoBHCkD6PKkj2lYRcqHRJ5tlB8lOBpxYy8DZw59TnaNuHajHfbO3uKhWOrTiJRA_mJ_4lABP6BtN-4dLYhJn-2w1n8hLa-W0ydPwd2lo/s320/pdv_search_with_date.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176509775308368210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The level of functionality beyond this is to allow users to do useful things with their online files like creating albums and allowing people to link to files, etc... Here's a screenshot of Athena Backup showing the files found in thumbnail view. From here they will be able to be added to albums, emailed, etc...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3baDtzsWlVPYroDpfD_OUjk2tzflQS6g6s_l00M0mZgmTsQz8buWtd_u2ItbErEmXFlYOhOZK9TvGbaT9t318XGxBfJk1-jDxSNZJFMtbKTSD-dSqzCJvHMq_jrKlc9afdD7fXujJpxA/s1600-h/pdv_search_panel_with_thumbnails.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3baDtzsWlVPYroDpfD_OUjk2tzflQS6g6s_l00M0mZgmTsQz8buWtd_u2ItbErEmXFlYOhOZK9TvGbaT9t318XGxBfJk1-jDxSNZJFMtbKTSD-dSqzCJvHMq_jrKlc9afdD7fXujJpxA/s320/pdv_search_panel_with_thumbnails.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176510114610784610" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All of these feature are planned for release next month. Stay tuned for more!Andrew McGregorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10982873477835767849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203619296309738393.post-10217099940839356032008-03-02T13:10:00.000-08:002008-03-02T13:30:20.605-08:00To Limit Or Not To Limit - That Is The QuestionWe've spend a lot of time at Athena Backup debating whether to offer unlimited storage.<br /><br />There are some great things about an unlimited service:<br /><ul><li>people don't need to wonder about whether the service will work for you (well actually they do - but more on that later)</li><li>people don't have to make tricky decisions about what is worth backing up</li></ul>Sadly, however, there are big downsides to an unlimited service. Storage costs are still significant (for example <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=16427261">Amazon charges </a>$0.15/GB/month) for storage so 100 GB is $15 - more than many services are charging. Clearly storage can be had for less than $0.15/GB, but by the time it's on the 'net it's a significant portion of that. What this means is:<br /><ul><li>a backup service either needs to cut off heavy users (you see language like that buried in the legalese for most services) OR</li><li>implement some sort of throttling to stop/slow the backing up of data until the user, in frustration, stops backing up so much data<br /></li></ul>Neither of these options is much good for the user. Will the service really backup the data you have? There's no way to tell...<br /><br />So, after much soul searching, we've decided to price Athena Backup at $4.95/month for 50 GB.<br /><br />Why 50 GB? We believe that 50 GB is a good amount of storage for photos and music. It provides clarity to our users and let's them manage their personal data. It let's us provide a great service and still be profitable without making people's lives difficult, either by cutting off their service or crippling their service.<br /><br />Now to see what users think!Andrew McGregorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10982873477835767849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203619296309738393.post-57109249583312762422008-02-25T00:13:00.000-08:002008-02-25T07:13:43.272-08:00In the Beginning...This is the first post of the Athena blog. The Athena blog talks about the Athena family of products - products which are designed to protect and share your personal files over the internet.<br /><br />I am Andrew McGregor, one of the founders of Bronze Age Software Corp., the creators of the Athena family of products.<br /><br />We're planning to use this blog as a place to present and discuss issues with the Athena products, including usability, new features and product direction. Stay tuned for more information!Andrew McGregorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10982873477835767849noreply@blogger.com0