# Jerry -- Why do a daily backup? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 7, 2001, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282 "2001-08-07T14:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2001, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/21 "2001-08-12T12:10:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*. . . “I Shall Not Use Dictionary Words in My Passwords”. . . \*\* ----:eek:/ ----///\\ However else do you remember them? Sometimes I can barely remember my way home. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/22 "2001-08-12T15:07:48Z")
**SPOOFE** – I am calm. I just thought she was really reaching with that point. **Techchick** – It seemed to me that we were discussing daily vs less frequent than daily backups, and then your closing words came out of left field about being glad backups were being done at all. I just interpreted it as a non sequitur that you were using to reinforce the idea of daily backups. Apologies if I misinterpreted. > [@](#): > > I realize that the SDMB is not paramount to The Chicago Reader’s business but it is an important part of their connection to thousands of people here. This has been talked to the high heavens elsewhere, but remember that we are thousands of **non-paying** people. > [@](#): > > Because, so I like to think, that the Chicago Reader cares about it’s visitors and wants to continue that relationship. We agree here. > [@](#): > > A daily backup takes very little time, very little effort (knowing my backups) and is a relatively minor issue We disagree here. It might be very little human effort (it may not be – I don’t know their process) but I don’t get the impression it takes very little time or is a minor issue. Here’s what Jerry had to say from the other thread: > [@](#): > > Most nights the board is performing a backup to a LAN tape drive between 03:30 to about 06:00. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, sometimes the automated process fubars and we have to run it in the middle of the day. It’s a big backup and it negatively effects performance. So if it takes 150 minutes to run during off peak db hours, I imagine it takes a lot longer to run in the middle of the afternoon, when things can already be slow. It’s obvious that I am on my own with this POV (the OP). That’s ok. 🙂 In any case, as I mentioned in one of the other current threads in ATMB, I appreciate all that Jerry does here. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/23 "2001-08-13T02:45:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > **…- Thou shalt not use Telnet, for Telnet has no soul and will barter your secrets to thieves and scoundrels. Use ssh instead.** Why not use telnet? My school email account is telnet based. I suppose I could reset it to dump into some other email account - is telnet somehow bad (other than being inconvenient)? ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/24 "2001-08-13T18:46:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jdavis \* > \*\*I do a daily backup primarily because I would get grief if I didn’t. Think of it as an essentially selfish motive designed to keep my emotional health high and my stress levels low. 😉 \*\* When I asked if it was working, I meant, is your emotional health high, and your stress level low? We want ya healthy and happy! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/25 "2001-08-14T21:53:34Z")
Quoth **Spider Woman** : > [@](#): > > However else do you remember them? Sometimes I can barely remember my way home. Recipe for a secure password: First, think of a word that you associate with the site/account in question. This word can be from an obscure foreign language, or an uncommon proper name, or a horrid (but easily remembered) misspelling of a word. The point is that you don’t want something that a cracker would have in some massive word list. Names of pets or close relatives, or significant numbers like birthdays or anniversaries, are not recommended, as they’re commonly used and easy to find. This root word should be at least eight characters long. Now, make more-or-less random letter substitutions in this password. Typically, this is with characters that look like the original letter, such as @ for a. You’ll want at least one each capital letter, lowercase letter, numeral, and non-alphanumeric character (like @ or #) in the final product. Use each password for one and only one account, and start over fresh every time you need a new one. The truly paranoid will choose completely random passwords, and include non-keyboard characters (using alt codes), but most of us don’t have the brain cells available to memorize one of those monsters. Note that all of the above applies only to secure passwords. For many accounts (including this one, before I became a mod), I’m not too worried about the possibility of someone getting into my account, so I just use the same (simple) password for all of those. When I became a mod, though, there was the potential for much mischeif (worse than just misattributed posts) if some slimeball got ahold of my password, so I switched it to something more secure. Likewise ebay, or anything that would involve money. ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/26 "2001-08-14T23:14:36Z")
Thanks, **Chronos**! ----:)/ x o x o x ----///\\ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282/27 "2001-08-14T23:38:39Z")
One method to memorize a random password is to make up a sentence using words whose first letters corresponding to your password characters. The sillier or more outlandish the sentence is, the easier it will be to remember. Numbers and special characters make this a bit harder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-why-do-a-daily-backup/75282.md?page=1)