What helpful moving/packing/organizing/stor... tips can you share?
planning planning planning... organization is key... tips liquor store boxes are fantastic for packing breakables such as wine glasses and the like - they fit in the the spaces where the bottles were. empty paper towel rolls great for storing knives people suggest newspaper for dishes... dont do it - then you have to clean the newsprint off everything... paper towels between plates or tea towels if you have tons anything that dismantles (diningroom table) put all the nuts and bolts in a ziplock bag labelled clearly what the pieces belong with... I usually keep them in together in one larger bag clearly label what is in every box... stuff is not an acceptable label LOL well except maybe for the bathroom also I colour code all my boxes to the rooms i want them to go in at the new place... the dollar store sells colored tapes to assist. when i get to the new place I tape a piece of paper with that color to the door of every room so things are at least placed in the correct room. also suggest placing color cards at the foot of the stairs to save wasted trips. have one box that moves with you not in the truck that includes, your nuts and bolts bag, paper towels, roll of toilet paper, hand soap, liquid soap, scissors, tape, tape measure, couple of screw drivers and a hammer (in case you have to pop off a door to get something in) wet wipes, snacks are also a good idea too. also a cooler with water and other beverages. separate cooler with fridge items if your bringing them... my fridge rule is if it is less than half give it away or toss it... as far as what to take and what to trash... thats hard... personal decision... you will take too much - that's just how it works LOL ... you will have the opportunity to re-evaluate as you unpack every item... last but not least... well meaning friends that own pickup trucks that will do anything for a case of beer is NOT the way to go... it will take too many trips and if they break something you really cant say too much cause 'they are helping you" spend the money hire movers totally worth the investment... good luck with the move
Data Storage?
It's a good question with a complex answer. Optical media is subject to all kinds of damage--heat, UV, and physical damage. Consider that the DVDs we burn are very different from the commercial "pressed" DVDs. Magnetic mechanical media is subject to a different set of issues: The drive mechanism (motor, arm actuators and stepper motors) are all subject to wear and it's uncertain how they would hold up for extended periods of time (decades? centuries?). They are not as prone to magnetic damage as one would think as the magnetic field has to be very close to impact the media. The drives are subject to electrostatic damage--that's because they use sophisticated drive controllers that can be damaged by external electrical shock. The drives are pretty tough when the heads are parked. However a RAID array is also prone to even more problems. When one drive fails (under some configs) you lose the whole array. Paper tape, cardboard (paper) cards, cassette tape, mag tape, mag disc packs, optical cylinders, CDs, DVDs and even RAM/EPROM/ROM all have issues. Frankly, I think we are terribly exposed as an industry and a culture as so much data is stored on media that is so vulnerable. After the first EMP pulse virtually none of the electronically-read data will be accessible...
What to pack for college?
Here are some links with checklists. When my daughter started college last year, she first wrote down what she considered essential & then took several of the lists & checked to see if there were items she thought she might need. When we went shopping, we had circulars that had been in the newspaper and shopped for the best buys. Remember to take into account how many others will also be in the room (split the big items), unless you have a private room, how far from home you will be (no need to take clothes for all seasons unless there's a chance you couldn't get home or have items shipped), comfort items (in case you just need a down time @ first), storage containers of various sizes & any tools, gummy stuff to hang posters or other items, & toiletry/clothing items depending on if the shower is down the hall or in your room. I think the lists cover other items well enough. Your school can probably supply a list also of the items most students bring. Don't freak out & feel like you need to compete with other students. Stay within your budget. Wish you the best...I'm sure you will do great! http://www.organizedliving.com/category/more+solutions/college+dorm+essentials.do http://www.zimbio.com/Dorm+Room+Checklist http://www.webreader.com/download/college-moving.pdf http://www.hgtv.com/organizing/dorm-life-necessities/index.html http://parentingteens.about.com/od/collegeinfo/a/dormroomneeds.htm
Innovation: How do I make useful household things from waste?
Use your imagination! Almost everything can be turned into something that’s useful. It’s just a matter of coming up with a good idea and thinking outside of the box. Here are a few ideas that are very easy to do-it-yourself and don’t take a lot of time:1. Use plastic bottles as a garden sprinkler, drip irrigation system or plant containerImages from Soda Bottle Sprinkler, How to Make a Drip Irrigator from a Plastic Bottle and 35 Unique Ways To Reuse Plastic BottlesFollow the links above for instructions on how to make.2. Use old pantyhoses as a duster, a filter, stuffing for toys, or protective cover for fruitImages from New ways to use old pantyhoseMore ideas also here: 25 Unique Uses for Pantyhose and What to do with broken nylon tights?3. Turn single-use plastic bags into a sturdy tote bagImage from How to Make "Fabric" from Recycled Plastic Shopping Bags.One word of warning; you can do lots of great things with plastics, but be careful when heating them because this can release toxic fumes (see also Can I recycle plastics at home by melting and molding?).4. Create a basket or bowl from old newspaperImages from: How to Make a Basket from a Newspaper - CraftStylish and Paper Mache BowlsIt’s a bit more work than the other ideas, but still very doable if you follow the instructions5. Use left-over aluminium foil to speed up ironingIf you have some left-over aluminium foil that is still clean you can put it on your ironing board. The foil will reflect back the heat. More info and other uses: Thirty Unusual Uses for Aluminum FoilSo far I mentioned easy ideas that don’t take much time. If on the other hand you do have do have lot’s of time, but lack ideas on how to upcycle something, remember that you can turn almost anything into a toy or home decoration:Images from Ian Muttoo on Flickr and Ed Chew’s Tetra Pak lamp
Everyday things that are cylinder shaped, can you list some?
mascara wand, socket (tool), top of a fingernail bottle, cigarette, marker, ink pen, dowel rod, vacuum cleaner hose, blind on a window, curtain rod, makeup bottle, comet can, bucket, long bolt, barrel of a gun, jar of jelly, roll of paper towels, R2D2, muffler, candle, table leg, cookie tin, roll of caulk, piece of chalk, child's kaleidescope, coke can, stove pipe, top hat, tv antennae, fluorescent light, alkaseltzer bottle, medicine rx bottle, rolling pin, wrench handle, long bolt, long olive shell, cord off a computer, a stack of cd's, a film can, your finger, toe shoes, ballet case, long beads on a string, spray bath cleaner, perfume bottle, the silver thing in the bottom of your sink, the sink drain stopper, a roll of tape, good luck
What are two types of storage systems for hard copy records?
Is this a question you’ve been given on a test or something?Data storage is a vast complex system. You have many options to choose from and many applications to use them for, not just 2.I don’t know what you mean by hard copy records, but I guess a backup will be pretty similar.One of your options is optical media storage. This includes: CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs and M-Disc.CDs are pretty much worthless by now, so we’ll skip those.DVDs are more or less the same as CDs, but possibly still useful, I wouldn’t rule them out as a possible storage solution, especially on the cheap.Blu-Rays are much more like it, although a lot more expensive, they can hold a lot more data and you should be able to read from them a lot faster than DVDs.Where all of them fall short is longevity. Unless you get the archive grade stuff, don’t count on them lasting for 5 years.With that said, there is still M-Disc. Which is the archival pinnacle of today’s technology in my opinion. The M-Disc format should be readable for millenia (if you properly store them of course) so it is the best archival storage format from all storage formats. The thing is, they aren’t cheap nor common and they aren’t properly tested, but I’d love to see you come up with a way to test if something keeps working after a thousand years.Another option is tape storage. Contrary to popular belief, tapes are NOT outdated and NOT obsolete. They can last upwards of 30 years and are a lot faster than modern hard drives. Of course, only if we are talking about transferring a big chunks of data, not accessing a thousand little files every second around the whole disc, or in this case, tape. LTO (Linear Tape Open) is the most modern standard of all and can hold immense amounts of data (a single LTO version 8 tape cartridge can hold up to 12TB of uncompressed data. Think about it)Harddrives are NOT a good archival storage unless you need to access the files frequently, which means it’s not an archive… yeah…SSDs also don’t last very long due to how flash chips work. The electrons holding the data inside a flash memory data spot (or whatever it is called) will slowly jump out of the containment, erasing the bit that was stored inside of it. This process takes a few years though and if your SSDs are constantly powered and in use, this won’t happen.I have no idea if I answered your question, but here you go. If I didn’t please comment under this answer and I will edit this answer accordingly.