Dropbox DropQuest

  Over the weekend, Dropbox started its DropQuest. The quest is a scavenger hunt. For each part of the hun which you complete, you will get a little bit of free space. If you complete the entire hunt, you will have earned 1 GB of free space. You will keep that space for a life time. However, there is a catch. You will be timed as you go through the quest. The fastest time will be awarded first place. The rest of the places will go to the batch of people with the runner up times. Here are the official placements:

Dropquest will also be timed, and the fastest finishers will be rewarded with even more fantastic prizes.

• Platinum: (1) Dropbox hoodie (Psychobox), LIMITED EDITION Dropbox Hack Week t-shirt (actual design), Dropbox drawing signed by the Dropbox team, 50 GB for life!
• Gold: (10) Dropbox hoodie (Psychobox), Dropbox print signed by the Dropbox team, 10 GB for life!
• Silver: (20) Dropbox t-shirt (Psychobox), 5 GB for life!
• Bronze: (50) 2 GB for life!
  ...and a few secret prizes too!

More Info:
You don't have to start right at the starting time, as Dropquest will be available for two weeks. The starting time really only matters if you're going for the top prizes. Feel free to work together with a friend or two, but remember that only the fastest will be rewarded! This thread will also be used as a hub for all Dropquest related announcements, as well as intermittent hints for puzzles that may stump you along the way. If you're in need of live help, I suggest you visit Dropbox's IRC channel (irc.foonetic.net, #dropbox) as well (It's a cool place to hang out anyway). Good luck everyone!

Everyone  whom enters, I wish you good luck! If you don't have DropBox yet, you can join now!

~Dave

Refer-a-Friend on Xbox Live

Recently, Microsoft has started to offer some promotions for inviting a friend to upgrade to gold. It would seem Microsoft just can't get enough of our money. So here is the deal they provide you: Bring a friend to xbox live gold, and you get something special. This can range from microsoft points, to games, or to a free month of xbox live gold. For example, today's offer is "The Maw". By referring someone, you will be given the XBL title "The Maw". You only receive the promotion if the person you invite upgrades within 30 days of you inviting them. However, there is a slight catch. If the person does not wish to receive information about xbox live, you will not be able to refer them. It is a good idea in general, but I think the execution is poor. Why would a friend of yours wait for you to refer them? If they wanted to be a part of xbox live gold, they would have upgraded already. Plus, they get nothing for you referring them. It does not provide incentive. I think it should be more like DropBox which gives both the person who invites, and the person receiving the invite, 250 MB of space. Microsoft has the right idea, but just needs to work on execution. If you wish to refer a friend, click here.

~Dave

Slowly Transfering

Recently, I have been looking for ways to get some space back on my computer. I have been deleting old files that I don't need, uninstalling unused programs, and organizing stuff. One of the things I started to do was to put some stuff on Dropbox. So what kinds of things have I moved onto Dropbox? Well, I have been moving items from my documents folder to it. It is really useful in the event I need a document, and assuming I have internet, I can access that document from anywhere. As I trim the size of my home folder down on my computer, I may move more and more of it to Dropbox. The only thing which will give you issues is iTunes. If you try and move your iTunes library to Dropbox, you will encounter a problem. iTunes will have and issue reading your library. Although there are many work arounds out there, I think I will just wait. I have the feeling Dropbox will incorporate it eventually into their program; thus, making it easier to use. Dropbox is hands down one of the best applications out there, and you should definitely sign up if you haven't already.

~Dave

Drop Your Files in a Box

Why carry a USB stick, when all of your files can be stored online in a secure account and be accessed from any computer? There is no need to carry small USB sticks anymore, thanks to an awesome website call Dropbox. Dropbox is a free site that allows you store what ever you would like in an account online. The account gives you 2GB of storage for free. Of course there are pay per year accounts if you wish to upgrade, but honestly I don't think you will need to. Plus, you gain space for inviting friends to Dropbox, and can increase your space amount to a maximum of 8GB. You are also notified of any changes made to your account if you download the Dropbox application. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for DropBox now!

~Dave

A simple way to create a website.

I recently discovered a neat way to host your own website. Unfortunately you don't get your own domain name, but you can host for free. To do this you can use Dropbox, an online storage site. Dropbox gives you 2.0GB of free space if you are a free user. There is a monthly fee if you wish to pay, but there really is no need. So here is how you can set up your own website for free!

1. Join dropbox. You can do this by using the following link: Join Dropbox!
2. Once you set up your drop box, download the dropbox application.
3. After installing go to the dropbox folder on your computer and go to the "Public" folder.
4. In this folder you can put your html file. You can create one in a simple text editor. I used Textwrangler, I found it very simple and easy. If you don't know any html, it is very easy to learn. You can learn it from HTML Tutorial from W3
5. Once you have all your files in place, log on to Dropbox and navigate to your "Public" folder.
6. Click on your html file and it will load! You now have your own website.

Now since you don't have a custom domain name, and the one from dropbox is long and annoying, you can use TinyURL to create a shorter name. Plus, if you are really serious you can get Dreamweaver. I think my version is cheaper :). Enjoy!

~Dave