Phones supported by Sync include the Apple iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.

As you might suspect, I’m quite excited about Google Sync, and I’m glad to see Windows Mobile support included. I’ve written a few articles already on syncing Windows Mobile Contacts and Calendar with varying services, all without Outlook. Here are some previous tutorials:

1. Sync Your Windows Mobile Contacts and Calendar Using Funambol for FREE (article link)
2. Sync Your Windows Mobile Contacts and Calendar with Plaxo, Thunderbird, and Google for FREE (article link)
3. Sync Your Phone’s Contacts and Calendar with Google for Free using NuevaSync (article link)

I’m definitely going to try my hand at setting up Google Sync, and am especially curious to see how it compares with the mighty NuevaSync. Expect future articles and opinions related to this topic in the near future.

In the meantime, if you have already tried Google Sync, I’d love to hear some thoughts.

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Google Launches Sync for Mobile Phones – General Acclamation Ensues

Good News

You have a Flickr Pro account. Congratulations! Perhaps you already knew about it, but if you did not, then YES, a Flickr Pro account is complimentary with your broadband package. Just sign in with your AT&T or Verizon credentials.

So go start uploading your unlimited number of photos. Enjoy! But wait, it’s time for some bad news.

Bad News

Don’t enjoy your Flickr Pro account too much, because you won’t have it for long. Come the first of February 2009, your Pro status will be revoked unless you chalk up and pay the required $25 per year.

From AT&T (requires login):

Beginning January 31, 2009, AT&T Internet members will no longer receive Flickr Pro free of charge. These Flickr Pro accounts will be converted to free Flickr accounts which are similar although with some limits. The free Flickr account lets you upload up to 100 MB of photos per month and allows you to view or share up to 200 of your most recent uploaded photos. Don’t worry, if you have more than 200 photos or videos, they are still stored and will not be deleted unless you delete them yourself. You can easily renew your Flickr Pro account at any time.

Here’s a screenshot of the text. Sad, isn’t it? I blame the recession.

I was just getting used to my complimentary Flickr Pro account, too. Oh well, back to Google Picasaweb I go.

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AT&T, Verizon, and Flickr – Good and Bad News

I am pleased to report that Dropbox has fully opened to the public, no more invitations needed! A few weeks ago I reviewed Dropbox (see review) and concluded that it was the online storage service of my dreams. I still hold to that claim.

Everyone who signs up receives 2 GB of storage space. Not only that, you can easily link multiple computers to your Dropbox account and effortlessly keep your files in sync. It’s like FolderShare, but with an online backup element. Yes, it’s a dream come true.

Clients are available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (beta). There’s even an iPhone client. Here I am installing the Dropbox client on Ubuntu 8.04.

Freshly Installed

As of now, Dropbox is the free storage service that I recommend most to others. If they rollout a “Pro” version with more features and storage, I’d be tempted to upgrade. Still, the free service is excellent.

If you only use one online storage service, I heartily recommend Dropbox.

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Dropbox Goes Live – Free 2GB of Synchronized Storage for All!

Signup

If you wish to grab your free 250 GB online storage, use their special link. Though they claim that the offer is for bloggers and Digg users, anyone can register.

FileSavr.com was created as a fresh alternative to sites like MegaUpload and RapidShare. Unlike those sites, we do not reel the user in and make them wait for annoying countdown timers. We do not hide the download link with aggressively placed ads. Our goal is simple, to offer the most basic file hosting and image hosting service so you can share your stuff quickly.

As a thank you to the community we are offering free accounts on FileSavr.com to bloggers as well as members of Digg, Stumble, Reddit, Mixx, Del.icio.us. To get your free account fill out the form below to receive to get $10 monthly account (250 GB) absolutely free. Accounts created before September 15th will have lifetime membership for free. If you like the service we hope you will help us with small donations via paypal.

Offer expires September 15th. WARNING: The service is very slow due to extreme demand right now.

Signing up only requires a username, password, and e-mail address. Painless.

Usage

For all intents and purposes, File Savr is EXACTLY the same as File Dropper. The offer is the same. The interface is the same. The prices are the same. Heck, the only different between the two sites is the logo. It makes me wonder why the people behind File Dropper felt the need to create a re-badged version of their existing site. Let me show you what I mean:

FileSavr Manager

File Dropper Manager

Other than logo, there is no difference. Well, I should mention that File Savr supposedly offers an upload limit of 10 GB, whereas File Dropper limits upload size to 5 GB. So, yes, there is a slight difference.

Admittedly, I’ve had trouble with File Dropper. Every time I try to upload a file larger than 500 MB or so, I receive an error and the upload fails. Perhaps it’s my Internet connection? Perhaps it’s File Dropper? Nevertheless, the result is that I’ve hardly been able to use my account.

Still, between the two, I now have 500 GB of online storage at my disposal. I only hope I’ll be able to take advantage of it.

Act now, and you too can claim 250 GB of space. Just be sure to use their special link. I only hope you’ll have better luck with uploading than I’ve had.

Post from: TipsFor.us


File Savr – Another Free 250 GB Storage Account?

Keep saving money each time you use Live Search cashback. Every time you make a qualifying purchase, we’ll send you an email to confirm your Live Search cashback savings. Usually 60 days after your purchase (although this time period may vary for some stores), and when your cashback account reaches a balance of at least $5, you can claim your cold, hard cash.

Microsoft wants to increase exposure to their search engine, and they may have some success by paying people in this manner. They hope that by offering this juicy incentive, you will not only use their search engine for online shopping, but for all your other search-related needs. Hmm, maybe they will win a few converts.

Now let me tell you how it really works. Google will continue to dominate the search arena, and people like myself will simply click-through to a specific store when buying things online just to harvest the cash from Microsoft.

Speaking of which, here is a list of stores (sorted alphabetically). With regard to technology, I’m pleased to see Newegg.com on the list – currently earning 5.5% cashback.

If you’re a TigerDirect fan, you can earn 10% cashback from Microsoft! Some other examples currently include:

• Lenovo – 10% cashback
• Overstock.com – 4 to 14% cashback
• Creative Products – 10% cashback
• Shop4tech.com – 12% cashback

If you’re planning a new computer build from Newegg anytime soon, or are eyeing a new Lenovo laptop, you should use the Live cashback system and let Microsoft reimburse part of the cost to you. It certainly won’t cost you anything extra to do so.

Check it out: a few days ago I decided to buy a new USB flash drive from Newegg, so I clicked-through, spent a whopping $9 on a drive from Crucial, and then checked my Live cashback account. Lo and behold, $0.50 had already been deposited into my account. I’m rich!

Once I hit $5, Microsoft will pay me (through PayPal, direct deposit, or a mailed check). Hmm, I wonder if I have any friends who will let me buy parts for them online (then pay me back in cash)? Earning cashback could turn into a side job!

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Live.com Cashback – Let Microsoft Pay You When Making Online Purchases

Maybe.

A new startup called File Dropper claims to offer their “Gold” plan – a whopping 250 GB of storage space – for free, provided that you register before May 15, 2008. Otherwise, their regular plans start at $0.99 a month for 5 GB of storage. Users who register before May 15 will receive a lifetime account for free, not just a trial account.

Signup

Many of these services disappear as rapidly as they appear, but if you want to register, please use their special link. They claim that this special offer is for members of social bookmarking services such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx, etc, but anyone can register.

As a thank you to the community we are offering free accounts on filedropper.com to bloggers as well as members of Digg, Stumble, Reddit, Mixx, Del.icio.us. To get your free account fill out the form below to receive to get $10 monthly account (250 GB) absolutely free. Accounts created before May 15th will have lifetime membership for free.

Registration is quick and painless, requiring only username, password, and e-mail address. I used a randomly-generated password (thanks KeePass), and my dedicated “spam” e-mail address, but I have not received any e-mails from them yet. So far so good.

Usage

The main interface of File Dropper is startlingly simple, which is not surprising given their claim of simplest file hosting website ever.

Once you choose to upload a file, you are presented with an interface that allows you to upload one file at at time. The maximum upload size is a staggering 5 GB! Here I am, uploading a test file:

There is even a progress bar to show you how much data is remaining. Once the upload is complete, File Dropper displays a download link that you can use to share with others.

Warnings and Caveats

I want to like File Dropper. I really do. However, I am suspicious. I’ve seen far too many similar services offer outlandish claims and then disappear into the night. I genuinely hope that File Dropper sticks around for the long haul, but pardon me for doubting.

Therefore, I would not trust sensitive information with them. Their TOS is quite sparse, and even mentions the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. So don’t think that you can store your collection of “ripped” movies on their servers and get away with it forever.

By contrast, a service such as DropBoks has a very strict Privacy Policy, which is currently lacking on File Dropper. Dropboks states:

All files that are uploaded to the DropBoks system are never viewed by any member of the DropBoks team, ever. Neither are they provided to any other party at any time.

On the other hand, my beloved DropBoks only offers ONE gigabyte of free storage in comparison to 250!

Of course, there is always the possibility that File Dropper will not withstand the test of time, and will disappear in a few short weeks or months, taking all your precious files with them.

I’m supposedly a paid member until January 18, 2038. So, lifetime to File Dropper apparently means 30 years. I don’t know about you, but I certainly hope to still be alive in 2038. Maybe they are anticipating the Year 2038 problem.

The only other problem I see is that in 30 years, I probably won’t care much about the files I’m currently uploading!

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File Dropper – 250 Gigabytes of Free Online Storage? (Online Storage Series)

This will be a quick post. I just wanted to spread the word about a new website that is now up and hopefully will be growing:

http://beta.legaltorrents.com/

In their own words:

LegalTorrentsâ„¢ is an online community created to discover and distribute Creative Commons licensed digital media. We distribute high quality digital media of all types and provide support to content creators, including hosting a guaranteed high-speed seed for the content. We distribute content with the full permission of the rights holders. We use the peer-2-peer file-sharing technology called Bittorrent.

They are dedicated to hosting only completely legal torrents. So have no fear and download away. Of course you won’t find all that sweet illegal content that some providers have, but that is not the point of this site. Fellow Linux users should be able to see how useful this site will be for centrally locating distro cds.

I also wanted to draw everyone’s attention to a specific torrent on their site:

Go Open Ep. 1-6

This is the first 6 episodes of a television show from South Africa that is information about Open Source software, and the alternatives to closed source software. It’s free, and pretty informative, especially if you are new to the Open Source scene.

Oh, and if you liked the first 6 episodes, don’t forget: Go Open Ep. 7-13

All files are in .MP4 format. If you have a hard time opening these files [and use windows], I recommend the Combined Community Codec Pack. It is the most complete codec pack I have found yet (originally compiled to play many differant formats of anime encoded by fans with subtitles.)

In the near future I will expound about the process, software, safeguards, etc. of the torrent community.

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Open Source TV Show/Legal Torrents

All that’s required is a login to the site. Adobe hopes to tap the shutterbug crowd posting images to Flickr and Facebook and lure them to their site as a way to share their photos. We’ll see how it goes, but it looks promising. I can’t tell how many times I’ve needed to do some basic photo editing while on the road, and it just can be painful to try and find some cheap tools to do basic editing.

What Adobe did WRONG was to put in some fine print that said that Adobe basically would get to do whatever they want with the users’ photos. Watch out! Read the article on CNET:
Complaints trigger rewrite of Photoshop Express terms. Well… I’m gonna wait for the legal @!^%-storm to pass before trying this out.

UPDATE: Adobe dropped those nasty legal terms. “If you decide to terminate your Photoshop Express account, Adobe’s rights also will be terminated.” See CNET.

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Phinally: Photoshop Express Online

Now, my life is forever changed. My eyes have been opened. I’ve swallowed the “red” pill. Before my Digg addiction, I was a happily married man in the early stages of my career, a fairly-devout Christian, a Windows-using Republican, and a technology enthusiast. I’m still a technology enthusiast, but since Digg overtook my life, a few things have changed.

For starters, Digg taught me that Microsoft Windows is a crap operating system, and Bill Gates is the anti-Christ. Or was it Steve Ballmer? One never knows…. So, I switched to Linux, but not just any Linux. The collective wisdom of the pre-pubescents who populate Digg informed me again and again that Ubuntu is the best Linux. Naturally, whenever I see any word resembling Ubuntu in an upcoming story, I froth at the mouth in a rabid digging frenzy! Ubuntu = Dugg. No other Linux matters.

With a change to my operating system came a change to my religion. Though I always had a few uneasy questions about Christianity, my faith was pretty solid. However, roughly 3 minutes after I joined Digg, I quickly learned how foolish I had been for ever believing in the possibility of an all-powerful divine force. On Digg, atheism runs rampant, and is growing in popularity every day. Soon the government will have to give us tax-exempt status as a bonafide religion! Oh wait.

Anyway, the strong faith in atheism at Digg has caused me to toss my old faith aside. I mean, that many utterly life-inexperienced 12-year-olds must be right. Right?

Additionally, the collective wisdom of the 12-year-old diggers emphatically informed me that Ron Paul is the savior of America. At first it seemed like Obama would be the choice, but the far-from-voting-age experts showed me time and again that Ron Paul would save me from the Neocons who want nothing more than to use me as cannon fodder in Iraq. Or was it Iran? One never knows…, but thank science that Digg showed me the “light” (or should I say “electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength?” One never knows….).

After a few months as a Digg member, I suddenly found that my attention span had shrunk to a maximum of about 4 seconds. More and more, I found that I could not concentrate on tasks at work, and found that my main work productivity included 4-second skims of articles on Digg (plus the subsequent digg, of course). Nevermind that I could never read entire articles – I could rely on the intelligent and profound Digg comments to give me the facts.

These mental changes took a toll on my life. First of all, I was fired from work. Apparently reading Digg doesn’t benefit the company. It doesn’t matter – they’re all a bunch of Giuliani lovers, I bet). My wife left me soon after that. Apparently she was incapable of understanding my lifelong goal of “digging” for 22 hours a day. She didn’t like my newfound faith in atheism either, but it’s her loss.

With my lost income and lost wife, I decided to move back into my parent’s basement. I feel comfortable here, and no one persecutes my faith (or lack thereof). Sure, I miss my wife at times, but I can always rely on Digg to comfort me. There, see! There’s a video of Israeli women in bikinis! I digg Kosher babes. Ah, Digg, I can always count on you. Seeing a video of a woman is almost like being with a real woman, provided that I shut my eyes and… pretend.

Finally, I live in constant fear of taser-happy police, feel that the US will become a “police state” in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…, unless Ron Paul can valiantly charge in and save us. My newfound anxiety keeps me from leaving the comfort of my parent’s basement without carrying a video camera at all times. You never know when those bad cops are waiting to pounce (or is it Pownce? One never knows….)!

That’s ok. I really don’t mind my self-imposed, jobless, womanless, solitude. After all, I still get plenty of excitement just by hanging around Digg. There’s enough stories about Linux, atheism, and Ron Paul to keep me dancing, drooling, and writhing in a Bacchic fit for hours. Plus, all the old internet jokes and pictures are cool again!

Thanks Digg! Kevin Rose is my hero!

If you cannot tell, this article is a complete satire, a fabrication, a creative indulgence. Or, to put it into Digg-speak: FAKE!!!!11!!! Its teh shopped!!!!

Oh, I really do like Ron Paul, though. Promise.

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How DIGG Changed My Life

In short, it’s a FREE Domain Name Service (DNS) that you can tap into on a specific computer or router level. I simply logged into my Linksys WRT54GL router, entered two server addresses, and rebooted. That’s it.

What can it do for you? A lot!

Anti-phishing

For starters, it protects you from “phishing” sites, such as attempts to steal your PayPal passwords and bank account information. This alone is enough reason for anyone to use it. Also, it corrects common misspellings and re-directs to the appropriate site. For instance, if you type “craigslist.og,” it will redirect you to “craigslist.org.” Pretty slick.

Also, it’s supposedly faster, though I haven’t noticed much difference. It certainly did not slow my internet connection in any way.

Keyword Shortcuts

If you create an account, you have even more tools at your disposal, such as keywords. If you have a commonly-used long URL, you can easily create a shortcut it. For instance, if you find yourself navigating to the Wikipedia article on J. S. Bach a lot, you can create a shortcut to take you to that page just by simply typing “bach.”

Adult Site Blocking

If you feel the need, you may also block all “adult” sites very easily, which is sure to cause the 14-year old in your life much despair.

For best results, set up OpenDNS on your router, not just on your computer. That way, everyone else on your network can take advantage of its benefits.

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Get OpenDNS