REGGIE LEVINE.NET

With most of our lives revolving around the computer and the internet, what is the secret to keeping all of your personal data safe?  I'm not talking about the data that is stored at your banks website or your favorite eRetailer, but the data on your own computers.  In a word... Backing up!  Ok, that is two words, but you know what I mean.

Did you know that every year, 43% of computer users lose their music, photos, documents, and more.  Worse than that is the fact that a lot of these people were planning on someday getting a backup system in place, but kept putting it off.  Repeat after me... Back up now!!!

So, what is backing up?  This is the process of preserving copies of your files on a different drive, folder, or a medium to protect it against the destruction or loss of the original files in case of theft or a hardware/system failure.  Once you have decided to backup, you will have to decide what to backup. Depending on what you store on your personal computer, it could be a little or a lot.

Some of the typical things that you should backup are:

• Digital photos
• Music you purchased from the internet
• Bank and financial records
• Personal projects
• Your e-mail address book

Now that you have an idea what you would like to preserve, you have several choices as to where or how you would like to backup your data.  If you choose to keep copies of your data close at hand, you can opt for burning CD's/DVD's or using an external hard drive.  The advantage of this method is that it is relatively inexpensive and can be done rather quickly. You can find free software online that can allow you to have this process automated. The downside to this method is that if you don't store your backup at a different location than your computer, it can be destroyed or stolen just as easily as the original data.

Another way that you can backup your data is to use an online backup service.  These services allow you to upload your data over the internet to remote servers for safe keeping. If you need to restore lost data, you simply log on to the backup service and download your files.  A definite advantage to this is that it is cheap, reliable and really easy to use.  Of course there are some downsides to this method as well.  First, you are relying on the internet.  If it is slow or down, so is your backup.  If the company goes out of business, so does your backup.  Generally, this is the better method for most users, as it provides for a simple, no fuss approach to backup.

So... now that you know a little more about keeping your data safe, what are you going to do?  Please don't be a statistic. Back up your data.

There are a lot of choices when it comes to getting on the internet away from home.  The problem is that the easy and convenient ways are often times slow or expensive. And the fast and cheap ways are never where you need them.  

First, there is the smart phone.  You know... the Blackberry, iPhone, or Palm phones that are all the rage.  It is always within arms reach, it has decent speed, but the screen is so tiny. The next obvious choice would be your laptop.  Well, that is cool if only you can find a WiFi hotspot that is free, convenient and secure.

Now, let us stay with the laptop for a minute.  If you don't like the hotspot idea, there are other choices.  A great option may be a 3G Mobile Broadband solution.  These come in a variety of shapes, sizes and options.  They also come with an expensive, long term contract on top of your cell phone's monthly subscription. Thanks to DataJack and Virgin Mobile, that is all about to change.

The DataJack's mobile broadband service offers 3G high speed data for $39.99 a month, with no contract.  The unique part isn't the price but the fact that this is for truly "unlimited data".  That means it doesn't have the standard 5GB per month limit that Sprint, At&T, Verizon and T-Mobile like to pretend is "unlimited".

DataJack also comes with no deposits, no credit checks, no early termination fees and a free month of service after 12 consecutive months.  The actual USB modem is only $99 when you sign up.

Virgin Mobile and their 3G mobile broadband story is a little different, but still a very good deal.  Virgin Mobile still offers the USB modem for $99 with no contract when you sign up.  

But, unlike DataJack, you can purchase as much or as little prepaid airtime as you like starting at $10.  That $10 will get you 100 mb or 10 days of internet access, depending on which ever comes first.  If you need more, you can purchase prepaid cards going up to $60. The one downside is that that $60 caps you at 1 GB of data for 30 days.

Overall, these are two great solutions for getting your internet fix while on the go. They are both available for Windows and Mac and double as a MicroSD reader.  So, if you are tired of your current mobile broadband's monthly fees, check out these two solutions to see if they might be right for you.