File sharing, collaboration and sending big e-mail attachments?

Often, it seems to be the case that the sharing and sending files with others, not to mention colloborating with others on a large project, is often difficult. And due to the fact that most e-mail providers have a limit on their attachment, it's even more hard to send large attachments through e-mail. For example, the attachment size limit for Gmail and Yahoo is only 20 MB. If you have 11 pictures of 2 MB each, you're going to have to send another email just for one photo.

Well, if you're ever confronted with a similar problem, there are actually several things you can do. In this article I'll mention only a few of the free services that I've used or know a little bit about.

Dropbox: By far one of the coolest things on the internet right now. The main purpose of dropbox is to allow you to save your files (up to 2 GB of total space, size of individual files don't matter) on the internet so that you can access them wherever you want to. But, since it allows you to save files in the internet, you can use if for back up purposes as well. Finally since it allows you to "share" files and folders with others (with the whole world or with a select group of friends that you can invite) you can also share files that would otherwise make for some very large attachments. Definitely the first thing you should check out.

Windows Live SkyDrive: This free service from Microsoft allows you to store files on their servers so that you can share it with others. It provides 25 GB of space, specifically for this purpose but upload size for each file is limited to 50 MB. Certainly worth checking out, especially for photos, since it also provides a great gallery feature and integrates nicely with other Windows services such an Windows Live Photogallery.

Yousendit: Like some of the other free webhosting services, yousendit allows you to upload your file, and sends that link to your friend so that they can download it via yousendit. While yousendit only stores the file for some days, it might be worth it since no actual sign up is necessary.

Office Live Workspace: While not strictly a file sharing service, office live workspace works great for sharing documents with others, and allows up to 5 GB of storage space. While it does requrie you to have an office live addin for some features, it is great for colloboration. It allows you to allow multiple users to edit a document, add comments and has features like todo lists and so on.

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Locking Your Mac Instead of Logging Out

Unfortunately, it isn't possible to lock your Mac as easily as one can lock their Windows computer (by pressing the Windows Key + L key) by default. It takes a little bit of setting up, but once you set it up, you can lock your computer with a flick of the mouse (really).


The way to lock your computer on a Mac is a rather long winded one in theory. What you need to do is put your display to sleep, and then through the security section of the system preferences window, set your Mac to ask you for a password by after the screen saver begins.

To do so, it'll be convenient to create an active corner for a putting your display to sleep first. Follow this tutorial if you need help on how to do so, and set the option for "Put display to sleep" to a particular corner of your choice. Then open system preferences again, and click on Security. Check the box that says "Require a password ______ after sleep or screen saver begins". For the time option, I usually use five seconds, in case I accidentally trigger the active screen corner, putting my display to sleep and locking my computer.

And you're done. When you need to lock your computer, just move your mouse to the screen corner that you set and walk away from your computer (only for a short time I hope) knowing that it is safe from prying eyes. Plus, you are saving energy, as insignificant as it may seem, and helping the environment.

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