Parish Notice
Apologies for the last week, folks. I have had the week from Hell!
My computer welcomed me back from my last stay in Hospital by rolling on its back, kicking its legs in the air and shouting ‘stuff you, Missus’ at the top of its voice. It then comprehensively and terminally died. Ungrateful sod.
My back up failed, my hard drive failed. Apparently the inner power supply was delivering voltage where it shouldn’t have been and not where it should.
If you have e-mailed me in the last few weeks and wonder why I haven’t replied – it’s because I no longer have your e-mail, er, or your address, er, or any of my photographs, nay, not even the one of Old Holborn being potty trained which was going to fund my pension one day; nor do I have any of my passwords, or anything really. Gone and not remembered.
The only person I trust within a mile of my computer, given the number of ex-widget makers from Walsall who have reinvented themselves as expensive computer technicians in the Dordogne, lives 500 miles south of here. Thus it was that I set off last Thursday morning with computer under arm, to Cathar country.
Fabulous journey, worth every penny I ended up paying for it. Soaring up and down mountains in the winter sun, overtaking hovering hawks, spying distant Cathar fortresses perched on crags, just the tonic I needed after weeks of hospitalisation. Loved it. Unfortunately it didn’t love me.
By the time we reached our destination I was unwell again; little Ms Anna ‘thinks she can run before she can walk’ Raccoon – Mr G had a nightmare 500 mile journey with a very sick moi getting me back to the hospital again – and I have spent the past five days back in the Brig once more.
So, sick Anna, sick computer; made the mistake of paying the bar staff their Christmas bonus before I went = no posts. Apologies etc.
Since I now have to start from scratch with everything, I am going to take the liberty of making a few changes around here – and if there are any graphic artists out there willing to assist with a new header, since I have also lost the address of the man who was going to do it….I would welcome your talented assistance.
Any preferences whilst I am mucking about with the appearance of the site? I think we need a fresh coat of paint to go with this fresh start……the bar is looking mouldy and stale.
Whilst you think about it, I shall see if I can rebuild my RSS feed – and see what has been happening in the world the last few days.
We will not be beaten!
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November 29, 2011 at 15:09 -
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November 29, 2011 at 16:38 -
Suggestion – do just what you have been doing.
I liked it will almost certainly continue to do so.
Thanks.-
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November 29, 2011 at 20:08 -
Seconded. The honey topic suggested “expect the unexpected” so I think the regulars and the coach parties (occasional visitors) were OK.
I backup to an external USB drive, you’re supposed to store them off premises as part of a disaster recovery plan but that’s probably OTT. There are firms who’ll store data you download to them (for a fee) but that raises issues of data security.
Bonne sante.-
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November 29, 2011 at 21:19 -
Since broadband arrived, off-site data back-up has become a non-physical doddle.
Simple arrange with a trusted pal to keep each other’s back-up data – send yours to the pal electronically, he keeps it until it’s updated. He sends his back-up data to you similarly. Keep the same master file-names and new versions overwrite the older ones.Always partition your disk so that ‘data’ is on a separate virtual drive from anything else (programs, utilities etc.) – that keeps it safer from any software interference and makes the back-up regime simpler too.
Other than that, I use USBs for local back-up (one version of the copy-cycle lives in my car) and I also keep regularly-updated hard-copy prints of the most important lists, e-mail addresses etc.
Yes, I know all that turgid housekeeping stuff seems like a waste of good drinking-time but, when your system goes tits-up, as it inevitably will one day, you’ll quickly change your mind. Stitch in time……..
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November 29, 2011 at 16:40 -
Backups. Check they have worked every day. Check you can restore them as often as possible. You can do that easily – just restore the backup made last night – you do them nightly, of course! Then, nothing is overwritten. Always makes sure you have a rescue disc of some sort from which to boot – many backup software manufacturers provide the facility to make one. I use Macrium Reflex – the free one is without support, but I have no problem with it, where Acronis Home Image, which I paid for, fucked up time and time again, and their support got worse and worse.
Murphy’s Law reigns supreme. If something can go wrong, it will. If more than one thing can go wrong, then more than one thing will go wrong. Eternal vigilance is the watchword.
Take it easy, Anna. Tho’ I envy you your trip to Cathar world. Once passed Carcassone, more years ago than I care to think about, and was sad not to be able to walk its city walls. As for the Cathars, I suspect you will have read this – if not, it is equally fascinating and equally horrifying
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Montaillou-Cathars-Catholics-Village-1294-1324/dp/0140137009
I’m recovering from an attack of Pleurisy, which cunningly said hello a few hours after the big M5 smash up. 90 minutes after Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego decided to do the great big Burning Fiery Furnace Boogie in my chest, an ambulance finally turned up with the blessed Morpheus in a syringe. Paramedics don’t carry it, presumably because once it was out they did, they would get rolled every time. Still weak, and for two weeks I hardly slept, so I went to the doctors and sang this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQeo3OfuEDM, and they gave me summat a bit stronger.
Well, it works with a couple of glasses of wine, and a hot chocolate and rum before bedtime. They don’t do sedatives liked they used to. My father’s medicine chest included Chloral Hydrate, Mogadons and Mandrax. As an inquisitive teenager, I tested them all and can attest that they work. Indeed, the last time I took a Mandrax was the last time I walked into a lamppost.
But you have been thru’ much more than I have, so do do take it easy. We here in Fromeville love your blog.
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November 29, 2011 at 17:01 -
Another suggestion – it may be possible to retrieve information via “The Wayback Machine”
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
Enter any URL in the Search panel, and it will return a historical record of every time the site has been ‘crawled’, with live-links.
(But secondary links may not work) -
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November 29, 2011 at 17:25 -
My heart bleeds for you, Anna. May you be granted even more strength than you always display!
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November 29, 2011 at 18:57 -
Sorry to hear about the trials and tribulations. No doubt you’re sick to the back teeth of Mr G and assorted medics telling you you’re a silly Raccoon for doing too much too soon, so I won’t; it does sound like a good excuse to deploy the bacon butties and HP Sauce, though.
Computers would be the bane of my life if I let them. For what it’s worth, I keep a small ring-binder with all the important website and e-mail addresses etc. written in pencil on pieces of paper. I make a paper copy of any important correspondence, and keep that in the filing system, too. I’m regularly given stick for this approach, but it’s saved me more than once. Mind you, I’d be knackered if I mislaid the ring-binder…
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November 29, 2011 at 19:11 -
So long as the hard drive is still physically OK (and it probably is) the data can often be retrieved by swapping the circuit board from another identical unit. And if you’re really desperate, and don’t mind shelling out, there are plenty of data retrieval companies who will do the job for you.
Keep backups on completely separate external drives, and if possible duplicate them. I keep passwords on a memory stick, and that’s also copied elsewhere…
If you use Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird there is a handy Add-on called “Moz Backup” which will make complete backups of your user profiles as well as the emails if needed.
I know it may be too late but don’t for heavens sake get caught out again!
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November 29, 2011 at 19:41 -
Most modern PCs come with a RAID 1 capability, if your data is valuable this is a good “belt” to go with the backup “braces”, even if it means shelling out for another disk drive, which admittedly is not as cheap as it once was. Get well soon.
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November 29, 2011 at 22:08 -
For those technically minded, the hard disk suffered from voltage fluctuation that caused the heads to touch the platter surface – you can’t get back that which is no longer there so it is a sector by sector scan and try to put the parts of files back together. It could have been worse and destroyed the heads then it would have been a *big* problem to recover anything.
Other than that and a power supply that gives anything from 12v to 15v on the 12v line depending on the temperature and position of the sun there’s not much wrong if you ignore the fact the MB may get the sulks and decide not to power up.
When rebuilt Anna’s computer will be to the standard of my web servers with a backup strategy to match – both local and off site.
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November 30, 2011 at 00:53 -
Cool. I look forward to reading a post about that.
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November 30, 2011 at 07:02 -
Oo, diss us geeks at your peril, madam. We stick together, we happy breed, we band of brothers, and sisters, although they’re rarer.
When the raft needs a repair who yuh gonna call? A philosopher, a professor of political
history, ghostbusters? (don’t know how the last one’s relevant but it seemed to fit). I don’t think so.
We’re an oppressed minority. Until our worms and trojans become active we’re denied the world domination we crave and deserve. I’ve even designed my fuehrer-geek
uniform, a blue ‘screen of death’ with bleeping badge and tattoos for the error codes – one bleep means a cooked hard drive, two means you’ve taken out the regional power grid, and three would be the last sound anyone from here to Jupiter would ever hear.
What we do in this blog ripples through time and lives on in the archives. On my command unleash the ferromagnetic Tesla talk (non-SI units also spoken here).If it wasn’t dissing, apologies from this ‘umble geek, although I still demand command of the world.
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November 29, 2011 at 22:40 -
Ivan, I think you’re doing a great job.
Thank you. It will serve us “all”:-)
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