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Jim's Journal

jim
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10/02/2007 22:01 #41467

Backup Hard Drives
Category: computers
OK, so this is getting ridiculous.

I have one external backup drive for my laptop, one for (e:james)' desktop, and now two more on the way to attach to the network for photo storage (100+gb so far). No more room on my laptop for them all.

I'm going to need to buy a house soon just to install a datacenter in the basement, and I don't think we'll need to worry about the house being cold this winter with all these electronics going. We have like four 8-outlet power strips in room with our computers.

Or maybe just get one of these...
tinypliny - 10/06/07 13:36
That reminds me that one of these days my laptop is going to die on me and I am going to be a total wreck because I am just too lazy to back-up anything.
metalpeter - 10/04/07 18:45
I take pictures on my digital camera and store them on CD but I really do need to back them up other then on the computer. But I print all of mine out that is what photo albums are for. The thing is they are esaier to view in albums then on a computer. I really need to figure out how to get the ones on floppy's on a disc and then copy that disc.
jim - 10/03/07 22:41
Yikes!

Jenks that is no good :)

I can't believe that anyone uses those disks anymore. I've had to try a few times in the last year, and the disks or drives are invariably dead.
jenks - 10/03/07 22:35
ok, this will make you guys cringe.
At work we keep a list of all the patients we are taking care of. It's a dinky little excel file. But it is full of all sorts of private info, so it's "protected information" blah blah.

But there is no place we can store this file, that everyone has access to it. And they have just banned flash drives.

So we have been storing it on a FLOPPY DISK. The SAME floppy disk. For TWO YEARS now. With NO backup copy. And I am the only one that seems remotely concerned by this.

I didn't know computers even HAVE A: drives anymore!
dcoffee - 10/03/07 20:06
Yea, I know the feeling. I have my photos on DVD and hard drives. But I don't trust computers at all. We should print more of our favorite photos. I know us digital photographers don't print much, we post things online, email stuff to friends, group it into folders, but printing at a photo lab? I went about 3 years without adding a single photo to a photo album, but it's so rewarding when you do. I admit it takes a bit of time, and I haven't printed anything for myself in at least 6 months. But I feel like prints, are a real backup.
jim - 10/03/07 19:50
I've got remote offline storage covered, but this is all about making sure I've got two copies of everything locally too.

I'm super paranoid about backups, don't worry about me :)
metalpeter - 10/03/07 19:46
Seriously I noticed you didn't mention CDs or DVDs. I will admit that one little scratch can mess them up but that would give you another way of storing pictures and video and with the pictures then if you have a DVD player that would be another way to view them. Backing things up is really important and a lot of people forget to do and then when they lose stuff it is gone and they can't get it back.
jenks - 10/03/07 18:17
well shit, at only 24K, I'll take two!

10/02/2007 18:45 #41461

Things Which Are Awesome
Category: culture
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Super funny, watch it

Night Watch / Day Watch (Russian Sci Fi)
Hard to track down but really good. (dubbed)
(2004_film)


Happiness

For the love of god don't watch this one. This one is awesomely horrificly traumatizing.

Firefly

Awesome. From Firefly:


jason - 10/03/07 12:59
Hmm, I've always wondered about Firefly. I may check it out.
jenks - 10/02/07 20:03
yes! sunny is awesome! and (plug plug) Charlie Day (who plays charlie) is a friend of mine from home!! (for real)

and I agree with James on Happiness.
metalpeter - 10/02/07 19:41
Firefly was an awesome and I do have it on DVD and someday will get to rewatching it. But sadly the marketing was very bad, You can Blame Fox for that one. You can blame them for canceling a show that shouldn't have been canceled, now I'm a little sad. I still can't believe that with hard core fans, Brown coats I believe they are called that another net work didn't try to pick it up. I wish Sci-fi would have it would have been perfect.

All ways Sunny... I have to admit is the best show on TV that I forget to watch. What I mean by that is most shows I like I watch but I all ways forget when it is on so I never really see it, it is a crazy show.
james - 10/02/07 18:54
Happiness is an amazing movie. You wont be a better person for wathing it. You wont be a worse person for watching it. But from there on in everything will feel like you were molested as a child.

10/02/2007 16:21 #41457

Tooling
Category: work
I was so frustrated at work today. I tried to use version control software again but it kept failing with weird errors. I tried Subversion and Git. I've tried both of them at RPCI before but had weird errors. Turns out it's because they can't work on windows network shares. I wish that I knew that ahead of time, I've wasted so much effort reinstalling and tweaking software today and the other times I've tried to set it up. They just can't be used over the network and there's nothing I can do about that. I mean, clearly they are networkable tools, but the 'local copy' can't be on a remote network share due to file locking. The remote copy can be anywhere of course.

Oh well tomorrow is another day.

10/01/2007 15:52 #41437

Children's Hospital Expansion
Category: buffalo
Read about the plans here for expanding Children's hospital:

(I'm all over Buffalo Rising today apparently)

Doesn't look too bad - a new outpatient center on Hodge next to JJ's, and the drugstore on Utica is being knocked down for more parking.

The neighborhood did really fight to keep the hospital in the area (instead of moving down to the medical campus) and so the expansion is sort of a necessary thing to keep them there.

I didn't know the hospital had turned around so much in the mean time.
mike - 10/01/07 21:59
aww a poor eckerd has to be shut down though! I kinda loved that one cuz it was small and old!
james - 10/01/07 16:08
The homes they are taring down are owned by the hospital (except 1?). The hospital has been letting them rot into the ground for years now. I am glad those eye sores wont be there any more, but they were great looking buildings.

I think the townhouses meets (e:Paul)'s criteria for a new structure: not a tower and natural materials.

10/01/2007 10:35 #41429

Big News on Elmwood
Category: buffalo
Teaser from Elmwood Assoc:

So... I wonder what it'll be?
james - 10/02/07 10:40
an H&M or an Apple store would be huge. The associations hate chain stores and do not want any buildings demolished no matter how lack-luster or dilapidated they are. A big store like that would have meant a complete 360 for all the neighborhood associations.

But the hype around a place on a top ten list is bloated. big deal. Ya, it is nice, but I would have been more excited about a tax-free shopping district.
jenks - 10/02/07 10:35
I'm with Jim.
Reading the comments on buffalo rising, everyone was guessing "H&M" and "Apple store" and I thought 'no way! it must be WAY huger than that, based on all the hype!" and really, it's less than that. Sure, it's an honor, but will it really make any difference? I mean I hope so... but I'm not convinced.
jim - 10/01/07 16:00
Looks like we'll be on this list: :::link:::

I guess it makes sense why Justin's excited since his profession is urban planning, and this is like getting an Oscar.

I was hoping for something more tangible though! :P
drew - 10/01/07 14:27
Some people on BR have figured it out, but won't spill. Nonetheless, the ones that know are united in their enthusiasm, which is rare.
janelle - 10/01/07 13:38
I don't think it's Bank of America. Elmwood Forever has been fighting them moving into the old Pier One. Or so I was told when I was eyeing the Pier One property for my program.
mrmike - 10/01/07 11:30
Bet it's Bank of America moving into Pier One's old spot
drew - 10/01/07 11:14
hmmm... waterslides?
Hovercars?
Moving sidewalks?
A brand new arcade where all the games are free?
Topless Tuesdays in the EV?
Huge amounts of grant money to restore/renovate old church buildings?
A zip line running the length of Elmwood?
The Rock 'n Roll Hall of fame is being re-located to Elmwood?
We are re-staging the Pan Am exposition, and George Bush has volunteered to play the part of McKinley?

Now whatever they DO announce will surely be a disappointment.

Still, I am going to stop by. Anybody want to join me?