the b (in this case, google's blogger) is back
yes, yes, you've enjoyed the peace and quiet. ;-)
starting earlier this week with some "planned maintenance", google's blogger tool has been on extended hiatus. (it just came back a few moments ago, a fact which i learned while utilizing google's reader tool to keep up with blogger-powered blogs i enjoy like the marvelous adventures..., not because i've been checking every few minutes to get some of this sort of stuff off my chest, i swear). the impact on those compelled both to write and to read has been significant, in an insignificant sort of way, and it's offered a compelling example as to why "cloud" equals "clown" in the world of the world wide web.
corey sciuto (sorry for the unsolicited outing, but it's the name of the blog and i don't know any other way to fluff for it) was opining on facebook (again, sorry for the unsolicited outing, but i thought it was too excellent a point not to be shared) that this many-day-long failure is exhibit A as to why one should never trust "the cloud". (the comments were traded in a conversation with cliff krieger, the esteemed author behind right-side-of-lowell, another great local read, but i promise that's it for product placements). he could not be more right. on the cloud, among many other opportunities, you can even go so far as to publish your name and all your bank account numbers and balances if you please, (quicken.com), and a bunch of folks are even suggesting you should be putting all your private personal health records there, too. ("think of the convenience!")
yes, convenience. it can certainly be convenient to check your debit card balance from an airport internet kiosk in timbuktu, though the risk of having someone pirating your information off that terminal pales in comparison to the ticking time bomb of private personal financial and other information just sitting out there, waiting. (anybody else get that message from their credit card provider recently that all your/our marketing information was stolen recently, only, don't worry, we don't think they got enough to pull the identity theft game, so pay no mind?) now, in the case of blogger and the relative value of these blog comments, (can anyone now guess why, though it's easy enough for folks paying attention to figure out who i am and i really don't make a whole lot of effort to discourage it, i prefer not to leave the personally identifiable information sitting around on one of google's servers, to be mashed in some as yet to be determined way?), i can say that being without access to ones online typewriter (remember those?) is no big deal compared to the inconvenience of being unable to access your own personal financial records and accounts. but it's not the inconvenience of the outage that should gain people's attention--it's the implication of who, really, is in control of that information. google, king cloud, has my blog stuff. i've made an informed decision to give it to them. quicken does NOT have my financial information, and those online medical databases do NOT know that i'm overdue for a colonoscopy, though they say you need one at 50, so i can still say that i'm still 50 and i have a few more months, though you and i both know the probability of my becoming proactive between now and then. (i will get one, i promise, and you can then congratulate all your friends--and yourself if applicable--if they've/you've thought based on my opinions here i'm in dire need of a good one).
just remember that "cloud" equals "clown" when it comes to trusting someone else's servers to hold your private personal stuff. banks have safety deposit boxes, and i sure do use one as you should, too, but those are designed for their purpose. the purpose for which the cloud was designed was and is to get control of your data, and everything else that such unlocks, while enjoying your paying, even if only to endure the exploitation of targeted advertising, for the privilege. at least with blogger we've all been getting what we've paid for these days, eh.
starting earlier this week with some "planned maintenance", google's blogger tool has been on extended hiatus. (it just came back a few moments ago, a fact which i learned while utilizing google's reader tool to keep up with blogger-powered blogs i enjoy like the marvelous adventures..., not because i've been checking every few minutes to get some of this sort of stuff off my chest, i swear). the impact on those compelled both to write and to read has been significant, in an insignificant sort of way, and it's offered a compelling example as to why "cloud" equals "clown" in the world of the world wide web.
corey sciuto (sorry for the unsolicited outing, but it's the name of the blog and i don't know any other way to fluff for it) was opining on facebook (again, sorry for the unsolicited outing, but i thought it was too excellent a point not to be shared) that this many-day-long failure is exhibit A as to why one should never trust "the cloud". (the comments were traded in a conversation with cliff krieger, the esteemed author behind right-side-of-lowell, another great local read, but i promise that's it for product placements). he could not be more right. on the cloud, among many other opportunities, you can even go so far as to publish your name and all your bank account numbers and balances if you please, (quicken.com), and a bunch of folks are even suggesting you should be putting all your private personal health records there, too. ("think of the convenience!")
yes, convenience. it can certainly be convenient to check your debit card balance from an airport internet kiosk in timbuktu, though the risk of having someone pirating your information off that terminal pales in comparison to the ticking time bomb of private personal financial and other information just sitting out there, waiting. (anybody else get that message from their credit card provider recently that all your/our marketing information was stolen recently, only, don't worry, we don't think they got enough to pull the identity theft game, so pay no mind?) now, in the case of blogger and the relative value of these blog comments, (can anyone now guess why, though it's easy enough for folks paying attention to figure out who i am and i really don't make a whole lot of effort to discourage it, i prefer not to leave the personally identifiable information sitting around on one of google's servers, to be mashed in some as yet to be determined way?), i can say that being without access to ones online typewriter (remember those?) is no big deal compared to the inconvenience of being unable to access your own personal financial records and accounts. but it's not the inconvenience of the outage that should gain people's attention--it's the implication of who, really, is in control of that information. google, king cloud, has my blog stuff. i've made an informed decision to give it to them. quicken does NOT have my financial information, and those online medical databases do NOT know that i'm overdue for a colonoscopy, though they say you need one at 50, so i can still say that i'm still 50 and i have a few more months, though you and i both know the probability of my becoming proactive between now and then. (i will get one, i promise, and you can then congratulate all your friends--and yourself if applicable--if they've/you've thought based on my opinions here i'm in dire need of a good one).
just remember that "cloud" equals "clown" when it comes to trusting someone else's servers to hold your private personal stuff. banks have safety deposit boxes, and i sure do use one as you should, too, but those are designed for their purpose. the purpose for which the cloud was designed was and is to get control of your data, and everything else that such unlocks, while enjoying your paying, even if only to endure the exploitation of targeted advertising, for the privilege. at least with blogger we've all been getting what we've paid for these days, eh.
posted by kad barma at 1:45 PM
3 Comments:
Welcome back, Kad
Regards — Cliff
Heh, don't worry about outing me. I never could come up with a good name for my blog, so it's just my name. Personally, I'm with the Left in Lowell crowd - it's often only so valuable to be left anonymous, well, at least depending on what you're writing about. I feel that in many cases, using your real name keeps you honest - I won't say anything to anyone online I wouldn't say to their face. Honestly, you're one of the few local bloggers that I (a) haven't met in person (b) don't even know who you are :-) Not that your situation is anything like the Lowell Shallot - you just choose anonymity. If I had a personal blog, I would certainly not reveal who I am, because it's nobody's business. Especially not with the vetting of social networks, etc that prospective employers do today.
It's tough, you're right with all this cloud stuff, and I should probably take the ID stuff more seriously. People sometimes ask me why my address is on my Facebook, and I've always looked at it as: if you know my name, you can look up so much information on me from the Registry of Deeds, and names, addresses, and phone numbers a generation ago were called the telephone book. I don't have an uncommon name, you know?
But maybe that's all wrong. Maybe the value of people in Lowell knowing where to find me and how to contact me is less than the value to some 3rd party Russian spambot knowing how to get a hold of me.
Like I said (and I did blog about it last night), I only have so much faith in the cloud. Use the Blogger export button, and use it often!
Oh, and I'm pretty sure cloud-based medical records is a done deal. I was talking about that with someone recently, and while it's extremely scary that this stuff will just be out there, what's scarier is if the gub'ment gives the contract for this service to just one company. That would be fundamentally wrong. However, if they don't, if it's an open standard, security would be likely out the window.
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