Drive On
Looks like we now have the battle of the ‘drives’. It seems both SkyDrive by Microsoft and Google Drive have come out with desktop applications to make it even easier to store documents and more on the web by simply saving them to what appears to be a special file folder on your home computer (or your work computer if you have it set up there as well).
I’ve been trying both services off and on for some time now. Personally, I have been using Box.com as a storage location since the service has an easy to use plugin for MS Word. However, Box.com is limited in it’s free storage (only 5GB but that’s enough for docs) and it also does not yet have an app for my Windows 7 Phone (which I still love to death). So I have been hoping that SkyDrive will continue to be improved upon and take over as my main cloud storage. With that said, let me tell you how SkyDrive stacks up.
Being a writer, I am always working on my novel and I’m constantly picky about how the formating appears when I edit it using different applications. So keep in mind that if you are not crafting a document as complex with dialog, then you might not need to go by my strict critique.
SkyDrive
SkyDrive has recently limited the amount of storage available from 25GB to 7GB. All those who tried it out previous have the chance to keep 25GB of storage so long as you ACT NOW and declare your account active. So, provided you did so, SkyDrive has the larges storage capacity. SkyDrive documents open up seemlessly with MS Word and there is no change in formating when you save those documents to SkyDrive (other than the loss of truly funky fronts). However, when you try to edit a document on the web using SkyDrive’s Word Web App, there are serious issues. The first big issue for me was the loss of soft breaks between dialog. Instead of having an indentation there is a [softbreak] notation that bugs the snot out of me. I seriously do not understand how the document can be displayed correctly with the native Word app but the web one constantly has an issue with the soft breaks I use in my dialogs. Secondly, and this can be a problem for everyone, the online web app does not save automatically and can actually lose contact with the server – rendering your changes unable to be saved. Big problem.
Google Drive
Google drive has less storage, I believe it’s only 5GB of storage like Box.com, but Google has a refined web app experience. Not only is my novel in the exact same form as when I uploaded it, but the document opens quickly, is constantly being saved and does not have a hiccup whatsoever. What it doesn’t do is allow you to edit the document as a Word Document. When you wan to edit a Word doc on Google’s web app you must export it to a “Google Doc” and once edited you save it as such and this doc type cannot be opened by MS Word on your computer.
So in conclusion, if you don’t have the MS Office Suite, then you can definitely use the Google Drive. When you would need to send something as a Word Doc you could have it converted to such for that situation. However, if you have the MS Office Suite, and a Windows phone, AND could use the 25 GB storage of SkyDrive (provided you grandfathered it), then it’s time to bang on the SkyDrive developers and demand they take a lesson from Google when it comes to their online apps.
Personally, my message to SkyDrive is “pretty” is not as necessary as “useful”. I don’t care if the layout of the app looks exactly like the native desktop app; I want it to WORK like it. Until that time comes, I cannot rely on SkyDrive to be my primary storage for important/constantly-updated documents.
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Behind the Scenes
Now that I have a little more time at home, I’m going to be building the registered pages for those who want to see more of my novel work – like my curious beta readers. Currently, I do NOT allow registrations on my main website since there seems to be a healthy amount of spammers running around these days who think it’s hilarious to make as many false registrations as possible. I have enough of that problem with my day job’s website.
Pages I intend to make will include at least one page per chapter of my novel along with pages dedicated to my fanfiction. However, fanfiction can still be found on deviantart.com.
A separate group of registered pages will be dedicated to my freelance work, should I ever be able to pick it back up again. Those pages will include my portfolio and resume. I still have yet to build an application form for those interested in viewing those materials, but it’s next on my list.
In other news, I will have a guest logging in to my website for the purposes of learning more about Joomla!. This blog will remain unaffected since this is actually a seamless WordPress install running side by side with my main website.
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Novel Progress – Lack Thereof
It’s been a little disappointing that I haven’t been able to throw myself back into my novel. Never mind the fact that I told my fanfic friends that I would complete a few of my fanfictions that have been left in-process on Deviantart.
My only consolation is that I should have some time in the near future to put a dent in Chapter 3 of my book and finish those fanfics come March.
The novel has been a project of mine for at least 2 years now. The world building has been slow, especially because of the amount of science. Though I would not call it a hardcore Sci-Fi novel, it does employ enough scientific elements to be considered a Sci-Fi and I have been particular about the theories involved. I wanted real probable devices, creations, and vehicles. That has taken quite a bit of research and a lot of courage. Courage because it takes guts to pick an idea and stay with it knowing that there are people out there who might read the book and toss it because they don’t agree with the science.
All those who know me are welcome to apply to be beta readers. I only have one formally at the moment. Drafts of the novel will eventually make it onto the website as pages that only registered users can view.
Until that time I’ll keep on updating all of you from here.
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Box.com – MS Word Plugin
I have tried tons of online storage applications, ‘webtops’, and other means of editing documents on the go from any computer.
Google Docs is one of the best out there, it even out performs the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s Skydrive (and I’m a BIG Windows user). But my latest discovery with Box.com takes the cake when it comes to my particular situation.
Box.com has come up with a very handy plugin for Microsoft Word that allows you to open, access, edit, and save back to your Box.com account. You might only get 5GB for free, but that’s plenty of space for relatively small Word documents.
This is what the plugin looks like on my 2007 MS Word application.
Cute, huh?
Now that I have this cute little plugin installed on my computer, I can edit any document I have on Box.com with MS Word as my editor. Should I download this plugin onto my work computer, I can edit the same document and save it back to my ‘Box’. The process is simple and efficient. In this situation, I do not need to use any other third party editor, BUT I could.
Box.com also offers a way for you to edit the same document on their website using a version of Google Docs editor, which thankfully has been great at keeping the same formatting when it comes to MS Word Docs.
What I love the most is the seamlessness of the plugin. I have yet to see it work improperly or act broken. You log-in to your Box.com account and you can see all other Word documents present. If you have MS Excel files there as well, you will not see those.
One hiccup I did notice was that if you already have a Google Docs account and you’re signed in to Google at the moment, the online Google Docs editor employed by Box.com will start to have issues. You need to make sure you are logged out of Google first before using that tool.
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