It’s here, Dropbox have released an app for the iPhone & iPod Touch. I have written several posts about dropbox now, and the more I use it the more and more I find it useful and this just adds to the argument. The beauty of Dropbox is that it creates a folder on all of you’re linked computers and anything that you keep in this folder will automatically be updated on you’re web account and any other computers that you have installed and authorised Dropbox to work on.
So back to the iPhone app! When you launch the application for the first time, you get a little intoductory PDF to look at which runs you through the ‘good to know’s’ of the application. After this you are prompted to input you’re dropbox log-in details then you’re phone will automatically reach out to the dropbox servers and bring back down icons for all of the files and folders that are currently in you’re dropbox folder.
For files like presentations, word documents, photos, PDF’s and so on, you simply tap on the representative icon and viola the file loads and you have a full screen and very legible copy of the document to read. Very handy for viewing files that you need on the spur of the moment or when you have left your laptop behind.
One of the other things that I find great about the dropbox app for the iPhone is the ability to shoot/choose existing photos & videos (for those of you with a 3GS) and upload these to you’re dropbox folder. This of course sync’s back down to any of the other computers you have linked. This is a god send for getting photos back to the computer rather than dealing with the time taken up to connect you’re phone and wait for it to sync etc etc etc all just to get a photo.
The other beauty of this app is the ease in sharing files in you’re dropbox. When you are in one of the selected files and in viewing mode, simply tap on the envelope in the lower left corner and enter the email of the person you would like to share the folder with. This sends the person an email containing a link which is valid for 30 days from time of sending. When the link is clicked the recipient is taken to a browser link to view the file.
To me this is just one more reason to use Dropbox on my computers at home, and for anybody who does use Dropbox – if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, you should definitely give this app a go!!! To get the application on you’re phone or get extra information about Dropbox you can visit their site here: getdropbox.com
Posted by Luke | Posted on 30-09-2009
Category : Security
Tags: Anti-Virus, Computer, Microsoft, Removal, Security, Windows
If you are a windows user – then please read on – this is something that you need to be aware of! The Malicious Software Removal tool (MRT) is a little piece of software heaven for windows users that is not talked about very much. We are all aware that Windows computers are the most vulnerable systems to attack from viruses and malware. Now while everyone does their best to avoid these pesky bits of software that are out there this doesn’t mean that you still won’t fall victim to one every now and then.
I’m sure that by now you have all had the moment where you’re anti virus program spits out at you that you have a virus or some sort of infection on you’re system, now letting the anti-virus deal with it is all well and good, but adding this malicious software removal tool could save you a lot of pain.
My suggestion would be to let you’re anti-virus do it’s job and attempt to delete the infection, but after this is done add in another step. Due to the fact that virus authors are becoming more and more switched on to ways to exploit your system it makes it harder and harder to actually get a virus off your system.
The next step that I’m speaking of is to run the Malicious Software Removal Tool. Now for all Windows users this is actually something that is sitting right there on your computer, in fact Microsoft updates this on the 2nd Tuesday of every month (the same way it does with software updates). To find this program, go to your start menu. There is a ‘run’ selection, press on this. In the window that pops up search for ‘MRT’. This will launch a program, one this has loaded it will prompt you with a few selections – these are ‘quick scan’, ‘full scan’ and ‘custom scan’. For the purpose of locating and removing malicious software you will want to do a full scan. Note that this may take several hours depending on the size and speed of you’re computer.
This will locate and hopefully remove any malicious software that is on you’re computer, and may in fact save you from the need to do a complete system re-store. Now what if you can’t find this on you’re system, well the MRT is available from Microsoft’s website for download, follow the few quick prompts. This is a fairly small download and is under 9Mb in size so there really isn’t any excuse for not using it.
Well I hope that this helps out in determining if you’re anti-virus really is doing its job, while giving you a little extra piece of mind in knowing that you’re system is safe!
Posted by Luke | Posted on 28-09-2009
Category : Random & Interesting
These are a few pictures I snapped during the two dust storms that swept across most of easterly Australia in the past few days. The first two photos were taken on 26 September looking towards picnic point area, the third photo (sorry about it’s orientation, couldn’t fix it) was taken looking from outside our house on 23 September.
The combination of low pressure systems and a cold front moving across from central australia, caused very high winds which swept up large amounts of top soil from areas around Lake Eyre. This inundated everyone from around Sydney up to south east Queensland.
Article from The Chronicle
For a while now us iPhone users and users of phones on platforms like Windows Mobile have had the ability to have their Google contacts and calendars pushed to their mobile devices. However, up until now Gmail has been missing this feature. But not any more!
Google, through their Sync feature have enabled essentially an Exchange service for Gmail. This means that if set up properly on your iPhone you can get your email pushed to and from your phone just as if it was a mobile me account! Great news. I set this up today and gave it a bit of a test. To test this I would essentially send myself an email (lame I know) but within minutes my phone would buzz and a badge would show up on my mail icon to say that I had new mail!
For me this is just one more reason to set up a gmail account as an alternative to paying for a service like mobile me or dealing with ISP’s to set up your email. It really is a pretty easy set up process and the google website gives nice easy and clear directions. If you wan’t to set this up on your phone check out the Google Sync page here.
