Backup strategy for Knowledge-workers under MacOS

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 09:36:59 +0000

If your productice work is 100% happening in digital environments the secure and reliable backup of data becomes a necessity and data-loss can have serious implications for all kind of processes. In this posting I will briefly describe my approach for the backup of data under the MacOS operating system. Actually, the easy backup and transfer of settings and data is one of the major benefits of working with Mac OS. My backup-strategy has three components.

1.) Hourly backup of core files**

Already some years ago I started to store core files and folders in an incremental backup approach each hour. While I used to do this on a local Synology-NAS with BitTorrentSync/Resilio Sync I have nowadays switched to a complete cloud-based approach. For this purpose I use the software in combination with cloudhosting included in a O365 subscription. Arq supports end-to-end encryptions and you can restore files states back in time. After defining the files and folders which should be included in your backup, you do no thave to interfere with the application anymore. Sometimes a re-authentication with the cloud-provider of your choice is required. The Arq symbols signals its activity and by that I can be sure that no progress is lost no matter what will happen. Hourly is not meant literally since I am not online and working all the time. But as soon as I have internet access the adaptes files will be stored.

2.) Weekly full backup**

To complement this backup strategy of core files and folders I am aining at having at least one full backup with the help of the built-in . For this purpose I connect an external SSD device (Samsung T5 1 TB) via USC-C directly to my machine. This ensures a fast and smooth production of the latest image. At work I have a SSD directly connected to my external monitor so I event do not have to think about connecting the backup device and I have another image I can rely on.

3.) Monthly image for restorability**

Last but not least I would like to have another image avilable as a last resort if all of the solutions above will fail and I can restore a fairly recent working state in an acceptable amount of time. For this purpose I am using with another external harddrive.

By this strategy, the worst that can happen is that my full backup of applications and settings is around 4 weeks old, but at the same time I have the most recent work backed-up as described in Nr. 1.) so the combination of restoring with TimeMachine or Carbon Coyp Cloner and the current files will lead to an accepable restored working state in a short amount of time.

Restarting my personal knowledge management

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 09:36:59 +0000

The break and transition into the new year is always a time for me to optimise my workflows or to explore some changes in the way I handle information, tasks or communication. Via some tweets by I have discovered as a new framework and tool to handle my information workflow. I have experimented with it in the last days and would like to summarise why I think this could become a game changer for my personal knowledge management.

Usage scenario of Logseq for my personal knowledge management

Outlining: First of all, for handling notes I need a very simple structure with some basic formatting and indentation and lists to structure information. Logseq is using an outlining technique which is very simple to learn and allows fast note taking.
Simple tagging: In Logseq you can either use an inline-tagging approach with double brackets [[]] or you can use a hashtag. The underlying theoretical basis for Logseq is the so called knowledge-graph, a semantic network of linked information entities. Via these tags, no hierarchical but rather a networked space of ideas and information is growing. Depending on the tags used, those can create a task list, a reading schedule, a communication plan - whatever you like.
Information integration and rendering: A third component which is vital to my knowledge management is that I need to be able to integrate different types of information into the same document. I heavily rely on my Twitter network and regularly spot information there which I mostly like and forget afterwards. In Logseq I can copy the tweet URL and integrate it into my note and it gets rendered correctly in the document. Besides Twitter I can also embed HTML, Youtube or Vimeo videos. Since some information is resting at a specific timestamp in a video, you can even embed a link to this timestamp. And of course I can take notes by indentation why this information is relevant or what I would like to do with it.

Embedded tweet in Logseq
PDF reader and annotation: For someone who is reading a lot of documents in PDF-format, each productivity solution needs to offer a way how PDFs can be read and snippets from these documents can be quoted, copied or commented. In Logseq it is easy to upload a PDF which is then opened on the left half of the window while on the right side.

Chose a PDF to upload

PDF reader left, Logseq right

The nice functionality is now that I can color-code text in the PDF and the put a reference to it in Logseq and can again indent and add notes and ideas to it.

Marking text

Putting a ref into Logseq
Zotero integration: Recently, Zotero has been integrated into Logseq and via this integration I can save publications via a browser-plugin and then access the files via Logseq and can follow the same approach like mentioned in 3.

If you want to start diving into Logseq I can recommend the video series below by Dario from .

Future development

I have already tested how to publish my knowledge graph to Github to easily access it from everyhwere and I am also testing the mobile app at the moment, but collaboration is not vital and my main work happens at the desktop. Logseq is open source and free but is apparently planning a payed pro-version for the future.

Hacks |

Backup strategy for Knowledge-workers under MacOS

1.) Hourly backup of core files**

2.) Weekly full backup**

3.) Monthly image for restorability**

Restarting my personal knowledge management