Backing Up is Hard to Do!

Kate sms-ed me yesterday (thanks dear! You’re my eye on the Net) and asked me to check my blog – saying that it seems my posts were dated 29 October instead of the more recent ones.
Actually, it’s a complicated explanation but let’s get to the real thing – software updates to the blog and all that made the whole blog revert back to the last saved version – yes, the backup was until 29 October. That’s why Kate saw posts of 29 October. Sorry dear for giving you a heart attack. Didn’t mean to.
But after updating the blog software and all that, I also realised the backup didn’t include my most recent post on the Waseda Brass Band and it was too recent to be cached by Google; otherwise I’d just go and copy that off the cache version from Google and be truly happy.
Yes, everything has been restored except that most recent post on Waseda Brass Band which I unfortunately forgot to do manual backup. You know, copy and paste the whole blog post into MS Word. Sigh. So I have to now rewrite the piece. From memory.
My minor ‘arrrghs’ with technology is nothing new. It’s almost routine sometimes that I have to absolutely laugh at myself (crying won’t do any good – the laptop doesn’t have much emotions anyway when it ‘hangs’!). I am sure many of you who work with computers and technology have your own horror stories to tell. A friend of mine watched her whole assignment go down the drain due to a corrupted disk two years ago. She had to re-type the assignment the whole night as it was due the next morning! Talk about bad luck!
Yes, I may work intensely with computers and technology but I too have this crazy fear that one day all my work will be gone. So folks, the mantra is – backup, backup and backup. Yes, it is tedious, it is the thing you hate most but if you want to save yourself some major heartache, backup your important files every week or every month. Have two backups too – one at home and one at a remote location, maybe your office. Just in case, you know.
As for blogs, WordPress has a one-click backup utility which is very helpful. I don’t know about other blogs but WordPress has always been my number one blog choice. It’s really made for people like you and me. Intuitive and very lovely interfaces, WordPress does make life easier.
In case your blog is still unable to help you backup with one click, you can do it my regular way. Blog into your MS Word or OpenOffice document and then copy and paste into your blog. This way, you’ll always have a version on your PC no matter what happens. I do this for my Blogspot blog (yes, I have a separate blog for my soup recipes! I know, I must be nuts to have so many blogs to write for but I am not the only one. Many bloggers I know do that.)
Or the other way is type everything into your blog and then when you’re satisfied that it’s your finalised text, copy and paste it into Notepad, MS Word or whatever word processor you are using. This way is perfect for people who are perfectionists and like to change things at the last minute.
Anyway, people do forget about backups and doing what they should. So have I. That’s why my Waseda Brass Band Concert which I attended last Friday at USM’s Dewan Budaya is missing. I do hope to get it back into the blog again by this evening.
Until then, BACKUP, BACKUP and BACKUP.
While you’re at it, you must go and learn the Tao of Backup…. it’s funny but oh-so-true. Learn it at http://taobackup.com/
PS: While I am at it, I might be changing the blog skin sometime soon. Yep, in time for 2007. And one more thing, I didn’t manage to save the Comments all you kind folks left for me, especially for the last few posts. So absolutely sorry. And you know, Comments are what keep me going. At least I know people read and have a reaction towards what I blog about.

1 thought on “Backing Up is Hard to Do!”

  1. This is the kind of moment where I can go, “Ha…see? That’s why lah…” Hehehehe, the Malaysian version of “I told you so”. Kk, enough of nonsense.. Looking forward to the “new look” of your blog!

    Reply

Leave a Comment