Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Two For Tuesday: 1-15-08

1. Backing Up Your Files: Yes, you know you should do it, but you just haven't had a minute. I'm as guilty as anyone. If my computer were to die today, I would be in trouble (I'm going to back up as soon as I finish writing this!). To help preserve my documents, I've been creating and opening files in Google Docs. This allows me to access my files anywhere because they are saved on the Google server. Using del.icio.us to tag my bookmarks also preserves my important links Online.

Finally, there are several free utilities you can use to help you to automate your backup process. Here is a great blog post that summarizes and explains the free backup software that is available on the Web.

2. MIT OpenCourseWare - Highlights For High School: MIT has made A.P. Bio, Physics and Calculus lecture notes, materials, labs and videos of lectures available for free Online. This site has materials that teachers can use to supplement their lessons. Students can use this Website to get extra help, find resources and/or to help them decide if they want to pursue a subject. Finally, if you always wanted to learn calculus, this is the Website for you.

Image Citation: Sindy. "Friendly Reminder to Backup your Files" Sindy's Photostream on Flickr. 9 Sept. 2005. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/sindy/41865369/] 15 Jan 2008 .

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I like Google docs for backup and portability, but it tends to change my document formatting, which kinda makes me crazy... lol.

Mike

Anonymous said...

Google Docs, Zoho, et al. are good services if you're creating new files, but what about the gigabytes of data you've created over the years? An automatic backup solution is essential, whether you back up to an external HD or an online service.

There are a ton of services that offer 1, 2, or 5 gigs of free storage, which is plenty for most folks with some text documents or spreadsheets. If you need more than that, you'll likely have to pay. Still, ~$5/mo. is a small price to pay for security.

After years of holding out, I finally bit the bullet and went with Mozy.com as my backup solution. About $50/yr for unlimited space and automatic backups - I've only got about 18 Gb there now, but at the rate my photo and music collection is growing, I can see that number doubling or even tripling shortly.