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Backup, backup, backup…. I can’t tell you enough how important it is to keep a backup of your stuff. Let me ask you; would you miss the pictures that you have deleted from your camera, but only have sitting in a folder on your desktop? How about the quicken files that you have been using for 5 years and never backed up? What would you do if you lost all of the contacts that you have in Outlook?

More and more of our lives are tied to our computers, and all too often we place too much confidence in technology that is frequently unstable and unreliable. To prevent this catastrophe from happening to you, make sure you; first- know how to back up, second– have somewhere to back up, and last– DO IT!! I say this with love, if you don’t back up your stuff, and your computer crashes, while I will try to get as much of your stuff as I can, it is not my problem if it is not possible.

If you are unsure about backup possibilities and/ or how to  perform a backup, there are a few options for you. You can use an online backup system, or there are a few backup programs that you could use with a portable hard drive as well. Online backup systems will have step by step instructions, as will most programs you might install on your pc, so you shouldn’t feel anxious about backing up your files and documents. If anything, you should feel worried that you haven’t backed up your files. So, why are you sitting here reading, when you could be getting started on your back up?

Getting Hacked

It used to be “okay” for the everyday computer user to have a fairly easy to recall password that didn’t involve having a doctorate and a cast-iron, leak proof skull to remember it. Unfortunately, those days are gone.

In today’s world, it is common to have a friend call you and ask “Why are you sending this video link to everyone on Facebook?”. Then you get to find out that you have been hacked . Your Facebook friends are “hacked” as well and your day isn’t getting any better at this rate.

So, to avoid all of these issues, we create a more complex password. NO, you do NOT use your dog’s name. That is not secure either, I promise you have mentioned “pookie” on Facebook somewhere, so they have that one too. No, you need a much sturdier password, one that will pass the unspoken techie geeky tests.

What I recommend is for you to use dates and names combined. Use you anniversary, your son’s birthdate, and your daughter’s nickname. It would read something like 08pumpkin16. (08-anniversary, pumpkin-daughter’s nickname, and 16– son’s birthdate) If you need to make it a bit more clever throw a special character in there like an asterisk or a dollar sign.

The bottom line is that in this day and age, Obama isn’t the only one that needs to use a secure password, and it isn’t like we need to be any smarter than him to accomplish this task either.

Social Media is Your Friend

     One user on a social site may favorite, follow, or Digg something about you, and suddenly your brand and name is now being shown to all of their friends, and if they repost, they open your brand up to all of their friends, and so on, and, well, you et the picture.
     Businesses can start with a company presence or profile on different, but appropriate, social media sites. You can create a Fanpage on Facebook, get your employees on LinkedIn, sign up for Twitter, or start submitting relevant articles and content to social bookmarking sites, like Digg and StumbleUpon. You can also use free blogs like Blogger to open a discussion between your business and potential customers.
     When creating profiles on these sites, remember to link them up. For example, on your Twitter profile you can include a link to your blog or Web site. On Facebook you can install a Digg application so others can see what you favorite, and a Facebook Twitter application lets your Tweets become your Facebook status update. Twitter feeds can be added to your blog, and so on. By linking up your profiles, with one update you can blast your message to multiple social sites.