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Dropbox (Page 3)
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Posting Junkie
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May 15, 2008, 08:38 PM
 
It took me a while to get my head around the fact that it's just a folder like any others. Moving items into it will actually MOVE the items, not copy. Hence the comment above that they will add the ability to sync any folder, not just the special Dropbox folder

Check out their forums.

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May 15, 2008, 08:43 PM
 
Also good to know: Permissions attributes are NOT synced

Originally Posted by Dropbox
dropbox has no problems syncing apps properly. the problem is that permissions attributes aren't actually synced and as a result, the binary doesn't have executable permissions you can fix this by running the command: chmod u+x /path/to/binary.

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May 15, 2008, 08:50 PM
 
More info from their FAQ:

Originally Posted by Dropbox FAQ
Does Dropbox always upload/download the entire file any time a change is made?
Nope, Dropbox tries its best to be smart about how much gets uploaded to our servers for the best possible performance. Before transfer, we compare the new file to the previous version and only send the (binary) diff.

Will the files I transfer across Dropbox necessarily occur in order?
Dropbox actually sorts files by size, so you don't have to worry about your smaller files getting stuck behind larger ones in transfers. We'll eventually try to make priorities more customizable in the future.

Will files I put in Dropbox be sync'd across other machines of an account/folder even if they're off?
Additions and changes to your files will be sync'd to our servers. Computers that were off during the initial sync will then start transferring these files and their changes as soon as Dropbox is active on the system.

How does Dropbox handle editing conflicts?
If two users share access to a file (either through sharing the same account or within a shared folder) and a conflict between their two versions appears, the Dropbox server retains only the first version to fully make it to the server.

The other machines will get copies of the conflicted file with a suffix like "(Drew's conflicted copy 1-25-2008)." Users can then manually fix the conflict and remove the extra copies of the conflicted file.

Can I have Dropbox back up files that aren't inside of the My Dropbox folder?
In the future, we plan to allow users to choose which folders are watched as part of the installation process. As it currently stands, though, the answer is sort of no. OS X users are (with some command line work) able to pull it off: underneath your Dropbox, create a symlink using:

ln -s
and things should run smooth as butter. No such luck with Windows. [ -e]

How do I update to the latest version of Dropbox?
You don't have to! Dropbox silently updates itself as soon as an update is available. You can find out which version you're on by hovering over the Dropbox tray icon. [Very interesting...]

How much bandwidth do Dropbox transfers take?
We currently handle uploads at 70% of your max speed (to prevent noticeable slowdown in browsing) and are nowhere near maxing out bandwidth on our own servers. An upcoming client update will give you a slider with an option to max out bandwidth.

After the Beta period, is Dropbox going to continue to be free to use?
We haven't fully determined a pricing structure yet, but the high level plan at this point is:

Free accounts (on the order of 1GB of space)
Paid accounts (likely different tiers of space allotment)
Beta users will keep their accounts (with more storage than the free accounts) after launch
.

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SSharon
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May 15, 2008, 08:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
Also good to know: Permissions attributes are NOT synced
Hey, I even posted in that thread on their forum. I also posted to ask about privacy issues just to see what response they would give me and started another thread there about using dropbox with ivezeen to record video with motion detection and upload it automatically for security reasons.
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turtle777
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May 15, 2008, 08:56 PM
 
How does it handle resource forks ?

-t
     
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May 15, 2008, 08:57 PM
 
I posted in that thread and got a response within four minutes!

Originally Posted by me
Are you planning on implementing permission syncing? This seems to be a serious issue.
Originally Posted by Arash F.
yep, eventually.

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turtle777
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May 15, 2008, 09:02 PM
 
Yes, that's the "yep, eventually" bot posting

-t
     
SSharon
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May 15, 2008, 09:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
I posted in that thread and got a response within four minutes!
and now we have an answer to the privacy question I asked here Dropbox - Log in - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.

Originally Posted by Arash F.
hey guys,
there's absolutely no intent to ever distribute, profit from, or make your content available to anybody.

the privacy policy/terms are simply describing what all of you already know: dropbox (the application) needs access to you hard drive to upload/download files, and files in shared folders/public folders are available to anybody you've shared the files with/given links to.

all that said, we'll work on making the policy more clear about the fact that dropbox has no intent of doing any evil things you could conjur up.
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turtle777
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May 15, 2008, 09:13 PM
 
Ha. I was right. It's just legalize to allow them to do what you want them to do.

-t
     
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May 15, 2008, 09:39 PM
 
Someone (Ricky B.) in their forum posted a little symlink script for copying/syncing other folders with the Dropbox folder. It seems to work perfect. Worth a look for easier syncing.

Dropbox - Log in - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.
     
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May 15, 2008, 10:02 PM
 
An easier way still would be to install this contextual menu:

SymbolicLinker 1.2v2 - MacUpdate

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Mithras
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May 15, 2008, 10:10 PM
 
Do you guys have a contextual menu and the little green file badges? I got the impression that I should have both of those, but I have neither.
     
SSharon
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May 15, 2008, 10:14 PM
 
Originally Posted by Mithras View Post
Do you guys have a contextual menu and the little green file badges? I got the impression that I should have both of those, but I have neither.
the contextual menu only shows up when you click on a file already in the dropbox folder.
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Mac User #001
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May 15, 2008, 10:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
An easier way still would be to install this contextual menu:

SymbolicLinker 1.2v2 - MacUpdate
Mind explaining just how this works to me?

I'm interested.

EDIT: Nevermind, found it myself. Wikipedia!

Oh, and the Dropbox forums. Hehe, its funny. A lot of the most recent posts are 'NNers.
( Last edited by Mac User #001; May 16, 2008 at 12:53 AM. )
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besson3c
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May 15, 2008, 10:35 PM
 
Are you guys going to be upset if you get your data all setup and grow comfortable using Dropbox, and they end up charging you more than you want to pay for this?
     
Laminar
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May 15, 2008, 10:40 PM
 
I WILL BE SO MAD!!!! all caps
     
SSharon
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May 15, 2008, 10:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by besson3c View Post
Are you guys going to be upset if you get your data all setup and grow comfortable using Dropbox, and they end up charging you more than you want to pay for this?
I'm not putting much if any of my personal files there yet. For the time being I am copying all files there as well.

The one option I would like is a one time fee for more storage rather than yet another monthly bill.
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Mac User #001
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May 15, 2008, 10:59 PM
 
At least all of the Beta testers will be able to keep their 2 GB's free.
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May 15, 2008, 11:25 PM
 
I never got my invite email from moep.
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cjrivera
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May 15, 2008, 11:33 PM
 
I have 10 to give out... pm me.
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May 15, 2008, 11:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
Care to share? I did a quick and dirty menu bar icon:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/19955/DB%20menu.zip
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/19837/Dro...placements.zip

I made a menubar icon which matches the Anxiety style.
So the changes are:
1. Menubar icon - Black circle with an up arrow. The arrow blinks during activity
2. Inverted the 16px 10.5 Download folder circle so it's an up arrow and made that the dropbox folder 16px icon. Without using an Alias or something I can't think of an easy way to have a different icon in the sidebar. (My next goal, an up arrow like in my screen shot).
3. The pictures, public, and shared 10.5 folders are the same ones as in 10.5. Not the quasi-10.5 folders that comes with Dropbox.
     
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May 16, 2008, 12:07 AM
 
Originally Posted by mdc View Post
3. The pictures, public, and shared 10.5 folders are the same ones as in 10.5. Not the quasi-10.5 folders that comes with Dropbox.
Just noticed that now. Man were they fugly

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starman
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May 16, 2008, 12:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
How does it handle resource forks ?

-t
I was thinking the same thing. Resource forks need to be handled VERY carefully.

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Mac User #001
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May 16, 2008, 12:49 AM
 
Has anyone created a share folder between two accounts yet?

Another bug too...



My Dropbox folder is updating but the Dropbox icon does not show this as so.
( Last edited by Mac User #001; May 16, 2008 at 12:57 AM. )
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moep
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May 16, 2008, 01:12 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
I wonder if moep got 10GB, since he got the account from one of the developers

-t
Nah, I didn't even get mine from the developers. I just signed up very early.
The earlier beta-testers received 10GB storage, then they trimmed that down to 5GB and now new accounts are at 2GB.

However, right now it seems like everyone has virtually unlimited storage — storage quota is freed up as soon as you delete a file, but you can still undelete it whenever you want if you haven't purged it. In addition to that, deleted files don't seem to have an expiry date.

No Idea how they handle this storage-wise, but users with lots of traffic will consume WAY more than their actual quota on the servers.

BTW, where are the photoshop-gods willing to whip-up replacements for those extremely fugly folder-overlays in the Dropbox folders?
( Last edited by moep; May 18, 2008 at 04:29 AM. )
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May 16, 2008, 03:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by Mac User #001 View Post
Hmm... I was doing a 5MB file, took about 2 mins, and my transfer was reading 344 Kb/s.
Got to work and synched, speed of over 300KB/s (yes thats a large B) for the same avi file. Reckon my ISP limits my upload speed, probably to stop people hosting stuff.
     
Mac User #001
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May 16, 2008, 01:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
speed of over 300KB/s (yes thats a large B)
Same thing as Kb.

kilobyte |ˈkiləˌbīt| (abbr.: Kb or KB)
noun Computing
a unit of memory or data equal to 1,024 (2 10) bytes.
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turtle777
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May 16, 2008, 01:55 PM
 
Are you sure Kb = KB ? It might be true for space, but NOT for throughput / bandwidth.

Because I have seen Kb/sec meaning kiloBIT / sec !
Same as Mb/s and MB/s is not the same.

-t
     
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May 16, 2008, 02:04 PM
 
Kilobyte = K or kB
Kilobit = kb

Ergo, kilobytes per second = kB/s
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mattyb
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May 16, 2008, 03:39 PM
 
Not to sound rude, but when I post KB its kilobytes. Kb is kilobits. Theres a factor of 8 difference.

Same for any other computer related measurement that I'm posting about.
     
turtle777
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May 16, 2008, 03:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
Not to sound rude, but when I post KB its kilobytes. Kb is kilobits. Theres a factor of 8 difference.

Same for any other computer related measurement that I'm posting about.
The comments were directed at Mac User #001, not you.

-t
     
mattyb
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May 16, 2008, 05:01 PM
 
I realised that turtle.

Sorry if it came across any other way.
     
Mac User #001
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May 16, 2008, 05:04 PM
 
Alright, KB is bytes. Kb is bits. Got it.

I was just going by what I learned from the dictionary. Now I actually now. Thanks.
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turtle777
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May 16, 2008, 05:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
I realised that turtle.

Sorry if it came across any other way.
No problem, didn't take it personal

-t
     
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May 16, 2008, 06:55 PM
 
     
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May 17, 2008, 01:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
Nice. Thanks.
     
mattyb
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May 17, 2008, 02:25 PM
 
Dumb noob question 76399851003 :

What software are you guys using to create icons ?
     
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May 17, 2008, 08:23 PM
 
I just use Photoshop

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turtle777
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May 17, 2008, 08:25 PM
 
I do all my picture editing in M$ Word. Seriously.

-t
     
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May 17, 2008, 09:03 PM
 
photoshop, the menubar icons are pngs at 16x16
     
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May 17, 2008, 10:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
Dumb noob question 76399851003 :

What software are you guys using to create icons ?
Wow, that IS an odd question.
"Everything's so clear to me now: I'm the keeper of the cheese and you're the lemon merchant. Get it? And he knows it.
That's why he's gonna kill us. So we got to beat it. Yeah. Before he let's loose the marmosets on us."
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The Placid Casual
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May 18, 2008, 04:16 PM
 
If anyone still has an invite? ^^

theplacidcasual @ gmail .com
     
cjrivera
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May 18, 2008, 05:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Placid Casual View Post
If anyone still has an invite? ^^

theplacidcasual @ gmail .com
sent
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The Placid Casual
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May 18, 2008, 05:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by cjrivera View Post
sent
Many thanks, much appreciated!
     
Andrew Stephens
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May 18, 2008, 05:29 PM
 
I'd love to try this. Looks excellent. Any invites free? anyone?
     
SSharon
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May 18, 2008, 06:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens View Post
I'd love to try this. Looks excellent. Any invites free? anyone?
I've still got one left if you PM me your email address.
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May 18, 2008, 10:06 PM
 
I have 8 left, so PM me -- but it might be a while till I get back to you as I'm on vacation...
"Everything's so clear to me now: I'm the keeper of the cheese and you're the lemon merchant. Get it? And he knows it.
That's why he's gonna kill us. So we got to beat it. Yeah. Before he let's loose the marmosets on us."
my bandmy web sitemy guitar effectsmy photosfacebookbrightpoint
     
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Oct 6, 2008, 08:01 PM
 
Dropbox is now out of beta and anyone can get a 2gb account for free.
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Oct 6, 2008, 09:07 PM
 
Have been using this for a while. for useful when having media presentations and able to access it on any computer on campus
     
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Oct 6, 2008, 09:27 PM
 
I wonder if they're working on an iPhone app.
     
 
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