Online backup service provider Carbonite was all over the news this week for suing two of its suppliers, claiming the vendors set up the systems that were responsible for losing 7,500 customers’ data. First published in The Boston Globe, the story was picked up by TechCrunch, Computerworld, CNET, and at least 20 other media outlets.… Continue reading Carbonite Data Loss Reports Miss the Point
Year: 2009
U.S. Masters Swimming Data Drowns
Nearly 50,000 swimmers nationwide rely on the U.S. Masters Swimming organization for training, competitions, and various local programs. Started in 1970, the organization has grown to support 500 local clubs and its website, www.usms.org, is the hub that helps manage this large, distributed nonprofit. Yesterday, during a routine import, the database containing all the member… Continue reading U.S. Masters Swimming Data Drowns
Friday the 13th: How Lucky Are You?
It’s 6:30 p.m. on Friday the 13th, so if you’re reading this, it probably wasn’t a completely unlucky day. Did you avoid walking under a ladder today? Stood a bit further back from large windows? Drove a little slower? According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute, about one in 15 people in the… Continue reading Friday the 13th: How Lucky Are You?
Ma.gnolia Wilts with No Backup
Ma.gnolia.com was a bookmark storing and sharing service (similar to Delicious.com) that has shut down due to data loss. The company started several years ago and built a small, but adoring user community that liked Ma.gnolia’s easy-to-use API and caching of linked pages. The service was the work of Larry Halff who nearly single-handedly built… Continue reading Ma.gnolia Wilts with No Backup
Backblaze Welcomes HP Upline Customers
HP is shutting down its Upline online backup service. No official announcement has been made, but HP has sent its users a notice (shown below) saying it will shut down the service on March 31st. TechCrunch has reported about previous trouble the service had and the current shutdown. Backblaze is offering HP Upline users a… Continue reading Backblaze Welcomes HP Upline Customers
Backblaze Attending TechCrunch Cloud Computing Roundtable
TechCrunch is holding its next roundtable on Feb 27th asking the question, “Whose Cloud Is It Anyway?” Assembling 275 people together, TechCrunch intends to discuss whether clouds will be closed, warring platforms or open, interconnected systems. Other questions I believe should be discussed include: What is the appropriate level for a cloud to exist at?… Continue reading Backblaze Attending TechCrunch Cloud Computing Roundtable
Faster Broadband Coming Soon?
Broadband connections in the United States are 10 times slower than those in South Korea. In fact, we are #15 based on average connection speed, behind not only Japan, Finland, France, and Sweden (which are all at least three times faster) but also countries including Iceland, Poland, and Portugal that are blessed with significantly faster… Continue reading Faster Broadband Coming Soon?
Bring Back Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was sorely missed yesterday at Macworld. Loved for his hyperbole, showmanship, and black turtleneck, Jobs bowed out of Apple’s last Macworld. Rumors circled that he was ill, Apple had nothing to announce, he was stepping down, etc. In the end, Jobs issued a statement. Macworld would not be the same without Jobs’ keynote.… Continue reading Bring Back Steve Jobs
JournalSpace Shuts Down Due to No Backups
JournalSpace, a six-year-old blog hosting service, closed shop on Tuesday after losing all of its users’ data. Details are sketchy, but the company claims the cause was either an OS failure or a disgruntled employee that deleted the data. Regardless of the cause, since JournalSpace had no backups, in addition to the death of the… Continue reading JournalSpace Shuts Down Due to No Backups
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Backblaze’s first and only radio ad.
Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009.
At the beginning of 2007, we set off on a mission to make sure no one ever lost data again. 2008 saw numerous milestones along this path, so I wanted to take a quick look back and a glance forward into 2009. Realizing that the #1 reason users did not back up was the difficulty… Continue reading Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009.