Hey writers, blogger and anyone who does business. I remember when I took computer classes in 2nd grade and the teacher use to shout over and over again, “save your files!”

This is true with your online files as well. I’m using Time Machine to backup my computer files (although I’m paranoid my drive will fail after this happened to a friend) but it’s also important to backup your online files. If you have a blog, make sure the MySQL files – this is the database where all of your posts and information is stored – are backed up regularly. If the server goes down, your host may not have an extra copy.

Or in the case of JournalSpace a pissed off employee might nuke everything. Read about it on TechCrunch: JournalSpace Drama: All Data Lost Without Backup, Company Deadpooled.

I have been putting together a series of Blogging seminars for the Boston Young Entrepreneur group. The idea came up because, as a Board Member, we’ve been talking about launching skills workshops. I know a lot about blogging from running The Second Glass, so I volunteered to launch the program with a series of three, workshops about starting and running a blog.

Part I focused on the basics. What is blog? Why should you blog? How do you get started? What do you write about? How do you get people to come? View the PowerPoint Presentation below:

There was a good-sized crowd with at least 40 attendees. There was a large mix of skills range as most of the room currently keeps a blog, but many were just getting started.

The next seminar will focus on setting up your blog, with essential plug-ins and features. We’ll dive into them much more in-depth, talking about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) components.

The third workshop will focus on promotion.

While I only have two more workshops on the books for now, I am planning on breaking the blogging classes down, even further, with Blogging 101 – for those with little knowledge of how blogs and the Internet works, all the way up to advanced blogging and getting your stories on Digg’s homepage.

Stay tuned – I will be putting the information on my blog.

There is a difference between iPhone Apps “I Can’t Live Without” and iPhone Apps that are simply frickin’ cool. Let’s start with the ones I am completely addicted to.

Facebook

Yeah, it’s kind of a given, but the latest version of this app totally kicks ass. It allows you to view your ‘Notifications’ as well as all ‘Recent Activity.’ Basically, it’s the same Facebook you have on your computer, only on your iPhone. It helps you take your addiction on the road.

New York Times

Even though it’s been closing randomly on me, I still read two or three articles a day via this app. It doesn’t have all the articles from NYTimes.com but it has the important ones. It would be nice if they intergrated their videos and their other web content, but for now, I’m just happy I can read the paper on the train.

WeatherBug

Yes, the iPhone comes standard with their ‘Weather’ app, but it’s very limiting. I mean, who just wants to know the average temperature for the day? The WeatherBug will give weather alerts (snow storm, thunderstorm, flood warnings, etc), show the high and low temperature and is updated every 15 minutes. It doesn’t allow for many loctions, but they are easy to change.

Flashlight

Seriously. How do you think I stumble through my dark apartment after a night of “wine tasting?” This is how I find my keys, look for outlets under my desk and search for pots and pans in the labrynth that is my kitchen cubbord.

Yelp

Although it has yet to get me out of a jam, it did help me find a killer pizza place in NYC during a business trip. I keep trying to use it, but find there could still be some significant improvements. First, it would be nice if it told you cool places to eat within a few blocks of you. Also – if the money filter worked better, that would help too. All in all, I’ll keep trying to use it but will look forward to the day it really hooks me up.