Commentary – FriedCircuit

January 18, 2025

How to Prevent Data Loss: Backup Tips

Have you ever lost data on your computer because of a hard drive failure? It can be super frustrating! Since our lives are now so computer-dependent, our data, memories, history, and even our lives are stored on tiny magnetic cylinders and solid-state transistors.

Pictures, videos, documents, emails, and chat messages, as well as financial and health data, all live on these devices. Our identities are stored here too.

You never know when you’ll lose data because of a technical glitch, someone being mean, or an error. Whether it’s a mechanical or solid-state device, these components will eventually fail.

The other day, I was trying to copy some photos to my Mac Mini that has an external SSD attached to it. Somehow, the connection got lost, and the drive was disconnected while writing data. Now, unfortunately, the Apple File System partition map is corrupted. I’ve tried fixing it with Disk Utility, but it didn’t work. So, I’m trying some deeper data recovery options. If they work, I’ll share the process. But back to the point of this post – before you run into it, regularly back up your data!

Where you back things up to is up to you. You can use cloud storage, local storage, thumb drives, or anything else you like. Just make sure you keep a copy of it somewhere important. There are lots of storage options available, from free to the cost of your right arm.

Here are some backup options to consider:

Thumb Drive:

My favorite way to back up smaller files like office documents, tax records, health records, personal financial information, and other sensitive data that you keep on your computer and only really need to access from home regularly is to use a thumb drive. Back it up once a month, encrypt it, and keep it locked in a safe.

Cloud Data Backup:

You can get a few gigabytes of free data storage that you can access from anywhere with iCloud or Google. This is great for essential documents and info you might need in case of a disaster. Just be careful, not every online service is foolproof, so make sure to encrypt your data where you can and use a VPN when you’re storing and retrieving sensitive info. Prices range from free to a monthly subscription for more storage.

Local NAS or USB-attached storage:

Network-attached storage devices are a great way to back up your entire computer locally. Mac users can use Time Machine, while there are other options for Windows and Linux devices that can be encrypted. USB-attached storage devices can also serve as full computer backups, but make sure your storage volumes are bigger than your local hard drive.

Security:

This should probably be the first thing you think about, but keeping access to your data is super important. Identity theft is a real thing that can have serious consequences. Not every system is secure, but with some simple steps, you can easily protect yourself. Wherever possible, use multi-factor authentication, regularly update your passwords on your devices and online accounts, and never use the same password, especially when it comes to financial and health info. Use a VPN service whenever you’re accessing health or financial records on any wireless network where you don’t know what devices are connected to it. Better yet, don’t join public networks at all if you can.

This post doesn’t cover all backup options, but these have worked well for me. Have you backed up your data recently?

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024

the new year

It’s a few days away. How time flies, doesn’t it?

To be quite honest, I do not know what 2025 will bring to the table. If it’s anything like 2024, it’s saying, hold my my beer. I, however, am not one to let the outside world dictate everything about my life.

I’ve been reminded on countless occasions that attitude is everything. Others perceptions, are meaningless if you discount and disregard them, and everything when you, yourself define them. It’s best to steer perception truthfully. All this because, the worst thing you can do to another person is to not meet their expectations. No, you can do worse but, I digress.

In 2025, the number one thing i need to do is to be more consistent. Is it going to be writing in this blog? Do more with this aging social infrastructure I’ve established. Has the content creation ship sailed for me? Nope. What has sailed for me is time. There are going to be challenges ahead that I may not be able to tackle on my own. There are going to be adventures. There are going to be failures, mishaps and the like, and there will be success. I will see to that. Persistent consistency will shape you. The trick is, will you enjoy what you persistently are consistent about.

I’ve read from many resources that successful people always follow some sort of rhythm in their lives, they stick to a pattern of what works. They surround themselves by others who are successful and feed off that synergy. I could be a little more consistent in seeing where I succeed and fail in this.

I plan to continue down this path, wherever it may lead.

Words to be: consistent, persistent, resonant, thoughtful, kind.

August 4, 2020

Word of the day: Efficiency

According to the Merriam-Webster: the collegiate definition of efficiency is an effective operation as measured by a comparison of production with cost (as in time, energy and money) or the ratio of the useful energy delivered by a dynamic system to the energy supplied to it.

I am probably the least efficient person I know when it comes to certain things, yet I demand efficiency in others on those same things. In many ways we are spoiled by expectations, certain logic. and things that are quite ironic.

For example, last year I wanted to obtain a Peachpass for my new car so I could use the express lanes on an upcoming vacation in Florida. The act of obtaining an object that could make a more effective commute (time wise) – to be more efficient – is housed in one of the buildings of a place that is jokingly mocked as one of the slowest operations in government – the department of motor vehicles.

To be honest, I have to give the PeachPass Administration credit, at least they kept their operation in a separate area of the building and in person service was immediate. However, their computers were down at the time I made it there. They were kind enough to call when it came back up, which was just right at the time I was arriving back at my home – so I made another half hour trip to the DMV office- only to find out their computer went down again. “Just my luck.” I thought as I left again, only to be hunted down by a worker while I was still in the parking lot to inform me the computer system was back in operation.

All that being said, had I been a little more proactive and not waited until the last minute to order a transponder in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to put up with that hassle. Ultimately all turned out well in the end, despite my lack of effort. I would not call that particular effort to being more efficient an example of being efficient.

Any time I am in a rush to get something done, the example above is a good demonstration on how things usually turn out. It takes double the time, effort and money to get the task done.

What happens though, when we allow ourselves to budget the time to accomplish a task ahead of time? We can figure out all what we want, how we want it and when we need it by and what we need to do to get it done, efficiently, ahead of time. One would think that is what we all do, right?

Wrong. Why do we end up spending a ton of time in a drive-thru line – because the dip-wad in the yellow Mercury ordered half the menu and took twenty minutes to make up their mind on the order? And ended up behind them because we were being polite and had to yield to them in traffic, and we had to yield to them because we got stopped at a red light because the cement truck ahead of us is slow, and we got put there because, ultimately, we decided to hit the snooze button.

Why in the world would I even want to complain about any of that. I should be grateful for being able to wake up, own a car, drive said car, have a nice restaurant to go to, get there safely and return safely, all while being fuming mad while doing so?

This all happens when my expectation of others is not met. When others don’t operate my way, in my view in a way that makes sense, that becomes upsetting. I know I’ve done the same to others. I’m in a different mind set about the topic. I’m in no rush or just allowing myself a lazy, relaxing, carefree moment. Should I do that more often?

My personal philosophy is not to become lazy and carefree at the expense of others as much as possible. The hard part is – I can never expect that of anyone else. And honestly, some people may be operating as efficiently as they can, and yet still be slower than I would like. We have to get over that and let it be.

I also realize that in some cases, others cannot get over it so easily, other people may escalate a situation into a conflict, become angry, upset, explode into rage and turn a situation violent. I would hope that is not the case, however we live in a world where people do behave that way. They may be misunderstood and misunderstand the situation. And when someone intoxicates themselves, well we can only go downhill from there.

But honestly, quit being a dumb ass and get out of my way so I can get back home in time to catch the start of the ball game.

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020

A little talk about Normalcy

What is normalcy? Again – according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (EDITOR NOTE: Auto Correct tried to respell it to Merrimack again – I’ve since correct the error in my recent post on “invest”) normal means “conforming to a type, standard or regular pattern” or “according according with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule or principal.” When it comes to people – normal means “of, relating to or characterized by average intelligence or development” and “free from mental illness, mentally sound.”

A state of normalcy, at least in my opinion, never remains constant. I’ve hear the phrase – “A New Normal” quite a bit lately. When it comes to the drastic changes that people have had to make in their lives in the past 5-6 months in this world, is this new normal going to be acceptable by the masses of people. The simple answer to that is no. There are those of us who refuse to accept the new normal, and I am perfectly fine with that. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t abide by it for a short while if it means a temporary discomfort – or even if it may help save a life.

Are we going to abide by what is mandated or recommended to us by our leaders? Or is it that we must follow the orders dictated to us by our leaders? I see a difference in the way people are interpreting the messages being sent over the media and the laws and rules written – Unfortunately it’s a matter of perspective. We’re divided in society on what we see as normal. That’s bound to happen in our society – race, age, gender, culture – whatever the case may be.

I’d like to think about how different leadership, and a different perspective on our news sources and media would have handled the current pandemic and revolution. I’ll table that for speculation later.

Moving on – normalcy. Are we ever going to be back in the state or act of being normal, at least to the way what normal was just a year ago? No. Do not deceive yourself otherwise. Normal changes everyday, and even normal yesteryear is different than the normal 40 years ago (which by the way is 1980 and we are marking the anniversary of “The Empire Strikes Back, ” but I digress. We can try, wish and hope things would return to normal, and some things may seem that way in time, but it will be the new normal, not the old normal.

Is it good for our mental health to grow and adapt? Will it mentally break us to find a balance to hold true to our beliefs and embrace the new normal? Are we physically, financially and mentally fit to adapt to the sudden change of normal. I do not believe a lot of us are. Do we adapt or die? Give it time and let a cooler head prevail.

Think about how the Industrial Revolution and the Technological Revolution and what it did for the way we live and work. The Civil Rights Revolution – in my opinion that has been ongoing since the 1960’s is now demanding even greater change after some blatant injustices fueled a firestorm. I’ve seen the cracks crumbling for years and some are trying to take advantage in these times to make their normal the new normal.

I don’t think this new normal will last long – many of us are fed up with it already. The question is – are we focusing on the right things now? I doubt it.