Have you heard of “the cloud”? I hadn’t until about a month ago, and now I wouldn’t be without it. “The Cloud” refers to various means of storing files on internet in order that you and those whom you chose can have access to these files from any computer, smartphone, ipad or other device that connects to the internet. I make sure that my teaching files are stored in this way, since once turning up for an Anima Education lecture without my computer and needing to access the files from a friends internet connection.
There are a number of “cloud” systems out there, but I use Dropbox, which creates a folder on your computer which is synchronised with the “cloud” folder on the internet. The folders are generally private, but a great thing about Dropbox is you can place files in a “public” folder which then generates a url address you can give others so they can download the files in question.
I have heard that there are privacy issues with Dropbox, as you would expect with anything you place on the internet, so don’t use it for any personal or sensitive data. But it is a great way to back up material, transfer it to other devices/computers, or share large files with your friends that are too big for emailing.
The free account gives you 2GB of space, which isn’t a lot. But one way they get extra users is by giving their current clients a special link to email to friends who might like to use the service. For everyone who signs up using your special link, you get an extra 250MB of free space. And they get 2.25GB of space instead of just the usual 2GB too!
Here is where the shameless part comes in. I do recommend Dropbox, and so I would like to recommend it to readers of this blog. If you use this link: http://db.tt/rvgBYop to sign up, you will be gifting me with an extra 250MB of space, which would be very nice thank you.
I hope you don’t think this is too unethical of me. If you want to find out more about Dropbox, click here for their website – but please, when it comes to signing up for Dropbox, use the link above for my benefit (and yours – since you get an extra 250MB of space this way)!
BTW, Dropbox is especially useful for the iPhone and iPad. I have a number of apps which all use Dropbox. At some other time, I will get around to telling you about the other apps I find really useful.
For those of us who don’t mind the Evil Empire, Windows Live offers 25 GB of storage free via the sky drive. It also provides a simplified version of Word, Excel and Power Point so that you can edit documents in a web browser if you need to.
You can also have multiple email accounts downloaded into your Hotmail account and check all you email in one place, either through a email program or with a web browser or by linking that account to your mobile phone.
Google offers something similar, but without as much memory (at least that is what my memory tells me).
I haven’t seen many iphone apps that work with Windows Live. Dropbox seems to work with just about all of them. I guess that is one of my priorities in chosing Dropbox over other offerings.
Thanks David (and Tony for the Windows Live item) it seems I also get 250MB of space for using your referral. an’t wait to see my “droppings” out in public!!!
Thanks, Tony! And thanks to MC too, who also signed up. I didn’t know that the signer-uppers get an extra 250MB by using this link. That’s nice – a bonus for all of us!
And thanks to MS for signing up too!