Backing up data is something that we all need, most of us think about, and only a few actually do. Last year I was trying to find a simple solution for backing up many different remote locations, as well as home and office PC’s, without setting up some convoluted (and bandwidth intensive) FTP server that probably couldn’t handle the data anyways. What I found was Mozy Online Backup. (Yes, this is a referral link. You and I will both get more free storage space by using it — nothing more.)
Basically, you sign up for free, install it, and it monitors your files and uploads them in an encrypted format to their data center, currently in Salt Lake City. Its default backup sets probably work for most users, but if you want more control you can easily fine-tune the sets to your liking. I’ve been using it for almost an entire year now in testing and I can say without a doubt that I’ll soon be moving to their pro version with our corporate systems.
[tags]mozy, online backup[/tags]
Unless you live in a closet, you’ve probably heard of MySpace (think Fox). Then, there’s Facebook, Orkut, and many more. In my opinion, once they really push to monetize their platform, they fall apart. The online advertisers get in, work some magic, and the interface turns into a clicking billboard. I love Facebook for its clean look and non-customizable profiles (the absolute bane of MySpace), but when they decided to open up their platform for developers we’re already seeing much more clutter than before.
Now, where was I going with this? Ah, yes. Geni. It’s in beta right now, but showing more promise than any social network I’ve seen. Why? Because even as they begin to monetize it down the road, it still performs a much more important function of putting you into perspective with your genealogy. On top of that, it still carries all the expected profile information that one would see on every other social network application out there today. What’s that? You say you don’t like your family? Well, go have fun on MySpace then.
[tags]genealogy, geni, social network[/tags]