HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Tim in Erie, Pennsylvania listens online asked: “What do you guys think of this thing called ‘Dropbox’? I’m thinking about getting one. What do you think about it? Yes? No? Maybe?”
Dropbox is another form of “Cloud Storage”, which is really gaining in popularity nowadays. Storing things in the cloud or across multiple devices is a great way to backup your data, while making your files 08-05-2011- from anywhere you have Internet access.
The way Dropbox works is very simple. You install the software on your computer and it creates a “Dropbox” folder. Anything you put in that folder will be accessible from a mobile device, another computer, or their website. You can also copy files into a “Public” folder it creates. this will assign a link to the file that you can give to anyone, so they can get a file without logging into your account and seeing everything you have.
Chris started using Dropbox recently and he loves it. It has made it so easy to share files between his computer and his iPhone. He signed up for the 2GB free account and has found that it is plenty of storage for what he’s needed. He uses it as temporary storage for files that he either need to access on the road or share with others. He has found it to be very easy to use and would definitely recommend it. Especially since you can sign up for 2GB for free. You can see if you like it before spending any money. Then, if you decide you need more space, you can pay for more storage.
Dropbox is more of a drag-and-drop cloud service vs. other companies that are more set-it-and-forget-it. You have to drag new files into your Dropbox folder to upload them. Earlier in the show, we had a guest from SugarSync. Rob signed up with them and enjoys their service because the folders and files that he chooses are automatically updated in the cloud and are accessible from anywhere in the world.
Dropbox also has an Android client that allows you to copy files into your Dropbox from a computer and access them later from a smartphone. Things like office documents, PDF files, pictures, videos, etc. Dropbox has clients available, in fact, for just about every computer or mobile platform.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline.
Ray in Niagara Falls, New York listening online asked: “I deleted some programs trying to clean out my hard drive. I had some old Adobe programs that I deleted. I went to control panel, then “Add/Remove.” When I rebooted my computer, I found out I lost all my photos that I have downloaded from my phone and my camera. And I was wondering if there was any way to recover them. I believe it was part of Adobe, and I think the program was called Sharpcast photos. How can I recover them? There is nothing in the trash bin.”
Sharpcast is actually not an Adobe product, it’s old software that has evolved into SugarSync (one of this week’s guests!), the problem is that Sharpcast itself stopped existing in 2009 and users could no longer access their online albums after january 29th, 2009, so your pictures must have been saved someone in your computer.
It’s hard to say where they could be, because the software used to sync the folder of your choice with your online account.
What you might be able to do, is use your computer’s search functionality to search your entire computer for picture files, your best bet would be to search for .JPG files, since JPG is the most common file type you get from consumer cameras.
We suspect that, unless the uninstaller asked you if you wanted to delete the pictures, they’re still there, you may not know where, but since you haven’t been able to access your online account in over 2 years, if you’ve seen the pictures recently they are somewhere in your computer. Just use your computer’s search functionality to find them.
If you’re using Windows you’re probably running XP since you had software installed that was at least 2 and a half years old, probably older, so click on the start menu, then on Find and search for your files from there.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guests in this hour:
Wes Pritchett, Co-Founder – The Chris Foundation
The Chris Foundation is a non-profit that sends iPads to our soldiers in the battlefield and our wounded veterans at Bethesda Hospital.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: RunPee.com We love it when “Into Tomorrow” listeners & viewers participate on the show! This week’s “Product Spotlight” is more of a “Web/App Spotlight” and was suggested by our radio show listener Shelley in Jefferson City, Missouri. She introduced us to an app that “helps your bladder enjoy going to the movies as much as you do.”
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– RunPee.com is a popular site that logs the best times to run and … do what you have to do … without missing anything critical to the plot of the movie. – RunPee.com is accessible from any phone that can connect to the Internet. – There’s a mobile text-only website and there are apps for different platforms – like Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone 7. – RunPee.com lets you know if it’s worth sitting through the end of the credits.
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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
C.Crane: Several Super USB WiFi Antenna
Endangerbles: Several music CDs to help children learn about endangered species
VSO Software: Copies of Convert-X-to-DVD 4 – Lets you convert videos to DVD and watch on any DVD player.