Free Storage Space	Pricing per month (US$)	Desktop client	Mobile Support	File Sharing	Unique Selling Point
Dropbox	2GB, free referrals upgrade up to 18GB	$9.99 for 50GB $19.99 for 100GB	Windows Mac Linux	Android iOS Blackberry	Yes	Support almost every platforms, sync seamlessly
Skydrive	7GB. Existing users can have free upgrade to 25GB for a limited time	$13/year for $20GB $32/year for 65GB $65/year for 100GB	Windows Mac	WP 7 iOS	Yes	A generous amount of storage space to start with and great integration with Windows OS and devices
Google Drive	5GB	$2.49 for 25GB $4.99 for 100GB $7.99 for 16TB	Windows Mac Linux (coming soon)	Android iOS (coming soon)	Yes	Great integration between Google Docs, Gmail, and Picasa. Cheap and affordable storage space upgrade
Ubuntu One	5GB	$2.99 for every 20GB	Linux Windows	Android iOS	Yes	The native sync client for Ubuntu and supports music and contact sync
iCloud	5GB	$20/year for 10GB $40/year for 20GB $100/year for 50GB	Requires iTunes, for Windows and Mac only	iOS	No	Integrate seamlessly with iOS device and Mac.
Amazon Cloud Drive	5GB	$20/year for 20GB $50/year for 50GB $100/year for 100GB $200/year for 200GB $500/year for 500GB $1000/year for 1TB	Windows Mac (only a upload/download client, not a sync client)	No sync client for mobile (yet). Mp3 saved in the Cloud drive can be played with the Amazon MP3 Android app	No	Music purchased from Amazon will be saved to the cloud drive for free, without affecting the storage status
SpiderOak	2GB	$10/month per 100GB increment	Windows Mac Linux	Android iOS	Yes	Encrypted online backup
SugarSync	5GB	$4.99 for 30GB $9.99 for 60GB $14.99 for 100GB	Windows Mac	Android iOS Blackberry Symbian	Yes	Able to sync any folders on your computer
Box	5GB. Android users and Apps email holder can upgrade to 50GB	$9.99 for 25GB $19.99 for 50GB	Windows & Mac version only for business and enterprise user	Android iOS Blackberry	Yes	Good focus on business side
Wuala	5GB	$39/year for 20GB $79/year for 50GB $129/year for 100GB	Windows Mac Linux	Android iOS	Yes	Wuala encrypts the data on your computer before it is uploaded. During the upload, your data is split up into many different pieces and stored in multiple places to make certain that you never lose a single file.
iDriveSync	5GB	$4.95 for unlimited sync storage	Windows Mac	Android iOS	Yes	Data are encrypted at the data center

The Analysis

If you are looking for a cross-platform compatible storage service, Dropbox is the one to go. It is the easiest to use and supports the most number of OS and platforms.

If you need plenty of storage space and are looking for a cheap and affordable storage provider, you can consider either SkyDrive or Google Drive. For up to 65GB, SkyDrive has the lowest price per GB. When the storage space go up to and above 100GB, Google Drive is the cheapest. However, on the mobile side, you don’t expect Microsoft to come up with an Android app for SkyDrive and Google might not be so keen to create a WP7 app for its GDrive too. If you need to have mobile access, this is something you need to consider as well.

iCloud is the obvious choice for iOS users since it is deeply integrated into the OS. It may not be the cheapest choice though, but with all Apple stuff, it just works.

Amazon Cloud Drive is really useful if you are a regular Amazon customer, particularly if you buy MP3 and eBooks often. I have a feeling that Google will merge its Drive and Music services together in the future, but as of now, Amazon has really done a good job linking your digital download and the cloud storage together.

Being a Ubuntu user, I really like the way that Ubuntu One is integrated into the system. The syncing and restoration is seamless that I can reformat my PC and still have my settings and configuration intact the next time I boot up my PC.

Wuala and SpiderOak are good if you are paranoid about the confidentiality of your files in the cloud. Both services are cross-platform compatible and encrypt your data by default. Wuala offers more storage space for free (5GB) but if you need more than 100GB of space, SpiderOak is slightly more affordable.

Which storage provider is your favorite?

Image credit: By wwarby

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Double-clicking the tray icon opens the InSync folder. If you have multiple Google accounts connected to the InSync profile, you will find a folder for each of them within the InSync folder. Each of the folders will have the name similar to that of the Google account you had connected. Open each folder and browse the files/folders within them. You can upload new documents, pictures, video clips and files of any type to the folder which will be auto-synced to the respective Google account once the computer is connected to the Internet. You can also edit existing documents and once you save the changes, it will get auto-updated on your Google Docs account.

Now the debate burns down to why should we prefer Google Docs storage with InSync and not the already popular and feature full Dropbox? The plain and simple answer is in the post header itself. The former is a cheaper option, to be precise, 8 times cheaper. Now, money doesn’t matter always, buyers are always looking for better products even though they put a hole in their pockets. Here are a few reasons I think the InSync way is way better than Dropbox.

Why InSync is Better than Dropbox

1. The Dropbox client only allows you to connect to one Dropbox account at one time and we have to use a hack to connect to multiple accounts. With InSync, you can add multiple Google accounts and thus a large amount of storage space can be monitored from a single tool.

2. If you are someone who wish to pay for cloud storage, Google Docs storage is a better choice since the price is cheaper and affordable than Dropbox.

3. The file size limit is another thing to consider. Dropbox desktop client lets you add files of reasonably high file size, however, the web interface adds a limit of 300MB. Google Docs lets you add files with filesize as high as 10GB which is quite high even if the Blu-ray movies are to be considered.

4. Individual file sharing is not allowed in Dropbox. Only folder sharing is available. InSync lets you share a single file and a folder as well.

The obvious reason that Dropbox still has an upper hand on Google Docs is the free storage it offers is more than the latter. Well news doing the rounds that the internet giant soon entering the cloud storage market suggests that the free storage is going to change. With endless possibilities with Insync, I’ve already jumped on the Google Docs bandwagon. What are your plans?

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Cryptonite is a file encryption/decryption app for Android that is based on the EncFS. It is still in active development mode and only works with rooted phone for now. It allows you to create an encrypted volume in your Dropbox folder and place files/folders into it, or decrypt your existing encrypted volume and mount it as a local folder. In both scenarios, it gives you both read/write access to your files/folders.

1. Install Cryptonite from the Play Store.

2. Once installed, run the app. There are three option tabs at the top – Dropbox, Local and Expert. The Dropbox tab is where you can create encrypted volume, or decrypt an encrypted volume in Dropbox. The Local tab gives you option to create an encrypted volume in your Android storage (SD card). The Expert tab comes with a terminal that allows you to run commands. This is for Advanced users only. Use it only if you are proficient enough and know what you are doing.

3. At the Dropbox tab, tap the button “Link With Dropbox”. When prompted, select “Full Access”. This allows Cryptonite to access your encrypted folder. Assuming that Dropbox is already installed in your phone, it will load the Dropbox app and prompt you to grant permission to Cryptonite. Select “Allow”.

4. Back to the main screen, select “Decrypt Dropbox folder”. It will then prompt you to select the encrypted folder and enter the password. Once it is done, the “Browse decrypted folder” and “Forget decryption” button will become active.

5. Tap on the “Browse decrypted folder” button and you will be able to access to your encrypted files. At the moment, there is no in-app editor for you to view and edit your files. You will have to export the file to your SD card, view or edit it, then re-upload back to the encrypted folder. Don’t forget to delete the files after you have edited it.

If you are paranoid about the privacy of your data, one alternative mean is to create an encrypted volume in your Android SD card (with Cryptonite). Mount the encrypted volume. Export your Dropbox files to this mounted volume. (The default mounted volume is at csh.cryptonite -> mnt folder). In this case, the exported file will be encrypted and you can edit it as well.

Lastly, I would advise you to password protect this Cryptonite app. It wouldn’t be good if anyone can access your encrypted files/folders without your permission.

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I have heard several horror stories of people trying to send large files via email from their Android device. The file keeps trying to send but never does. All the while, the file is eating away at the sender’s data plan causing overages, poor Android battery life and slower data for everything else. There are several ways you can solve the potential problem of sending large files using free Android applications.

YouSendIt

YouSendIt is an application that works from your Android phone as well as on the web. You will receive 2GB of storage. You can upload any kind of file as long as it isn’t bigger than 50MB. There is a 50MB file size upload limit for YouSendIt. When you want to share a file, there are a couple of options. The first is using any of the options on your phone. You may have already shared a file via MMS or email, this option is the same.

When you need to share a bit more information than a file or picture, you can share a whole folder. What’s cool here is, you can choose whether they can just Read the files in the folder or Read and Write to the folder. Reading and Writing is great for groups. When you share a folder, you will email the recipient an invite to access the folder.

Box for Android

Box is a great cloud storage and Android application working it’s way into my being my favorite storage app. For starters, Android owners get 50GB of space when signing in from the Android application. Uploading from your Android is a piece of cake. You can either initiate the upload by finding the file and choosing Box as the spot to upload the file. Or you can open Box and then search for the file to upload. Either way works well.

When the file is all uploaded, you can choose the Share option from the bottom of the screen. When you choose to Share a file, you will send them a link using one of the possible methods available on your phone.

Dropbox for Android

Dropbox for Android works very similar to the other two options. The upload process works the same with the exception of Dropbox for Android released a Beta feature that upped your cloud storage space and automatically uploads camera pictures and videos. This means you can skip the upload step in the process. Also, this means you won’t have to worry about your pictures or videos being lost if your phone is lost or damaged.

A feature that Dropbox for Android offers is the option to share an entire folder’s worth of files. To share the folder, make the name of the folder visible and press and hold it. A box with a share option will pop up. When you choose Share, you will see all the ways to share the file. By choosing a method or copying the link, you can send the link however you like. When the link is clicked, the contents of that folder will be downloaded by the recipient.

Conclusion

The more you are away from your office or computer, the more you will rely on your Android devices to fill the needs of your desktop devices. Having a full arsenal of tools ready before you need to be productive while mobile will set you up for success. If you wait until you NEED them, you may struggle learning how and what tools work for your personal or business needs.

How do you solve the problem of sending large files while mobile?

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A few words about Markdown:

Markdown is a markup language from John Gruber and Aaron Swartz. This also serves as a text-to-HTML conversion tool. You can get a taste using Dingus, an online Markdown editor from the developers. Since Scriptogram uses Markdown markup language for generating pages, you will need to learn a thing or two to get started with it. Move over to the syntax page to find a detailed documentation on how it is written. The markup language is well optimized for blog posting. Apart from the common tags (for any markup) you get the likes of  Published, Type, Title, Slug, Tags, Excerpt which are meant to define the similar entities necessary for a blog post. This language is quite easy to read and write once you are done writing a couple of pages with it.

Setting Up Your Scriptogram Blog:

1. Use the Dropbox Connect button to provide Scritogram access to your Dropbox account. Login to your Dropbox account and press Allow when prompted.

2. Personalize your blog by giving it a unique username, your real name and a description to your Scriptogram blog. The username will be appended to “http://scriptogr.am/” and acts as your blog URL. The real name will be used as your blog title. The description serves as a brief intro to what the blog is about.

3. After you are done, press Finish and you will be redirected to the blog you just created with a sample post that illustrates on how to use Markdown to create your blog posts for your Scriptogram blog.

Formatting Your Blog:

Once you are done setting up your blog, you can fine tune the blog by going to the Admin section, which can be also be accessed using the Scriptogram icon to the top right corner of your blog page. You can modify the layout with the HTML and CSS editors, choose from available themes or even use a custom domain name if that really matters to you.

When You should consider Scriptogram?

1. If typing is something you really enjoy, Scriptogram is for you.

2. If all you just love to share with the world is TEXT, go for Scriptogram.

3. If you are tired with the heavy duty blogging tools/interfaces and all you seek is the dead simple notepad to convey your writing prowess, Scriptogram is all you have been waiting for.

On an ending note, Tumblr, Blogger and WordPress still remain my favorites while recommending someone a tool to blog. However, if you are planning for a text blog and are keen on keeping things really simple & old-school, Scriptogram is a nice tool to start with. Three simple steps and you have a place to share your words. Easy peasy.

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Open a terminal and type:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-2.0/libnautilus-dropbox.a /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-3.0/libnautilus-dropbox.a
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-2.0/libnautilus-dropbox.la /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-3.0/libnautilus-dropbox.la
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-2.0/libnautilus-dropbox.so /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-3.0/libnautilus-dropbox.so

Restart Nautilus:

killall nautilus

That’s it. Open your Dropbox folder and you should see the sync icon and the Dropbox entry in the context menu.

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2. Extract the zip file. Open the backup.php with a text editor and edit your database and Dropbox credential.

Optionally, you can create a backup folder in your Dropbox and insert the name of the folder to the backup.php. Your database will then be backed up to this folder.

3. Save and close the file. Upload the whole backup folder to your server. Note the uploaded location relative to the server root.

4. If you are using cPanel for your web hosting, log into it and go to the cron job section.

5. Create a new cron job. You can set the time and frequency to backup the database. Under the command field, copy and paste the following command:

/usr/bin/php -q /path-to-backup-folder/backup/backup.php

Change the “path-to-backup-folder” to the location (relative to the server root) where you upload the backup folder.

6. Save the cron job.

That’s it. Now, your server will backup your database and upload it to your Dropbox account.

Note: This is a generic method for backing up any database on a Linux server. However, if you are using WordPress, there are plugins that you can use to back up your database to Dropbox. One thing to note: if you have a big database, using the plugin to backup your database will use a lot of system resources and and might slow down (or even crash) your WordPress site if your server is not up to par.

Image credit: Backup word on white keyboard by Big Stock Photo.

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Setup

Dropbox Automator has a simple interface which allows you to set rules to be applied to files that you place in your Dropbox folder. To begin with, however, you need to grant the software access to your Dropbox account. Considering the large number of security breaches that have taken place in 2011, I was a little wary about providing access. My solution was simply to create a new Dropbox account for testing this neat little app.

Use

After granting the app access to your Dropbox account, using it couldn’t be more straightforward. You assign a folder for the set of rules you wish to apply, and then assign the rules for that folder. You can stack rules too, so that it will, for example, convert and e-mail a file.

One thing to be careful of is not to create two rulesets for the same folder that act on the same filetypes. If you do this, you risk creating a never-ending loop. I found this out last night when I did just that and ended up with over 400 e-mails in my inbox for the same two files! What should have happened is that once one ruleset was completed, it was supposed to move the two files to a subdirectory called “processed”. I have a feeling, however, that these files were locked by the other automation process and as a result could not be moved.

Round-up

These shortcomings aside, Dropbox Automator is a powerful tool that has the potential to save you a large amount of time and make your life easier. For example, I do some of my invoicing in Microsoft Word, for customisation purposes. When I have finalised an invoice, I can put it in the Dropbox Automator folder and it will get converted to PDF and emailed to my inbox so all I need to do is forward the attachment on to the end client. This saves me selecting “save to PDF”, and browsing to the attached file in my web browser, and waiting for the file to upload. It’s not a huge amount of time, but if you group all the times I’ve done that together, it probably adds up to a lot.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you have any use for such automation features, I recommend giving it a try. Please post feedback below if you do.

Dropbox Automator

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Best of Social Networking

1. Instagram

Instagram brings creativity to any iPhone user and any iPhone photo. With just a pick of a filter, you can turn a mundane photo into something akin to artwork. The social media integration also allows other individuals to appreciate your photos.

2. Facebook

Facebook for iPhone wasn’t the best application out there in its early days. However, the later part of 2011 was great for the application. The new interface makes the application a lot cleaner, and the sidebar provides for quicker access to profiles.

3. Google+

The Google+ application took a while in 2011 to reach iOS users. The Android users beat iPhone users to the punch on this one. But for many users, it was worth the wait. The Google+ application offers the full site in an iPhone friendly interface. I personally only have to go on the desktop when uploading large files.

4. Twitter

Twitter for iPhone wasn’t its best in its early users, but the social media website seemed to have hit a growth spurt during the later part of 2011. The new application now has a revamped interface known as Twitter Fly. The interface offers a simpler, better organized Twitter experience.

Best of Photography

1. Camera+

The native iPhone camera application is seen as too basic for many individual’s taste. Aside from some light editing, including enhancement, cropping, and redeye editing, you don’t have much to work with. Camera+ offers great editing features, filters, borders, and more. It’s the only camera application I need.

2. iMovie

If you have an iPhone 4S, then you most likely haven’t been taking as much advantage of the 1080p lying in your pocket than you should. The iMovie application brings on board video editing, allowing you to share amazing video to YouTube and social networking websites in a snap.

3. Postagram

Postagram offers a great complement to our other favorite application for 2011, Instagram. Postagram allows you to physically enjoy some of your Instagram photos for only 99 cents each. The photos, printed on high quality paper, are a perfect vacation memento or a wonderful, personal holiday gift.

4. Adobe Photoshop Express

This free application offers great minor tweaks and improvements to already great photos. In other words, it may not be the application for the heavy photographer, but the average iPhone user will greatly appreciate it. Features like cropping and black and white offers the final touch to great photos.

Best of Games

1. Angry Birds

This two year old iPhone application has morphed into an App Store classic. This is why the whole Angry Birds series (Classic, Seasons, Rio etc), as one of the best iPhone game apps. It’s the game that some newly popular games base off of.

2. Temple Run

Temple Run is the highly addictive game that I thought was a great hit from the start. The objective is to go through an obstacle course, jumping over road cracks and more. Temple Run is now one of the top games on the app store, so if you haven’t heard of it, you don’t know what you’re missing out on!

3. Charadium

The loners in your life would find some company with the Charadium application. This game allows you to guess the word based on the drawn image of others you play with online. When the word is guessed, you get a point. It’s a great time passer.

4. Doodle Jump

Doodle Jump’s main objective is to draw the course that your character takes as it passes by various other hurtles. This is all while trying not to miss your step and fall to your death. Doodle Jump also has support for online multiplayer.

Best of Travel

1. FlightTrack Pro

This is one of my favorite travel applications out there. FlightTrack Pro offers a great hub for all of your travel information for your next trip. You have the ability to get any updates on your next flight, have airline emails forwarded here, and know when there are delays through push notifications.

2. Packing Pro

Who ever enjoys packing must not be avid travellers, because packing is one of the most put off activities in the whole travel trip. Have you ever considered having a packing assistant? Packing Pro is that application. The application gives you sample lists for what to pack, based on your upcoming trip so you can never forget anything.

3. UberCab

When you are leaving dinner with friends or arriving in your vacation spot, have you ever wanted to say “Let me call my driver”? UberCab allows you to do this. The application allows you to call a personal driver who can bring you from point A to point B in style at affordable prices.

4. TripColor

Capture your travel memories with Trip Color. The simple application allows you to share travel photos, text, and more by using templates made according to your travel theme. This keeps family and friends in the loop, without it being stressful.

Best of Productivity

1. Dropbox

Dropbox allows you to have your online life, in the cloud. Simply upload files onto the application, and they are easily accessable on the Dropbox website on your desktop. This is the top, free, iCloud alternative for any user.

2. Vlingo

For the iPhone 4 and 3GS users out there without Siri, this is the next best thing for getting stuff done through the voice. Vlingo allows you to send text and email messages, use maps, update your status, call, and do web searches with your voice. Is it better than Siri? Some may say no, but it’s the best alternative out there.

3. Remember the Milk

This is one of my favorite to-do applications available on the app store. It focuses on the content, not just the design, providing you with a productive application. In addition, with a small work around, you can even hook it up with Siri!

4. eTodo

What Remember the Milk lacks in design is what eTodo makes up for. The application categories your tasks into three easy to understand categories, providing you with the ability to know what to focus on.

Best of 2011…

Flipboard for iPhone

Flipboard is the chosen best application for 2011. The application just became available for iPhone a few weeks ago, but it’s a hit in our books. The application allows you to consume everything important to you online, in just one application. Your Twitter feed, Instagram, and favorite news sources are all available in one area. The interface uses the photos from these posts, providing for a classic magazine look. Best of all, this application is free!

Is your favorite apps in the list around? If not, share with us in the comments.

Image credit: BigStockPhoto

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One of the more interesting and useful third-party applications for Dropbox is DropPages. It turns Dropbox into a simple web server, letting you publish static web pages quickly and easily. You don’t even have to buy a domain or pay for hosting.

Here’s a look at how to get up and running with DropPages.

What You’ll Need

Obviously, you’ll need a Dropbox account. It’s free, and you get plenty of storage. Especially if you only use your Dropbox account for serving your web pages.

You’ll also need some files called themes. These provide the framework for your web site, and you can download them here. There are only three themes available, but they’re not bad looking.

That said, you can fine tune or create your own theme. How? Well, the themes are formatted with Markdown, a lightweight markup language that’s similar to Textile (which was covered by Make Tech Easier). Once you learn a bit of Markdown, you can customize your theme.

Once you have all of that, you’re ready to go.

Getting Set Up

Log into Dropbox and create a new folder. Click the New Folder button, and then type a name for the folder in the space that appears.

The name of the folder must contain .droppages.com – for example, scottnesbitt.droppages.com. This will be the URL to your web site. When you’re done, click the Create button.

From there, click the Share a Folder button in Dropbox. In the window that opens, click I’d like to share an existing folder and then click the Next button.

Click the folder that you created earlier, and then click the Next button.

In the next window, type server1@droppages.com in the Invite collaborators to this folder field. Doing this shares the file with the DropPages server and turns Dropbox (or, at least, that shared folder) into a basic but workable web server. When you’re done, click the Share folder button.

The request needs to be manually approved by Dave McDermid, the developer of DropPages. That approval can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.

Finally, remember that theme file you downloaded earlier? Extract it into your DropPages folder. Once your share request has been approved, your site will look something like this when you (or someone else) goes to the URL:

Final Thoughts

DropPages isn’t high-octane Web publishing. But it’s not meant to be that. If you want to quickly put up a Web page or site, even just for a short while, the combination of DropPages and Dropbox is a great solution. Especially if your needs are simple and you don’t want to fool around with buying a domain, dealing with hosting, and coding web pages.

Related Posts:

• A Comparison Guide Of The Various Cloud Storage Services
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Download and install Wuala on your computer. On the first run, it will prompt you to create an account (or sign in to your existing account if you have one).

Once you are logged in, you will see your dashboard with several folders (Document, Music, Photos, Videos). Unlike Dropbox, Wuala does not integrate with your filesystem. Instead, it mounts itself as a drive in your system.

You can get it to sync with any folder in your computer. To do so, click on the “New -> Sync” option and select the local folder that you want to sync.

It also works the other way – syncing your Wuala document to your local computer. You just have to select the folder and go to “File -> Synchronize with this computer“.

There are several sharing options in Wuala. By default, all your files and folders are marked as Private. No one, other than you, can view your files. You can, however, change the file permission to Share or Public. For Share option, you can share your files with your contacts, either via email or web link. For Public option, the file/folder is publicly available for everyone.

Wuala Preferences

The Preferences section of Wuala is pretty comprehensive, covering everything from your account detail, connection speed, cache size, filesystem integration, notification and many more options.

Trading of local storage in exchange for online storage

When you sign up for a free account, you will receive 1Gb of storage space. To many of us, this is too little. If you need a lot of online storage space, and at the same time, you have plenty of free space in your local hard drive, you can trade your local space in exchange for online space.

It works like this: you need to first specify the amount of hard disk space you are willing to trade (say 100GB). Depending on the amount of time you are online (for example, you are connected to Wuala 70% of the time), you will be given a free online storage space equivalent to the product of the hard drive space you are trading and the time you spent online. In this case, you will have access to 70Gb (70% * 100Gb) of online storage space.

Alternatively, you can refer your friends to use Wuala and earn up to 3Gb of storage space. Lastly, there is always the premium plans that allow you to buy storage space for a annual fee.

Conclusion

Wuala comes with plenty of features and it is really an enjoyment to use it. Personally, I like its security feature and the ability to choose the folders that you want to sync. The only gripe is the 1Gb storage space. Most online storage services offer 2Gb (some offer up to 5Gb) for their free account. Upon comparison, Wuala’s 1Gb storage space is really pathetic and unattractive. With competitors like SpiderOak and Ubuntu One, this could really make a lot of differences.

Wuala is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android.

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• A Comparison Guide Of The Various Cloud Storage Services
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• How to Encrypt Your Files And Improve Dropbox Security

Why is this important to you? A mistake made by the Dropbox team few days back had left the Dropbox’s main door open for 4 hours. During this period, anyone can log into any account and access all the files in that account without any passwords. While this affects only 1% of its users (which amounts to about 250,000, and that is not a small number), if you are one of those whose accounts have been compromised and you have confidential files in your Dropbox, you better watch out for the bad things that might happen to you.

Since you never know when such incident will happen again, it is best to encrypt your files before you sync them to the cloud so there is a second level of defense when your account has been compromised.

1. SecretSync

SecretSync is a file-by-file encryption solution for Windows and Linux. Once installed, you will find a new “SecretSync” folder in your user directory. Any files that you place in this folder will be encrypted and sync to Dropox.

The installation and usage of SecretSync for Windows is pretty straightforward. You simply download, install and run it. it will then guide you through the encryption process.

For Linux, the usage is purely command-line based.

1. You have to first download the deb file and install it in your system.

2. Open a terminal and type

secretsync

This will run the installer and download the necessary files from SecretSync site. It will also run you through the setting up process.

After the installation, type

secretsync start

to start the SecretSync service. You should see a new SecretSync folder in your Home directory. Any files you place in this folder will be encrypted and synced to Dropbox.

Note: The latest version of SecretSync will add itself to the autostart item automatically. The following step is meant for the older version.

To get SecretSync to autostart everytime you login, go to “System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications” and create a new startup item.

SecretSync

2. Encfs

Encfs is a better solution than SecretSync because it stores the encryption keys on your local machine and it can work in Linux (natively), Windows (via BoxCryptor) and Mac (via MacFuse), which is great if you use Dropbox on more than one operating system.

In Ubuntu, open a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install encfs
sudo addgroup <your username> fuse

To create an encrypted folder, type the command:

encfs ~/Dropbox/.encrypted ~/Private

The above command instructs encfs to create an encrypted hidden folder (with name .encrypted) in Dropbox and mount it in the Private Folder in your Home directory.

When it prompts you for the configuration option, press “p” follow by Enter.

Next, it will ask you to enter your password. Be very careful with what you type since it won’t appear in the screen.

That’s it. Whatever files you place in the Private folder will be encrypted and synced with Dropbox.

To get the encrypted folder to automount everytime you log in, you can use gnome-encfs.

1. Download gnome-encfs here (or grab the source here) to your Home folder.

2. Type the following command:

sudo install ~/gnome-encfs /usr/local/bin
gnome-encfs -a ~/Dropbox/.encrypted ~/Private

GUI for Encfs

In Linux, Cryptkeeper is an application that provides a graphical interface for encfs. It doesn’t come with the full configuration option for encfs, but if you need an easy way to get started quickly, this will be very useful.

In Ubuntu,

sudo apt-get install cryptkeeper

Cryptkeeper works as a system tray applet. If you are using Unity, use the following command to get it to work:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['Cryptkeeper']"
setsid unity

BoxCryptor

BoxCryptor is not really a GUI for encfs, but its encryption method is compatible with encfs. If you have created an encrypted folder in Linux, you can use BoxCryptor in Windows to mount the same encrypted folder.

3. TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is another powerful and cross-platform compatible encryption tool that you can use. We have mentioned it here and here, so we won’t go through it again.

One disadvantage of TrueCrypt is that you have to create a fixed size virtual container before you can use it. In addition, you can only get it to sync after you have unmounted it. This means that you won’t be able to sync your files in real time. Other than that, if you need a true cross-platform solution, then TrueCrypt is definitely the one for you.

That’s it. Which method do you use to secure your files in Dropbox?

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That’s all well and good if you’re chained to a desktop PC or laptop. But what happens if you frequently go mobile? Well, if you have an Android-powered phone and a Dropbox account, then you can turn to Todo.txt Touch.

Getting It and Getting Going

On your phone, go to the Android Market app and search for todo.txt touch. Then, tap the one search result. You’ll have to buy Todo.txt Touch; there’s no trial version. The app will set you back $2.00.

Once it’s installed, launch Todo.txt Touch.

The first thing you’ll need to do is link the app to your Dropbox account. When prompted, enter your Dropbox login information.

The app automatically saves your task list in a folder called todo in Dropbox. If you want to change the folder, tap the Menu button on your phone, and then tap Settings. On the Settings screen, tap File location and then type the name of another folder.

What If You Already Use Todo.txt on the Desktop?

That’s not a problem. First, make sure that you’re syncing the folder on Dropbox that Todo.txt Touch writes to with your computer. That should happen automatically. Then, move the file todo.txt into that Dropbox folder. You’ll also have to edit the file todo.cfg on your computer to point to the Dropbox folder. You can find instructions explaining how to do that here.

When you sync your task list with Todo.txt Touch, you’ll always be up to date.

Adding and Managing Tasks

Tap the Add button on the top right of the Todo.txt Touch screen. In the window that pops up, enter what you have to do and then tap Add.

Todo.txt uses a number of concepts from Getting Things Done (a popular method for personal organization). One of those concepts is contexts. A context is a thing, place, or person that you need to complete a task. All contexts have an @ sign in front of them For example, @Work denotes a task that you need to do in relation to your work. To include a context when adding a task, type @Context followed by the task.

You can also assign priorities to your tasks. To do that, tap a task on the main screen, and then tap Prioritize. On the Select priority screen, tap one of the priorities — ranging from A (most important) to E (least important).

If you need to modify or delete a task, just tap it. On the screen that opens, do one of the following:

• Tap Update to open the editing screen. From there, modify the task and then tap the Update button.
• Tap Delete. When prompted, tap the Delete button to get rid of the task.

Finishing Up

You have all of those tasks in your list. Obviously, you’re going to work your way through them. What do you do when you’re done? Tap the task that you’ve finished, and then tap Complete on the screen that opens. The task is crossed out in your list.

Once you’ve done marked a task as complete, remember to synchronize it in Dropbox. To do that, tap the Synchronize button on the top right of the Todo.txt Touch screen. On the screen that opens, tap Upload.

If you use Todo.txt and an Android phone, then Todo.txt Touch is a great way to make your task list even more portable. You get all the features you’re used to in Todo.txt but in a nice and easy-to-use graphical package.

Photo credit: Purple Slog

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When it comes to accessing our Dropbox folder, there are many ways to do it. You can install the Dropbox desktop client on all your computers, open the browser and access the web version of Dropbox, or if you are on the move and own an Android, iPhone or Blackberry, you can download the app and access it on the move. If none of the above work for you, one last way is to carry your Dropbox on your USB drive and bring it everywhere you go.

DropboxPortableAHK is a Dropbox portable app. It is based on the AutoHotKey script and allows you to place your Dropbox folder in a USB drive and sync it anywhere, everywhere.

Note: DropboxPortableAHK only works in Windows.

1. Download DropboxPortableAHK (~0.5MB, zip file)

2. Unzip the zip file. Plug in your USB drive and move the “DropboxPortableAHK” folder (the folder that you have just unzipped) to the USB drive.

3. Open the DropboxPortableAHK folder and double click the “DropboxPortableAHK.exe” file to run it.

4. It will prompt you to download the Dropbox daemon. Click Ok to proceed. If you are interested, you can also get it to download the beta version of Dropbox.

5. After the download finished, the configuration window will appear. From here, you can set your Dropbox folder and configure the app to update automatically.

6. Lastly, it will walk you through the Dropbox setup process. If your USB drive comes with limited capacity (say 2GB or less), it is best for you to select “Selective Sync” and select only the important folders to sync.

That’s it. Once the sync is completed, you can bring your Dropbox everywhere in your USB drive. Anytime you need to sync your files, simply plug in your USB drive and double click the DropboxPortableAHK.exe file to run it.

DropboxPortableAHK is not affiliated with Dropbox.com, but it is still easy to install and use. If you really need to bring your Dropbox on your USB drive, this is the best solution.

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When you open a file from your Dropbox folder in Android, the file will be downloaded to your SD card and you can then view/edit the file with a file manager. However, after you have made changes to the file, the Dropbox app does not automatically sync it back to the server. The only solution is to manually upload the file. This is definitely not a good solution.

A good solution to overcome this is to use DropSpace, another app to do the stuff that Dropbox suppose to do, but didn’t. DropSpace allows you to create a link between a folder in your SD card and a sub-directory in Dropbox. Once the link is created, it will auto sync the files from/to your Dropbox.

Download DropSpace from the market (it’s free)

Connect your Dropbox account to DropSpace.

Tap the “Manage Sync List” button to set up the sync.

Navigate to the directory on your SD card that you want to link and long tap on it to add to the sync list.

Next, it will show your Dropbox folder and you can do the same thing (long tap on the folder) to complete the sync configuration.

Lastly, go back to its main screen and tap the “Sync Now” to start the sync.

By default, you have to manually tap the “Sync Now” button everytime you want it to perform a sync. However, you can set it as a service and get it to run at a regular interval. You can also configure whether to remove the remote files when the local files are deleted.

Syncing notes to Dropbox

If all you want is to create notes on your Android phone and have them synced to your Dropbox, Epistle is one such app that allows you to do so. With Epistle, you can create simple notes and it will automatically synced to the Epistle folder in Dropbox. I have found this to be extremely handy, especially when I need to jot down some ideas while on the move.

Epistle also supports two-way sync. That means, if you create a text file on your desktop and drop it into the Dropbox Epistle folder, it will show up in your Android phone as well.

Until the Dropbox team implements the synchronization feature in their mobile apps, we will have to make use of the above mentioned apps to get things done. They might not be the most feature-complete app, but they get the jobs done.

What you say, Dropbox? Will you ever implement the synchronization feature to your mobile app? We are waiting…

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By doing a little reading and some planning ahead, I have come up with a few ways to use Dropbox while I am mobile. Below are a few tips to use your Dropbox for Android more efficiently while on the go.

1. Share a folder or link

This is probably the main use for me. It is really easy to share files via email or other methods. During certain times of the year, I am emailing the same set of forms to different people all the time. I keep all of the files in a folder in my Dropbox. When someone calls or emails me, I can send them the forms in a zip file.

Open Dropbox for Android and navigate to the folder you want to share.

Press and hold on the folder name. In the pop-up window, you will see Open or Share a link. In this case, select Share a link.

The share menu will appear asking how you want to share the link. Choose your method and send.

Fill in the recipient’s address or phone number. When the recipient clicks the link, they will initiate a download of the files in that folder in a .ZIP format.

2. Save or share app APKs

If you download applications from places other than the Android Market, you will likely have the APK file on your SD card or computer. Well, if you make a folder for these files in your Dropbox, you can uninstall the applications you do not use all of the time. When you need the application again, download it from your Dropbox folder.

In the same manner, if you want to share an application, you can send a link to a friend so they can download the APK file and install the application.

3. Basic text reader and picture viewer

A nice feature of Dropbox for Android is you can open certain files without downloading them to your SD card or Android phone. If you have a picture stored, you can open it within Dropbox. The same is true with a .txt file like you would use in Notepad.

4. Resume and portfolio

Another really handy thing to be able to do is share your resume at a moment’s notice. If you are looking for a job or freelance work, you need to respond to opportunities as soon as you see them. If you see a bookkeeping gig on Craigslist, you can shoot them a resume right away.

If you are a designer or photographer, you can quickly email a folder with all of the information such as a resume, sample pictures, references, links or anything else you’d like to send.

There are many other uses, what it comes down to is access and sharing. Be creative and I’m sure there are lots of ways you can find to use Dropbox for Android to make you more efficient.

Tell us your tips for being efficient while using your Android.

If you want more general tips on using Dropbox, here are a couple previous articles Part 1 and Part 2.

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1. Dropbox Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are useful when you want to quickly navigate through the Dropbox file browser. In fact they even allow you to perform a few actions that are normally not available.

To activate the keyboard shortcuts, first head to your Account options page by clicking on the link at the top of the Dropbox file browser page.

Next, select the Account Settings tab.

On the “Account Settings” page ensure that the “Enable file browser keyboard shortcuts” option is checked.

Now you will have access to the following keyboard shortcuts while you browse your files:

• a: Select all or no files
• n: Deselect all files
• c: Copy selected files
• m: Move selected files
• u: Move up a directory
• p: Select deleted files
• i: Invert selected files
• /: Search
• d: Show/hide deleted files
• esc: Hide popup
• ?: Show keyboard shortcuts
• k: Highlight previous file
• j: Highlight next file
• space: Select highlighted file
• o: View highlighted file

2. Find Your IP Address

If you use Dropbox on multiple computers then you will be able to see all their IP addresses using Dropbox.

To do this, simply head over to the “Account” options page and select “My Computers“.

The “My Computers” page will show you a list of all the computers that are connected to your Dropbox account or that have previously been connected. From this page you can “Rename” or “Unlink” those devices.

To view the IP address of a particular device, simply mouse-over the blue “i” icon.

Another useful function of this feature is that it shows you where your laptop or other Dropbox enabled device is located if you happen to lose it (the only caveat is that this can be highly inaccurate since you only see the IP address).

3. Upload Files and Images Automatically (Chrome extension)

The beauty of Dropbox is that you can sync, upload and access your files from most internet capable devices. Hence, it is a useful repository for all your scraps of information. For example, if you find a nice image on the web, instead of manually saving it to a local hard drive it can be infinitely more useful if it is uploaded to your Dropbox account.

To do this, install the Chrome extension Cloud Save.

Once installed, you can use the context menu to save all kinds of files directly to your Dropbox.

The first time you do so, you will be prompted to connect Cloud Save with your Dropbox account.

[NB: Cloud Save is a minimally tested third-party service. MTE does not take any responsibility for any harm that may befall your computer or data]

When saving files, you can save files to your Dropbox account by right-clicking and selecting Dropbox.

Chrome will generate a prompt to notify you that your file has been uploaded.

You can then view your uploaded file in the main My Dropbox folder.

You will note that the file does not have an extension. This can be a problem opening the file later on. To save the file with an extension, select Cloud Save -> Save As… -> Dropbox.

On the next prompt, save the file with the appropriate extension.

Now you can open the file without hunting for the appropriate application to view it with.

4. Use Dropbox to listen to music

Dropbox allows you to upload all sorts of files, including music tracks. It even has a nifty minimalist music player that allows you to stream tracks one at a time. However, if you want to listen to a whole album or playlist you are better off using DropTunes.

First, head over to the DropTunes website and login with your Dropbox e-mail and password.

[NB: DropTunes is a minimally tested third-party service. MTE does not take any responsibility for any harm that may befall your computer or data]

Once you have logged in, you will see the main DropTunes interface, with a list of all your Dropbox files and folders. Select the folder with your music in it.

Providing all your music has synced with your Dropbox account, you should see your files appear in a list.

Simply select Play and all the listed files will play in order.

The Flash version of DropTunes works on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and IE8+, but it only plays mp3 files. The HTML5 version plays a greater number of files but only on selected browsers: mp3 and m4a file play on Chrome and Safari, ogg files play on Chrome, Firefox and Opera, and wav files play on Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. You can switch between the Flash and HTML5 versions by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Bonus: Dropbox in your own language

This is not really a trick or a tip, but we thought it would be useful to point out that Dropbox is now available in French, German, Spanish and Japanese.

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Note: It should be mentioned that in order to use these powerful features, you must have a rooted Android device. If you have not done any modification to your phones before, most probably your phones are not rooted.

Go to the Android market and initiate a search for Titanium Backup (or go to the web-based market here). Doing this will yield a search page that displays the actual application as well as the donate version license. Although the free version can be had, the paid-for version truly displays the applications full brilliance and potential. Download both applications and install them as you would any other app from the market.

Open the Titanium Backup application and select the “problems?” option. The application will then do a variety of system checks to ensure that its capabilities will not be prevented from functioning in any way. Once you receive the green light from the application, you will be free to make any backups that you see fit.

One feature that is especially handy is the Dropbox sync feature. In order to enable this, hit the menu button and select Preferences. Select “Enable Dropbox” from the menu. Directly beneath this option, select Dropbox settings to enter the appropriate credentials. After this you will be allowed to sync all apps directly to your Dropbox account. This feature is especially useful should your SD card fail for one reason or another.

In order to initiate backups, select the Backup/Restore option located at the very top of the application’s screen. After selecting this icon, all of your available apps will be displayed in a list. Press on an application entry and you will be presented with a series of options for backing up that particular application. Also remember that you can perform batch operations, allowing you to backup multiple applications at once. To do so, hit the Menu button and select Batch. This will allow you to perform multiple backups.

A final feature to be aware of is the ability to schedule backups.for your applications. Selecting schedules at the top right hand of the screen will allow you to create schedule recurring backups.

To summarize, Titanium Backup truly provides a powerful set of backup features for the Android power user. Not only does it perform its job intelligently, it also provides secure backups of all of your paid-for applications. Use and abuse your Android with total peace of mind.

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But Dropbox’s biggest strength is also its weakness. While the simple concept of synchronizing everything inside one Dropbox folder is the factor that keeps it above its competitors, this simplicity also means that it’s (almost) impossible to synchronize everything else outside that folder.

Meet Symlink

If you are a Mac user who doesn’t like the idea of moving everything to Dropbox folder for the sake of synchronizing the content, there’s another way to achieve that. Basically, what we do is utilizing “symbolic link” (symlink) to create a reference to a folder and then place the symlink inside Dropbox folder. Anything that happens to the folder will be mirrored by the symlink and vice versa. So, symlink is a perfect solution to the problem of synchronizing outside folder to Dropbox.

You could create symlink via command line in Terminal, but common computer users are “allergic” to command line. So here are two free and simple tools that you can use to create symlink without having to touch any command line.

1. SymbolicLinker

SymbolicLinker is a tiny contextual menu plugin (for Puma through Leopard users) and software service (for Snow Leopard & later users) that, once installed, allows any user to create symbolic links to files inside the Finder. SymbolicLinker does this by adding a contextual menu item to the Finder that generates symbolic links to the selected files.

To use SymbolicLinker, download the compressed installer file. There are two important files there: SymbolicLinker.service for Snow Leopard (and later) users, and SymbolicLinker.plugin for Leopard (and previous version of Mac OS X) users. There’s also the installation instructions that will give you all the details.

The usage is also simple. Create a symlink of a folder (either by right clicking or by using Service), then place the symlink inside your Dropbox folder.

2. MacDropAny

MacDropAny is a tool built specifically to create symlink for Dropbox. The first time you open the application, it will ask you to choose which folder that you want to sync via Dropbox.

Then the next step is choosing where in the Dropbox folder do you want to put the symlink. This option gives you the ability to organize those symlinks into a specific folder inside Dropbox. You could name the folder “External links” or something else according to your preferences.

The last step is to assign name to the Symlink. To avoid confusion, it’s advisable to name the symlink similar to the original folder.

MacDropAny will offer you to open the newly made symlink.

Testing Time

Then it’s time to test the result. I dragged a text file into the symlink inside Dropbox folder.

The text file appears on the original folder that I placed in the Desktop. Then I made changes into the text and saved. I checked the synchronized text on another computer, and it was updated. So the conclusion: the system works fine.

Words of warning though, it’s not advisable to sync folders with too many items inside – something like the Applications and Pictures folders – since Dropbox tends to behave erroneously when it tries to sync too many files. Read more about this in the Known Issues page.

This two tools are the simplest solution that I could find to synchronized folders outside Dropbox. If you have other alternatives, please share them using the comment below.

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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?

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