Orangeinks

DropBox: Sync and Share a Folder

DropBox is a very interesting online file hosting/sharing service which allows you to sync your online account with your computer. It’s like having a folder on your computer which is always online.

To start using DropBox, just download their desktop application which works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Install the application and you can begin creating your DropBox account and sync it with a folder in your computer. The process just takes a few minutes and the instructions are very easy to follow so you should encounter no problems installing it.

Uploading files to your DropBox account is a snap. Just drag the file(s) to the linked folder on your PC/Mac and it will automatically update/sync with your online account. Any change that you make on the files in your local folder will be automatically synchronized with your online account.

DropBox also protects your files from unfortunate circumstances. If you happen to accidentally delete a file(s) from your local folder, you can still access those deleted files and restore them in your online account in the web interface. It’s like having your own online recycle bin in DropBox.

You can easily share individual files to your friends through a URL that is created for each of your files so there should be no problem for you linking them to blogs and websites and handing them out in emails and IMs. Folders can be shared by inviting friends through email so they can access those folders in their desktop. Anything that you place in the shared folder will be visible to friends who have accepted your invitation and vice-versa.

DropBox will give you a total of 2GB of hardrive space for your online account. It’s not much if you’re thinking on uploading ripped movies or thousands of songs to your DropBox account but there should be enough space for medium quality photos, documents and small files.

Tags: dropbox, file hosting, file sharing, online

Pownce: File Sharing Social Networking Site

Pownce is now open to the public after a six months run in private beta. The site is a combination of social networking, micro-blogging and file sharing. Jammed all together, these features made this website unique from other social networking sites. Another feature worth mentioning is its ability to import friends from other social sites like Digg, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. You can also send invites to your contact lists in Gmail, Hotmail, AOL and Yahoo. This will make it easier for you to transfer contacts from your previous network of friends from other sites and reduce the time spent on networking again and again.

The free service lets you send up to 10 MB files to your friends and invite them to events which you can sync with your Google Calendar. When you send out invitations, you also get a report on the messages that you have sent out, like how many got your message. Going Pro will allow you to design a custom theme for your profile. The limit of the file that you can send through Pownce will be upgraded up to a 100 MB. Plus your space will be ad free and will set you back 20 dollars per year.

The website is still young and promises improvements in the coming months. Some are already comparing it to Twitter which features mobile phone functionality but lacking the file sharing capability. Pownce is a promising web service and is definitely worth checking out.

Update:

December 15, 2008.

We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15,
2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new
pro accounts.

To help with your transition, we have built an export tool so you can
save your content. You can find the export tool at Settings > Export.
Please export your content by December 15, 2008, as the site will not
be accessible after this date.

Please visit our new home to find out more:

http://www.sixapart.com/pownce

Our thanks go out to everyone who contributed to the Pownce community,

The Pownce Crew

Tags: file sharing, pownce, social networking site