Tag Archives: cloud computing

ZeroPC Makes Cloud Information Management Easier

January 12, 2013

Posted in Android, Document management, Evernote, File Management, iPad, Mobile and tagged cloud computing, collaboration, dashboard, file storage, synchronization, virtual desktop

I am starting to see more about cloud desktops: virtual operating systems that you access through your browser that look like your normal desktop computer. ZeroPC caught my eye because it offers some of the information management tools that I think are important for lawyers managing information with cloud-based services. It has the added benefit of additional tools although it is not rich enough a desktop OS for a lawyer to rely on.

ZeroPC does an excellent job of relying on your pre-existing accounts and passwords. When I signed up to ZeroPC, it used my Google account – which has a very strong password – rather than creating a separate username and password. I prefer cloud services that employ this method because I trust mature cloud providers over more recent ones.

The service uses your Web browser and I was able to use it with Chrome on both my desktop and tablet. You are presented with a Windows-like desktop when you access your account. Unlike remote connection resources like GotoMyPC, where you are accessing your own computer, this is a virtual desktop running on a cloud server. There is a button where the Windows Start button would be and icons on the desktop. This is a cloud service, though and it enables you to manage your information across multiple services.

One feature that I like is the storage management. You can connect your ZeroPC account to cloud file synchronization services like Dropbox, Box, Sugarsync, and Google Drive. Once connected, you can move files from one account to another from within the ZeroPC interface. I recently looked at another site that does the same thing.

Storage Dashboard in ZeroPC shows all of your accounts. It aggregates information to show you available space over all of your linked accounts, as well as used/unused space in each individual service.

ZeroPC does a good job treating multiple resources as one. You can attach multiple e-mail accounts in the same way., creating a unified inbox. It will auto-configure Google and Yahoo! mail accounts but you can add other IMAP mail servers as well.

It also provides another feature that I think can be powerful: cloud search. There is a search box at the bottom of the screen, on your virtual task bar. When you search for files with the box, it searches across all of your connected cloud services for results. This is not new – I’ve discussed both Cue Up and CloudMagic before – but ZeroPC has done a good job of providing it as part of a much more functional environment.

Search results from Evernote, Google Drive, and other cloud storage using an Android tablet and Chrome Web browser

This approach to a cloud desktop would seem to be useful for someone who had a variety of cloud-based resources that could be connected using ZeroPC. It is distinctive because they not only provide the connections but a familiar interface in which to use them. It appears to be based on a Linux operating system, and comes with a simple text editor, image tools, and other applications, like the tablet-familiar ThinkOffice productivity suite. If you want to view a document, you can open it using the Google Docs viewer, for example. There is even a Web browser on the desktop so that you do not need to open a second window or tab.

There is a free version so you would have to watch how much information you were transferring or storing in the extra space ZeroPC offers. Paid versions offer additional benefits and features, mostly in the areas of bandwidth and storage space.

Using If-This-Then-That to Automate Research Management

By David Whelan

July 25, 2012

Posted in GMail, Research Management, Twitter and tagged bookmarks, cloud computing, cloud search, SaaS

I posted a lengthy how-to on using the If This Then That service to capture incoming e-mails labeled in Google Mail and copy them into client folders on my Dropbox account. One benefit of doing this is that it places e-mail with other client content, making browsing easier since you can head to the folder and find both e-mail and files in there.

I also use IFTTT for managing other research streams. The service allows you to connect a variety of cloud-based accounts – e-mail, file storage, social media, and others – so that if something happens in one account and triggers a rule or “recipe” that you design, something will happen in another one of your accounts. The interface is easy to use and you can point and click your way to connecting your accounts.

Here’s one way that I use it. I use Twitter as a research tool, for finding out information that normally doesn’t enter through my filters. I follow a few dozen people who tend to share links to information. Similarly, I usually only share tweets that have a link to something I think is interesting. When I send one of those messages, IFTTT copies the message with the link and saves it into my Dropbox account in a folder specifically created for this. Now, if I want to go back through information that I know was interesting enough to send a tweet about, I have a copy in my Dropbox account.

Which means I also have a copy synchronized to my local PC. When I do a search, either using Windows 7 on my desktop or Cue in the cloud, these links appear with the rest of the results. In particular, I don’t have to rely on the availability of those tweets from Twitter; my personal archive guarantees perpetual access that online services can’t offer.

Unlike many of the tools or resources I post about here, IFTTT is relatively undefined. But I would encourage you to take a look at it if you use any of the common cloud-based services they connect. The ability to integrate and automate some functions may enable you to manage your research better, and possibly in ways you hadn’t ever thought about before.