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Developers, developers, developers, developers
Technology & Internet Daily Chit ChatWelcome to the all new Technology & Internet DCC! This thread will be for discussions on all sorts of technology in general! Just be sure to follow the guidelines below and have fun! Guidelines► Please follow all PokéCommunity Rules. ► Do not use this thread to ask for CSS help. We have the CSS Help & Resources thread for that. ► If you have a technology-related issue, please do not post in this thread! Please create a new thread within the section instead, and use the provided [Help] prefix. ► Do not use this thread to advertise your website. ► You may double-post in this thread if it's been dead for over 24 hours. ► Have fun talking tech! Have a question? Always feel free to send me a PM by clicking here! |
So loads of people here seem to be really into computers and technology and yet I don't understand a thing of it - searching for a new laptop was painstakingly hard and as far as computers are concerned I have 0 idea on anything technical about them. So my question to start off this thread is; what got you interested in technology?
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I think my story is rather interesting.. so in late 2009 I had a teacher who was into technology and if it wasn't for him, who knows where I would be in the world of tech. He helped me get a computer of mine that had been attacked by a virus with Windows XP restored, and if it wasn't for that, I would have no idea on what to do with computers. I began slowly building my knowledge up on computers from processors, RAM, GPU, etc and it's just stuck around me.
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I was fascinated by technology since i was a kid. I always knew how to use certain programs which my fellow classmates on elementary school had no idea about its existence.
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I'm interested in technology when I was a kid, I remember I was using my relative's computer for fun, and after I'm given a computer of my own, I started to taking more interest in it, and buying some magazines of that, since then, I'm starting to know about RAM, Blu-ray drives, Harddisks, how to prevent viruses, and anything technology.
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I've always been interested in technology. I was a bit of an avid gamer when I was little and when I'd stay at my grandparents place I would play games on their old computer.This computer was ancient, so I was limited to CD-Rom games and floppy disk games. Anyone who has ever tried playing a floppy disk game on a windows 95 at the age of six knows it can be pretty bizarre and complicated to load the game, but once I'd gotten the hang of it I felt like a genius. I wanted to learn more and seem like I was some sort of wizkid with computers.
Fast forward a couple of years, I got a laptop for my birthday after saving up for a while and I had free reign with what I could do. Over the next year or so I started to delve into how computers work and programming languages, trying to make my laptop better without spending much money basically. After that I started to take computer and ICT classes, and teacher other kids how to do things on computers that weren't taught in class and now a few years later I'm still learning about computers at university and teaching teenagers how to use computers safely and efficiently in a secondary school |
I grew up with tech and my mom has always worked in tech so she helped expose me to everything. I just love it... I'm always available to help people choose new laptops, desktops, mobile phones and etc irl and online. It's just a passion. :)
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I'm more of a programming guy than a hardware guy, though I do know enough about PCs.
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I'm not much into programming sadly :[ though I really wish I was, and I'm probably going to take classes on programming once I start my degree into Computer Science for sure.
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It's funny, because what actually got me started on learning more about PCs is Pokémon. I really wanted to play Pokémon Emerald one day, but all I had was a DSi so I couldn't play it on my DS. So naturally, I turned to google and managed to find an Emulator. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
From there, I just grew more and more interested on how things worked, or trying to find ways to make things more convenient. I started discovering cool software that I would use a lot back then (like userbar generators), and my passion kept growing. Last January, I sold an old Xbox I had and combined it with my Christmas money. I had about $550 and decided I wanted to build a Gaming PC. I started looking around on Newegg, chose my parts (after scrutinizing the entire build to make sure the parts were all compatible), and eventually I had built myself a PC (with some help from my dad). I feel, I don't know, I guess happiest when I'm working with my computer. Something about it is just fun to me and it felt awesome when I finished my build. I'd love to go to college for something with computers. I was thinking programming but my past experiences with coding weren't all that great (basically I sucked at it :P), so I'm not entirely sure at this point. ¯\_( ^ . ^)_/¯ |
Coding is about using your imagination in many ways. You do have to apply math, which is pure logic, but you have to be creative with using that logic to apply to a game, application, or whatever you plan to program.
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I've come up with a few PHP pages (not from scratch though, but a lot of code is from scratch by me) that required a lot of coding to do, and luckily for me when I coded the pages, it was on a local machine that ran PHP so that I wouldn't have to use FTP just to check my mistakes. v_v
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I've decided that I NEED to upgrade my desktop.
Intel Core i5-3570K ASRock Z77 Extreme4 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 1600 DDR3 Can't wait! The rest of the components will be salvaged from my current system. Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM Rosewill Challenger (LOVE this case by the way) Antec VP-450 MSI Radeon HD5770 (Might upgrade this come November) You guys think I should upgrade the PSU though? I think this rig might need a bit more juice. Speaking of programming, I start my Java programming class in a few weeks and... I'm pretty excited :D |
I'd upgrade that PSU to at least a 550 or a 600. Might be sucking down more power, but for the life expectancy of your components, it's always better to have a higher wattage than you need and one that's higher than you anticipate any future upgrades needing in the future. Do make sure it's one with a reputation for pushing through consistent voltage, though, otherwise you'll fry your components because of more frequent voltage surges.
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I think I might go with the XFX Core Edition PRO then.
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I don't care what's build into my Laptop. I buy it and hope that it simply works xD
Of course that means I'm getting into trouble really fast. For example the last Linux update destroyed my Bumblebee setup (again) which is mainly caused by NVIDIA (again). I know they make good graphics cards but their whole NVIDIA Optimus stuff and the newest driver getting in conflict with the newest Linux kernel only get me to hate them more and more (especially since propably 99% of my trouble in the past was caused by NVIDIA stuff; did I mention that I hate NVIDIA? xD). I know some things about programming, but my main problem is that I'm not good at thinking logical ^^" |
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NVIDIA is at fault here, though - I do remember Linus Torvalds being mad at them, even dropping the f-bomb in an interview or something about NVIDIA Optimus. I don't have much luck trying to install Linux distributions on my laptop, either. Either some weird thing doesn't work, it never gets registered in the bootloader, or the laptop display backlight is turned off by the OS during setup. I ended up relegating Linux to Hyper-V VMs (seeing as I'm running Windows 8 Pro right now). |
Don't even get me started on installing Linux on laptops.
Although my old Dell laptop worked flawlessly with Ubuntu... |
One thing I can say is that if a laptop comes with Windows, don't even think about installing any other OS that isn't "a newer version of Windows". Leave these to VMs.
Or get a laptop that comes with some Linux distribution from the get-go. Linux hardware support tend to pale Windows in certain cases. |
I haven't used any Linux distro in a while now, and I can certainly relate to the fact that Linux distros don't have the best compatibility in terms of hardware. Safe to say, on both laptops I own, whenever I've used Ubuntu on them, the speakers tend to output low-quality sound compared to Windows, and I also don't have the best of luck with the touchpads either.
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I never had problems using PCLinuxOS on my laptops and desktops. It's a pretty solid Linux OS. :D
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I like Win7 but sometimes I wish it would be as easy to use as Linux... using a Windows UI takes so long and annoys me really easy xD |
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Nothing wrong with dual booting Linux and Windows. Worst thing that happened to me when dual booting was installing the grub bootloader which looked ugly and it complicated things when it came to getting rid of my ubuntu intallation.
Now if I ever want to install a liniux distro I use EasyBCD to make a entry in the windows bootooader so it makes it easy to get rid of the linux install if I want ot get rid of it. |
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Heh, ease of use of user interfaces tend to vary wildly depending on what you started out. If you started computing with Windows, Windows' way of handling things would be... butter. Same for OS X and stuff like that. I'm pretty fine with Windows and OS X. Most Linux distributions, though... |
I'm fine with Windows and OSX as well.. I started out with Windows 98 and from my kindergarten year to my 5th grade year, my school had Apple computers that ran Mac OS 9 and iMac G3s that ran Mac OS 9.2.
In my junior year of high school I got to use OSX 10.5 (Leopard) because my school had iMacs for video editing machines. |
NY wife mentioned getting rid of my six and a half year old custom built desktop last night. I grunted. I totally don't use it but I don't want to be rid of it ;;
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Anyways, speaking of IRC, does anyone out here still use IRC in any way? |
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I use IRC occasionally. I used to use it a ton but meh. And my desktop is running Linux and running a samba server is a pain in the ass and I usually just have it off :x Idk, I'll figure out something to do with it.
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I'm attached to HexChat at this point (which is basically a build of XChat for Windows),
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As for me, I do use mIRC because I have mIRC scripts that I use on occasion (in my IRC server only, not elsewhere), and I find it to be a program that is easy to customize its settings to your liking, but the only problem I have with it is that it isn't free. I'm also usually always on IRC because I use an IRC bouncer known as ZNC, which can allow for me to disconnect from my client and save logs on whichever channel I ask for it to do so. I run my ZNC server locally here at my house as well. |
So I wound up today booting up my laptop for the first time in two weeks, and my new tablet is likely to blame for that.. does anyone else here use a tablet in place of a laptop? I find that while tablets are limited on what they can do, for me, I was just using my laptop to Skype and browse the internet, both of which I can do on my tablet.
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I pretty much need mouse and keyboard, even though tablets seem kinda interesting especially if you want to draw something. But with a tablet pc I couldn't do all the stupid/crazy stuff I like to do on computers like yesterday I installed out of boredom a webserver on my local VM installation of Gentoo.
But I do own a external tablet which I can plug in whenever I want. |
Oh I was talking about tablets like the iPad or the Nexus 7, not drawing tablets haha
But I also used to run my own web server as well, but I had to kill it because it was consuming bandwidth on my network. I still run an IRC server, though, which isn't bad. |
I wasn't talking about graphics tablets either. The only upside I can get out of tablets is using them as graphics tablets xD
I only hope that there will always be some "normal" computers to buy. I can't even imagine if someday all will be pcs with touch feature. Like I said I prefer mouse and keyboard. ^^ |
I quite agree that mouse and keyboard is nice... Specially when it's a cf (canadian french) keyboard, it's multilanguage, smooth... And easy to use. :D I also like using a pad, and actually, I HATE touchscreens. xD
Also, about the irc chat and all, I think that TorChat is better, completly anonymous and encrypted chat. :P |
Nothing can truly beat a laptop's physical keyboard when it comes to productivity tasks.
Though, a Surface (RT or Pro) with the Type Cover (having real keys and all) comes pretty close, though. |
That's the one thing a laptop is best for in my situation these days, is productivity.
And if we're talking keyboards, I always use Swype on my tablet. It's much easier to use than making several individual keystrokes with your finger if you ask me, but I also cost the fact of making several typos at times, too. >_< |
Half the time Swype can't even guess the word I'm trying to enter even though I've hit every single letter, but then it turns around and guesses the exact word I'm looking for when I'm sort of just haphazardly hitting letters in the word. It's quite astounding how inconsistent it can be.
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My friend loves using swype all the time. I mostly miss and type wrong when I try, but that's probably because I'm not that used to it.
Keyboard. It'll be a long time, if ever, before touch screens can win over a proper keyboard and mouse imo. |
I never really got into swype. Probably cause the first time I tried it, I randomly swept my finger and got "dick".
I took that as an omen. I'll stick to my ancient phone. :3 |
I was on my way to reply something kind of spammy and funny there, then remembered that this is not the MMO DCC. Ehehem. Why are so many mods posting in succession here? xD
Ancient, you say? You mean you have not got a smartphone? Or not even a phone with a touch screen? |
Since Android JellyBean, Swype kinda lost it's nichie being a swiping based keyboard becuase the stock android keyboard now has that funtionallity built in. Works well enough for me.
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I still prefer Swype because it can produce more suggestions than Android's gesture keyboard and because of how it gets you the word once you finish the swipe. But Android's gesture keyboard is cool as well.
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I'm very fond of the Windows Phone software keyboard. It tends to deliberately fudge with the hitboxes of keys on the software keyboard to better predict the next letter.
It works. |
I really, REALLY like using Swype. :p It's probably the thing I'm looking forward to most when I get my first smartphone in about two weeks.
LG Optimus M+, for those wondering. |
Oh, I really wish I had a smartphone.. it's unfortunate enough that I never was able to fit in with mobile technology because my parents simply refused to buy me one >_>
But if I were to get a Smartphone, I'm not sure what I would get now.. Windows mobile, perhaps? I have an Android device (my Nexus 7), and I have my iPod Touch 4G. I prefer to be neutral in most OS wars, but sometimes I will say there are things I like better about certain operating systems than others. |
I'm curious as to what the Windows phone OS is like.
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When you have years of experience fiddling with software keyboards, it's very easy to get it right for the general public when it comes to text prediction. No need to build things. |
It seems though that with me using my Nexus 7 way more than my iPod Touch now, the iOS keyboard looks very small for my fingers, and just before I had my Nexus, I was very well used to typing on my iPod Touch's keyboard.. now, that has changed and the keys feel smaller.
And I've probably used my tablet way too much now, because I've added quite a few custom words to my Swype dictionary (including PokéCommunity! :P), and I have gotten to the point where my swipes are sloppier and it still knows which word I want. |
Hmm, guess we could go for a new topic here?
What type(s) of device(s) do you guys seem to use more than others? Nowadays I find myself using my desktop way more than my laptop, mainly because of its performance. From the time I got my current laptop up through the time I got my current desktop, I had always seen myself using my laptop more because my previous desktop ran XP and it wasn't the best at multitasking either towards the end of its reign. However, even with my current laptop usage slipping, it's also fallen more now that I have my new Nexus 7 tablet. But the fact that the laptop is 3½ years old now and wearing out is another reason why I'm kinda abandoning usage of it. |
I mostly use one of my two desktops - I have a powerhouse one running Windows 8 for gaming, and a rather average one running 10.8.4 hackintosh, for iOS development. I also have a Nexus 7, which I use while away from the computer, or while something is loading on whatever PC I happen to be using (yeah, multitasker). I also have an iPod Touch 5G which combined with Skype I use instead of an iPhone.
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I still spend a significant amount of time on my laptop.
It's there for watching DVD movies. It's also there for gaming needs, both casual and hard-core, so to speak. And it's always there for documents in Office 2013. It's extremely handy for developing and testing applications that I write regularly, both for myself and university assignments. Try that with a phone or a non-Windows tablet. And even Windows tablets need a real keyboard and some kind of pointing device to be truly usable for productivity tasks. |
Laptop = skype with u folks. Desktop = gaming. Phone = skype on the go.
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The general trend with me is that I usually wind up changing my priorities on device usage whenever I get a new device, and as I've already said, my new Nexus 7 has replaced me using my laptop, even at home. But I have a feeling that my laptop usage would increase again once I get into college and begin to work on nothing but assignments.
Speaking of assignments, what do y'all use for typing up documents? Word? OpenOffice? Or whatever comes with the computer? I just mainly use Word 2007 since I've had it for nearly 5 years now, and it works fine for me. |
I have a couple of desktops and laptops in my house. I use laptops more often, though, because they're portable and very convenient. We're able to carry them anywhere we want, indoor or outdoor. Every laptop has a battery, so when the electricity's out, we'll still be able to use them. Also, laptops, in my opinion, have better designs and look more modern.
For typing up documents, I always use Google Drive. It allows you to save your files on the air, so you'll always be able to access them regardless of where you are or what computer you're using. =) Plus, Google Drive has an offline mode, which allows you to work on your documents even if you don't have internet. |
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My Macbook Air is my main computer I use at home. I may sometimes use the desktop downstairs if no one is using it (that's usually early morning :P ) and use that to watch anime since it can deal with 10bit anime better than my laptop can.
Least used will have to be my tablet since I use it for school work and it's not often I get to use it in class. As far as office suite's go, I'm using Libre Office since it's free. Don't ever have to see that annoying green line saying 'Fragment, consider revising' >: I have all my school work backed up on my dropbox account since I can access my work anywhere. |
I guess I really should consider cloud services such as Google Drive for assignments when I start college soon! :) I do know that Google Doc is good with spreadsheets as I have used one there before, but not to a regular extent. And placing schoolwork documents into a Dropbox folder seems like a really good idea as well.
I usually only use Dropbox to host images personally that I want on the internet, but just ones that I ever may potentially want to delete. The one thing I dislike about them though is their 2GB limit. -_- |
Sorry guys for changing the topic suddenly, but do you guys know if some normal cords will work for SNES?
(I need to know :( :p) |
It's perfectly okay to change the topic if one goes inactive, and in this case, it did. ;)
And I had no idea that the SNES/N64 used the same video cable for the GameCube.. but I guess that does make sense. After all, the PS/PS2/PS3 have the same type of cable as well, and my brother loaned me his PS3 A/V cables to use with my PS2 and they work fine. |
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oh well, if I can find a compatible AC adapter, then I can probably play it at school :p |
Now y'all are really making me want to find another AC adapter for my NES.. I havent had one for it in so long, and it's still a fully functional too.
By the way, does anyone have a recommendation (away from Ubuntu) of a Linux distro to use on a spare laptop I have? Just an excuse for me to try something new :p |
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If you want you could even try Arch Linux or Gentoo but it takes a lot of time to get these installed xD |
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Hah...
My laptop's hinge and screen bezel decided to give out today. At least the internal wiring is intact, so the laptop is, theoretically, usable, but I'm not taking any chances and I'm going to get it serviced come next Monday (as they're off for now). Sure looks funky, though. |
Oh wow, how did that happen? Hopefully the repair won't be difficult and at least the wiring stayed intact.
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I don't even know. Open lid, bam. Pieces of the left hinge fell out, and the screen bezel gets detached at the bottom-left corner.
Perhaps I should also look for a backup computer... or maybe Toshiba might give a loaner in the meantime. |
It definitely never hurts to have a backup computer because that way you'll still at least be able to access the internet, though maybe not all your programs.
If you don't have a spare, then I would at least hope Toshiba gets you a loaner. |
I'm kind of stuck with a laptop that must not be closed or taken out for the time being. Monday can't come soon enough.
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My usual proceedure for dual booting is to ad an entry for the linux install to the windows bootlloader with EasyBCD and then installing the distro as normal. Not too complicated. |
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Maybe this is a good time to look up on used/refurbished laptops. Just in case the main laptop breaks again. Perhaps a netbook would be a cheap, usable choice... |
Yeah, that's why I probably have plans to get a new laptop for Christmas, for once I start college I'm going to need it for assignments.
And for netbooks, the only reason I would want to go after one of those is if I was really limited on space, but most of the time, I'm not. My parents have a netbook (albeit they never use it and won't let me have it), and it's really small, so I probably wouldn't like owning one. |
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Sure, it sucks to have to deal with two computers when you print something or whatever, but use something like Dropbox/iCloud syncing and it'll be easier. Speaking of technology, I feel like I shouldn't have bought all three games… I'm running out of money ;; |
Wow, I really like that idea of using Dropbox for assignments. Since I do have it on both my desktop and my laptop, I really think it'll come in handy. I'll keep that in mind once I start school :P
But I know Dropbox is a cloud-sharing service, and I like the feature of it syncing your files from device-to-device, but it also worries me if they look at files too because I've heard that Dropbox isn't encrypted file sharing, and they have peeked at files in the past, which is why I don't put documents up on my Dropbox, but mainly just pics instead. |
Who's they?
I use dropbox for everything. Assignments, pictures, as well as the transfer of small files between computers - i don't use thumb drives anymore. |
Thumb drives still aren't a bad thing to have though, as those serve as a good media device to load operating system ISOs to in lieu of burning them to CDs/DVDs, and I have a thumb drive specific to do just that.
(and "they" = Dropbox if that was what you meant, John..) |
I just leave my files synched with SkyDrive.
A netbook wouldn't be of much use outside under normal situations as I spend a lot of time reading and writing text. I don't like screens that get a bit too small to my own liking. I prefer the size of lower-PPI displays when I'm working on Windows. |
The closest thing I have to a netbook is an iBook G4. I bought it many years ago, but I haven't really used it since then. That's why, it's still under great condition. I take it with me sometimes when I'm traveling somewhere far, though.
I've never used Dropbox, but I may start using it. It'd be a good way to make sure that I don't lose any of my important files (such as family pictures). |
There are so many services that people can use these days for cloud storage, whether it'd be Google Drive, SkyDrive, or Dropbox.. but I do wish there was a place we could go that had more space to use in the cloud (meaning more than 2GB) and still be free.
I've never used Skydrive, though, but I have used Google Drive, and as I already said, I am a regular Dropbox user, too. |
*has 25 GB of space in SkyDrive*
That's what I get for sticking to Hotmail (now Outlook.com) forever. |
For cloud storage, I use Google Drive. They give you 15GB free now, which is pretty good, and unlike Skydrive, you don't have to use it forever to get it. If I ever need more space, I think it'll probably cheaper to host my own site, as DreamHost still has unlimited disk space, and just keep everything there.
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It's more of a "being a user since years gone by". It's not possible to get 25 GB on SkyDrive these days, though you do still get 7 to start with. |
I was able to boost my Dropbox space up a bit when they had certain offers a while back.. I like how companies make changes to plans, such as Microsoft reducing free SkyDrive space from 25GB to 7GB, and the older users are grandfathered in. Seems a bit unfair if you ask me.
It amazes me at how much cloud storage has become a thing in technology as of late. |
I've been using Dropbox for some years and since I registered I already doubled my free space (ok it's only 4GB right now, but that's more than enough). Funnily if you wanted, you could easily get more space and that's without spending any money.
About the security issue: even emails and Google aren't save thanks to the NSA, so why bother? If you want you could manually encrypted your files (TrueCrypt and friends help a lot) so that's no problem. |
As far as security goes it's always best to encrypt and decrypt your files on your end. You can never be sure what the companies will do with your data, but at least that way it'll be useless to them.
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That's exactly why I watch at what I put on Dropbox.. I mean the only thing as close to private I may have on my dropbox is pictures of me, but who the heck is gonna care about what I look like?
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we were suppose to use drop box for our graphic design class, i just never really used it tho. i still have it on my computer. i just like my USB drives :P
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I'm not sure if students even have access to cloud file services such as Dropbox, but I can tell you for sure that if they did, then no one used them.. I was probably one of the few "computer geeks" at my school who knew a lot about computers, and I didn't mind exposing that fact about me. :P
But as for preference, I still prefer flash drives as well for on-the-go usage, as the only reason these days I would use cloud storage was if I couldn't email a file, or if I wanted to host a file that I could easily remove from being hosted as well. |
well the students in my class we had access to drop box. i guess the teacher has like a code for their drop box that they give to you so you can drop your file into their drop box.
apparently, it's faster than using an email. |
I use Amazon s3 :p it's literally a couple cents a month if you don't have a lot of people accessing your files.
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I have a Sony 16 GB USB 3 flash drive for quick shuffling of files. They are so cheap these days...
I've closed the lid of my laptop and packed it up. Hope I can get it fixed... It's a taxi ride at the very least. |
I use Dropbox when I need to access files often from multiple computers. If I'm just transferring something once, I'll use a USB drive. If I didn't have as much space on Dropbox as I do, though, I'd probably have to use something else (and I wouldn't touch it as much for fear of filling it up with unimportant things). That promo that Dropbox did last year for universities was excellent... my school was really good at pulling in referrals and we all got something like 25GB for it.
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I have 55gb on my Dropbox due to a 50gb promotion they had with Samsung phones, lol. The 50gb runs out in two years but whatever. It's amazing. I also have a whole assortment of flash drives. Got a 32gb USB 2.0, a 16gb USB 3.0, a 16gb USB 2.0, and an 8gb USB 2.0. The rest have died xD
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