Disaster Recovery of 'Titanic' Proportions

Top 11 Worst Disaster- Recovery Plans

11) Collocate the data center on the San Andreas fault

10) Keep backup tapes in the CIO's basement

9) Store copies of all the really important data on stone tablets

8) Redirect all customers to the backup Web site on MySpace.com7) When the building burns down just outsource the rest of the jobs overseas

6) Move the servers to the parking lot and attach them to car batteries with jumper cables

5) Use the nearest Starbucks hotspot as a remote worksite

4) Send a St. Bernard with a cask of brandy to search for lost data

3) Use smoke signals to communicate with branch offices2) Stock up on carrier pigeons and Post-It notes in case e-mail goes down

1) Hire Mike "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" Brown as a disaster-recovery consultant

Thanks to all our Masters of Disaster--Mat Banke, Ellen Goldman, Ed Grovenor, Al Haley, Herb Hamilton, Gary Hoke, Dalton Smith and Kim Taylor--for thinking outside the box. Way outside. We hear FEMA has openings for folks like you.

Booze, Cigarettes and the Internet?

Addiction is typically related to substances you put into your body, but an article in the journal "Perspectives in Psychiatric Care" wants to expand that definition to include the potent pixels of the Web. Dr. Diane M. Wieland, an associate professor at the La Salle University School of Nursing, warns that 5 percent to 10 percent of Internet users will become addicted to being online. While not a new theory, Dr. Wieland's article provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on this subject.So what separates an Internet addict from the legions who can't live without e-mail and constantly surf the Web? For one, Dr. Wieland says addicts may suffer "cyber-shakes" and make typing motions with their fingers when they're offline. Other signs include sleep deprivation, dry eyes, repetitive strain injuries, lack of concern over personal appearance and the pursuit of virtual relationships to the detriment of real ones.

I don't know about you, but this sounds like a lot of people I work with. Maybe it's time to start a 12-step program--but only if we can do it over IM.

This Computer's Da Bomb!

Here's a PC casemod that's blowin' up IT departments all across the country. This computer's case, which you can learn more about, has been made to look like a Hollywood "Doomsday device"--the kind that good guys sweat over as they guess which wire to cut before the countdown hits zero. It gives a whole new meaning to the term blue screen of death.

LOL

Have a IT-related Chuckle you want to share? Spotted some strange tech? Want to contribute to the latest Top 11 List? Drop on by the Last Mile Repository!