Enter Dropbox.  Dropbox is an online/offline storage solution.  Forget about those “early generation” online storage solutions.  Dropbox allows you to store your files locally and in “the cloud.”  It works like this.  You install the Dropbox application.  You login to your Dropbox account via the application;  this is how it knows to connect to your Dropbox web account…more on this later.  The application will always remain open, hidden away in the system tray or the menu bar…it will even re-open after you restart your computer.

By default, the Dropbox application will create a special folder called Dropbox in your “My Documents” folder (if you’re using Windows) or your “Home Directory” (if you’re using Mac and Linux).  That folder is synced to your Dropbox account on the web.  When you add files and folders to Dropbox on your computer, it is immediately synced to your web account.  How cool is that?  But there’s more…

Dropbox will maintain your folder structure.  In other words, it will look the same on your computer and on your web account.

In addition, if you make a change to an exisiting Word document or an image, Dropbox will only sync the delta.  There’s more…

Dropbox syncs with multiple computers.  You can install the Dropbox application on multiple computers  It will replicate your data to all computers.

Dropbox is fast.  Syncing a couple of gigabytes of data is no issue.  Changes to existing files sync even faster.  For example, if you make a change to an existing Word document, Dropbox only needs to sync the delta.  If you plan on syncing large amounts of data, as long as you have the available bandwidth (at all points), your data will replicate across systems in no time.  In other words, if computer A and B are in locations with lots of bandwidth, you’ll have no issues getting all your data synced.  For low bandwidth locations, you may want to adjust Dropbox’ Network settings to throttle the upload and download rates.

Dropbox is flexible.  If you’re using a computer where you do not want to install the client, then you can login to the web interface and download and upload files.  If you want to share files with other Dropbox users, log into the web interface, pick a folder and select “share” from the drop-down menu (located next to the folder icon).  You will be prompted to add the email addresses of the people with which you want to share.  On their end, they’ll receive an email inviting them to the shared folder.  They will now be able to access your shared folder from within their Dropbox web interface.  If you want to share files with non-Dropbox users, then place those files in the Public folder and right click, select “copy link” and email the link.  The non-Dropbox user will be able to click on the link to download the file.

Dropbox is safe.  All files are encrypted with AES-256 (256 bit) encryption.  All transport of file data and file metadata occurs over SSL.

Dropbox has many uses.  Why stop at sharing files?  I use Dropbox as an online backup solution.  I use rsync (a Linux backup utility) and “other” tools to backup (and further encrypt) select data to Dropbox.  How will you use Dropbox?

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Here’s my Path Bar.   I’m in /balrog0/Users/Shared

If you’re used to working in the Terminal…then you know that know which path you’re in is pretty important;  there’s nothing like doing rm -Rf *.* in the wrong directory.  Anyway, if you want to see the UNIX path in the Finder, do the following:

Open Terminal and type or paste the following and hit enter:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES

Restart the Finder or restart your computer.  To restart the Finder, press the following key combo:

Cmd option Esc.  This will bring up the Application Kill window.  Select the Finder, click restart.

For the UNIX/LInux geeks, just do:

ps aux | grep Finder

find the process ID and…

sudo kill -9 <process id>

The Finder will automatically restart.

After performing either of the aforementioned methods for killing the Finder, open a new Finder window (if one does not open automagically).
Look at the top of the window and you will notice the UNIX path in the title.   /balrog0/Users/Shared is shown in the screenshot below.

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…is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

Really…what is Google Wave?

To me, Google Wave is many things.  For instance, it can be used for meetings. You can use it for team meetings or a brainstorming session or use it to throw around ideas.  Sometimes these types of sessions are relegated to email.  You know those “brainstorming” email threads, where someone brings up an idea and others chime in, before you know it, you end up with dozens of emails scattered throughout your inbox.  Who wants to go back and read them?  Not many people would.  So, in the end, you most likely end up losing some great ideas.  In addition, you end up losing the passion of the thread.  Well, imagine that same thread on Google Wave.

Someone brings up an excellent idea, and instead of emailing back and forth, your team hops on Google Wave, creates a new Wave around this excellent idea. In real-time, everyone contributes their 2 cents, and in real-time everyone else can see it. That’s right, you can see posts unfold in the Wave in real time. By the way, you can copy images into a Wave to visually get your point across.  How about a video clip or a spreadsheet?  Yes, Wave can handle that as well.

At the end of the Wave, team members can return to the Wave and replay it from any point. This would be perfect for team members that were not present.  They could catch up!

So what’s the advantage of having the aforementioned meet-up on Google Wave instead of email?  Well, it’s all there.  All your input, that is.  It is available to be shared and replayed.  It’s not scattered throughout your inbox.  You could search different points of a Wave to find any piece of information.

Is that it?  No way!  Google Wave gives you so much more.  You can video chat.  So let’s say the team leader decides he wants to have a face to face meeting.  Instead of running to a conference room, you could start a video conference right in the Wave.

Google Wave also has robots.  They are little apps with specific functions.  For instance, someone demoed the Wolfram Alpha robot.  It was amazing.  Imagine being in a meeting and you needed to know Apple’s market cap. You’d type the following:

[market cap Apple]

Boom!  The results are returned right in the Wave for everyone to see.  A valuable piece of information was just added to the meeting without the need for someone to excuse themselves while they checked a website or a mobile phone.  Everyone’s attention remains focused on the meeting.

Are you starting to see the potential of Google Wave yet?  The potential for professional users is tremendous.  But what about for personal use?  Google Wave just isn’t for meetings. You can have fun too.  Hop over to the public waves and check out what others are doing.  Join a game, share photos, video chat, interact!

There’s no doubt, for me, that Google Wave is the future.  It will become the ultimate way to communicate and collaborate.  Right now, FaceBook and Twitter are some of the top websites for social interaction.  However, I believe that Google Wave will surpass both of them.  The level of interaction is much more intimate and immediate.

Google Wave is currently in Preview mode right now.  To try it out, you’ll need to sign up for an invite.

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