Anywhere Access To My Files

One of my favorite Internet utilities is DropBox.

If you aren’t familiar with DropBox, they offer 2 GB of free online space for storing and sharing all types of files (take a tour). Storage “in the cloud” allows you to easily access your files from any Internet connection. You can also share links to your DropBox files with others, a much better alternative than e-mailing out copies of a file to multiple people.

Another special feature is your online DropBox can be set up to automatically sync with a storage location on your local computer. This means that if you want to send a file to the cloud, you simply save it to your local DropBox folder, and it will automatically upload. It also means that you can log into your DropBox account and upload a file from anywhere (like from my sweet Mama’s computer when I visit Mississippi) to your DropBox folder on the web, and it will magically be saved on your local computer. There are versions of the DropBox sync folder that work for Windows, Mac and Linux – no operating system has been ignored! Drop Box truely is anywhere storage in the cloud!

Taking my DropBox usage to the next level is where my brain begins to get boggled. Oh, the possibilities!! I’m happy to share two game changing (for me at least) capabilities that I’ve recently begun using with my DropBox.

DropItToMe

Not only can I share files with others from my DropBox, but with the free add-on service DropItTo.Me, other people can upload files to my DropBox. When you register, DropItToMe links to your online DropBox account and gives you a unique link to share with others. Send people to that link (mine is DropItTo.Me/welstechtrainer – e-mail me for the password if you want to try it out) and they can upload files one at a time to your DropBox.

Each time something is uploaded, DropItToMe can be set to send an e-mail notification. One time-saving note for those who have many files to upload, “zip” a folder of files into one combined file before uploading.

This is an ideal solution for folks who may be gathering photos of an event, like a church webmaster for instance, who can then review the uploaded photos and post them on the web site.

DropBox Mobile

Anywhere access to my DropBox isn’t limited to computers. DropBox also has versions for iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry. For me the iPad version has proven itself invaluable for two-way sharing of photos and files with my iPad. Rather than e-mailing files to myself or syncing images through the iTunes photo sync folder on my local computer, I can easily access and share files through the DropBox app.

The freedom is refreshing I must say – just one more tool for making my iPad the perfect all-in-one device!

This post is a part of the Summer 2011 WELS Hacker series on the WELSTech Podcast.