If you work with computers in your business or line of work, you know that there's nothing more frustrating than accidentally deleting a file, or worse yet, losing your data entirely because of a hard drive crash, a power spike, or you do something careless like leaving your laptop in a coffee shop. But if you're like me, you take precautions, and you backup, backup, backup.

But even if we are systematic in our data storing habits, sometimes we forget to back up our work when we need to the most, and zap, hours of programming, writing, or number crunching does right down the drain. But fortunately, there is a lot of capable technology available for us to recover and save some of our hard work, data recovery software that can save our geeky asses when there's a critical crash. We can't predict when some technical glitch will cause some hardware failure, so lucky for us that file recovery programs are available to watch our nerdy backs when we neglect to secure our data.

As a computer geek (I prefer to call myself a man with an appreciation for redundant technologies) my desk has always been filled with monitors (four at present), and there's always room for more (well, there isn't, but I could always get a bigger desk). I use my monitors for a variety of tasks and pleasures, but I can never quite utilize the space the way professionals do, like stock traders. These forex wizards have charts, graphs, and updates running on multiple monitors, with stats, changes, and reports flashing by so fast, it can make a gamer nauseous.

Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't mind getting into trading, if: a. I had the money ; b. I had a clue ; c. I had the money. Heck, I'd do it if only to have an excuse for my wife to get more monitors!

Now, I'm hardly what you would call a metatrader expert advisor, but I suppose I could be if I took the time to learn. Of course this would mean sacrificing some of my precious monitor space for "business" use. Mind you, I'm certain I could manage all of my mindless addicting flash games in tabbed browser windows...

I've been around computers long enough to know that you can't be paranoid enough when it comes to backing up your data. Over the years, I've had cassette tapes crap out, floppy disks flop, hard disks go soft, and hard drives seize up like an old Studebaker. Hell, I've even lost lines of programming code on tractor-fed printout paper that had the ink fade into nothingness. Now, with all the irreplaceable data I have now, you better believe I have redundancies in place, and redundancies for those redundancies, so that if worse comes to worse, I have data recovery solutions that will keep me protected, even if I lose my main and my secondary data sources.

LCD Monitors Don't Fill Up My Deskspace

Okay, this CRT setup is a little extreme...

The main problem I have, is that now there is too much open airspace either in front of or behind my new monitors. When I was using my 17" and 19" flatscreen monitors, I knew that I needed to have a reasonable amount of space on the desktops to accommodate the devices. But desks were designed with the right face-to-monitor ratios so when you put a monitor on your desk or on those hutch-like stands, they were exactly the right distance for you to view them comfortably.

I remember a number of years ago (ten at least) when I was an out-of-work bum, living in my friend's basement, wondering what I was going to do for a career after a crumbling partnership led to the failure of a modestly profitable repair/retail business. I got a call from a computer geek friend who owned a small cellular phone business, and asked me if I wanted to be a sales representative for a new company called Clearnet, which sold Motorola phones with the Mike two-way radio network. Of course, this was way before cell phone ringtones and Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi and all that other neat stuff.

It's a nice gesture to set up your parents or in-laws with a computer system that enables them to surf the Internet, get email from their friends, and play online backgammon with their cousins from "back East". I know that providing them with this window to the world without teaching them anything about the Internet it is a lot like leaving a five-year-old alone at a shopping mall, but I'd be less concerned (about the in-laws) if I knew I had properly set them up with the right antivirus software.

You just know it's inevitable that your family member is going to end up downloading some file or attachment that would otherwise cause irreparable damage to their Minesweeper high score list. So it's comforting to know that after you went to Symantec and then picked up your free Norton downloads, and installed some appropriately useful Norton Security Scan software, you could sleep peacefully, knowing that they can surf safely, and that you won't be required to provide any additional tech support...because you've unplugged your land line, turned off your cel phone, and made yourself invisible on MSN.