Senti Queen

For almost two days, Friendster couldn’t be accessed.  Now, I am finally able to get through and horror of horrors! Forty out of my 45 friends are missing! Forty-five na nga lang ang friends ko dito, nadamay pa ang account ko sa pagbabawas daw nila ng number of friends per account.

What’s happening? Napalitan lang ang presidente ng Amerika, nagkagulo na.  It seems that giant online service companies are not also spared from destructive system breakdowns.  Paano na lang kaya ‘yong mga maliliit na kompanya? 

I worry for my former company-employer.  Records of its 1.5 million members and payments of benefits are now totally based on computer data.  To think na marami pa ring hindi naipasok na records of payments online and some hard copies of these remittances are still missing, paano na kaya sila just in case mag-bog down din ang system nila?   Anyway, I am sure that they have already installed preventive or back-up measures to protect the members’ interests at all costs.

This is why I never believe in the idea of a paperless transaction— be it legal, company-related, or purely personal files.  For one, I still print a copy of every entry I post in this blog.  Aside from being stored in my PC’s hard disk or USB, I also keep a master file (hard copy) of all my documents, academic papers, essays, letters, resumes, etc.   I still jot down my payment details whenever I pay my credit card bill online.  I also print important messages from my email account.

Lesson is, we should not completely rely on anything that is computer-related.  It always pays to be prudent and old-school when it comes to important documents which can either make or break us.  After all, printed copies are far more accessible, safer, and cheaper to maintain.  What is a few pesos spent on ink and paper to a lifetime peace of mind?

Not even one computer virus that may erase all your online personal records in a snap could faze you if you knew that you have some back-up copies lurking somewhere in your territory.