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Computer Housekeeping
Oddly, although I didn't buy any new hardware or software at MacWorld, I was inspired to spend the rest of the weekend doing computer-related housekeeping. (Alas, I do not get Monday off work, or I might even get the taxes done.)
First up was external drive conversion. I had an 80GB hard drive, split into 4 partitions (named Pwyll, Branwen, Manawyddan, and Math) that I set up a long time ago when 20 GB was a reasonable amount of memory to keep rotating backups on. I had a 200 GB hard drive that I picked up when the previous concept became non-operative that I used both for drag-and-drop backups of desk and lap for several years, as well as for storing image files and archives of things I didn't want taking up space on the main computer(s). These both had Firewire connections (as one does for large external drives), which became problematic when the iMac went belly up and I decided to stick with just the MacBook which, alas, has no Firewire. And then I had the 120GB hard drive in the iMac which I had every reason to believe was perfectly sound and untouched. So with a minor glitch in which I learned that ATA and SATA are not synonymous but ATA and IDE are, all three are now housed in USB 2.0-connected external cases. I plan to use the two larger drives as rotating offsite backups (locked up in my desk at work), probably on a monthly basis because that gives me a nice trigger for doing them. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Four Branches. To use for a whole-disk backup I'd have to convert it back to a single partition, which I suppose is the best idea. (Yeah, I'd have to rename it. Darn.) But then, I don't really need more than two drives for the rotation.
Second up was getting the computer desk organized enough (since its move up from downstairs) to be able to work on it. I'm not putting a lot of energy into finding the best configuration at the moment since I'm anticipating taking delivery of some family furniture at some point this Spring and may be getting rid of the current desk entirely. (I decided also to wait on getting the external monitor until that's happened.) It isn't perfect, but it's usable.
Third up was starting to organize paperwork for doing the taxes. This involves computers because I've decided to move to a more electronic-driven record keeping system. Part of the goal here is getting rid of most of my four 4-drawer filing cabinets and although only two of the drawers are full of financial and legal paperwork, it's a good place to start. So in addition to sorting out the year's paperwork to file, I experimented with scanning statements and receipts into pdfs so that I can keep the records accessible without needing to keep them physically present. I'm not sure I'm up to entirely getting rid of the records after I've scanned them, but they can be moved into the attic archives much more regularly. I'm a compulsive record-retainer, but at least I have everything organized and labeled so that anyone who comes after will easily be able to identify everything that just gets thrown out!
Freecycle opportunity for local peeps (who have read this far):
Lacie brand CDRW burner, 24x10x40, compatible with Mac or Windows, can connect with SCSI, USB, or Firewire, includes user's guide and all the connection cables I can still identify as going with it. This is in good working order (as far as I know) and was new in 2002; I now can't imagine that I'll ever own a computer that doesn't burn its own disks internally.
iMac carcass, G5 20", was new in March 2005: certain elements on the motherboard are fried and the hard drive has been removed. Among the remaining useful elements are the RAM chips and internal wireless card. I make no pretense that this is useful to anyone but a serious tinkerer.
First up was external drive conversion. I had an 80GB hard drive, split into 4 partitions (named Pwyll, Branwen, Manawyddan, and Math) that I set up a long time ago when 20 GB was a reasonable amount of memory to keep rotating backups on. I had a 200 GB hard drive that I picked up when the previous concept became non-operative that I used both for drag-and-drop backups of desk and lap for several years, as well as for storing image files and archives of things I didn't want taking up space on the main computer(s). These both had Firewire connections (as one does for large external drives), which became problematic when the iMac went belly up and I decided to stick with just the MacBook which, alas, has no Firewire. And then I had the 120GB hard drive in the iMac which I had every reason to believe was perfectly sound and untouched. So with a minor glitch in which I learned that ATA and SATA are not synonymous but ATA and IDE are, all three are now housed in USB 2.0-connected external cases. I plan to use the two larger drives as rotating offsite backups (locked up in my desk at work), probably on a monthly basis because that gives me a nice trigger for doing them. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Four Branches. To use for a whole-disk backup I'd have to convert it back to a single partition, which I suppose is the best idea. (Yeah, I'd have to rename it. Darn.) But then, I don't really need more than two drives for the rotation.
Second up was getting the computer desk organized enough (since its move up from downstairs) to be able to work on it. I'm not putting a lot of energy into finding the best configuration at the moment since I'm anticipating taking delivery of some family furniture at some point this Spring and may be getting rid of the current desk entirely. (I decided also to wait on getting the external monitor until that's happened.) It isn't perfect, but it's usable.
Third up was starting to organize paperwork for doing the taxes. This involves computers because I've decided to move to a more electronic-driven record keeping system. Part of the goal here is getting rid of most of my four 4-drawer filing cabinets and although only two of the drawers are full of financial and legal paperwork, it's a good place to start. So in addition to sorting out the year's paperwork to file, I experimented with scanning statements and receipts into pdfs so that I can keep the records accessible without needing to keep them physically present. I'm not sure I'm up to entirely getting rid of the records after I've scanned them, but they can be moved into the attic archives much more regularly. I'm a compulsive record-retainer, but at least I have everything organized and labeled so that anyone who comes after will easily be able to identify everything that just gets thrown out!
Freecycle opportunity for local peeps (who have read this far):
Lacie brand CDRW burner, 24x10x40, compatible with Mac or Windows, can connect with SCSI, USB, or Firewire, includes user's guide and all the connection cables I can still identify as going with it. This is in good working order (as far as I know) and was new in 2002; I now can't imagine that I'll ever own a computer that doesn't burn its own disks internally.
iMac carcass, G5 20", was new in March 2005: certain elements on the motherboard are fried and the hard drive has been removed. Among the remaining useful elements are the RAM chips and internal wireless card. I make no pretense that this is useful to anyone but a serious tinkerer.
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Heh :-)
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