One of the main principles that's been hammered into me from lectures and experience over my 15+ years of computing is backup, backup, backup. It becomes even more crucial when you start hosting sites, especially sites for other people. On all the servers we run, we backup site and database files nightly, with automated syncs offsite to other servers/the cloud and to my laptop.

Every few days, I hook up one of my external hard drives and transfer over the offsite backups so they're not cluttering up my working space.

The Bleepin' Leadin' Asterik

Yesterday was one of those days. After syncing my laptop's backup folder to my external backup folder (via rsync), I wanted to drop the files from my laptop. Already being on the command line and knowing I wanted to drop everything inside my local offsite backups folder, I naturally ran this command:

rm -rf * /Users/Adam/offsitebackups/*

Usually this cleanup runs in under ten seconds, since it only contains a few days worth of backups.

After fifteen seconds I started wondering what was going on. After twenty seconds, I noticed the leading asterik and started pounding on

control+c

as fast as humanly possible.

After swearing very loudly, I ran:

pwd

to show me my working directory:

/Users/Adam

flashed on the screen and again I swore very loudly. To anyone not familiar with Unix, here's a quick introduction. The rm command stands for remove. the -rf after rm stands for "recursive" and "force" and the * stands for "all". In short, I issued a command from my home folder that would go through and delete any files, folders, and sub-directories inside that folder. Since I keep almost all of my files inside /Users/Adam, you can understand the frustration.

My next step was crucial and brings us to our first lesson.

Don't Panic!

After realizing what I did, I walked away from my computer. If I had remained at the console, I probably would have furiously done some things that may or may not have made the situation worse. The damage had already been done so my next step was to calm down. After pouring myself a glass of water, I returned to the computer with a calm, clear mind ready to rationally recover as much as possible.

Internet Syncing is Wonderfully Convenient...

After sitting back down, I stared at the screen blankly for a few moments. Knowing that I periodically run Time Machine and that the damage had been contained to /Users/Adam gave me some relief, since at worst I would have to rebuild my home directory from a recent backup. But at least the core system would be intact.

Also knowing I sync some of my files with Dropbox and run version control on the important sites, left me with some peace of mind. With services like Dropbox and Subversion getting easier and easier to install and run, there's really no excuse for not having wonderfully convenient backups of your important stuff up on the internet or your local network.

... and Deceptively Dangerous

Then I noticed Spanning Sync spinning up. Unsure if my local Address Book files were intact, I immediately shut off my wireless connection and yanked out my ethernet cord. No need to start updating my cloud files and deleting what shouldn't be deleted. Of course Spanning Sync would ask me before syncing up the deleted entries, but without knowing off the top of my head what else might be planning a sync at any moment, I felt turning off access to the internet was the best way to ensure the damage stayed localized.

I also shut down Time Machine, since there was no need to run a massive backup to save my newly shrunken down system.

Get a Base Reading

After regaining my composure and severing my laptop's connection to the network and other devices, it was time to start checking what was gone.

My first instinct was to:

ls -la

which would show me all the files in /Users/Adam and provide a timestamp of the last modification date.

A sigh of relief at this point, as I noticed most of the structure was still intact and untouched. The only folder with a recent modification date was my Desktop. I have a very particular organization for my Desktop, which means I only keep two folders on the desktop.

• Projects

My projects folder contains anything I'm currently working on. For instance any graphic files or copy for sites is stored inside Projects. Needless to say, it's a crucial folder.

• Stuff

A catch all folder for anything else. I like to keep my desktop nice and tidy so anytime I go on a downloading spree or have random files cluttering up my desktop that don't relate to any of the projects I'm working on, they get dropped into Stuff. Not as crucial as Projects, but because the nature of this folder means I really have no clue what was or wasn't in here, I was hoping it wasn't too badly damaged.

Well, a quick glance at my actual desktop showed me that Projects was completely gone.

At least I had double backups of the Projects folder to Time Machine and to Dropbox, but unfortunately both were a bit out of date.

Keep Timely Updates

For some reason, I'd shut down Dropbox at some point. Now, I let it start when my computer starts and leave it running at all times. This way, when I make changes to the Projects folder or any other folder synced to Dropbox, it gets updated automagically. All you have to do to get the same auto-magic is link the folder with dropbox.

ln -s ~/Desktop/Projects ~/Dropbox/Projects

That little trick will make sure there's always a recent backup. Since Dropbox takes a little time to sync up, it might've started deleting some files but at least it's another backup. The other key to keeping timely backups is to let Time Machine run off the network, rather than a hard drive I have to remember to plug in every few days.

Script it!

Finally, the biggest and most important lesson is to take human error out of the equation. Now, instead of manually moving files over to my external, I've set up a script to automatically sync them over and then clean up the laptop hard drive after its done. It's one of those things I should've done a while ago but kept putting off. Foolish indeed as scripting it the first time would've saved me time and files.

Photo credit: Larry Miller | CC-NC-ND 2.0

As I mentioned on Justin's blog the other day, I'm off to WordCamp Boston 2010 today! The Boston organizers have put together a great schedule and I'm pumped to meet some fellow Wordpress enthusiasts and talk shop. I'll post an update about the conference tommorow, in the meantime if you're going to be at WordCamp Boston 2010 tweet at me and let's meet up!

Ever since I can remember, my last name (which, btw, means money) has been an issue. It's too long, too Polish, and too convoluted to pronounce/remember. There's a saying around the interwebs, tl;dr, which means "too long; didn't read". Well, my last name = tl;dt; too long; didn't type.

Moving to adamp.com

As you might've noticed (unless you're reading this in a feed, subscribe if you aren't!), today my blog no longer resides at adampieniazek.com and instead is at the much more sensible and easy to remember adamp.com.

I've actually had adamp.com for a while. Interesting story there, I saved $450 on the adamp.com domain name. A squatting company tried selling it to me for $500! I told them, meh, they let it expire a month later, triggering my auto-buy-if-it-expires option at GoDaddy and bam, here we are.

For a while adamp.com would just redirect to myfirstnamemylastname.com but I figured why bother, adamp.com is the better domain in all aspects and I can convert adampieniazek.com into a landing page of sorts. If you head over to this blog's old home, you'll see there's a landing page up for the root domain but everything else is 301 redirected to here. I'll put up a tutorial on how I did that over at The 42nd Estate shortly.

Until then, if you spot any issues or problems, let me know. Hope you enjoy the new, minified domain!

Artwork credit: anonymous0910 | CC 2.0

If you're a computer hardware geek, you're going to love this mod. In a nutshell, the guy needed to build a Mac computer for work purposes, disliked Macs, so he built himself a Mac Pro Hackintosh...housed in an Xbox case.

Watch and enjoy.

Check out the trailer for Collapse, a documentary that pinpoints how we're on a precarious precipice and it's up to us whether we fall or stand. There's a few things I love about this video:

1. Amazing disintegrating fonts.
2. It's a a "horror documentary".
3. Michael Ruppert - he's like a film noir superhero journalist.
4. "It's not that Bernie Madoff was a pyramid scheme, the whole economy is a pyramid scheme" [a great quote]

Enjoy!

Here's a cool National Geographic video I found via reddit.

Quite amazing the interaction the seal had with the cameraman.

If you don't already know, I am a huge fan of the superb science-fiction show Battlestar Galactica. I am also a huge fan of the social voting site reddit. While browsing through the latest stories this morning, I came across this comment about Battlestar Galactica in reverse.

Simply put, it adds a whole new level of depth and brilliance to the already amazing show.

20 hours ago, reddit commenter Lurking_Grue wrote:

I think I need to go watch Battlestar Galactica backwards.

1 hour later, reddit commenter Taciturn brilliantly responded:

WARNING: Spoilers lie ahead.

If you watch Battlestar Galactica backwards, it's a story about a ship called "Galactica" coming out of retirement to lead humanity to a new home, where it is retired. The people have to abandon their home planet to spend some time farming mud on "New Caprica," then they find a beautiful new place to live.

Roslin becomes president, then she's a schoolteacher for a while, then she's president again. She has cancer, it goes away, then comes back. Then she doesn't have to worry about it anymore.

The president has an assistant who gets killed by a cylon-hater. She gets a new assistant who gets killed by a cylon-hater.

SURPRISE!, Tigh's wife comes back! Then he kills her. Then SURPRISE!, she comes back!

Adama is very sad because the woman he loved died... but he falls in love again. Then he's very sad, because the woman he loved died.
Baltar works on a farm, but then he becomes a famous scientist before working on a farm again.

Lee and Starbuck try to have an affair, but it's really awkward, because Starbuck's already in a serious relationship. She gets married. Then Starbuck and Lee try to have an affair, but it's really awkward, because she's already in a serious relationship.

In the first episode you'll wonder when they're going to explain ChipSix. In the last episode you'll still be wondering that.

Also, if you watch the series forwards, the same stuff happens.

My jaw is on the floor and my mind is now properly blown.

The prominent line of the series, "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again" suddenly makes a ton of sense and really makes every step of the storyline fall into place and seem pre-ordained.

Well done reddit and well done Battlestar Galatica writers.

Artwork credit: Chris Bis | CC-NC-ND 2.0

War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.
-from 1984 by George Orwell

While browsing reddit.com this morning, I came across a link to an op-ed piece in the Washington Times by none other than internet expert John McCain. In the article, John makes a legitimate argument that the internet must remain free and open, that internet service providers must not be allowed to shape access to content and restrict bandwidth based on the destination of that bandwidth.

In other words, John McCain supports Net Neutrality. John goes on to state that he does not support Net Neutrality.

Confused?

While it seams confusing, as McCain is in essence contradicting himself, if you apply the concept of doublespeak, it all makes a lot more sense.

What is Doublespeak?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines doublespeak as:

language that appears to be earnest and meaningful but in fact is a mixture of sense and nonsense

So if it seams like McCain's article is illogical gibberish, well it is and was intended to be so.

Still confused?

Yeah, well that's what happens when a politician speaks in doublespeak instead of speaking in plain language. McCain is utilizing the argument of Net Neutrality supporters to rail against Net Neutrality.

Let's use an analogy.

You are a supporter of the New York Yankees baseball team. You believe they are the best baseball team of all time and to support that argument state:

The New York Yankees are the best baseball team of all time because they've won twenty-six World Series.

I am not a supporter of the New York Yankees. While I realize your argument is completely valid, accurate, and truthful, I will state the following as evidence that the New York Yankees are not the best baseball team of all-time:

The New York Yankees are the worst baseball team of all time because they've won twenty-six World Series.

Friends, this type of illogical statement is exactly what John McCain is using to scare the American public into killing the internet.

Did you know John McCain does not use a computer?

While, I don't care that he does not use a computer, I find it absurd that he has the gall to speak about the internet, as he literally has no clue.

Another analogy.

I have never used a motorcycle.

John McCain practices Pinocchio Politics

Does that make any sense? Of course not. Does John McCain make any sense in promoting a free and open internet by railing against a rule that would force a free and open internet?

No.

Why does John McCain say these things?

• Because he's the number one politician when ranked by amount of contributions from telecommunications companies.
• Because he has nothing to lose.
• Because he very well may have crossed that threshold of mental competence that old human beings tend to cross.
• Because he wants big business, big corporations to succeed and does not care what happens to individuals and small businesses.
• Because John McCain is corrupt.

In summary:

1. John McCain claims to support a free and open internet.
2. Net Neutrality requires Internet Service Providers maintain a free and open internet.
3. John McCain does not support Net Neutrality.

Still confused? That's OK. The intent of John McCain is to confuse you. Basically, John McCain is lying and you should never trust anything he says involving technology because plainly put, he has no knowledge of it.

Here's what you need to know, if you want the internet to remain free and open, and require that Internet Service Providers be unable to discriminate based on content, support Net Neutrality. Otherwise, if you want the internet to look this way, log off and don't come back.

John McCain Photo credit: Dan "Soggydan" Bennett | CC 2.0
Pinocchio Politics Photo credit: Rachel Kramer Bussel | CC 2.0

In the you can't make this stuff up category, check out what happened right as I clicked to read about how AT&T stated its network is fine in the mobile Google Reader site on my iPhone.

AT&T: Our Network is Fine!

Yeah, umm, AT&T your network is not fine.

Robert Scoble published a post yesterday that raised 85,000 reasons why the iPhone will continue to dominate smart mobile sales. But, there's one giant reason that Scoble skipped.

The network.

Yes, the topic was been raised and covered multiple times before, but the fact remains that AT&T's voice and data networks are struggling to keep up with iPhone users. For a lot of people, especially those whose locations are well covered by AT&T, the number of applications available in the iTunes store will keep them on the iPhone or persuade them onto the platform.

It's the Network, Stupid

But, for a lot of other people who currently don't have an iPhone or are becoming exceedingly frustrated with:

• Dropped calls
• Delayed voicemails/text messages
• Dropped internet
• Slow internet
• Useful app rejection

the new open platform Android 2.0 phones that are being hyped right now seem quite tantalizing. There's really a bare minimum of apps that I use on my iPhone (and a crucial one that isn't available, unless you hack it, yes Terminal please). The network frustrations puts a damper on the excitement of having 85,000 applications in my pocket, especially since many of them rely on a solid network to work properly.

There's No App For That

Out of the 85,000 apps on the iPhone, there's not a single app that will improve AT&T's clogged network. Having Yelp in my pocket is great, but if it doesn't load or takes 5 minutes to return results it becomes relatively useless. Give me something that is 80% as good as the iPhone on a network that is reliable and consistent and I'm there.

Yes, the Motorola Droid is looking mighty tempting. I'm holding off until I can get my grubby hands on it to decide if it's close enough to jump ship, but the 75,000 fewer apps won't have any real impact on my decision. On an open platform, new apps can be written and guaranteed to be allowed. The network, on the other hand, is completely out of our hands. Deliver a strong network with a great mobile phone and the users and apps will come.

Photo credit: Stéfan | cc-nc-sa 2.0