My Data Vortex

Recently I've been making a concerted effort to collect and organize stuff. Piles of books, magazines and papers are relatively easy, but computer files - not so much.

It doesn't help that computer files and I are like nuts and a squirrel. I've been collecting them for years and stashing them away in what I'm just now realizing are a bazillion different places.

It's one thing to consolidate the shoebox full of hard drives and stack of floppy disks onto a single shelf in the closet, but quite another to begin sorting through the files and organizing and de-duplicating them.

What was I thinking when I saved all this stuff?

So far my organizational scheme has three categories -- Work, Family and Personal. Theoretically everything will have an appropriate "bucket" in the second or third level of one of those categories, but already there are ambiguities. For example, photos.

I'd like to keep all the photos together as a second level category under Family. However, work-related photos probably should go under Work, but what about the bridge pictures I snapped on vacation?

Perhaps this is where the Google-ish philosophy of files with multiple labels rather than the Microsoftian buckets approach would make more sense.

An optimal solution probably lies in combining the two, which is where Picasa seems to be a great tool. Its filtering and search capabilities are terrific, to say nothing of the face recognition feature. But as my recent "clean install" episode pointed out, thinking any such solution is permanent is unwise.

Where, oh where ...?
Beyond the logical organization, there's also the squirrel's ubiquitous dilemma of where to actually stash the stuff.

I thought getting a Pogoplug device and setting up my own little piece of cloud storage might solve the problem. It's turning out to be a neat storage space and I think it's going to be a great solution for backing up our nebulous mass of data, but "the user" still has to figure out what to put where, and how many copies to keep.

Stuff management on a virtual level - how delightful! More insights as they bob to the surface. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions, I'm open to them.

My Favorite Sunsets

Back from a few days in Door County, Wis., but thought I should share one of the reasons we keep going back (above). This is the 8 p.m. view from Fred & Fuzzy's, near Sister Bay, Friday evening a week ago.

This little outdoor eatery and backyard bar used to pride itself on being the best kept secret on the peninsula, but perhaps that phase has passed. I actually saw ads for the place this year in the local literature.

And the place itself has changed a bit, too. They've added tables and made the bar in the woods look a lot more like a permanent installation (sigh...).

The waitstaff now asks for your cell phone number and uses iPads to sign you in. Moments later you get a text message that you're on the list, and another awhile later when your table's ready. That's OK, even though it's not the quaint Fred & Fuzzy's that we stumbled upon half a dozen years ago. It's sad to see the old fashioned numbered slips of paper go away, but I can understand their wanting to modernize.

Meanwhile, Fred & Fuzzy's still has good food and the best sunsets of anywhere I know in Door County. And that's not likely to change.

Away!

We've abandoned civilization for a few days once again, and are trekking north to Door County, Wis. One of the real joys of this sojourn, of course, is being disconnected. We may still have Internet and cell phone service (which just a few years ago wasn't the case), but guess what -- it's 20 miles to the nearest Redbox! And frankly, I don't plan to use my 50 cents off coupon this weekend.

So, why are we here? Well, that's a fun factoid I'd love to share with you. Exactly 39 years ago, on the evening of August 4, my lovely bride and I became husband and wife. And oh, what a fun ride it has been! All I know is that I wish the same happiness for you.

How About Those Olympic Medals!?

2012 Olympic Medals.
Photo: London 2012.

If you need a little something to read during the commercial break in this evening's coverage of the Olympic Games, look no further. Did you know the gold medals are mostly (92.5%) silver? But that's nothing new, according to Dillon Gage Metals. They were really gold for only eight years, beginning in 1904.

To learn more, check out the very interesting commentary at www.myprgenie.com/view-publication/olympic-medals-are-still-made-of-precious-metal-but-contain-less-gold. I so wish the company had posted its own white paper about this, but they left it to the PR firm instead, so that's where you'll find the information. Such is life in the "Information Age." Meanwhile, it's a pretty cool little bit of background.

For more about what went into making this year's medals at Britain's Royal Mint, visit www.royalmint.com/discover/london-2012/making-of-the-london-2012-olympic-medals.

And now, back to the "tele" for more of the competition.