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Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

googleblog.blogspot.com

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Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#261

Here's the most important paragraph in the blog post that most people will gloss over (because Google glossed over it): "Drive is built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience. You can attach photos from Drive to posts in Google+, and soon you’ll be able to attach stuff from Drive directly to emails in Gmail. Drive is also an open platform, so we’re working with many third-party developers so you can d…

It's kind of disingenuous for them to call it an "open platform" when the only way to get API access is to distribute your app through the Chrome Web Store. What if I want to build something that works on multiple browsers? Am I just out of luck?

You actually can get access to these apps in other browsers through the Chrome Web Store. Try adding any of the Drive enabled apps. The experience is a little odd right now, but it works.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#263
post #34

Anyone know if this is the original Google Drive they wrote all those years ago and never launched, or a new thing they reused the name for?

It's essentially a renamed Google Docs but allowing you to upload non-document files (although I think you might have been able to do that already)

Correct, you could already upload arbitrary files to Docs for a long time.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#265

On Mac OS X, the application doesn't respect symlinks. Does anyone have any ideas how I can get it to auto-mirror my Documents/ directory without me actually moving my Documents/ under the Google Drive/ directory?

Symlinks are specific to individual devices; also, symlink implementations are different from operating system to operating system. So, if Google Drive or Dropbox were to support that, they would have to implement some very complex solutions (along with some probably very confusing interaction with the user) in order to be able to sync reliably across devices, even devices running the same operating system. You can a…

This appears to have worked; my CPU is going crazy from GDrive activity, which I am guessing is some pre-processing compression step from GDrive before upload.

I am marginally more worried about whether the same reasons that GDrive didn't work right with a symlink inside it will result in other apps not working right with Documents being the symlink itself. We'll see, I suppose...

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#266

Well, this pretty much exhausts the pool of people who don't care for the data privacy. On the plus side, those who do want privacy are still waiting for a proper solution, and it is an opportunity. (edit) It is really shocking how absolutely mind-bogglingly ignorant people are when it comes to their data privacy matters. How could any business person in a sane state of mind choose to share its data with some 3rd par…

>this goes well beyond "evil." Oh look, it's this tired old canard again. I'd really hate to be in Google's position. Really hate . They make a ton of services that are near universal, not due to lockin, not due to any other anticompetitive shenanigans, but because they're good and people want to use them. And meanwhile with every product launch, 90% of the internet using public is rightly excited, 9 % are meh, and t…

I don't agree with the mentality that you're commenting on, but I can somewhat see where they're coming from. One way to think of it is to see all services as a mousetrap where the powers that be can snap the trap if they like, and fuck over a lot of mice (by betraying privacy).

Google may make really great services, but to people who view these highly-integrated services as potential mousetraps, it's just an irresistibly-gilded moustrap. It may be amazing, but it just means it's luring more people in to be snapped in the trap.

And I imagine you can become one of those people by being burned on privacy concerns, or by being pre-emptively vigilant regarding your privacy. There's been all kinds of news of services that have betrayed privacy in one way or another, so it's not totally far-fetched.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#267

Well, this pretty much exhausts the pool of people who don't care for the data privacy. On the plus side, those who do want privacy are still waiting for a proper solution, and it is an opportunity. (edit) It is really shocking how absolutely mind-bogglingly ignorant people are when it comes to their data privacy matters. How could any business person in a sane state of mind choose to share its data with some 3rd par…

I have been looking (for years) for a "good" online storage/sync solution that allows me to store my documents using my own private key. TrueCrypt etc don't reach the "set it, and forget it" level. But when you think about how much more expensive storing those documents will be for these companies (as each copy of the same document will be encrypted with a separate private key), and how much value these companies wil…

And if someone were working on this (or hoping to) how could they reach you to let you know about a beta/alpha? (genuine question, I've been thinking about something similar).

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#268
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course Google Drive is not a surprise to DropBox but I still feel that a 'One does not simply counter Google' Meme could be appropriate here.

Drew Houston has an amazing sense of humor. https://twitter.com/#!/drewhouston/status/194837482490179584

Some of the responses are downright depressing:

Vijay Vasu ‏ @gunshotdigital

@drewhouston @Dropbox huh what? will people be able to search my files!!! #NOTCOOL

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#269

Well, this pretty much exhausts the pool of people who don't care for the data privacy. On the plus side, those who do want privacy are still waiting for a proper solution, and it is an opportunity. (edit) It is really shocking how absolutely mind-bogglingly ignorant people are when it comes to their data privacy matters. How could any business person in a sane state of mind choose to share its data with some 3rd par…

>this goes well beyond "evil." Oh look, it's this tired old canard again. I'd really hate to be in Google's position. Really hate . They make a ton of services that are near universal, not due to lockin, not due to any other anticompetitive shenanigans, but because they're good and people want to use them. And meanwhile with every product launch, 90% of the internet using public is rightly excited, 9 % are meh, and t…

If you quote, quote in full. The problem is not with Google sitting on a lot of data, it's with them exploiting people's ignorance to get it.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#270

Well, this pretty much exhausts the pool of people who don't care for the data privacy. On the plus side, those who do want privacy are still waiting for a proper solution, and it is an opportunity. (edit) It is really shocking how absolutely mind-bogglingly ignorant people are when it comes to their data privacy matters. How could any business person in a sane state of mind choose to share its data with some 3rd par…

I have been looking (for years) for a "good" online storage/sync solution that allows me to store my documents using my own private key. TrueCrypt etc don't reach the "set it, and forget it" level. But when you think about how much more expensive storing those documents will be for these companies (as each copy of the same document will be encrypted with a separate private key), and how much value these companies wil…

Consider using encfs rather than truecrypt. encfs encrypts each file individually and works much more smoothly with file storage services.
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