Blackout ate your data? Tough.

Earthquakes, typhoons, and floods may top the list of disasters, but the specter of CUC load shedding and any related mayhem on the electricity front reminds us of this: The Commonwealth is one brutal and dangerous place for computer data. To the list of natural and man-made disasters, we can also list the grinding reality of the everyday tropical climate, the heat, the humidity, the free-floating coral dust, and even those obnoxious little ants that can penetrate the impenetrable. And, heck, I’ve got a Toshiba laptop computer that still coughs up termite wings from the great Fina Sisu swarm of June 1994.

I know I covered this topic few months ago, but I’ve since had two colleagues who have pleaded lost data, and I no longer accept the excuse. Furthermore, if CUC starts load shedding and blackouts, we’ll have an epidemic of dying hard drives and lost data.

I’ve got a zero-tolerance policy now: I hereby proclaim that “the computer ate my data” is no longer a valid excuse for a screw up. Not, at least, if such a plea is the result of such data not being backed up in an intelligent, methodical, and effective fashion. The Commonwealth is a very computer savvy place, and I can’t name one industry that doesn’t depend on computers (well, maybe one…), so we’ll all be better off if we quit accepting sloppy data habits as acceptable behavior.

So if you’re looking for something immediate and practical you can do to gird for any load shedding, now you’ve got something at the top of your list.

Item: USB external hard drives. These things plug into your computer’s USB port, and, presto, you’ve got up to 250 nominal gigabytes of external storage. I say “nominal” because the disk formatting always takes a capacity toll. Prices are falling under the $200 mark for these things. I don’t keep one powered up and connected to my computer all the time, but I plug one in when it’s time to run a backup…and I back up everything, every single stinking file on my computer; why not? This storage is so cheap I can’t afford not to use it. Nor can you, I suspect.

Item: Flash memory sticks. Also USB connected, these are commonly available in 512 MB (about $60 or so) and even two gigabyte (if you have to ask, you can’t afford it) capacities . They’re a great way to back up your daily work, and they’re about the size of a pack of chewing gum, and therefore easy to tote on the road. Yes, they seem to be a bit fragile, so it’s better to buy two smaller (cheaper) ones than one monster big one.

Item: Western Digital Data Lifeguard. This is totally free software, just download it from Western Digital’s web site. Used in conjunction with an external hard drive, you can back up anything or everything. And, no, it doesn’t put some funky interface between you and your data, you get the raw files in all their pristine and original glory. This is far better than a lot of expensive, fancy backup programs that are, ultimately, just ungainly and cumbersome pains in the neck.

All the above technology are so cheap, so reliable, and so easy to use that I’ve relegated CD writing to an accessional long-term archive project. As for DVDs? I don’t trust the technology yet.

I don’t like wasting money on computer stuff, it depletes my beer and floozy fund. Nor do I like spending time on backups, I’ll admit. But that’s a small price to pay to guard against the inevitable day when the hard drive crashes. These suckers don’t give any warning before they go, they just…go.

So, after you gas up your generator and make sure it’s running right, the next step to guard against CUC woes, or any other disasters, or just plain bad luck, is to be a computer geek and gird for a good backup strategy. “The hard drive ate my data” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

(Ed Stephens, Jr. is an economist and columnist for the Saipan Tribune. Ed4Saipan@yahoo.com)