The Clouuuud

Yes, the "cloud". I hate that buzzword. I see it everywhere, and seemingly every day I see tech articles and tweets extolling its virtues, heralding it as the next big thing - a means to trade being tethered to a general-purpose computer at a desk for being tethered to a faceless corporation's ecosystem, accessed through whatever locked-down devices they see it fit to support.

Of course, as with anything that takes control and privacy away from users, there is backlash. _Tonight at 11: are your Facebook photos really private? The truth may surprise you._ Next thing you know you have parents making their children wear infrared LED hats to birthday parties. In order to capitalize on this panic some services have started advertising themselves as an alternative to cloud storage. Not all of them, however, understand what "cloud" storage means.

Like this recent email from my credit union (emphasis mine)...

Introducing My Virtual StrongBox® – our New Online Safe Deposit Box Service!

My Virtual StrongBox allows you to safely store copies of critical documents such as birth certificates, insurance policies, wills and more online, without having to rely on the "cloud."

With My Virtual StrongBox, you have immediate access to your documents – where and when you need them – with the assurance that they are stored on the same dedicated secure devices where we keep your eStatements and other financial information. Plus, as a Northwest Federal eStatement user, you have access to 100MB of document storage at no charge.

Start safely storing and organizing your important documents. Login to your eStatements directly or through Online Banking, to create your own My Virtual StrongBox today.

TL;DR version:

Vizzini

My credit union

Inigo Montoya

Me

Fun With Spambots

Spambots exist to teach people a lesson - never give your credit card numbers to websites proffered by nubile girls with webcams and far too much free time on their hands. These bots usually follow a script of "Hi, how are you? Oh, that's nice. I'm bored and fresh out of the shower. I'm going to go on my webcam and expose myself on the internet (because that's what us twentysomethings do). Here's the site!"

Recently, one messaged me on AIM (yes, I still use it), so I decided to have a little fun with it. The conversation is after the break.

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