I am glad to see that Blogger is working again. It looks like even the Althouse blog is back up! It makes me realize how important some type of back up is for a blog, after all, it is years of work and information that goes into a blog and to have it lost could be devastating.
posted by Helen at 6:28 AM
11 Comments:
I suppose it depends upon why you blog in the first place. I really think losing everything and starting over would be fine. Actually, if the internet simply lost every bit of memory and restarted, I would be good with that too.
I can't say for bloggers, as some do it for money, or fame, or information gathering, but I wouldn't think it all that bad if the internet itself, other than the structures, simply cleaned house every few years. Anything not kept fresh would literally disappear. They say there is something out there like that, or that it happens, but I still easily find decade old (and older) posts and articles even at the top of my searches.
For some of my more complex posts I copy the code and store it as a file on my computer and then let the computer back that up to an external drive. I spent a few years working for a server farm so I learned a few lessons along the way.
I have most of my content backed up on Posterous. They have a decent "import" function, but to keep archiving is very tedious and akin to posting twice.
When I'm looking at old material, I have to ask myself if I really need it for posterity (for some of us, it's a form of journaling, and we can see our development over the months and years). Am I somehow "dishonest" if I delete something? Some Weblog etiquette says "yes", and some people just do it.
There is no right or wrong answer. I occasionally put up a post just for a week or 2, to entertain the masses and get some quick funny comments. But I feel these quick funny posts to take away from my larger more serious body of work. So they get deleted. It's a blog, you can do whatever you wish.
Backup, backup, backup: a montra I've preached for 30+ years. I slap my own face when I don't backup at least twice a week.
Doom --
"Anything not kept fresh would literally disappear."
Like a science article that doesn't need updating? No, my data is my data. "The Internet" is just the connectivity. Don't mess with my data.
Test ping
Ann's blog is not entirely back up. Try looking at the archives, there are none.
ChrisA,
Thanks for the info. I hope they fix it soon.
I used to blog at Blogger for several years. Then moved to Typepad, but kept the blog at Blogger up. After a time, Blogger eliminated all of the back pages on the old blogger blog. Years of blogging -- from the early days, when you are really enthusiastic -- were lost. No explanation. No answer from Blogger.
I suppose you get what you pay for.
I don't know if I'd be too heartbroken for too long if all my posts disappeared. Certainly not devastated! Sure, I put some effort into some of those posts but hey, I put a lot of effort into my dissertation and no longer have a copy of that either, yet, here I am!
I don't see anything wrong with deleting old posts. I suppose it could be annoying for anyone who linked to them, but shit happens. I don't think it's dishonest to delete something that is no longer relevant; no one is under any obligation to show the path they've trod.
The only sin in this business is to lose data. The rest is usually forgiven. Cloud computing? Only if you don't care about your data.
Nobody loves you more than you do. Oh, and those backups you're making. You did test them to see that they work, right?
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