Back up now and move out of the city I leave my door unlocked without fear.

I sympathise Liz

I value time in the real world, out of town in the bush all over the country. As a botanist, geomorphologist and mad birdo, I have always made sure that time spent out in the sticks comprises a large part of my life.

I have also been reluctant to get into the cyberworld.

But now I’m in there….and hooked on this bloomin’ OLO forum and the like far too much of the time. And I’m bound to get sucked more into it…..if I can ever get my broadband connection working ):>(

But these two parts of my life are not at odds. They actually fit together well. The all-important GPS and digital camera out in the field lead to hours and hours of data-entry and file-creation back in the office. All the plant, rock and landform photos, bird records and botanical specimens need to be carefully catalogued. And that’s just the start.

And yes, I am all too critically aware of the need to keep everything well backed-up.

So like you, and many others, I have come to depend on the technology, which for many years I worked without….. except for the camera.

I hate cybercrap!! I mean, when the computer stuffs up, which happens in a myriad ways with unnerving frequency. It causes great stress, and I do fear that I am losing my mind, or at least becoming progressively less tolerant of it, to the extent that the ‘puter may well end up being hauled out my unopened office window before too long!

Yes, it’s all great when it works well. But sheeez can it get ugly when it farts around!

Many of us have been sucked too far into the parallel universe (cyberspace). We need to be sure that we don’t come to live in there and just pay short visits to the outside world!

As a relative latecomer to the world of personal digital archiving and communication, I have been very conscious of the inscrutability and capriciousness of the digital servants that have been billeted upon us. Being of pedestrian intellect, I was first seduced into thinking that I could and should understand them, given their enormous potential. Then I became intimidated in the face of the increasingly arrogant demeanour that seemed to go hand-in-glove with the promise of personal power, control, and development these digital 'servants' were offerring. I realized that it was possible to become dependent upon them!
Then I remembered the Rawhide Principal: "don't try to understand 'em, just rope and throw and brand 'em". A key to the application of this principal is to FIRST learn the mechanical aspects and techniques of backing up, dispersal of archives, and drive duplication and restoration: learn them and rehearse them like a military drill movement until you are completely confident and comfortable with them. Then, at the first sign of insubordination, absence without leave, or desertion by any of these servants you will be able to get the work program back on track. You will have peace of non-digital mind. You will no longer have to worry about the loss of your digital mind. You can safely be of two, or more, minds about that.
Kenny's advice could well be good. Much wisdom, even perhaps prophetic insight, is to be found in the bush. I remember attending the Wee Jasper rodeo in the late seventies, before the advent of (im)personal computers. It was the children's calf roping event. Some competitors were using borrowed horses. One kid had very quickly roped his calf and dismounted to throw and tie it, but the horse was not maintaining enough back-pressure on the rope. The kid couldn't easily throw the calf. After a while the horse's owner leapt into the arena in frustration and, waving his hat, charged straight at the horse, shouting "back up you bastard, back up". That fixed everthing.