January 7, 2010

RedFlags - Round 1/2010

A 'red flag' is when I want to call bullshit on any written or spoken advice which appears to benefit mankind, yet most likely will not. Come with me on this most auspicious of journeys...

Online Storage:

Private companies are now offering - for free or at cost - storage of your desktop and lappie files somewhere in the great InterWebs. In and of itself that's not a bad thing.
What does bug me is how the media are beginning to speak of online storage as some messianic alternative to simply being responsible in what you tuck away electronically. Is it absolutely necessary to have every last photo in your albums scanned and placed in a cyberspace lockbox? If you're honest with yourself the answer is no. If you have, due to the New Narcissism, become so convinced that everything you do is important enough to be archived eternally then you'll probably ignore this and any other post I write.

But kids, I'm here to tell you online storage has the potential for so many wrongs it's not funny. Just off the top of my head I can think of: irretrievable loss, data theft and/or alteration, and blackmail are just the tip of this iceberg.

As for me, I'll just buy a few more Terra-bytes a year if necessary. Backing up onto an extra drive once a month is a small price, in my book, for piece of mind.

jdk

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