I've been noticing a lot of sites still have buttons to share to Google+ which doesn't exist anymore. Looking through old posts it's not difficult to find broken links, especially from posts over three or four years old. Sometimes the old digital files you want to revisit are no longer available, can't be opened, or … Continue reading Digital destruction
Tag: preservation
More on DNA as the future of digital preservation
back in 2015 I mentioned an article touting the possibility of storing data in DNA - the concept continues to march forward. The previous article from 2015 said that "DNA can store over 300,000 terabytes, in only a fraction of an ounce of DNA." Think about that. That's a lot of data. Not only that … Continue reading More on DNA as the future of digital preservation
Happy World Backup Day
Don't be an April Fool. Be prepared. Back up your files on March 31st. (image: Jon Ross) What is backup? A backup is a second copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place (like your computer), you keep … Continue reading Happy World Backup Day
Are you ready for a disaster?
EARTHQUAKE Yesterday an earthquake shook southern California. It was centered roughly 7 miles from where I live and weighed in around 5.4, so I definitely felt it. It lasted about 10 seconds (reports say 30) and though nothing in my house fell off shelves it did a pretty good dance. Less than a minute isn't … Continue reading Are you ready for a disaster?
three enemies of digital image preservation (in a nutshell)
1. Corruption I'm not talking about dirty politics here, but rather compression of the file, lossy compression in specific - the type that creates smaller file sizes for jpegs and what not. Lossless Tiff formats keep all the pixels, which mean the image quality won't suffer over time. One thing I learned long ago about … Continue reading three enemies of digital image preservation (in a nutshell)
the ultimate media storage for long term preservation
Self-destructing DVD's, CD's and hard drives would be the ultimate media storage for long term preservation. Now, before you go thinking I'm crazy and heading off to some other site that talks about good quality metadata and long-term storage devices and media please hear me out. I agree that having good quality metadata (information about … Continue reading the ultimate media storage for long term preservation
File Migration
Yesterday I woke up early, which is unusual for me on a Sunday. I was excited to complete the transition from two old computers to one new laptop, which involved amongst other things migrating all files from the old machines, cleaning the living room and arranging the furniture. A laptop really changes the way a … Continue reading File Migration