Fortunately, there are plenty of services out there that can help prevent such data loss, and some of them are free. I currently suggest one or both of two free services that help you back up your important data: Mozy and ADrive. Both services offer free home versions, with a paid expanded service for unlimited storage or enhanced services.

The first and most full-featured back-up service is Mozy, which provides free storge for up to 2 GB of data. That probably won’t be enough to back up your entire music collection, but it will probably be sufficient for your work or school documents. Unlimited storage is available for $5, which is a fair price, but not free. Mozy is available for Windows and Mac.

You start using Mozy by downloading and installing the Mozy client. When you first run this little program, you tell it what files and folders you want to back up. The initial indexing and backing up can take quite a while, depending on how much data you back up and your connection speed. Fortunately, the program can run in the background and you can set it to use less or more system resources, depending on your preferences.  Once you have Mozy all set up, the program runs quietly in the background, keeping track of the files and folders that you have altered. The program then uploads the data to the Mozy secure server. This can be done on a scheduled or on-demand basis. The whole idea is to take your mind off having to back up your data, and in this respect, Mozy does an excellent job.

While the every-day use of Mozy is easy and painless, the service really shines when something goes wrong. I unfortunately had the chance to put Mozy to the test earlier this year when my hard drive became corrupted. After having my laptop serviced and a new version of Windows installed, I simply went to the Mozy restore page and chose the most recent back-up data set to download. (If you think that your data my have been corrupted or you need a prior version of a document, you can also choose from earlier data sets as well — a handy feature.) After you select the files you want to restore, Mozy puts them all together in a self-extracting file. All you have to do is download the file, open it, and put the files and folders back where you want them.

Mozy would be my clear over-all pick for best backing up service if it weren’t for the 2 GB cap on free home accounts. Still, for your absolutely vital data, that may be enough.

The second service I recommend is ADrive. Unlike Mozy, ADrive requires now program to download, so it is cross-platform. ADrive is a simpler service than Mozy — it just stores your stuff online. However, what ADrive lacks in feature set, it makes up for in storage space — 50 GB, to be exact. For most people, that is enough to back up all your important files, like documents, music, and photos.

Because ADrive does not use a program installed on your computer, you must specifically select which files to upload. This is done in your web browser by way of a Java applet, which works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Java can be a pain to use because it takes a long time to load, but you can also use a simple uploading form if Java doesn’t work for you. However, the Java console (pictured below) is probably the easiest way to upload files and folders.

Downloading batches of files is done in much the same way as uploading. You can also click on an individual file to download just that one file. The upload and download speed varies, and it never is extremely fast, but it gets the job done. ADrive has a simple interface and is ad supported. It doesn’t do things automatically like Mozy, but that huge amount of storage makes it an attractive option.

Whether you use Mozy, ADrive, both, or another back-up solution, the important point is to make sure you protect your important data. Both these services are good at what they do, and they’ll help you prevent a lot of tears when the next disaster occurs. Remember, when it comes to data loss, the question isn’t if it happens, but when it happens.

Comodo works in the same way other firewall software works, by running in the background and detecting when a program tries to connect to the Internet or send information to an online server. You’d probably be surprised to learn how often different programs try to go online without your knowledge. Comodo warns you when a program tries to connect, or when another program uses that program (such as your web browser) to connect. The first few days of running firewall software can be a little annoying because you have to frequently tell the firewall which programs are safe and which should be blocked. But Comodo quickly remembers your preferences, and soon you forget about it until it pops up with a new attempted connection.

Comodo has received top security ratings, and its free version outscores ZoneAlarm’s free product. Its interface is also a little easier, which I like. I haven’t had many real security worries, but I have discovered several annoying programs that run in the background and try to connect to the Internet all the time. Thanks to Comodo I tracked them down and removed them from the list of programs that starts up when Windows starts.

Comodo Firewall Pro is available for free download from this page, with a direct link to the download here. I currently recommend that you use version 2.4, because many of the reviewers of the more recent 3.0 have had stability problems. The 2.4 version still uses the updated database of bad programs, and it still has a full feature set.

To get started with Mint you register with your name, email, and zip code. Then you add your different account information, which enables Mint to fetch your balance and transaction information so it can manage it all in one place. Mint has elaborate security features designed to keep your bank information safe. Many people, myself included, would be reluctant to give their bank information to some unknown company. But Mint is backed by VeriSign, the site is tested daily by ScanAlert, and it recently took top honors at the TechCrunch Top 40 competition. All these features and accolades, plus some rave reviews, convinced me that Mint was worth my time.

The interface is smooth and the site looks great. Entering each saving, checking, or credit card account is fairly straight-forward. Mint supports most banks, even regional ones. It asks you the login information required for that site, and then it logs in for you and fetches the information. After a few minutes I had all of my financial data in one spot. The genius of this system is that since more and more purchases happen electronically, Mint can take that data and automatically use it to spot trends, predict expenditures, and find ways to save. The longer you use Mint, the more useful it gets since it has more data to work with. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful at first — it was amazing to see all of my expenditures from my credit cards and debit cards on one place. I love being able to see all my expenses in one pie graph.

Every time you make a purchase, Mint automatically categorizes the purchase based on the type of store or your spending trends. This takes away all the work of categorizing your purchases, which has been the major roadblock for me in organizing my finances before. If Mint doesn’t recognize the store or you pay by check, it is still easy to give the purchase a name or category. And if you have a bill that is the same every month, like an insurance payment, you can tell Mint to automatically categorize checks or bank drafts of that amount.

Mint has thorough spending trend graphs and charts so you can see how much you are spending in a given category or subcategory. You can also see where you spend your money, and what cards or accounts you use most. All of that information can be compared to previous months, so you can see if your current spending habits look compared to last month’s. You can use past data to build a budget, or set limits for yourself based on what you want to spend or save.

One nice feature I have come to appreciate is Mint’s alert system. You can choose from a variety of alerts that can be very helpful, such as a reminder to pay a credit card bill, a warning when a checking account drops below a certain amount, a notice when you overspend your budget by a certain amount, or an alert if an unusually large purchase occurs. Already in the past two months I have been grateful for this handy feature. It helps me pay the bills on time and it keeps my money more secure.

Mint also suggests ways to save money, and that’s how the service stays free. They make money if they refer you to partner companies who offer deals. For example, they suggested that I could save money if I went with another cell phone carrier, and gave me information about a credit card with a better interest rate. I wasn’t interested in the phone plan, but the credit card offer was very competitive.

The bottom line is that Mint is easy to use, and it removes any excuse you might have used to explain why you weren’t keeping a budget. As the service develops, I hope to see more options like the ability to transfer money from one account to another using Mint. But as it currently stands, I recommend Mint to anyone trying to organize their money. Mint definitely deserves a place in the Best of the Web.

The easiest way to show how the screencast works is, of course, a screencast. I recorded a quick one below just for fun, but you don’t need a walkthrough to figure out how it works.

Screencast-o-Matic has simple instructions that take you through the steps of creating a screencast. You can pick a number of frame sizes, so if you only want to record a portion of your screen, you can choose a smaller size. You also can choose to include audio with the screencast. Once you get it set up, you can capture anything on your screen — a movie, a video game, or a how-to lesson like I recorded. The video quality isn’t very high, but it’s enough to show someone what you are doing. There are even a few in-game screencasts on the Screencast-o-Matic website from World of Warcraft, and while they don’t look as good as the real game, they definitely show the viewer what is going on and where to go.

After you record the screencast, you have several options. You can watch what you just recorded, and if you don’t like it you can discard it. You can also add notes to the video which will appear at the bottom — a very handy feature if you’re trying to explain how to do something or you just want to provide some running commentary. You can save the screencast to the Screencast-o-Matic website, but you can also export the video in Quicktime format in any resolution size.

Obviously, the screencasts you make with Screencast-o-Matic aren’t going to be the highest video and sound quality, but I think they are ample for most people’s needs. I love the fact that it requires no program installation or registration from the website, and that the controls are so easy to use. Give Screencast-o-Matic a try — it may come in handy the next time you try to show grandma in Connecticut how to access her email.

Last year I endorsed Zamzar as my pick for best free online media converter. Zamzar converts almost any type of document, audio, video, or image file into the format of your choice. I still think Zamzar is a good choice for most people because it is very easy to use. However, I want to mention Media-Convert as a more robust alternative for people who wants more control over their file conversion. Just like Zamzar, Media-Convert is a free service that requires no software or installation.

Media-Convert does everything Zamzar can do and a little more. In addition to text, audio, video, and image files, Media-Convert can also convert slideshow presentations, ringtones, databases, website screenshots, compressed archives, spreadsheets, math documents, and vector documents. It also supports more file formats than any other service I have discovered thus far, including Zamzar. The list of supported media formats is huge, but fortunately, the service usually auto-selects your input format. All you need to do then is choose what format you want the output to be. Media-Convert also has one feature that some people will like — unlike Zamzar, you don’t need to give it your email to get the document. It will convert it in a few moments and then give you a link to download the file. Media-Convert also allows you to link to a file URL if the file you want to convert is online, which can be a handy feature.

The main reason I wouldn’t recommend Media-Convert to more people is the interface. It isn’t particularly user-friendly, and it often gives you too many options, particularly with audio and video files. That is a good thing if you want to control the quality and size of the output file, but it is confusing for novice users. I still recommend using Zamzar, but if you don’t want to receive the file in your email or you need more conversion options, Media-Convert is just what you’re looking for.

LibraryThing has a loyal following with over 16 million books cataloged so far. To start cataloging, just enter a username and a password and you’re set — the registration system is that simple. LibraryThing lets you enter books in a variety of the ways. The easiest way is to do a search for the author, title, ISBN, etc. LibraryThing searches 80 different sources around the world, so you will almost always find the book you’re looking for. In the rare instance when LibraryThing can’t find it, you can simply input the information by hand. But most of the time adding books is fast and easy. You can even import a list of books from a spreadsheet, web page, or text document. The whole idea is to make cataloging books as easy as possible.

Once you’ve entered your books, you can start tagging and rating them. This is actually more fun than it sounds — I found myself trying to decide whether the Calvin & Hobbes collection deserved 5 stars if I only gave Shakespeare 4. Tagging your books helps you find similar books and recommendations, and the recommendation system works really well — much better than the recommendations from Amazon.com, in my experience.

But you don’t need to tag your books before you can start snooping into other people’s collections. There’s something voyeuristic (in a non-creepy way) about peering into other people’s libraries. You can see people who have a lot of your same books, which is a great way to find other books you might like. You might even find some people you know through their books — I discovered a former classmate after seeing that she had the same text book I did.

While the heart and soul of LibraryThing is books, it also uses social networking tools to talk books with other people. You can form and join book groups like “Science Fiction Fans” or “Harry Potter Fans.” You can also leave messages for other users, chat in forums, write book reviews, or even swap books with other users. If you like books, LibraryThing can keep you busy and happy for quite some time.

LibraryThing is free for cataloging up to 200 books, but a lifetime membership is only $25. It may go completely free in the future, as the data compiled by LibraryThing may be sold to book companies in order to generate revenue.

Democracy Player has been the project of the Massachusetts-based Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF), a non-profit dedicated to making media content available to all users. Online video is becoming big business, and many people think it represents the future of television. The PCF’s goal is to make sure individuals control the content, rather than big companies. To do this, they have four projects. The most important part of their plan is Democracy Player, an open-source media player that allows you to subscribe to video channels through RSS. Accompanying Democracy Player are three other projects that round out PCF’s strategy. One is the VideoBomb website that allows users to gather videos from around the web. This doesn’t sound like much, except it allows you to make your own video “channel” through RSS, picking the content you find or upload on the Internet. PCF also makes open source software called Broadcast Machine that lets users create video channels on their own websites, rather than uploading it to a third-party source. And finally, PCF runs a site called the Channel Guide that takes all those hundreds of RSS feeds and organizes them into a channel guide, so you can flip through and see what you want to watch.

That all sounds complicated, but what it means for you is that you can use Democracy Player like on-demand television. There’s tons of stuff out there, with more being added and indexed all the time. And PCF is trying to make sure that the users decide what and when to watch, not the networks.

The Democracy Player itself is a nice program. It has a look and feel similar to iTunes, and it’s fairly easy to use. The most important thing about Democracy is how well it supports HD video. Many videos available through Democracy Player’s Channel Guide are in hi def, and they look great in full screen. This means that the file sizes are very large, but Democracy gets around that hurdle by including a bit torrent client in the player, so you can download from dozens of sources at the same time. It does all this automatically, so you just click on an episode to watch and it downloads it in a minute or two on a broadband connection. When you subscribe to certain shows, you can set it to download the episodes automatically. Democracy also allows you to share videos with friends through your email, blog, or VideoBomb.

Democracy Player plays almost any file format. I first downloaded it as a last-ditch effort to play a hard-to-read video file, and it worked like a charm where several other players failed. It also has a very powerful video search function that can search all the major video sites like YouTube, Google Video, etc. Like all good open-source software, Democracy is available for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

The player isn’t perfect — it’s a big program and it can use a lot of resources, especially when you’re downloading multiple files. But it is pretty fast, and I had no problem running it on a slower computer with 512 RAM. For a good walkthrough of how it works, check out this video review of Democracy Player on CNet.com.

If you ever watch video on the Internet, you will want to check out Democracy/Miro. But if you never or rarely watch video on the Internet, you still might want to give it a try because of how easy it makes video watching. Democracy presents an experience similar to watching television, and it offers quality that can be even better than TV. Democracy/Miro definitely deserves its place on Best of the Web.

Caedes.net

Caedes is like YouTube for computer backgrounds, but Caedes came first. It has well-organized categories and subcategories, and active members often submit and critique each other’s work. You don’t have to register to browse and download wallpapers, but you should anyway because the community is fantastic. If you register, you can even submit your own photography or computer graphic design. No matter what you’re looking for, Caedes.net has it.

When you click on the Snippy program, the little scissors icon will appear in your system tray, like this:

Simply click on that icon and copy and image from your screen. There are two ways of doing this. The first is the default way, which lets you draw a circle around what you wanted to copy. This is a really simple, freehand way of copying things on your screen.

The alternative way of copying things is to just use a drag and click box, like you would use in any other image editing program. You can right click on the Snippy tray icon and change the default settings. The freehand way is cool, but I prefer the dragging box because it’s easier to use.  Whichever you prefer, you can switch to the other option by holding Shift. You can also set it to have a border of any color, or no border at all. In the freehand picture above, there is a thick red border.

That’s pretty much all there is to Snippy. You probably won’t use it every day, or even every week, but it’s extremely handy when you want an image. It’s especially useful for blogging. Many websites now have their pictures in flash, so you can’t right click and save the images. That’s not a problem with Snippy — if you can see it, you can save it. The Snippy logo at the top of this article was created by grabbing an image off the Snippy home page. Snippy is so small that it’s worth keeping around, even if you only use it occasionally. Check out the Snippy site here and download Snippy here.

Contactify takes the same techniques people use to prevent blog comment spam and applies it to email. First you sign up with Contactify through their instantaneous free registration. You immediately get a unique link that you can post for people to contact you. Instead of those annoying links that automatically open your email client, the Contactify link takes the user to a page on the Contactify website where they can type in their info and their message to you. Most importantly, Contactify also requires a sender to type in the random numbers and letters in a picture, a security feature that prevents other computers from spamming your account.

Contactify just made their service even more useful by providing a widget that lets you embed the contact form right in your own website or blog. That way, people don’t ever have to leave your site to send you an email. (For an example, see my Blogspot blog.) This is a simple, no-frills solution for anyone who has a blog, website, or social networking profile. Contactify doesn’t use any groundbreaking technology — it just takes an old idea and puts it to good use. For that reason, Contactify deserves its place on the Best of the Web. Click here to try it out for yourself.