tech implosion

I've been recovering from a technological nightmare -- the simultaneous breakdown of my laptop and cellphone, which left me digitally Hellen-Kellerized -- deaf, blind and dumb. I seem to be back to normal, but I'm a little shaken and compulsively backing up everything I've ever written. I'm planning to head out to buy an external hard drive for my precious dissertation files later today.

All this has me wondering whether the convenience of having all of my vital information shared between a laptop and smartphone both running Microsoft operating systems is really wise.

Those of you interested in multiple backups, ie. on a server, hard disk, CDs and external storage elsewhere on the planet in case disaster strikes locally (stolen laptops, fires, Chernobyl revisited, etc.) might check out streamloader.com. They offer free 25G with the catch -- you'll have to pay to download your files in excess of 100MB/month. (I'm a grad student, not a computer genius, so weigh my endorsement accordingly.)