Several writers on the 'net (including Ken Levine) are discussing this matter. Long story short: A wanna-be screenwriter, a guy who'd never sold anything, had three spec screenplays on his computer. A technician from SBC did a little work on the fellow's computer and innocently deleted what were, for some reason, the only copies of those screenplays. The writer sued SBC because he believed he was close to selling the three scripts for 2.7 million.

The court didn't agree the sale was likely but did award the writer $27,000 in compensatory damages and $33,000 in punitive damages. Both the writer and SBC appealed and the California state appeals court dismissed the punitive part of the award. The compensatory damages were upheld but the writer was ordered to reimburse SBC for its legal fees in the appeal, which pretty well wipes out any gain on his part. It might even mean he loses on the deal.

For professional writers — heck, even for non-pros — there are a couple of issues raised by this case. One is how non-professionals — heck, even pros — usually delude themselves into believing that a big sale is Almost There, certain to happen, virtually a done deal. Go to any gathering of aspiring writers and you'll hear an endless loop of such tales; of deals that were "99% set" but somehow, due to treachery or some caprice of nature, didn't happen or haven't yet.

It's possible the writer in the above-described lawsuit was an exception. After all, there are scripts that do sell and at some point, all those deals were "close." Still, a lot of us though hear of so many "done deals" that don't get all the way done that we develop a skepticism to all such claims. If you disbelieve them all, you'll be right at least 95% of the time and that estimate is, if anything, low.

The other issue, of course, is summarized by the phrase, "Why the hell didn't you have backups?"

Back when working on computers was somewhat new, the Writers Guild computer room used to get panic calls from members. The computer room had nothing to do with PCs or Macs — it was the operations center for the WGA computer which stored members' records and processed residual payments — but members in distress would phone there and ask for (or demand) aid. The folks there didn't know from PCs so many of those calls were referred to me.

One was from a woman who'd put in (she said) five years on what she called "The most important novel of our generation." She hadn't sold it (or anything, ever) but there was no doubt in her mind it was Hemingway-like in its greatness and importance. She kept telling me how "important" it was. She'd written the first half on paper. Then she got a computer and she'd dutifully typed that material onto a disc, then discarded the paper and finished the manuscript on her PC. You smell where this is going?

The computer, she insisted, had malfunctioned and deleted her life's work, all on its own. It was definitely not anything she'd done. Now, she demanded — like I was her paid employee — that I drive out to Chatsworth (45+ minutes) and get it back for her. I asked her if she had a recent backup. She said — this is verbatim or close to it — "I don't have time to learn that technical crap. I have a book to write!"

You can guess how much help I gave the lady. I did refer her to a friend who handled such matters for a fee. He trotted out to Chatsworth and managed to salvage a little of it…a service for which she ultimately refused to pay since he hadn't saved it all. She also refused to listen to him when he tried to explain to her about routine backups…or any of that technical crap. My friend still makes snide comments about the favor I did him with that referral.

Anyway, us sane people need to back stuff up so let me tell you what I do…

First off, my two non-laptop computers have mirrored harddisks, so when I write a file to disk, I'm making two copies of it.

Then I use a filesync utility to synchronize between computers. The one I use is SmartSync Pro, which I've been using for some time and which works fine. I haven't investigated to see if there are better ones…and I know there are now some free ones out there that are supposed to be pretty good. I paid a few years ago for SmartSync Pro so I keep using it…to, for example, sync my two desktop computers' data directories. So if something gets lost on one, it may be on the other. (I have SmartSync set, by the way, to retain the last three versions of everything.)

Plus, any time I'm about to travel or back from travel or otherwise using my laptop, I employ SmartSync to sync the data directories on the laptop with the others. They're all networked so this doesn't take a lot of time.

No matter which computer I'm using, I have an 8gb Flash Drive plugged into it. I wrote a special SmartSync profile and I have a shortcut to it on my desktop. One click and it backs up my "current" working directory to the Flash Drive. Every time I finish a few pages of something or leave the computer for a while, I click that shortcut.

About once every six months, I burn a data DVD with whatever data files strike me at that moment as recent and irreplaceable. This is not a formalized procedure; just something I do on an occasional whim.

Beyond all that, I do the following: Every month or so, I zip all my data directories into a file and e-mail them to a special address I set up on the server that hosts my websites. You could do this with a GMail account, too. The idea is to just have a copy of it all that's off-premises.

Finally, I routinely back the entirety of all three computers up to external hard drives. I have a number of these and I rotate them, doing both full and incremental backups. Originally, I did these with Norton Ghost but found that too buggy and clunky. Now, I use Acronis True Image, which seems much better…although I haven't yet had to use it for a restore so my recommendation can go only so far.

And even with all that, would you believe it? I still sometimes lose something. Fortunately, it's never been anything in the professional work category…but don't worry. It'll happen someday, probably as soon as someone offers me 2.7 million for three unsold screenplays. Just my damn luck.

Henrietta used to know her way around…but now she's become somewhat unreliable.

Henrietta is the name I gave to the female voice that emanates from my Magellan Roadmate 2000, a Global Positioning System I installed in my car in January of '07. As I mentioned here and here, I found her generally helpful and in some cases, extremely useful. You can't follow the instructions mindlessly but she's handy to have in the car, especially when one is venturing into new frontiers. Or at least, she was.

Recently, I ordered and received their new software upgrade for the unit, and I had my assistant install it. The graphics are better, there are a few new features and there are updated maps…but in the process, Henrietta got stupid on me. I've used her to guide me on seven trips since the upgrade. Twice, she was fine. Twice, the route she suggested would have gotten me to my destination but not at all by the swiftest, most direct route. And three times, she simply pointed me in the wrong direction, thinking addresses were not where they truly are. This is not a passable batting average. She seems to be especially bad — and she wasn't before — at avoiding situations where I'd have to cross a busy eight-lane boulevard at an intersection without a traffic light. Also, her voice has gotten a bit surly and defensive…like she knows she's screwing up but is determined to make it my fault.

I am mentioning this here because I recommended the Magellan and a number of you bought one on my say-so. In fact, some of you bought yours via one of my Amazon links so I feel especially responsible. Beware. Newer and fancier is not always better.

Soon as I have time, I'm going to phone the Magellan folks and ask them if others have complained to the point where the company is scurrying to upgrade the upgrade. If the answer is no, I'm going to see about rolling back to the old software…and if that can't be done, I'll probably dump Henrietta for someone else. I know it sounds cruel but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

I tuned into Hillary Clinton's concession speech in the middle…at a point where the rhetoric was all about "Me, me, me," with the subtext that a vote for anyone but Hillary was a vote against women's rights. You can imagine my disappointment…the latest in a long line of Clinton-related disappointments I've had during this campaign. But then I rolled the TiVo back, watched the speech in its entirety, and got a different impression. Keith Olbermann, who's been slamming Hillary as badly as any Republican has or would, is saying she had 6-8 great minutes in there, and that sounds about right. If you only catch the sound bites, depending on how they're chosen, you might get an erroneous impression, either way. You could edit this thing down to make her look very good or very bad. Catch the whole thing if you get a chance.

Last weekend at the Book Expo in L.A., I had the honor/pleasure (it was both) to interview Sid Jacobson, who was the editor and creative heart at Harvey Comics for more years than he'd admit. Sid was one of the key players who brought you Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, Sad Sack, Hot Stuff, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Little Dot and a lot of other popular characters that we don't talk about much in this interview.

Mostly, we talked about Sid's latest career (he's had several). He and artist Ernie Colón, created the graphic album version of the 9/11 Commission Report. Here's a linky-poo to order one. While you're at it, you can also pre-order their follow-up, which looks very good.

The interview, which runs a smidgen under 26 minutes, was videotaped and I have no idea where or if the video will be available. But they also turned it into a podcast and you can hear it by clicking in the right place below.

And, speaking on Young Frankenstein on Broadway: This report says that the cast members are being offered a deal: "Your contract's up in August. You can either take a 50% salary cut or go find other work." Stars Roger Bart and Megan Mullally have both been out recently while they filmed pilots so they may have other jobs, and Sutton Foster is leaving soon anyway to star in that Shrek musical.

As we've noted here, this show seems to be performing waaaay under expectations, box office wise…and I guess its makers expected a lot more attention from the Tony Awards than they're getting. How low the grosses are is unknown because in a break with Broadway custom, the show is not releasing its numbers to the press.

This is a shame because as I said last November here, I enjoyed the show a lot. It's not up to The Producers but there were enough great moments that I'm glad I went to see it…and might do so again next time I'm in New York if (and this is looking unlikely) it's still running and hasn't lost all its best cast members. If you've been thinking of seeing it and you're in the vicinity, you might want to do so before they have their big half-off sale on performers. The production is so elaborate, and success has been so lukewarm, that it's unlikely this show is going to have a huge after-Broadway life. I actually think that with a few weeks of earnest work and rewriting a few numbers and the ending, they could turn it into what everyone expected. But I can sure understand that its backers aren't eager to throw more money at the problem.

As reported here, Columbia Pictures is fixing to do a remake of My Fair Lady with Keira Knightley as Eliza Doolittle. That doesn't sound like a very commercial idea to me. With a lot of musicals that were translated to film, there's plenty of room for improvement…and stars who aren't so identified with the roles that it seems wrong to do the show with someone else. I don't think My Fair Lady is in either category but who knows? If they can make something wonderful, it might be justify its own existence.

They plan to shoot the whole thing in England in, wherever possible, the original locations. That sounds promising. There were two things that always bothered me about the 1964 movie and one was how it really looked like it was all done inside a soundstage. (The other thing is how "dubbed" Audrey Hepburn feels.)

What caught my eye in the above-linked article was this…

The filmmakers plan to adapt Alan Jay Lerner's book more fully for the screen by drawing additional material from George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion," which served as the source material for the musical.

What they oughta do — and I'll bet they've already thought of this — is to not go back to the play so much as to the 1938 movie. Shaw did the screenplay and it's full of good cuts and richer scenes. The Broadway musical was officially based on the play but I've long felt it was really based on the movie. Maybe the new movie will be based on the old movie.

Those of you who live in Los Angeles who are yearning for a signed copy of Kirby: King of Comics (signed by me, that is) have two opportunities in the next seven days…

This coming Saturday, I'll be scribbling my name in copies at Meltdown Comics, which is located at 7522 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. I'll be there from 2 PM 'til 4 PM, assuming anyone shows up. At some point in there, there will be a Q-and-A hosted by Animation Producer/Director Jon Schnepp.

Then on Wednesday, June 11, I'll be out in Santa Monica at Hi-De-Ho Comics, which is at 525 Santa Monica Boulevard, near Lincoln. I can't find the piece of paper that tells me what time I'm supposed to show up but I think it's around Noon. No formal Q-and-A is planned but if you buy a book, I'll tell you darn near anything you want to know.

Hey, if you don't want my autograph, this might interest you. This Sunday, William Shatner will be signing his new book, Up Till Now, at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention, which is that one-day monthly con down at the Shrine Auditorium. Mr. Shatner, they say, will be there at 2 PM and will sign all copies purchased at the show…and nothing else. All proceeds will be donated to William Shatner's Hollywood Charity Horse Show. I might go down and get one if he promises not to sing "Rocket Man." If you come to either of my signings, rest assured I won't.