1) Last week I talked about Robert Altman's movie A Wedding. Well, I stumbled on a review of a stage version which as done a while back. As an opera, of all things. Directed by Altman himself.
Well, he did spend his last decades trying to do things he'd never done before.
2) Stephen Watkins had a post called "2013: Movies of Interest," and we discussed our various qualms about the upcoming Iron Man movie. Here's my comment on that: "For one thing, is it actually possible to do the Mandarin in some way that isn’t offensive? Certainly in the comics he was very stereotypical. But my bigger qualm is that, based on the trailer, it’s going to be 'Tony the hero has to man up and toughen up to rescue his beloved Pepper, who’s been tied to the railroad tracks and maybe tortured by the evil Asian guy.' Ish. On the other hand, there is another way they could go. In the comics, Pepper has been known to suit up, too. Which nobody would expect from Gwyneth Paltrow… Could be we’ll be seeing Rescue. That would be cool."
Well, as far as the second point goes, that question has been answered. This puts a smile on my face.
As for the other qualm, I've read enough online to say that it seems this reaction was anticipated and dealt with also. (No spoilers here.)
So, I've got to see this one when it comes out.
3) Tech tip for today;
AKLB. Always Keep Local Backups.
I read this: "Can You Live Without Google?" It shows what can happen when you trust Google with all your vital files, without keeping local copies (always a bad idea), and they suddenly decide to lock you out. One easy "backup" is to email files to yourself, but that doesn't help if you use Gmail.
The cloud is all well and good, but AKLB.
OK, that is a good answer to the railroad track question. This film keeps going up the list.
I try to go for multiple local backups, for all sorts of reasons: one continuous local cloud device, plus remote cloud backup, plus manual duplicate outboard discs. I am probably making this too complicated, but it’s stuff you do not want to lose. As one commentator I follow says: data you haven’t backed up is data you don’t want.
I’m going to go see Iron Man 3 also… not because superhero movies are my thing, but because my best friend loves them. I liked the previous two Iron Man movies, so…
As for backup, I have never trusted a “cloud server” to be my sole mode of backup. I have always used flash drives and they haven’t failed me yet. 🙂
Duncan: Or, as I’ve also heard: “If your data isn’t in three different places, it doesn’t exist.” My methods also include a mix of local and options, including the fact that I write for online so my websites also function as a backup. 🙂
Maggie: Flash drives are the way to go. I like having one set of backups on me wherever I go.