Which is bigger - a petabyte or zottabyte?

Terabytes? Petabytes? Yottabytes?  What do those words mean? How do they compare? There are so many terms to remember in the field of technology that it is hard to keep them all straight!  

I'll give you a tip, though. When asked the questions below, your correct answer will probably be  _______ GB (gigabytes).
"How large is your cellphone?"
"How large is your computer's hard drive?"
"How much cellular data do you have on your phone?"

The chart below might be helpful, too.  To move up each level from the bottom to the top, multiply by 1000 (or 1024 to be exact)!

• A yottabyte (YB) is larger than a 
• zettabyte (ZB) is larger than an .... 
• exabyte (EB) is larger than a...
• petabyte (PB), which is larger than a...
• terabyte (TB), which is larger than a...
• gigabyte (GB), which is larger than a...
• megabyte (MB), which is larger than a...
• kilobyte (KB), which is larger than a...
• byte (B)

--and it takes 8 bits to make one byte.  A bit is the amount of storage required to store one character of text. 

I smile when I think about when I first started teaching in the computer lab at the middle school; the hard drives in the computer lab were measured in megabytes (MB) and we thought that was wonderful!

Times have changed.  Some day yottabyte will be part of our every day language, I suppose.

iOS 11 - Apps that won't work any longer

Today's tip is for iPhone and iPad users:

iOS 11 is reported to be ready for release today.  We'll see.  I'm eager to download it on our phones and iPad because of some great new features!  

Once iOS 11 is installed, though, there may be some apps on your phone or iPad that no longer work....unless their developers decide later to do an update.

To check out the apps that will no longer work after iOS 11 is installed, go to Settings - General - About - Applications.  I found 45 apps that will no longer work on my iPhone, but I have to admit that I only use one of those on a regular basis, so it won't be a big loss.  I probably downloaded the others just to take a look at them when they were recommended in an article I was reading.  :-)

Keeping my fingers crossed that my phone will show the update is available later today!  (Our phones have displayed some strange behaviors the past two weeks; I'm hoping it is just because Apple is getting ready to roll out this new app!)

Equifax breach - what should you do?

I've written and re-written the "tip" below multiple times over the last 10 days and am still not totally sure about the recommendations.  I'd love to hear from you if you have different information or suggestions!

The Equifax breach continues in the news.  Hopefully, you all have read about the breach and may have already taken some steps to minimize possible damage.

I've watched the news; I've read the news.  One this is certain:  You should not ignore this breach; you need to take some actions to protect yourself. It seems there are some recurring suggestions and I've listed those below but I'd welcome responses/suggestions from all of you.

1)  Visit https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page.  Click on the Potential Impact button to check your vulnerability.  However, it is safe to say that MOST of us had identity information that was stolen from Equifax.  (Our son living in Germany is the only one in the family who appears to be "safe.")

2)  Use the above link to Enroll in the complimentary year of free credit file monitoring being provided by Equifax.  

3) Consider putting a freeze on your credit....with all three reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian). This is a great article explaining how/why to do that.

4) File your taxes as early as you possibly can next year before a scammer can claim your tax refund.

5)  Monitor and continue to monitor for years to come your credit card statements.

6) Request a free credit report from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax on a rotating basis - one company every 4 months.  Put a reminder on your calendar to do this.  You can request one report per year and this will not hurt your credit score.  Spreading them out every 4 months will allow you to regularly monitor your credit reports.

Backing up to the cloud

Are there items on your digital devices that you would be absolutely lost or devastated without? Pictures? Financial files? Important information for other accounts?  Genealogy information?

If so, the recent tragedy in Texas only serves to remind us that if we are not backing up to a cloud service, we should find a way to do that.

A family relative in Texas was rescued in the middle of the night by her son.  She woke up to the sound of dripping water and when she stepped out of bed, her feet were in 2-3 inches of water.  By the time her son arrived, they waded out of the area in chest-deep water.  It was harrowing; she had no time to collect belongings.....didn't even have her shoes.  Scary.

Now, she will begin the process of rebuilding her life.  Everything she owned is gone.  Pictures of her late husband and brother.  Financial files.  Everything.

Most of us back up important files, BUT usually on an external hard drive.  But, in addition to that, you should also be storing your important things in the "cloud." "The cloud" simply means you are storing your documents on some computers that someone else owns so that if something happens to your house, your documents/photos will still be retrievable on another computer.  If you aren't sure if you are backing up to the cloud we probably need to talk about that one-on-one.  

However, if you are using one of these services -- iCloud, Microsoft One Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Google Photos, etc. then you are backing up to the cloud IF you are actually using them to upload all of your files automatically OR if you regularly copy your documents or photos to them.

I plan on spending one of our class sessions on "the cloud" this fall.  I know we have briefly discussed it before but last week's hurricane stresses the true importance of making sure our electronic files will always be there for us.

For more information on the "top" cloud storage for 2017, you may want to check out this article:
http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-cloud-storage