One of my new clients it Dr. Gerald Menefee who has started United Seniors Action.  Using the Talents and Knowledge of Energetic Seniors to improve out Society.  You can check out this website by CLICKING HERE.

3-2-1 Backup Strategies

In a recent Backblaze survey, 54% of people said they either know someone or have themselves recently lost data. Most of those surveyed were individuals. If you consider how many businesses have hardware that gets lost or stolen each year as well, the total amount of hardware lost each year is staggering.

Additionally, the study concluded that even with those losses, out of all the companies polled, “two-thirds do not take advantage of even basic security practices, such as encryption, backup, and anti-theft technologies.” While Backblaze can’t help with computer encryption or anti-theft technologies (though we can locate a computer), we can help with backup, and that’s what I’m going to focus on today.

What is a 3-2-1 Backup Strategy?

A 3-2-1 strategy means having at least 3 total copies of your data, 2 of which are local but on different mediums (read: devices), and at least 1 copy offsite. We’ll use “kitten.jpg” as an example for this scenario. Kitten.jpg lives on your computer at home, it was a picture that you took of your cat in 2012. That’s one copy of the data. You also have an external hard drive that you use for backing up your computer, if you’re on a Mac, you might be using it as a Time Machine drive (and Backblaze loves Time Machine). As part of its backup process, that external hard drive will back up kitten.jpg. That’s the second copy, on a different device or medium. In addition that external hard drive, you also have an online backup solution. The online backup continuously scans your computer and uploads your data offsite to a data center. Kitten.jpg is included in this upload, and that becomes the third copy of your data.

Why 2 onsite and 1 offsite?

Whether you are interested in backing up a Mac or a PC, an onsite backup is a simple way of having quick access to your data should anything happen to your computer. If your laptop or desktop’s hard drive crashes, and you have an up to date external hard drive available, you can quickly get the majority of your data back, or use the external on another computer while yours gets fixed or replaced. If you remember to keep that external hard drive fairly up to date, the exposure for data loss is fairly minimal, as you might only be exposed to losing the files that were on your laptop that had not yet been copied to the external hard drive. Most external hard drives even come with their own software to make sure that they are kept readily updated.

Having an onsite backup is a great start, but having an offsite backup is a key component in having a complete backup strategy. Onsite backups are great if you need to get to them quickly, but unfortunately, having a backup near the device that it’s backing up (for example, having a desktop PC and an external hard drive on the same desk), means that both of those copies are susceptible to data loss. I try not to be too “doom and gloom” on the website but floods, fires, and theft can and do occur. Most often, if the two devices you have as your local copies are close together, they’ll both be affected if the unfortunate should happen. A continuously updated copy of your data that’s not in the same physical location as the other two is paramount in protecting your files.

Is 3-2-1 Perfect?

There is no such thing as a perfect backup system, but the 3-2-1 approach is a great start for the majority of people and businesses. Even the United States Government recommends this approach.

Backing Up Is Like Investing!

The 3-2-1 plan is a great start in getting your files backed up. If you view your files as your investment capital, you want to diversify them as much as possible to limit your exposure should the unthinkable happen. 

Ransomware on your computer

If you have been following the news you know that thousands of computers worldwide have been encrypted and being held ransom.  Can it happen to you?  YES!  Though they are going after the big bucks they have been so successful that they could decide to do it to private computers and ask for a lower amount of money.  How do you stop it?  The same way you should always act about your computer.  This attack is affecting Windows machines.   What should you do?  I will say it again: 1.  Always install the monthly security update Microsoft sends out, usually on the second Tuesday of each month. 2.  Back up your computer.  It's not that hard.  Just ask yourself what would happen if your computer melted down tonight.  Backup, Backup.  Buy an inexpensive external hard drive and us the program SuperDuper (free) and/or get http://carbonite.com.  Carbonite cost $59 a year and keeps your computer backup off site.  That way even if all else fails, food, fire, or whatever, your data is safe. 3. Don't click on links in email from people you don't know and even if you know them be very suspicious. Malware can send email from your address book to your friends where they will, and should not, click on it because it comes from a friend. 4.  Don't ever buy things online from a company who has an address does not start with https://  Notice the S. So, if all the companies that got his with this ramson ware had followed the advice above it would not cost them a cent.  They just format the drive, reload the operating system and reload the data they backed up and everything is back to normal. How much will all this cost you?  Using Carbonite, $59 a year.  I do back up three ways in two different formats because your website depends on it. 5/15/2017 Gmail - Don't let your computer get encrypted https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=23132f4f8e&view=pt&search=trash&th=15c09baad43de4fd&siml=15c09ba5880012c4&siml=15c09baad43de4fd 2/3 Please don't be the one that has to ask me what to do because you lost all your data.

About Chromebooks

The Chromebook is a new type of computer designed to get you on the web as quickly as possible. They’re faster, simpler, and more secure than traditional computers. If you’re the kind of person to do everything online, a Chromebook will help you stay connected and get more out of the web.

What makes Chromebooks different?

Here are some things to keep in mind, if you’re considering whether a Chromebook is right for you:

• All your work is done in a browser.
  Send mail, edit photos, create documents — you can do all of these activities in the browser, thanks to thousands of apps on the web. There’s no complicated software to install.
• All your stuff is saved on the web.
  Everything -- your apps, documents, settings -- are all stored safely on the web, and not on the device. So you’ll have constant access to your stuff even if you're using another computer.
• You can surf the web anytime, anywhere.
  Chromebooks connect quickly to your preferred wireless or wired networks. Some Chromebook models also come with built-in mobile broadband access, so you can get online anywhere you can make a phone call.
• Chromebooks start up fast and last all day long.
  Chromebooks start up quickly and resume instantly from sleep. Your favorite websites load quickly, with full support for the latest web standards and Adobe Flash. Last but not least, you don’t need to worry about power because the battery lasts all day.
• Your device will always be up-to-date.
  Each time you turn your Chromebook on, it automatically updates itself with the latest features, hardware and system updates, and anti-virus software.
• You can safely share your device, not your information.
  People can sign in with their own Google Accounts on your device to access their own Chrome apps, bookmarks, and settings. Or they can browse the web as a guest, without signing in. Either way, your personal files are never accessible outside your account.
• You are protected by built-in security.
  Each webpage and application you visit runs in a restricted environment. So visiting one page that’s been infected with something malicious can’t affect anything else on your computer.
• You won't need that much RAM.
  Since you won’t have client apps to manage, you don’t need that much RAM--everything you’re doing is taken care of by super fast and super secure supercomputers.

It's Going To Be A Busy Month

This month, September 2012 is going to be busy.
We expect announcements from Google, Amazon and Apple.  Though Apple has not made it official yet it is strongly rumored that they will announce the new iPhone 5 on the 12th.  Talk about the "mini iPad" is also getting stronger but it is felt that the announcement of this long anticipated device will happen sometime in October.
Don't forget that we still do free shopping carts for your e commerce site should you need one.
Hope you have or had a nice Labor Day.

Google has a drive

Google has released the cloud called Drive. Go to http://live.google.com and get signed up. If you hurry you may get 25 GB for free. Even if you are slow you will get 7 GB for free and that's still a lot. HURRY!

Take a picture on iPhone using ear buds

Any photographer will tell we that a wire recover is a good apparatus to have. It allows we to take a print but laying a finger on your camera. Now, anyone with an iPhone, sporting iOS 5, has that same capability… all we need is some earbuds.

Earbuds we say?

You review that correctly. Basically we only need to block in a earbuds, open your camera app, and you’ll a have a ability to use a volume symbol as a cable release. This is outrageous for iPhone photographers, as holding shots with a camera can be utterly fatiguing sometimes, generally if we don’t have a steadiest of hands. I’m certain we can all determine that iPhones don’t come with a best shiver buttons, and mostly times you’ll fuzz a print only perplexing to take a photo. Using your earbuds as a wire recover will also all we to take detonate shots, that was subsequent to unfit to do with a iPhone.

I took a following exam print of Rafael, and his fondle collection, utilizing a earbuds as a wire release.

I know you’re substantially meditative it, and a answer is yes… we can span your iPhone with several Bluetooth inclination and get a same effect. If your Bluetooth device allows we to control a volume of your iPhone, we should be means to take photos with it.

It should be remarkable that a volume buttons to map rightly to your iPhone for this to be probable though, and all Bluetooth inclination competence not work.