On my main desktop computer, running Windows 2000 Professional, I set up a private blog where I can write notes intended primarily for myself. I'm using Blosxom as the blog software. I like it! Blosxom is as simple as it gets. I'm using IIS as the web server, and I had to make minor changes to the Perl source code to get Blosxom to work. And, I am using Blosxom to generate all static pages, instead of dynamic pages. There are plug-ins for Blosxom that are probably mandatory if you want a respectable weblog -- for example, if you want to allow posting of comments. All things considered, though, I think Blosxom is excellent software. It's simplicity means that it's easy to tinker with, which is great if you like to tinker. (I do.)

Blosxom is the third weblog software application that I have had significant experience with. The other two are Userland's Radio and GreyMatter. When I have more time, I really ought to write a review of these three software applications.

9:16:51 AM   

I was slightly disturbed after reading the article on Slashdot about CD-Rs having a relatively short lifetime. I had thought that a CD-R would last 10, maybe 20, years. Boy, was I off the mark! A better assumption is that a CD-R might last only two years. One thing is certain: CD-Rs are not a good long-term backup medium. And that raises the question: what is a good long-term backup medium?

Now, I have a confession to make. I have been talking to relatives and trying to convince them that digital photos (JPEG) and digital movies (MPEG1) are good, and that they can store them on CD-Rs. I guess I'll have to retract the part about storing them on CD-Rs.

Back to the question of a good long-term storage medium... CD-Rs are not it. Hard drives are cheap and seem to last a long time. The USB pluggable hard drives are perhaps not the best for everyday use, but as a backup medium, they might be useful. Having two or more computers on a network with large hard drives could be a solution that provides redundancy if you store the data on both hard drives. Perhaps this is the best short-term solution for long-term storage.

In the longer term, I fully expect that a new technology will become available that solves the problem of archival storage of digital data for consumers. I don't think I could speculate as to what that might be. With very fast Internet connections, it could be an offsite rental facility. One would pay a yearly fee for the offsite storage.

8:56:04 AM