(Bless You: The two disoriented tourists were finding their way. I came across them, pre-focused and waited for this decisive moment to arise. The image in the poster seems to be blessing the lost men. And the baffled facial expression and his body language added a sense of contrast in the photo)
Yesterday, I gave a tip on backing up data from your blog with Blogspot. Unless you believe in blessing or luck, it is advisable for Google users to back up their data with other Google's online applications. Here are some more tips:
Using Gmail? Forward your important e-mail to another address.
If you saved your documents in Google Docs, you may find Syncplicity useful for directing them to your vault.
Some people rely on Google Calendar for reminding them of daily events. If you're one of them, try synchronising Google Calendar with your Microsoft Outlook Calendar.
This is important for photographers if you store photos to Google's online Picasa Web Albums: back up your photos by going to "Tools" and then click on "Backup Pictures." As an aside, don't post your photos to Facebook. If you are not aware of it, Facebook may still revise its terms of use to the similar effect of its previous controversial amendments, which stipulates that it owns the rights of your photos even if you cancel your Facebook account.
Now, if you use Google Reader, find "Manage subscriptions" in the lower left corner and click on it, after which click on "Import/Export" and then on "Export your subscriptions as an OPML file".
For your iGoogle homepage, back up the settings in iGoogle Settings by click on "Export iGoogle settings to your computer". It will produce an XML file containing the data for restoring your iGoogle account in case of need.
I hope these tips are useful to you. Surely, there are those like some disoriented tourists being more conservative in trusting other people's tips for directions. Use my tips as you please.
Talking about disoriented tourists, I have a habit of helping whoever of them I come across on the street. Most would welcome the help, with the more adpet travellers politely refusing any advice. Asking for the rihgt directions on a foreign land require tremendous good judgement from you. You know, for unknown reasons, people tend to give you contradictory advices for the same destination for which you ask for the direction. So, on top of the confusing map, you have to judge the mixed counsels while say something polite even when you are skeptical.
Once I met a very skeptical lady with her teenage children stopping by a road junction and looking up a map. I offered her help.
"We are going to the harbour," the lady said, "Shall we go that way?"
Since she was pointing to exactly the opposite direction, I shook my head and said, "Lady, you would be going the wrong way in that case. The harbour is on the other direction."
She was extremely puzzled and frowned to me, "Are you sure? The map says the other way," her voice sounded really doubtful of me.
"Are you a local?" was her next question for me. I was quite surprised and a bit offended to hear it.
"Lady, I have been leaving here all of my life and that has been quite long," I said emphatically, which maybe I shouldn't, and pointed to the sky, "Look, the sun is setting on the diection which is the West. The East is on your back."
She looked at the sky and I went on, "So, you know that the South is on your left hand side and the north on the right. The harbour is by the southern Kowloon which is where I pointed the way to you."
Maybe she said thank you but I didn't quite hear it. She is a rare case, I can swear in my honour.
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