Never rely on 3rth party services

Never rely on 3rth party services!
Especially when they are free.

This week, my picture moblog at Proximus vanished ... Luckily I cached all the images on my own server, but this proves yet again that the only way you can be sure that your online ecosystem is running smoothly, is to keep as much elements as possible under your own control.

This is why I've written my own blog-software, host it on my own server, and host most files on my own webspace.
Not that my blogging software is remotely as feature-complete, or safe, or powerfull than others, but I can be sure that the same software will be available as long as I'm around, and it certainly is more flexible and open then any 3rth party software can ever be ... (and unlike some other companies that can't deliver this slogan: it simply works !)

So: if you plan to keep your online data for a looooong time: make sure you don't lock it down in one service! (like Flickr , or Gmail, or Itunes ...)
Is there a way to retrieve your original source image from Flickr, including all EXIF data? I think not.
Is there a way to download the original video you uploaded to Youtube? I think not.
Do you think Flickr and Youtube will be around forever? I think not.

Keeping your data in the cloud is obviously the way to go, but do make sure it's a piece of the cloud that you can somewhat control ...

P.S. Boy .. do I need a spellchecker in my blogging software or what ? :-) Geef je reactie (2)