Disaster preparation 101 — Data backup

In this one I will talk about Disaster, it happens to all of us from time to time. A fire, a earthquake, a stolen laptop or any number of ways. So what happens to your data, is it stored on the laptop? Is it important very sensitive data? Could you get fired if you lost that data?

[ad#ad2-right]These are all questions you must ask yourself when you have laptop. How do you backup your data or even do you have a backup? Having seen this with my own clients, I must wonder if there are people out there who just don’t care. I had a client the other day who gotten a virus and this was a really mean virus. Deleted some very important files when you tried to clean the virus out. She called me in a panic because she couldn’t load up windows? I asked if she had any backups, she said “what’s a backup” . So I sat there discussing this with the client for over 20 minutes. Finally she started to understand, she said she had the OEM Backup DVD but nothing else. She also said she needed help with getting data off the computer. I told her that I would be able to come the next day and I was lucky the virus didn’t do anything else to her data. We were able to retrieve the data from her system. That is where I start my rant , Why would anyone not have backup of there most important data?

So How do you backup your data? This is controversial and somewhat depends on how much people want to spend to keep there data safe and not loose pictures or music. There are several ways to do it, each way has it’s pitfalls or short comings and requires a little more effort:

Kinds of Backup

Hard Medium – DVD, CD, External Hard drive

Although,  The hard medium is usually used that doesn’t mean you can have a backup other than hard.   Here are some ways to back up on the internet.

Internet Medium:

  • Jungle Disk — Provides online storage through the Amazon s3 service.   Only pay for what you use.   It works well with most Operating system.  I’ve used it on Vista so it is really nice.
  • Carbonite Online backup –Another good Online storage.
  • Some Other Online backup — Here a list from Amazon to better help you find the type of software that you might need.

These are just a few options, if you want to look for other you can.  The important thing to do is BACKUP because if you need some data that gets wiped or destroyed.  You will be kicking yourself for not backing up.

What Laptop is good For gaming?

I been thinking of getting a new laptop but would like to get one that is good for gaming.   The system I have right now is an Aspire Series 5610z and Yes it a good system.

The current system of this is:

Acer Aspire 5610Z
Intel Pentium dual core 1.6Ghz (533Mhz, 1Mb L2 Cache)
15.4 WXGA CrystalBrite
Intel Grahics Media Accelerator 950
1GB DDR2
120GB HDD
DVD Duper Multilayer burner
802.11b/g
bluetooth
Vista Home Premium

[ad#ad2-right]Now I want to consider getting another laptop but don’t know which would be good for gaming.  I know it will have Vista.  I actually like the O/S.  Although people don’t.   Here is what I want from my readers.  I want to know which system you suggest for gaming, and need as much detail as possilbe I would like to buy this from Amazon but if Amazon, so please give me links to the amazon page.   I am wanting to play some current games on this from last year but this system is not able to do some of the games.  So leave a comment and tell me which ones you suggest.

Reports are coming in that WPA is no longer secure!

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According to a media reports, Erik Tews and Martin Beck claim that they have found a way to unlock the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) key, used by WPA, to read data sent from a wireless router to laptop computers. According to the researchers, the key can be cracked in 12-15 minutes.

[via Sophos]

According to Sophos, they are claim that people can now watch what you are doing on a Wireless router to a laptop. Although this isn’t to be unexpected this is a very serious out come. It is now easier to watch what people are doing online. So does that mean people can see everything you do? Not necessary. According to some people this is harder than it seems, most of the websites you visit are not encrypted, but websites that use the “https” protocol are more safer to use online. You should be safe if you are buying things online as long as you are sure it is secure. Some other steps to take to help make it harder to unencrypte your wireless single is to use Roboform promotion codes you will get for 10% or 20% off the purchase price!!

[ad#ad2-right]Some other steps to consider are:


If you have a wireless router and want to be secure with any transactions online you might think about hooking up to the internet via the CAT5 cable.  This is one way to prevent anyone from seeing what you are doing online and protects your privacy.  Although this too can be overcome in certain circumstances they are much harder to do and implement so you are safer this way than with most others.

Alien Ware Extreme Gaming Notebook M17 17 Inch

Looks like they are out of stock on this Laptop but they do have Alienware M17x-2857DSB 17-Inch Laptop (Black) which looks to be an upgraded version of this one!!!

  • Windows Vista® Home Premium (32- and 64-bit)(default)
  • Windows Vista® Ultimate (32- and 64-bit)
  • Intel® Core™2 Duo Or Quad and Extreme Processors (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
    Intel® PM45 + ICH9M-E Chipset up to 4 GB
    ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 (Also Comes with CrossfireX Enabled)
  • Dual Harddrive In Raid 0 Config or you can have a single hard drive

    1. 5400 RPM – Up to 1TB (2 x 500GB)

    1. 7200 RPM – Up to 640GB (2 x 320GB)


So I saw this and had to tell people this is a sweet laptop for people who like to go and play games in a large group. You would be able to play for hours on end, all you would need is an power cord. I would love one of these to try out.  If you want to go check it out or buy it. Here’s the Alienware M17x-2857DSB 17-Inch Laptop (Black).

Find Other Alienware Products

Peek Email tops Time Gadget of the Year!

[ad#ad2-right]I’ve not seen this yet, I will do my research on this Peek Email Device. This is fascinating that I didn’t know that there was something I’ve never heard of.   Anyways, I can’t beleive they don’t have a netbook or the new Gaming Laptop.  Please, a WII fit, Now how did they get there too?   How did The T-Mobile G1 get number 5th in the list.  I’m surprised that the GameBoy Advanced wasn’t one to be on there, After all they sold so many this year.   Why not the Xbox 360?  It seems people can still vote but don’t expect anything to change.

Go Vote and lets make our voice heard!!