Box.net, online file storage solution
Submitted on October 20th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Services
No. of comments (2)
While many GMail users are just using their e-mail accounts to store files (be careful though!), others are looking to various web-based storage solutions. One of the newest ones in the market is Box.net. The web-based interface is simple to use so that anyone with even minor web experience could pick it up. The best part of the service is that it comes with a little Java applet, meaning that you can easily drag and drop files from your desktop on a Windows, Mac, or Linux machine and the files will be automatically transferred to your Box.net account. What good would an online storage solution if you couldn’t access your files through any device, right? No problem, as Box.net has a mobile site which works with Palms, PocketPCs, Sidekicks, and other devices. You also have access to an RSS feed for all your files which you can charge with friends if you wish.
The service isn’t free, but starts out at USD2.99 per month for 1GB of storage. A 5GB option is available for USD8.99. I would have liked to see a free option available, maybe offering just like 50MB, but no luck. You can check out a demo, though.
gDisk, use GMail as online storage on a Mac
Submitted on October 12th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and The Mac Side and Networking and Software
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Way back in May, I wrote about GMail Drive and GMailFS, two applications for Windows and Linux users which allowed you to use a GMail account for online storage. I did quite a bit of searching for a Mac equivalent but found nothing until now, and the application is called gDisk.
The best part about gDisk? It works. The application was released very recently so Google has not had a chance to lock it out of their service. It’s completely free and requires Mac OSX 10.3 or later. Get it while you can! Who wouldn’t want to have two extra gigs of online storage space for free, right?
Access e-mail from anywhere with Mail2Web
Submitted on October 4th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Email and Productivity and Services
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When I first came upon Mail2Web, I thought it was just another web-based e-mail service (and there’s enough of those), but in fact, it’s more like a desktop e-mail client, letting you access any e-mail account you own. Unlike desktop e-mail clients though, you do not need to provide Mail2Web with all the POP3 or IMAP information for you account. Simply type in your e-mail address and password, and Mail2Web will display the inbox for the account. At first, I thought this was pretty scary - after all, who wants to give a web service their e-mail information - but it all seems legit and Mail2Web does not store passwords or information after you log out. If you sign up for an account, you can save all your e-mail accounts’ information, making it easier to check multiple e-mail accounts from one convenient interface.
Mail2Web also provides Exchange support if you have an account, as well as PDA and mobile phone access.
Carry Opera on a USB key
Submitted on September 26th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Browsers and Portables and Software and Windows
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So last week, Opera, a feature-filled browser, became free and I’m sure you all gave it a try (right?). We’ve talked about Portable Firefox before, a minimal version of the browser which you can put on a USB key drive, and now there’s OperaUSB. Much of the site is in German, but this shouldn’t stop you from trying the application. All you need is a USB key with at least 32MB of storage, and you can carry all the Opera goodness in your pocket. Is that a browser in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Foldershare, your files anywhere
Submitted on September 23rd, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and The Mac Side and Services and Software and Windows
No. of comments (2)
In today’s world, it has become increasingly important to be able to carry important data around with you, particularly for road warriors and students. While many opt for hardware-based solutions like CDs or USB key drives, I prefer web-based solutions which free me from having to carry extra things on me (though I still own a USB key drive).
One such solution is FolderShare, and while there may be other similar products, this one has some extras which I enjoy. The most important extra? How about being able to share files up to 2GB in size? No other web-based storage solution offers that much space, especially not at the low price of FREE (yes, you read that right). So how does it all work? You simple download a desktop application to your computer, available for Windows and Macs, and tell it which folders you’d like to synchronize.
Backpack, your information organizer on the web
Submitted on August 19th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Productivity and Services
No. of comments (1)
I’ve been a user of Backpack for the past few months, and I thought it was time we discussed the web application here on TipMonkies. Backpack is a great service from 37 Signals, the same folks who brought us Basecamp and Ta-da List, which allows you to organize your information online, and allows you to put all sorts of attachments on pages and notifies you in the event of an update. You can also share these pages with friends or colleagues if you wish. For the purpose of this article, I only tested the free version of Backpack, so keep that in mind as we go over features.
Podcast hosting on the cheap
Submitted on July 31st, 2005 by admin
Filed under Podcasting and Storage and Audio and Services
No. of comments (11)
So you’ve recorded your podcast and now you need a place to host it. Maybe you’re using a free blogging service like Blogger or Livejournal and don’t want to spend much (or any) money for hosting (it can get expensive after all), what do you do? We’ve rounded up some of the more popular services and given you a rundown of each so you don’t have to. All of this services are either free or very cheap for the money.
Assigning permanent directories to USB keychain drives
Submitted on July 22nd, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Portables and Windows and Hardware
No. of comments (1)
Many of you may have USB keychain drives lying around your desk (or pocket). They are very useful devices for transporting a lot of data easily, and in many cases, have replaced floppy disks as a the portable storage method of choice. When you plug your USB drive in, you may have noticed that Windows XP assigns it a particular drive letter, which may not always be the same (if you have multiple drives plugged in). With this tip, we’ll show you how to set a permanent location for your drive by mounting it as a folder inside your main hard drive.
Web-based GMail drive
Submitted on June 7th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Email and Services
No. of comments (2)
We’ve already discussed how to use GMail as a hard drive both on Windows and Linux, but today’s tip is all that and a bag of chips! I came upon XMailHardDrive.com a completely free web-based service which acts as an interface to GMail so you can upload and download files. The service is still in beta, but is extremely usable.
Use GMail as an extra hard drive
Submitted on May 8th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Storage and Email and Software
No. of comments (7)
GMail is an amazing e-mail service with lots of functionality and offers over 2GB of storage, more than any other e-mail service in the market. GMail’s e-mail services may be great (and we’ll be writing up articles on how to use them more efficiently), but the nice thing about GMail is some of the third-party add-ons that various developers have created. Today, we’ll be discussing the GMail Drive shell extension which allows you to use your GMail account as a storage drive.
