OK... it seems I've been a little negative of late, so here is an up-beat super-peppie post for your careful digest.

First off I've been continuing my quest for secure online document storage. I've been impressed with Google Docs, but not with the fact that as of yet PDF metadata is not included in search. Also Google Docs requires manual uploading, so no sync options.

Queue a sync service like Dropbox. Dropbox enables you to designate a folder on your computer as a dropbox. A client then automatically detects changes to files and syncs them with your online folder... oh and did I mention that it supports Linux? Awesome!

Some sync services can already connect to Google Docs, so all I have to wait for now is Dropbox to include support for Google Docs, and then for GD to allow for metadata searching and I will be a very happy man indeed. It will mean that my personal data (scanned or otherwise) will be available from anywhere, will be shareable, and will be searchable. What more could I ask for? Currently I use an offline solution (USB stick) so this will be a great step forward.

My only worry is that with a single password, my entire archive can be accessed. I guess different access levels or a challenge system for login could help easy my concerns.

I found Dropbox through an awesome comparison post at ToMuse. Oh and while I'm kind of randomly digesting, I've found a simple scan to searchable PDF client for Linux in gscan2pdf. The only issue with gscan2pdf is that the searchable text is not "behind" the image, so selecting text to copy is not possible with a PDF client.