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How do you use Dropbox?
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jcoley2
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2009-11-14, 11:48

Man, I am really not understanding DB. Perhaps it is becuz I was used to Foldershare. I have two computers I am trying to sync some documents folders. I dragged everything I have in my documents folder into the Dropbox folder. It started to sync. Then I realized I probably should try a test folder first, so I dragged everyone of these folders back out of the DB folder and back to documents, but for some reason, they have all gone to Trash?????

I then dragged just one folder into the DB folder, called ABC. On my other computer I see ABC. I have another Folder on my computer called ABC, so I dragged it into DB, thinking it would then synchronized them, but instead it wants to overwrite it.

Please help. I am not understanding how to best set this up.

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turtle
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2009-11-15, 00:58

Can I do the "ln -s" trick for a file? Specifically the Safari one Brad showed me.
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Gargoyle
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2009-11-15, 13:33

jcoley2, first off - the dropbox folder is like any other folder on your HD. So when you are dragging files and folders from the same HD, the default option will be to move said files and folders into the dropbox folder.

All other filesystem rules also apply. So dropping another folder of the same name as an existing one into dropbox will overwrite it. You should treat the dropbox folder like any other on your system.

The files in dropbox will then get pushed up to the DB server and back down to your other machine. Backups, old versions and conflicts can all be viewed on the web interface.

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turtle
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2009-11-16, 19:01

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post
Can I do the "ln -s" trick for a file? Specifically the Safari one Brad showed me.
Does anyone know how this can be done? Please.
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turtle
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2009-11-21, 02:08

Does anyone know if Mac OS's Keychain is encrypted? I'd like to put it in Dropbox too but don't want to if it's not encrypted. I'll get 1Password otherwise, just trying not to spend money on a program I don't need.

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Brad
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2009-11-21, 15:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post
Does anyone know if Mac OS's Keychain is encrypted? I'd like to put it in Dropbox too but don't want to if it's not encrypted. I'll get 1Password otherwise, just trying not to spend money on a program I don't need.
Yup. As far as I know, the keychains have always been protected with some level of encryption. Details from Apple on what and how are surprisingly hard to come by, but I did find this:

http://images.apple.com/server/macos...g_20080530.pdf
Quote:
A keychain is used to store passwords, keys, certificates, and other secrets. Due to the sensitive nature of this information, keychains use cryptography to encrypt and decrypt secrets, and they safely store secrets and related data
http://lists.apple.com/archives/Appl.../msg00017.html
Quote:
Triple DES, 3-key, EDE. The keychain as a whole is not encrypted; portions of individual keychain items that are sensitive are encrypted on their own. Certificates for example have no sensitive portions and are stored in the clear.
http://web.archive.org/web/200803190...ecurity_TB.pdf
Quote:
The keychain securely stores user names and passwords. All the password data in the keychain is protected using the Triple Digital Encryption Standard (3DES).
That last PDF is originally from http://images.apple.com/macosx/pdf/M...ecurity_TB.pdf which is now a dead link. Since the Wayback Machine seems to have trouble pulling it, I've mirrored it locally here since it has some useful security advice: http://applenova.com/etc/images/MacO...ecurity_TB.pdf

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Brad
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2009-11-21, 15:46

Also, I ran "strings" on my own keychain file to confirm that the middle quote above from an archived Apple email list is correct: only the passwords and "secure notes" are actually encrypted.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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turtle
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2009-11-21, 15:50

Great document Brad! Thanks. I saw in there that keychain syncing is allowed via iSync but I can't find the option. Has you ever heard of this outside of that document? Are they referring to the MobileMe service being required for that option?

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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Brad
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2009-11-21, 15:56

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post
Does anyone know how this can be done? Please.
Sorry I didn't catch this earlier.

Code:
ln -s sourcefile targetfile
So, if you have file ~/Documents/MyFile and you want to create ~/Desktop/LinkToMyFile, you'd do:

Code:
ln -s ~/Documents/MyFile ~/Desktop/LinkToMyFile
Of course, if you're on a Mac, you could simply create an "alias" in the Finder with File -> Make Alias. There are some subtle but important ways symlinks and aliases differ. Since aliases are "a Mac thing", command line utilities don't respect them. Since symlinks are "a unix thing", some Mac apps won't distinguish them from the original file or worse will think they are unrelated separate files, but most modern ones will have them appear like aliases.

Here's how they differ at the command line. In this example, A is the original file (just a blank file), B is a symlink of A, and C is a Mac alias of A.

Code:
-rw-r--r-- 1 bradsmith staff 0B Nov 21 15:52 A lrwxr-xr-x 1 bradsmith staff 1B Nov 21 15:52 B -> A -rw-r--r--@ 1 bradsmith staff 47K Nov 21 15:52 C
Neat, huh? The @ symbol means there are extended filesystem attributes on that file, which is to be expected since that's how Mac aliases work. And in the Finder:


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Gargoyle
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2009-11-21, 16:36

Current version of Dropbox won't sync the extended attribs, so you need to use "ln" in the terminal.

Oh, and you can goto https://www.dropbox.com/votebox and vote for resource fork support.

OK, I have given up keeping this sig up to date. Lets just say I'm the guy that installs every latest version as soon as its available!
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NosferaDrew
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2009-11-21, 16:55

Interesting link:
Theft tracking method for the mini using Dropbox
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Brad
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2009-11-21, 17:18

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gargoyle View Post
Current version of Dropbox won't sync the extended attribs
Ah, thanks for filling in the gaps! I didn't know that.
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turtle
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2009-11-21, 17:32

That is an interesting link! Certainly one for the bookmarks.
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ShawnJ
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2009-12-02, 00:59

Anyone have a definitive Dropbox v. iDisk review?
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torifile
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2009-12-02, 08:09

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShawnJ View Post
Anyone have a definitive Dropbox v. iDisk review?
I prefer dropbox because it's just a folder. No mounting drives, etc. I haven't used iDisk in a long while despite the fact I've been a .mac subscriber for years. Not definitive by any means but just my simple reason for using it over iDisk.

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jdcfsu
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2009-12-02, 09:45

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShawnJ View Post
Anyone have a definitive Dropbox v. iDisk review?
Like tori said, the fact that there aren't any mounted drives makes Dropbox much faster than iDisk. It's always connected, doesn't need refreshing, and does everything quickly and behind the scenes. I prefer Dropbox over iDisk as well. The only thing I use iDisk for over Dropbox is public folder sharing. The web address is easier to hand out.

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turtle
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2010-01-11, 16:16

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gargoyle View Post
Current version of Dropbox won't sync the extended attribs, so you need to use "ln" in the terminal.

Oh, and you can goto https://www.dropbox.com/votebox and vote for resource fork support.
So if I upgrade to the most current version of Dropbox is it going to have a problem with my links as I have them? They were created using "ln" in Terminal.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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Gargoyle
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2010-01-11, 17:06

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post
So if I upgrade to the most current version of Dropbox is it going to have a problem with my links as I have them? They were created using "ln" in Terminal.
If you have links in your dropbox folder, they will not be links on the destination machine, they will be a complete copy of the linked folder.

Hopefully this will be fixed soon, since it is stopping me putting my iPhoto library in dropbox!

OK, I have given up keeping this sig up to date. Lets just say I'm the guy that installs every latest version as soon as its available!
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turtle
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2010-01-11, 22:44

Guess I'll stick to my current versions then. I was hoping to be able to use the LAN sync functions but I don't mind waiting for them to go to and from the cloud before it propagates.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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dmegatool
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2010-01-11, 23:31

Just found a way to do symbolic links in Windows. Pretty handy when you're using Windows and Dropbox.

Just wanted to share. If you guys ever needed.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx

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turtle
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2010-01-26, 02:22

You know, it just dawned on me that I don't use links in my Dropbox folder, it's my system folders that have links! I'm golden and can update then right?

Why would I want to put links in my Dropbox? As in like the thread's intent, how would that benefit me?

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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Gargoyle
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2010-01-26, 08:21

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post
Why would I want to put links in my Dropbox? As in like the thread's intent, how would that benefit me?
It might be that you are not doing it intentionally. I wanted to put my iPhoto library in Dropbox, but I can't because it is full of symlinks.
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turtle
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2010-01-26, 11:00

Ok, I didn't thing about iPhoto albums having links. Now it makes sense. Thanks.
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noleli2
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2010-01-28, 18:33

Quote:
Originally Posted by NosferaDrew View Post
Ok, so I'm two months late to this discussion, but, while you won't get your whole ifconfig, you can get your IP much more easily from the Dropbox site by hovering over the the i icon in the list of your computers.
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ezkcdude
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2010-02-11, 18:16

I got an e-mail from Dropbox. Seems they will have an Android app soon:

Quote:
Have you ever wanted to use your Dropbox but didn't have a computer nearby? Dropbox's mobile website (http://m.dropbox.com) makes it happen. With Dropbox mobile, you can browse and open files in your Dropbox directly from your phone or mobile device's browser.

If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, download the Dropbox App for an even better experience. It's free!

Do you own a Blackberry or Android phone? Don't worry! We've got plenty more mobile magic coming soon!

Happy syncing!
-The Dropbox Team
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torifile
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2010-02-12, 08:20

I continue to rely on dropbox more and more. It's becoming my default folder for saving documents I create. I figure I don't necessarily need it in the cloud, but since it's so easy, why not? I haven't started moving bigger things up there yet (because I'm stuck on upload speeds that would make angels cry) but I could easily see myself doing that when speeds get fast enough to make it worthwhile.

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ezkcdude
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2010-02-12, 08:26

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
I continue to rely on dropbox more and more. It's becoming my default folder for saving documents I create. I figure I don't necessarily need it in the cloud, but since it's so easy, why not? I haven't started moving bigger things up there yet (because I'm stuck on upload speeds that would make angels cry) but I could easily see myself doing that when speeds get fast enough to make it worthwhile.
yeah, me too. I upgraded to the 50 GB service a couple weeks ago. It just seems so much more useful to always know you're going to be working on the same files wherever you are, and not have to mess with thumb drives or ftp. I basically only use my hard drives for mp3 and movies these day.
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kieran
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2011-01-17, 13:41

This was the first thread I saw about Dropbox, so I figured I'd just post here.

I don't really use my Dropbox for anything more than just sharing files that are too big to email, so I never paid for it.

They're doing a scavenger hunt type thing right now where you can get an additional 1 GB if you follow the steps. Takes about 20 mins to follow them all, but it's worth it.

Here's the link with how to solve the puzzles.

Just thought I'd share.

No more Twitter. It's Mastodon now.

Last edited by kieran : 2011-01-17 at 23:20.
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turtle
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2011-01-17, 20:10

I've taken advantage of it and am very grateful for it. I needed the extra space.
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LudwigVan
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2011-01-18, 00:54

Another public thanks for kieran's note. Though it took me about 35 minutes to work through the puzzles.
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