Career-Op: Fighting the futility

Career-Op: Fighting the futility
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

I often get asked, “How can you stand to deal with computer problems, day in and day out?” My clients know how frustrated they can feel when their computers aren’t working well and can only imagine their frustration in dealing with the dozens of computers I see on a weekly basis. They sometimes wonder aloud how I can deal with the seeming futility of it all. How I spend my time putting computers back together, only to have them fall apart again. Usually I brush this off as individual differences. People have different aptitudes and tolerances for work. Something they find enjoyable might drive me to distraction. There is a kernel of truth in what they say, though, and every high-tech careerist needs to address the issue at some time in their career.

(Continued)

Listen to this column on your computer, iPod or other MP3 player

MP3 via Coral | MP3 direct from WelchWrite.com

RSS Feed with enclosures

WelchWrite Note: iTunes Install/Upgrade Fails

I have been fighting a nasty problem on a client's machine for the past week. Despite everything we tried, I coul dnot get the iTunes 4.6 update to install. Finally, today, I found a solution and wanted to offer it up here. Hopefully, if anyone else runs acorss this problem, a quick search should bring them here.

Today, I saw a hint to notice if there were any messages in the system Console when I tried to install the update. Sure enough, running the installer and clikcing through to the update section yielded this error:

2004-09-30 09:51:47.796 Installer[1912] *** NSTimer ignoring exception 'NSInvalidPackageException' (reason 'Can't open package /Library/Receipts/iTunes4.pkg (there was an error reading the file iTunes4.bom).') that raised during posting of timer with target 10b5120 and selector 'taskCompleted:'}

I moved the listed file to the Desktop, started the install again, and all proceeded as normal. What a relief!

I still had to do a little work rebuilding the users iTunes Library, but everything, including his iPod, seems to be functioning well now.

Event: Faulkner Farm Opens for Halloween Season

Faulkner Farm, in Santa Paula will be opening its pumpkin patch for the
harvest season on Oct. 1. Admission is $2 on weekends and $1 on weekdays.

They have a host of activities and entertainment each weekend.

For more information, visit: http://faulknerfarm.com

Photos from our previous visit are available at: http://welchwrite.com/events/ff2002/

Read it with me! - The Art of the Start

I just started a new book today and I realized that some of you might benefit from reading it, as well. If you would like to “read it with me” we can share comments and questions regarding the book via a mailing list or other online discussion group.

The book is The Art Of The Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide For Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki. I have known of Kawasaki for years and even met him once, I believe, as a Disney Mac User Group meeting. I also once gave him a bad review on one of his earlier books. (SMILE) This book, though, seems like a winner.

Download the first chapter of the book here -- for FREE!

The Art Of The Start begins with a very promising sentence, “…doing, not learning to do, is the essence of entrepreneurship.” In the past, I have written about the necessity of applying your knowledge and your thinking and this book promises to “Cut the crap and tell me what I need to do…” Those lines alone were enough to put this book at the top of my reading stack.

Reading a book by yourself can be entertaining, enjoyable and even enlightening, but reading and discussing it with others can open new avenues of discovery. This is the first time I have tried to arrange any form of "reading group" here, but I think the benefits are worth time and energy.

Below is a link to Amazon, or you can pick it up at your local (independent) bookseller.

I have set up a QuickTopic group for talking about book. We can always move the discussion to a different system if we outgrow it. Click on the QuickTopic link below to join the discussion today.

Discuss Art of the Start

** Listen to this post as an MP3 "PodCast" using this RSS feed with enclosures or directly using your MP3 player.

MP3 via Coral | MP3 Direct from WelchWrite.com

The Art Of The Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide For Anyone Starting Anything

California earthquake shakes up Web

California earthquake shakes up Web

I actually subscribe to immediate email notification of earthquake above 4.0 on my cell phone, so I had the basic information minutes after the earthquake occured. Still, the web was indeed abuzz with lots of basic info almost immediately. I certainly appreciate the info available from the web during events like this.

Quote: Can Money Buy Happiness? -- from Wired Magazine

I came across this quote in the latest issue of Wired (http://wired.com) and think it is worth passing along. Without much direct, conscious thought, I have been following this style of life. Even when I am unhappy, I understand that buying a Lexus (or a new G5 iMac) will not make me any happier.

Food for thought...

"Evidence suggests that if we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before. But, if we use an increase in out incomes to buy more of certain inconspicuous goods -- such as freedom from a long commute or a stressful job -- then the evidence paints a very different picture. ...reallocating out time and money in these and similar ways would result in healthier, long -- and happier -- lives.

Robert Frank, Professor of Economics, Cornell University

From Daedalus, volume 133, issue 2

Build your own musical instruments

For those of you with an adventurous bent, here are a collection of pages dedicated to making your own musical instruments, from violins to guitars, to PVC flutes and more.

Build your own musical instruments

Via MetaFilter

Event: Getty Family Festival

Getty Family Festival

Sunday October 3, 2004, 10 am

Museum Courtyard

Free

A day of music, dance, storytelling, games and workshops centered on the childhood experiences of many cultures. Inspired by the exhibition Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, the festival brings some of LA's finest young performers to the stage and explores the stories and myths of classical Greece.

Career-Op Audio - from the Archives

Here is my second "PodCast" of Career-Op Columns. This column is from September 2003. -- Douglas

Career-Op:Freelancing Now
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

It is almost impossible to work in a high-tech career today without being deeply involved with Microsoft Windows. Whether you are a developer, a user or a consultant to other users, there a several things you need to do to keep everything working smoothly. Doing so, and maintaining it regularly, is a sure way to improve you own high-tech life, that of your clients and your own high-tech career. For those of you just starting out, here are a few hints to insure that you and your clients are getting the most from your computer everyday.

(Continued)

MP3 via Coral | MP3 via FreeCache | MP3 direct from WelchWrite.com

What is PodCasting???

Do you have no idea what PodCasting is and why I would want to start doing it? Do you have an iPod, or iTunes, or other audio player?

Check out this description of PodCasting from Trade Secrets Radio

Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon

For whatever reason, the photographer of The Acorn, a small, regional paper for the Thousand Oaks/Simi Valley area, finds Joseph quite photogenic. This is the second time we have appeared in the paper. By the way, I am not asleep in the picture, but concentrating on the sketch I was drawing. (SMILE)

Click for a short story from the paper and links to a larger image!

LA Insight: Leaving LA

1. When you can only get out of LA for a weekend, where do you like to go?

Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto/San Gorgonio Mountains

2. Where do you stay when you go there? (lodging and/or region)

On the cheap, the Atipahato Lodge. Small, cute place, near town. Some units have kitchenettes. Longer term/more money, a rental "cabin", like this one.

3. Where do you go on vacation to get as far out of the LA lifestyle?

I really like northern Arizona, especially Sedona (which can be a little LA-ish) and nearby, Jerome, an old mining town that is as far from LA as you could hope to get. This is NOT counting, of course, our trips to Sicily to visit my wife's relatives. That is truly far, far, away from LA.

4. For longer vacations, 1-2 weeks, where have you been that you would go back to?

I would like to return to England again, and spend more time out of London and in the smaller villages. The same goes for rural France.

5. Where do you dream of going, but haven't been?

I have always wanted to visit Yellowstone, but have not yet made it. It is definitely on my list of Top 10 Places to Visit, though.

6. Where have you been on vacation where you thought "I could settle here"?

Boston and environs, (Concord, Lexington, Salem, etc.) has always seemed like a place we could live. Charlottesville, Virginia made quite an impact, too. Nice college town nestled in the rolling hills. Monticello on the hill and all that.

7. What place in Los Angeles makes you feel like you're already on vacation?

The Getty Center always gives me a feeling of being on vacation, even though I live only a few miles away. Pasadena can do the same. And, of course, anywhere up in the mountains, especially when you can';t see the LA skyline.

8. Where in Los Angeles would you warn tourists to stay away from, even though a lot of them end up there?

I would guess most people would tell them to avoid Hollywood. I would probably say Disneyland. I think too many tourists end up in the manufactured "Hollywood" of Universal Studios and Citywalk, and now, Hollywood Blvd. itself, post-Hollywood and Highland.

Career-Op: School Time -- now with MP3 audio "PodCasting"

** NEW -- MP3 Audio for your iPod or other audio player -- NEW **

RSS Feed with enclosures | MP3 (via FreeCache) | MP3 direct from WelchWrite.com

Starting this week, I am going to release each column in MP3 format so you can listen to it on your way to work, in the car or on your bike. You can use iPodderX (and other tools) to automatically download each weeks selection directly to iTunes and ready for import into your iPod. See iPodder.org for more info on PodCasting and more tools.

Look for a new posting each week and (hopefully) one from the Career-Op archives, as well. Subscribe to the RSS feed above to be notified automatically when new columns are available. --Douglas

---

Career-Op: School Time
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

Once I graduated from college, it was an easy decision to not return. Since I wasn’t programming-inclined, there wasn’t much to be gained from getting a Masters or Doctorate in Computer Science. Instead, I went off and joined the big world of business and have arrived at where I am today. This is not to say, though, that I have stopped learning. Instead I have spent my years learning about topics that interested me, developing my own personalized advanced degree. While it may not hold the cache of a MA or Ph.D, it certainly has helped to develop a decent career and an interesting life.

(Continued)

Everything you wanted to know about digital photography...

Whether you are an experienced digital photographer, or just beginning to search for your first camera, this book should be on your bookshelf. Shooting Digital takes you through shopping for a new camera, lenses and accessories, discusses the difference between digital and film and much more.

Web: Ten lies to protect the status quo - Seth Godin

Seth Godin, on his blog, has listed ten "Lies that seek to protect the status quo".

Sometimes you need reinforcement from someone else so that you can go through your day with a small sense that you are NOT crazy. Too often, statements like this, and many more, are bandied about like the truth without any investigation as to why we believe them or what they do to us as a culture.

Here's a toast to asking more questions...and the more difficult, the better!

Lies to protect the status quo


1. Canadian pharmaceuticals are dangerous


2. Piracy is killing the ongoing creation of music and movies (notice I didn't say anything about the movie and music businesses)


3. Dental work lasts forever


4. A bottle of Evian is dangerous to airline security and must be surrendered


5. The Microsoft monopoly pays dividends to all users (like IE, for example)


6. You can’t start a business without venture money or a big bank loan


7. Working hard for your boss and following instructions is the best way to get ahead


8. We need to spend taxpayer money on support for traditional factory farming


9. It’s impossible to make a fuel efficient automobile Americans will accept


10. Who you know is more important than what you do

Upcoming Full Moon Hikes

Nearly Full Moon Hike

MON 9/27 6:30pm - Franklin Canyon Ranch

Explore the canyon by moonlight on a moderately strenuous hike. Look and listen for wildlife, and enjoy a spectacular view of the stars and city from atop the canyon trail. Fun for all ages. 2hrs WODOC

 Full Moon Hike


TUES 9/28 6:30pm - Charmlee Wilderness Park

An evening hike under the full moon. All ages welcome. Reservations required 310-317-1364. 2hrs CWP

  Full Moon Hike


 TUES 9/28 7:30pm - Coldwater Canyon Park

Explore the park at night and enjoy live music after the hike! FEE for nonmembers. Reservations required contact Chip at cenglish@treepeople.org or 818-623-4866. 1hr TP

Amazon offers small discount to users of A9.com search engine

This evening, when browsing Amazon.com, I noticed an odd logo on their pages.

Clicking the link brought me to this page.

For those of you who may not be able to see that page, here is the first paragraph.

Douglas E. Welch, since you've been using A9.com recently, virtually everything at Amazon.com is automatically an additional π/2% (1.57%) off for you. Collecting this discount is zero effort on your part. It will be applied automatically at checkout (it will happen whether you use the shopping cart or our 1-Click Shopping®). You don't need to do anything to get this discount except keep using A9.com as your regular search engine

It is a small discount, but I will take it just for occasionally using the A9 search engine.

Latest WelchWrite Note - Spyware

I just posted my latest WelchWrite Note, a quick introduction to Spyware and some additional problems with this software turning computers into zombies.

If you would like to join my mailing list for these items, continue to the article and click the "Subscribe" link.

[ Continue reading here ]

Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

Flipping through the most recent issue of Smithsonian Magazine at the library today, I found they are now accepting submissions for their 2nd Annual Photography Contest.

Even better, you can submit your entries via their web site. I have a few entries of my own that I am going to upload soon.

More info from SmithsonianMag.com...

The editors of Smithsonian invite you to enter the second annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest. We are looking for remarkable images, photographed within the past three years (since January 1, 2002), that relate to five subjects of special interest to our magazine: Americana, the Natural World, People, Culture & the Arts, and Travel. The competition is open to amateur photographers, 18 years or older. Please review the rules before entering.

Contest submissions must be uploaded or postmarked by midnight, December 31, 2004. Fifty finalists will be selected, 10 for each of the 5 categories. From these 50 finalists, 5 category winners and a grand prize winner will be selected. The entries of all winners and finalists will be published on the Smithsonian Magazine Web Site. The entries of the winners and selected finalists will be published in Smithsonian Magazine during summer 2005.

Digital Photo Composition Tips

For all the photographers who might be reading, here is a collection of composition tips from the Digital Photography Blog.

There are links to other great articles, as well. Well worth checking out.

Career-Op: I am not my tools

Career-Op: I am not my tools
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

Work in a high-tech career long enough and you will find yourself telling clients that something “cannot (easily) be done.” Each and every piece of software and hardware that you touch will have one quirk, fault, or missing feature that will make your life…interesting. Over the years, this can lead to some deeply probing questions about your own skills and abilities. Let me be the first to say that you are not your tools and their failures are not yours. Their failures can reflect on you, though, so it is important to manage them, and your client’s expectations carefully.

(Continued)

Los Angeles Insight: Baby You Can Drive My Car

For more LA Insights, see LABlogs.com

1. How many hours a week are you stuck in your car?

Thankfully, not very many. Since I work for myself, doing computer troubleshooting and training, I only have to get in the car for each call, not a daily commute. Lately, a lot of my clients have been in the Valley, so that helps a lot. According to my statistics, I have spent 28.5 hours in my car in the last 10 weeks. That is on business trips only, though.

2. What music is in your car, right now?

James Taylor, David Wilcox, America Sing, Yo-Yo Ma Suites for Unaccompanied Cello

3. What do you do while stuck in traffic? Eat? Sing? Primal scream?

Mainly I suffer from large attacks of claustrophobia. If I am truly stuck in a place with no alternate routes or off-ramps I can build up quite a panic. As you might imagine, I try not to put myself in those situations.

Otherwise, I listen to NPR or KZLA. I know when I have been spending too much time in my car by how often I start a conversation with “Well, I heard on NPR the other day…”

4. If you could give citations to other drivers for bad behavior, who/ what would you ticket?

Hmm, that is difficult, as there are so many. My pet peeve lately is Compact parking spaces that are so small even my Honda Civic Hybrid won’t fit in them. Then , of course, the SUV drivers who insist on taking up 1.5 of these same “compact” spaces to park their Hummer.

People who pull forward in the LEFT HAND LANE, so that I can’t see to make my right-turn on red. People who INSIST on making a left-hand turn when a couple of rights would be more expedient and safer for everyone involved.

Finally, since I was just involved in an accident that totaled my vehicle, people who run red lights. I was broadsided crossing Van Nuys Blvd by a red light runner a week ago. There was no evidence that he even hit his brakes before plowing into me. I am still feeling sore on my right side where the console of my Jeep decided to strike me. Then I spun completely around. I prefer my thrill rides at the amusement park, thank you. It could have been worse, of course, but it is still irritating have to shop for a new car when the old one was just fine, thank you.

5. What's your favorite place/freeway to drive in LA?

Mullholland Drive, PCH, Santa Monica Mountains Canyon Roads (Malibu, Zuma, Topanga, etc.), Angeles Crest Highway, Routes 126, 33 on the back way to Santa Barbara, Across the desert on the 10, up the Grapevine on a good day.

6. What's your least favorite?

405, 101, 134, 57…oh heck, all of them!

7. What's the craziest thing you've ever seen another driver do?

Wrong way drivers, drivers backing up on the freeway, The usual litany of complaints, but don’t get me started or we will be here all day.

8. What's the craziest thing you've ever seen left on the side of the road?

Ex-wife. (Ouch, no, dear, just kidding! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!)

Nothing really jumps to mind. Mainly old couches, refrigerators, tires, etc. I must not be paying enough attention.

New Apple Security Update

Check Software Update in your System Preferences today. There is a new security update from Apple with some updates to the iChat client. It is recommended for all Mac users, whether you use iChat or not.

More sketching..

It is good to put pencil to paper a little more. I find mysefl sketching at the end of the day when I can't think about computers one more second. This takes a "con" and makes if a "pro". What a great deal!

Click for an "actual size" image

RSS Feeds - The What, Why and How

I have been making great use of RSS feeds lately. These special files, available from many web sites, allow you to see when new material is added to a web site without actually visiting it every day.

Michael Randall gives a good introduction to RSS Feeds and there use in this posting to his blog. Enjoy!

Computers: RSS Feeds - What They Can Do For You

Summary: Lots of sites - blogs, news sites, anything where new items appear fairly regularly - now feature those little buttons. They're often orange, and usually labelled something like 'RSS', 'XML', or 'Site Feed'. It's all the same thing, and it's really very useful. It can also be very easy to take advantage of, and can save you a lot of time.

[Michael Randall's Blog]

Magical Macintosh Key Sequences

For the all the Mac users out there who aspire to Mac Geekdom!

Magical Macintosh Key Sequences

All the magic key sequences to make your Mac do various things.

As seen on del.icio.us/tags/osx...

Revised Apple Security Update

It seems there were some problems on certain machines with the Security Update released earlier this week.The revised update is now available via Software Update.

More info from MacDailyNews...

Apple releases revised Security Update 2004-09-07 version 1.1 for Mac OS X
Apple has released the revised Security Update 2004-09-07 version 1.1 which delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. [MacDailyNews]

Odd Entourage X Crash Problem and Work-around

I was working with a client last week who was having constant crashes whenever their MS Office v.X version of Entourage performed a mail check. After poking around in the Microsoft Support Knowledgebase,I came across this tech note.

Cannot download e-mail in Entourage X for Mac

The problem resides with the Junk Mail Filter in Entourage. Disabling the filter allows the mail to be received. Luckily, this client doesn't get a lot of junk mail, so this was ok, but those people who use the Junk Mail Filter extensively would be left without any way to manage this.

While this work-around did solve the problem, it offers no explanation of why the problem occurs in the first place. Entourage 2004 seems to have fixed this problem, as well.

Career-Op: Contract Yourself
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

As many of you know, working as a full-time employee can have many benefits, but just as many drawbacks. The bond of loyalty that once held employer and employee together continues to deteriorate and the situation only grows worse. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the concept of employment and what it means to be an employee. Instead of constantly reaching for the brass ring of “employment”, high-tech workers might find better career opportunities awaiting them on the freelance side of the equation.

(Continued)

Cheap, but good, $50 Photo Printer

Engadget points over to a good, cheap printer that is getting good reviews at PC Magazine.

Los Angeles Insight - Dog Days of Summer Edition

1. What is your favorite beach to cool off on? When do you go to beat the crowds?

Leo Carillo beach in Ventura County, beyond Malibu on PCH. It has a smaller sand beach, but I love the tide pools and neat rock formations. Long, wide beaches, like Zuma, tend to bore me. I like watching the waves break on the rocks in chaotic patterns. Very interesting.

Even on the busiest beach days there is still space and free parking available. We were just out that way on Labor Day weekend and while it was busy, it was stilla accessible.

2. If not the beach, where is your favorite cooling-off spot outdoors? indoors?

We tend to just run over to Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks if we need to get out of the house and move around a little bit without suffering from the heat. We are not heavy shoppers, but the people watching and a cup of coffee give you a sense that you did something other than sit in the home office at the computer all day.

3. Where is your favorite spot for ice cream/sorbet/gelato?

Aromi Café in Sherman Oaks, near the corner of Ventura and Van Nuys Blvd. The original owner was very nice and spoke Italian, so we could practice a bit whenever we went. It is under new ownership now, but the gelato (made right in the store) still has the excellent Italian consistency and flavor. We have tasted gelato in Italy and Sicily and think this is very close to what we remember.

4. What is your favorite flavor?

Stracciatella. What chocolate chip ice cream SHOULD be! They drop the chocolate in strings as they stir the gelato, making the chips small and flat so they literally melt in your mouth. Yum!

5. Stuck at home? What are you making in your blender?

We often throw together a smoothie of watermelon, banana, strawberry and more. We usually cut up watermelon into squares and freeze it so that we can put together a nice smoothie without using too much ice.

6. Got any original concoctions you want to share?

Can’t think of any right now (SMILE)

7. Favorite winter-themed video or book?

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

8. What was your favorite water-themed activity as a kid?

We lived near a state park in Ohio that had a swimming beach on a small lake. I couldn’t swim very well at the time, but I remember going out as far as I could and still touch bottom, everything submerged but my head.

I can still remember the smell of the warm, brown water, the sun tan lotions and the hot asphalt that would stick to the bottom of your shoes as you walked across the parking lot. We often camped at this park, as well, throughout the years in our small pickup camper.

Web: 43 Folders

I discovered 43 Folders via BoingBoing a few days ago.

This blog contains lots of great information on Mac OS X hints and is also a big fan of David Allen's book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Even better, the combine the two, giving great tips about using OS X to manage the GTD procedures in your daily life.

Check out 43 Folders when you get a chance. They also have an RSS feed to make it easy to watch for new updates.

Note: Check out the site for an explanation of its name. (SMILE)

Latest Apple Security Update

Apple has released a new security updare for users of Mac OS X 10.3.5 (Panther). You can download and install this update via the Software Update System Preference.

More information from Macworld...

Apple releases Security Update 2004-09-07
Apple on Tuesday released Security Update 2004-09-07 delivering a number of security enhancements. The update, which is recommended for all users, updates the CoreFoundation; IPSec; Kerberos; libpcap; lukemftpd; NetworkConfig; OpenLDAP; OpenSSH; PPPDialer; rsync; Safari; and tcpdump. The update is available via the Software Update control panel; more information is available from Apple's Web site. [MacCentral]

Malibu Sunset

After working all morning, and part of the afternoon, we finally got our act together to have a little fun. Rosanne suggested a trip out to Neptune's Net, on the Oxnard end of Malibu, near Leo Carillo State Beach. We had been there once before, a few weeks ago, and really like its beach-side, seafood shack style...as well as the food.

After dinner, we headed over to the beach for a little walking. As sunset approached, I started to see some nice pictures forming. Through the use of my polarized sunglasses, I was able to emphasize the colors of the sunset in some dramatic ways.

While I took the shots, Joseph found a friend. They played with toy trucks and then drug their boogies boards out to the edge of the surf line. They kept getting more and more adventurous, straying farther and farther out. A great time was had by all.

Click the photo above for a 3 page gallery.

Career-Op: Your elders

Career-Op: Your elders
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

While a recent lawsuit against Google may have brought the news to the forefront, age discrimination in the workplace is one of the more troublesome issues facing high-tech careerists today. Much like television, advertising and film, high-tech companies have begun worshipping at the altar of youth, both in the focus of their business and the makeup of their staff. While young staffers certainly bring interesting thoughts to the table, the older members of your staff have an important role to play, too. Without them, you might doom your younger staffers to a reputation of past failures instead of using your “elders” experience to lead your company to new heights of innovation.

(Continued)

Apple - iMac - iMac G5 Introduction Video

If you couldn't be in Paris for the big iMac G5 introduction, here is link to the introduction video, a 4 minute presentation explaining the concept behind the iMac G5 and its features.

Large file requires broadband (DSL/Cable) connection.

Apple - iMac - iMac G5 Introduction Video

School Magazine Drive

The school year has just begun and we are already into our first fundrasier, the Magazine Drive.

If you are in the market to renew any of your subscriptions -- or start a new one -- please take a moment to check out the QSP Reader's Digest magazine store.

40% of your purchase will go directly to Joe's school, St. Cyril's.

Click here to visit the store!

Back it up!

This article is from this month's issue of the WelchWrite Newsletter. I am posting it here for those of you who might not be on that mailing list. -- Douglas

Too many of us (myself included) do not backup our data frequently enough, if at all so I have decided to name September 2004 Back it up! Month.

Let’s get together this month and work towards remedying this problem.
The simple fact is performing even a simple backup can seem like an overly complicated task. There are many individual steps involved and written directions on how to backup can intimidate almost anyone, let alone someone new to computers.

Yet, performing a backup isn’t that difficult, if you have the right instruction. I believe that a quick demonstration, along with a document describing the process, can provide all of us with some much needed backup protection.

While there are many ways to make backups easier and more automatic, this initiative isn’t about that. Instead, I am focused on creating a down-and-dirty, manually processed, “get-it-done” backup that provides you some modicum of protection should you have issues with your computer. You can always re-install MS Windows and your application software from their original disks, but your data could be gone forever. Let’s make sure this never happens to you.

Once we have established some basic backup peace of mind, we will have the opportunity and the time to research more advanced alternatives.

(Continued)