Happy Halloween everyone!
But no, I’m not writing about Halloween here, but something much more sinister. I ran across this article here – https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/what-it-s-like-to-get-locked-out-of-google-indefinitely/ar-BB1azb7I?ocid=msedgntp It’s about someone who was locked out of Google, supposedly for violating terms of service. But, he never could find out anything about the violation, or any way to get his account back so he lost tons of very important personal and work related things.
We use email. We store things in our email accounts. We save photos in our Facebook accounts and who knows where else. We buy music, books, and other digital merchandise, and probably keep the details in our email accounts. We log into websites with our google or Facebook accounts. We keep calendars, address books, and other info on line. There is so much of our stuff out there that we probably hardly realize the extent of it all. And, this is just our personal use. It’s possible that many could lose even more critical and expensive work related things.
Just me… a retired person with a blog and the usual other stuff. This blog has 8 years worth of photos and experiences, and I would hate to lose all that. My google account has my mail, calendar, address book, photo storage, and who knows what else. My Facebook account also has years of experiences and is my main way of staying in contact with family and close friends. Heck, I’d even lose Google Keep where I keep my running shopping lists, and the many calendar reminders that keep me on top of things.
What do we do? Do we send copies of anything important to backup accounts? We have so much of our lives on line and with these huge companies that don’t seem to have human beings to go to. How do we protect ourselves?
So, here’s a project to keep us all busy. Figure out what you really don’t want to lose, and then figure out a way to back it all up. After decades of using computers I should know that nothing in technology is fool proof or loss proof, but this article was still a wake up for me.
Any advice? experiences? comments? anything to add? Write it in the comments! We will all thank you.
I hope you all are having a good Halloween weekend. I know there can’t be the usual festivities but hopefully you all can find something enjoyable for the occasion. Here in Panama they don’t officially have Halloween, but every year I see more Halloween decorations, costumes, and festivities so Halloween fun is more and more of a thing here too.
You all take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time.
The Panama Adventure 
Great advice, Kris! Here’s a question: Halloween may just be seeping into Panameno culture, but has Dia de los Muertos made any inroads?
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No, not really. Nov 2nd is day of the dead here, but people spend a very quiet day remembering those who have passed and visiting cemeteries. It’s not like the festivities in Mexico.
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Except for this year, the festivities are toned down in Mexico because of the pandemic with rising numbers. Here in the state of Jalisco, we’ve gone back to a partial shutdown for the next couple of weeks minimum, in attempts to get it under control. Cemeteries will be closed for Dia de Los Muertos, to discourage the normally large numbers of people that would typically be there November 1st and 2nd all night long. We didn’t have a single trick or treater come to the door this afternoon/evening, and normally we have hordes of youngsters. We’ve gone dark this year for Halloween, and apparently everyone else in the neighborhood has too. Hopefully next year will look a bit more normal, as Dia de Los Muertos is a glorious time to be in Mexico. Such a beautiful culture to experience this tradition.
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Oh my, it sounds like things aren’t so good COVID wise in your area. I hope they get things under control. But, it’s everywhere. My grandkids in the US are having a much toned down Halloween. Here life is returning to something like more normal, but older people and anyone more vulnerable is encouraged to stay home instead of going to cemeteries. We won’t be having the usual parades and festivities for all the November holidays either, as far as I know. Take care, and hopefully next year will be different!
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Use Apple and store everything in iCloud as then you can download all your information to any new device, you can use an iCloud email too so it’s all stored automatically.. I enjoy reading your blog.. much love, Fiona 😊
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Ahh yes, I use iCloud a bit and could use it more. Thanks. I suppose one could get locked out of that also though, like anything else but it’s a good backup option if it’s not your primary place.
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I have two ways of backing things up.
LibreOffice has a free word processor. The word processor is a great way to store massive amounts of data. Just paste everything there. By using the “find” feature, it is a great data base and data can be put into it on a random bases. You probably already use LibreOffice to set up you webpages anyway instead of doing them online. Just save everything in one massive file or by year. I can even find things is spreadsheets this way.
You can also use the file storage features of windows. Put things in a file grouping of some sort, go to search and key in words that either are file names or things that are in the files. I can sort my pictures and quickly find the ones that I have taken the trouble to give names to of every friend that ever sent me a photo. Or, can search for words in word processor files.
I enjoy you web site.
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Thanks so much for the suggestions! I use Open Office which I believe is another version or iteration of LibreOffice. I do store some things on my computer, but I also use a tablet that goes with me for travel, and a smart phone… it’s nice to have things out there somewhere so you can access them from anywhere with anything but definitely yes, backups on the computer are also good. Thanks for the comment and suggestions, much appreciated 🙂
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Ya know what’s good about living on an anchored boat at Halloween is? ALL the candy I bought I get to eat because kids in costumes don’t swim out to Trick or Treat…
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ha!!
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