When my iBook crashed a couple of week ago it had been a solid two months since I did a “real” back up. I wasn’t really worried since a lot of my documents and such are stored in the “cloud” as they call it. My main concern was for the photos I had taken and stored on the hard drive. I’m pretty good at backing up my images, comparatively. When I do back up my photos they are backed up to two duplicate hard drives and I burn two duplicate DVDs which are usually stored in two different locations. But what about November? I hadn’t done my usual back up routine and I was missing all of November. Oh and October too. Halloween with the kids, making caramel apples and trips to the great-grandparents. All sorts of things.

Fortunately I shoot everything in RAW and JPG on my cameras. And when you shoot RAW image files they eat up a bunch of space. In fact my old iBook was so full of other stuff I had to save my RAWS to a removable hard drive almost after every shoot, else I would be out of space in a jiffy. In fact I created an Automator action that would copy the RAWS to the hard drive almost automatically. Then, if you are interested, I use software called Big Mean Folder Machine to create put those files in to folders just the right size to burn a DVD of.

And so thanks to my iBook’s Hard Drive impotence I had a RAW backup of every image I shot from early October to the beginning of December.

• You don’t know what you got til it’s gone, especially when it come to crashed computers. Glad I had about 90%+ backed up. #
• Monday. Biting off more than I chew. #
• Voice activated light stand http://flic.kr/p/7nNw9k #
• Heading over to MU J College to review a couple of portfolios. Should be fun. #
• Glory be! I finally got the heat fixed in my car finally. #
• What in the world does this mean? Trying to install 10.4 on my iBook. http://twitpic.com/tk66k #
• Anyone doing a lot of screen casts on a Windows machine? Do you want Adobe Captivate 4? I have a license to sell. #
• Tis better to walk in freezing temps for bags of Rocket Fuel beans than to arrive home tonight with out them. Happy wife Happy life. #
• The Trib is having it’s Christmas party today, so no Wednesday Photo Pizza Lunch for us. I made Chili. #
• Actually my wife made the Chili. She’s awesome. #
• Anyone use billmelater.com through the Apple Store? Thoughts? #
• Anyone use billmelater.com through the Apple Store? #
• The chili final came to a boil in the crock pot. Which is good. Bad thing was that it boiled over and now I have to do some cleanup. #
• Hey! I’m live on Ustream from my iPhone – http://ustre.am/96yY #
• jimmy shand vs 50 cent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojpy8yYTU6w #
• Is there a 12 step program for people who obsess over checking FED-EX tracking all day long checking on their shipments? #
• Why do I like this piece so much? Could it be b/c it’s by Alec? Or b/c it’s simple & engaging- Glass Jars by Alec Soth http://bit.ly/4rFaGf #
• Merry Christmas – unbidden http://bit.ly/8FozCA #
• Friends coming over for some Mexican food. So hungry. #
• Me and a 6month old are going to the mall. If we are not back in 4 hours go on with out us and save yourselves. #

Columbia, Mo. 2009

Merry Christmas Jerk

• Post brain surgery RT @MattChandler74 “Trying t prrrrintp a Dallas plasticbublet ehile sirtting ip tight is a lot hdtder than it doubds” #
• Sweet patato. Oh boy! http://flic.kr/p/7kVeaF #
• Apparently dailytribune.com is slow because we got Drudged. #
• RT @PastorMark: 16 Daddy Christmas Tips for you dads, husbands, and future husbands out there. http://bit.ly/4Unlfi #
• This reads like it was written yesterday! – Rest in Peace: Photojournalism Is Dead – The Digital Journalist http://bit.ly/6auLRl #
• Just ordered our Christmas cards through @adoramapix. Can’t wait to get them! #
• Really don’t like going to bed on a full stomach but the meatloaf sandwich at flat branch was so good. Topped off with lemon pie at home. #
• Spent part of the morning making some twitter lists. #
• Apparently there are guys doing funny stuff infront of the @theindependent: ’s snow cam http://is.gd/5g3Sf – I just saw them do snow angles. #
• Our Mediacom connection is out. Not sure if it’s weather or the road construction. #
• Loved reading this interview with @mattslaby – Illiterate Magazine » featured » 53 http://bit.ly/7YtTIR #
• Just went outside to check on a car with a fallen tree on it. Not much damage, I’ll give it a 6 out of 10. #
• I’m looking forward to some HOT pizza for Wednesday Photo Pizza Lunch. Don’t let me down @shakespizza #
• RT @picturelg “Guess where @Gerik is….. http://yfrog.com/4ay8wj" // In the state of confusion #
• New York Times, Paper Cuts and a face full of pie! – New Blog Post on unbidden http://bit.ly/8fJW4q #
• Nice Job Shane RT @shanebevel: ORU beats Missouri! Photos here: http://www.shanebevel.zenfolio.com/orusports #
• CDT Photog @parkereshelman captured Mizzou’s loss last night: Oral Roberts 60, Missouri 59 – ColumbiaTribune.com http://bit.ly/4WaKl4 #
• Long-time minister Otis Young dies at 78 http://bit.ly/7TONwc // Spent many Christmas Eve’s listening to his sermons during Lessons & Carols #
• Family Portraits – Vienne and Riis – unbidden http://bit.ly/8puikk #
• The printer in the newsroom, shared by 30+ people, has become the water cooler of the office. #
• Oh no! got an e-mail and @adoramapix is running behind schedule. Waiting on my Christmas cards….. #
• Wow! I thought they stopped making these. Nikon, we make the worlds best datebooks. http://flic.kr/p/7n51WV #
• Light test for a portrait shoot I have tomorrow. http://flic.kr/p/7n9NbA #
• All right! All right! @tjparmele and @accessfletch I’ll smile next time. #
• Just watched the 1971 version of Willy Wonka. Brilliant. #
• My iBook G4 just died. Had to erase hard drive and now I’m reinstalling OS X to see if it comes back to life. #
• Merry Christmas you…. http://flic.kr/p/7nkPVR #

Shoot some family portraits Tuesday night. Here’s a couple I liked of Vienne and Riis.