Comments on: Dept of Redundancy Dept http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sat, 26 May 2012 19:21:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: John Quiggin http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127517 John Quiggin Thu, 08 Dec 2005 05:18:00 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127517 It's easy to set your iPod up as a hard disk, and you can then use a standard sync package for backups. My backup procedure is a twice-daily sync, first Home-iPod-Work, then Work-Ipod,Home. So, apart from the current day's work, I always have three copies of my work files in two locations. Mind you, it appears that John and Belle used much the same setup, and it didn't save them from trouble. I also have an external HD, but I'm very slack about backing up to it. It’s easy to set your iPod up as a hard disk, and you can then use a standard sync package for backups.

My backup procedure is a twice-daily sync, first Home-iPod-Work, then Work-Ipod,Home. So, apart from the current day’s work, I always have three copies of my work files in two locations.

Mind you, it appears that John and Belle used much the same setup, and it didn’t save them from trouble.

I also have an external HD, but I’m very slack about backing up to it.

]]> By: James Wimberley http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127385 James Wimberley Wed, 07 Dec 2005 15:08:00 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127385 I decided instead to get a second internal 120GB hard drive, which I have set up for automatic daily incremental backups of my "documents and settings" and a weekly full backup of the entire main partition on the working hard drive. Cost about €70. So it's a lot cheaper, assuming the HD lasts more than a year. Plus I get much more capacity, can get the computer up and running in a day if the first HD crashes, and am not dependent on a working Internet connection. Not so good against earthquake, fire and theft. (The backup partition is a second one; I've left 10GB for a boot partition on which I would reinstall Windows from CD, as I can't figure out how to dual boot Windows clones). A wonderful free recovery tool for non-geeks is Knoppix - a self-booting Linux distro with applications on a CD. I managed to salvage key data files onto a USB stick with Knoppix when my old (actually brand new) Windows HD died. I decided instead to get a second internal 120GB hard drive, which I have set up for automatic daily incremental backups of my “documents and settings” and a weekly full backup of the entire main partition on the working hard drive. Cost about €70. So it’s a lot cheaper, assuming the HD lasts more than a year. Plus I get much more capacity, can get the computer up and running in a day if the first HD crashes, and am not dependent on a working Internet connection. Not so good against earthquake, fire and theft. (The backup partition is a second one; I’ve left 10GB for a boot partition on which I would reinstall Windows from CD, as I can’t figure out how to dual boot Windows clones).

A wonderful free recovery tool for non-geeks is Knoppix – a self-booting Linux distro with applications on a CD. I managed to salvage key data files onto a USB stick with Knoppix when my old (actually brand new) Windows HD died.

]]> By: nnyhav http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127382 nnyhav Wed, 07 Dec 2005 14:14:51 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127382 Re: post title: In the computer context, the pairing of the Department of Redundancy Department with the Small Animal Administration (cf 'phthisozoics', a Benthamism denoting the elimination of noxious critters i.e. bugs, with a corrupt e[n]tymology to match) indicates the technicological savvy of those 4 or 5 crazee guys (aka Firesign Theatre), perhaps extending to the chronobackup capabilities of Nick Danger, Third Eye (how can you be in two places as once when you're not anywhere at all?) Re: post title: In the computer context, the pairing of the Department of Redundancy Department with the Small Animal Administration (cf ‘phthisozoics’, a Benthamism denoting the elimination of noxious critters i.e. bugs, with a corrupt e[n]tymology to match) indicates the technicological savvy of those 4 or 5 crazee guys (aka Firesign Theatre), perhaps extending to the chronobackup capabilities of Nick Danger, Third Eye (how can you be in two places as once when you’re not anywhere at all?)

]]> By: jacob http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127240 jacob Wed, 07 Dec 2005 00:11:07 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127240 <i>I hope you encrypt your email too, otherwise having the server under your control affords virtually no protection.</i> I'm scared of the government legally looking at my emails. I'm less scared of a renegade looking at my unencrypted emails. The point is not what someone can do in terms of technological feasibility, but what legal protections there are. I hope you encrypt your email too, otherwise having the server under your control affords virtually no protection.

I’m scared of the government legally looking at my emails. I’m less scared of a renegade looking at my unencrypted emails. The point is not what someone can do in terms of technological feasibility, but what legal protections there are.

]]> By: Kieran Healy http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127229 Kieran Healy Tue, 06 Dec 2005 22:44:11 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127229 <i>The service also seems damn expensive. I’d need 160 Gb – that costs 290 Usd a month. Better to buy a hard drive every month and mail it to a relative.</i> Yeah, well I was pretty selective about what I backed up, and pretty much all of my data and papers, etc, are in plain-text format. So it only came to 3GB or so. The service also seems damn expensive. I’d need 160 Gb – that costs 290 Usd a month. Better to buy a hard drive every month and mail it to a relative.

Yeah, well I was pretty selective about what I backed up, and pretty much all of my data and papers, etc, are in plain-text format. So it only came to 3GB or so.

]]> By: ben wolfson http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127228 ben wolfson Tue, 06 Dec 2005 22:40:22 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127228 <em>It should be possible to backup to your Ipod, or to a few linked Gmail accounts, but I’m currently too lazy to work out how.</em> Some guy made a gmailfs for Linux, that lets you access your gmail account's space as if it were just another part of your filesystem. You could maybe extend it to work on multiple accounts (actually I suggested that to him not long after it came out, but he said he didn't want to take advantage of Google). It should be possible to backup to your Ipod, or to a few linked Gmail accounts, but I’m currently too lazy to work out how.

Some guy made a gmailfs for Linux, that lets you access your gmail account’s space as if it were just another part of your filesystem. You could maybe extend it to work on multiple accounts (actually I suggested that to him not long after it came out, but he said he didn’t want to take advantage of Google).

]]> By: a http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127224 a Tue, 06 Dec 2005 22:15:02 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127224 The service also seems damn expensive. I'd need 160 Gb - that costs 290 Usd a month. Better to buy a hard drive every month and mail it to a relative. The service also seems damn expensive. I’d need 160 Gb – that costs 290 Usd a month. Better to buy a hard drive every month and mail it to a relative.

]]> By: grant http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127207 grant Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:09:08 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127207 <i>Call me paranoid, but that’s why I’ve always been afraid of using such a service. (It’s also why I don’t really like storing my email on a server I don’t control.)</i> I hope you encrypt your email too, otherwise having the server under your control affords virtually no protection. Call me paranoid, but that’s why I’ve always been afraid of using such a service. (It’s also why I don’t really like storing my email on a server I don’t control.)

I hope you encrypt your email too, otherwise having the server under your control affords virtually no protection.

]]> By: jacob http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127205 jacob Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:15:15 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127205 As I understand it, once you upload your data to a third-party site, it's no longer covered by your fourth amendment right to privacy, at least in the United States. That is, you can refuse to show authorities the content of your hard drive unless they have a warrant, but should the government come asking at Strongspace, they can (and probably will) show it just for the asking, and without asking or even telling you. Call me paranoid, but that's why I've always been afraid of using such a service. (It's also why I don't really like storing my email on a server I don't control.) Of course, I could be wrong, or the law may have changed since I kept up with such things seven or eight years ago. Anyone know for certain? As I understand it, once you upload your data to a third-party site, it’s no longer covered by your fourth amendment right to privacy, at least in the United States. That is, you can refuse to show authorities the content of your hard drive unless they have a warrant, but should the government come asking at Strongspace, they can (and probably will) show it just for the asking, and without asking or even telling you.

Call me paranoid, but that’s why I’ve always been afraid of using such a service. (It’s also why I don’t really like storing my email on a server I don’t control.)

Of course, I could be wrong, or the law may have changed since I kept up with such things seven or eight years ago. Anyone know for certain?

]]> By: dave heasman http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127203 dave heasman Tue, 06 Dec 2005 18:05:47 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127203 It should be possible to backup to your Ipod, or to a few linked Gmail accounts, but I'm currently too lazy to work out how. Has anyone done it? It should be possible to backup to your Ipod, or to a few linked Gmail accounts, but I’m currently too lazy to work out how.
Has anyone done it?

]]> By: neil http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127202 neil Tue, 06 Dec 2005 18:02:20 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127202 By the way, have you seen that Guinness ad? (ow! ow! ok, i'll stop!) By the way, have you seen that Guinness ad?

(ow! ow! ok, i’ll stop!)

]]> By: Ben http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/comment-page-1/#comment-127200 Ben Tue, 06 Dec 2005 17:37:51 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/12/06/dept-of-redundancy-dept/#comment-127200 Probably worth noting that TextDrive was just acquired by <a href="http://joyent.com/" rel="nofollow">Joyent</a>, the company that <a href="http://daringfireball.net" rel="nofollow">John Gruber</a> works at. Probably worth noting that TextDrive was just acquired by Joyent, the company that John Gruber works at.

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