Skydrive not most reliable cloud storage provider – still good

We managed to snag a couple of Hotmail accounts that still offered the "free lifetime 25Gb" option so we're happy with that.

And while we haven't uploaded nuclear secrets ("pssst, water is actually 2 hydrogens, 1 oxygen"), there's nothing out there that we're expecting to exist from day-to-day. I've tried quite a few subscription-based off-line storage services since last century, and I suspect they've all died off due to lack of money-making, not some techno attack.

Google probably has the financial backing to make their offline storages exist. Same with Microsoft and Apple. But I believe that, if things get dodgy (say, for example, one of those companies puts out an OS based on tap-dancing-only maneuvers), and their dividends-per-share takes a Wall Street ragging, "off line storage services" might be one of the 1st or 2nd services to be dumped, trimmed back, etc. "Lifetime" therefore means The Service's Lifetime. Not mine.

This is, after all, the Computer World.

Now, back to the FoxConn-H/Bollywood Reality Show, "Diving Onto Exec's Heads!"

The problem with SkyDrive as I see it is, that Microsoft has bots and/or employees looking for files to censor on your SkyDrive, and suddenly you could find yourself missing files or being blocked from all your content, even if you weren't publicly sharing those files.

I have a SkyDrive but I'm not really using it for that and other reasons (**cough**Dropbox**cough).

All of these "cloud" services have problems staying on line (Google was going down fairly frequently for a while), and they all have rules about what types of data can/can't be stored on them. I've read that once you put data on any of the "cloud" services, that data becomes the property of whatever company is providing the service, and they can basically do whatever they want with it. I prefer to maintain control of my data, and I also prefer not to lose access to my data if my internet access goes down, so I'll probably never utilize the "cloud".

Be smart and keep a copy of your important data in two places. Backup, backup, backup. Forget the cloud -- all you're doing is giving someone else a peek at your stuff.

The obvious solution is to use encryption and mirror your files across multiple services.

Brad, early in this century, we had a SERIOUS problem with AOL Mail because THEY claimed a "right" to use any photo I'd sent in emails for their own purposes. So, when they created those "splash pages", they use photos of ME or hubby, or our kids.

Without any other permission, OR renumerations. ("For $15 million a photo, sure, you can lease them for 3 days' display." That was my starting point for negotiations. Hey - I made money from my pix for 14 years!)

A class-action suit was underway on that very topic, though, and AOL eventually stopped this behavior (and never WOULD offer a counter for a negotiable lease! odd, huh?).

But the NOTION that they could take any file - graphics OR OTHERWISE - and use it for THEIR purposes should have created headlines around the computer world. Nope. Never a peep.

It's sort of like sending the newspaper a letter to the editor - or a citizens' arrest photo. You sort of hope it's used, then you may wish it wasn't!

We use GMAIL a lot and it's SPOOKY to see REPLYs come back with keyword advertising surrounding the REPLY text. GMAIL has 'bots too that read not just Subject Lines, but scans entire email texts, and then feeds these to their advertisers for revenue-generating links.

I dislike that, but heck, it's a free mail service - I know they're going to prostitute us somehow. They have an Off-On Switch to allow users to stop that - but WHAT are we stopping? THEIR keyword scanning? OR simply their posting of vendor-links onto our REPLYs?

They're not quite so convincing in THAT answer.

"It's a free service - what do you expect?" is one attitude. But the 'bots exist for any email scanning, so I'd never delude myself that some central ISP couldn't be doing that anyway.

My sweet toots Stormy mentioned, in another thread, "The law abiding innocents don't have anything to worry about" and I sort of take that attitude. I drive on streets and people use their built-in eyes to see me all the time. I don't object to that. I CAN'T. "Please - don't pull out in front of me - don't you SEE me?!!"

Now, back to SkyDrive... as I drive around all over the sky...

Cloud or no cloud, they are all so slow. I want 10MB/s or higher speeds. I used to own multi-TB online storage around 2008 and so why should I pay at all for much less?

Never trust the cloud with your sensitive data.
But the cloud is so freaking easy to synchronise.

So what to do? Well you could encrypt your sky/google/dropbox/whatever drive so only you can read it.

I personally will not trust anyone or servers with my personal data and will continue to use my own storage devices, using such services is one of the biggest factors when it comes to privacy and the loss of personal information.

Tis just my .02¢
SJ

Any pilot knows that clouds can sometimes contain jagged rocks.

I highly doubt you have anything to worry about unless you're publicly sharing copyrighted mp3's and you're flagged for getting a high number of downloads. I've done tests by uploading a large number of mp3's but I haven't shared them. The result 6 months on is that they're still there untouched.