There are a plethora of file storage and file sharing services available on the web. Many of them are free for a limited amount of space (often around 2 to 5 GB). For a lot of people, this type of service is sufficient, but if you want your own file storage system, need a lot more space, do not want to pay a third party service, and already have your own web hosting account for your website, ownCloud is a free and open source option you should definitely consider.

Installation

ownCloud is a simple PHP web application that will work on most Linux and Unix servers. A typical installation server will have Apache HTTP Server and MySQL or SQLite (if you do not want to use a database server). If you are running your own dedicated server or VPS, your Linux distribution may already have the ownCloud packages in its default repository. For example, to install on an Ubuntu server, simple type:

sudo apt-get install owncloud

It will automatically install dependencies, such as Apache, PHP, and MySQL. Once the installation is complete, you can point your browser to http://yourdomain/owncloud and start the “First Run Wizard”.

To install ownCloud manually, do the following:

1. Go to owncloud.org and download the latest version
2. Extract the contents of the archive to your computer. If you have SSH access to your server, you can upload the archive first and extract with

   tar -xjvf owncloud-2.x.tar.bz2

3. Copy the extracted files to the directory of your choice within the web-accessible documents directory of your server (i.e. public_html, htdocs, etc.)
4. Set the permissions. If you have a shared hosting account, use FTP or SFTP to create a directory called “data” and set the permissions to “750″. Then, set the permissions of the “config” directory to “777″. If you have root access, you can use this command:

   chown -R www-data:www-data owncloud/

   Replace “www-data” with whatever the name of your Apache user is.

5. Point your browser to http://yourdomain/owncloud to complete the installation
6. Enter a username and password for your administrative account
7. If SQLite is detected, ownCloud will use it by default. Alternatively, you can enter your MySQL database information in the “Advanced” section.

Using ownCloud

The software for ownCloud was developed by some of the developers of KDE and is designed to work with free and open source operating systems, unlike some proprietary cloud storage services. You can use your web browser to upload and manage files, but you can also use WebDav to connect to your files directly from your desktop file manager.

In Dolphin, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Network” option in “Places” or go to “remote:/”
2. Click the “Add Network Folder” button
3. Keep the first option, WebFolder (webdav), selected and click Next
4. Give the connection a name and enter your ownCloud username
5. In the “Server” box, type your full domain name
6. In the “Folder” box, type the relative path to your owncloud installation (i.e. /owncloud/webdav/owncloud.php)
7. Check the box next to “Create an icon for this remote folder”
8. Click Save and Connect.

After entering your password, it should connect to your ownCloud folder. You can now drag and drop files just as you would with a folder on your computer. Moreover, KDE apps are all integrated and should be able to use the folder as well.

Cloud Freedom

ownCloud gives you the freedom to use the cloud on your terms however you want. You can access your files from anywhere, just as you would with a proprietary cloud service, but the files and software are yours. You will not have to worry about privacy or the safety of your data. For more information about ownCloud in general, visit the project’s website. For more detailed install instructions, including those for other operating systems and web servers, see this page.

Related Posts:

• Getting Started with Amazon EC2
• Listen to Cloud Music With Nuvola Player [Ubuntu]
• ZeroPC: Manage All Your Social Accounts In One Place
• Peppermint OS – A New Take on the Web-Centric Desktop

To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nuvola-player-builders/beta
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nuvolaplayer

This is what you will see on the first run:

Being a Grooveshark fan, the first service that I clicked on is, of course, Grooveshark. This is what you will see. You can perform a search and add songs to your playlist. Everything is just what you see in the browser.

The same goes for Google Music, Hype Machine and 8 Tracks.

Note: Although Google Music is only for US citizens, with a simple US-based VPN connection, you (those who do not reside in US) should be able to activate Google Music service with your Google account. Once the service is activated, you won’t need a VPN to access your music anymore.

System tray icon with Player Control

Nuvola Player also comes with an app-indicator (or system tray icon) with the ability to control your music. You can Pause/Play the current song and go Next/Previous song in the playlist. There is even a Thumb Up/Thumb Down button.

Conlcusion

Nuvola Player is basically a browser wrapper that contains links to various cloud services. There is nothing new that you can’t do on your normal browser, but the convenience of having several cloud music services at your fingertips and the ability to run separately as a native app make it a winner.

What do you think? Is this kind of music player suitable for you? Or you prefer the good old Rhythmbox and Amarok?

Nuvola Player

Related Posts:

• Listen to Your Own Music Online Anywhere Anytime
• How to Integrate Skype With Ubuntu Unity
• How to Install Java Runtime In Ubuntu 12.04
• How to Connect to A VPN In Ubuntu [Quick Tips]

ZeroPC is one such online desktop that aims to replace your computer desktop. It comes with a variety of (web) applications to help you stay productive and allows you to connect to your social accounts (such as Dropbox, box.net, Sugarsync etc) so all your online files are readily available.

Familiar User-interface

Once you have created an account and logged in, you will be greeted with a Windows-style interface. Doesn’t matter if you are from a Windows, Mac or Linux background, the user-interface will be too familiar to you, and that is good because you can start using it immediately.

There is a Dashboard icon at the right bottom corner of the screen which when clicked, give you an overview of your ZeroPC desktop.

Applications

There are a couple of useful apps available in the desktop for your usage. A music player with the ability to stream music from your social accounts, a messenger app for your IM needs, ThinkFree Office for document editing, a video player, an universal Inbox to check emails from various accounts. It doesn’t come with a image editor though.

It also has a series of bookmarks to popular web apps like Angry Bird, Ted.com, Wikipedia, LinkedIn etc. Clicking on the bookmark launches the web link in its own window, making it looks like a native app rather than a website.

Social Accounts

The best part about ZeroPC is the ability to connect all your social accounts in one place. The social accounts that are currently supported by ZeroPC includes

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google
• Flickr
• Dropbox
• Box.net
• Sugarsync
• Instagram
• Picasa
• Evernote

Once you connect them to your ZeroPC desktop, you will be able to access all your files/folders/contacts/update right in the desktop. You can even search for the files, folders, documents, photos, video, and music, even though they are scattered all over the cloud.

Mobile app

To make it easily accessible, there is also a iPad app and Android tablet app.

Pricing

ZeroPC comes in both freemium and premium model. While you can sign up and use ZeroPC for free, you can also upgrade to the premium plan and enjoy desktop sharing, more storage space, bigger file upload size limit and several other premium options. The premium plan is interesting. Instead of paying a fixed price every month, you top up your ZeroPC account with credits and pay as you use the bandwidth and storage space. Based on its calculation, an average user who utilizes 1.8Gb of bandwidth and 3Gb of storage space pays about $2.61 per month, which in my opinion, is very affordable.

Stability

Even though ZeroPC is a web app, it still requires the installation of java plugin for it to work. On my Linux (Ubuntu) system and Chrome, it seems to have a conflict with the java plugin and keep logging me out of the session.

On another machine running Windows and Chrome browser, it works fine though. It could just be me (Linux system) that is having the above issue.

Conclusion

For everything that ZeroPC attempts to do, there is definitely a native app for your desktop that can do the same thing, regardless the OS you are using. However, if you are using a desktop-less PC, like the Chromebook, iPad or Android tablet, ZeroPC will be a useful app for you.

ZeroPC

Related Posts:

• How to Install and Configure ownCloud
• Getting Started with Amazon EC2
• How To Use Pinterest Analytics For Your Business
• SlowPal: Browse Your PayPal Transaction History Without Waiting

A Bit About “The Cloud”

As with many tech buzzwords, you might get a different definition of this term from each person you ask. Some might describe it as a way of scaling your computing resources to fit your needs.

Let’s say ABC Books, a local book store wants to run a site where their customers can buy books online. The “traditional” approach would be for someone to dust off a server, install an OS, run a webserver application and load their site on it.

When virtualization was becoming popular, people started using another method called the Virtual Private Server or VPS. With this method, you can have multiple operating systems running on the same machine, each with their own setup and applications.

This allows each user to have full control over their system, but without the expense of dedicated hardware. ABC Books, our example complany, would likely save money by switching to VPS, as they don’t need the server’s full power and can share the cost with other users. The “cloud” method takes virtualization even further. Since you’re already virtualizing the software, what happens if you virtualize the hardware too? The essence of cloud computing is taking a huge collection of computing resources and intelligently assigning them as needed. Take this diagram for example.

You can see that most of the portions are different sizes. ABC Books might only need a portion of one server, but Bob’s House of Free iPads might generate more traffic and need multiple servers. One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing is that you can scale your resources up and down as needed.

Let’s say a huge celebrity talks about their love of ABC Books, and suddenly the site is getting hundreds of times the amount of traffic it normally would. Their dedicated server is probably not equipped to handle that. Likewise, a VPS (though more flexible) will still need a hardware transfer or upgrade to keep up. A cloud based server, however, could just be “turned up” to handle the excess traffic. When the buzz has died down, you just reduce your resources back to normal.

Signing up for EC2

Note: The free account is indeed free, but during the signup, you will be asked for credit card information. See Amazon’s terms for details.

Log in or create your Amazon EC2 account. Unfortunately, new user registrations can sometimes remain pending for several hours.

Once your Amazon Web Services account is set up, you can access your management console by clicking the Sign In to AWS Management Console link in the top-right corner of aws.amazon.com or clicking here.

Creating an Instance

Once your account is activated and you’re able to access the AWS Console, you’ll probably want to start by creating server instance to run some software.

The first thing you’ll be asked to do is decide on a base platform. The Amazon Linux is a good bet if you’re looking to demo the service.

The next page lets you set some details regarding your instance. You’ll probably want to leave these settings as they are, seeing as how the free tier only supports the Micro instance type, and Availability Zone should make no difference at this stage.

The next page, Advanced Instance Options, should be left at defaults unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise.

The last step of your Instance Options is the one where you choose tags. This step is optional, and nothing will be broken if you specify no tags, but it’s recommended to at least apply a value to the Name key to make this instance easy to identify.

The next step is to create a key pair. Instead of passwords, EC2 uses cryptographic keys to identify users. If that sounds confusing don’t worry, it’s really not that complicated. The first step is to name and generate a key pair, then download that to your computer. I’d recommend saving it to ~/.ssh/.

Once you’ve got the keys saved, you’ll need to make sure it’s private. You cannot skip this step, as SSH will refuse to use a publicly viewable key. It’s quick and easy to set this, just open your Linux or OSX terminal and type:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/MyEC2Key.pem

and to actually use it to connect, go with

#You will of course have to wait until your instance is actually running
ssh -i ~/.ssh/MyEC2Key.pem root@your-ec2-dns-address.com

Finally, you’ve just got to open a hole in the firewall for your app. The dropdown list contains several common network options such as SSH, DNS, and of course HTTP. If you want to enter a custom port, here’s your chance.

Once you review and launch your instance, you’re set! You can now use SSH as indicated above to connect to your public DNS (highlighted in the screenshot below).

Conclusion

From here on out, it’s your “server” to deal with as you wish. Applications can be installed and removed however you see fit. The service is can be tailored to exactly the application you have in mind – anything from a web server to VPN gateway to a place to host your files. Good luck and have fun on the cloud!

Related Posts:

• How to Install and Configure ownCloud
• ZeroPC: Manage All Your Social Accounts In One Place
• Play Your Music Anywhere with Amazon’s Brand New Cloud Player
• TonidoPlug: Your Personal Cloud Server in a Plug

Like what? Well, your data is in someone else’s hands. And what happens if a service you’re using closes up shop, denies you access to your data, or is just unreachable? Then you have a problem.

The solution: create your own cloud. Believe it or not, doing that isn’t all that difficult. You don’t need a degree in computer science or training in networking. All you need is the right hardware and software.

Let’s take a look at four options for creating a personal cloud.

1. TonidoPlug

Imagine having a server that literally fits in the palm of your hand and which you can just plug into a handy socket. That’s the idea behind TonidoPlug. When configured, the TonidoPlug sits on your network and you access it using a unique URL.

But what does it do? TonidoPlug is a file and application server that runs Ubuntu. TonidoPlug comes installed with a number of media streaming, file sharing, and productivity applications. There’s also a blogging application, a bit torrent client and a file browser.

There are also a bunch of free mobile applications so you aren’t chained to a desktop or laptop computer.

2. ownCloud

If you have a web server (or space on one) and are willing to embrace your inner geek, then give ownCloud a look. It’s an Open Source project that lets you access your files anywhere, sort of like Dropbox. While ownCloud’s main capability right now is storing files, you can take advantage of that capability to sync items like bookmarks across different devices and machines.

You can access your files through ownCloud’s web interface or using WebDAV. If you need to, you can also connect to the server on which ownCloud is installed via SFTP or SSH.

Setting up ownCloud isn’t easy. It’s not very well documented, and you’ll have to search around for information on setting up the database that ownCloud uses. As well, there is no desktop or mobile client for ownCloud. Clients for the desktop and Android devices are being developed, though.

3. iTwin

iTwin takes a slightly different approach to creating a personal cloud. Instead of relying on servers, you plug a USB flash drive into your computer and then drag and drop the files that you want to share or sync on to the flash drive.

Then, you detach half of the drive and plug that half into another computer. From there, you drag and drop the files on to that computer. Using an Internet connection, the files are securely transferred and synchronized between your two computers.

The USB drive doesn’t store your files. It just creates a secure connection between your computers. Well, at least as far as the files that you’re sharing go. And you can remotely disable iTwin if you lose one or both halves of the USB drive.

The drawback? iTwin only works with computers running Windows.

4. Opera Unite

When is a web browser not a web browser? When it’s Opera. While you don’t hear much about Opera these days, it has one killer feature: Opera Unite.

Opera Unite turns the web browser into an application server. You can share files, access applications, and collaborate with with people. And those other people don’t need to be using Opera. They can access the files and applications that you’re serving with Opera Unite using any web browser.

The applications range from the interesting to the useful. They include media streaming and file sharing tools, productivity apps, and communication tools.

To use Opera Unite, you need an account with My Opera (Opera’s online community). You’ll get a unique URL for your Opera Unite server, and as long as your computer is connected to the Internet and Opera Unite is running you can access the server anywhere.

Creating your own cloud isn’t too difficult. And it can be a lot more secure than commercial cloud offerings. If nothing else, creating your own cloud gives you some peace of mind and keeps your data in your hands.

Photo credit: Lunaaldent

Related Posts:

• Share Sensitive Information Online With CloudSafe
• How to Install and Configure ownCloud
• Listen to Cloud Music With Nuvola Player [Ubuntu]
• ZeroPC: Manage All Your Social Accounts In One Place

There are few components in Office 365: Office web app, Outlook web app, Lync and Team site.

Office Web App

Microsoft has released the Office web app for consumer. Once you are logged in to your Windows live account, you can view, edit and create documents with the Office web app. In Office 365, this same Office Web app is there as well. Applications that it supports include Ms Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Outlook Web App

The outlook web app is pretty handy and works exactly the same as the desktop version. The default email account is your office365 account (companyname.onmicrosoft.com), but you can easily set it up to sync with your desktop outlook. The calendar, contacts and tasks feature remain intact.

In the contact section under Outlook, you can also select a contact and immediately start a chat session with him/her. This brings us to another feature of Office 365 – Lync

Lync (IM)

Microsoft Lync, formerly known as Communications Server, is a instant messaging platform where you can send message, audio, video and VoIP. You can either install the desktop client (supports only Windows) or receive messages via the web interface. For the desktop client, you can also share your desktop with others during online meeting.

Team site

Team site is where you can create a website for your business and also manage the documents in a centralized place. When you create a document in the Office web app, the document will be saved in the Team site.

Advantage of using Office365

Well integrated Microsoft Office suite, all in the web. If your company are already using Microsoft Exchange, then this will make it easier for you to interact and collaborate with each other.

99.9% uptime guarantee. This is almost the industry standard. It also means that as long as you are connected to the web, you will have access to your documents and emails.

Disadvantage of using Office365

Too complex – Everything in one solution. You either get all the features or none. Google Apps tied all the module together, yet allowing you to access each module individually.

Overly integrated – You can unleash the full potential of Office 365 only if you are using the Windows OS and carry a Windows Phone 7, or should I say, submerge yourselves in a full Windows environment.

All in all, for companies that are looking to move to the cloud and be more productive in the office, Office365 is definitely a great choice. While there are advantages and disadvantages, there is no doubt about the quality of its offering.

Related Posts:

• AudioGalaxy: The Easiest Way to Stream Music to Android And iOS
• Free Giveaway: Blu-ray Decrypter
• Ask MTE: Missing Windows Media Center, Thumbnails Missing In Explorer, Remove Games Icon And Many More (Week 16)
• How To Schedule Backup And Synchronization Tasks In Windows

There are many times when I find myself needing to print out a document that is on my phone urgently. There are a number of methods of doing this, but the easiest I have found is to use Google Cloud Print.

Set-up Google Cloud Print

Firstly, to use Google Cloud Print you will need to have Google Chrome installed.

Once it is installed select the wrench icon from the top left portion of your browser window.

From the drop-down menu that appears select “Options”.

A new tab will pop-up with a number of different settings. Select “Under the Hood” from the menu on the right pane.

This will display a variety of new options. Scroll down the page until you reach the Google Cloud Print section. Select “Sign in to Google Cloud Print”.

You will have to enter your Google Account username and password. Select the Google Account you would like to associate with Google Cloud Print. It is a good idea to choose one that you use frequently, since it will be linked to your Chrome account.

After signing in you will be prompted to “Print a Test Page” do this to ensure your printer is properly connected.

Set-Up a Google Cloud Printer

If nothing happens when you print a test page, ensure that your printer is connected.

Firstly, return to the “Options” tab, select “Under the Hood” and scroll down to the Google Cloud Print section. You will now see a new option for “Manage Print Settings”. Select this.

This will launch a page from where you can manage your print jobs and your attached printers.

Select the tab labelled “Printers”.

Here you should see all the printers that are attached to your computer. If you do not see the the printer you would like to use, then you may have to re-install the drivers for that printer.

Printer Options

Once your printer appears on the list and is able to print test pages without a problem, there are a few settings you can tweak.

Firstly, select “Actions” to “Share” it with others or to “Delete” it off the list.

The “Share” option allows you to connect the selected printer with other people using their Google Account. This is useful if there a number of people sharing a communal printer.

You can also select the printer itself to open the list of current jobs.

Now head over to the Google Cloud Print set-up page to print a test page. Select “Print a test page”.

The pop-up that opens will display a list of installed printers. Select the printer you wish to print from.

You will be given the chance to make changes to the printing options before printing out the test page.

When you are ready hit “Print”. This will create a new job and your printer will start printing the test page.

You can view all your current and past print jobs from the “Manage Printer Settings” option.

Set-Up a Cloud Ready Printer

If you have a Cloud Ready printer, such HP’s ePrint line of printers, then select “Add a Cloud Ready printer” from the Google Cloud Print landing page.

Get the Android App

So far you have made your printer into a Google Cloud Printer. Now you need to set-up your Android smartphone to print to your Google Cloud Printer.

There does not appear to be an official app from Google, so I have started using the Cloud Print BETA app.

After downloading and installing the app launch it to associate it with the same Google Account as the one you used on Google Chrome.

A list will appear showing the printers associated with your account. You may need to select “Refresh list” if your printer does not appear automatically. Select the printer of your choice and select “Done” to enable it.

A number of print options will appear, including the option to print a test page, random files, SMS messages, mails (requires K-9 Mail), drawings and Google docs (requires further authentication).

Select the type of item you want to print, navigate to the specific document and then select it.

You will then have the option to print the document (“Click here to Print”) or change the printer (“Configure”).

If you select to print the item, it will upload and start printing immediately.

You can view your current print jobs from the “Jobs” menu.

That’s it! You will now be able to print most files and other items straight from your phone.

Related Posts:

• How to Enable/Disable Google Chrome Print Preview Feature [Quick Tips]
• Need to Send/Receive SMS From Your Chrome Browser? Try Texty [Android]
• How to Easily Transfer A Webpage From Android To Chrome
• How to Get Extra Storage Space On Your Android Phone

Overview

First, let’s explain a little bit about exactly what Cloud Player can do. The free service gives you 5GB of storage space as part of the Amazon Cloud Drive. Cloud Drive alone is all you need to just store files, and it’s Cloud Player which makes it worth the effort for music. You’ve got your choice between a web-based player or an Android app. This article will focus on the web based portion, as it applies to all readers.

To get your 5GB claimed, just head over to Amazon and log in/sign up (as of this post, the signing up is available for US customers only).

Adding Music

For starters, you’re a little bit limited in what will work with the Cloud Player. It’ll work with DRM-free MP3 or AAC files, no Vorbis, FLAC, etc. If you’ve got DRMed music, you’re out of luck. But then again, you probably already know that.

The “proper” way to work with this service is to use the Amazon MP3 Uploader, which is an Adobe Air application. It’s not the only way, however, which we’ll cover in a moment. For those who wish to use the uploader, you’ll be asked to install it when setting up your Cloud Player account.

It will scan your computer for music on startup, but you do have the option to stop the scan and manually select the music of your choice, or optionally import from software such as iTunes. Unfortunately, it will attempt to scan your drive again the next time you launch the uploader. And the next. And the next…

If you can’t or won’t use the MP3 Uploader, there’s always the plain old Cloud Drive uploader. Just log into the Amazon Cloud Drive just as you would the Cloud Player. Upload the files to your music folder or subfolder of your choice.

And they’ll be available in the Cloud Player web interface. Speaking of which…

Cloud Player Web Interface

Now that you’ve got you music up, its time to do something with it. On the left you’ve got a navigation panel similar to many local music player applications where you can view your collection by Artist, Genre, etc. Cloud Player even handles the fetching of album art (if it can).

Playlists are fully supported as well, and items are added to the playlist by dragging them from any browsing view and dropping onto the playlist name.

The Non-Free Experience

If you wish to go beyond the free service, you can purchase new tunes from the MP3 Store or some additional capacity to hold it all. Amazon worked in some pretty tempting bonuses as well. For example, if you purchase any MP3 album from their web store, the album is automatically added to your Cloud Drive and your drive capacity is expanded to 20GB for free (for a year).

If you’re interested in expanding your storage space without necessarily buying an album, the prices are as follows (as of the time of this writing)

5 GB FREE
20 GB $20.00 / year
50 GB $50.00 / year
100 GB $100.00 / year
200 GB $200.00 / year
500 GB $500.00 / year
1000 GB $1,000.00 / year

Conclusion

Until Google and Apple launch their theoretical competitors, there’s little basis for comparison for the combined Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. This author is still getting used to the idea of Amazon as a leading edge tech company instead of just an online retailer, but to date their cloud offerings have been generally well received. These two new services are certainly impressive in their simplicity, and both do precisely the job they were designed for and seem to do it well. It would be nice to see some external APIs become available to allow things like local client integration or drive mapping, but that may be in the works. For now, Cloud Player seems to be an extremely simple and capable tool. Often when writing software reviews, we try the application, write about it, and move on. This time, I think I’ll really use this in my daily life. At least until something better comes along.

Related Posts:

• 5 Great Places for Free & Legal Music Downloads
• Tips To Use Less Google On Your Android Phone
• Listen to Cloud Music With Nuvola Player [Ubuntu]
• Getting Started with Amazon EC2

Of course the safest option would be to avoid transmitting private data such as passwords, PINs, and bank account numbers over the internet; but there are times of urgency when sharing this information online cannot be avoided. For these times, CloudSafe is the best tool to use.

Introduction

CloudSafe is a brilliant web service that helps share sensitive data online. The site lets you upload any type of file and encrypts it using AES 256. You can then optionally grant your contacts access to your encrypted files. The way CloudSafe executes this process is what sets it apart from similar websites.

Functioning and Usage

To put it succinctly, CloudSafe creates virtual safes in the cloud i.e. on the internet. As a CloudSafe user you can create virtual safes that hold the encrypted files you upload. These safes have variable levels of access that give you a great control over how and with whom the safe’s contents are shared.

For each new safe you create, you can enter a name, description, and brief note. In the same stage that you enter this information, you can upload files from your computer to the safe. To ensure no additional files are mistakenly uploaded, the site does not support batch-uploads.

With your virtual safe created you can specify the type of access your contacts have to the safe. The different types of access include the ability to read and write data, a dual-permission procedure that requires 2 people to have each other’s permission to view the data, and a confirmation procedure that lets a person access the safe only after obtaining permission from another person.

These variable levels of access ensure that you have full control over the safe’s contents. They let you be precise when it comes to deciding who you share the data with and to what extent.

The people you share your safes with must be CloudSafe users. In case they are not CloudSafe users, an invitation email is sent to them. The notification of sharing your safe can be accompanied by a custom message that you choose to elaborate what you are sharing.

CloudSafe users to whom you have granted access, can view the safe and easily access its contents.

Your contacts can also view the level of access they have for your safes.

The contents are displayed in a user-friendly manner with the size and date of each file displayed. Users can download a file simply by clicking on its title.

Other ways of sharing your safe’s contents are by setting an access code or by enabling a feature called “WebDAV.” With WebDAV you can temporarily allow people not on CloudSafe to access your safe’s contents. WebDAV provides a URL to your safe along with a secure username and password to access the contained files.

People not on CloudSafe will be able to view your safe’s contents only after you share the public URL along with the WebDAV username and password. You can disable WebDAV anytime and revoke the access you had granted.

Pricing

The free account offered by CloudSafe allows a maximum of 3 safes with a total storage capacity of 1 GB. If at any time you require more safes or a greater storage, you can opt for the site’s premium services.

Conclusion

CloudSafe provides a valuable service to all of its users. Previously you had to avoid transmitting sensitive data online; but with CloudSafe you can save a ton of time by sharing files securely through encryption. Whether you need to share sensitive files for personal or business use, CloudSafe will serve perfectly.

You can visit CloudSafe over here.

Related Posts:

• How to Encrypt Your Files And Improve Dropbox Security
• Tails : a Linux Distribution For Protecting Your Privacy
• How To Add SSL Security To Your WordPress Blog
• Wuala: An Alternative To Dropbox With Security In Mind

AudioGalaxy is very easy to use. There is almost zero setup required.

Go to AudioGalaxy and sign up for an account.

Once you have completed the registration, download and install the AudioGalaxy helper (currently only available for Windows and Mac, though it is said that the Windows version works in Linux under WINE).

Once the AudioGalaxy helper is up and running, you should see your collection of music appears in the AudioGalaxy site. You can then create your playlist and play your music in the browser.

To get it working in your mobile device, download the app for Android or iOS.

Sign in to the app and you will see your music collection in the phone. Just like any music player, you can view by artists, albums, genre and add songs to playlist.

You can then play the songs you want and even set it in repeat or shuffle mode.

All in all, this has to be one of the easiest way to stream your music. Almost zero setup and it works out of the box. You don’t even need to install iTunes or any other media player to get it working. One thing though, to be able to stream your music, the host computer needs to be running and connected to the Web at all the time. You also need internet connection on your mobile device to access the music. Other than that, this is almost perfect. What do you think?

Related Posts:

• How to Stream Media to Your Xbox 360 or PS3
• Why You Should Bite The Bullet And Signup For Spotify
• TuneUp Cleans Up Your iTunes Collection
• How to Use The Google’s Roboto Font Everywhere

What’s new

The overall feel of Gladinet has changed – it is a lot easier to navigate through now. There is now a desktop console for you to manage everything. The shiny new interface takes the place of using Windows Explorer to navigate through your documents.

I like the addition of the tabs at the top of the desktop application window. Coupled with the onscreen instructions, the setup for everything went a lot smoother than with the previous version.

There are 3 main sections: Cloud Storage Drive, Cloud Sync Folder and Cloud Backup.

Cloud Storage Drive

When you connect Gladinet with the various cloud services (Amazon S3, Skydrive, Box.net, Google Docs and many more), it will mount the cloud storage as a network drive in your system. You can then drag and drop files to the cloud storage just like how you do it in local drive.

Cloud Backups

With Gladinet 3.0 Desktop, you can easily schedule backups. There is an easy to follow backup wizard that walks you through the steps. What’s nice about the setup wizard is there are a few easy steps and not a lot of choices in the drop downs, making it a fast process to create several custom backups.

You have a mirrored backup option. This acts in much the same way as if you use Mozy or Dropbox. When you save a copy of a file, the file is replaced with the new version. This means, no matter where you access the file from, you will see the most recent version.

What is nice about these backups is you have a choice of how you choose what you want to back up. You can either choose a folder to backup or you can choose a particular file type (like pictures or documents). Within the segment of pictures, you can choose the file types you want Gladinet to scan for (e.g. jpg, bmp, png…)

There is also a Snapshot backup (requires additional Cloud Backup license) that can run scheduled backup and create multiple snapshots with version control.

Cloud Sync

A Cloud Sync Folder allows you to automatically sync files across multiple computers. This is a great replacement for your “My Documents” folder.

Files placed in the designated folder are synchronized to your other computers you use with the same Cloud Sync folders enabled.

Free Giveaway

Thanks to Gladinet, we have 5 copies of Gladinet Cloud Desktop to give away to our readers, and that is all of you. To participate:

Step 1

Be our Facebook fan or follow us in Twitter :

(If you have already done this, skip to step 2)

STEP 2

Fill up the form below. This is to make sure that we can contact you when you win the license. We promise that we won’t spam you.

Update: This giveaway contest has ended.

STEP 3
Share this post either in Facebook or Twitter, or leave a comment below.

This giveaway begins now and ends Wednesday, 2nd Mar at 2359hrs Eastern Time. The winners will be selected at random and announced via email.

Share and enjoy!

Related Posts:

• InSync + Google Docs = Cheaper And Better Dropbox?
• How to Auto-Mount Box.net to Linux Desktop
• How To Back Up Your Google Docs
• Play Your Music Anywhere with Amazon’s Brand New Cloud Player

1. Dropbox

Needless to say, our favorite app – Dropbox tops the list. The free account comes with a 2GB space, but you can gain extra storage space (up to 8GB) by referring friends to use the service, or to get connected via any social means. The good thing about Dropbox is that it is available in among all platforms so you can easily drop a file in any of the computer and access it immediately in your mobile phone.

In the Android app, it doesn’t download and sync all the files like it does on the computer. It only shows a list of the files you have in the cloud and download the necessary file only when you need it. Similarly, you can upload files from the Dropbox app. One caveat though, it does not automatically sync the files/folders that you placed in the Dropbox folder.

One additional feature of the Dropbox app is that you can create files (Picture, Video, Audio, Text file, Folder) from your phone. This means that you can quickly take a photo and sync it to the Dropbox folder.

Market link

2. Zumo Drive

If you are unwilling to shell out money for online storage, then ZumoDrive will not be very attractive to you. The free account of ZumoDrive comes only with 1GB of storage space. (Update: Zumodrive comes with 2GB of free storage space as well.) Nevertheless, ZumoDrive does have several tricks up its sleeves. First of all, ZumoDrive supports multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and Palm Pre. This make managing your files much easier. Secondly, it comes with an inbuilt music player so you can play/stream your music directly from your ZumoDrive account. It saves you space in your SD card and allows you to listen to your music at the same time. Cool.

Market link

3. SugarSync

SugarSync offers 5GB for its free account, so it is a waste if you don’t sign up for it. Regular SugarSync will find the Android version familiar, as it comes with the usual Magic Briefcase and all connected devices.

When it first launches, it will scan your photo gallery and prompt you to backup all your photos to SugarSync. Unless you select “Yes” or “Never”, you will receive the prompt everytime you run the SugarSync app. Selecting “Yes” wil upload your photos in the background.

In my opinion, SugarSync is functionally similar to Dropbox, except that it provides 5GB of free storage space (3GB more than Dropbox). Both of them support multiple platforms, but Dropbox has the slight advantage with Linux support, while SugarSync don’t.

Market link

4. Box.net

If you are looking for a no-frill app with simple interface, then Box.net is the one for you. The Android version of Box.net is just a simple implementation of its web interface. After you have login to the app, you can access or upload files to your web folder.

Similar to the Dropbox app, you can create media content from within the app. Tap on “Menu -> Create” and you can choose to create either audio, video, or image file. Selecting the audio content will launch a voice recorder while the video content will activate your camera in video mode.

The free version comes with 5GB of storage space.

Market link

5. Sorami

Of all the cloud based storage services, Microsoft’s Skydrive is the most general, giving you a whopping 25GB free storage space. The bad thing is, it is purely web based and doesn’t offer any tool for its users to access it from the desktop (or phone). Sorami is an implementation of Skydrive by third party developer. It allows you to access your Skydrive folder and download/upload files to it. This app is still in beta, so there are many unpolished areas, such as slow uploading, doesn’t support simultaneous upload of multiple files etc. Nevertheless, this is your only choice if you are an active Skydrive user.

Market link

Just the above apps can give you an extra 38GB of storage space. What other ways do you use to gain extra storage space for your mobile device?

Related Posts:

• Share Your Private Files With SpiderOak On Android
• IDriveSync: A Cheaper Alternative Of Dropbox
• 4 Other Online Storage Options That Are NOT Dropbox
• A Comparison Guide Of The Various Cloud Storage Services

Poll results and this week’s poll after the jump.

As the time we spent online increases, the amount of data that we placed online also increased. From your emails in Gmail, your friends information in Facebook, your confidential files in Dropbox, your credit card detail in Paypal, we almost throw our whole life onto the Web. The problem is – is it safe to do so?

Over the past few weeks and months, we have seen several high profile companies got hacked. Gawker, Mozilla, Trapster, to name a few. Million of usernames and passwords were leaked to the public. This is only the beginning and I am sure we bound to see more of such things happen.

So for this week poll, “Do You Still Feel Safe Storing Your Files/Information Online?”

Let’s the voting begin.

Related Posts:

• Play Your Music Anywhere with Amazon’s Brand New Cloud Player
• Share Sensitive Information Online With CloudSafe
• Gladinet Cloud Desktop 3 Review + Free Giveaway
• How to Get Extra Storage Space On Your Android Phone

Simkl is an application that will keep all of your chat histories stored in the clouds. This means you can access a chat from anywhere you have internet access, not just your local machine.

Something to download

Even though everything is stored in the clouds, there is still an application you need to download and run on your local machine. Simkl isn’t magic, it needs something on your machine to record your conversations.

What Simkl works with

Right now you can use a few different instant messaging services. Skype, Windows Live Messenger (WLM), ICQ, Yahoo and AIM can all have their chat histories recorded and stored online. You will also see you do not need to use the actual application. Simkl has been tested with apps like iChat, Pidgin, Digsby and many others.

Why use Simkl?

I asked myself this question when I looked at Simkl. For a freelancer or person who travels a lot for their job, having access to your chat history can save you a lot of headaches.

Imagine you are on the first day of your business trip and you get an email from a client asking the exact price of the quote you talked about via Skype chat. Instead of telling them you will need to get back to them in 4 days when you return, you can login to Simkl and look up your chat with that client.

What you can save

If you use any of the instant message services, you can save the chat logs. These histories will be saved for later reading on history.im. Saving your chat logs in the clouds is a fantastic feature for those of you who use multiple computers during the course of their work week. Using Simkl will combine your chat logs so you don’t need to remember which computer you were on when you talked to a certain person.

If you are using Skype or Windows Live Messenger, you also have the luxury of storing your voice chats as well. For those of you who conduct interviews through WLM, there really isn’t a good way to record your chats. If you use Skype, you will need to use a 3^rd party application to review the dialog.

Having access to the voice conversation recording is ideal if you want to go back later and transcribe the conversation.

What else Simkl does

Another feature of Simkl is saving your instant message contacts. This may not seem important because you can always just re-download the IM application and sign in again if your PC crashes. Well, what if your account gets hacked and you can’t access it?

If you are looking for a specific part of a conversation but don’t remember when it was, you can search through all of your logs for a specific bit of text. I don’t know about you, but I am a big IM user and it can be a huge pain to remember who you talked to about what. Searching for a phrase can be a monstrous time saver.

What are your must have instant messaging applications or add-ons?

Related Posts:

• imo.im – A Multi-Client Web Based IM Service
• Big List Of Android Messaging Apps
• Use Your Webcam With Multiple Programs Simultaneously
• Christmas Week Special: IM+ Pro For Android Free Giveaway

At the moment, Ubuntu One for Windows public beta is invitation only. We are one of the few that are lucky to receive a download for testing. Here’s a quick review of what you’re going to see in the Windows version.

Installation

While you can install Ubuntu One in Windows, you will need .NET framework 4 for it to work.

The installation is a breeze. It is the same usual steps as installing any other applications.

Once the installation is done, you should see the icon in the system tray.

To get start, right click on the Ubuntu One tray icon and select “Add this computer”.

You will be prompted to enter your login credential.

Features of Ubuntu One for Windows

The user-interface is almost similar to the one in Ubuntu. When you click “Synchronize”, it will create an Ubuntu One folder in “My Document” and start to download all your files from the server. At the moment, it only syncs your files in the Ubuntu One folder. Your music (purchased from Ubuntu One Store), tomboys note etc will not be synced at the moment.

There is nothing much that you can configure in the Settings. The only obvious one is the scheduling of auto-sync.

As it is still in beta, there are plenty of things that are not working now. You can’t sync your purchased music, tomboy notes, calendar, contacts, folders outside the “Ubuntu One” folder and many other things. But not to worry, these features will be in place when the actual version is released.

At the moment, Ubuntu One for Windows open for invitation only. For those who are interested, you can submit your interest at the Ubuntu One Wiki and they will send you the download link in a few weeks time.

No news of OSX version as of today.

Related Posts:

• How to Password Protect Your Files And Folders In Windows
• Gladinet Cloud Desktop 3 Review + Free Giveaway
• Configuring Places, Bookmarks, and Locations in KDE
• Easy Organization with KDE’s Plasma Shelf Widget

With this latest quanp Office addin, you will be able to download, edit, upload and share your document directly from your Office.

Installation

The installation of the quanp addin is pretty straightforward. Simply download the exe file and double click to install it. If you have opened your Microsoft Office, you will need to close it for the installation to proceed.

When the installation is done, you will find the quanp icon in the ribbon of your office.

Usage

To use quanp, you must first register for a quanp account. This quanp account is also an online storage service and comes with 10GB of free space. This is also where your documents will be stored.

To register for a quanp account, you can either visit the sign up page or simply click on the quanp icon and select Download. It will prompt you to log in to your account or to register a new account.

Once you have signed up for a quanp account, you will be able to download, upload, or share file with your friends.

Download

As the name implies, this allows you to download files from your quanp account and edit it in Word, Excel or Power Point.

You can select the file to download as well as the location to save the file.

Upload

To upload a file, you must first save the file. You will not be able to upload any unsaved work.

When uploading files, you can specify tags and description for the file so that it can be retrieved easily in the future.

Send file

The Send File function is rather misleading, because it doesn’t send really your file to your friends. What it does is to upload your file to your quanp account and email your friends the link to download it.

You can include up to 20 recipients in the mailing list and you can also customize the email subject and body message. The recipients will receive email something like the screenshot below:

Conclusion

Quanp addon is not the only addon for Microsoft Office to store your document in the cloud, and it is lacking collaborative feature and online editing function (just like Google docs). It works great if you just want to backup your document online, but that’s all.

What do you think? What features would you expect from such an online storage tool?

Related Posts:

• Best Alternatives To Microsoft PowerPoint (Online And Offline)
• Play Your Music Anywhere with Amazon’s Brand New Cloud Player
• Share Sensitive Information Online With CloudSafe
• Gladinet Cloud Desktop 3 Review + Free Giveaway

This is because a 260 GB hard disk is not enough anymore. You need more and more space and most importantly, you want to access those files from any computer you want.

With an online file hosting service, you can sync all your computers and mobile devices with ease. One of the very popular services is Dropbox. The free plan of Dropbox allows you to store up to 2 GB of data in the cloud and the pro plan costs $9.99 a month for 50 GB while $19.99 for 100 GB of space.

If you are looking for a cheaper alternative of Dropbox, here is another web service called iDriveSync, which offers considerate plans with more space.

What makes IDriveSync better than Dropbox?

IDriveSync offers a similar free plan for general users, which allows you to store 2 GB of data and sync them across multiple computers. What makes the service a strong Dropbox alternative is the Pro plan – with only $4.95 a month, you get unlimited sync space !

This is surely a great option for power users who work with a lot of data and want more storage space with cheaper pricing.

IDriveSync supports sharing files with anyone via email address, allows web access to your files, apart from synching them across multiple devices. It has all the features of Dropbox, so if you want a pro backup service with unlimited space, IDriveSync is the way to go.

The only downside of IDriveSync is that it is available only for Windows and not for OSX or Linux.

Using IDriveSync to Sync Files Between Multiple Computers

1. First you have to sign up for an account here. After you have signed up, download the IDriveSync client here.

2. After successfully installing the client on your system, you will see the following screen:

3. If you have already signed up for an account, click” I already have an account”. Otherwise sign up for an account by filling in the necessary credentials, e.g name, email address, password and so on.

4. After the sign up is complete, login to the IdriveSync desktop client.

5. In the next screen, choose use “Default Encryption key”. Please note that sharing files and folders with other users is not permitted if you choose a “private encryption key”.

Important: If you lose the private encryption key, you will not be able to recover the data stored in your IDriveSync account.

6. Next, you will be shown the main interface of IDrivesync. It’s advised to perform a bandwidth test from the options, this will allow you to check your internet connections upload and download speed.

7. Go to program preferences from tools and select a local folder in your computer. This folder is your IDriveSync folder and will be used to sync files from your computer to the IDriveSync account.

8. You are done with the settings. Now simply drag and drop files and folders in the IDrivesync main window and it will be synced with your online IDriveSync storage.

9. Sharing individual files or folders is easily achieved, just right click the file from the program window and choose “Share”.

This will open a pop up window where you can specify the email address of the person with whom you want to share the file or folder. Your friend does not need an IDriveSync account to download the shared file.

The best part about IDriveSync is that it allows you to choose between “Read” and “Read and Write” permissions so that the collaborators may either download or use the file, or they can update the older version with a newer one ( having write access).

The web interface of IDrivesync allows you to view, download or share your files and folders. Here is how it looks:

Overall, I am really impressed with IDriveSync service and the fact that it allows unlimited sync space for only $4.95 a month, it is undoubtedly a strong competitor of Dropbox.

Do you use any other online sync service ? What do you think about IDriveSync ? Please share your ideas through a comment.

Related Posts:

• How to Get Extra Storage Space On Your Android Phone
• Wuala: An Alternative To Dropbox With Security In Mind
• Play Your Music Anywhere with Amazon’s Brand New Cloud Player
• Share Sensitive Information Online With CloudSafe

A Little About Prism

As the underlying technology behind Peppermint’s web features, Prism deserves a section of its own. The main concept behind it is called the Site Specific Browser (SSB). The idea is that each web app is given its own independent browser session. This means that an unstable or malicious web app in one SSB will have far less chance of interfering with others than if they were in the same browser. Web apps can be included in a dock or panel just like a local application, including the ability to add badges for indicators (currently Windows and Mac only). This means you can have a Prism web app icon for your favorite webmail client which shows an unread message indicator, just like a desktop app.

You don’t need Peppermint to enjoy Prism, it can be installed as a standalone application or Firefox plugin.

Getting Peppermint

ISO files and torrents can be downloaded here. The examples here are using Peppermint-One-05222010.

The Peppermint OS Desktop

Peppermint uses LXDE for a desktop environment. As a result, it’s quite responsive even on low end hardware. In short, LXDE is a fast, lightweight desktop environment that uses Openbox for window management. It comes with its own set of small, lightweight tools like LXTerminal, LXPanel, and the PCMan file manager.

The main menu is already populated with Prism web apps, such as Gmail, Facebook, and Seesmic. Each of these will open a isolated browser session to that location.

New items, including Prism web apps, can be added to the panel for quick access. To do so, right-click the panel and choose Add/Remove Panel Items > Application Launch Bar -> Edit. You’ll be given a selection screen to easily choose any items you wish.

As noted above, “badge” indicators are not yet supported in the Linux version of Prism, Peppermint included.

Included Software

On the desktop side of things, Peppermint comes with a reasonable assortment of small, high-speed applications. Some of the more noteworthy include:

• LXDE Software Suite
• Firefox Web Browser
• Leafpad Text Editor
• Transmission Bittorrent Client
• Exaile Music Player
• Mplayer Video Player
• Asunder CD Ripper
• PyNeighborhood Network Browser
• Synaptic Package Manager
• Kernel 2.6.32
• Xorg 7.5

Conclusion

As a Linux, Peppermint is not particularly notable except for its suitability for machines with low hardware specs, or users who do not want system resources wasted on bells and whistles like 3D cubes and wobbly windows. Peppermint should run quickly on just about any PC. Regarding the Prism aspect, it’s harder to draw a conclusion. Mozilla is still developing Prism so its full capabilities have not yet been reached, but the current state does not seem to be especially remarkable. Much of the functionality can be replicated (though perhaps not as well) with simple browser shortcuts. When Prism has more polish it may be a central part of how we interact with our computers, but for now Peppermint is mainly a small, fast and simple OS, albeit with dreams of something bigger.

Related Posts:

• How to Install and Configure ownCloud
• Listen to Cloud Music With Nuvola Player [Ubuntu]
• How to Configure Linux for Children
• How to Build Chrome OS For Your Netbook or VM

Because of this, I was doing some looking around at different places for online storage the other day. I came to realize how many articles there are about Dropbox. I saw a few different sites talking about other options here and there, but Dropbox seemed to be everywhere. With a few Google searches, I came across several great alternatives.

Even if you are using a service to back up certain files, there is nothing wrong with using an additional source to back up. You can use one service for personal and one for work, or one to back up pictures and one for ebooks. Most cloud storage services have the same basic features; uploading files via a web browser, sharing links to files, undelete and so on.

Below are several options to use in replacement of, or in conjunction with Dropbox.

1. Flipdrive

Not everyone needs a lot of storage. Flipdrive’s free option is pretty small in comparison to the others here. You are given 25 MB. This may not sound like a lot, but if used wisely, you can really pack a lot in there.

In the limited storage space, Flipbox is great option for backing up things like your contact list, an ebook you are reading, a few really important documents,bookmarks or IM history logs.

To go along with the 25 MB, they give you a places to store contacts, bookmarks, calendar and you also have unlimited storage for your photos. The unlimited photo storage option is worth signing up all by itself.

2. Box.net

Box.net is a pretty substantial jump in size over Flipdrive. You are allotted 1 GB of space. Having the added space opens up more  possibilities.

Going with these guys allows you access from your mobile device, whether it be Blackberry, iPhone, iPad or mobile browser. I don’t need to tell you how handy this is for the person who lives and dies by their phone. The Blackberry app is shortcut to the mobile version of the site.

The biggest limitation here is the file size allowed; you can only upload a 25 MB file or smaller. When you look at the size of the actual size of most files, they are not really too big. If you do need store a larger video or something larger, you will need to go with another option.

3. MozyHome

Mozy is the next size increase of the bunch; they offer 2 GB of storage for free. The software you download to use Mozy is pretty simple and works with both Mac and Windows (no Linux).

When you initially install the desktop software, Mozy will scan your computer for files to back up. It doesn’t back up things like your OS or .iso files.

Once you have set up for the first time, as long as you have an internet connection, your files will be automatically backed up at all times. I don’t have a lot of big files on my netbook, but here is a screenshot of an initial search for files to upload. My initial backup took quite a while, I had almost 7500 small files to back up.

What I like about Mozy is, you don’t need to change the way you store your files. In the settings, simply choose the folders you want to back up; that’s all. The backups are automatic. With Dropbox, you have to store everything in the Dropbox folder or it does not get synced.

4. Adrive

Adrive offers the largest amount of free space; a whopping 50 GB!

In the free version, there is not an option for a desktop client.This is both a blessing and a curse. You can upload multiple files at the same time using their Java based uploader. The downside of not having a desktop application, is you lose the automatic syncing.

With the free version you lose features like uploading files with FTP, the desktop app, mobile version and need to view a few ads. Is it worth it to see some ads and not have mobile access for 50 GB of free space? I thought it was.

My only complaint about Adrive is needing to prove you are human every time you sign in to the free version; the other stuff is more than acceptable.

Do you back up your documents on a local drive or somewhere in the cloud?

intro image ken mccown

Related Posts:

• How to Get Extra Storage Space On Your Android Phone
• How to Schedule Regular Database Backup to Dropbox
• Titanium Backup: The Best Backup App For Android Power Users
• Gladinet Cloud Desktop 3 Review + Free Giveaway

In this first article, I will explain the basics of installing Dropbox and using its more common features. In the next article I will outline some of the more unique uses of Dropbox.

1. Installation

First, visit www.dropbox.com and download the Dropbox client. After installing and creating an account, you will get a choice to keep the Dropbox folder location as default or move it somewhere else. At this point if you wish to make your entire “My Documents” folder as your “My Dropbox” folder you have that option. I personally prefer to keep it as a separate folder in my “Users” folder.

2. Increase your Dropbox Limit for FREE

While the 2GB that Dropbox provides for free is adequate for documents, once you decide to start syncing photos or music you will soon require more space. If you are willing to pay, you can upgrade to 50GB for $9.99/month or 100GB for $19.99/month. However, with a small amount of work, it is also possible to increase your allocation of free space by 8.2GB to a total of 10.2GB.

The first thing you must do is click on the “Getting Started” link on your Dropbox home page. Immediately after the tutorial completes you will notice that 250MB has been added to your total limit.

To obtain the remainder of the bonus space, Dropbox requires you to refer a certain number of people to their service. To do this, click on the “Get Extra Space Free” link on the Dropbox home page and you will be taken to your referral page. From here you can either send the referral link to friends using their e-mail addresses or you can copy your referral link and entice others to sign-up to Dropbox using your referral link (by signing up using your referral link those new users will also get extra space for free).

Each referral gets you 250MB of bonus storage space, so it will take a total of 32 referrals for you to hit 8GB.

3. Backing Up

While Dropbox has robust syncing features, it is also handy as a simple backup tool. Simply place all the data you want backed up into your “My Dropbox” folder and no matter what happens to your physical storage, your data will remain safe in the cloud. The “undelete” option is what sets Dropbox apart as a backup service.

On the website, if you browse to any folder, you are met with the following interface:

Clicking on the “Show deleted files” button reveals, in grey, a number of previously deleted items.

From here you can select any folder or file and either permanently delete it or “undelete” the item.

It is also possible to launch the “undelete” function directly from any folder inside your “My Dropbox” folder by right-clicking, selecting “Dropbox” -> “Show Deleted Files…”.

If you have a free account this feature is limited to the past 30 days, so a file older than 30 days is permanently erased. If you buy a “Pro” account (i.e. 50GB or 100GB) you can ‘undelete” files forever.

In addition, to being able to restore deleted files, it is possible to revert back to older versions of any file by selecting a file and clicking on “previous versions”.

On the next page you can select the version you would like to roll back to.

4. Photos Folder

After installing Dropbox, the “My Dropbox” folder contains a “Photos” folder by default.

If you place a photo or a folder full of photos in this folder and then browse the folder in Dropbox, you have the ability to view the photos in a gallery view.

From here you even have the ability to share this particular gallery with anyone (even if they do not possess a Dropbox account). Simply send them the highlighted link.

Just remember, the gallery mode only works if the original folder is named “Photos” (e.g. “pictures” does not work).

5. Sync any Folder with Dropbox

Currently, the only way to sync data onto Dropbox is to physically place it in the “My Dropbox” folder. Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this problem.

In Windows 7/Vista/XP download the program Link Shell Extension. Once you have installed the program, MOVE (not copy) the folder you would like to sync with Dropbox into your “My Dropbox” folder. Then right-click on the folder and select “Pick Link Source”.

Having “selected” the folder, navigate to the folder where this particular folder was originally located and select “Drop As… -> Junction”.

This will ensure that while the original folder actually resides in the “My Dropbox” folder, you can continue to interact with the folder as though it is in its original location. It is essential that you place your original folder inside Dropbox. If instead you create the junction inside Dropbox, leaving the folder in its original location, any changes inside the folder will not sync until you restart Dropbox (this is a bug with Windows junction points).

In my next article I will demonstrate some of the more advanced uses of Dropbox.

Related Posts:

• How to Get Extra Storage Space On Your Android Phone
• A Quick Look At Ubuntu One For Windows Public Beta
• IDriveSync: A Cheaper Alternative Of Dropbox
• How To Make the Most of Dropbox – Part II