Agree on the dog, but listen to BigBossman's comments. Agree on passing on the pit or other breeds 'known to be' aggressive if you're getting from a rescue. While there are lots of great pits and dobermans and the like, I like the idea of a boxer, lab, or other breed with more bark than bite. Most robberies are crimes of opportunity, like someone else said, just having a dog that will make noise will usually send a crew on to another house over yours.

As far as future backup goes, perhaps it's time for SkyDrive or something of the like? I'm getting ready to move my external to be hooked up to the router, and I'll probably hide it behind the file cabinet or something.