a few things i'm thankful for (per my computer data)

Okay, it turns out I wasn't a total moron. I did in fact back up some stuff to my new hard drive before my old one decided to burn to a crisp. It was mostly photos which is something I'm very happy about. All my Universal trip photos were saved.

Also, I'm thankful for a few things.

All my mail is on Gmail.

Several times in the past I've lost all my mail. This is part of the reason I decided to go 100% web-based with my current e-mail setup, and I'm glad I did because I know all of it is still there.

Many of my old photos are on this site.

I may have lost a crapload of photos, but the majority of the ones that count are right here.

All my apps were put to DVD a few weeks ago.

If I had to re-find, re-download and "re" a bunch of other things concerning all my apps, I'd be one hurtin' dude right now. I use a ton of different programs to do what I do, both for personal things and for my work.

So needless to say, I'm very relieved my apps are all backed up.

Even though I can't stand optical media, I'm going to start having to use it more often. Fortunately I've got a new DVD burner for the task.

Simply put, optical media does last a very long time as long as the drive you use it with is recent and the data side is fingerprint, scratch and dust free.