It’s funny—Shawn and I talk a pretty good game when it comes to planning and organizing, and reaping the simple-fied joy that comes from properly tending those two particular fields. And yet three and a half years in, we still struggle sometimes with the seemingly-simple task of putting a short newsletter together and sending it out. There are a surprising number of moving parts in this little machine we call The Simplifier!

With both Shawn and I digging in for major expansion in our respective fields of enterprise, it’s more important than ever that we keep the little machines and processes that make up our work well-oiled and well-planned. It’s a good lesson for anyone, but especially for me—which is why I offered to take on Shawn’s Note-writing and audio-version-recording duties this issue, after I made her miss the planned window for said tasks. Shawn gets to reap her deserving reward of peace of mind for doing things right, I get to learn a lesson about mistreating the machine, and you lucky readers get an extra-large taste of my dulcet typing tones. (While purveyors of our audio version get to hear my first real public broadcast in years!)

This newsletter’s contents are simple–just the way we like ‘em, right? Shawn’s guide to backing up your files, my guide to a trio of funny, funny, funny podcasts, and some very succinct and sage advice from one of the wisest people of all time. That, and advance notice of two Project Simplify events for you Gold Country locals, immediately following this note.

So with no further ado, welcome to the increasingly-well-oiled machine that is The Simplifier, issue #4.9!

Be well, be free,

Lance Brown
Chief Complicator ;-), Project Simplify
Co-editor, The Simplifier

"Simplify your Holidays and Create a Healthy New Year"
A joint workshop with Vanessa Smith, MA, CLC Wellness Coach
This is an APPLE Sustainability Center sponsored event, located at 412 Commercial St, Nevada City.
Thursday, December 10th 7pm – 8:30pm
To register, call (530) 478-1700

Project Simplify’s “Simplify Your Holidays” display at the APPLE Sustainability Center, 412 Commercial St, Nevada City.
Display will be exhibited from Nov. 7 – Dec. 31. Center hours: Weds – Sat. from 12pm – 5pm.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

-Benjamin Franklin

by Shawn Tuttle

Me: "I thought you were going to have that part of the proposal done for our meeting today?"

Jay: "I did have it done last night. Then my computer crashed and I lost it."

Ouch.

The worst part is that this really happened last month. Super ouch!

Make no mistake: if you’ve avoided losing a document to a computer crash, you’ve been nothing but lucky.

Just about everyone who uses a computer knows that backing up your data is important. You’ve either been through a nasty data loss experience or know someone who has. Whether from a hardware or operating system failure, a major virus attack, an unprotected power surge, or spilt coffee, there are plenty of ways to lose your computer’s files.

Now I’m sure that you have at least one regular backup method for your computer files, right? (I hope I’m not having one of my delusional moments in thinking so.) If you don’t have one, then consider this the final boost you need to set one up!

Main options

Below is a brief review of advantages and disadvantages of several common options, followed by some suggestions based on your particular needs.

Online backup This is storing your data on a server that you access through the Internet.

Advantages You can set up an automatic syncing schedule (I strongly suggest this feature!)

You can access your files from any computer (just need your username and password). It’s off-site. Storage capacity for the average user is essentially unlimited. You can give other people access to selected files. Seems to be an accepted technology now by lots of techies participating in online forums.

Disadvantages You need internet access to get to your files, preferably high speed. It looks to be where we are headed technologically, and while I’ve heard it’s fairly secure (a lot of businesses are using it) as seen in T-Mobile Sidekick’s October ’09 crash on Microsoft’s servers, it’s not a 100% sure thing either.

Cost A monthly fee (I pay $2/month + .15 per GB, so about $3.50/month at Jungledisk.com).

External hard drive Integrates into your computer just like another drive.

Advantages Don’t need to be online to access. Similar to online storage, you can set up an automatic syncing schedule.

Disadvantages Can get corrupted (and will eventually die) just like your regular hard drive. Has moving parts so unless you specifically get one designed for movement, you are better off leaving it in the office. Needs a reliable power source.

Cost $75-$200 for 500 GB

Thumb drives That small little gadget that you may have seen on someone’s key chain that connects via USB.

Advantages Easily portable, it’s a "solid state" technology which means it’s hardy. Doesn’t need to stay connected to a power source, just uses the juice from the USB port.

Disadvantages It’s so small and easily portable that it can be easy to misplace. Mine gets lost in my own computer bag periodically. There may be potential for data loss due to static electricity. Not designed for long term storage. USB port transfer rate is limiting for large amounts of data. Data capacity is also limiting for some users.

Cost 8 GB for $15 or 16 GB for $30.

Writable CD / DVD Everyone knows what these are now, yes?

I used DVDs as my primary backup until I signed up for the online backup service last month.

Advantages If one disk is corrupted or lost, you can use the previous one (and hopefully that backup wasn’t made too long ago!) If the other versions, for ex. thumb drive or external drive, are lost or stolen, they are irretrievably gone.

Disadvantages for a full document backup, the CD (700 MB) is too small for most folks, and even the DVD (at 4 GB) is inadequate. (I only used one DVD per month, and didn’t do a full back up.) There’s no auto-backup feature. DVDs can get scratched, cracked or worn out, or just flake out.

Cost $28 (or less) for 100 DVDs

Other niche options

Flickr
Flickr stores image files exclusively. Two advantages of Flickr are 1. it’s designed for images and organizing images, and 2. ease of sharing with other people.
Cost They have a limited service (less than 100MB) for free and then annual plans for $25 year if you want more space and options.

Google Docs
This is an online service more designed for sharing word documents and spreadsheets with other people than long term storage.
Cost Free

Online email
Another short term solution, if you have an important document that you are working on and don’t have another backup option handy, you can email it to yourself–preferably to a web-based email account.
Cost Free

Your website server
If you run your own website, you already have access to a server. This option is better for those who are tech adept.
Cost Free since you’d be paying for hosting in any case

And remember the most basic backup of all: save as you go! If you frequently forget to do this, learn how to use your program’s auto-save feature.

So what’s the best option for you? Depends on your situation. As I was researching for this article, there was no real consensus. I read yea’s and nay’s for each of these choices.

My personal preference is the online storage—because I don’t want to have to troubleshoot any issues with external hard drives, the DVD doesn’t hold enough, and the thumb drive isn’t really designed for long term. Then I do a local backup for the most crucial stuff.

Specifically, this is my strategy:

1. Backup to online storage. JungleDisk.com.
2. Do a double backup of the critical documents on thumb drive (local).
3. Images are being transferred to Flickr.

I don’t have a huge music collection and it’s not something I’m concerned about losing. My favorite music is backed up on the MP3 player. I’m not a gamer, so I don’t need storage for that either.

Basically it comes down to choosing and committing to a method. If your current method is sporadic or non-existent, and what you really need is someone to make the decision for you, here you go:

Online backup with auto backup feature if you have high speed internet connection.

External hard drive if you don’t have the high speed internet connection.

Ok, time to step out of Geek Mode. That’s right, take a deep breath and shake it off. Come back to the purpose of all this techie talk: to keep you focused on your work and spend minimal time on maintenance and troubleshooting. It’ll take some energy to get in the regular backup groove, but once you get over the learning curve and make it a habit, you’ll be home free should something awful happen to your computer! 

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify.

Before the technophobic among you scurry away at the sound of the word “podcast”, let’s demystify that strange word. A podcast is just like a broadcast—like on radio or TV—except you download it off the Internet instead of tuning in to some station somewhere. The “pod” part just comes from the iPod listening device–but you don’t need an iPod to listen to (or watch) podcasts. You can play them right on your computer, and often on the website of the show in question.

So a podcast is just a downloadable Internet broadcast. They can be audio or video; most are audio. They can be on any schedule; most are weekly. Now that’s settled. Feel better? (Wikipedia has more general info, and Apple has a pretty good iTunes/iPod-oriented guide.)

The three funny podcasts we’re featuring are all audio ones (though one offers an upgrade to a video version). They are basically talk/variety shows, hosted by comedians. Each has its own flavor and structure, though they do overlap guests sometimes, since most of the guests are other comedians. :-) And fair warning: since these shows are on the Internet, they are not censored, and as you may know, comedians can occasionally be a bit coarse in their choice of words. In other words, these shows are not necessarily “safe for work", as they say.

I Love Movies (Length: 30-60 minutes or so)
(web archive | on iTunes | most recent show featuring Tom Lennon and Robert Ben Garant)
I Love Movies features comedian Doug Benson (Super High Me) and usually two or more guests, recording live with an audience at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles. It is about movies, technically, though it’s more about the funny than anything else. The stage-show/live-audience environment makes this the most raucous of the three podcasts here. Doug has some movie games that he plays with his guests, who are most often comedians or actors from the LA area, but most of the show just features wandering humorous conversation between host and guests. You should probably at least like movies to enjoy this show, but you don’t need to love movies to like I Love Movies.

Comedy Death-Ray Radio (Length: about an hour)
(web archive | on iTunes | most recent full show featuring Sarah Silverman and Andy Richter)
TV writer and comedian Scott Aukerman hosts Comedy Death-Ray Radio, a spinoff of the live Comedy Death-Ray stage show. In addition to guests, this show also features funny and ribald songs, and the occasional skit or fictional voice guest. It’s done in-studio, so there’s no audience fun, but the show is more tightly produced. Aukerman has his own odd games that he plays with guests too, most notably the nearly-surreal “Would You Rather”.

Never Not Funny (Length: about 25 minutes)
(web archive | on iTunes | most recent show featuring Paul F. Tompkins)
Jimmy Pardo’s Never Not Funny show is the one that has the video upgrade I mentioned earlier. It’s probably the least goofy and gimmicky of the shows: just straight funny talk with Jimmy and his funny producer Matt Belknap and a funny guest star. Sound funny? It should. In fact, If I’ve done my job right, it should sound never not funny. (Ba-dum-bum tsssh!)

NOTE: The first two podcasts are hosted at Blip.tv, but they are still just audio-only. If you find their player confusing, or want to directly download an episode, there is a “Download” link  below the comments section on each individual episode page.