Frustration with some people

[Acera]

The cloud seems like a good idea, but it's not. Never trust you important information to someone else for safekeeping. A simple cheap set of USB thumb drives will be a much better option. You can place them in a number of different locations (safe deposit box, gun safe, parents/kids house, etc.) and update them as needed.

The cloud is a way for the computer software companies to quit selling you a program you can use for years and years. They want to lease it to you, so they have a steady source of income. It's not a good idea as data can be changed at their choosing. We already have seen what Amazon has done to Kindle users, not something they could have done to a hard copy in your possession.

JMHO.

 

[benenglish]

Back before ubiquitous digital technologies made photography cheap, there were a number of photographers who made businesses of doing home inventories for insurance purposes. They'd come to your house and set up a nice table-top studio. Then the homeowner would bring out everything important enough to be claimed separately if lost. The photographers would shoot the item, any distinguishing marks, and serial numbers, at minimum. I actually think I still have a couple of books somewhere on how to set up such a business.

Pawncop - Have you ever run across someone who had one of those photo inventories done and found a use for it?

 

[pawncop]

I have used still photos but never video. It would work but you do not need a professional. Document the date, the people present, the items with complete verbal description and video the serial number.

 

[benenglish]

...you do not need a professional.

I agree these days. 30 years ago I would have strongly disagreed.

But my question was more along the lines of - a whole bunch of these inventories have been done but it seems to me that the people careful enough to do them are also the types to take precautions to avoid theft. I can't think of anyone who spent the money back in the day to get a professional inventory who actually used it in anything except a divorce proceeding.

 

[35Remington]

After I moved in to my current home, my local insurance agent came out and videotaped the entire place. I opened every tool chest and drill box. Then he gave me a DVD of the film. When my house was broken in to, we were able to use that to identify some of the items that were stolen and I didn't have receipts for.

 

[pawncop]

benenglish,

My knee jerk response is, there may be some credibility to your thought, but I have no proof one way or another.

 

[txbikerman]

After I moved in to my current home, my local insurance agent came out and videotaped the entire place. I opened every tool chest and drill box. Then he gave me a DVD of the film. When my house was broken in to, we were able to use that to identify some of the items that were stolen and I didn't have receipts for.

Thats a very good ideal


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[smann222]

My home was burglarized last week and I had serial numbers for my stuff written down at one point. I also saved a list to my laptop. Can't find the paper anymore and the laptop was stolen with everything else which has led me to do a lot of thinking on this subject. I will not let ANYONE, professional or with insurance, come into my home to video or photograph anything. Doing so just allows someone you don't know to inventory everything you have in your home and possibly use that info to target your home outside of their work hours. Paper is easy to lose. Computers get stolen. Two best options I can figure are storing photos and serial numbers on a thumb drive and storing it in a safe deposit box or emailing them to yourself. Email seems easier since it can be accessed from anywhere via computer, phone, etc.

 

[35Remington]

My home was burglarized last week and I had serial numbers for my stuff written down at one point. I also saved a list to my laptop. Can't find the paper anymore and the laptop was stolen with everything else which has led me to do a lot of thinking on this subject. I will not let ANYONE, professional or with insurance, come into my home to video or photograph anything. Doing so just allows someone you don't know to inventory everything you have in your home and possibly use that info to target your home outside of their work hours. Paper is easy to lose. Computers get stolen. Two best options I can figure are storing photos and serial numbers on a thumb drive and storing it in a safe deposit box or emailing them to yourself. Email seems easier since it can be accessed from anywhere via computer, phone, etc.

Sorry for what just happened to you. That being said, you're speaking from a pretty raw emotional standpoint right now, which isn't lending itself to rational thought. That's normal.

Storing all your data on a single laptop was not a good move, and one that could easily have been foreseen. Emailing yourself is a great idea. There are many secure cloud-based options as well. About once a year I copy my entire hard drive onto an external, which is then taken 100 miles away to a family member's house.

Hope you get the stuff back. What you do have control over now, though, is how you prepare for next time.

 

[jordanmills]

My home was burglarized last week and I had serial numbers for my stuff written down at one point. I also saved a list to my laptop. Can't find the paper anymore and the laptop was stolen with everything else which has led me to do a lot of thinking on this subject. I will not let ANYONE, professional or with insurance, come into my home to video or photograph anything. Doing so just allows someone you don't know to inventory everything you have in your home and possibly use that info to target your home outside of their work hours. Paper is easy to lose. Computers get stolen. Two best options I can figure are storing photos and serial numbers on a thumb drive and storing it in a safe deposit box or emailing them to yourself. Email seems easier since it can be accessed from anywhere via computer, phone, etc.

If you use a service like skydrive, it can automatically sync your docs to cloud servers and other computers. Combined with bitlocker or EFS, thieves won't be able to get access to your data, and you will be able to retrieve a copy of the information without the computer.

Of course, that doesn't much help you right now.

 

[TheDan]

Two best options I can figure are storing photos and serial numbers on a thumb drive and storing it in a safe deposit box or emailing them to yourself. Email seems easier since it can be accessed from anywhere via computer, phone, etc.

Google Drive is an option. So is Dropbox. The only downside I can think of for Google Drive or email is that your stuff could be turned over by court order or surveilled. The same is true of Dropbox, but you can encrypt the files before putting them on there.

 

[35Remington]

The only downside I can think of for Google Drive or email is that your stuff could be turned over by court order or surveilled. The same is true of Dropbox, but you can encrypt the files before putting them on there.

That downside exists universally. Safe deposit box? Yep. Mom's house? Yep. Under the mattress? Yessiree.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

1) Place key docs in encrypted file.
2) Upload encrypted file to Dropbox
3) Load another copy of the encrypted file on an encrypted USB drive (2 layers) that's on your key chain.
4) go crack cold one and celebrate that you're done

 

[smann222]

That downside exists universally. Safe deposit box? Yep. Mom's house? Yep. Under the mattress? Yessiree.

Not too sure about under the mattress considering my mattress was flipped to the other side of the room when they came into my house.

 

[Acera]

Not too sure about under the mattress considering my mattress was flipped to the other side of the room when they came into my house.

Doubt they would have stolen a small cheap USB drive if it had been there, or a manila folder that had nothing of value in it. Put you inventory sheet in a album with family photos, no one wants those except you and they will probably not spend the time looking through it all.

 

[35Remington]

Not too sure about under the mattress considering my mattress was flipped to the other side of the room when they came into my house.

You missed my point, which was that court orders defeat all of the examples I listed. People who think that a file in the cloud is unsecured, and that one hidden in a bank vault is impenetrable, are misinformed.

 

[smann222]

You missed my point, which was that court orders defeat all of the examples I listed. People who think that a file in the cloud is unsecured, and that one hidden in a bank vault is impenetrable, are misinformed.

Agreed

 

[gcarrillo004]

there is an App for that.....try out gun vault...i love it, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.himeware.gunvaultpro&hl=en