How about the "Sneaker Net" alternative?

[Terry Smith]

Reunion 11 runs on my Mac mini. I've had no need to sync my Reunion files with another Mac or device until a new MacBook Air joined the household last month. I don't expect to make any entries from the Mac Book but want to keep it up to date for reference and family get-togethers.

I use Drop Box frequently for convenience, but I have drawn the line at using Drop Box to sync either 1Password or Reunion. These are two best of breed applications. Each has superior technical support, and each has come to rely on Drop Box for its recommended sync procedure -- a ringing endorsement of the security of that service.

1Password's vault file represents a "Sierra Madre" of confidential information to a hacker or renegade investigator. Reunion's family file, contains the history and stories of our family, the privacy of which is my responsibility.

As an experienced "Sneaker Net" practitioner, I'm using a USB stick to sync 1Password, and it works perfectly. Is there any reason that I can't do the same or use (say) ChronoSync to keep my family and media files in sync between my two Macs? I'll worry about my devices another day.

Thanks.

[Blaise A. Darveaux]

Re: How about the "Sneaker Net" alternative?

Reunion 11 runs on my Mac mini. I've had no need to sync my Reunion files with another Mac or device until a new MacBook Air joined the household last month. I don't expect to make any entries from the Mac Book but want to keep it up to date for reference and family get-togethers.

I use Drop Box frequently for convenience, but I have drawn the line at using Drop Box to sync either 1Password or Reunion. These are two best of breed applications. Each has superior technical support, and each has come to rely on Drop Box for its recommended sync procedure -- a ringing endorsement of the security of that service.

1Password's vault file represents a "Sierra Madre" of confidential information to a hacker or renegade investigator. Reunion's family file, contains the history and stories of our family, the privacy of which is my responsibility.

As an experienced "Sneaker Net" practitioner, I'm using a USB stick to sync 1Password, and it works perfectly. Is there any reason that I can't do the same or use (say) ChronoSync to keep my family and media files in sync between my two Macs? I'll worry about my devices another day.

Thanks.

I am not an expert in this, but I think what your propose would work just fine. But I think I remember that Leister discourages keeping your Reunion file on the USB stick and opening that file while working in it. You should sync the file on the stick with the one on your computer hard drive, whichever direction you are syncing (desktop to laptop or vise versa).

Blaise

[Terry Smith]

Re: How about the "Sneaker Net" alternative?

I agree, Blaise, the stick is for transportation purposes only. I wonder how we ever got along without them. Of course, I probably said the same thing about cd's and about floppies before that!

Anyway, I think it should work. My proposal has been posted for a couple of days, and (inconvenience and devices aside) no one has said it won't work.

Appreciate your comment. Thanks.

Terry

[M McCaffrey]

Re: How about the "Sneaker Net" alternative?

… Each has superior technical support, and each has come to rely on Drop Box for its recommended sync procedure -- a ringing endorsement of the security of that service.

1Password's vault file represents a "Sierra Madre" of confidential information to a hacker or renegade investigator. Reunion's family file, contains the history and stories of our family, the privacy of which is my responsibility.

I do both, and have for some years now.

Just before my Pop's computer gave up the ghost in 2013, he and I sat and exported all his Family Tree Maker files via GEDCOM, through Dropbox and into my Mac. Good thing, because a week later something catastrophic happened and his Windows hard drive was irretrievably trashed.

We set him up with an iPad and Reunion Touch, and as I imported his 20 years' of work into Reunion I was able to share with him and highlight connections that had come from his hard research work and our conversations. All this, while he was sitting almost 300 miles away.

This would not have been possible without the Dropbox intermediary connection to keep his files up to date. Our use was very similar to what it sounds like you're doing with the MB Air.

I finally gave up worrying (much) about how secure Dropbox might be. I make local backups in addition to the live copy on Dropbox. I don't overestimate how interesting these files are going to be to someone else. If someone has that high an interest in my stuff, they'll find a way to get it, and I don't have a place secure enough to protect it from them.

[Terry Smith]

Re: How about the "Sneaker Net" alternative?

Thanks for your thoughts on this, Matt.

My experience with Drop Box has been excellent. I've never had a problem with it, and the service comes at an extremely reasonable price. I have no reason to think its security level is anything but state of the art. However, "it will be different this time" is one of the rocks upon which Murphy's Law stands. My credit card info was hacked from a supermarket check-out terminal -- easily remedied, but requiring many more hours to address than I expect to spend as a result of using my "sneaker net" to sync my two Macs.

With respect to your thoughts on security: my real security concern is the hacker looking for a big score -- e.g., a batch of SSN's to sell or some similar mischief. In the "sea" of cloud data centers, the hacker is looking for a few oyster beds where he can begin to shuck some oysters to see if he finds any pearls. If I'm "ashore," I won't find my data swept up as one of a large number of files he's stolen from a suddenly vulnerable cloud server "somewhere."

So long as my two Macs are separated by only one flight of stairs, I'll stick with my "sneaker net" (assuming it works). If my cousin in NC wants to use my files, I'll send her a copy of my USB stick in a well-padded mailer with appropriate delivery tracking. As noted, my devices will be orphaned (although I recall seeing a post from one user who keeps an instance of R10 running to service his).

Forum members may enjoy this YouTube where Google's VP of Data Centers conducts a short tour of a center in North Carolina. The security is impressive and has had two years to be further hardened since the video was produced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZmGGAbHqa0