Technology and Treasure Hunting

In today’s world we have all come to rely on and enjoy the technology that surrounds us. In most cases, it makes our lives easier. Even though the people who hid the treasures we are now looking for didn’t have this kind of technology, we use it constantly to try to find those treasures. We routinely rely on our computers for using mapping programs, finding information from of the internet and contacting other treasure hunters. Add to that the digital cameras, GPS units, photo programs, etc. that we use and our lives as treasure hunters, even normal human beings are stored in a little box of wires and diodes and other stuff most of us don’t understand.

That brings us to the reason for this article. Rob, one of our readers, recently sent me an e-mail about backing up my computer before a catastrophic loss. This wasn’t news to me and unfortunately I had to learn the hard way, but just in case we have some newbies out there or people who have been lucky enough not to loose any electronic data, this is your warning.

It’s not about IF it will happen, it’s about WHEN it will happen. Because it will and always when you least expect it.

I urge all of our readers to constantly back up their files and on a regular basis. Depending on how much you use your computer and what you use it for, you may need to back up once a day or once a week or once a month. I would not recommend going longer than a month between each back up. That’s just asking for trouble.

There are several ways to back up your computer, you can use an external hard drive, something I’m very fond of, or you can use disks such as dvd or cd’s or you can even pay a small price and use an offsite storage company for your information. Maybe it’s just the paranoid lunatic in me but I don’t like the idea of my information being stored on somebody else’s equipment where anybody can get to it. Not that I have any big life altering secrets on my computer, I’m just naturally suspicious of people I don’t know and have a hard time trusting that my information will be safe. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean somebody isn’t trying to get you!

I will leave it to you, the readers to decide what is the best option for you personally. I just want to make sure you think about, and at least occasionally back up your files so the information you have is not lost to the world like some of the treasures we hunt for.

Remember the Boy Scout motto; Be Prepared!