Jeebuz. I just lost my second paragraph. Thanks massive select and random delete coupled with unique non-recovery Command-Z. Super ironic due to the context of what it was about. Here is a re-enactment of that aforementioned paragraph:

So I’m afraid of losing my memory. There I said it. I’ve lost computers and important data before, but not in a while *knock on wood*. Whole libraries of data can be lost before you are reminded of the ingenious idea to backup your data. So I am trying to be diligent in backing up my precious memories as they have been spread out between flash memory cards and my laptop. I’ve been looking into some Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions from such companies as Netgear, D-Link, Thecus and Drobo. I’ve asked my colleagues and they recommend Netgear ReadyNAS solution (originally Infrant) as it is reliable and its ease of setup. The only problem is their line of products are very pricey – the 2-disk array named the Duo is within my budget, but I fear that I’ll exceed its storage capacity in a couple years. Whereas the cheaper 4-disk arrays are more appealing but they have their cons too. Drobo looks really user friendly, but has its network-ability sold separately. D-Link and Thecus are valid NAS solutions, but I’m not confident in their RAID offerings. It would seem that taking the approach of adding drives slowly to expand and have redundancy are better performed in the ReadyNAS and Drobo, but that said, I haven’t thoroughly done my homework yet.

I have to say, it will be hard to sleep until I know that I’ve got a solid method/system to keeping my family jewels safe (haha). Until then, I have bought myself a little bday present. It is a RIDATA 16GB compact flash card. It is 233X speed which is great for writing to RAW format. I figured, that until I get my NAS solution, I will just have to keep my photos on memory cards until I can offload them securely. It’s a great deal at an equally great price point. Don’t let that Fry’s associate con you into buying a “faster” 4 or 8 GB card that is $20 cheaper. They still don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t blame them completely as speeds aren’t always listed or even printed on the card itself, as there exists cards like “Sandisk Ultra II” to make sense of. This CF card is the fastest one I’ve ever owned. The other 1GB CF cards I have are 80X and 133X. They pale in comparison. I can shoot in RAW + Basic (both *.nef and *.jpg simultaneously) mode without delay.

Overall, a good birthday. I guess it’s one of those times where I get to see a lot of old friends. The perfect time to create more memories to save and protect. Let’s hope by at least next birthday, I have a kickass NAS to ensure all these moments are backed up and last forever.