On my way home from Chicago this weekend I was scanning the radio for things to listen to.  I was almost to Eau Claire when I hit WCCO in Minneapolis and they were airing a call-in show that had a local “computer expert” talking and helping people with their home computer issues.

I normally just take these shows with a grain of salt and move on, but this guy really struck a nerve with me for some reason.   He did have some good recommendations, for example he recommended to a caller, as do I, to use  Microsoft Security Essentials for home anti-virus.   However, I’m pretty sure this guy owns stock in Google because every other word out of his mouth was promoting some Google app.

His first recommendation was for everyone to organize their files into folders (which I agree with), but he said emphatically that this would “greatly speed up your computer”.

Really?  Let’s debunk that one right now.

Sure, you’ll be able to find that picture that your camera named “pic20382172934.jpg” easier by organizing them in folders (which Windows Photo Viewer does by default anyway), but with a little research about NTFS, which is the file system that Windows XP and newer uses by default, you’ll know that it does not significantly improve disk or Windows performance.

NTFS uses a relational database to keep track of where files and folders on your disk.  When you create, delete, rename, move, whatever, a file, it just updates the entry in the MFT (Master File Table).

First, a little info on how disks actually store your data.  When you create a new Word document called “Document1.docx” , hopefully if there is room, Windows will try to write the file intact to a place on the hard disk (or multiple disks if you use RAID), if not, it will fragment it and squeeze it into places where it can fit the pieces into.  NTFS will document the locations on the disk where the file pieces are located in the MFT.  It’s much more complicated than this, but I’m trying to keep this article on level 100 here.

Now let’s draw this out a little bit:  (Assume we are on Windows XP)

When you access filename.doc in C:\Documents and Settings\Jake\My Documents (wait, that’s a pretty good folder structure right there!) , Windows will look for the location(s) of the file in the MFT and begin the process of putting the pieces back together in RAM (physical or virtual) and present to to the application (Word).

If I put that file into a folder, all that is happening is the entry in the MFT is being updated.  And technically, if you consider there are change logs and junction points to consider in all of this, if you were to suddenly reorganize that 1000 picture gallery into photos in a weekend, technically you could slow Windows down for a little while until the Change Journal fills up and then purges, or even while the indexing service catches up with your changes.

But, I suppose it will feel faster if you sort those files into a pretty folder structure.  I’m saying you shouldn’t organize your files, because you should just for your own sanity and others who may access your systems.  But to think that it will in any way speed things up is ludicrous.

His second recommendation was to move everything to the cloud, INCLUDING private personal financial data.  He went as far as recommending a service that I had never heard of just because “they encrypt your data”.

As the “Awesome” one says.  So, this expert is telling people to upload your budgets, or maybe the doc about your 401K, or maybe even the files with your passwords to your credit card websites, to “the Cloud”.  I’m down with the cloud for some things.  Music, video, gaming.  But like hell can I ever recommend you put your ultra personal files to someone else’s datacenter in god knows what country.   It’s the same idea as me collecting the copies of your birth certificates and saying “they’ll be fine here in my bottom drawer… I lock it.”   If you trust that, then I’ve got a new business idea!

Did this guy ever bother to read the Terms of Use for Google Docs?

4.1 Google has subsidiaries and affiliated legal entities around the world (“Subsidiaries and Affiliates”). Sometimes, these companies will be providing the Services to you on behalf of Google itself. You acknowledge and agree that Subsidiaries and Affiliates will be entitled to provide the Services to you.

4.3 As part of this continuing innovation, you acknowledge and agree that Google may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Services (or any features within the Services) to you or to users generally at Google’s sole discretion, without prior notice to you. You may stop using the Services at any time. You do not need to specifically inform Google when you stop using the Services.

4.4 You acknowledge and agree that if Google disables access to your account, you may be prevented from accessing the Services, your account details or any files or other content which is contained in your account.

And, if you sign up now, you also get:

1.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

So, not only can Google take away your access to your docs, but they can also transmit them over public networks and make any changes they want to it.

Now… how’s that cloud looking now?    His idea of moving all of your pics to Picasa was equally as short sighted.  With the Feds having access to Google’s datacenter, do you really want those bathtub pics of the kids (come on, we all have them) up where someone could take those pics the wrong way and suddenly your in deep doo doo over them.  (And yes, it’s safe to click that link, it’s not pics of my kids in the bathtub.  It’s a link to an ABC News story about a family that was terrorized by Child Protective Services over bathtub photos. )

I’m not saying don’t use Google Docs or that Google is evil because I use their services too.  But I keep my important data in places that I always have access to.   I use Google Docs for quick access to some things, but nothing involving personal data.

My point in all of this is that with technology, no matter what it is, is so deep an wide.  No one knows everything about anything in this field and it takes a lot of work to get good at a very very small subset of this technology thing.  A lot of people will project themselves as experts or professionals, and either know just enough to be dangerous, or really will be an expert.  Unfortunately, there are FAR more of the dangerous type out there than the true experts.

How do you weed the dangerous clowns out?   Get multiple opinions, check credentials, look to see if the person quotes official  documentation and best practices when making a recommendation.  If they tell you “trust me, I’ve been doing this for X years”, run away.  Look for someone who has done it for X amount of years AND has the credentials and documentation behind them to prove it.     And don’t believe everything you hear in the media or god forbid Facebook.  If I hear another virus hoax or viral post about using HTTPS on Facebook will prevent someone from hacking your account, I’ll go Stone Cold Steve Austin on everyone.