What thinking aloud can do - An idea for 100% secure backup

I've been lousy at updating lately, sorry. String of posts to follow, LOTS to share!

I was thinking today, about how I can better secure all of my data. A lot of data I have is completely irreplaceable, on my phone, computer, laptop, etc. Therefore, an adequate backup solution would be a fantastic idea. Added to this, I don't want to entrust everything to the cloud - it's expensive, and not 100% secure; people can listen in, the company could lose the copy, or go bankrupt, and/or a number of other things could happen. Just look at the amount of dead geocities links for an example (not cloud storage, but the same thing could happen to it very easily).

So, thinking about this, I had the idea of buying loads of high capacity (>2TB) disks, cramming them into a cheap machine, tucking it away on a shelf somewhere, and setting up automated backups to the new server. Again, however, there are a few problems. House gets broken into and the machine taken? Fire? Hell, just taking it down for an upgrade means I can't do anything with my data for a while.

So, then I managed to conjoin the two ideas, and several others, to come up with something that IS 100% secure, and free too. Social backups, with distributed RAID.

What is that? A new idea, I believe, that I don't think has been done before. If several people all contribute 2TB to a vast network of computers, and then consume 2TB from the network, then it's like nothing happened, right? Effectively, but picture this: if 10 people did this, and those 10 people all had the 2TB each on separate partitions, all of which were assembled in a RAID array, then one of those 10 people could suffer a fire, or outage, and none of the data would be lost. Granted, there would be small data loss as far as the capacity went, but that should be insignificant compared to the benefits.

Particularly if it is distributed globally, this kind of network, especially encrypted, and individually passworded (if the technology exists, if not, TO THE EDITOR!), then we have completely reliable, completely secure (if the encryption and password are strong) backups. No need for expensive cloud solutions, and really, nobody has to pay anything, or even trust each other, because it's all distributed. With the right people starting this off, I personally think it could work really well, and catch on quite quickly.

I'll do more research into this, but if it is to happen, some people need to come forth and volunteer as guinea pigs.

31 Day Challenge - Conclusion

Well, the 31 Day Challenge is over and done with, and yes, in case you are wondering, I did go a few days over, purely because of my busy schedule. Hence, no post for a couple of extra days. Here it is now, though.

To be honest, I really actually enjoyed this, and learned a fair bit from it. Most of my time was spent with my nose in a Stephen King novel, but regardless of this, I did learn a few things. So:

10. It's nice to do a bit of reading now and then. I'm going to be keeping up my reading now, and have fallen in love with it again. I used to read loads, but fell out with it (probably due to the fact that the book I was reading was falling apart, and was a swine to keep track of).

9. It is very possible to break habits, and find different ways to entertain oneself. I will be honest, to start with, I was as bored as I don't know what. Then I discovered books again. Happy days. Finding new hobbies isn't that hard, and as a result, if you're bored with something, but don't want to give it up in case you end up more bored (as I confess I was getting to before the challenge), just look. The right answer won't be too far away.

8. Everything gets better after a break. Having a break from my computer, music and TV has made me realize how good they actually are, and has made me appreciate them even more.

7. I was completely dependent on music. To tie in with my previous point, I was quite reliant on music, and found myself missing it heavily, and often fighting the urge to put some on (I didn't ever break the promise, other than what was outlined in my previous posts, so I count this as a success).

6. A break from music can be relaxing. I found that, before doing this, I sometimes got random headaches. Not anymore, not during the challenge. So, maybe I need to turn it down a tad ;).

5. I rediscovered my love of walking as well. A nice relaxing walk, with no music at all, is very worth while to clear your head (but can do just the opposite if the weather is shit, like today).

4. By doing things like this, it forces you to make new friends, and do more with friends. Extrapolating from this, the computer, Internet, TV, etc. are obviously vast social life vampires, essentially leaving you with nothing. So, I'll be cutting my hours down.

3. It is possible to get by, and organize things, without relying on technology. I often found myself organizing to meet people by, wait, you won't believe this, actually talking to them. Can you believe that? No texts, no Facebook or Google+, all by actually talking to them.

2. Most of our thoughts aren't our own. The media, and big advertisers, are often planting thoughts in our heads. There is no getting completely away from this, but we can cut it down, as I have done.

1. Things like this are absolutely worth while. It cleared my head, allowed me to discover some neat ideas for projects, etc., and was actually quite enjoyable. So, I'll be doing the same sort of thing, one month of every 3. Yeah, you heard me.

That's all folks!

The Black March - 31 Day Challenge - Day 9

Just to let everyone know, I am still alive.

News of the Day: Hacker 'Sabu' worked tirelessly as FBI informant

Thought of the Day: 99% of people are dicks. You just need to learn to deal with it.

Progress on the 31 Day Challenge so far: Its gone quite well, actually. Pleased with myself, and using the computer now is making me feel guilty, hence the short post.

I can't promise daily updates, but I will post as often as I can.

The Black March - 31 Day Challenge - Day 2

Late again, sorry. New format now.

News of the Day: Apple is going on the defensive. With the Foxconn mess, and many people doubting their ethics, Apple is now fighting to prove that it is an American company, apparently not worrying as much any more about clearing up the apparent disbelief of the Foxconn story. People still very much doubt Foxconn is ethical, but Apple seems more concerned now with allegations that it is no longer supporting American jobs. Full story here.

(Aside: this reminded me of a joke. "Ten years ago we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs. Now we've got no Hope, no Cash, and no Jobs. I hope Kevin Bacon doesn't die.")

Thought of the Day: If you think you can do something, and you think you'll be good at it, get up off your arse and do it!

31 Day Challenge - What I've done so far today: So, yesterday wasn't really part of the challenge - I booked a ticket to go and see Rammstein long before I knew I'd do the challenge. So, yesterday is exempt. Sorry.

The Black March - 31 Day Challenge - Day 1

Sorry about the late post people; I was busy last night, and I will be busy again tonight, so I will make today's post tomorrow.

So, as far as the Black March goes, I believe either Anonymous was bluffing on G+, or it was a poser. riaa.org is still up, and that probably means mpaa.org is as well. Ah well.

So, yesterday was incredibly difficult, and today so far was as well, but I definitely feel as though I've been more productive at college. I did a load of work for college, and also went walking, to stave off my cravings for college. That's really about it (boring, I know.)

For the Black March, however, I do know that the media are beginning to cover it, in newspapers and on TV. I know because people have told me. I have not seen this for myself, however were somebody to explicitly show me the stuff pertaining directly to the Black March, I would indeed have a gander.

The Black March - 31 Day Challenge

So, in light of the Black March starting tomorrow, I've set myself a challenge. Others are more than welcome to try as well, and I do encourage it (remember to blog about your efforts!)

The challenge is, quite simply, to turn off all technology in my life, outside of my education (which I can't avoid) and writing this blog. I will update the blog every day in March, with how I filled my time, what I accomplished that day, etc.

I think that, for one, my wallet will thank me, but secondly, I will become a much better person because of it. No Internet, no TV, no music, no telephone, etc. My mind won't be poisoned by advertising any more, and I will be forced to entertain myself. I might read, or get out the set of bongos I paid for ages ago and haven't touched since. Put quite honestly, right now, if there were to be a power outage, I wouldn't know what to do with myself, and that isn't something I'm particularly happy with.

So, there you have it. I will update daily on this blog, about my efforts, but that will be the extent I will use anything electronic (or even electric, in any way, if I can help it).

The Black March

Many people are in arms with the Black March fast approaching, and I dare say, I'm joining them! I've been following a couple of posts made by Anonymous on Google+ (disclaimer: I've read them, this doesn't necessarily mean I support Anonymous, the way they do things, or their views.) I really must say, it's interesting the varying opinion on the matter.

I will be attending the Black March, and doing my part, and I do it to protect the freedom of myself, and of others. Ultimately, my honest opinion is that the political system is fucked, and doesn't work, but it's here to stay. Anywho, I'm making a stand against ACTA. But at the same time, there are consequences.

As pointed out on G+, it is more than likely that this will affect private retailers more than Hollywood. This is true, to an extent, but ultimately, the point is exactly that, a point. Ultimately, the goal is to be heard, to make a stand. Everyone holds out for a month, then I can guarantee that everyone will relapse into the media again, which will more than make up for what is lost.

But we will be heard.

I've also been looking at what Anonymous are trying to do. Interesting, but I believe this is ultimately going to boil the whole thing down to tit for tat. If Anonymous go about tearing down websites left and right, yes, we will be heard, but they are damaging the media, and have a guess at how we will find out? The media. They control how we get information, unless, of course, we use some 3rd party newsreel, such as Slashdot. This ultimately means that the media can, and will, put Anonymous in a bad light; since most people are in fact sheeple, this will turn people against Anonymous, who are supposedly fighting for said sheeple. This will send the whole thing spiraling out of control, and it will end up no more than a fight between 6 year olds in the playground. Meanwhile, MPAA and RIAA push ACTA through, while the population, who all agree that ACTA is bad, are squabbling amongst themselves.

DDoS is not the answer. I believe that Anonymous could very easily become very powerful. But they are going about it in exactly the wrong way. If instead they were to raise awareness of this sort of thing, in a sort of 'lead-by-example' way, it could resolve the situation, lawfully. Mobilize, and, for instance, start up a news site, like Slashdot, but about, well, everything. But, fix everything that is wrong with current news reportings. Focus on the issues in the world, political crises, destabilization in the East, soldiers killed so that the MPAA can fight the rest of us, rather than celebrity X or movie star Y got a hair cut.

I don't believe that Anonymous are going about this in the right way, purely because they want to raise awareness, but it is through their enemies that the awareness is raised. But, nonetheless, I won't be buying any DVDs, CDs, movies, games, etc. for a month, and neither should you. Wait until April. (Of course I'm still going to a gig on the 3rd, but I paid for that before, so that doesn't count :-)