Where have all the cheap USB thumb drives gone?

In article , Roger Blake
wrote:

cheapest is upload to a photo sharing site and send a link.

Yes, I should have said "cheapest physical media" - I personally stay
away from the various free file sharing sites since when something on the
internet is free it means *you* are the product being sold.

i didn't say free, but if that's a concern, use a paid service. encrypt
it if desired. there are many options.

it's still cheaper than the cost of the usb sticks, the time to copy
each one, the postage to mail them and a lot more convenient for
everyone as well as less of a risk.

Of course I have my own server that can be used for file distribution
if desired, but can understand why someone who does not might want to
mail physical media.

mostly because they aren't aware of the alternatives, and a dedicated
server is not required.

"SilverSlimer" wrote

| The problem with DVDs is that after a few years, even if you never touch
| them, the data starts getting lost. Good brands only delay the inevitable.
|

People often say that but I've never seen it happen.
Last time someone said that I fired up the oldest data
backup I could find. 2004. It was fine. I'm far more
hesitant to trust a stick.

And in this case he only wants to send it to someone.
It's temporary storage.

On Mon, 3 Dec 2018 15:48:00 -0000 (UTC), Roger
Blake wrote:

On 2018-12-03, Paul wrote:
There's always microfilm.

Cheapest would probably be to burn the files onto CD or DVD, assuming that
the recipient has an optical drive available.

Yes, that is the case. Also, with all the
iGizmos etc they all want instant gratification.
My photos tend to be 1MB so emailing takes time.
My dear old aunt has not yet heard of computers
and insists I supply Kiosk 6 x 4 inch photos
suitably annotated with PShop on the image itself.

"Chris" wrote

| Technically there's no difference between a DVD and a stick in terms of
| malware. A malware can just easily copy itself to/from a stick as it can a
| DVD.
|

It would have to do that during the disk write.
It can't just copy itself to a read-only disk that's
put into the drive. A stick, on the other hand,
acts like a hard disk. So if Peter copies images
to a stick while he has malware running, the
malware might detect that and copy itself. If
he does something like direct Imgburn to ccopy
the images, the malware would have to somehow
insert itself into Imgburn's list of files *and*
have Imgburn also write an autorun file.

As for copying itself from the disk, I don't
see how it would do that without an autorun
program. If you open a disk in Explorer without
any executable, and copy JPGs, there's nothing
to run. That may also be true of sticks. I don't
know. I'm hesitant to trust it because it's like
plugging in a hard disk. The data storage is
dynamic.

Roger Blake wrote:
On 2018-12-03, Chris wrote:
Technically there's no difference between a DVD and a stick in terms of
malware. A malware can just easily copy itself to/from a stick as it can a
DVD.

The difference is that USB devices are "smart" and there are USB exploits
that can compromise your system before the OS even has a chance to load
a file.

Interesting. How so?

AFAIK recent versions of Windows by default will not autorun content
from removable media like optical discs. Of course it might be possible
to jigger up a CD or DVD to do something nasty to the optical drive's
firmware though I've not read of anything like that happening. If you want
to be 100% safe you need to pull the plug and go back to a typewriter
for letters and photographic prints from film for pictures.

Yep.

On Mon, 3 Dec 2018 07:33:32 +0000, ? Good Guy ?
wrote:

On 03/12/2018 03:02, Peter Jason wrote:
I don't care about the environment!

We know that. You don't care about anything until it affects you.


Nor do I give a stuff for all the cute furry
bug-eyed critters that drive up prices everywhere!

What prices or bug eyed are you talking about?

Harp seal pups, penguins, orangutans, marmosets,
seals, whales etc etc. My cousin is off to
Antarctica in a week and when I suggested he bring
back some frozen Emperor penguins for the table,
his reply was less than cordial.

They are not some blind
one legged lesbians hanging out on there.

Please relate in detail, your experiences
therewith.

You really need to be
realistic in life. With that sort of blinkered mindset will make you
one of those old hats hanging out here asking stupid questions like you
have just asked.
I know what I want and so do all my recipients,
all of the quality Old School.

If they are from quality old schools then they should have heard of CDs
or DVDs. Have you heard of them. They are still cheap and most branded
computers still have CD/DVD readers. Each disk cost about 10p here in
expensive part of London.

I have a vast collection of movies on 4.5GB DVDs.

If I can FEEL things then I know they exist!

But the fact is you don't FEEL it so it doesn't exist and you have just
tried it and got no results. Either you belong to nutters who can't
find things on internet or that you expect people to do it for you
irrespective of whether it is on the net or not.

In article , Mayayana
wrote:

| The problem with DVDs is that after a few years, even if you never touch
| them, the data starts getting lost. Good brands only delay the inevitable.

People often say that but I've never seen it happen.

so, because you haven't seen it happen, it must not happen to anyone
else. makes sense.

On 2018-12-03, Chris wrote:
Interesting. How so?

If you do a web search on "USB exploits" or similar search terms
you'll find there are quite a few. (One way is for the USB device
to mimic a keyboard and send nasty commands into the host device.
There are others.)

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Blake (Posts from Google Groups killfiled due to excess spam.)

NSA sedition and treason -- http://www.DeathToNSAthugs.com
Don't talk to cops! -- http://www.DontTalkToCops.com
Badges don't grant extra rights -- http://www.CopBlock.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

nospam wrote:
In article , Mayayana
wrote:

| The problem with DVDs is that after a few years, even if you never touch
| them, the data starts getting lost. Good brands only delay the inevitable.

People often say that but I've never seen it happen.

so, because you haven't seen it happen, it must not happen to anyone
else. makes sense.

I've only had it happen on some Memorex CDRW.
One of them was nearly completely transparent after
three months (not sitting in the sun either).

My DVDs have behaved well.

I don't have any of these, but these might be
worth trying. The promotional material claims 1000 year
life, but I would expect the polycarbonate exterior
to degrade before the 1000 years is up. The recording
layer might well last that long.

https://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-Perman.../dp/B005Y4NKE0

Paul

Roger Blake wrote:
On 2018-12-03, Chris wrote:
Interesting. How so?

If you do a web search on "USB exploits" or similar search terms
you'll find there are quite a few. (One way is for the USB device
to mimic a keyboard and send nasty commands into the host device.
There are others.)


The exploit is called "badUSB".

Paul

On 03/12/2018 16.02, Wolf K wrote:
On 2018-12-03 07:51, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 03/12/2018 02.15, Peter Jason wrote:
It seems impossible to buy anything under 4GB
these days.
Some of us like to send off photos to relatives on
these drives and the large papacy is redundant.
I need CHEAPER ones of about 1GB or less, just for
posting off photos.

I see them at Amazon.es. There is a filter for "2 GB or less", and I get
"more than a thousand results". I see one for 256 MB items at 28€ a
packet of 10 in the first page.


That's about $3.50 USD each at current exchange rates. Good for about 60
photos here (I don't over-compress pictures.)Â* Not the best value for
money IMO.

I didn't look hard, but consider that the hardware is about the same for
any size: case, plug, manufacturing... only the chip might be cheaper.

Anyway, my intention was to show that it is possible to find and buy
them easily (I thought it would not be that easy, because I can not find
them on shops) :-)

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 03/12/2018 16.02, Wolf K wrote:
On 2018-12-03 07:51, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 03/12/2018 02.15, Peter Jason wrote:
It seems impossible to buy anything under 4GB
these days.
Some of us like to send off photos to relatives on
these drives and the large papacy is redundant.
I need CHEAPER ones of about 1GB or less, just for
posting off photos.
I see them at Amazon.es. There is a filter for "2 GB or less", and I get
"more than a thousand results". I see one for 256 MB items at 28€ a
packet of 10 in the first page.

That's about $3.50 USD each at current exchange rates. Good for about 60
photos here (I don't over-compress pictures.) Not the best value for
money IMO.

I didn't look hard, but consider that the hardware is about the same for
any size: case, plug, manufacturing... only the chip might be cheaper.

Anyway, my intention was to show that it is possible to find and buy
them easily (I thought it would not be that easy, because I can not find
them on shops) :-)


This company offers a stick for $1.89. At least, according to
the Google Ad promo for them. And they do offer the
4GB sizes. It's too bad you have to use their
"quote" system to get actual prices.

https://www.logotech.com/bulk-usb-flash-drives.html

I'm having trouble imagining how you stay profitable
in a business like that.

At those prices, I don't think you could afford to do
final test on the sticks. You could "probe" the PCB
when in manufacturing, load the flash if the customer
wants that, but actually having a human plug it in
and prove it works... unlikely. There would be a good
deal of "trust", that the metal barrel connector didn't
get fouled with debris during manufacture.

If I was programming those, I'd plug each one into an
external hub, rather than right into a port on the
back of my PC.

Paul

Paul wrote:
nospam wrote:
In article , Mayayana
wrote:

| The problem with DVDs is that after a few years, even if you never touch
| them, the data starts getting lost. Good brands only delay the inevitable.

People often say that but I've never seen it happen.

so, because you haven't seen it happen, it must not happen to anyone
else. makes sense.

I've only had it happen on some Memorex CDRW.
One of them was nearly completely transparent after
three months (not sitting in the sun either).

My DVDs have behaved well.

I don't have any of these, but these might be
worth trying. The promotional material claims 1000 year
life, but I would expect the polycarbonate exterior
to degrade before the 1000 years is up. The recording
layer might well last that long.

https://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-Perman.../dp/B005Y4NKE0


Even if they lasted a tenth of that time, there wouldn't be any hardware
that could read them. Pointless.

On 12/05/2018 3:56 PM, Chris wrote:
Paul wrote:
nospam wrote:
In article , Mayayana
wrote:

| The problem with DVDs is that after a few years, even if you never touch
| them, the data starts getting lost. Good brands only delay the inevitable.

People often say that but I've never seen it happen.

so, because you haven't seen it happen, it must not happen to anyone
else. makes sense.

I've only had it happen on some Memorex CDRW.
One of them was nearly completely transparent after
three months (not sitting in the sun either).

My DVDs have behaved well.

I don't have any of these, but these might be
worth trying. The promotional material claims 1000 year
life, but I would expect the polycarbonate exterior
to degrade before the 1000 years is up. The recording
layer might well last that long.

https://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-Perman.../dp/B005Y4NKE0


Even if they lasted a tenth of that time, there wouldn't be any hardware
that could read them. Pointless.


You think they'll outlast Methuselah? 969 years!

Rene

On 03/12/2018 15.57, Wolf K wrote:
On 2018-12-03 01:36, Monty wrote:
On Mon, 03 Dec 2018 12:15:20 +1100, Peter Jason wrote:

It seems impossible to buy anything under 4GB
these days.
Some of us like to send off photos to relatives on
these drives and the large papacy is redundant.
I need CHEAPER ones of about 1GB or less, just for
posting off photos.

Log into ebay and search forÂ*Â* 1gb flash drive bulk

There are many available from China at about $1 with free shipping.

Seems to me it's the "bulk" that's the problem for the ordinary consumer
such as maybe OP. What's the minimum? An electronics geek friend of mine
buys in bulk. The minimum quantity is 50 for higher priced stuff, and
ranging up to to 1,000 for the cheaper stuff. Or pay more per unit at
second or third tier distributors for smaller quantities.

Retail is brutal.

10 with Amazon

--
Cheers, Carlos.