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Space shuttles aren't built for rocket scientists, they're built for astronauts. The goal isn't the ship, its the moon.
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Hands on leader, developer, architect specializing in the design and delivery of distributed systems in lean, agile environments with an emphasis in continuous improvement across people, process and technology. Speaker and published author with 18 years' experience leading the delivery of large and/or complex, high-impact distributed solutions in Retail, Intelligent Transportation, and Gaming & Hospitality.

I'm currently a Principal Engineer at Amazon, within the North America Consumer organization leading our global listings strategy that enable bulk and non-bulk listing experiences for our WW Selling Partners via apps, devices and APIs.

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GMailFS - Web Storage for Free!

A few months ago, while on a road trip, I was talking to my wife about my latest idea. A network-based storage solution built around SOA technologies such as WCF. Sure, there were probably a couple of services like this out there, but they were probably not as cool as something I could do with .NET and WCF. If nothing else, doing a side project using .NET 3.0 technologies would just be cool and possibly get me a case study writeup with Microsoft (something I still might persue).

The functional requirements for such a tool might be something along the lines of:

1. My Computer drive interface to network storage using familar drive icon.

2. Windows look and feel of folders, etc.

3. Ability to add, rename and delete files, folders, etc.

4. Optional, lightweight HTTP protocol opition for getting to storage from any PC, anywhere.

So, like anyone potentially thinking about entering a market , I took a look at what the current competition looks like so that I could asses market saturation and get an idea of how good (or bad) existing products are. I came across a few offerings, but the dominant company out there seems to be IDrive also known as IBackup. It didn't take me long to realize that these guys have already done everything I would have ever hoped to accomplish.

I have no idea what technology, language or tools they are using, but their IDrive and WebDrive all work, well, they just work, and that's good enough for me, so I signd up. For $10 I can store up to 6 GB, and for the most part the service works pretty well, save for the occasional large upload/download. If by now you haven't thought about the convenience of having your common files accessible anywhere in the world, think about it now. Powerpoint Presentations, Word Docs for articles in progress, code, etc. Very handy.

Well, it turns out that there is an even better solution out there, and it is totally FREE.

In yet another example of how Google- by providing out of the box products and open APIs- is blazing new frontiers in internet innovation, a gentlemen by the name of Bjarke Viksoe has done something, really, really cool.

Gmail, Google's version of Yahoo Mail and Hotmail, offers a very generous amount of storage for each user account. With 2GB of storage, designed to hold historic emails, email attachments and the like, it is unlikely that this space will be used up in its entirety.

So, what Bjarke Viksoe did was write a Windows Shell extension that taps into the GMail API for sending email and uploading attachments and put it in a very cool application called GmailFS or GMail File System. The tool delivers 4 of the 5 features on my list, and again is completely FREE.

To get your own GMail File System drive:

1. If you don't have one already, create a free GMail account. This is the virtual "disk space" that your GMailFS drive will use.

2. Install GMailFS for free: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/GMail-Drive-shell-extension-Download-15944.html

3. Once the installation is complete, you will find a Gmail Drive in you My Computer applet. Double clicking it will pop up the authentication dialog shown below:

 

Additional infomration is available here: http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm

Although I'm going to have to go back to my idea bin (which is full of dim bulbs at moment), I think this is a great example of services starting to become available that leverage the internet in ways that we never would have imagined just a decade ago. I think it also showcases a company like Google that is exploiting the internet for every ounce it can.

I have a feeling this is just the beginning...

 

Print | posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 4:56 PM | Filed Under [ Misc. ]

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