If you use Linux, you already have access to extremely powerful tools for creating custom backup solutions. The solutions in this article can help you perform simple to more advanced and secure network backups using open source tools that are part of nearly every Linux distribution.
Link: IBM
Rip and back up any DVD to your hard drive with DVD Rip, a freeware Windows application that automates the entire DVD-to-hard-drive backup process. All you need to do is insert your DVD, run DVD Rip, and let it take care of the rest.
Link: Lifehacker
AutoGK rips DVDs to hard drive-friendly DivX and Xvid formats for quick, easy, and high-quality backups. It does so by acting as an automating front-end to several other free ripping and encoding tools, which it automatically installs on your system.
Link: Lifehacker
Accessing your e-mail in a web browser is all the rage, but rage is all you’ll be feeling when your net access goes down and you don’t have a local backup of your messages. Here are some tips for backing up your inbox. It requires a bit of work to set up, but once you do, you’ll be able to enjoy the goodness of Gmail’s web interface worry-free
Link: Wired How-To Wiki