Damn the bad luck!

[Ray Dario]

Yesterday I did my laundry to prepare for the coming week. As I was pulling a load of jeans from the dryer a small piece of twisted metal fell out of the clothes. I looked at it and felt a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach.

Sure enough it was the little metal protective guard from a 3 1/2" diskette and the rest of the mangled and melted diskette was among my clothes. It didn't ruin any of my jeans, but the disk is destroyed.

I didn't remember carrying an diskette around, but I had a hunch what USED to be stored on this one. The only files I keep on floppies anymore are my Lit stories. I keep them on diskette to keep the wrong eyes from seeing them when my friends with children come visiting.

Sure enough, this particular disk held three stories I have been working on for the last two months. Two whole months of work gone. I'm sick! I don't know how the disk got into my laundry, it was supposed to be locked away safe and sound in my desk.

Worst thing is that I hadn't finished any of the stories so none of them existed anywhere else but on that stupid little blue disk. Damn the bad luck!

Ray

 

[MysteryWriter]

I know how you feel

I crashed once with a virus. had to format to get back into the system. Lost four or five novels and god knows how much stuff. Before anyone tells me I should have backed it up... I already know that as I am sure ray knows he should have also...

Wish I could rescue your stuff and mine.

 

[Monazwx]

I feel your pain

I've had days like that too.
Losing stories suck, esp. Lit. stories.

I'm Sorry.

 

[wildsweetone]

ray i'm sorry you've had rotten luck like that. i wish i could dream up a way where you'd miraculously get your unfinished work back. life sucks sometimes.

i have a little trick i use with work in progress. i use my hotmail or yahoo mail to draft my stories in. mainly because i had a virus on the pc a couple of years ago and lost stuff. i figure that by keeping work away from the system it'd be relatively 'safe', also prying eyes on my pc can't get into it as it's passworded. i also delete my history on a regular basis.

another idea (helpful or not) is to set up a hidden folder on your system. bury it under the Windows folder and call it 'Hfiles', i have one here set up ready to use, but haven't put anything in it as yet. it doesn't get rid of the virus problem though.

good luck with re-writing.

 

[TheEarl]

Unlucky

I sympathise, I've lost a story before when the computer crashed just as I was saving the final version, leaving the story on the screen, but untouchable. There is a fantastic program called GoBack which I got free with my computer and it can get you back a file if it's deleted, or the computer crashes, etc. Might help in future.

I hate compu...

 

[Couture]

Hey Ray, have you considered using Winzip or PGP? This way you can password protect the stories.

 

[jon.hayworth]

That is terrible Ray,

I feel your pain - can I also make the point that sometimes floppies can "fail" for no reason - so it is a good idea to back them up onto a second floppy.

I am speaking from experience like MW I lost a 3/4 complete novel through a duff floppy. A company offered to recover it but the cost was exorbitant so I had to rewrite.

jon

 

[Ray Dario]

Thanks guys, your stories and sympathy is overwhelming.

As far as the fixes, yeah I know. Hell I'm an I.T. Manager. I know all about backups, hidden directories, password protecting files (which by the way Windows doesn't do well. It's easily broken), and all the rest. It was just sheer laziness on my part. Now it's costing me.

Oh well, two of the stories kinda sucked anyway. But one I was really liking.

Maybe I can make it better the second time around.

Thanks again to everyone. You guys are great!

Ray

 

[wildsweetone]

you're an IT manager did you say?

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

Yesterday I did my laundry to prepare for the coming week. As I was pulling a load of jeans from the dryer a small piece of twisted metal fell out of the clothes. I looked at it and felt a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach.

Sure enough it was the little metal protective guard from a 3 1/2" diskette and the rest of the mangled and melted diskette was among my clothes. It didn't ruin any of my jeans, but the disk is destroyed.

I didn't remember carrying an diskette around, but I had a hunch what USED to be stored on this one. The only files I keep on floppies anymore are my Lit stories. I keep them on diskette to keep the wrong eyes from seeing them when my friends with children come visiting.

Sure enough, this particular disk held three stories I have been working on for the last two months. Two whole months of work gone. I'm sick! I don't know how the disk got into my laundry, it was supposed to be locked away safe and sound in my desk.

Worst thing is that I hadn't finished any of the stories so none of them existed anywhere else but on that stupid little blue disk. Damn the bad luck!

Ray

:
Well, the second time you write it will probably be
a better version.
T. E. Lawrence wrote his huge story of the desert campaign,
(it became *The Seven Pillars of Wisdom*) As he finished a section,
he burned his notes and the diary entries he had kept.
Then he lost the entire draft on a train.

 

[Axeltheswede]

bad luck

My sympathy too, Ray. I agree with Uther. Get back to the story you liked. I bet you will be surprised at how much comes back to you. Those sneaky little subconscious brain cells can sometimes be tapped for an assist. Good luck.

 

[its Leslie]

3.5's I am surprised anyone would even use one much any more.

I currently have a few rewritable cds around. I have one for all my writng doodles (as well as a great mess of other stuff cause writing uses incredibly little data space on a common cd).

I re burn the cd every now and then.

Back ups, don't even recall the word much any more. I dont have aaaaaaanything on the computer that I would miss terribly (well I dont worry about preserving game saves normally).

Although I have two comments about "stuff being seen on your computer". A..... like was mentioned it is easy to bury it from unskilled eyes by storing it in an obscure location. But remember, skilled eyes know how to acess recent file activity on your computer (you would be amazed at how your computer regularly reports all the current activity brazenly).
And B.....why should you even have to explain your actions or material to another. By worrying over what you have written, in advance, you have beaten the censors to the punch by unilaterally declaring your material as morally wrong.

If you believe what you write is wrong, then you should stop the hypocrisy right then and there. If you believe what you write is not deserving condemnation, then defend it.

 

[Ray Dario]

First to WildSweetOne

Yep, I'm the I.T. Manager for a small company here in the great state of Texas

Now to Leslie

Writing to a 3.5" floppy is faster than burning a cd and far less expensive. Floppies are laying around free for the taking and a good way to keep those tiny little word files.

As far as censure. I'm not saying my stuff is morally wrong, but I do, on occasion, allow my friends 13y/o son to use my computer for homework, research, or to play games. While I have no qualms about my Literotica stories for adults, I would NEVER knowingly expose a 13 y/o boy to it. I firmly believe that "Freedom of Speech" also carries responsibility with it. And if I allowed my friends son to read my stories, I would not be living up to my responsibility. I really don't think this makes me a hypocrit.

I know all about the recent files stuff as well as many of the lessor known security flaws in Windows, and have taken the time to counteract Microethics extensive attempts to reveal my life to anyone who cares to look. For example, I have fixed my computer to not store MRU's period. It's not hard to do it. I also have a utility installed that effectively removes the undelete feature by writing 0's over each byte of hard drive space vacated by a deleted file. Further all cookies are removed as soon as my browser closes, etc. I really am fairly computer savvy. Just got lazy.

Once my stories are completed they are then burned on two seperate CD's and stored away from my computer. But these stories weren't done, and like I said, I had gotten lazy.

So thanks again for all the sympathy and suggestions

Ray

 

[MaxSebastian]

I think 3.5 floppies are evil. It seems to me that even just exposing them to air corrupts them and you lose all the data on them.

Keep back, scourge of Satan!

Have at you!

 

[Justin_Thyme]

Ray, I'm sorry to read of the loss. Been there and done that. Before I ever got brave enough to learn how to submit stories to Lit. Anyhow, a few, some of my earliest posts, were stored on separat floppies. Rereading some of them now that I have learned some more about writing, I find that all of them should probably been lost totally. I remembered some of the story lines and have, hopefully, produced stuff that is better than the original lost work was.
God, but I hate it when I have to display my ignorance - about anything. Until we got one of the d*** things, I limited my contact with computers to that which was absolutely necessary to keep from getting fired! Now, I find myself utterly confused when folks talk of hidden files and all of the things I wish I knew more about. I have grandchildren and live in abject fear when they visit. I just know that a ten-year-old will easily penetrate the little I know about covering my tracks. I sort of solve the problem by shutting the computer down and locking up the power cord - dumb, I know, but effective for very limited purposes.

BTW, what in the world does the IT in IT Manager stand for? See, told ya I was dumb.
Justin

 

[KillerMuffin]

*Immediately backs up the hard-drive*

Scare the peewaddlins out of me.

Why do you use the network thingy that Windows does and partition off a section of the puter just for lit?

Or better yet, keep kids off the puter or buy a cheap one for them and own up to your pornowriter identity to your friends. Secrecy is problematic.

 

[Ray Dario]

[BWhy do you use the network thingy that Windows does and partition off a section of the puter just for lit?[/B]

The network thingy that Windows does is easily overcome by even the most inexperienced hacker, and I really don't know how much "hidden" technical knowledge my friends kiddo has. I could use a third party tool like "Partition Magic" to create a new partition and then protect that partition, but that is much more trouble than simply keeping the files on a floppy and locking up the floppies. Also, it hinders my ability to transport the stories I'm working on to other computers, floppies are ideal for sneaking into the office (which is another reason I don't switch to Linux)

Or better yet, keep kids off the puter or buy a cheap one for them and own up to your pornowriter identity to your friends. Secrecy is problematic.

He enjoys playing some of the games I have on the computer. Seems like I shouldn't be so paranoid that I don't let him use it just 'cause I don't want him to read some of my stories. I could buy him a cheap computer, but it ain't my kid and she isn't a lover or a girlfriend, just a friend.

She know's I write for Lit. Even enjoys some of my stories, or so she says, but she and I agree that the material is not appropriate for her son. So I keep those stories where they are not likely to open up young prying eyes too soon. I really thought my solution was great, until I screwed up and washed the damn disk.

By the way Max, I have never had any trouble with 3.5" floppies dying a premature death unless I do something boneheaded. Are you maybe leaving them by the monitor or on top of the computer? The magnets inside work numbers on them

Ray

 

[its Leslie]

Well guess it comes down to partially the way I see the world, and the way it is to some extent. I put on shorts when company is here. My views don't count for much outside my area of influence.

Regarding the floppies though. Hmmm well a cd is really only like a 50 cent item (although I prefer a re writable if I expect to put data on it often). The speed is nothing, I can burn the entire disc in 10 minutes. My 3.5 drive is sufficiently old now that the drive really can't always be trusted.

As for the tech savvy young uns. Actually I have kids do all my maintenance heheh. I wouldn't be running XP if it wasn't such a stable platform. Friend got it for me because he hated always fixing my system after something had gone haywire on it.

I am though I guess, one of the veeeeeery rare types that doesn't squirm or grimace if a friend or anyone for that matter discovers adult content on my computer.

I dont employ any software to hide what is my personal business.

I wouldn't have much sympathy with an irate individual (even a friend), that was incenced I had let there youth watch a woman demonstrate how to deliver a proper blowjob.

I suppose I would just let her know the youth had gone where they weren't invited in the first place.

That and I would remind them that sex is not the dirty thing society calls it, and to not force those views on me either.

 

[Ray Dario]

I wouldn't have much sympathy with an irate individual (even a friend), that was incenced I had let there youth watch a woman demonstrate how to deliver a proper blowjob.

That and I would remind them that sex is not the dirty thing society calls it, and to not force those views on me either.

Well Leslie, we have a word for people like you in Texas. "Felon"

It's against the law here to expose children under 17 to "Obsene" material and it's entirely up to the judge or jury what is considered "Obsene".

Not only do I believe that children should be protected from adult material until they reach an age where they are better equiped to handle it, but I also have no desire to go to jail. I am WAY to nice a guy to become Bubba's bitch!

As far as speed goes. I can write to my floppy in about 1 second. I'm an impatient asshole and would really hate to wait 10 minutes everytime I saved my revision. I don't run XP at home, still waiting to see what MicroEthics is going to do about the registration thing. I would be really annoyed if I had to re-register my machine everytime I decided to change a video card or some other piece of hardware. And then there is the little privacy thing where MS is scanning your hard drive and no one really knows just what they are reading when you register. Do you really trust Microsoft?

Nope, I'll keep using my floppies, but now I will keep a backup of them, locked up at home and updated regularly. This should solve all of my problems and be a very workable solution.

Didn't mean for this to become a philosophical thread, just meant to rant and maybe get some sympathy. That is done and so am I.

Ray

 

[wildsweetone]

actually, this just occurred to me...

i hope you have learnt to check your pockets before you do the laundry ray...

i'm getting fed up - not to mention downright cautious - with the stuff that i'm getting outa my sons pockets before doing the washing. he's a compulsive collector, sticks, marbles, smooth stones, nails, screws, paper wrappers from lollies... thank god he's not quite a teenager yet. i'm hoping to have him trained by the time the pockets get dangerous.

 

[jon.hayworth]

THANK YOU RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was reading your posting in which you spoke about floppies on top of the computer - and kick my ass for being an idiot because I know all about magnetic fields etc (Flemings Right Hand and Left Hand Laws).

You have guessed it a file with about 100 floppies sitting on top of the tower. I moved like greased lightening to shift them.

Thanks again.

jon

 

[Idle_Hands]

Come on! Floppies are the most unreliable form of storage ever invented. Ok, maybe punch cards were worse, but we've given up on them.

How about storing your work on the net? Get a free web mail account somewhere, and just store drafts. Sure, it's not totally secure, but if you don't use the account it'll stay fairly hidden.

Just an idea.

Thank god my son's not reading yet. I'm going to have to figure this one out for myself real soon...