[AT] OT... sort of

[Larry Goss]

My backups are a bit less structured, Dick, but varied in a different way.  For the tractor files I have generated (five full CD's at this point) I give them away free to anyone who wants them.  They are all in PDF or JPEG format and are unlocked so anyone can copy them and use them.  I figure widespread distribution that is geographically separated is about the cheapest "insurance" to make sure the archives on this particular brand of antique tractor (Power King) do not disappear.  Blank disks cost about 13 cents each.  The Tyvek envelopes for them cost equally as much.  So for less than a dollar, I can plant a whole repository of all the material I have collected.  I have been known to collect a bowl of ice cream at a tractor show in exchange for a set of the disks.

I purposely keep the files off-line.  There are too many instances of fees being charged, ownership being claimed, and other "bad" things happening for me to be involved an on-line storage system.

Larry


----- Original Message -----
From: Dick Day <ddss at telebeep.com>
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2009 22:51
Subject: Re: [AT] OT... sort of
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>

> Excellent points!  At my age, not sure how many format 
> changes I see in my 
> lifetime :)
> 
> Just as important as which format is currently in use is your 
> method of 
> backups.  I am not paranoid.  Ok, yes I am.  In 
> addition to having a Windows 
> Home Server backing up a nightly image of each workstation, I 
> also back up 
> to an external USB drive with segmented day-of-the-week backups. 
> Plus... I 
> also use rsync.net to nightly backup to an off-site backup 
> facility.  That 
> has become so cheap these days (about 70 cents per month per 
> Gigabyte).  So 
> with 3 layers of backups, I feel safe.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Dick
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Goss" <rlgoss at insightbb.com>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 9:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] OT... sort of
> 
> 
> Yep.  I still had a very expensive (when new) but very 
> servicable turntable 
> hooked to a separate stereo system when I started the process, 
> but I did 
> need to purchase a $6.00 patch cord from Radio Shack to go from 
> the 
> Headphone Out jack on the stereo to the Line In on my 
> computer.  I started 
> doing it before the software was built-in to XP and I used a 
> Microsoft 
> Extension program to do the dubbing.
> 
> Be aware that once you start doing this, IT IS NOT A ONE-TIME 
> THING.  Once 
> you start archiving  -- audio, video, documents, photos, or 
> anything, you 
> have to be prepared to migrate the media as it changes (and it 
> WILL.)  If 
> you have a library that is into digital archiving, ask the 
> person in charge 
> of the process what their plans are for continuing as the 
> process and media 
> change?  If they give you that "deer in the headlights" 
> look, then that 
> means that they don't really have a plan.
> 
> For the bulk of my archiving, I put the material in PDF 
> format.  The nice 
> thing about that is that the text material that I archive ends 
> up being 
> infinitely searchable. That means that it ends up having a 
> virtual index for 
> your whole collection.  That's very handy for things like 
> IPL's of tractor 
> literature and parts catalogs.
> 
> Larry
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dick Day <ddss at telebeep.com>
> Date: Sunday, October 18, 2009 21:53
> Subject: [AT] OT... sort of
> To: ATIS <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> 
> > I'm sitting here "ripping" my old albums to digital MP3 files
> > and having a blast. It got me to wondering if anyone on the list
> > has ever done this?  I have 100's of vinyl albums that I
> > fear might one day get damaged, so I am preserving the songs on
> > the computer.
> >
> > It's inexpensive and easy to do.  A $70 USB turntable and
> > some free software is all you need. They didn't have "She thinks
> > my tractor's sexy" back when vinyl was popular (please note the
> > obligatory reference to tractors).
> >
> > Anyone else tried or thinking of trying this?
> >
> > Dick
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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