Mar 032011
 

DropBox is a fantastic service to share and exchange files on line. You can access your files from any browser of set up a client for your desktop computer, there is also an iPhone application (though I have not used this much yet).

DropBox starts with a free 2GB of space (Up from 1GB) and recommending new users gives you additional free credit. Follow this link and we can share the credit. The reality is if you keep media such as videos, and high quality audio and photos elsewhere 2GB goes a long way. It is also easy to share files with others but one word of warning the files you share comes of your quota and the other shares quota at the same time.

I use DropBox for my TiddlyWiki’s and KeyPass files – which I will document at a later date. I no longer carry a USB sick or portable hard drive with me everywhere.

I think one of the best features is the local client which creates a folder on each of the places you install it. DropBox synchronises the files on each computer with the web dropbox however once the automatic sync has occurred you can just treat the files as if in another folder on your PC. – Create a new folder add a file and it gets synchronised if you have an internet connection. this feature give a great perfomance. Just check the sync has occured before you open files or close your computer – but this is very simple and is usualy only if you have made lots of changes.

Although not a total substitute for backups this comes close because each of you computers (Say Work/Home/Partners) has a full copy of DropBox on it since the last synchronisation. So if Drop box disappeared you would have local copies and if you delete something from Drop box (Online there is a view deleted option). Because the files are local you can use your normal tools on the fires including Explored, command prompt, and JDisk Report I will tell you about in the future.

Make sure you send me your email and I will invite you and we both get extra free space.

One tip, careful when you are in a hurry. Give DropBox a little time after turning on or before you turn off your computer to allow the synchronisation process. You wont loose anything because dropbox will handle conflicts, it may just prove inconvenient.

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 Posted by at 7:12 pm
Jul 252010
 

This is my first post from my iPhone using the wordpress app to my own blog.

I can see the possibility of taking notes on the road and blogging. Have to see if I can post photos. Note this post will also be geo-tagged.

I will add more info via my browser.

Ok, so the Test photo Sucks. I re-sized it once accessing the Blog via my laptop browser (FireFox is my choice).

But it was snapped in poor light and show the blog before the iPhone Post.

The great thing was I could control the status of the post on the local iPhone. No Need to type and post – take your time, edit then post. Not to mention have multiple WordPress Blogs defined.

I think it would be a good idea to have a private blog, login but not visible to the public as a personal Blog – or more like a traditional log or diary, not for planning but recording your life’s activities.

It does look if my current theme does not support the geo-tag.

Oh. And now edited from the iPhone.

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Jul 172010
 

I was looking into using GPS (Global Positioning System) Using great application on my iPhone called trails. I will post more details on that in the future. But one of the tips opened up a whole set of new ideas.

See http://trails.lamouroux.de/geotag-photos-using-iphone-trails.html

But what was marvelous to discover was most modern electronic equipment has a fairly accurate clock. Often this results in a time being recorded. For example when you take a photo, when you record a sound, send a message or create a task. the particular tip suggested using a GPS to track your location, then after the event you can see exactly where you were at a given time, when you review your photos you can see exactly where you were at that time you took each photo. This Time code is the connecting piece of data.  In the tip it showed how to add this GPS location to the actual photo data.

If you think about it you can see that this is a rather powerful tip. Forget Wireless and blue-tooth and all those special connections to link two tools together use the time as the synchronizing value.

I will post more ideas on this once I get some into practice.

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Jul 122010
 

This is not a prestige claim, I just got one when my old Nokia died. Fortunately I had access to a cost effective plan and despite considerable research showing the device had technical short comings I got the iPhone in part due to various time frame issues.

Fact is, “I Love it”, I have learned a very important lesson and that is technical superiority can be dwarfed by the usability, functional and the economies of scale (resulting from popularity). It is easy to use, reliable and fully featured – with a whole lot of inspiring applications that opens ones mind to possibilities of personal and mobile devices.

As a result you will see iPhone Posts in this blog.

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 Posted by at 1:36 pm
Jul 122010
 

ToodleDo is a todo list application with real power.

The customisability is substantial and I suggest giving it some for thought before adding too many tasks. I will post on some of my methods for using it effectively.

Some features are only available with the paid subscription but see connections below. The iPhone application is very good so my todo list goes with me everywhere, however it is available through any browser and has the ability to place it on iGoogle and other helpful places. Your todo lists are retained on the iPhone off line and you can sync only when you want.

I initially got it to synchronise with my own TiddlyWiki (Details in future posts) however I mostly use it in it’s own right.

Connections

From the ToodleDo site: Toodledo has the ability to connect to many popular services and devices to allow you to access your tasks from anywhere. You can also import and export your data in a variety of formats. It’s your to-do list, so you should be able to take it with you. You can manage all of your import, export and synchronization services from this page.

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 Posted by at 1:29 pm