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DropBox online fileshare

iPhone, Methods, Online Service No Responses »

Mar 032011

DropBox is a fantastic service to share and exchange files on line. You can access your files from any browser of set up a client for your desktop computer, there is also an iPhone application (though I have not used this much yet).

DropBox starts with a free 2GB of space (Up from 1GB) and recommending new users gives you additional free credit. Follow this link and we can share the credit. The reality is if you keep media such as videos, and high quality audio and photos elsewhere 2GB goes a long way. It is also easy to share files with others but one word of warning the files you share comes of your quota and the other shares quota at the same time.

I use DropBox for my TiddlyWiki’s and KeyPass files – which I will document at a later date. I no longer carry a USB sick or portable hard drive with me everywhere.

I think one of the best features is the local client which creates a folder on each of the places you install it. DropBox synchronises the files on each computer with the web dropbox however once the automatic sync has occurred you can just treat the files as if in another folder on your PC. – Create a new folder add a file and it gets synchronised if you have an internet connection. this feature give a great perfomance. Just check the sync has occured before you open files or close your computer – but this is very simple and is usualy only if you have made lots of changes.

Although not a total substitute for backups this comes close because each of you computers (Say Work/Home/Partners) has a full copy of DropBox on it since the last synchronisation. So if Drop box disappeared you would have local copies and if you delete something from Drop box (Online there is a view deleted option). Because the files are local you can use your normal tools on the fires including Explored, command prompt, and JDisk Report I will tell you about in the future.

Make sure you send me your email and I will invite you and we both get extra free space.

One tip, careful when you are in a hurry. Give DropBox a little time after turning on or before you turn off your computer to allow the synchronisation process. You wont loose anything because dropbox will handle conflicts, it may just prove inconvenient.

SPFLite – A “Special” editor

Methods, Software 1 Response »

Oct 142010

SPF Lite

Which can be found at spflite.co.nr is a A Windows Editor for SPF Lovers.

SPF is an editor originally available only on IBM Mainframes and was one of those things I learnt in the Old days of COBOL Programming. Surely these days have passed and there all kinds of great editors out there ?

Well Yes and No.

COBOL and other programming languages often had a strong column wise format to them since mainframe files often contained fixed length records or Lines. At the time COBOL was popular line editors were also popular where editing took place one line at a time. SPF was an editor of it’s time and allows a range of actions on the text using both line and block commands, it shows the line number in the file and things such as search and replace can be limited to specific rows or columns.

If you are a competent keyboards user and want to edit data or programing files you may find SPF Lite both a productive and feature rich editor. There are somethings that are very simple in SPF Lite – which is an adaption for the Windows Operating system.

Some examples. Place a RR on one line number and RR on another following it and press enter – the block of lines will be repeated immediately after the second. Print screen functions write to the clipboard and multiple files are handled in tabs. It can monitor if files have been changed on disk, sort data, bookmarks, Macros, overlays, column wise shift, exclude lines containing, show lines containing, open a new file from the clipboard and much more.

The product is regularly enhanced and has programmable Keys and much more.

Check it out and make sure you pay George if you decide to use it.

Another example – Picture Strings, use in find change or exclude commands

P’=’ Any character

P’^’ Any character that is not a blank

P’#’ Any numeric character, 0-9

P’-‘ Any non-numeric character

P’.’ Any non displayable character

P’@’ Any alphabetic character, uppercase or lowercase

P'<‘ Any lowercase alphabetic character

P’>’ Any uppercase alphabetic character

P’$’ Any special character, neither alphabetic nor numeric.

Marvelous MailTo: Links

Uncategorized No Responses »

Sep 232010

Did you know that where ever you can put and web address such as http://LaSource.com.au you can also usualy put a link as follows;

mailto://emailaddress@domain.com

This will open a new mail ready for sending if you browser is set up to allow this.

Emails can also be pre-populated with subject and boy text or CC/BC addresses. Cool eh ?

Google mailto link or see this example

I have an iPhone

Announcements, iPhone No Responses »

Jul 122010

This is not a prestige claim, I just got one when my old Nokia died. Fortunately I had access to a cost effective plan and despite considerable research showing the device had technical short comings I got the iPhone in part due to various time frame issues.

Fact is, “I Love it”, I have learned a very important lesson and that is technical superiority can be dwarfed by the usability, functional and the economies of scale (resulting from popularity). It is easy to use, reliable and fully featured – with a whole lot of inspiring applications that opens ones mind to possibilities of personal and mobile devices.

As a result you will see iPhone Posts in this blog.

ToodleDO

iPhone, Online Service, Software No Responses »

Jul 122010

ToodleDo is a todo list application with real power.

The customisability is substantial and I suggest giving it some for thought before adding too many tasks. I will post on some of my methods for using it effectively.

Some features are only available with the paid subscription but see connections below. The iPhone application is very good so my todo list goes with me everywhere, however it is available through any browser and has the ability to place it on iGoogle and other helpful places. Your todo lists are retained on the iPhone off line and you can sync only when you want.

I initially got it to synchronise with my own TiddlyWiki (Details in future posts) however I mostly use it in it’s own right.

Connections

From the ToodleDo site: Toodledo has the ability to connect to many popular services and devices to allow you to access your tasks from anywhere. You can also import and export your data in a variety of formats. It’s your to-do list, so you should be able to take it with you. You can manage all of your import, export and synchronization services from this page.

My Favorite software

Announcements, Software No Responses »

Jul 122010

In this category I will post information about my favorite software in the “Software Category”. Unless otherwise stated this will only be software I use deeply and often. This is in itself proof of it’s value.

Hello world!

Announcements No Responses »

Jun 182010

Welcome to SerendipityIdeas.

This website is for;

Vanity publishing of my photos
The publishing of computer and internet tips and tricks by the author
As a gate way to professional website provision
As a sand box for experimental site design