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How to enable Location Services on an iPhone or an iPad

How to enable Location Services on an iPhone or an iPad

 
How to enable Location Services on an iPhone or an iPad
 
If you have previously answered “No” to the question “Do you authorize “Michelin” to use your location data?”, or if you have disabled the geolocation option, you can enable the “Locator Service” on your iPhone or iPad by following the procedure below:

From the main screen of your iPhone® / iPad:


     - Click on “Settings” > “General” > Location Services

 
     - Enable the “Location Services” (“ON”); 


How to enable Location Services on an iPhone or an iPad




     - Enable (“ON”) or disable (“OFF”) the “Location Services” for each of the applications featured on the screen that require this service;


     - Return to the menu screen and launch the application of your choice

How to Configure Wireless Network Step by Step

We have covered all CCNA exam topics in our wireless networking section. As its new topic in CCNA exam so you have very little chance to get simulated base question on wireless networking. Still we recommended you to get familiar with some basic wireless configuration.

Step by Step guides For wireless configuration

Download this topology and load it in packet tracer
Download File
wireless network

In this topology we have three pc connected with Linksys Wireless routers.
  • DHCP is configured and enabled on Wireless router
  • IP pool for DHCP is 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.150
  • PC are configured to receive IP from DHCP Server
  • No security is configured
  • Default SSID is configured to Default
  • Topology is working on infrastructure mode
  • Default user name and password is admin
  • IP of wireless is set to 192.168.0.1
Now your task is to:-
  • Configure Static IP on PC and Wireless Router
  • Change SSID to MotherNetwork
  • Change IP address of router to 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2 of PC0 10.0.0.3 of PC1 10.0.0.4 of PC2
  • Secure your network by configuring WAP key on Router
  • Connect PC by using WAP key
To complete these tasks follow this step by step guide of how to configure wireless network
As given in question our network is running on 192.168.0.0 network and all PC's are DHCP clients and functioning properly. So we will first connect to Wireless router to off DHCP.
Double click on PC and select Web Browser. As given in question IP of Wireless router is 192.168.0.1 so give it in Web browser and press enter, now it will ask for authentication which is also given in question. Give user name admin and Password to admin
How to Configure Wireless Network Step by Step
This will bring GUI mode of Wireless router. Scroll down screen to Network Step and Select Disable DHCP

How to Configure Wireless Network Step by Step
Go in end of page and click on Save setting this will save setting click on continue for further setting
configure wireless device
Now select Administration from top Manu and change password to test and go in the end of page and Click on Save Setting
wireless device set password
Click on continue for further setting. This time it will ask you to authenticate again give new password test this time
wireless set password
Now click on wireless tab and set default SSID to MotherNetwork
wireless ssid
Now Select wireless security and change Security Mode to WEP
configure wireless security
Set Key1 to 0123456789

Again go in the end of page and Click on Save Setting
Now we have completed all given task on Wireless router. Now configure the static IP on all three PC's
Double click on pc select Desktop tab click on IP configuration select Static IP and set IP as given below
PCIPSubnet MaskDefault Gateway
PC0192.168.0.2255.255.255.0192.168.0.1
PC1192.168.0.3255.255.255.0192.168.0.1
PC2192.168.0.4255.255.255.0192.168.0.1
Now it's time to connect PC's from Wireless router. To do so click PC select Desktop click on PC Wireless
wireless devices
Click on connect tab and click on Refresh button
wireless connect
As you can see in image that Wireless device is accessing MotherNetwork on CH 6 and signal strength is 100%. In left side you can see that WEP security is configured in network. Click on connect button to connect MotherNetwork
It will ask for WAP key insert 0123456789 and click connect
wireless key
It will connect you with wireless router.
As you can see in image below that system is connected. And PCI card is active.
wireless pc connected
Repeat same process on PC1 and PC2.

Graphics cards - Nvidia’s audacious attempt to make life easier for PC gamers


LAS VEGAS— Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang talked here in Vegas about his company’s cloud-based system for helping gamers tweak their PCs for the best graphics possible.
The GeForce Experience, as it’s called, sounds a little like one of those crazy bungee jumping affairs you find when on vacation, but it’s really a stab at making life less confusing for PC gamers trying to navigate the complexities of PC game settings.
Since PC gaming is the fastest growing segment of the largest entertainment medium today, ensuring a smooth game experience is in the best interest of gamers and Nvidia, the largest purveyor of discrete graphics chips in the world.

Game setup is hard

Playing a PC game out of the box often yields a low resolution, muddy mess. A few games attempt to set optimized resolution, but game developers often can’t account for the vast range of performance differences that exist in today’s PCs. Add in gamers who might be playing on years-old hardware, and it’s impossible for a single game company to intelligently adjust settings for all possible system configurations. The configuration screens in games are often a messy collection of acronyms and technical jargon, which prevents many users from intelligently adjusting their own settings.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang speaking at CES.
CEO Huang set the stage, noting how PC gaming is different from console gaming. A high-end gaming PC might offer 15 times the performance of an Xbox 360 console, while a low-end PC might eke out barely half the performance of the same console. PC games include the ability to alter game settings to get better quality graphics or tweak the games performance, but its too complicated for most gamers. PC game settings are a blessing and a curse, Huang noted.
Nvidia has access to a wide array of data on PC gaming platforms, going back to the early days of the GeForce GTX graphics engines. We went out and tried to understand every single PC configuration in the world and every single game setting in the world, Huang said. Given the companys history of working with both game developers and end users, the company is uniquely positioned to understand all the vagaries of different PC systems.
Nvidia spent years collecting and analyzing a vast amount of performance data on PC games. They studied the impact of various in-game graphics settings on performance. This included data collected over multiple generations and price points of GeForce-based graphics cards, as well as a broad range of PC CPUs.

Automated game settings from the cloud

The GeForce Experience is a cloud service integrated into upcoming GeForce Drivers. Nvidia developed algorithms to automatically set game performance based on the configuration data the company collected over the years. GFE analyzes a computers settings, including graphics, CPU and memory, and automatically injects the settings into the users games. So users don’t need to navigate complex graphics settings to make changes to game settings. Nvidia tested a vast array of settings on thousands of PC configurations to make sure they actually delivered an optimal gaming performance.
Huang showed footage of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 running without the GeForce settings, then enabled GeForce Experience with a single click and showed the improvement. The differences were very noticeable: Frame rate remained smooth, while graphics detail and overall resolution improved.
         Gaming graphics before "GeForce Experience" settings applied.
The screenshot before GFE is applied is blurry, with objects not well defined. When the GeForce Experience is applied, the image looks crisper, with higher detail on the object and crisper edges and outlines.
           Gaming graphics after "GeForce Experience" settings applied.

Bottom line: PCs as game consoles

The GeForce Experience is currently in closed beta, with no formal release date announced. Jen-Hsun Huang said that the primary goal of the GeForce Experience is console simplicity with PC performance.
That’s an admirable, insanely ambitious goal, but Nvidia’s never lacked for ambition. If the GeForce Experience can come close to its stated goal of making PC game settings as easy as console games, then PC gamers everywhere will be much, much happier. The one exception to this will be users who are running AMD Radeon graphics chips. The GeForce Experience will be built into Nvidia drivers, and will work only on systems running Nvidia-based graphics cards.
And in the end that’s the real bottom line: more Nvidia GPUs in more PCs.

How to Clean Your Keyboard



How to Clean Your Keyboard

Late-night snacks and caffeine-powered drinks are often our closest companions while we're typing away at our computers: They fuel the ideas and thoughts that we input one keystroke at a time.
But if you don’t stop to examine your keyboard every once in a while, you might miss the fact that it has become covered with crumbs, grease, and sticky soda stains (not to mention a coating of dust). And that’s not all: A recent study showed that some sample keyboards had more bacteria and filth than a toilet seat!
When it’s time to sanitize your keyboard and evict that nasty grime and bacteria, don't fret--you can remove all of it effectively in just a few steps.

Remove Loose Debris

  1. Shut down your computer. If you’re using a wired desktop keyboard, unplug it.
  2. Tilt the keyboard upside down and shake it to remove any loose debris. If you have a can of compressed air, you can spray it in between the keys as well.

Clean the Keys

  1. Dip a cotton swab into some gentle isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and brush it in the area surrounding each key. You may need to use multiple swabs, depending on the amount of dirt. If you’re unsure of the alcohol's strength, try it on a small, inconspicuous area first to make sure that it doesn’t cause discoloration or remove the lettering on the keys.
  2. Dip a cloth or towelette into the isopropyl alcohol, and brush it along the tops of all the keys and surfaces, taking care to scrub heavily used areas (such as the Enter key and spacebar) to remove buildup. For particularly dirty spots, you can use a toothpick.
  3. Use a dry, lint-free cloth to remove dust and polish the keyboard.
  4. If you’re using a wired desktop keyboard, plug it back in.
With such periodic cleaning, your keyboard will stay relatively germ-free and appear brand-new. But if your keyboard looks more like a hazardous-waste zone, you can do a more thorough industrial-strength cleaning.

Remove and Clean the Keys

  1. Most desktop keyboard letter keys are designed to allow you to remove them with a blunt tool such as a butter knife or flathead screwdriver. Simply place the tool under a corner of a key, and pry it off. If you’re unsure of your particular model, or if you are using a laptop, consult your device's manufacturer to learn whether key removal is supported, so that you avoid damaging your keyboard.
  2. Once you've removed the letter keys, you can wash them individually with water and soap, or alcohol, to remove dirt.
  3. After washing, dry the keys, and then place them on a towel to continue drying.

Clean the Keyboard Trenches

  1. With most of the keys removed, you should have better access to the area underneath. Thoroughly blow out this area with compressed air, or even a gentle vacuum.
  2. Dip a cloth or towelette into isopropyl alcohol, and wipe it along the inner surfaces.

Rebuild the Keyboard

  1. As soon as the keys are totally dry, pop them back into place. Each key should snap back on with a small amount of pressure. If you forget where each key goes, consult a keyboard map.
  2. Give everything one last wipe with a dry, lint-free cloth.
  3. If you’re using a wired desktop keyboard, plug it back in.
Afterward, be sure to turn on your computer and test your pristine keys--but preferably without a snack in hand (at least for a little while).


Sorce:   /www.pcworld.com

Best cloud storage services

Cloud storage has become an integral part of our modern, mobile lives. Services such as Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive and Box all vie to hold our vital data on their servers, but which one is the best for you? We review the best cloud storage services and see what they have to offer.

With more and more people owning multiple computing devices – laptops, tablets and smartphones, the idea of your data being locked away in the belly of a desktop PC seems antiquated. Cloud storage has freed us from these restraints, ensuring that the files we need are available where and when we want them. Today you can sign up to a bewildering array of free services that offer to automatically upload your smartphone photos to the cloud, sync your documents across multiple devices, and enable you to work collaboratively on the web.

Sharing large files with friends is now easier than ever, as we no longer have to hope that the data we send won’t bounce back due to limits imposed by email servers. Instead we just send a link to files stored within a cloud service and friends or colleagues then have access immediately. In fact, if this is all you want to do then there are the likes of WeTransfer and HighTail that specialise in this area rather than long-term storage.
Choosing which service to use will depend on several factors - your preferred OS, how much space you need, and the levels of security your data requires. In this feature we take a look at the most popular service to see just how much you can get for nothing.

Best cloud storage services - DropboxBest cloud storage services 2014: Dropbox

RatingRated 10 out of 10
Dropbox is one of the only online storage solutions to offer clients for Linux and Blackberry, alongside the usual Windows, Mac OS X, Android and iOS standards - although an official Windows Phone app still remains elusive. This goes a long way to ensuring that your data can be with you, no matter what flavour of technology you want to use.

Best cloud storage services - Dropbox
Best cloud storage services - Dropbox android
The basic, free account comes with a rather small - in comparison to rival services - 2GB of storage. For documents this is still huge, but if you want to store any kind of media – photos, music, or video - it will disappear very fast. You can upgrade to the 100GB plan for around £6 per month, but Dropbox also offers 500MB of additional free storage for each friend you get to

Other ways to bolster your account include linking it to Facebook, Twitter, or setting up a Mailbox account (currently offering a 1GB increase). Enabling the camera upload feature will also gain you 3GB, and automatically backup your smartphone/tablet photos to the cloud. It’s also worth looking out for deals with smartphones and tablets: Samsung recently offered 50GB of free Dropbox space when you bought a new handset.

All this space becomes a moot point unless the syncing and storage actually works, but there are no worries there. Dropbox functions by creating a local folder on your device or PC that then syncs with an online version. This means you have all your data available whether you are on or offline. Files appear quickly online once you place them in the Dropbox folder on your PC, and you also have the option of making select files available offline on your tablet or smartphone (they’re all offline by default), with offline editing functionality among the best we’ve seen.
Folders and files can also be shared with friends either by sending them links (these work for non-Dropbox users) which allow them to view the data, or by Sharing the file. An important point to note about sharing is that you can’t set permissions, so files can be edited (and even deleted) by other users.

Dropbox explains that this is because getting consistency across multiple operating systems is problematic, although adding a read-only permission is on the roadmap for the future. Sharing isn’t a total disaster, though, as Dropbox backs up any changes to files for thirty days. So if you need an older version or want to undelete a file, it’s still there. Collaboration is also possible but if two people work on the document at the same time Dropbox will save two separate versions rather than combine them.

Security features include two-step authentication (always worth turning on) and all files held on the Dropbox servers are encrypted by AES 256-bit encryption, albeit employed from Dropbox’s side rather than the user, with SSL for the data being uploaded and downloaded.
Dropbox: Verdict

Dropbox is an excellent, cross-platform solution that remains a benchmark against which others must compete. It may lack a few of the whistles and bells of its rivals, but it’s rock solid and compatible with so many applications.

Google Drive logoBest cloud storage services 2014: Google Drive

RatingRated 9 out of 10
In much the same way as OneDrive links into Microsoft products and iCloud to Apple, Google Drive is at the heart of the various online services that Google currently offers.

Free space is generous with 15GB available when you setup your Google account - or link to an existing one. In fact, as Google recently unified its services under one login ID, the chances are you already have a Drive account if you use Gmail, Google Calendar, or even YouTube.

Google Drive

The storage space is shared across all these services, so if you have large attachments on emails then they will count in the 15GB, and enabling the automatic photo backup to Google+ from a smartphone acts the same way.

Google Drive mobileGoogle exempts any photos below 2048x2048 resolution, and videos shorter than fifteen minutes, so you could always adjust the settings on your smartphone accordingly and get unlimited storage.

Unlike OneDrive and Dropbox, Google Drive doesn’t have any way of adding storage through referrals or linking your account to social media. There have been plenty of promotions, such as 10GB for free when users downloaded Quick Office, or various mobile phone deals, and the search giant does offer 100GB free for two years if you buy a Chromebook. Google Music – a separate service - allows you to keep 20,000 songs in the cloud for free and not count against your Drive storage.

Drive works in the same fashion as most cloud storage solutions, with a local folder on your PC linked to a duplicate cloud version. Versioning is supported, as is real-time collaboration on documents via the Google Docs app. Clients are available on PC and Mac, with mobile versions for Android and iOS, but Google and Microsoft’s supposed ongoing feud looks to keep the service off Windows Phone for a while to come.

On the whole, the interface across the apps is smart and simple to navigate, with a basic file tree showing where your data is kept. You can choose specific files to be available offline on the mobile versions, and these can be edited - if they were created in Google Docs - then synced when you return online. For other formats (such as Word) you’ll need to open them in another app - thus creating a duplicate copy.
Data stored on Drive is, similarly to Apple, encrypted in 128-bit AES rather than the 256-bit employed by Box, OneDrive, and Dropbox. Google asserts that it won’t pry into the content of your Drive folder unless compelled by law enforcement agencies, and you can set up two-step verification on your account to add another layer of security.

Google Drive: verdict

With 15GB of free storage, Google Drive is the most generous of all the services in this test. If you live in the Google universe then it really is an excellent storage option, particularly if you use Google Docs a lot.

OneDrive logoBest cloud storage services 2014: Microsoft OneDrive

RatingRated 8 out of 10
Much of the functionality in OneDrive (previously SkyDrive) is similar to Dropbox, with apps available to Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and of course Windows Phone users. Microsoft has also introduced a referral incentive whereby users gain 500MB of storage for every friend that signs up to an account through them.

There's also an additional 3GB offered if you link OneDrive to your mobile phone’s camera roll (are you spotting the theme here?), enabling it to automatically back up your photos online.

Best cloud storage services - OneDrive
Best cloud storage services - OneDrive mobile
One deviation from the Dropbox model is that OneDrive offers over three times as much free storage, 7GB, although the referral system is limited to 5GB so it would top out at 12GB as opposed to the 18GB on Dropbox. Still, either is very useful.

The OneDrive interface is in keeping with Windows 8’s Modern UI design. Lines are clean and you can select between the boxy style or a more traditional file tree. Folders and files can be created on the web, including Office and OneNote formats thanks to tight Office Online integration.
There’s also a social element to the web version, as various popular messaging services are available to be linked to your OneDrive account. This might not improve productivity, but it will make it easy to share files with colleagues. In doing this you can set permissions for each user ranging from read-only to complete editing ability.

If you use Office 2013 then OneDrive supports saving directly to its folder and working collaboratively with others online, even when using the full Office suite. You can also continue to work on a file if you’re away from the PC Office is installed on by choosing to open it in Office Online, all of which is controlled from the OneDrive app.

One nice feature is that you can remotely access files on another PC via the OneDrive website. The target machine needs to be turned on and running OneDrive with the Fetch Files feature enabled, but once you’ve configured this it could be a handy way to control all of your data while on the move.
If privacy is a major concern then it should be noted that Microsoft reserve the right to scan your files to look for what it would deem objectionable content. This could be copyrighted material or things of an explicit nature. Apple has a similar policy, making the two potentially more intrusive than their competitors.
OneDrive: Verdict

The recent updates to OneDrive help make it a competitive option, especially now that additional free space can be earned. Office integration is extremely useful and the Fetch File feature could become a key component once it matures.

Box logoBest cloud storage services 2014: Box

RatingRated 7 out of 10
Sometimes mistaken for the similarly named Dropbox, Box has actually been around longer than its more famous counterpart, starting out in 2005. The possible reason for its less well-known stature is that for most of that time the company has focussed on the business side of the market, building up an impressive enterprise reputation.

Best cloud storage services: Box

Box still offers solid personal storage options, however, with a generous 10GB of space for any new account. This isn’t quite as rosy as it sounds though, due to the fact that Box limits the file size to 250MB.
Best cloud storage services: Box mobileThis is markedly lower than the 10GB limits of both Google Drive and Dropbox, with OneDrive’s 2GB limit still plenty for most people. Of course 250MB is more than adequate for most documents and spreadsheets, but if large media files – particularly videos - are part of your plan then this could be a problem.

Uploading a photo library won’t be a problem for the vast majority of users, with the average top-resolution image from a smartphone generally being around 2-5MB, but video is the sticking point. The free account doesn’t support versioning (being able to restore previous versions of a file) – that’s a feature reserved for those paying a subscription.

Upgrading the Personal plan will cost you £7 per month, gleaning you 100GB of storage and a file size limit of 5GB, or you could switch to the Starter plan for £3.50 per month, which also offers 100GB, a slightly lower 2GB file size, but crucially twenty five previous versions of any file.

Functionally, Box is very good. The interface in the mobile apps (available on iOS, Android, Windows, & Blackberry) is slick and well designed. There are plenty of options for creating, uploading and sorting files.

The web portal gives you the ability to create new documents in either Microsoft Office, Google Docs, or web-based formats, which you can then edit in Box via a free, downloadable plug-in.

All your files can be assigned tasks and comments easily from the main page, which could be very useful when you start collaborating with colleagues, another thing Box does very well.
Sharing and linking features are pretty standard, but again you’ll have to upgrade if you want to allocate granular permissions. General security is the standard 256-bit encryption on the servers, with SSL for data in transit.

One of the real benefits of its enterprise background is the excellent range of apps that exist to increase Box’s versatility. There are programs that allow you to link Office directly to Box, so all files are saved there, an FTP app so you can migrate older data onto the site, and a whole host of others that are listed on the website.
Box: verdict

There’s a lot to like about Box. The service is fast, solid, and offering 10GB of storage space certainly catches the eye. It’s just a shame that many of the best features - such as versioning - are only available to paying customers.

iCloud logoBest cloud storage services 2014: Apple iCloud

RatingRated 5 out of 10
As you might expect, iCloud approaches cloud storage with a distinctly Apple-centric view. Unlike the other services here, iCloud isn’t really a drag and drop-style folder for anything you need to back up. Instead it is linked to various aspects of the company’s devices.

 Best cloud storage services: iCloud

iPhones and iPads have a tightly integrated relationship with the service, which automatically stores data about purchased apps, keychain (password) settings, alongside calendar, contact, and email information.
Photo taken on iOS devices are backed up on iCloud, but it isn’t possible to do this from Android or Windows handsets which obviously isn’t ideal. You can access files from a Windows PC if you download the Control Panel software from Apple, or log on to the iCloud.com website.

iCloud also allows you to have any purchases made on the iTunes store automatically download to your library no matter which device you used to buy it. Photos are synched across all devices which are logged into your iCloud account, but not videos. One particularly neat feature is that, in addition to synching your Safari bookmarks across devices, you can also see a list of open web pages on other iDevices.
A recent addition to iCloud is iWork - Apple’s Office suite - now available for free via the website. The three apps - Pages, Numbers, and Keynote - have clean interfaces, work well up to a point, and sync with the equivalent apps on your Mac or iOS device.

This means you can start work on your iPad then continue without issue on your PC (files can be downloaded from iCloud.com in Microsoft Office formats). The functionality is a little basic, most likely so that it ties in with the iOS versions of the software, but syncing between devices and the cloud is fast and reliable.

Services such as Dropbox are designed to cater for whatever you need on whichever platform you prefer, but iCloud feels like primarily a mobile solution. Sure, files and photos synch to your Mac or PC pretty much instantly, but the real benefits are linked to apps (such as Messages) and settings, which backup their data to the cloud and allow you to restore everything to a new iPhone or iPad should your old one be stolen, fail or be damaged.

The 5GB of free storage offered initially seems generous, as purchases and photos don’t count against it. But when you start turning on all the options that make the service useful, such as backing up your device, then the space is immediately insufficient.
While iCloud is secure, much of the data is encrypted at what Apple call ‘a minimum of 128-bit AES’, with the more standard 256-bit reserved for Keychain Passwords. Apple also reserves the right to explore the contents of your files if it have cause to believe that it contains illegal or harmful material.
iCloud: verdict

iCloud is something of an outlier in cloud storage terms. Unlike its rivals the service doesn’t offer drag and drop usability, and not synching videos in your Photo Stream is a major omission. Apple users will find it handy, but would be wise to use one of the other services here alongside iCloud.

Best cloud storage services 2014: Spideroak

RatingRated 7 out of 10
If privacy is a major concern then Spideroak might be the cloud storage service for you. Most of the mainstream offerings such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Box all encrypt your data on their servers, but Spideroak has a different approach.

Best cloud storage services 2014: Spideroak

Once you’ve set up your account and downloaded the desktop client (Windows, Mac, and Linux are available) you can transfer files to your local folder, which will then encrypt them before syncing them to Spideroak. This might not sound that different, but it means that your data is readable only by you, as the key is local to your machine. Spideroak calls this ‘Zero-knowledge privacy’ as the employees at the company can’t access your data and, by extension, it should also mean any interested government parties would also find it extremely difficult. 

Best cloud storage services 2014: Spideroak MOBILETraditionally this would make accessing files from numerous machines more problematic, not to mention sharing with others, but the team has worked ways around that. Spideroak Hive is the control centre of your storage. This app, which runs locally, is very similar to the Dropbox-style of folder on your desktop, although the interface has a little more detail.

This includes which of your other devices have the desktop app installed, and gives you access to the file tree within their Spideroak Hive folders. You can also choose local files to backup via a menu, and there are helpful stats to keep you up to date with the activity on your account.

Where rivals such as Google Drive and OneDrive are tightly integrated into wider productivity suites, Spideroak is simply there to store your files securely. This means no Office-style apps, or online collaboration with colleagues. You can easily share items and send secure links to files from the Spideroak Hive, although this involves setting up a Share ID (free and simple) as another way to protect your data. This obsession with security runs throughout the system, with strong warning messages appearing if you decide to let the app remained logged in all the time.

Some may find this annoying, but you can override any of the warnings and it’s never a bad thing to be reminded that convenience isn’t always the bedfellow of safety.
A basic free account comes with 2GB of storage, which is one of the lowest of all the current services around. But this can be quickly increased by a referral system that gains you and a friend 1GB when they sign up to the service (up to a maximum of 10GB)

Spideroak: Verdict

Spideroak nails its colours very clearly to the mast with its focus on security and privacy. If these are the most important elements you require then it is clearly the best choice. It may lack the sophistication and integration of some rivals, but what it does it does very well.

Best cloud storage services 2014: Amazon cloudBest cloud storage services 2014: Amazon Cloud Drive

RatingRated 4 out of 10
Not to be left out in the battle of the big players, Amazon has its own cloud storage solution to take on the likes of Google and Microsoft. The focus of Cloud Drive is simpler than its counterparts, in that there are no fancy plug-ins or web-based Office suites to add productivity to your data.

Best cloud storage services 2014: Amazon cloud

Instead, it’s very much focussed on being a place to store your documents, photos and videos. The desktop app is available on PC & Mac and once downloaded it will take the form of a folder that sits quietly in the background waiting for you to drag files into it.

Best cloud storage services 2014: Amazon cloudThe free account offers 5GB of storage, which Amazon assures us will store 2000 photos, but if this isn’t enough you can pay a very reasonable £6 per year to add 20GB, with more space available up to a limit of 1TB for an annual payment of £320. In addition to the basic package Amazon also includes a music storage service - Cloud Player - which entitles you to keep 250 songs online for free. These files can be accessed on your mobile device (Android and iOS) via the Amazon MP3 app, with the option to stream or download them.

The mobile experience with Cloud Drive is very basic, and is centred around photo and video syncing. iOS and Android users can download the Cloud Drive Photos app (this acts as the generic Cloud Drive app) and have their camera roll automatically sync to Amazon’s servers when you have a Wi-Fi connection. Transfer time is reasonable, but if you use your smartphone camera often, especially for videos, then the 5GB will need to be monitored and managed lest you run out of space.
A very curious choice is to not make documents available in the mobile apps. If you add Word, PDF, or XLS files to the Cloud Drive folder on your PC they will sync with the Cloud server, but won’t appear on your smartphone or tablet.
Amazon does word its description of the app’s capabilities carefully, but you could easily miss this and then wonder why documents aren’t available in the app. Of course you can navigate to the web portal via a browser, but when you consider the other options available that keep everything in one place, the document omission is a large black mark against the service.
Amazon Cloud Drive: verdict
Cloud Drive is a confusing beast. On one hand, it’s a useful way to back up your photos and videos online - which it does well - with additional storage being very cheap. But the lack of support for standard documents is bizarre and means we can’t recommend it.

Best cloud storage services 2014: Conclusion

If you were to set up the most basic accounts on each of the services we’ve reviewed you’d have just shy of 50GB of free online storage, and even more if you included camera uploads and friend referrals.
All are not created equal though, and there are some that stand out as the best deals. Amazon’s Cloud Drive is fine for storing your photos but not much else, while Apple’s iCloud feels constrained by its iOS-only nature and the storage size which fills quickly if you turn on the backup feature. Using the free service is a no-brainer if you have an iPhone or iPad, though.

Spideroak is the obvious choice for security and privacy, which might be particularly useful if you need to store sensitive data as part of your work. OneDrive and Google Drive are both excellent solutions if you want an added dimension of productivity thanks to their associated web-based office suites.
Microsoft Office users will love the way OneDrive is deeply integrated, while Google Drive’s collaboration feature is particularly impressive. Box is a good, solid service, although its best features are only available on the paid version.

Which leaves Dropbox, one of the first online storage services and still one of the best. It’s useful, reliable, and works across multiple platforms. This is why it’s still the one we’d recommend for most people.

Top Two Ways To Synchronise Dropbox With Your Chromebook

Do you love your Chromebook, but want to access to your Dropbox files easily? Using the web login isn’t easy enough for day-to-day use. There are better ways to do this.
If you’ve been using cloud services long enough to think that a Chromebook is worth your while, you’ve no doubt got a pile of files sitting in Dropbox. You may even be syncing files from your Android to Dropbox, then wondering how to get easy access to them. But syncing those Dropbox files to your Chromebook is not as straightforward as it is on a Mac or Windows machine, because you can’t just download an app to add the Dropbox drive to your file system. Instead, you need to do something a little clever. Here’s what you can do.

Prepare To Sync Dropbox To Chromebook

To begin with, create a Folder in your Google Drive called “Dropbox”. This will be used by both of the following methods to sync your files between Dropbox and Google Drive.
Chromebook Dropbox Folder Shortcut   Top Two Ways To Synchronise Dropbox With Your Chromebook
To make your life easier still, use the Files app on your Chromebook to navigate to your Dropbox folder in Google Drive, then create a shortcut to it. If you are going to use your Chromebook for travel, Google Drive will automatically ensure these files are accessible offline. After you set up the syncing, all you will need to do to get to your Dropbox files is head to that shortcut, much like the process on any other computer. Fantastic!

Use IFTTT To Sync Dropbox To Google Drive

First, you’ll need an IFTTT account, with access granted for both Dropbox and Google Drive. Then you can use this Dropbox to Google Drive recipe here to add any files uploaded to Dropbox directly to your Google Drive.
Dropbox File Upload   Top Two Ways To Synchronise Dropbox With Your Chromebook
If you like, it’s possible to fine-tune it a little to use a subfolder of your Dropbox instead of the whole thing. The recipe is set up so that whatever you upload to Dropbox, it will copy over to a folder called “Dropbox” in your Google Drive. All necessary subfolders will be created automatically in Drive. Sadly, it won’t sync across your old Dropbox documents. However, the next sync method can be used to do this for you.
Now, this solution is great for getting the contents of your Dropbox into an easily-accessible place with your Chromebook files. But, as you can see, it’s only one-way. With this setup, you can’t throw files into that Google Drive folder and have them sync to Dropbox. It’s possible to do a two-way sync, but it will cost you a little.
IFTTT Dropbox Google sync   Top Two Ways To Synchronise Dropbox With Your Chromebook

Two-Way Dropbox Sync Using Cloud HQ

Cloud HQ is a nifty service designed specifically to sync your data throughout the cloud. It was made for people like you, who want two-way sync between Dropbox and Google Drive, or Evernote, etc. It’s continuous real-time sync. But, it’s not free (if you are syncing more than 50 files). It will cost you a minimum of $9.90 per month, which is not bad considering what it can do. You can try it out for 14 days for free, so give it a trial now.

In fact, even if you don’t want two-way sync, using Cloud HQ is a great way to get your Dropbox files into Google Drive in the first place, as the IFTTT solution won’t sync your old documents. So, sign up for your 15 day trial, then sync your documents. Also note that during your trial period you are limited to 2 GB of data synced, so if your Dropbox account is bigger than that you may want to specify a sub-folder to sync.
Setting up Cloud HQ is really simple, so just follow the prompts to authorise it with Dropbox and Google Drive. Do make sure you set up sync with just your Dropbox sub-folder within Google Drive though, or it could get messy. You can choose to sync two-way or one-way only, and either continuously or just the once. It’s your choice.
Cloud HQ Dropbox Google Drive Sync   Top Two Ways To Synchronise Dropbox With Your Chromebook
If you use Basecamp, Evernote, Skydrive or some other cloud service, you can use Cloud HQ do set up syncing to your Chromebook for these services as well. It can also do three-way sync for you between services.

Wrapping Up

If you want to continue with just the IFTTT Dropbox sync method, simply let your Cloud HQ trial membership lapse after you have synced your old documents. If you want to continue with Cloud HQ sync, remember to turn off your IFTTT recipe, or it will duplicate documents.
Don’t forget to install the Dropbox App for Chrome too. Files can be uploaded or downloaded directly from Dropbox using this method.

Are there more ways to sync documents between Dropbox and Google Drive? Of course! Let’s talk about the tools to sync cloud documents that work best for you.


source: http://www.makeuseof.com