Thursday, December 29, 2011

Virtual Disaster

virtualization/disaster-recovery-is-your-transitional-cloud-step/4409
This article is about  enterprise disaster recovery, but you as a homeowner, what is your recovery plan? I have written before about saving your important documents in multiple places (see here).  While I think that recovery of your important documents is important, maybe treating your home more like a business is the way to go.  We have Ipods, Ipads, Iphones or their equivalent, so what happens when you lose your Itunes collection?  
It's a new year take a few minutes this weekend and look at some options to extend your recovery, none are  perfect, but a mix of cloud and hard backups (jump drives, portable hard-drives) is smart.
Some options:
sugarsync.com
dropbox
icloud

disaster dave

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Add "talk to humans to your calendar"

(This one is for the EM who read my blog for the non-EM :) )
So I have to say, I am not one for "New Years resolutions- things you promise then forget by the 15th of January." But I am okay with making changes to how I do things to improve my life and work. I love blogs and twitter because it exposes me to lots of new information and ideas in a short time, but...this year I am going to get out from behind my computer more often.  This article lists some very good reasons to make this improvement. why-in-person-socializing-is-a-mandatory-to-do-item

You need a real Third Place - too many distractions at work, ringing phones, people, that screen thing. Get away and talk face to face.

You need to argue your ideas more - While it is easy to send out a document for "comment",having a discussion with peers sharpens and most likely will improve your work.

You’ll do better work - See above.

My goal will be to find a group of EM professionals to meet with quarterly to chat, bat ideas around over lunch, coffee, drinks...
What will you do?

Disaster Dave

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Disaster Party

Christmas  is here and parties abound, but just a quick thought spurred by this article I read on Disaster Party.
Just think about having neighbors over and hosting a party to build kits. The next day they have a present that lasts throughout the year(s).  Don't know anyone at the Red Cross? You could call them or go to their website and download some of the great documents they have on the  Red Cross Site- free!

Have a happy holiday and make a plan - build a kit and pass it on.

disaster dave

Friday, December 9, 2011

Spring will be here soon

noaa-chief-2011-was-harbinger of things to come  So just in case you forgot how this year went in the disaster field.  Take away the Earthquake, and we still had a pretty tough year.  Take a moment and read the article by the folks at NOAA.
We (as individuals) have to be prepared to take care of our self.

Disaster Dave

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Go Bag (something to keep your bugs in)

A somewhat tongue in cheek look at what famous people in NY have in their go bags got me to thinking. How many of us have a go bag (bug out bag)?
Did you buy one and store it in the closet or the car? Amazon has over 400 hits if you type "go bag".

So what to put in it. Think what do I need to get away! Think what can I carry (very important; anyone who has served in the military knows these two things don't always go together)
  • I wrote this blog in July- it  is one of the things that should be put into your go bag can-you-find-all-your-important documents
  • clothing for your environment
  • Food
  • Water
  • Medication you need for living
  • First Aid Kit
  • Sleeping bag or blanket
  • map
  • compass
  • Charging cables for your electronics
If you are on Twitter try looking in  #SCEemergencykit  for some ideas from others; and of course please add your own ideas to this resource.

Sunny here today, think I'll go pick up a few things for my new improved Go Bag

Disaster Dave