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Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

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Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#491
post #445
post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The de-duping is certainly more than the discount off list price, too -- I suspect they de-dupe 10-100x. I really doubt their discount off the lowest public S3 volume price is more than 50%.

Personal photos take up a large fraction of people's cloud storage, and they are completely non-de-dupable. I doubt it's possible to get more than 3x on average.

That's actually not true at all. There are de-dup'ing techniques that do not simply rely on a sha1 of your entire file.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#492
post #99

This seems buggy. I created an archive subfolder and moved all my old Google docs there. This change (which presumably touches metadata only) took minutes to sync (on a fast connection) and failed on one file with this mysterious error: "Upload Error - An unknown issue has occurred." Also: no option to disable the dock icon or turn off the hypnotic animation while files are syncing. Ugh.

You can hide any app's dock icon with a preference setting. NSUIElement or something. It's a setting in the app's info.plist or somewhere. This is a standard Mac technique, not an app-specific functionality.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#493

Things I'd like to see before I consider using or recommending GDrive: - A statement from Google regarding whether or not they will scan the data and files in GDrive to develop further profiling information or other data about the user - A guarantee from Google that GDrive will not be subject to account lockout in the event of account suspension due to AdWords/AdSense algorithmic (or human) triggers. In fact, I'd wan…

Why not have a Google account for work and one for personal use? Either way, getting locked out of Drive is pretty silly--like Dropbox you always have backups synced on your machines.

I think there's evidence of Goggle detecting multiple accounts and suspending all of them when an algo triggers on one of the accounts. I can't vouch for this but I remember reading posts about such things maybe a year ago.

It's not necessarily about loosing data or loosing GDrive alone. There are many scenarios one could think of. Firstly, if your account gets locked out you loose ALL Google services. If you've been using Gmail for years, it's gone. Documents? Gone. Everything Google, gone. It doesn't matter if you are paying for the service or not. It's gone and you have virtually no recourse.

One possible GDrive scenario (of the many one could imagine) is that of someone going on a family trip and uploading photos to GDrive during the trip to make room on their flash card. Somewhere along their Google account is suspended because of, well, who knows? All of their photos are gone.

Business trip. Upload your presentation and other materials to GDrive. Travel light. Account suspended by the time you get to your destination. Screwed.

With GDrive storage options reaching terabytes there will be many instances of people relying on GDrive for primary storage. That can certainly be the case with Google Docs, where the documents themselves are created online as well.

Clearly this is not an issue for the vast majority of Google account holders. This is due to the fact that account suspensions are more widely reported for users of AdSense and AdWords. In other words, business users. Your average Google user would not (and should not) have this problem. This is good for average consumers yet bad in that there might not be enough of an incentive for Google to be compelled to change their ways and be more reasonable with business users. What they telegraph is that they really couldn't give a rats ass if they kill-off someone's account because it doesn't even move one atom in their revenue stream. Tough problem to solve if you are nobody, as is the case for most of us.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#494
post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything: http://sketchup.google.com/ http://picasa.google.com/

Also add the linux version of Google Earth - it's a joke

Google Earth has always been a farm for practicing features in preparation for a move into Maps. Earth was never a respected product.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#495
post #51

So if I have desktop software, can I put a button on my download page that instantly copies the zip file to the user's Google Drive from my own? If not, would anyone like to make one? That seems like a convenient option for users, not to mention the bandwidth savings.

You would just share the file to their account, like you do in Docs now.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#497
post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

You seem to be referring to some othet Google auth system. The two-factor system used for Google accounts sends a code via SMS that you need to enter on the web page. It does not make you enter something on your phone.

Ah, I see. Yes, looks like Google offers multiple phone-based two-factor systems. I was referring to the oAuth one, which uses time-based tokens rather than sending the code via SMS.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> steal While I understood the sentiment of distrust that many put in giving more information to Google that they can _use_ to show targeted advertisements, usage of the verb _steal_ makes me angry.

What I am not sure about is whether I am being irrational because I am biased towards Google (while also using, loving and respecting Dropbox) or everyone else here seems to have the same sentiment because (1) Dropbox is YC backed (2) It is a little-guy vs big-mafia war.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#499
post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be referring to some othet Google auth system. The two-factor system used for Google accounts sends a code via SMS that you need to enter on the web page. It does not make you enter something on your phone.

Ah, I see. Yes, looks like Google offers multiple phone-based two-factor systems. I was referring to the oAuth one, which uses time-based tokens rather than sending the code via SMS.

I see. But does that qualify as a two-factor auth? You need two independent "factors" for that, and while OAuth uses tokens internally, all it does is ensure a secure transport between Google's servers and the app that requests authorization. It doesn't actually obtain two different things from the user.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#500
post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal photos take up a large fraction of people's cloud storage, and they are completely non-de-dupable. I doubt it's possible to get more than 3x on average.

That's actually not true at all. There are de-dup'ing techniques that do not simply rely on a sha1 of your entire file.

Can you point me to a de-duping algorithm that works well for personal photos?
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