ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2007 > September > 26 > Entry
Flashes of angst!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Recent developments allow us to carry our minds and most of our lives around on USB flash drives, those neat little thumb size thingies that hold so much data.
First they only held megabytes, now they’re up in the gigabytes with no end in sight. Miniaturization has gone wild hasn’t it? How many of you carry your life around in this small piece of plastic and chips? Isn’t it great? I can’t even begin to fathom what’s in the thing but when I plug it in, there’s all my data!
On the down side, have you ever lost one? These things are so small but carry so much data. If you have ever lost one, you know the sinking feeling that happens when you realize what is gone. I lost one recently and although I had backed up everything, whoever finds it, will see some interesting things on it including some work documents that are confidential to my job.
How do you replace months of work? What happens to the sensitive information from your company ends up in a taxi, on a plane or in an internet cafe on the other side of the country or world? Surely people will make an effort to return it to the rightful owner - not.
I’m still trying to find a way to keep my data safe and I know there are other ways to access my data remotely, but I still love my flash drive. My latest strategy is to put it on my key chain. Not having gotten used to this, I have locked my keys in my office when I left the zip plugged into the computer and ran out the door to a meeting. Worse yet, is when I use another set of keys and my data is left at home.
Help! I need some advice. What are some of your horror stories? How have you overcome the loss of your Flash drive?
As I save this entry on my flash drive, please tell me how to keep it with me without inconveniencing myself any further!
Comments
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By April
September 27, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
My work provides us with a XKey… it works like a zip disk, but it’s password protected and encrypted. It doesn’t help with the loss of knowledge should you lose it, but there is some comfort to know your loss is not someone else’s gained knowledge. I definitely recommend it!
By Kimi
September 28, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this
Thanks to the author for this blog, it made me really think about this issue.
Altho I have never lost a zip drive, I did insert one into a computer & I still don’t know what happened, but it wiped out everything on the zip drive immediately & I was crushed. That’s just as bad as losing it or having a computer crash, which also happened to me earlier this year.
Losing a zip or crashing a computer is similar to losing your wallet. You don’t always realize how much of your info you’ve lost until you have to try and replace it or go looking for it & realize damn it was in my wallet … or on my zip drive!
Mines came with a string that you can put around your neck & I have no shame in doing so! I also tie it to my purse straps & then place it inside the bag to hopefully minimize the chance of losing it.
One thing I’ve done recently is add a file to my zip drive entitled “If Lost, Please Return To…” & I wrote in the file my telephone number(s), email addresses & offer a reward for its return with all my info intact.
Unfortunately if you lose a zip drive & someone you know or trust doesn’t find it, one can only hope that the person will be nice enough to return it if given enough information to do so.
By Doug Witherby
October 1, 2007 3:48 PM | Link to this
Very good heads up yet please let me switch gears, I’m 50 and just lost my job. Bills are way behind and I can not find anything yet. I do not have a degree and all I want to do is start making some money to save my home and most importantly my wife and children. Can any body help. Anything will be appretiated.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!