►PSA (for Krampus Day)
My gift to you for Krampus Day… Backup all the data that you care about keeping onto a cloud storage.
I’m an IT Pro for a University, and every couple of months we see a 
tear-smeared student lamenting the loss of their data. Hard drives, flash drives… All hardware can break, even brand new hardware. Years ago I met a PhD student who lost his dissertation when his hard drive died; he had to ship it off to CA and spend $850 to retrieve the data.
My advice is to make a habit of uploading all you care about onto the cloud. There are tons of freebies. I personally use BOX [and Google Drive (just because I’m already logged into my Gmail, and I am lazy)] but it doesn’t matter much which one you choose.
OK, good deed done. 😉
~Daniel
Daniel Ionson 
I use a thumb drive. I like to have the information in my hand like a book. I’m very old school.
December 18, 2013 at 7:54 pm
Yes- those are handy. But we see them break too. I encourage you to back it up elsewhere as well.
December 18, 2013 at 7:56 pm
this is sooo good of you to share. I keep pictures in gmail. but never thought of doing this with my writing. thank YOU sooo much. I owe you lunch!! 🙂
December 18, 2013 at 8:03 pm
Is the cloud secure? I am concerned about those people smarter than I who can steal files by means to me might as well be magic. Which is the more preferable evil?
December 18, 2013 at 8:07 pm
Hi, A.
Well, it’s “safe enough.” I know that’s not a great answer, but it’s an honest one. All sites can get hacked. There are warehouses in Eastern Europe and Nigeria where they are constantly trying to hack into every big site out there. But, where I land on this– the benefits outweigh the risks, by far. Someone could hack into BOX, see my files… and then what? Nothing, really. I really need to have my data backed up. If BOX or Drive gets hacked, I’ll hear about it the next day. If the hackers deleted the files (just to be dicks), I still have it all at home to upload it again.
So, bottom line… it’s a safe venture, and a necessary one. But, I don’t put my SS# out there, or pics of me sacrificing a goat. 😉
December 18, 2013 at 8:17 pm
[laughter] Indeed, indeed! It is always wise to keep one’s goat-sacrificing to themselves (especially here in the crotch of the Bible’s belt). Many thanks for the informative advice.
December 18, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Daniel, i email all my novels and short stories – and every update of them – to myself at another address. Is this as safe as going cloud? (I don’t mind having to go into town and use the library’s computers while i wait for mine to be fixed, just need to know my work is safe.) Thanks for this post. Actually, it’s amazing the people who don’t back up at all.
December 18, 2013 at 9:23 pm
Hi Danielle,
Email is safe also, perhaps technically safer than the cloud (but not relevantly so). And cloud storage is more organized. But, it truly matters little. If you’ve emailed it, it is now sitting on a server other than your home.
Daniel
December 18, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Argh, you are right! I have been this tear soaked person many times… I don’t know why I don’t learn but I have SO much on my computer right now that I would weep to lose. Maybe I’ll make cloud uploading a New Years Resolution!
December 18, 2013 at 10:53 pm
Having lost a great portion of my Life [my son’s baby pics, my wedding pics, music, movies, artwork etc] I am constantly triple backing up my stuff.
December 19, 2013 at 5:54 pm
Great info. I’m use an external hard drive but am so worried that it’ll fail and I have EVERYTHING on it. I’m going to look in to Google Drive.
December 27, 2013 at 6:35 pm
Yes, the most secure strategy is to plan for a cataclysm… If your home were to burn down, at least your files are still alive somewhere. BOX is best for the huge files, but it matters very little.
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June 30, 2015 at 3:52 pm