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Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

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Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#451
post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God, I hope that Google Drive doesn't start following symlinks. That behavior of Dropbox is completely broken and dangerous, and furthermore makes it impossible to use symbolic links for what they're supposed to be used for. When symlinks are synced, they should be copied "opaquely", not "transparently". I.e., the link itself should be synced, not what the link points to. Opaque syncing of symlinks is the standard wa…

Tragic indeed. May the deities hear your outcry! Do you have any helpful suggestions on how to solve this problem by other means? I found the symlink solution to be quite elegant and never experienced any unexpected behavior.

[deleted]

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#452

[crosspost from the French translation thread - now that we have the official details, I think this comment is better discussed here.] So the things Google Drive has that Dropbox doesn't: * 2-factor authentication! * Comments on files * OCR - like Evernote, you can search against text in images (e.g. newspaper article) * Image recognition - if you upload a pic of the Eiffel Tower, you can find it with the search term…

We should also have list going the other - things Dropbox has that GDrive doesn't: * Linux support * Headless (command line interface) * Public bug tracking and feature requests (votebox) Unsure about these * Shared folders I'm struggling to come up with more.

And Dropbox doesn't use/steal your data. So really that is an argument for Dropbox by it self. It also kinda of nulls "* 2-factor authentication!" because what is authentication if your data isn't safe?

+1 Dropbox

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#454
post #384
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but that's not really what concerns me. It's that my workflow runs through those services. To clarify, email (basically your identity online), calendars, device syncing, now file-sharing can be run through Google (and I'm sure a whole lot of other things too). If these were to disappear* I'd basically be left with a nice shiny box, where I could 'work' but in a much more limited way. It would feel like being on…

People get hacked and/or locked out of accounts surprisingly often. A good (and tech-savvy friend) was recently hacked, and managed to get thousands of dollars transferred before found it. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you have a Gmail account please follow Jeff Atwood's directions below. Turn on two-factor authentication, make sure you've verified a phone number and recovery email address account. http://www.codinghorr…

Suppose you turn on two factor authentication, and then something happens to the phone number you used for it. Does that mean you've effectively lost your Gmail account? (Not a rhetorical question. I don't know how or whether you can lose a cell phone number - as opposed to just the physical phone, which presumably shouldn't be a problem - but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't happen.)

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#455
post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People get hacked and/or locked out of accounts surprisingly often. A good (and tech-savvy friend) was recently hacked, and managed to get thousands of dollars transferred before found it. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you have a Gmail account please follow Jeff Atwood's directions below. Turn on two-factor authentication, make sure you've verified a phone number and recovery email address account. http://www.codinghorr…

Suppose you turn on two factor authentication, and then something happens to the phone number you used for it. Does that mean you've effectively lost your Gmail account? (Not a rhetorical question. I don't know how or whether you can lose a cell phone number - as opposed to just the physical phone, which presumably shouldn't be a problem - but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't happen.)

The two-factor auth system does not use the phone as a phone, just as a hardware token. Google displays a token on the login screen, you enter this in your phone and type the code it gives you in to the login page (similar to RSA's SecurID, but your phone is the device).

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#456

I was already paying $20 / year for 80 GB of storage that I was using for backing up my photos on Picasa. Unfortunately the new plans are way more expensive, especially since my photo collection is growing like crazy and I'll end up needing much more than that. If there's one thing I hate about Google is that you cannot rely on their pricing. They did the same thing with App Engine. I'm also using the free version of…

You know that this price will remain the same for the old users, right?

Aren't old users supposed to upgrade to the new plan once the old one expires?

Unfortunately my subscription expires in 3 months from now.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#457

[crosspost from the French translation thread - now that we have the official details, I think this comment is better discussed here.] So the things Google Drive has that Dropbox doesn't: * 2-factor authentication! * Comments on files * OCR - like Evernote, you can search against text in images (e.g. newspaper article) * Image recognition - if you upload a pic of the Eiffel Tower, you can find it with the search term…

We should also have list going the other - things Dropbox has that GDrive doesn't: * Linux support * Headless (command line interface) * Public bug tracking and feature requests (votebox) Unsure about these * Shared folders I'm struggling to come up with more.

Google has a huge history of shutting down services or at least dramatically changing their pricing model (even from free to expensive).

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#458

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…

Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for but you could consider tarsnap.com, which is an online storage company heavily focused on user security/privacy. It's been around for many years now and is run by HN's cperciva (IIRC), who seems to be quite knowledgeable with all things security.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#459
post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People get hacked and/or locked out of accounts surprisingly often. A good (and tech-savvy friend) was recently hacked, and managed to get thousands of dollars transferred before found it. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you have a Gmail account please follow Jeff Atwood's directions below. Turn on two-factor authentication, make sure you've verified a phone number and recovery email address account. http://www.codinghorr…

Suppose you turn on two factor authentication, and then something happens to the phone number you used for it. Does that mean you've effectively lost your Gmail account? (Not a rhetorical question. I don't know how or whether you can lose a cell phone number - as opposed to just the physical phone, which presumably shouldn't be a problem - but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't happen.)

In my experience two factor auth sends a a text message to the provided phone number with a code which you then enter on screen so retaining control of the number is a requirement.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then I assume you are also not a big fan on any online service. An interesting trend I'm noticing is that people stop writing offline software. Pretty soon anything new you want will only be available as a service. What then?

Hundreds of thousands of apps on App Store and Android Market says you're wrong. It's true that many of them require an online account, but many don't. Excluding that, there's still lots of free software.

I mostly meant offline desktop software. The only market that seems to be lively is the Mac AppStore.
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