Your Personal Cloud

Dear Monica, What is all this talk about having my own personal cloud on the interwebs?  Why would I want my own cloud? I have a lot of gadgets I don’t even use, why add more to the pile?  Sincerely, Cloudy & Confused.

Dear Cloudy and Confused, When you save your files, music, pictures, videos on the Internet, the space where all your data is saved on the Internet (with a file sharing service), is sometimes referred to as a “Cloud”.  You can think of your own personal Cloud as the place where your files are stored and waiting for you to access them.  You can store, share, send a link to and stream photos, videos, audio recordings, copies of your resume, and any file type.

The benefits of having your own personal Cloud on the Internet include giving you the ability to be able to access any of your files from any computer and any location in the world at any time you have Internet access.  You do not need to rely on one specific computer or machine to save all your data for you.  You will need to remember your username and password when you sign up for a file sharing service.

Saving your data in your own personal Cloud also helps to keep your computers and mobile devices free from getting bogged down with a ton of data.  You can stream music, videos, or a photo slideshow from your personal Cloud to any web enabled mobile device, computer, and television.  You can save your resume in your Cloud and send a link to your resume to a potential employer.  You can share a photo slideshow or videos from past family gatherings during a new family gathering.  Maybe you have a ton of audio recordings from your favorite Kanien’kehá speakers; you can stream that to play on your computers, mobile devices, and television any time too.

The most popular online file sharing web services include DropBox, Google Drive (also known as Google Docs), Ubuntu One, Picassa, Flickr, Wikisend and many others.  A great website that I frequently read is HongKiat.com and it offers a search at the top right of its website.  Search the HongKiat website for “Free online file sharing” and you will find a ton of choices to help you find one or a few services that will help you create a unique and personal Cloud filled with all your awesome data. 

If you have questions about computer and the Internet send them to [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help you find answers in future stories.