So here's the scenario: You are in college and you are trying to get an internship in Alaska. You've maintained much contact with them over the past 3 to 4 months and the deadline date for your internship packet is due tonight at Midnight. This includes your resume, application, cover letter, your references, and two recommendations. You’ve got everything ready, but you just want to go over it one more time and then send it off. But, there’s one catch. It’s your laptop. See, your battery in your HP laptop is shot so for your computer to be on it MUST be plugged in. You were just somewhere on the internet with your laptop doing some work, but for some reason the power cord wasn’t connecting right, so you didn’t have long until your battery died. You go home, open up your computer again and plug your power cord into a reliable source of power. Nothing. Your computer battery is dead. Now your power cord isn’t working. You try several things, but nothing fixes it. There are your files, on your computer, finished and ready to be sent, but your laptop is dead and no way to power it up with a broken power cord. So long internship!
This exact experience happened to me, but it had a little happier ending. However, it could have easily ended like this. Luckily for me, I had my files backed up to “the cloud”. When I say “cloud”, I mean the internet. The cloud is where all the services like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon and so many others live. Believe it or not, there are good, reliable and free services available to backup your precious files from disasters like the one above. Whether you have documents for work or school, pictures of friends and family, home or purchased videos or all of the above (which is what I have), online backup can be a valuable tool and is an essential one to everybody. You can never anticipate a crash or data loss and although I didn’t loose my data, I would have been unable to access it. So how did I do it?
At the time I was using a backup and sync program called Live Mesh. Live Mesh is a service offered by Microsoft that would sync multiple folders on your computer with the web. It is still available, but it’s getting replaced by Microsoft Live Sync, unfortunately. Live Mesh currently supplies 5GB of free online storage. I was able to go on another computer connected to the web, log into the Live Mesh website and download the files I needed. It was simple, it was quick, it was secure and it was a life saver. My whole college degree practically depended on it! Since Live Mesh is soon to be gone and Microsoft Live Sync (its replacement) doesn’t provide the features I need as of now, I have been working with other applications that suit me better. The two are called Dropbox and SugarSync. You may have heard me talk about them before. I first started using SugarSync and then more recently started using Dropbox. SugarSync, for me, is the best. It has so many features that can be utilized and the interface is super easy to navigate through. Below is a screen capture of SugarSync’s recently updated interface allowing you to take advantage of it even more.
There are some unique features of SugarSync that set it apart from the pack.
- Sync with Windows, Mac OSX, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian and the web making you completely mobile with your files. (Open documents on your phone, laptop or friends computer when you’re away from your home).
- Share any-sized files and folders, even to Facebook.
- Sync files with multiple computers and upload and sync through email.
- Backup any folder in real-time and restore files to previously saved versions.
- Stream backed up music to web browser, iPhone and Android.
- Magic Briefcase. This is a folder installed on all of your devices synced with SugarSync. Any file placed in here will be synced to all at once!
- Get 500MB bonus when signing up under someone else, instead of 250MB like others. (Minor, but space makes all the difference)
- Best of all SugarSync is free and I feel it offers the most “bang for your buck”… except you have no “buck” – Just free software saving you from stress and heartache time after time!
- View the complete list of features and how SugarSync stacks up to the rest.
You can try it out here and get 500MB for free and also help me too. It’s a win-win. I wouldn’t use it if it wasn’t!
Some more tips:
- Use your iPod Touch to access the web interface of SugarSync
- Get more space through the referral program and share links with your friends just like I am. They’ll thank you later!
- Eliminate the use of a flash drive and stay more secure.
- When on campus I simply go to the computers, log into my account and print off my paper. I save time, money (paper and ink) and don’t need to worry about it loosing my paper because it goes straight to the class room.
- Save emails and their attachments by forwarding them to your own private SugarSync email.
- Backup, Sync, Share, Access and mobilize all with one app. For Free!
Note: If your a Linux user, the next best is Dropbox as SugarSync doesn’t offer a Linux program yet.
And for crying out loud back up your stuff! It’s free! I hear way to many people complain of loosing important files because they didn’t. I’m not going to put up with my friends, family and others going through that too! Feel free to message me regarding any questions or comments you have!
Hey Aaron nice post, and congratulations on your exciting internship in Alaska! Boy can I relate to your near catastrophe of losing all of your important files for your internship. Luckily you were smart enough to back up your data...it's unfortunate that many (myself included), often learn their lesson the hard way.
ReplyDeleteA short time ago I finished grad school, and for the past year I have been using a very elegant sync solution called Syncables. Syncables has proven to the best synchronization software I've used. Not only does it automatically sync all of my important files and media between multiple computers, it also makes every important spreadsheet or document available across all of my computers.
By syncing all my data on 3 of my computers, it is safely backed on multiple computers. The interface is intuitive. The software is reliable, dependable, easy to use, and designed rather impeccably. I recommend going with quality over freeware every time...I'm actually quite hesitant to put any of my very important data in the hands of free cloud services, ya know?
Then again, there is certainly a use for occasionally backing up nonsensitive documents in the cloud...but the benefits of having a complete sync solution like Syncables so that you have instant accessibility to your data on all of your devices? Nothing beats that. Plus, the security/backup you gain as a secondary benefit of syncing between computers is essential. Long comment, haha! Good post though, and good luck with the rest of your internship.
Thanks for the feedback!I checked out Syncables and it looks good. I most certainly understand your concern about security and privacy with free applications on the web. I feel the same way. SugarSync isn't a free-only service, they have paid packages too offering more space. The same goes for Dropbox. The thing with me and paying for software/services isn't the fact that I don't want to, but more like I can't afford to. Being in college means I have limited funds. The majority of my checking account goes to food and gas and the rest to savings. I too like reliable, dependable and easy to use software. That's what I always look for when "trying out" software whether it is new to the web or just new to me. I'm sure you realize that not all free software is dangerous. Companies like LastPass, Evernote and Google are based on user data. Many times this isn't for their use at all, but to benefit the user. This isn't saying either that all free programs by companies are legit by any means, however, a common misconception is that if you pay for it, it's safe. That is a scary place to be when you loose both your money and your data, identity or something else. I appreciate alternative opinions such as yours because it causes me to dig deep and create good content for the future too. I also mostly agree with you on your post and thanks again for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteP.S. It's okay, I have a long post too. Also I noticed you are in tune to online security. That is good! You may enjoy my post I made earlier on computer security. Here is the link for that post: http://the-couch-lounge.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-computer-security-matters-to-you.html
Also, I thought I'd check your profile out, but it's private. Do you have a blog too?
Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the late response. I checked out Syncables and it looks good. I most certainly understand your concern about security and privacy with free applications on the web. I feel the same way. SugarSync isn't a free-only service, they have paid packages too offering more space. The same goes for Dropbox. The thing with me and paying for software/services isn't the fact that I don't want to, but more like I can't afford to. Being in college means I have limited funds. The majority of my checking account goes to food and gas and the rest to savings. I too like reliable, dependable and easy to use software. That's what I always look for when "trying out" software whether it is new to the web or just new to me. I'm sure you realize that not all free software is dangerous. Companies like LastPass, Evernote and Google are based on user data. Many times this isn't for their use at all, but to benefit the user. This isn't saying either that all free programs by companies are legit by any means, however, a common misconception is that if you pay for it, it's safe. That is a scary place to be when you loose both your money and your data, identity or something else. I appreciate alternative opinions such as yours because it causes me to dig deep and create good content for the future too. I also mostly agree with you on your post and thanks again for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteP.S. It's okay, I have a long post too. Also I noticed you are in tune to online security. That is good! You may enjoy my post I made earlier on computer security. Here is the link for that post: http://bit.ly/eU18fh
Also, I thought I'd check your profile out, but it's private. Do you have a blog too?