Tech Tip: Embrace the Cloud
TECH TIP EMBRACE THE CLOUD
TECH TIP EMBRACE THE CLOUD
Abundant computer labs, laptops, tablets, and smart phones give you the opportunity to work from almost everywhere. What can you do to keep all your important files in one place so that you’ll never be without them?
1 THE PROBLEM
You’re at the computer lab, and you don’t have the files you need. This time, you forgot your flash drive; last time, you had your tablet and not your laptop. What if your devices get run over by a truck? What then?
2 THE FIX
Save your files to a cloud storage site and have access to them from any Internet-connected computer or tablet.
3 HOW TO DO IT
Sign up for a free account from a cloud storage site. These sites allow you to save files to an online location. You’ll have your own private storage space that can only be accessed with a password. Some sites are tailored for documents (Word files, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations), while others allow easy storage for both print files and audio/video. Cloud storage is great for collaborative projects because you can choose to share all or some of your files with your classmates and friends. Here is a list of three sites with free storage; most such sites require payment to increase your storage size.
Dropbox (dropbox.com) is probably the most well-known cloud storage site. Users get 2G of free storage and are able to upgrade to up to 500 GB for a monthly fee. (Note: The abbreviation G or GB stands for gigabyte, a unit of measurement approximately equal to 1 billion bytes. The prefix giga comes from “gigantic.” A gigabyte is used to measure memory or disk capacity.) You can also earn more storage space by referring other customers to the site. Dropbox has both a Web interface that you and others can access from any computer and a downloadable client that you can save to your computer. (In the world of computing, a client is a piece of hardware or software that accesses a service made available by a server. Think of it as a client-server relationship.) This download makes Dropbox look like any other folder on your computer; when you add files, however, it actually adds them to your online folder. Dropbox is available as a stand-alone app on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices and also works with other document-editing apps for mobile devices.
Google Drive (drive.google.com) allows users to store and share documents up to 5 GB. A great feature of Google Drive is that you can edit documents in real time with your friends and classmates. If you’re writing a group paper, all your coauthors can sign into Google Drive and view the same document. You are able to edit it together, and there is a chat window so that you can have a conversation while editing. Google Drive allows for storage of both audio and video. Like Dropbox, Google Drive is also available as a stand-alone app, and it integrates well with iPhone, iPad, and Android apps.
MediaFire (mediafire.com) is newer than Dropbox and Google Drive. Its key feature is 50 GB of free storage space. Users are able to work collaboratively in the cloud and access their files using stand-alone apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.