If you stop dreaming, it's time to die.

- Shannon Hoon

Top Reasons Why You Might Want To Get That Backup Harddisk Already

3 minute read

Regardless of the interests that you have, it’s most likely that you have already accumulated huge amounts of data across the years. However you put it, these data is a big part of your life already. From your college papers, your business presentations, to your accounting and tax sheets, from your technical whitepapers to personnel performance reports, from your photos, to your scanned artwork and your music. You bring these along with you in your laptop, or maybe stash them on a home or office computer and feel secure that they’re all there safe and sound.

There has been significant advances in harddisk technology especially as far as their robustness and reliability are concerned. So, what’s there to worry about, right? Murphy’s Law. :)

Based on my own and others’ experience, these would just be some of the reasons why you would want to have a really good and reliable backup:

  1. These robust, reliable, and nearly-shockproof harddisks still do fail.

    While these disks may be covered by warranty and easily replaced, once they conk out on you, your data may be gone forever. What warranty can cover that? Sometimes all it takes to make a man cry is an accidental but jarring drop on the floor resulting to a catastrophic hard disk crash. </li>

  2. Your laptop may be stolen.

    Laptops can be replaced as disks above but not your data, your precious data. A friend of mine got her Mac stolen from a half-open car window. Nothing stopped the thief from doing so despite the car being in motion. If she had a Time Machine backup, I wouldn’t have felt sorry for her. After all, she can always get a new Mac and restore her backup there. But she didn’t and now, she’s practically redoing everything. Has she learned something from that lesson? I hope so! :) </li>

  3. Merciless Acts of God.

    Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and tsunamis. Yeah, this world is nearing its doom. But if you can have your data secure somewhere, you’ll have one less problem in your hands. :) </li>

A Paranoid Advise

Disks are getting cheaper already. For general use, the more portable 2.5” drives which just requires a single USB or FireWire port is always a good choice. While it may be pricey for some of us, just consider the peace of mind it’ll give you and that’ll be your ROI already. Some companies provide for their employees’ backup requirements but most likely than not, you’re on your own. Either way, it’s in your best interest to make sure that your data is well secure.

  1. Use tools like Time Machine, Super Duper, or Carbon Copy Cloner.

    These tools are so advanced (actually, the tech is quite old, they just made the process simpler) that after making a full backup of your system, they are able to track the tiniest change (a new or recently editted file, etc) and back that up. They also allow you to back track on a timeline so you can easily restore that file or folder that you accidently deleted.

  2. Backup periodically..

    At least, once when you get home from work, and once before you leave for work. That way, any work you do in and outside the office is safely backed up. If you’ve done a considerable amount of work in less time, feel free then to do a backup as necessary. Autosave sometimes just ain’t enough anymore. </li>

  3. Store your backup somewhere safe.

    I choose to keep my backup disk at home while it’s sometimes a better idea to store them in the office. If needed, keep multiple backups for paranoia’s sake and store them at a friend’s house across town. Just like your meds, these are better kept in a cool and dry place, away from rowdy children. </li>

  4. Keep your backup disk fresh

    Replace your backup disk every three to four years to ensure optimal disk health. These disks, like the ones you’re using on your laptop or workstation will die eventually. Make sure you have an alternative before that happens. </ol>

    You see, I’m that type of person who carefully puts laptops on desks making sure there is no shock at all, and yet, I’ve had several close calls myself with disks being populated by bad blocks, and with disks which just died conveniently on me. There’s just too much to lose but doing backups definitely minimized the risks. For your sake, I hope you do, too. :)

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Goodbye Useless Books

1 minute read

Through the years, I’ve accumulated a good amount of books about photography, design, typography, business, legal, and, of course, several technical books. I’ve also had some Mario Puzo and Star Trek novels, maps, travel guides and other stuff. As you can see my taste in reading material is quite varied.

I’ve read them at least once and there are some that I’d pick up and browse through over and over. There are a couple which I’ve never finished and at least one that I’ve never even attempted to read.

I’ve had these books in a book case which I’ve tried to keep neat and dust-free. I liked looking at this book case because, somehow, it’s like a shrine to my journey to who I am now. It reminded me of who I was, what I’ve learned, and how I evolved as a person.

I loved how my friends reacted to what they saw in this book case. Some were amused. Some appreciated me more. Some got disappointed. It would be the most interesting piece of furniture that I owned, next to my mattress, of course.

With beer in hand, I’d look at it as a trophy case and smile, and relish all the memories. But lately, I started asking myself what the point really is.. what the point is in having all these books that nobody else is reading anymore.

It’s when I realized that these books have got to go. I’ve benefitted a lot from them but they must now be passed on, because books that are not in the hands of whom needs them most are useless books.

Do You Really Need A Smartphone?

less than 1 minute read

Sometimes I just don’t get it with people’s obsession with the latest electronic devices (smartphones, tablets, etc) when the one they’re holding is a perfectly useful one.

Your smartphone, for one, is now more than just a phone and the things that you can do with it and what your phone can “become” will surprise you with the more than half a million apps available for it.

But the question is, have you actually made good use of the last shiny thing you bought just a few months ago? Or are you still using it like the good old Nokia 5110?

If you’re not exploiting it as you should, maybe all you need after all is just a simple phone.

Would You Be Your Own Customer?

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We’ve seen this scene many times. A company makes a product or does a service and sells it to a customer for bucks, moving on to the next customer, and forgetting about the last. Who cares whether our customers are happy? Who cares as long as we’ve made a sale right? Sadly, this is a scenario that is more of a rule than an exception.

Nobody comes up with a perfect product of service, sure. But the least we can do is to be open about how exactly our customers are doing with regard to their experience so we can tweak our product better. They paid for it anyway. It’s a chance to show that it’s not all about just the sale but that we truly care. Seth Godin suggests that it could very simply start with one small but brave move by asking your customers, “How’d it work out?”

If you refuse to listen, if you refuse to better yourself, if you refuse to even consider whether your product is really relevant or not, if you refuse to acknowledge that your business is about the customer’s delight in the first place, then, what differentiates you from con artists? What differentiates you from businesses who rely on breakage and slippage?

Marketing and selling a product is just a first step (some say it should be the later). Delivering a delightful product and a service that leaves your customers breathless is another.

So, are you someone who would pay gladly for your own company’s product and still be happy with the post-sales experience? Would you care about YOUR own experience? If YOU won’t be your own customer, then it’s time for some introspection.

Why Go iOS-Only As A Developer

2 minute read

When friends and colleagues learned I was going to focus more on iOS development, they quickly asked whether I was going to do Android as well. The quick answer to that was a clear No simply because I don’t have the resources to allocate on a platform where my chances of making a sale as an independent developer is very slim.

Sure, I might consider if it were commissioned work or if the outcome would be life-changing for even a few. But since I’d rather be building my own product and sell it myself than take client work at this point, I must start with putting food on the table first.

So instead of focusing on telling people why I’d rather not do Android, I’d rather tell people why I believe iOS is a better platform to work on, especially, if you’re an independent developer.

Ever since the launch of the App Store, I saw how it could change the apps landscape, both as a user and as a developer. I saw how users could actually do more with their phones (it’s now more than just a phone) and I saw how it could enable developers regardless whether you’re working solo or in a bigger team. I like how it gets rid of the middleman big-ass corporation and how it gives developers a chance to grow.

If you’re considering a platform in which to sell your apps on, you should first consider the best platform that can provide the best user experience. And most of the time, the best would be the simplest. This is where Apple shines obviously and it’s not necessarily about its users having more taste and more purchasing power but it’s about a platform that is able to provide for an experience you probably wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere.

As a user myself, I find that it’s important to have a very consistent experience across apps, and if some apps would violate that predictability, it’d be nice to know that some are actually able to do it quite nicely.

The quality of apps in the App Store is superior in so many ways because of that platform as a whole. One can always talk about hardware specs and how it trumps the competitor but it’s not about just the hardware, it’s about the consistency of the whole experience.

As a developer, I’ve never felt more special than how Apple is currently enabling developers. This is manifested with mostly clear documentation and the availability of great frameworks and tools. Even in this regard, Apple’s design-oriented work becomes more evident. Acknowledging that they should equip developers well for them to be able to come up with breath-taking apps is very important.

Surely, Android is in more hands now compared to iOS but the number of manufacturers and devices out there is making it difficult for developers (worse for indies) to even catch up with writing and testing code for each. I simply find it unsustainable and let’s not even talk about the often delayed deployment of OS updates to older devices.

In the end, as much as I want to do Android as well, it just means I can’t please everyone, but I need to start somewhere.