World Backup Day

Don't Forget to Backup Your Data

Hi All,

Just spotted this article on backing up your data from the venerable New York Times.  Good stuff on backing up your data - whether its on your computer, your social media feed, your pictures or your music.  Don't lose your important data/info! Click here for the NYTimes article I just mentioned. 

Click here for a link from Microsoft to learn how to backup or transfer your data on a Windows based computer.  This next link discusses  'How to Back Up Your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch' - link comes directly from the Apple support website.  PC World has a link as well that discusses 'The Simple Guide To Backing Up Your PC' 

These next links discuss the advantages of backing up your data to the 'cloud'  But first, what exactly is the 'cloud'?  Click here (Mashable), her (Gizmodo) and here (PC Mag) for explanations of just what the 'cloud' is...

Backblaze has a site that discusses how to backup your computer.
Five Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Storage
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
More Advantages and Disadvantages of Storing Your Data on the Cloud
 

Enjoy the links and remember, if you need to find more information about the cloud or backing up your data, just do a Google search with some of the key words you are looking for (cloud computing, backing up your data, backup, remote backup...etc)

Regards,

Stu

Ten Things...from TechRepublic

Hi All,

TechRepublic is an information technology news aggregator for computer and technology users.  TechRepublic features blogs, community forums, webcasts, research and more for information technology enthusiasts, professionals and others to utilize.

Okay..with all that jargon out of the way, TechRepublic covers cloud computing, big data, computer and network security and much, much more for computer users and professionals.

For the purpose of this blog entry though, I want to focus on an entry called '10 Things'.  Basically these are key facts on a wide range of technologies, techniques, strategies, and skills in the form of a  concise, easy-to-read, lists.   Read on for more examples!

10 Cost-effective ways to quickly beef up your company security.
10 tips for spotting a phishing email
10 legal areas that IT managers should know about 
10 ways Microsoft Office 2016 could improve your productivity
10 of the best pieces of IT advice I ever heard
10 things you should never do on your resume
10 ways to get the most bang for your buck with an Android device
10 easy ways to punch up your presentations
10 web-based tools to maximize productivity
10 free Android apps that are worth checking out 

Enjoy the links!

Regards,
Stu

Back Up Your Data...in a Cloud!

Hi All,

Those of you who are reading this are at least somewhat computer proficient...and that's a good thing. Most of the time in this blog I like to write about interesting topics that are somewhat - at least tangentially -related to the library and 'things library related'...

So.....you might have heard horror stories about people who didn't back up data...and then lost it all when a computer got fried, or when a surge protector didn't protect the computer from a power surge...   Well, things like this can and do happen and not to sound to parental...it does make sense to back up your data.  Heck, at least back up your essential files on a flash drive.

But the real focus on today's blog entry is 'cloud backup websites'.  What the heck is that you ask?  Simple, these are websites that users can log on to (first you'll need to create a username and password) and upload and save your important files to....

There are many, many 'cloud backup websites' available for customers to subscribe to.  Some of the better known sites include ZipCloud, DropBox and LiveDrive.

For the most part the prices run between $3-$10 per month and readers can see a fairly good summary of cloud backup services on the site 'Top 10 Best Online Backup.com'. Top 10 Backups links to virtually all of the cloud backup sites on the left side of the screen - and and it helps you decide which cloud based backup service is best suited to your individual needs.  Users would be well advised to read users posted reviews of the various backup sites on the Top 10 Backups...the reviews are informative and current.

Also notable on the site is the easy-to-read chart on the homepage which has the name of the backup service, the price (per month), how much storage is available to users, score and user reviews. Score is made up of user reviews in categories like value for money, reliability, support, features and storage space.  In addition, user reviews have reviewers' names and the date of the review.

Users can also do comparisons of the various services using a tab at the top of the homepage - or you can just click on this link - it'll take you directly to the comparison page. 

Not a bad site to start you on your way to decide what online backup service to use.

Enjoy the security of having your important data backed up! It feels great - trust me...

Regards,
Stu

Clouds - Everything Related to Them

Hi All,

I decided to a blog entry on a whimsical topic today...clouds. I am going to talk all about 'things related to clouds'. Why clouds you ask? Well, now that spring seems to have finally sprung, the dark snow and rain clouds of winter are passing and are now slowly becoming...April rain showers.

Which are much, much better than snow showers. Wouldn't you agree?

I originally thought of this blog entry by thinking about the different shapes of clouds. You might remember when you were a child and you looked at clouds and came up with different descriptions of various shapes of clouds, right? Click here for a link where you can express your creativity and look at clouds and their shapes...cool stuff.

Click on this link to ScienceRay and you'll find 10 Amazing Cloud Shapes.

Okay, also click on this link from Flickr that has some impressive photos of clouds. Of course the title of the page is 'Shapes in the Clouds'. The pictures are darn pretty in their own right!

Now...the real reason why I generated this blog entry was to talk about the different types of clouds - like cumulus, cumulonimbus, cumulus humilis, stratocumulus and more...

Click here for a great - and interesting (really!) discussion of the different types of clouds from Wikipedia. Click on this link from the NOAA regarding cloud classification and characteristics. You will definitely like the graphics on this page that's for sure! And the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is very, very educational and very authoritative!!

This would make for a great school assignment website...or a place where a student can go to get information to help write a paper on clouds or the atmosphere...

Finally, to end this whimsical blog entry, here is a link to a very popular term lately: cloud computing. Click here to find a brief discussion about just exactly what cloud computing is. Link is from About.com so it is not super complicated. However, it is pretty darn interesting if you like technology, computer and the internet.

Okay, okay, you talked me into it: here is another link - this time from Wikipedia - discussing what cloud computing is...

Enjoy!

Stu

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