My beta invitation for DROPBOX showed up today!

I heard about Dropbox on a podcast quite a while back.  I immediately went to the website and signed up for an invite.  I completely forgot about it until this morning when an invite appeared in my inbox.

The best way I can describe Dropbox is "Global network-attached storage on steroids".  That's my quote but I give you permission to use it.

If you have a home or work computer network, then surely you're aware of the benefits of network-attached storage.  You can share files among many computers.  There's always a backup in case your computer crashes.  Several people can access and work on a file.

The only downside is that you MUST be attached to that network in order to access the files.  Dropbox changes that by making the "drive" available to any computer anywhere in the world (as long as you have internet access).

Once installed on your computer you will always see the Dropbox icon in your taskbar.

Double-click the icon to access your dropbox folder.  This looks like any other folder in Windows.  Well, yours may look different if you have Vista.  I'm still rocking XP on my EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Vaio.  You can drop any file into this main folder.  The "Photos" folder is obviously for your photos.  The "Public" folder is where you can drop any file that you want others to be able to get access to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dropped this test image into the "Public" folder and it uploaded to the server immediately.  Keep in mind that it's a very small file.

Now that a file is in the "Public" folder, sharing is easy.  Right click the file, select 'Dropbox' from the menu, select "Copy public link".  This will copy a url to your clipboard that you can now insert into emails, IMs or websites.  You can click on the following image to view it full size.

The other cool part is that Dropbox keeps backups of all files and revisions.  That really helps if you delete a file that you shouldn't have.  It's also nice if you're collaborating on a file and the other person messes something up and you need to revert to an earlier version.

My beta invite came with 2gb of storage space and 10 invites to hand out to the people of my choosing.  Naturally I'm unable to "sell" my invites.  You may want to donate a few dollars to me by clicking the link on the sidebar.  I may (will) thank you by sending an invite your way if they're still available.  The nice part about getting now is that when they go live (paid), the beta users will have more free space than the regular free users that get into the game late.  Read about it on their FAQs page.

At this time, I have 1 invite left.

9/11 Memorial Cross on Public Land Forces Religion on Everyone

[digg=http://digg.com/arts_culture/9_11_Memorial_Cross_on_Public_Land_Forces_Religion_on]

Steel cross installed at Shanksville

Click on the link above, read the article and see if you have the same questions as I do. Who paid to have this cross trucked to Shanksville, PA from New York? The article says that the cross is at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company.  That is considered public land.  Public land is prohibited from displaying religious symbols.  Is the local government aware of this? Does anyone else see the irony in displaying a cross?  Isn't it our nation's strong Christian views that conflict with the Muslim terroists that were involved in the attacks on our country? I just discovered this article and it's entirely too late (almost 2am) to make any phone calls to get answers.  Maybe in the next day or so I will be able to get some details.  Hopefully I will get a chance to tell the right person that this far from "the separation of church and state" that our constitution is so clear to spell out. I'll keep you posted...

Thoughts gathered from a recent funeral...

The wife and I were out of town for 2 days to attend her great-grandmother's funeral in upstate New York.  Between the 4 hour car ride there and back (plus lots of family time) we had a chance to discuss how we personally would like our affairs taken care of when the time comes. The first problem we both have is the whole body-in-a-box-while-everyone-stands-around-crying thing.  I'm not a fan of that at all.  The viewing was a great time for us to see family members that I haven't met (and she hasn't seen in many years).  There were lots of old photographs of her great-grandmother enjoying life over the past 90 years.  There was crying and laughing as a result from stories being shared.  But there also was a DEAD BODY IN A BOX.  The person never even looks right.  They're normally way to pale.  Sometimes they are way too painted up with makeup (like a prostitute).  Eyes closed, no facial expression.  Yeah, that's exactly what the person would have looked like while sleeping ... in a fancy overpriced box ... while wearing their best outfit.  Have a memorial service for me.  Have lots of pictures of me around.  Have friends and family remembering me through stories being told in the room.  Just don't have me there being Captain Bringdown. According to the pastor that officiated the funeral the following day, the deceased WASN'T there.  He must have said about 5 different times in a very stern voice, "Remember, she is not here.  This body was just her home.  Her spirit is living on in heaven."  OK, I'm not one to rag on a person's beliefs (especially at a time like this) but it got worse.  He ended up lecturing all of us on the fact that the only way to be in heaven is to accept Jesus as your lord and savior.  He even mentioned the rise of Humanism.  That word stuck out for the wife and I as we do consider ourselves Humanists.  He explained that Humanism includes the belief that man has free will and can make his own decisions (this is true).  He then told us that it is wrong and it is a very bad thing.  I got pretty upset at this point.  I understand that my wife's great-grandmother picked the pastor to speak at her funeral (this was one of her final wishes) but I don't appreciate his editorial nature.  Aside from our church lesson he sang a few hymms and said a few prayers. Luckily the eulogy was given by someone that could leave her own beliefs in her head. When my time comes, I want a very generic memorial service.  It doesn't even have to be held at a funeral home.  It can be held at a family member's home and be kept very casual.  I don't want everyone I know to feel like they have to put on itchy dress clothes just to pay their respects.  Display pictures of me enjoying life with friends and family.  Cook up some good food.  Someone should have access to my iPod.  I'm sure they can hook it up to a stereo and press the 'shuffle' button.  Some of you will cry.  I understand there's no way around that.  Just don't ruin the event for everyone else. As far as me, cremation will be fine.  Keep the ashes ... or scatter them somewhere ... whatever, no obligation on anyone's part.

2 computer addicts will attempt a week-long vacation with NO COMPUTER

That's right... The wife and I are always criticized for over-packing for our trips so we're packing light this time around.  One of her ideas is to leave the laptop, case, charger, cords, etc. at home. I figured that it shouldn't be too hard considering the following: 1.  We have several memory cards for the camera (no need to dump a day's worth of photos onto the computer each night) 2.  I will be using Jott to post updates to my Twitter account (www.twitter.com/derekmartin81) 3.  It's easier to relax when we're not glued to a computer 4.  We don't have text messaging plans on our cellphones so we won't feel compelled to communicate with friends I've been going to Ocean City, NJ most of my life and she has been going with me for the last few years.  We will keep busy finding new things to do and poking fun at the same stuff that we see each year.  We like Ocean City because it's family-oriented so you won't find a bunch of out-of-control teenagers and college students hanging around.  It's strange for me to say that since I'm only 27 and she's 23.  If we want to find a sleazy town full of bums and debauchery we can go 30 minutes north to Atlantic City.  If we want to find white trash and way to many carnival games we can go 30 minutes south to Wildwood.  But we always come back to Ocean City to sleep and get ready for the next day. We leave Tuesday (July 15th) in the morning and will be back the following Monday evening.  I'll have lots of photos to post...

Twitter is now helping me find out a lot of stuff about a lot of people

My new plan on Twitter is to follow a bunch of people.  It's fun to be able to read a whole lot of posts at any random time that I sign onto the site.  I can do a quick scan and find out what is going on in the world.  I only wish my posts were more interesting. Follow me at www.twitter.com/derekmartin81.

Creepy . . . complete strangers are following me

By "following" I mean that they have subscribed to me on Twitter.  Twitter is a micro-blog site that allows you to share what you're doing in 140 or less characters.  There's more involved but you can read about it on the site. I follow a few "tech celebrities" on Twitter to get the latest news of what's going on in the technology biz.  I also follow the random people that somehow found me and started following me. Some people are probably completely lost at this point but that's o.k.  It's hard to explain to someone who has no knowledge of Twitter. Another great site is Twitterholic.  It's not affiliated with Twitter but displays stats on the people who have the most followers. Go to www.twitter.com/derekmartin81 and start following me.  I can't guarantee the most interesting posts or the most frequent posts but I'll do my best.

TinEye is like 'Google' for images

I do realize that Google has an image search.  I use it a lot.  The thing about their image search is that you have to type in what you're looking for. TinEye allows you to either upload an existing image or enter the url of an existing web image.  It then uses technology by a company called Idée in order to find the same or similar images that have been posted on the internet. I explained this all to my wife who proceeded to question the usefulness.  I think it can be fun to look up popular images and see some of the similar, but photoshopped images that are out there.  TinEye even has a page of example searches that you can do.  One of the most popular is "American Gothic" which has been altered many times over the years.  Below you'll find the original followed by a few different versions.

Now, of course, there are more practical ways to use this service.  Photographers can do image searches of their more popular work in order to make sure no one else has posted it, or worse yet taken credit for it. As of this posting TinEye is on an invite-only status.  This just means that when you go to their website they'll ask you for your email address.  When your invite is ready they'll let you know.  Mine only took a few weeks.

I think IBM is on the right track with Lotus Symphony

I have found that the best way to go with software is the free stuff. I've been using GIMP instead of Photoshop and iTunes is better than any "paid-for" music management program. The one problem is the Microsoft Office clones. There's openoffice.org (who set up a great open source word processor / spreadsheet / presentation maker) but it's a little too plain and slow to load up. I then heard about Star Office which is based off of the open office platform and sells for $80. When Google started giving it away for free I decided to try it out. It has some perks over openoffice.org but it still doesn't "pop" with visuals like Microsoft Office does. I recently heard on a podcast about IBM's Lotus Symphony office suite. It's free so it had to be for me. Below are some screenshots demonstrating the overall look and feel of Lotus Symphony. These are just thumbnails but you can click on them for larger images.

I like the fact that it is set up like a tabbed internet browser. You have one screen and you tab between documents, spreadsheets and presentations. When you have a file open, you see it in the main window and you also the options (formatting, etc.) off to the right side. I typically keep several spreadsheets open at once and I don't want to clutter up my Windows taskbar more than it needs to be. I just started using it a day ago but I will report back once I get more used to how it works.

Dr. Pepper loves Guns N' Roses (or at least Axl Rose)

I first read about it on Digg the other day and didn't believe it for a second. But then I noticed that the article I was reading was on CNN Money's website. Hmm, a little bit of credibility. For those who don't yet know the story, it seems that Dr. Pepper is offering a free can of the soda to everyone in America with 2 stipulations: 1. Axl Rose must finally release the long awaited "Chinese Democracy" album during the calendar year 2008 2. Your name can't be 'Slash' or 'Buckethead' (as these are the two guitarists that have left the band in the past) The reason? Supposedly the good people at Dr. Pepper are strong supporters of GnFnR. If you don't know what the "Fn" is please leave my website now. I did a search on Snopes to see if they had anything written about this but couldn't find anything at the time this post was published. Nothing was found on drpepper.com either confirming or denying this story. Gunsnroses.com does have a personal response from Axl. UPDATE:  It happened!  Chinese Democracy has been released.  Just in time, too.  I'm thirsty (for Dr. Pepper AND some G n' R!) [digg=http://digg.com/music/Dr_Pepper_Loves_Guns_N_Roses]

"Jesus" spotted on an episode of "This Old House"

I was watching "This Old House" tonight and saw something interesting.  Just as Norm Abram was talking about the next project, I saw a guy walking by behind him holding a large cross. This is strange for two reasons: 1.  They fix up houses on "This Old House".  Why would they need a cross to perform such a task 2.  The guy isn't carrying the cross like you would expect him to.  I would carry it by standing upright and holding the long part of the cross horizontally under my arm while supporting the rest with my other hand.  Did you ever carry a 2x4 around?  This should be similar.  The guy is actually carrying the cross over his shoulder like Jesus does in all of those pictures. I couldn't find a clip on YouTube and I don't have a fancy means to get video from my Tivo to the computer.  I ended up pointing the digital camera at the TV screen.  The quality sucks but you can at least see what's going on. [viddler id=a0416efe&h=370&w=437]  [digg=http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Jesus_spotted_on_an_episode_of_This_Old_House]