http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm
Ok, two posts in one day, how about that?
This one is just plain cool. I've been eyeing it for the last week or two and decided to give it a try. I was concerned about posting it - you know when you have one of those "too cool" secrets that not everyone knows about, and if it becomes mainstream, then it may go commercial (I seem to think that this is the case with bands/music, too).
The what:
Utilize an existing GMail account as a virtual drive connected to your computer, providing 2.5Gb (and counting!) of storage that you can access via the web.
The why:
High-speed access to a storage location on the Internet for free? Who wouldn't want to do this? Upload speed is typically limited by the ISP, so this might be the best way to work around some of the limitations of p2p file transfers.
Caveat:
Officially unsupported (it is not a Google product), GMaildrive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your GMail account, and as such, is subject to the GMail developers whims if they decide to disable the interface/functionality of the tool.
Please note that GMail Drive is still an experimental tool. There's still a number of limitations of the file-system (such as total filename size must be less than 65 characters). Since the tool hooks up with the free Gmail Service provided by Google, changes in the Gmail system may break the tool's ability to function. I cannot guarantee that files stored in this manner will be accessible in the future.
I've been looking for an easy way to collaborate with my friend online - sharing music files generated from FL Studio, etc - and this seems to be a nice fit. I can copy up a file to the shared drive, and he can bring it down to his computer, edit it, and copy the modified piece back out there for me to edit and vice-versa.
Transfer speeds are more than acceptable, and if a new file is copied out while two users are connected to it (mind you, they are logged in with the same gmail account), they will need to refresh by hitting [F5] (essentially GMaildrive logs in again and enumerates all files stored).
I would recommend setting up a new GMail account for this purpose, as the files will clutter your inbox (but as stated on the support site, you can set up a filter to move these around).
My only worry is if too many people use this, then will they limit (or shut off) the use of Gmaildrive - thus my indecision to post this blog entry :)
Alternates (updated 06/12/07):
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