Required hardware and software
    Software – Acronis TrueImage 2012
    Hardware – external hard drive – USB, eSATA, Firewire

Overview
I recommend imaging all PC systems.  Imaging the system is easy, and fast (1GB/min typically).  Imaging software takes a ‘snapshot’ of your computer.  This snapshot can be used to restore your system automatically.  By restore, I mean if your hard drive dies, you can install a new drive (same size or larger), and restore *everything* in one operation – Operating System (Windows), applications, and data.  After the restore, your system will be *exactly* where it was when you performed the backup.

In addition, the image can be used to restore individual files and folders, but more importantly, if your system is compromised due to a virus or system problem, you can restore the entire system back to a known, good state.

Acronis (and other imaging software) can be configured to image your system on a schedule (Friday nights for example).  You can also setup the software to automatically shut down your computer after the backup is completed.  I typically do this monthly on all our computers, setting up the jobs before I got to bed and having the system shut down.

We have three external USB drives – one reserved for my business systems, and two for home systems.  All my backup drives are encrypted (I use Bitlocker).  I recommend selecting a hard drive with enough capacity to hold at least two backup images for all your systems.

Reference links
Rosewill RX-358 V2 BLK (Black) 3.5″ SATA to USB & eSATA Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042

Acronis True Image Home 2012 – upgrade and special offers often available from Acronis
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Acronis TrueImage Home 2012 from Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200030

He wasn’t exactly a role model, but he was a good writer, and he had some keen insight into the human condition as well as politics.  I first became aware of Thompson when I read “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail”.  Jimmy Carter was running for President, and I was a student at Georgia Tech. Thompson was the first person to predict Carter would win the election.  Subsequently, I read several of his books and all his articles published in Rolling Stone and other periodicals. 

First, Capital Bikeshare has over 1200 bikes and 140 stations in the DC area.  Aside from the number and strategic location of the stations, I witnessed how people use them.  Just while we were eating brunch on Saturday, I watched a dozen people check in and out of the station outside the restaurant.  They were people running errands (there was a Whole Foods next door), some who appeared to live in the area and went off running an errand, and a well dressed couple who looked like they were bicycling to some event.  I was very impressed.

Next, the bike lanes – they were all over the city, and at least on 15th street, were rather unusual (photo below).  They had a dedicated, bi-directional bike lane on the left side of the street beside the curb.  To the right of the bike lane there were parking spots.  My take was this made the bike lane safer because there was an additional buffer between the bike lane and traffic.

We didn’t have time to try the bikeshare program, but we walked all through the city, and the pedestrian crossings were well marked, all the lights had countdown timers, but the pedestrian ‘right of way’ near the hotel was still a challenge (i.e. one driver stopped while I was waiting in the cross walk out of dozens of crossings…).  Oh well.