Another great feature of Dropbox is the ability to quickly and easily share files with other people. To do so you simply move the file to the public subfolder in Dropbox and right click to get the public URL. Then just email the link to whoever needs the file. Super slick for delivering files that users need access to any where in the world.

Speaking of firewalls and security – according to Dropbox, “Your files are actually safer while stored in your Dropbox than on your computer in some cases. We use the same secure methods as banks and the military to send and store your data.”(How Secure is Dropbox) On that page they provide a detailed explanation of their security procedures which are pretty impressive.

Some added benefits to Dropbox are the cool workarounds that can be configured to allow syncing across multiple computers. For example, I use Notational Velocity on my Mac for quick and easy note taking. With Dropbox I can sync the text files that NV creates to anywhere I may need them, including other Macs running NV. A final example is the ability to sync iTunes libraries across multiple computers. All you have to do is move your iTunes library to your Dropbox folder (give it time to synchronize) and then point iTunes on any computer to the correct location of the library in your Dropbox folder. Library synchronization done easy. (obviously the limitation here is how much space your music occupies – for those of you with 100+ GB libraries Dropbox isn’t an option)

Now as for price:

Dropbox Basic – 2 GB of storage – Price = Free (Awesome deal)
Dropbox Pro 50 – 50 GB of storage – Price = $9.99/month
Dropbox Pro 100 – 100 GB of storage – Price = $19.99/month

HTAccess Privacy for Specific IPs: “

Running a private site is all about preventing unwanted visitors. Here is a quick and easy way to allow access to multiple IP addresses while redirecting everyone else to a custom message page.

To do this, all you need is an HTAccess file and a list of IPs for which you would like to allow access.

Edit the following code according to the proceeding instructions and place into the root HTAccess file of your domain:

# ALLOW ONLY MULTIPLE IPs
<Limit GET POST PUT>
 Order Deny,Allow
 Deny from all
 Allow from 123.456.789
 Allow from 456.789.123
 Allow from 789.123.456
</Limit>
ErrorDocument 403 path/custom-message.html
<Files path/custom-message.html>
 Order Allow,Deny
 Allow from all
</Files>

To prepare this code for use on your site, do these three things:

1. Edit the three IP addresses to suit your needs. Feel free to add more IPs or remove any that aren’t needed.
2. Edit both instances of ‘path/custom-message.html’ to match the path and file name of the file that will contain your custom message. This may be anything, anywhere, with any functionality you desire.
3. That’s it. Copy/paste into your site’s root htaccess file, upload, test, and get out!

(Via Perishable Press.)

Joel Anderson, a San Diego Republican who’s a member of the California assembly, is a man with a mission. He wants to keep America safe by forcing companies to blur satellite images of schools, places of worship, government or medical buildings, as well as banning street images.

I can just hear the conversations now:

Evil Terrorist 1: “What is our next strike target in California?”

Evil Terrorist 2: “Haven’t you heard, they blurred all of the images of schools, churches, and governement buildings.  They’ve even blocked street-view!”

Evil Terrorist 1: “Certainly NOT!”

Evil Terrorist 2: “Yes.  Our plans have been foiled.  Damn you California!!!”

Next thing you know California will be demanding fake images be put into Google Earth to throw terrorists off track.

Stop California! Stop hindering progress. Learn to use technology, not hate it.