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+{{http://www.facebook.com|Facebook}} is good for keeping in touch with people and sharing things of mutual interests.  Alas it sucks as an archive tool with no good way to search your own timeline.
+There is a way around this problem.  If you go to the {{https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=account|General Account Settings}} tab at the bottom there is 'Download a copy of your Facebook data.'
+----
+{{:bpaddock:facebook_download.png}}
+----
+When you click on 'Start my archive', Facebook will create a .zip file of your timeline and chats, then email you when the process is complete.
+If you post a lot of videos and pictures it could be a very //large// .zip file.  Right now my own timeline is coming in about 50MBytes.
+Only do this on a real computer.  Tablet or phone has little hope of handling the unzipped file.
+If you wait five to ten minutes then refresh the page, you get a screen that looks similar to this one:
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+Download Your Information
+Get a copy of what you've shared on Facebook.
+This is a copy of personal information you've shared on Facebook. To protect your info, we'll ask you to re-enter your password to confirm that this is your account.
+**Caution: Protect your archive**
+Your Facebook archive includes sensitive info like your private Wall posts, photos and profile information. Please keep this in mind before storing or sending your archive.
+----
+Click on the green 'Download Your Archive' at the center of the screen to start the download.
+There are 'apps' that claim they'll do this for you.  Alas you must give this app your password, which is a //bad idea//.  The app is just doing what you can do for yourself here.
+Use a program like {{http://7-zip.org|7-Zip}} that will unzip the archive while maintaining the directory structure.  Then point your web browser, via the keys Control-O to open a local file, to open index.html.  There is to be found a summary of your account, your messages, and your timeline.