Thursday, March 6, 2014

Colleversity Tips - Take Care of Physical & Digital Valuables

It is VERY import to take care of all your physical and digital valuables.  This may seem obvious but you would be surprised at how many people still aren't careful with their things, regardless of how many times they are told to take care of their physical and digital valuables.

Physical:
It is very important to keep your physical belongings with you at all times.  Whether it's a laptop, a textbook, or any sort of bag or purse, always keep them within eyesight.  

It only takes a few seconds for a thief to inconspicuously steal your things. 

If you have to go to the bathroom or answer a call outside or something of that matter, ALWAYS bring your belongings with you.  If it is inconvenient to bring your things with you for a couple of seconds/minutes, ask someone to watch your things.

NEVER leave your things alone.  The risk of losing your valuables, the financial impact, the trouble of contacting authorities, and the emotional pain that comes with losing your things isn't worth it.  
You can prevent all this pain by not taking risks and ALWAYS keeping your valuables with you. 

ALWAYS.

Digital:
Just as it is important to keep your physical valuables with you at all times, it is also important to constantly protect your digital valuables.  Digital valuables include important files, homework, email, social networking accounts, and other personal data.

When editing any digital document, ALWAYS save your files.  Afterwards, backup your files by saving it to your USB, emailing yourself a copy, and saving an extra copy on your laptop.  You never know what will happen to the original file and you may find yourself in need of the file when you don't have Internet access or you don't have your USB on you.  In fact, you should always keep extra backups of all sorts of important digital files, not just the ones you've edited (such as pictures, videos, "version 1s" of essays, pdfs, and so on).

Additionally, ALWAYS log out of your accounts.  Whether it's your email, your social network profile, or your school account, log off.  If you are logged in at a computer lab and you have to leave for awhile, ask someone trustworthy to watch your computer if logging out will be an inconvenience.  

Lastly, NEVER forget to leave your USBs plugged into public computers.  It may be easy to forget so a simple solution is to attach a lanyard to the USB and then wrap something you always carry with you to the lanyard such as your keys or your headphones.

Take care of your digital files, they can be copied, shared, and deleted instantaneously.  More often than not, it is impossible to reverse any negative occurrences that results from negligence.    

Remember:
ALWAYS TAKE CARE of your physical and digital belongings.  Make it a good habit. You know how important it is to take care of your teeth and your physical and emotional health right?  Well, for slightly different reasons it is just as important to take care of your physical and digital valuables. 

VerusAnimus 

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