Showing posts with label storage. Show all posts
Google GDrive as Online File Backup and Storage
First, a new sub-domain has been been added to google.com at http://gdrive.svc-1.google.com/ though it continues to point at the main homepage of Google.
Second, a blogger has discovered certain lines in a localization file of Google Pack further confirming the news that Google GDrive is almost here.
The translator has put GDrive product in the "Online file backup and storage’" category and goes on to describe the actual product as:
1. GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents.
2. GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device - be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone.
GDrive Pro?
There’s no word about GDrive’s storage capacity yet but I am hoping that Google will consider providing a pro version of GDrive similar to Gmail and Picasa Web Albums where people can buy extra storage space in case their free quota is exhausted.
Google has been planning an online file storage service for more than a year now and the initial plan was to tie all the other Google storage services around GDrive. So if you files stored in Picasa Web Albums or Google Docs or GDrive, you will be able to find all these files with a single keyword search.
WSJ also wrote that GDrive could have a desktop client for uploading files online in addition to the regular Web-based interface. That makes perfect sense. You should be able map GDrive in Windows Explorer and access online files just like another other local hard drive. Let’s see.
Google GDrive – Getting Started Guide
Philipp [via] shares a PDF that talks in detail about installing and using the Google GDrive on PC, Mac and the web. Here’s a summary:
1. GDrive (or Google Web Drive) will provide a desktop client for Mac and Windows allowing you to access online files through the file explorer.
2. Files uploaded to Google Web Drive will also be available from a special folder inside your Google Docs dashboard.
3. To upload local files to your GDrive, you can simply drag and drop these from the desktop onto the G: (or another mapped) drive inside windows explorer.
4. Unlike Windows Live SkyDrive that allows public file downloads, Google Web Drive may only allow private sharing of files.
5. The PDF document puts the storage capacity as 10 GB.
1. GDrive (or Google Web Drive) will provide a desktop client for Mac and Windows allowing you to access online files through the file explorer.
2. Files uploaded to Google Web Drive will also be available from a special folder inside your Google Docs dashboard.
3. To upload local files to your GDrive, you can simply drag and drop these from the desktop onto the G: (or another mapped) drive inside windows explorer.
4. Unlike Windows Live SkyDrive that allows public file downloads, Google Web Drive may only allow private sharing of files.
5. The PDF document puts the storage capacity as 10 GB.
Awesome Underground Bicycle Storage System In Tokyo
Tokyo is such a crowded place that even finding a place to park your bicycle can be a daunting task. But leave it to the Japanese to find a genius solution to this growing space problem. The ECO-Cycle Park is an automated bicycle storage system buried 11 meters under the city streets that can hold up to 200 bikes.
Although Japan is one of the world’s leading car manufacturers and its public transportation system is probably the most advanced on the planet, the bicycle is still a very popular means of getting around in the busy traffic. Unfortunately parking spaces are at a premium, and owners are often forced to leave them on the sidewalk where they become obstacles for pedestrians.
To solve this problem, Japanese company Giken Seisakusho, which specializes in tidal and flood protection systems, created ECO-Cycle, a series of five underground storage bicycle storage facilities where owners can safely “park” their bikes in just 8 seconds. The buried cylindrical structures are only seven meters wide, but deep enough to safely store up to 200 two-wheel vehicles each.
Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun
Bicycle riders have to pay a monthly subscription to gain access to ECO-Cycle, and they are issued a personal card. Whenever they want to park their bikes, all they have to do is position them in front of one of the above-ground booths and swipe their card through a reader. A mechanical arm clamps it in place, the booth door opens and the bike disappears underground. The whole process takes just 8 seconds, and retrieving the vehicle is just as fast. Ever since the solution was implemented in Konan Hoshi No Koen Park, in 2010, illegally parked bicycles have mostly disappeared from the area.
“Steel boards are inserted into the ground to create a cylindrical shape, and the soil inside is then removed. We can do this in only two months,” Shotaro Yano, head of the Giken’s underground development division, says about the advantages of ECO-Cycle. “As soil pressure is evenly distributed (thanks to the cylindrical shape), the parking facility is reasonably earthquake resistant. As a carrier device is placed in the center, the distance the bikes have to be moved is minimized.” The construction of an underground bicycle storage unit costs 150 million yen ($1,5 million). Including those under construction, there are currently 43 ECO-Cycle facilities at 16 locations across Japan.
Photo: Danny Choo
