Geek Software of the Week: Flashboot!

FlashbootSo… there was no GSotW last week, so, we have two this week! How’s that!?! This is a good one! I use it all the time. It is a purchased product rather than free, but it is really nice and very convenient!

Flashboot – Create Bootable USB Media!

“FlashBoot is a tool to make USB storage devices bootable. FlashBoot supports USB thumbdrives and USB HDDs. FlashBoot partitions, formats USB storage device and then automatically installs operating system files to it. Supported operating systems: Windows 7/Vista, Windows XP, SysLinux-based disks, GRUB4DOS disks, Linux kernel etc.

You may create blank bootable USB flash with minimal set of system files and then manually tune it for your needs, or convert a full-featured bootable CD-ROM or floppy disk to bootable USB Flash keeping all functionality.

Most popular FlashBoot feature is a convertion of Windows installation CD/DVD into bootable USB disk to install Windows XP from USB or to install Windows 7 or Vista from USB on netbooks and other devices without CD/DVD drive.

FlashBoot is a tool with rich feature list:

  • Convert Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 installation CD/DVD disc to bootable USB disk (to install Windows on netbooks and other computers without CD/DVD drive)
  • Create USB disk to reset password for any user of Windows XP/Vista/7
  • Extract Windows XP recovery console from Windows XP installation CD to bootable USB disk
  • Convert BartPE bootable CD to bootable USB disk
  • Convert IsoLinux, SysLinux, GRUB4DOS and DOS bootable CDs/DVDs/floppy disks to bootable USB disks
  • Duplicate USB disks

You get all the features “in one box” if you use FlashBoot.

FlashBoot can either format physical disk or write an image file. So you may create customized USB disk manually or with another tool and use FlashBoot to create image out of it and redistribute it in local network or online.

The Day… the Film Died.

Kodak Film(Read the title above to the tune of “American Pie” by John McClean.)

It is a sad day. I was my High School’s Newspaper and Yearbook Photographer. I shot sporting events, pushed my film speed to ASA 4000 by using unorthodox film developer practices so I could take night-time action shots, and generally LOVED Kodak film! (Though my favorite color slide film was Fuji!) I even ended up with a BFA in Painting, Printmaking and Photography from UNC-G. Anyway, film is going he way of the buggy-whip, so I shed a tear of reminiscence over Kodak’s demise.

Not a Kodak Moment: Legendary Camera Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection

“Struggling camera maker Kodak said on Wednesday night that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization.

The move, which had been expected, follows years of struggle by the film giant to transition to a digital imaging company. In recent months, the company has sought to capitalize on its patents and, in recent days, has sued Apple, HTC and Samsung.

Kodak said it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in 2013 and intends to conduct business during the restructuring using $950 million in financing from Citigroup. As part of the move, the company said it has named Dominic DiNapoli, vice chairman of FTI Consulting, as its Chief Restructuring Officer.”

Kindle Fire Profitable for Amazon!

Cross-posted from the Hand Held Hack:

As you know, my Kindle Fire is my favorite new tech toy… and we had a report not long ago that Amazon was selling them at a price lower than it costs to make them. But this report seems to indicate that, as we predicted, they are doing fine on sales and profits!

Kindle Fire Could Be More Profitable Than Expected

Amazon’s Kindle Fire, released in November, may wind up being more profitable than was expected, thanks to users’ penchant for purchasing digital goods, according to a new research report from RBC Capital.

Though Amazon actually eats a loss of an estimated $18 for every Kindle sold due to manufacturing costs and other factors, the company makes up for it through sales of ebooks and apps, according to the report. Based on survey of 216 Kindle Fire Owners, RBC analysts estimated that over the course of three years, each Kindle Fire sold could earn Amazon $136.

‘Amazon will break even on a Kindle Fire unit in less than five months, accounting only for direct digital good purchases,’ the report states.

Amazon makes the most money off the Kindle Fire from sales of ebooks, according to the report. RBC estimated that each Kindle Fire owner purchases five ebooks per quarter, generating Amazon roughly $15 per user each quarter. In RBC’s survey, just 19 percent of respondents had not purchased an ebook for their device, while 29 percent purchased three to five and more than 28 percent bought more than six.

Kindle Fire owners also purchase three paid apps on average, per quarter, RBC estimated. In the survey, 66 percent of respondents said they had purchased at least one paid app for their device, while 34 percent had not.
Besides digital content, the Kindle Fire could also generate revenue through sales of physical goods and memberships to Amazon Prime, the company’s ‘preferred’ tier that gives customers free unlimited two-day shipping.”