I went right to work on the Oregon USGS water particle inspection program right after I read aloud to the kids when I got home yesterday afternoon. I fixed a few problems, added a little functionality to the program, and then sat down for dinner with the family. I left the computer running while we ate and during a long talk with the one of the scientists in the USGS lab. When I returned to my computer, it was completely locked up. The computer is a nice Dell laptop that is only two years, so I was at a little bit of a loss as to why this happened. I fooled around with it for quite a long time, but could never really get it going right, so I switched over to the home computer to scan in Betty Blonde and send it up to our server. I found that our scanner was so old, it did not work with the new computer, so I had to get out our old printer-scanner with the printer that no longer works (an ugly sight that takes up too much room on the desk) so I could scan in a comic. After that, I had to download Python, GIMP, and the BleAX (Betty Blonde Accumlator of Comix) program I had written and get that running, too.
By the time I had that all finished, it was after 11:00. Then I had to start trying to figure out what to do about the broken computer. All my water inspection (the Oregon part) programming work is performed with that computer. Fortunately, Christian had figured out that there is a defective graphics chip/motherboard in that particular computer for which Dell extended the warranty. It is something that has happened to lots of people. So, even though I have a good backup, it is a day old and I will have to rewrite the code again if I cannot get it off the system before it gets fixed. I did not get much sleep last night, but maybe this is a sign that I should just stay off the computer through the Fourth of July holiday. It is a pretty good excuse to concentrate on eating hot dogs and watching fireworks, so I am going to take it as a sign even if it is not.
The lesson I learned is KEEP DOING MY BACKUPS!
Ruthie
Oh, it is definitely a sign! Off to one last day of painting. Then to a week of putting the house back together before having 2 weeks of relatives in and out and LOADS of fun!
Have a great Fourth of July, Ruthie!
Yes, I agree! Backups are imperative. I don’t always remember but when I do I am oh so glad.
I am in the midst of trying to fix an old laptop which has precious pictures on it. The fan stopped working but I don’t know if that is the only problem. It gets so hot that it will only run for about five minutes. It also has a crack in the inner screen. I could probably just replace the fan and see how it goes.
Man, I hate it when that happens. We have some pictures on an old hard drive that went bad. Everyone says we will be able to recover them, but it will cost us around $1500. I set up a better backup system after that.
Stressful! Computer stuff can be so irritating. I have a real love-hate relationship with computers. I have about 8000 pictures on this computer and am slowly getting them all onto CD or onto an on-line service. Why oh why did I wait so long? I hope your problems are solved soon. Enjoy your 4th and the food and fun.
Lynn
No, no, no, you have it all wrong! When a computer breaks, you are supposed to have a week of complete and utter silence, computer and internet free, and then see if you ever want to start again. The way you broke your computer was all wrong, you just made yourself more work! Better luck next time, just wait for a lightening strike if you don’t have the courage to break it good enough yourself!
Audrey (with her tongue in cheek)
You are making a very good move Lynn to put them onto an on-line service. The CD’s, I have heard go bad sooner than people expect. What on-line service do you use? I think I need to do that, too.
Audrey! I won the lottery. I am having it fixed by shipping it back to Oregon for TWO weeks!!! It is almost as good as a lightning strike. I am going through Eric withdrawal. I think I need to give you guys a buzz this weekend.
Ken, right now I’m using winkflash for my photos. I like it so far, but have not been using it long.
Lynn
Oh, and thank you for the tip about CDs going bad sooner than people thought. Didn’t know that!
Lynn
Ken, I had no idea the cds would go bad. I was putting my 7000 plus pictures on cds. I suppose my concern with an online system would be what happens if the company goes under then I loose my pictures?
Any other suggestions? The cds just go bad sitting there? or using them alot? probably both.
I still have a reliable laptop to use but I am wanting to replace the fan on an older laptop. I have already put some of the pictures from this laptop onto cds. I wonder how they are doing. There must be a reliable source to store pictures.
Here is an article that describes the problem.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/124312/do_burned_cds_have_a_short_life_span.html
Ken,
I read the article. It sounds like using magnetic tapes might work but I didn’t look at the expense.
If a person did put the pictures on cd’s, we need to replace the cd’s every 2 to 5 years. I also thought of a hard drive but it has it problems as well. Perhaps it would be better to put them on an online service and cds to be sure.
Have you looked into the magnetic tapes?
You came to the same conclusion as I Deanne. I found that if I searched for a coupon, I could sign up for Carbonite for unlimited storage (but only the stuff under the My Documents directory) for around $103. In addition to that, I am going to keep the stuff backed up on the flash memory cards we use as well as on CD’s. I hope it works!
Carbonite is probably a good idea, especially for folks who just refuse to get a Macintosh. 😉
Yeah. I wonder why I higher percentage of Mac users have Carbonite than Windows users?