Everyone loves to stir the pot and engage in some solid fear-mongering whenever it comes to privacy on the Internet, especially when it comes to Google products and services, but it needs to stop, because all we’re getting are biased voices…
Did you know you can get a free wordpress blog at wordpress.com ?
An account at WordPress.com is also helpful for your standalone wordpress page as it permits you to install the Plugin Jetpack and connect it to your wordpress.com account and retrieve additional features and statistics for your stand alone site.
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.
Have you considered you only have to use a common password once on a site that attracted you with “Free stuff” and they can login everywhere else they can see you may visit.
I use KeePass (the portable version on my DropBox) – that works well for me, I like the drag and drop user ID and Password including url if required. Except for common use accounts all my logins use unique passwords looking like this Ch4EDbTsBbcQx62WJ1Qt or nf4@@jxEuA’F`0m;%/`Y when not stored within my browser (a Portable firefox) I just drag and drop the user ID and password from KeePass.
To quote the official information;
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.