Your life on a CD?

[Rayven]

I posted this on another forum and got zero response, so I thought I would try here.

Robert Heinlein wrote a sci-fi book called The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. The main character is Richard Ames, a writer who lives on a space station orbiting Luna (Earth's moon). Because of an old war injury, he has a prosthetic leg.

Due to a bizarre plot twist, Richard runs afoul of the "mayor" of the orbiting city. His power and air supply to his apartment are cut off, and he learns he has only a few minutes to get out--first, because of the dwindling air supply, and second, to avoid the mayor's goons coming for him.

While his wife packs up some clothes and foodstuffs, he quickly downloads all his personal data to a non-volatile memory stick and inserts it into a hollow place in his prosthetic leg, completely concealed. They quickly leave, never to return.

This idea extremely intriqued me, not because I am afraid of political goons (not yet!), but for other reasons. It doesn't take much imagination to devise a scenario in which I have to quickly gather up all pertinent documents and leave my house never to return (fire, flood, natural disaster, riot, etc).

This involves two problems: What to keep, and how to transport it.

First, what to keep. A scanner would be essential for copying paper records, bank statements, etc. The problem is what items will not be acceptable in digital format: birth certificates, marriage licenses, automobile titles, etc. Situations would vary. Also, having a copy of my driver's license on a CD probably would not go over well with a cop who pulled me over for a busted tail light.

Second, how to transport it. Keeping vital documents in a fire-proof strong box would be easier, but I don't want to lug a thirty pound case around. Storing digital copies on a CD would likely be the logical choice. CD's require some protection, however. A Zip disk is more sturdy, but less reliable in the long run, strangely enough.

I keep a lot of clutter around the house myself, but the idea of being able to walk out of my house with clothes on my back and a couple of data CDs and be able to settle down anywhere else with a minimum of fuss is very intriguing.

Rayven

[elroy]

Regular backups to a cd and keep it somewhere else. Scan all paper documents and this way they will be easily replaced. Go to the BMV and tell them you've lost your license and get a duplicate now. Of course as soon as you started using any of these documents or getting replacements you coud be tracked down by "THEM".

[JacobM5727]

well first i lemme say that i know this is an old topic and that my life only takes up 1.34 gb. my important papers except for my birth cerificate are in my wallet. and i could get a copy of my birth certificate easily. so just my wallet and a few cdrs would be fine for me

[BC]

I would just sit on the scanner and scan my ***. Then I would know that I got the most important thing out of the house.