There are lots of ways to store and share your files in the cloud, keeping them accessible from any browser. Some of the free services available include Dropbox, SkyDrive, and Google Drive. If you are a Dropbox user, you may be surprised at some of the clever suggestions Whitson Gordon from Lifehacker has for using the service in this post.
Some of my favorites are:
#6. Print Documents to Your Home Printer from Any Computer
#5. Host a Web Site or Start Page for Your Browser
#1. Keep the Same Apps, Settings, and Passwords on All Your PCs
How do you use your Dropbox?
I use it in a variety of ways, often as middleware. My newest use (and arguably my most productive use) is running my Web design business out of client Dropboxes. I simply create a Dropbox account for the client, then create a symlink from there to their server folder. Now I can work on their Website from anywhere in the world (and any computer), and when I upload the updated files to their Dropbox, they go live on the server immediately. Considering one of my latest jobs is in NJ and I’m in FL, this remote-update system is extremely helpful.
Other, less professional ways I use it: I set a desktop slideshow app on my mother’s computer to look in a Dropbox folder for photos, so I can put my photos in that folder and voila, they’re instantly added to her wallpaper slideshow! Also for my technologically-challenged mother, I created a small app that prints photos and text files as soon as it finds them in a specified Dropbox folder, so I can literally send her physical photos and “faxes” by simply sticking them in the right DB folder on my end 🙂 .
Those are the only creative uses for DB I’ve had. The rest of the time I use it for its intended purpose: syncing files so I never lose any. Ever.
Thanks so much for the excellent suggestions! I may steal your latter suggestions for my own mom… 🙂