What a neat idea. - DPChallenge Forums

08/01/2005 11:41:48 AM · #1

One of the most attractive things about Gmail is the amount of storage space that they give to you for free. With that kind of space, you can keep years worth of archived messages in your account. Youâ��re not locked into a certain amount of space, either. If you check out the Gmail Web site, youâ��ll see that that as the seconds go by, the amount of storage space available to you goes up. Naturally, many people have wanted to use this space for file storage, and several tools have emerged for that purpose. One of the easiest ways that I have found to turn your Gmail account into a personal Web server is //www.XmailHardDrive.com.

This service couldn't be easier to use. All you do is login with your Gmail address and password, and the site will take you to your file storage area. Upload one or more files (there is currently a 20M limit per file), and //www.XmailHardDrive.com will e-mail the content to your account in an encrypted and compressed format to save space. When you want to retrieve a file, login to the service and grab it. It's still in beta, but from what I experienced, things are looking good.

After you read this article, if you want a gmail account, pm me with your e-mail address to send the invite to.. Iâ��ve got a ton of invitationsâ�¦

08/01/2005 12:46:25 PM · #2

Anyone try this yet?

I will try once I get home.

08/01/2005 12:48:48 PM · #3

Originally posted by rex:

if you want a gmail account, pm me with your e-mail address to send the invite to..

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

08/01/2005 12:53:13 PM · #4

Gmail drive shell extension does the same thing but you don't have to log in to someone else's system.

Sigma 18-250 f/3.5 - 6.3 DC OS HSM

08/01/2005 01:51:08 PM · #5

Originally posted by mk:

Gmail drive shell extension does the same thing but you don't have to log in to someone else's system.

thankx for the link.

NathanWert

Canon EOS-90D

08/01/2005 01:57:22 PM · #6

I have Gmail, (and 50 invites) but don't really use it for storage. Good idea though.

riot

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Helios 40-1 85mm f/1.5

08/03/2005 10:16:43 AM · #7

You cheapskates! Gmail gives you a huge amount in terms of email storage, sure... but it's only 2.5Gb (at time of posting). Current large cheap hard drive prices are about 4Gb for Â£1... you're getting 60p's worth of hard disk space for all the effort of installing fiddly software and making sure your files are under 20Mb. All that gmail storage is worth about 20 minutes' parking on my street, or a third of a petrol station sandwich.

totaldis

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

08/03/2005 10:21:43 AM · #8

in reply to the post above me

FREE

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

08/03/2005 11:18:53 AM · #9

Originally posted by totaldis:

in reply to the post above me

FREE

Ah, but our time is not free. The 2.5GB of space is equivalent to $2.88 USD on the external 160GB drive I just bought yesterday, and that's more expensive than an internal. Working with that $2.88, the value of that 2.5GB comes out to be equivalent in value to 2.3 minutes of my time, if I bill my time at $75/hr, which is not a terribly high rate.
I'd burn up more than 2.3 minutes installing the software, and uploading large amounts of data to the web would cost additional time, and then there's the security risk. I'll store 'em myself, thanks.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

08/03/2005 11:24:41 AM · #10

Originally posted by kirbic:

The 2.5GB of space is equivalent to $2.88 USD on the external 160GB drive I just bought yesterday, and that's more expensive than an internal.

You should have bought the 160gb internal that CompUSA has on sale for $40 after rebate. Unless, of course, your time is too valuable to fill out the rebate forms. :P

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

08/03/2005 11:30:01 AM · #11

How can you call us cheapskates? I have four desktop computers each with at least one 60GB on it. My desktop has 2 internal 80GB and 1 external 80GB. I was just offering a free alternative to buying a hard drive. I have spent $700 on Photoshop and stopped counting the money I have put in Bill Gates pocket because he wants to come out with a version of Windows every three months. I personally think he should mail everyone that bought Windows ME $1000. Just for the pain and suffering.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

08/03/2005 11:32:18 AM · #12

Originally posted by mk:

Originally posted by kirbic:
The 2.5GB of space is equivalent to $2.88 USD on the external 160GB drive I just bought yesterday, and that's more expensive than an internal.

You should have bought the 160gb internal that CompUSA has on sale for $40 after rebate. Unless, of course, your time is too valuable to fill out the rebate forms. :P

Hee hee, no, my time is too valuable to install the internal, LOL! Seriously, I picked up an external FireWire version that's acceptably fast (not compared to SATA, but for backup...) and relatively economical ($139 for 160GB). I needed it FAST, 'cause I suddenly ran out of space on my backup volume, damn RAW files.
I was really happy with the install, took all of two minutes. Plug the power supply in, plug it into the drive, turn on the drive, connect the FireWire cable, start writing to it. I guess the install cost me $2.50 USD!

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

08/03/2005 11:36:07 AM · #13

Originally posted by rex:

I personally think he should mail everyone that bought Windows ME $1000. Just for the pain and suffering.

For real.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

08/03/2005 11:48:10 AM · #14

Originally posted by rex:

How can you call us cheapskates? ...stopped counting the money I have put in Bill Gates pocket because he wants to come out with a version of Windows every three months.

XP has been out for over half a decade, with multiple, major, no-cost updates. XP's successor won't be released for at least another 16 months. Name one other piece of software that you get six or seven YEARS between paid upgrades?
Folks love to bash Microsoft, but when you look at it objectively, your OS is *the* critical software component of your system, and at $135 for the OEM version, and a 6+ year product life, it's cheap, cheap, cheap!

Originally posted by rex:

I personally think he should mail everyone that bought Windows ME $1000. Just for the pain and suffering.

Now THAT I agree with, LOL!

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

08/03/2005 11:57:04 AM · #15

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by rex:
How can you call us cheapskates? ...stopped counting the money I have put in Bill Gates pocket because he wants to come out with a version of Windows every three months.

XP has been out for over half a decade, with multiple, major, no-cost updates. XP's successor won't be released for at least another 16 months. Name one other piece of software that you get six or seven YEARS between paid upgrades?
Folks love to bash Microsoft, but when you look at it objectively, your OS is *the* critical software component of your system, and at $135 for the OEM version, and a 6+ year product life, it's cheap, cheap, cheap!

Now THAT I agree with, LOL!

I agree with you I just took offense to being called a cheapskate because I showed people a free option. There may be some people here that can't afford an external hard drive and are looking for a free option. My stuff is backed up on three hard drives, a few dvds are kept offsite, and I pay smugmug for the photos. Now how can I be called a cheapskate when I have all that. It is these generalizations as to why I took a break. If he doesn't agree with the thread then he can click the little list arrow above and select "IGNORE". We all must remember that there are people out there that can't afford the stuff that some of us can and are trying to find an alternative....that is all I offered.

Message edited by author 2005-08-03 11:57:59.

carlos

Canon EOS-50D

08/03/2005 12:10:40 PM · #16

I can think of an interesting option to use Gmail space as storage: sharing files between different computers in different locations (home and work, for example) or between a few (or many) people using the same username and password. Set up an account (different from your regular mail account) and tell your friends (or even your wife :D) which username and password use to access it.

I guess it wouldn't work if a "local directory" is stored in the "originating" computer, but it may well worth checking.

Anyone did already?

08/03/2005 01:53:15 PM · #17

Also you can do like I have done. I have setup Outlook to check my gmail account so I don't have to go on their website. If I delete it from Outlook and need it back it is still in my gmail account on the website.

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

08/04/2005 10:37:54 AM · #18

I have given away like 10 invites and they just reloaded me this morning. Well now I have more if anyone wants one. Please pm me your e-mail address. I must have an e-mail address to send the invite to. I can't reply to a pm from here and send it.

riot

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Helios 40-1 85mm f/1.5

08/07/2005 09:04:18 AM · #19

Originally posted by rex:

Sorry, i didn't mean to offend - i was just questioning the logic of wasting so much time and effort to make a saving that comes to a couple of dollars at most, especially when you then go and spend so much more money on windows and photoshop and smugmug and so on... it just doesn't seem to make sense to me.

pawdrix

Nikon D700

08/07/2005 09:32:53 AM · #20

Originally posted by kirbic:

[quote=rex] XP has been out for over half a decade, with multiple, major, no-cost updates. XP's successor won't be released for at least another 16 months. Name one other piece of software that you get six or seven YEARS between paid upgrades?
Folks love to bash Microsoft, but when you look at it objectively, your OS is *the* critical software component of your system, and at $135 for the OEM version, and a 6+ year product life, it's cheap, cheap, cheap!

Has XP been out, for over half a decade?

If Microsoft didn't put out such crumby operating systems, half of their upgrades and fixes wouldn't even be necessary. With the stranglehold they have on the industry they have to respond to all their shoddy, screw-ups or Congress would be forced to nail them. Terrible operating systems...I hate them. All my computers do whacky stuff right out of the box and today I have to go help my parents figure out how to de-worm, de-virus(big MS security problems btw)and get their printing function up and running for the third time.

I think Bill Gates should be shot out of the nearest canon into the nearest brick wall. ASAP.

....and on that note, I'm buying 300 shares of Microsoft tomorrow and I'm buying a Mac next Thursday!!!

Message edited by author 2005-08-07 10:30:03.

lemondster

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

08/07/2005 09:51:11 AM · #21

//superbasspond.com/turnakit/comedy/Apple_Switch_Parody_DivX.avi

all i have to say about mac

pawdrix

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

08/07/2005 10:20:55 AM · #22

Originally posted by lemondster:

//superbasspond.com/turnakit/comedy/Apple_Switch_Parody_DivX.avi

all i have to say about mac

Really funny.

Are you a Mac user? I've used Mac's so many times and have never actually had quite the dreamy experience, at least not compared to the superior benefits that many Mac owners blather on about all the time.

I have a friend that keeps getting dud Macs in fact(never ending strings of problems), but I'd still like to get laptop (ibook)to see if it's worth a complete overhaul.

Message edited by author 2005-08-07 10:38:33.

cosworth

08/08/2005 12:01:08 AM · #23

October 29th, 2001

Message edited by author 2005-08-08 00:01:52.

lemondster