Last year Shannon and I setup our wish lists on Amazon.com. Several people asked me to do a tutorial on how to create such a list. I decided to record a short screencast - and make it available so that anyone who would like to create a list could do so.

Notes on the Video: First, the video is HD and will take a while to download. Second, the best thing to do is to click the button in the bottom right that takes the video fullscreen (otherwise you won’t be able to see where I am clicking).

Vimeo: Amazon Wishlist Tutorial

Every now and then, I want to give everyone some tech tips that might make your life easier. The topic for today: backups. First, I want to say that all hard drives will fail eventually. They are mechanical and can’t last forever. Some hard drives fail within 6 months (yes, there are ‘lemons’), and some hard drives can last five years. Everyone should assume that their hard drive could potentially fail at any point. This is why backups are so important.

If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you can find some good solutions for backing up your data online. This is important because it will survive any disasters (unlike a local backup solution). A new solution that seems pretty easy to use is SpiderOak. One of the things I really like about them is their encryption method. Without the password, even the people at SpiderOak can’t view your files. SpiderOak gives you 2GB of online storage for free (and you can upgrade to 100 GB for $10 a month). The software also seems pretty easy to use.

If you have less than 2GB of really important files (pictures, purchased music, financial records, etc…) then you can have an online backup system today for free (and you can sleep easier tonight). The SpiderOak site has tutorial videos to assist you in the process.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with SpiderOak, but if they wanted to buy us something from our Baby Registry, I wouldn’t be upset.