The Open Source Advocate

I have always been interested in backups. (In fact, I created an open source project called SaraB : Schedule And Rotate Automatic Backups.) Anyone who has valuable data should be implementing a proper backup process. For a good primer on the fundamentals of backup, I recommend visiting " The Tao of Backup ". Most recently, I have been trying to decide how to best implement the concept of " Separation ". This requires that I store my data in multiple geographic locations to prevent a local disaster from destroying all copies of my data. Like most people, my collection of photos, videos, and documents has been growing quickly as technology become more prevalent and uses higher resolutions. The value of my data becomes greater with every passing holiday, birthday, wedding, and vacation. Here are some options that I have come up with to backup my data to a remote site. Manual Solutions: 1. Periodically burn DVDs and carry them to another location Pros: Simple Che...

Taking pictures of lightning is not as hard as you might think. Tonight there was a nice electrical storm in Ogden, and I managed to take these pictures: Here is what I do to take photos of lightning. To start with you need a digital camera, but you don't need a high-end camera. I recommend a tripod, but you can get away with setting the camera on any stable object. You need a lightning storm (duh) and it is probably best if it is not raining while you are shooting pictures. Set your camera on a stable surface (preferably a tripod) Manually focus your camera at infinity (set it so that distant objects are in-focus) Point the camera at the horizon, or wherever you see a lot of lightning Put your camera in "Shutter" mode and set the shutter speed to 1/3 of a second Use the continuous shooting mode on your camera to capture the shots My Fuji cameras have a continuous shooting mode called "Last Four". This mode will allow you to continuously take pictures, but ...