Wednesday 4 May 2011

Restaurant Training and Share Training

This is brand new to me. I'd heard of Dropbox via Click, the BBC programme, so I didn't worry about the downloading and installing aspect. I have an interview today (4 May) and wanted to upload a hefty Powerpoint file for presentation purposes, as well as place it on a memory stick.

The Powerpoint file is about training needs in a commercial restaurant yet linked to independent housing for people 55 years or older. Yes, I'm supposed to know about restaurant training! Despite my redrawing of myself (and used) I cannot cook for toffee (and certainly cannot make toffee).

I want access at my website for such hefty files. My website is via dial up FTP (several free accounts) but a 7.7 mb file is asking for trouble, both as a slow upload and in its size. So I looked for storage and one was free, until I realised it erases files every 14 days unless you pay. So having discovered that, I'll let it fail. Dropbox is enough for me on the free account, with an apparently small 2 gb of size. If I wanted to upload all my hymns (rather than just a list), then I would need more space - however, because many come from another creator I won't do this, even if in the public realm. I'd only put my own transcribed ones up (and then there might be copyright issues) and then they may as well be .XML files to go into music software programs and emerge as sound files.

So if you are interested in my Powerpoint presentation, it is available via a public link - you have your own Dropbox folders on your computer, the upload is then automatic: a right click on the Dropbox dropped file is enough to be able to copy over the remote link location. Meanwhile I now have a website link in the Learning area and Business, scroll down the menu to the bottom.

Update

I suppose I am a little disappointed when an interview asks questions that don't allow me to say what I have done, and ask questions about things of which I know little. I tried to get in some extra points at the end. Then I wondered what on earth has happened to even the limited choice that was at Lidl, purchased petrol at huge price and went to Aldi before collecting a packet of two books on Zen from the very generous James Ford.

2 comments:

Erika Baker said...

I believe it's possible to share Dropbox files without the recipient having Dropbox installed. There's a Public Folder in which you can place your public document and then people can access it just like they access an online photo album.

I love Dropbox, I use it for work. The only thing it doesn't do is back-up and synchronise emails, you'd need something like Sugar Synch (I think) for that.

Good luck with the interview!!

Pluralist (Adrian Worsfold) said...

Yes the public folder has a right click for a public URL. I've done that and given a link to the .PPT