Cloud Computing

Computer Care: Cloud is OK, but rely on spare backups

	By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: December 29, 2012 1:00 a.m.

	The cloud is up there somewhere on the Internet, out in an intangible place you can’t put your finger on, and although it can’t be seen, has become a popular locale for computer data storage. This Internet storage alternative is on a computer not unlike your own. It’s not some magical storage haven where everything is secure. On the contrary, it may not be any safer than your computer. Some cloud-based services offer multiple backups for security while others may not, so caveat emptor. The cloud is the Internet. The name comes from the flow-chart diagram that describes computers. The symbols denoting the Internet are drawn as clouds, thus the name. The Internet is comprised of computers, lots of them. Some are used for storage, others for different services. When you do a Google search, check your email, pay a bill online or view a YouTube video, you are accessing a computer somewhere on the Internet. Use the cloud for storage, but store your data on various local media as well, including external drives and optical discs. I’m an advocate for redundant backups. It’s unwise to put all of your apples in one cart. Placing your data on the cloud raises the issue of security. The more information of yours that is out there, the easier it is for you to be hacked. Google, eBay or Facebook already has lots of information about you and a clever hacker can gain access to them via nefarious methods from a courteous customer service agent. Armed with a bit of information, more can be had. Hackers may be able to use information obtained from one of your accounts to gain access to another. By the time hackers contact the support desk at your Internet Service Provider, they probably have enough information to hack your cloud storage or your online bank accounts. Outside access to your Facebook account may cause you grief by having things posted in your name, but access to your cloud account could wipe all of your family’s photos or your company’s spreadsheets. Access to your bank account could wipe you out, period. I’ve said this before, but know your passwords; make them strong; change them regularly and don’t use the same password for multiple accounts. If a hacker gains access to one account, he then gains access to many or all of them, your cloud account included. Whatever data you value should be backed up and then backed up again. If you don’t, your data may disappear one day.  When I have to erase a client’s hard drive to reinstall Windows, I inquire if they have a backup in place; most times they say they don’t. Many have good intentions of making copies of their important data, yet most procrastinate. My data backup system includes the use of external USB hard drives. A conventional hard drive has a life expectancy of about five years. I’ve had some last much longer, but why gamble with valuable data? The trick to longevity with external drives is to only power them up when copying or retrieving data. To keep them turned on whenever your computer is on defeats the purpose of having one. It will die the same time the drive in your computer does. Optical disks such as CDs are good for backup of a few dozen files, as are DVDs for more data duplication, but those types of media can scratch easily, rendering them unreadable. USB flash drives, like the ones on your keychain are also good, but usually top out at 16 GB. They have a limit as to how long they’ll last, measured in read/write accesses, not in time. They max out at about 100,000 accesses, although I’ve had some stop long before that for other reasons. I’m not anti-cloud, but I believe it shouldn’t be your sole source for duplicating your data. Spread it around. Every method has its downside. Use a few of them and pray that some still work when you need them. The cloud is a viable alternative, but makes for a good secondary or tertiary storage facility. The cloud-based services I use are more for file sharing than for file storage. In my Dropbox account, I create a folder where I place photos that I want to share with others. Then I simply send them the link to that folder, instead of a bunch of images. So what if the Internet is down, leaving you without access to your cloud-based data when you need it? What if your account gets hacked or what if the service you use gets hacked or crashes? These are some reasons why I’m an advocate for data redundancy. Back up your backups. The cost is minimal, as is the time it requires. One day when you determine that your online storage out in the cloud has been compromised, you’ll be glad you put forth the effort to create a local ground-based backup as well. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and online.

What you can do online beside check email

Computer Care: Behold the wonders of the Web By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: February 4, 2012 1:00 a.m.

Did you know that Finley Stephens of Weston, Mo., lays claim to the largest ball of string (not twine) at 19 feet in diameter, weighing 3,712 pounds? How about the fact that it would take about 80,000 years to travel to the nearest star in Alpha Centauri with the technology that we have today? Australian shepherds don't come from down under but originate from Colorado. Really? Yes. I didn't know those facts, either, but I found them quickly (with multiple sources) on the Internet. Many of my clients tell me all they need their computers for is email, and they don't know what else they can do with them. I often sleep but five hours a night because I get caught up in Internet searches. Much of my computing knowledge I've learned from websites. I read news stories online, watch missed TV shows, do comparative research for products I want to buy, find programs for my computer and apps for my cellphone, learn how to repair things that I break and sell things that I no longer need. I have booked vacations, sold cars and artwork and bought cameras and laptops, all online. Most of the electronics I need for my computer business are purchased online at better prices than I can get locally, even considering the shipping costs. My point is that if all you use your computer for is email, then you need to take your mouse out for a ride. There is a world out there just waiting for you to explore. Too often I hear excuses like, "I am too old to learn," or "I don't know how." Well, bunk. (Synonym I found online for a more aromatic term I usually use.) When I was a kid, the only research I had access to was the World Book Encyclopedia. Each year, my parents would buy the annual supplement and I was thrilled. It was nice, but limited, and it cost a small fortune. By comparison, today the Internet is huge and it is free, aside from your connection fees. The information is literally available at our fingertips and is enormous, almost infinite. You don't need any special knowledge, only a desire to know or want something. Just ask Google a question. Speak like you would to a friend. Type your query in question form. Don't worry about grammar or using caps. If I want recipes with broccoli, but without cheese, that's what I would type: I would ask, "What are broccoli recipes without cheese?" (without quotes). Have a hankering to understand Einstein? Type, "Explain the Theory of Relativity." You will get pages of hits to your queries; the first few on the first page will usually answer your question. Avoid responses that say "ad," as they are paid-for responses and will steer you astray to the sponsors' product pages. Look at a few pages and save them as bookmarks or favorites, depending on what your browser calls them. Shop online. Do comparisons between products and stores and read what shoppers say about what you want to buy. If you buy online, you can have your purchase shipped or pick it up at local stores like Target, Sears and Wal-Mart, to name a few. Use snopes.com to dispel those email rumors we all get. (Bill Gates will give you $50 if you forward this column.) Feeling bad? Look up your symptoms online. Did your doctor prescribe some new medications for you? See what you shouldn't mix with them on the pharmaceutical's website. Discover which foods are antioxidant-rich or low in fat. Aside from Google, I like ask.com, howto.com and youtube.com. You'll find that many queries will refer you to these three sites often. You Tube is great if you need to know how to do things like fix a leaky toilet, change your car's water pump, refill your inkjet cartridges or install RAM in your computer. If you are a DIY enthusiast and a visual learner, you will like their videos. Watch, pause and rewind them. Bookmark the videos and watch them again. Are you tired of the bar scene? Internet dating has increased over the years. Approximately 5 million singles use online dating services worth about $4 billion worldwide. (Yes, these statistics come from the Internet.) If you have a webcam, download and install Skype, a free video-conferencing application. You will truly enjoy chatting with your dates or your out-of-town children and be able to see them at the same time. Welcome to the 21st century. The Internet works. My wife and I met online back when the information superhighway was but a dirt road. We have watched the Web and our marriage grow for almost 20 years, although I do believe Teressa knows more trivia than Google. If all you go online for is email, live dangerously. Go look up something. You can't break your computer — not like that, anyway. You don't need a Ph.D. or any special knowledge. The latter is what you'll gain. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Did you know that Finley Stephens of Weston, Mo., lays claim to the largest ball of string (not twine) at 19 feet in diameter, weighing 3,712 pounds? How about the fact that it would take about 80,000 years to travel to the nearest star in Alpha Centauri with the technology that we have today? Australian shepherds don't come from down under but originate from Colorado. Really? Yes. I didn't know those facts, either, but I found them quickly (with multiple sources) on the Internet. Many of my clients tell me all they need their computers for is email, and they don't know what else they can do with them. I often sleep but five hours a night because I get caught up in Internet searches. Much of my computing knowledge I've learned from websites. I read news stories online, watch missed TV shows, do comparative research for products I want to buy, find programs for my computer and apps for my cellphone, learn how to repair things that I break and sell things that I no longer need. I have booked vacations, sold cars and artwork and bought cameras and laptops, all online. Most of the electronics I need for my computer business are purchased online at better prices than I can get locally, even considering the shipping costs. My point is that if all you use your computer for is email, then you need to take your mouse out for a ride. There is a world out there just waiting for you to explore. Too often I hear excuses like, "I am too old to learn," or "I don't know how." Well, bunk. (Synonym I found online for a more aromatic term I usually use.) When I was a kid, the only research I had access to was the World Book Encyclopedia. Each year, my parents would buy the annual supplement and I was thrilled. It was nice, but limited, and it cost a small fortune. By comparison, today the Internet is huge and it is free, aside from your connection fees. The information is literally available at our fingertips and is enormous, almost infinite. You don't need any special knowledge, only a desire to know or want something. Just ask Google a question. Speak like you would to a friend. Type your query in question form. Don't worry about grammar or using caps. If I want recipes with broccoli, but without cheese, that's what I would type: I would ask, "What are broccoli recipes without cheese?" (without quotes). Have a hankering to understand Einstein? Type, "Explain the Theory of Relativity." You will get pages of hits to your queries; the first few on the first page will usually answer your question. Avoid responses that say "ad," as they are paid-for responses and will steer you astray to the sponsors' product pages. Look at a few pages and save them as bookmarks or favorites, depending on what your browser calls them. Shop online. Do comparisons between products and stores and read what shoppers say about what you want to buy. If you buy online, you can have your purchase shipped or pick it up at local stores like Target, Sears and Wal-Mart, to name a few. Use snopes.com to dispel those email rumors we all get. (Bill Gates will give you $50 if you forward this column.) Feeling bad? Look up your symptoms online. Did your doctor prescribe some new medications for you? See what you shouldn't mix with them on the pharmaceutical's website. Discover which foods are antioxidant-rich or low in fat. Aside from Google, I like ask.com, howto.com and youtube.com. You'll find that many queries will refer you to these three sites often. You Tube is great if you need to know how to do things like fix a leaky toilet, change your car's water pump, refill your inkjet cartridges or install RAM in your computer. If you are a DIY enthusiast and a visual learner, you will like their videos. Watch, pause and rewind them. Bookmark the videos and watch them again. Are you tired of the bar scene? Internet dating has increased over the years. Approximately 5 million singles use online dating services worth about $4 billion worldwide. (Yes, these statistics come from the Internet.) If you have a webcam, download and install Skype, a free video-conferencing application. You will truly enjoy chatting with your dates or your out-of-town children and be able to see them at the same time. Welcome to the 21st century. The Internet works. My wife and I met online back when the information superhighway was but a dirt road. We have watched the Web and our marriage grow for almost 20 years, although I do believe Teressa knows more trivia than Google. If all you go online for is email, live dangerously. Go look up something. You can't break your computer — not like that, anyway. You don't need a Ph.D. or any special knowledge. The latter is what you'll gain. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Storage in the Cloud

Computer Care: Cloud storage an easy way to back up your data

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com

POSTED Feb. 20, 2010 1 a.m.

Hard drives fail. It's not a question of if, but rather when. I've had them last eight years; one failed in less than eight months. If you place value on your data, you should find a secondary storage device for it.

Everybody has photos, spreadsheets, documents and other forms of digital matter that they would prefer not to lose. I back up my images to DVDs, my programs to an external hard drives and ghost my operating systems. There are various ways to back things up using different types of media.

Programs exist that will help, from Acronis True Image to Norton Ghost. Even within the programs you have choices. Do you want to make copies of your documents or only your system files? Would you prefer to clone your entire hard drive?

After you make these decisions, you need to have a place to keep them. For obvious reasons, you don't want your backup on the same drive as the source.

There are optical discs such as CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray. Then there are secondary internal hard drives. Most desktops have sufficient room for at least one additional drive, sometimes more. These would show up under My Computer (or Computer) next to the "C" drive, as the "D" drive, moving your CD drive down one, to perhaps the "E" drive.

Next are the external devices, whether portable or not. These include the small keychain-sized thumb drives to the pocket flash drives and the desk drives.

The price of these devices has dropped incredibly in the past year or so. You can get a 500 GB drive for just over $100 now. That's a lot of pictures of the grandkids. Why stop there? Terabyte drives are now all the rage. That is 1,000 gigabytes.

The next wave of storage (and computing) though, is not in your pocket or on your desk. It's on the Internet and is called cloud storage (and cloud computing). This comes from the cloud image that represents the Internet on flow charts.

You may have seen ads for Internet-based products like Mozi or Carbonite in magazines or on TV. This is the new wave. Most offer a gigabyte or two of free storage space in their cloud. For additional fees you can get more storage.

I have a free Mozi account and for less than $5 they offer unlimited storage. Both Mozi and Carbonite offer pricing for home and business accounts.

There are some advantages to cloud storage. You don't have to purchase and maintain a physical device, so there is nothing to wear down, break or lose. It is generally less expensive; it grows with your needs; it is more efficient and more secure than the way you are storing your data now.

Just as with the Acronis or Norton products, the off-site storage arena offers scheduled uploads to their clouds. All data is also encrypted so nobody can see what you are storing.

What I like is the fact that you are not tethered to a box and a cable. Wherever you are, you have access, 24/7 to you data. All you need is a computer and your password.

In a case as this, I suggest a strong password. This is a prime example why you shouldn't use the same term for all of your accounts. If someone hacks your e-mail account, then now they can enter your storage area as well. Choose an eight-character, alpha-numeric password, not your dog's name.

But just as with any product or service, caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware. Research the cloud service that you are about to send your valuable information up to. I would stick with one of the better known, big guys. Should you go for say, Carl's Cloud, it may turn out to be Carl's Con and you‘ve lost everything.

You might inquire if they have redundant servers. Do they have more than one copy of your data, should disaster strike them?

Remember, hard drives fail. It's a fact of computing. Generally, they last anywhere from three to five years. Even new ones can stop working. Sure, you'll get a replacement, but your data will still be gone.

I extract data from crashed drives on a regular basis. Often, though, it's not possible. Some drives are too far gone to get anything out of them. I can tell by the look on clients' faces that they have no other copies of what is on the drive.

Backing up data is not difficult, time-consuming, nor does it have to be expensive. Simply choose a method and a device and as they say, just do it!

Next time you decide to back up your data, consider the cloud. The sky is the limit.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

Internet Wars

Computer Care: The right ISP, browser can make Web surfing faster

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com

POSTED Feb. 6, 2010 4:16 p.m.

How do you connect to the Internet? You use a browser connected to an Internet service provider, your ISP. In Gainesville, that usually means most of you use either Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers with AT&T’s DSL (digital subscriber line) or Charter’s cable, both considered to be broadband connections.

If you still have a dial-up connection, stop reading now and call one of those ISPs to upgrade. It’s the second decade of the 21st century. There is no reason to be on a slow dial-up connection anymore. Your browser should show images instantly, not load them line by line.

So which is faster, DSL or cable? It’s like the current cell phone ads. They each claim to be the best.
Actually cable is faster than DSL, but there is a caveat. There is a bottleneck with cable; the more users online in your neighborhood, the slower the connection. DSL, on the other hand connects at a slower, albeit constant speed. If you check your e-mail just before dinner, DSL will probably be faster. But wait until after midnight when there are fewer folks online and cable should prove to be faster.

They are both fast, fast enough and way faster than dial-up, including optimized dial-up.

No matter which service you subscribe to, your modem will fail to forward a signal every now and then. When that happens, it is time to reset the modem. This may occur in bad weather or when local construction or maintenance crews are in your neighborhood causing service to become intermittent.

To reset your modem (cable or DSL), just unplug the power cord from the back of the box for about half a minute. Plug it back in and refresh your browser. You should be good to go.

If you have a wireless router, unplug it for 30 seconds as well. After the time is up, first plug in the modem and wait for the lights to settle down, about 15 seconds. Then plug the router back in. When its lights settle down, refresh your browser and try to get online again.

You could of course, call your ISP’s tech support and wait on hold for 40 minutes only to eventually get an agent. They will tell you what I just did. Why the ISPs don’t make this fix general knowledge, I’ll never know.
Unplug the modem and router if you have one. Wait 30 seconds on each before plugging them back in, and then refresh your browser. It is that simple.

Speaking of browsers, I prefer Mozilla’s Firefox to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It is faster, more secure and highly customizable. It has a Google search bar built in and it is even customizable. There is a plethora of add-ons and themes for Firefox, all free to download. It will even save your passwords if you want it to.

For those of you who just use vanilla-flavored browsers, add-ons allow you to customize page appearance, your connection speed, the tabs, your bookmarks, not just making things look pretty but making practical improvements while enhancing your browsing experience.

Internet Explorer just recently jumped on the tabbed bandwagon with its new versions. Other browsers like, Opera, Safari and Google’s newcomer, Chrome, are also good options. The latter claims ease of use and efficiency with movable tabs. So if you’re stuck with Explorer just because it came with Windows, take one of the others for a test drive. You may be pleasantly surprised.

The Google search bar is not just for searches. You can convert times, weights, currency, languages and more. If you want to look up a word, simply type in the box “define: your word” and hit Enter. It is very useful.

However wonderful a search engine Google is, Dogpile is better for research. It combines the resources of Google, Yahoo, Ask and Bing, offering a thoroughly comprehensive response to your query.

Whichever service you use to search the Internet, you can fine tune it by using a Boolean search. Click on the advanced link to find it. With a Boolean search, you can add search terms like “and,” “or” and “not.” This drastically cuts down superfluous page hits.

If you’re looking at Greece for example, to search for an upcoming vacation, by adding Boolean terms it can save you from scrolling through dozens of useless hits. Use “Greece not history” or “Greece and tourism” to save time.

For now there is only one Internet. Eventually, the folks who made it will make another and keep it to themselves, leaving the likes of us out of it. They built the information superhighway and are now working on the HOV lane with restricted access.

Could you blame them? They are trying to communicate about particle theories and avoiding cosmic collisions. We clutter it up with You Tube videos and spam.

So whichever search engine, browser or ISP you use, it’s all good. It will all get you there. It will also be a lot faster than it was a few short years ago in the last millennium.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

Computing and the Internet

Computer Care: Even with its ails, Internet has changed our lives forever

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com

UPDATED Nov. 21, 2009 12:18 a.m.

Some say the Internet is our downfall. Others insist it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Although I’m not a huge Facebook fan, haven’t really used eBay in years and don’t download music, I think the Internet has changed the way we communicate and do business. I’m an e-advocate for certain.

Sure, it has its evils. It is a community and just like any town, it has its seedy parts. There are those waiting to steal our data and identities. There are pedophiles stalking its dark streets and the Internet makes it easy for them. But also thanks to the Internet, we can find out which, if any of them live in our neighborhood.

Some computer/Internet users sit in front of their monitors for hours on end, never seeing the light of day. This, of course is the extreme. You’ve got to know when to shut down and walk the dog.

I’ve made a living from the Internet for many years now. Many of you read this online. I fix your computers that allow you to access the Internet. I can also remotely repair your computer via the Internet without leaving my house.

I have traversed the Information Super Highway since it was a dirt road. It’s been good to me. I buy things online, from clothes to prescriptions. I do banking, pay my bills and have video chats online with my daughter who lives two states away. I even met my wife and found my last dog online.

Before I had a GPS, I printed maps from the Web. I’ve planned vacations, made hotel reservations, bought airfare and rented cars from my computer. I’ve visited virtual places that I couldn’t drive or fly to. Some cities have webcams in real time. You can see the Eiffel Tower from your laptop as it is right now.

Some of us will remember when we had to rely on multivolume encyclopedias with annual updates to do any kind of research at all. Now we can find virtually anything online and it is updated daily in most cases.

Classified ads, too, have evolved. Not only are there auction sites like eBay, but we have sites like Criagslist, that make finding things to buy (or free) easier than before. There are job sites like Monster and Career Builder for those in need of employment.

Whether looking for a job, across town or across country; or seeking a part for your ’70 Camaro, what used to take hours or days now takes seconds or minutes.

I often read the news online, look up phone numbers, facts, words, the weather and even do research for this column when needs be. I use the Internet for research, from recipes to finding computer parts or for keeping up with the latest technology.

To aid us with these searches, we have engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Even a novice can find what they need in minutes with their help.

And there is fun to be had as well. I’ve reconnected with friends I hadn’t seen in 30 years in the little time I’ve spent on Facebook.

Gamers play each other online, often across town or even the country.

We can also watch TV online now thanks to sites like Hulu and Fancast. We can also download music, books, magazines and newspapers to listen or read on our computers or portable devices.

The Internet has manifested itself in mobility products as laptops, netbooks, cell phones and portable computing devices like the Blackberry and Iphone.

E-mail is probably the single most used part of the Internet. When was the last time any of you actually penned a letter to anyone? Why bother; we have e-mail. We can attach photos, videos and music and audio to our correspondences. It’s easy, fun and it is quicker than snail mail.

Thanks to e-mail, I have stayed in contact with friends and relatives I might never have written to otherwise. Call it impersonal if you must, but it keeps us connected.

Yes, I get viruses, adware, spam and letters from the Nigerian Treasury Minister as we all do. But I think the good far outweighs the bad.

Although admittedly, I would rather hold a magazine, book or newspaper in my hands, I still read my fair share online.

The computer and the Internet are a couple of incredible tools that have changed our ways of life, like it or not. They have opened doors that were not visible or even there a mere 20 years ago. They have broadened our horizons, opened our eyes and enriched our lives.

Things will never go back the way they were. The Internet will continue to grow and emerge. I wouldn’t want go back to how it was before we had cell phones and I certainly wouldn’t want to do without my computer and the Internet.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.