The most popular search terms that drive traffic to this site are in the title. I bring it up again because recently my students were realizing the need for source control. While they are learning to be web developers and experience with a Version Control System will be essential down the road, as they are only beginners right now, it's an added complication they don't need.
So I explained to them how for my private projects I use Dropbox as a poor-man's CVS, they were very excited by the prospect of being able to access their code both in class and from home in addition to gaining free version backups.
There is a lot of criticism of this kind of idea in the Dropbox forums and there is a lot of truth to it. This is no replacement for a real Source Control system for a team of developers or even a lone developer who will suffer financial loss if his codebase rots. This is only a convenience for someone who otherwise wouldn't be using a Source Control system.
This is especially important to a budding developer who makes one accidental change and then goes through hours of progressively destroying their one file full of code trying to undo that mistake. For this particular use case, Dropbox is a perfect solution as a CVS.
Otherwise you might want to check out git and github as a great solution to storing your code centrally and tracking any changes you've been making. Unfortunately if you'd like to keep your code to yourself you will need to pay for the privilege 7$/month is a lot though, to me anyways.
The other reason many people search for CVS and Dropbox is in order to learn how to store your repository files (of an actual Source Control system) in a Dropbox for backup purposes. This thread on Dropbox's forums has a discussion of this. Be warned according to someone in the forum it has been known to fail fantastically, all of a sudden.
Showing posts with label dropbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dropbox. Show all posts
12.1.11
22.4.10
Empower yourself
Many people are discussing whether social networking is good or bad for us.
That's the wrong question. The right question is: Are the technologies you are using empowering you?
The question becomes what do I get out of the technology I'm using? It isn't a selfish question, it's a matter of pragmatism.
Blogging is great when it: (1) Gives a platform to express your ideas (2) Provides a means to broadcast those ideas (3) Allows you to receive feedback on those ideas and finally (4) allows you to organize your thoughts so that you can eventually present them in a more structured format. [The last step happens when the blog becomes a book or a startup or a project.]
Twitter is great when it (1) lets you carry on a conversation that should be overheard by whoever else may be interested or (2) query your peers for information at a moments notice.
Facebook is great when it (1) lets you catch up with old friends or (2) plan family/friend outings, or (3) share interesting information with friends and family.
The downside of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs is that we get addicted to the stimulus and the feedback loop closes in until we're so desperate for more feedback we lose the self control to develop our ideas, our thoughts and our resources.
It's so easy to end up posting redundant or rehashed pet peeves.
It's much harder to do original thinking, especially when all the information you're consuming is the same information everyone else is consuming, which is quickly trending to regurgitations of things you all have already written and read.
The question of whether the technology empowers you, or whether it handicaps you applies beyond social networks as well.
Email, mobile phones, skype, all of it. Use it when it empowers you, when you are the one benefiting.
Drop any technology that's holding you back or sucking up your time.
Dropbox is a great example of technology that empowers you, it stays almost invisible and makes sure that any changes to any of your files are applied across all of your computers wherever they may be. You aren't by any of your computers? Oh, well then your files are also available to you on the web, or on your iPhone or wherever. Get the idea?
Blogger really allows me to focus my ideas and get them out of my head, making room for more ideas and allowing for others to comment and give me feedback on my existing ideas.
Facebook hasn't been particularly useful except to remember people I had long ago forgotten, but if I'd forgotten them, perhaps I didn't need to remember them? Occasionally, I have to admit, I can find an email address or phone number on facebook that I'm missing.. but that's the most helpful it is.
Buzz is next to useless -- turns out most of my email contacts waste as much if not more time than me sharing idiocy.
Twitter is great, but it's difficult for people to learn and takes time to make a case for why it's useful. (It's the epitome of the long tail phenomenon.) Personally, the investment of time is too great to accomplish anything that would truly empower me, which is why, even though I understand its benefits, I invest very little energy in twitter.
"Tablet" computers don't generally empower someone anymore than any other computers empower someone. The iPad is something different - it does what I want it to do faster than a more powerful computer will do the same thing -- that's what I mean by empowering.
"Smart" phones give us portable access to the internet, which can be empowering if we aren't just feeding our own feedback loop addiction. It only empowers if it makes your life easier or better. No question that smart phones pre-iPad were not empowering, with the exception of the BlackBerry.
The point here is don't waste time and energy on paranoia about privacy, addiction, or trends, the point is: Use the technology that empowers you, junk all the rest.
That's the wrong question. The right question is: Are the technologies you are using empowering you?
The question becomes what do I get out of the technology I'm using? It isn't a selfish question, it's a matter of pragmatism.
Blogging is great when it: (1) Gives a platform to express your ideas (2) Provides a means to broadcast those ideas (3) Allows you to receive feedback on those ideas and finally (4) allows you to organize your thoughts so that you can eventually present them in a more structured format. [The last step happens when the blog becomes a book or a startup or a project.]
Twitter is great when it (1) lets you carry on a conversation that should be overheard by whoever else may be interested or (2) query your peers for information at a moments notice.
Facebook is great when it (1) lets you catch up with old friends or (2) plan family/friend outings, or (3) share interesting information with friends and family.
The downside of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs is that we get addicted to the stimulus and the feedback loop closes in until we're so desperate for more feedback we lose the self control to develop our ideas, our thoughts and our resources.
It's so easy to end up posting redundant or rehashed pet peeves.
It's much harder to do original thinking, especially when all the information you're consuming is the same information everyone else is consuming, which is quickly trending to regurgitations of things you all have already written and read.
The question of whether the technology empowers you, or whether it handicaps you applies beyond social networks as well.
Email, mobile phones, skype, all of it. Use it when it empowers you, when you are the one benefiting.
Drop any technology that's holding you back or sucking up your time.
Dropbox is a great example of technology that empowers you, it stays almost invisible and makes sure that any changes to any of your files are applied across all of your computers wherever they may be. You aren't by any of your computers? Oh, well then your files are also available to you on the web, or on your iPhone or wherever. Get the idea?
Blogger really allows me to focus my ideas and get them out of my head, making room for more ideas and allowing for others to comment and give me feedback on my existing ideas.
Facebook hasn't been particularly useful except to remember people I had long ago forgotten, but if I'd forgotten them, perhaps I didn't need to remember them? Occasionally, I have to admit, I can find an email address or phone number on facebook that I'm missing.. but that's the most helpful it is.
Buzz is next to useless -- turns out most of my email contacts waste as much if not more time than me sharing idiocy.
Twitter is great, but it's difficult for people to learn and takes time to make a case for why it's useful. (It's the epitome of the long tail phenomenon.) Personally, the investment of time is too great to accomplish anything that would truly empower me, which is why, even though I understand its benefits, I invest very little energy in twitter.
"Tablet" computers don't generally empower someone anymore than any other computers empower someone. The iPad is something different - it does what I want it to do faster than a more powerful computer will do the same thing -- that's what I mean by empowering.
"Smart" phones give us portable access to the internet, which can be empowering if we aren't just feeding our own feedback loop addiction. It only empowers if it makes your life easier or better. No question that smart phones pre-iPad were not empowering, with the exception of the BlackBerry.
The point here is don't waste time and energy on paranoia about privacy, addiction, or trends, the point is: Use the technology that empowers you, junk all the rest.
1.11.09
Using Dropbox as CVS
For my own coding projects it would be nice to have a CVS to keep track of my various projects, progress i've made in their development, and historical file versions to see what I changed over time, in case I come back to a project and don't know why something doesn't compile or what the latest changes were intended to do.
Of course, not many people are organized enough or want the overhead of managing a CVS installation just for themselves. Instead lately I've been happy to use Dropbox as my CVS.
I've been developing some Google AppEngine apps lately and the one thing that drives me crazy is that I can't develop on Google's servers, only upload my code once I'm happy with it. Since I'm used to using a number of different computers, this is less than convenient.
Now, I just put my project directories in my dropbox, and viola, not only is my code accessible from anywhere, but as a nice added bonus, Dropbox keeps track of historical versions as well.
So, I get a poor-man's CVS, and cross-computer synchronization of all my code, for freeeeeee... :)
Of course, not many people are organized enough or want the overhead of managing a CVS installation just for themselves. Instead lately I've been happy to use Dropbox as my CVS.
I've been developing some Google AppEngine apps lately and the one thing that drives me crazy is that I can't develop on Google's servers, only upload my code once I'm happy with it. Since I'm used to using a number of different computers, this is less than convenient.
Now, I just put my project directories in my dropbox, and viola, not only is my code accessible from anywhere, but as a nice added bonus, Dropbox keeps track of historical versions as well.
So, I get a poor-man's CVS, and cross-computer synchronization of all my code, for freeeeeee... :)
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