region/soil/clime

What should you do with that Christmas USB Drive?

2008-12-20T19:33:00.001-08:00

I use about 2 or 3 USB drives at any given time for a wide range of reasons.

Sure, the majority of use is for work but even the personal uses for them can be very handy.

We gave out a lot of USB drives for Christmas this year, and I figured
it would be a good time to share one of my favorite things to do with
them.

Portable Apps is a free application that turns your USB drive into a mini system in-itself.

There are portable versions of many popular software apps and they all fit into the PortableApps shell.

When you plug the drive into your (or any) computer you get an icon in
the system tray. Click on this icon and the portable apps menu comes up
with all your options.

Here's my set up as it stands.

There are more, but the basics are:

AbiWord - word processor that is compatible with MS Word format. OpenOffice is also available but all I need is the word processor and I hardly use that because of Google Docs anyway.
ConvertAll- handles any kind of conversion you can imagine.
CoolPlayer+ - is a slick media player.
Eraser - makes sure that you are completely deleting sensitive files.
GIMP - is my favorite image editor
InfraRecorder - is a great CD authoring tool
Lightscreen - is a handy screenshot utility
MPlayer - is another media player
Pidgin - is a multi platform IM client
VirtualDub - is an audio file mixing program
Firefox - a portable browser means all your history, bookmarks, cookies etc.. stay on your drive and not the computer it's used on.

It also organizes your USB Drive into specific folders for Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos for you.

At first you may be saying "this is kinda cool, but when would I ever
use it?" .. well - you may never have a use for it. But, if you ever
find yourself wanting to load software on your work computer just to
edit a picture, listen to music, watch videos or talk online you can do
all that through PortableApps without a trace of anything on your work computer.

Earlier this year my company started assigning me trainees temporarily,
as they waited for paperwork to go through. The time-frame can range
from a week to my longest running help- six months now. Realizing that
they would not be using assigned computers (pretty much any system they
could find) but would be expected to do many computer related tasks I
went out and got a bunch of 2gig USB Drives, loaded PortableApps
and handed them out. At first the guys were a little skeptical but as
time went on they were more comfortable with the idea. Between PortableApps, Google Talk, Dropbox and Google Documents we've been very successful at handling a huge amount of work from multiple locations and schedules.

Oh, one more thing. I gave my son (5yo) a USB stick with his own
browser/bookmarks and he can use it on any computer he wants. The key
to that one is all the Webkinz, Disney Chanel and Transformers links on
his browser. Problem was, he has a computer that runs Linux as a
primary OS. But, using Wine he is able to use the USB as a truly cross-platform utility.

Realistic Stick Figure Stickers

2008-11-13T18:39:00.001-08:00

I drive a lot.
Seriously - like 500 miles a week, so I see a lot of bumper and window stickers.
Recently, there's been an explosion of stick figure window stickers out there that are depicting family life. Now I'm a family guy - and love the idea of supporting the idea of family values and priorities.

But I can't help feeling like they are excluding a huge number of drivers who don't fit your typical family profile.

For example - how about stickers for single moms who work as exotic dancers?

And the flip-side of that coin, single dads drinking themselves to sleep every night:

Lastly, you can't forget about the crazy cat "Nanna"!

Spell Check Work-Around on Google Docs' Spreadsheets

2008-11-12T18:40:00.001-08:00

One of by biggest pet peeves with Google Docs is the inability to run spell check in spreadsheets. You can't even right-click on misspelled words and have your FireFox right click spell check menu help you out.
But - on my work computer today I just started clicking with different key combinations out of frustration and - wham - Alt-Click gave me a little answers.com window.

And because the word was misspelled - it gave me spelling suggestions - pretty cool.

And that's when I remembered installing the Answers.com "1Click" Firefox Extension.
So - I went ahead and installed it on my laptop so I'm now all set for fixing all my terrible spelling errors.

I've talked about Google Docs a lot - and seriously consider it one of the best ways to do your work. I don't even have Microsoft Office installed on my laptop because I can do everything I need without it. Sure, some features could be improved but all and all it's a great functioning webapp suite and you can't beat the collaboration.
I share documents with people at work and we are always on the same page without sending around endless revisions over email.

Plus - the other day I gave a full presentation from Google Docs on a projector and everything. The presentation app lets you go full screen move through slides with ease.

So basically, this little find was something I felt valuable enough to share. And I can't say enough good things about Google Docs overall anyway.

anyone for animal drama?

2008-10-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

so -
to make a long story short, we now have a new little kitten in the house.

To make the story more interesting - she came infested with fleas and a huge infected eye. In my professional opinion, the infected eye was caused by a byproduct of the fleas but my profession has nothing to do with veterinary medicine.

After a few days of antibiotics in the eye - it's looking much better but there's a good chance she's blind in the eye now, it's hard to tell if she's being a clumsy kitten or having problems because of sight loss in that eye. It's looking much better though - I swear - the first thing I thought of when I saw her was "Bill the Cat" from the Bloom County and Outland comics.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about - here's picture of Bill the Cat next to a picture of her sporting "the eye:

I know it doesn't look like it from this picture - but believe me - in the first day or so the eye was huge.

Anyway - so far so good with the other animals. We have a very old cat (Simba), who's at least 14 years old - an old dog (Sky-Dog) who's about 10 and a young Pomeranian (Obi). My largest fear is the oldest dog who is rather large (lab mix) and could easily kill the little kitten without intending to. When Obi was a puppy Sky took a chunk out of his eye socket as part of a warning snap. For now - he's jumping up and giving Willow a "what the hell!?!" look whenever she walks up to him so I think he'll be fine. If she can have the good sense to keep away from the food bowls she'll be okay.
Simba has been fine as well for the most part. She can be a pretty bitchy but so far she's only been mildly bitchy. Obi is following her around, wagging his tail and I'm sure they will be playing together in no time. He was freaked out by another kitten jumping on him a few months back so he's a little apprehensive now, but it won't take long.

After a small fortune spent on flea treatments, the flea problem looks to be in control now (knocking on wood). As soon as we got Willow clean - Obi started scratching like crazy. We've treated all the animals, and the carpet and now I think he's just scratching at old bites because we don't see any fleas crawling around on him.

The big show

2008-09-18T18:58:00.001-07:00

I traveled to Atlanta this week for the annual American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) conference. It's the largest gathering of physical security professionals, manufacturers, end users and integrators in the world - and an all-around good time.

The only problem with the conference is finding time to do everything, talk to everyone and see all the products you want. There are seminars all day but the trade show is going on the whole time as well - so you've got to set priorities and try to plan out as much as possible.

An added bonus is that manufacturers like to have some pretty swanky events in the evenings and nights For instance, the leading access card manufacturer rented out the Atlanta Aquarium for an event with loads of gourmet food and top shelf drinks.

But it's not all fun and games, to get the most out of the conference you are always talking to representatives, attending seminars and comparing products / services. I ended up getting a lot out of this year's conference and am still following up on some great contacts I've made and information I was able to obtain. Not to mention no I've got to play catch-up to handle the work that piles up on your office desk when you're away for a few days.

The first day of the rest of his life

2008-09-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

After weeks of frustration, Conor finally had his first day of school. He's been disappointed every morning because all his friends are already in classes. He's had to spend the last week or so in the "pre-k" class at his preschool - he was not a happy camper.

Everything went well, he had a blast and is looking forward to Monday.

Yesterday we looked on Google Maps at the route I used to walk to school when I was a kid, and compare it to what he would have to walk. The thing that struck me was thinking how different things were back in the late 70's as opposed to now. Not only that, but how much different things are in North Illinois than North Carolina. I passed about 60 houses and 7 businesses on my way to school... in the same distance, he would pass around 8 houses and no businesses.

can I quote you on that?

2008-08-20T20:34:00.001-07:00

It's not a big deal - really -
but I found out today that I was quoted by a publisher. You know the little blurbs where publications are quoted on their review of a book / movie / etc... one of those.

I reviewed a book on my professional blog last month, and there I am - quoted - next to Nature, Discover Magazine and New Scientist.

Believe me - nothing's going to my head here - but I write for such a small, specialized group of professionals it feels good to get some recognition.

30THREADS - most innovative resource I've seen in awhile!

2008-08-07T19:49:00.001-07:00

The thing that sets the new site 30THREADS apart from the massive wave of web 2.0 creativity - is that it's a vehicle for local talent to grow, collaborate and feed the next level of creativity through centralization.

Ginny Skalski and Wayne Sutton have managed to focus their wonder-twin powers and activate what I see as a brilliant medium for the local online community.

Local blogs are scanned for interesting and informative posts that are of value to readers. For years most of these posts went by unnoticed by the majority of local readers, because if you are not personally aware of the blog - you have no idea what's being posted.
But - through 30THREADS - that post is in the spotlight and available to readers who would never think to look for the blog it appears in.

Basically, Ginny and Wayne hand pick 30 posts from local blogs to showcase on the site. The posts are categorized and searchable - and even fed through RSS for your reading pleasure. There is no limit to the kind on innovation and progressive collaboration that can come from this.

If you're in the Raleigh / Durham area I highly suggest checking 30THREADS out. Even if you're not in the area, you'll find it a worthwhile add to your RSS reading list.

WHO - SENT - YOU!?!

2008-08-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Birthday parties for 5 year-olds are a blast.

Conor's went well, and my Mother was in town for the event too.

A couple notes:

1. it costs over $100 to buy themed party supplies - ouch

2. 5 year old boys can play nerf-gun war for days at a time without being bothered by lesser needs such as food or sleep

Here's pics

Wordle

2008-07-27T20:42:00.001-07:00

I love analyzing things.
And - I love software and or webapps that analyze things.

It's even better if that software or webapp spits out artistic results of what it analyzes, even if it's just counting words.

Wordle does just that - check it out - here's the Wordle for region/soil/clime:

I have no idea how or why I use the word "tree" so much.

Here's the Wordle for RTP Physec:

Some cool pictures - storm and bird's nest

2008-07-08T19:44:00.001-07:00

We always have storms, especially this time of year. But today, in the evening hours leading up to the storm the clouds were amazing.

The storm was pretty strong as well but I can't get over how beautiful the clouds were.

On another note:

The year we moved in to this house, we planted a river birch tree
near our property line drainage ditch. That was about 3 years ago, Conor and I were trimming up the low branches yesterday and found this bird's nest.
I'm not sure what kind of eggs they are, but they taste great! (kidding)

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-06T18:06:00.001-07:00

We did the 4th of July thing in Goldsboro this weekend. They were supposed to have a parade in the morning but way to early for us. But we did go downtown to the little festival they had... Let's just say it's a "cozy" event consisting of 2 or 3 craft booths (all selling purses), inflatable bouncy things for kids ($4 for all day!) and a clown making balloon animals.

There were however a few fire trucks but they pulled away as we arrived.

But we did have fun swimming and watching fireworks.
Conor took a ton of pictures with his own camera. It's a crappy little "kid's first digital camera" but they came out great.

Here are all the pics of the day.

You know - I'm not sure if the building's supposed to say "Court House" or something else but I just looked at that picture to the left and saw the first word is "COVRT" - weird - I'll have to look into that. It sure would suck if the city of Goldsboro commissioned a stone mason to carve "Court House" over the doors but they spelled it "Covrt House" and the city's been stuck with it.

"Forward Jebediah Springfiled, we must attack!"

The new era of customer service

2008-06-29T19:44:00.001-07:00

I still can't get over how web 2.0 has transformed everything.

Up to now I've had two cases where I've mentioned a problem with a web application over Twitter or Plurk and received communication directly from the application's developers.

To illustrate, I've gone through the long and painful process of capturing screenshots
from the most recent example:

A Twitter friend of mine was talking about a new feed reading interface that works seamlessly with Firefox and google reader. It's called Feedly.

I see this, and offer up my experience with Feedly:

One of the Feedly developers who's monitoring Twitter for use of his product sees the conversation and chimes in:

LATER THAT DAY - the developer let's me know that a feature has been added to address my problem:

Feedly is not some little web application that's made for a small niche audience, it's a major release that's intended to become one of the most widely used feed readers out there. And yet - because of web 2.0 components such as Twitter they can monitor their product's use and what's being said about it.

What's amazing here, is that developers have made a shift into actually communicating directly with the people they see talking about the product.

Why?

Well, even though this is a personal blog with very little readership - I'm writing about it. I'm talking about it over Twitter and Plurk and I'm just one of the people they've impressed. I'm willing to bet that at least one person reading this will check out Feedly - and maybe they'll talk about it as well.

That's why - you can't get any better than word of mouth.

Some of the major corperations have folks monitoring Twitter and Plurk as well as other social media outlets for this kind of thing. They have realized that here is an oppertunity to sit in and listen to conversations about their products or services and communicate with their customers - brilliant.

-From region/soil/clime

Not bad at all, even for a Friday

2008-05-30T20:26:00.001-07:00

Often times, I try to clear my schedule when my wife and/or son have doctor's appointments. It's a good opportunity to hang out at Duke and visit some of our favorite places.
But for an added bonus today, we stopped off at the NC Museum of Natural Science.
Conor and I have been a few times, but Jennifer had not been for many years so it was kind of an eye opener for her.

As many times as we've been to the chapel, I've never taken a picture
in the crypt. No specific reason, but I realized this today when I was
telling Conor about Terry Sanford again.

It's weird, but they hold children's church there during the services, and there's regular classes there as well.

It's hard for me to imagine going to Sunday school as a child and running around on top of dead people - let alone important dead people - but I guess you'd get used to it.

I could take pictures all day inside the chapel, but somehow I've neglected to capture one of my favorite angles.

There's something about walking in there that transports you from the middle of North Carolina into somewhere far away. I love how it can snap everything into perspective no matter what you've got going on in your life.

A little known spot next to the chapel used to hold a awkward tree. This marker on the ground reads:

"This tree was planted in November 2003 to replace the campus Christmas tree felled by Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 which replaced the tree felled by Hurricane Fran in September 1996"

I'm not sure if the most current tree was a victim of the recent wind storms or not, but I thought this was interesting. The spot is in a little courtyard to the South - East corner of the Chapel. The wind whips through that area because of the surrounding buildings so it's not surprising that the campus Christmas tree has had such bad luck.

For anyone who's never been to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, I highly recommend it. It's one of the best regional museums I've visited.

Here's a shot of the marine section from above.

It's a good mix of live specimens as well as fossilized and other displays.

So yeah, all and all a good day.

Rest of the pics here.
-From region/soil/clime

Twitter? - I don't even KNOW her!

2008-05-28T12:01:00.001-07:00

All sophomoric humor aside, I've been meaning to write about this and a few things for a little while now. And, now that I've got the sexy new ScribeFire extension for FF3 loaded, there's no time like the present.

I'm a tech junkie, always have been. From the day I figured out that we could use the new Macintosh computers they rolled into our high school to make fake ID's, I was hooked. I remember writing little bullshit programs to make the computer do basic tasks and thinking "there's GOT to be a better way". And that's pretty much been the theme of my online life, there's GOT to be a better way. Because of that, I find myself subscribing to all kinds of little services, programs and applications. Some end up kicking a truckload of ass, but most fall short of any real functionality. I've watched the web transform and grow over the last fifteen years, and been a part of it in some way - shape and/or form.

From the 1st generation of AIM to LiveJournal to Twitter, I've maintained a presence on the web.

When I saw Twitter, I was intrigued by the concept.
But like most things online, the true potential for something is not realized until users get involved and apply their own lives, work and uses into the mix. I'm not getting into the service issues, or the details of this web 2.0 phenomenon, but I will offer a few observations from my own life. I made an account months ago and it just sat. But recently I've become more involved and started using it on a daily basis. I've found it to be a benefit in many ways:

Professional (aside from overall networking):
A lot of my professional life has to do with technology. The folks I meet on and through Twitter are usually heavy users of technology and many of them are at the cutting edge of development. I get the inside scoop of what's going on, what methods are being used and insight into the inner-workings of the technology sector. It's a networking dream to be able to ask a question and instantly get advice from experts.

Generations change the way executive management thinks. I'm in the unique position of being a Generation Xr who started professional life under Vietnam era, old school leadership but I interact daily and work well with the Generation Yrs. A lot of my success is dependent on how well I can identify with the aging corporate leadership. That's changing, and as more and more Generation X and Yrs move into the corner offices with marble desks, they will trust and appreachate consultants who think the same way they do. This is not a driving factor in my decisions, but it is an added benifit.

The technology itself can be used in my professional life in may ways. It's even possable for me to make some money on this. Not just Twitter specifically but my knowledge of Twitter is a huge plus in the development process and Twitter is a component of many pet projects I'm working on.

Communications is the key to any operation, and the more flexable and robust your communications platform is - the better. 'nuff said.
Personal:
I'm a busy guy. With a full time job and numerious other projects I have to put a lot of effort into balencing work and family life. Social life falls to the wayside when you've got a little kid so it's difficult to maintain friendships and make new ones. Social media is a great help in this area and Twitter is the real-time thread that ties it all together.

The quality of friend/aquantence you end up is much better if you can peek into the person's mind before taking the plundge of getting involved (for lack of a better word) in their world. If I've decided to "follow" you, it's either because we know eachoter or - I've come across you and find you interesting, insightful, funny, smart or inspiring in some way.
And Twitter is just one "tool" in this wide spectrum of online life.

I use this blog to communicate with my friends and family all in one place. Instead of talking about something over and over again with people I care about - I can point them here to a place where I've laid out what I'm talking about (Like Twitter!). It may sound weird, but I predict all of us will hear, "check it out on my blog - I did a post about it" more and more in the future. It's convienent and effective and sustained. Plus, instead of going through all the trouble - friends of mine can just point people to a post here if they want to convey the same thing.

So, there's my little soapbox, unprovoked outburst for the week.
-From region/soil/clime

It's not you Sandy, ---- it's me.

2008-05-23T11:01:00.001-07:00

Her emails have been getting more and more desperate. It's like, she knows she's about to get the axe.

I "hired" Sandy months ago, and thought it would be a pretty good work relationship. Like many professionals, my employer cut out just about every administrative assistant position imaginable to "streamline" way back in the early '90s.

That left people like me high and dry. Technology makes it much easier to juggle a calender, tasks, projects and all the little fires the pop up - but hell.. it's easy to get overwhelmed. That's why when I saw her, and listened to how people described how effective she was, I thought "finally! in a digital age maybe I can have a digital assistant!"

Like most relationships, things started out fine. She learned my routine and kept me up to speed on things. As long as I CC'd her on messages and kept her in the loop - she made sure things were on my calender and remembered notes / names / numbers - etc..

But, eventually my erratic behaivor, lax attitude when it comes to routines and nosediving motivation levels wore down our relationship. She tried - don't get me wrong. Every morning I'd get her "Ahoy hoy, Shawn! Here's what you have going on today." messages but they became less and less relevant. I was giving her nothing to do - and she knew it.

Plus, I was secretly sending my work to the cow behind her back. I felt bad but it was just cleaner, easier and I had more control of things (when I wanted it).

So - it pains me to do this but today I'm going to have to let Sandy go. Maybe in a different time, different place she's be the perfect administrative assistant. But it's just not fair for me to hold her back. It's not you Sandy - it's me.
-From region/soil/clime

funny how memories go

2008-05-22T12:10:00.000-07:00
After frantically looking for chap-stick this morning, and resorting to a very old US Army issue stick of "Lipstick - Antichap Cold Climate", I remembered something.

They would give use these little comic books every month that were for preventative maintenance.
They were filled with little comic-style lessons in keeping your equipment in good working order. Often times, when problems were found with issued equipment - the solutions were published in the monthly comics to get the information right down to the "Joe" level.

Pretty smart if you ask me. It did not matter if you thought they were stupid, or if you felt like they were talking down to you and treating you like a child.. you always found yourself looking through them when you were sitting for hours waiting to do something.

I always imagined that they had a room full of young solders (that were getting booted out for drug use) drawing pictures of equipment.

Like, "here you go PVT Anderson, take this LSD and draw that M439k
firing pin retainer clip!"

-From region/soil/clime

Packaging Some Feeds - Just 4 U

2008-05-17T19:47:00.000-07:00
After I went over RSS feeds for a friend yet again (see my comprehensive overview here)
I decided it would be a good idea to "package" some feeds to make it easier for friends to use.

So - I tagged categories of feeds in Google Reader, and than shared that tag. Went to that shared tag's HTML page and threw that into a RSS feed. Put that RSS feed through Feedburner to make it easy to use/manage/track and volia!

So -
Here is the feed for all the items I choose to "share". This is a very filtered version of what I read everyday. Filtered to the point that it's only posts I think people who know me would be into. I have to physically "share" these on my reader and I can even add notes to them (finally-yeah Google Reader!). So, if you're new to feeds I'd definitely suggest subscribing to this one to get started. Or - if you're a friend of mine and want to call me out when I'm talking like I'm smart - this is the feed to do it.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/shawnfsharefeeds

I've also bundled a group of feeds from some of the most usefull blogs I subscribe to.
Feeds from Lifehacker, Engadget, MakeUseOf etc.. etc..
http://feeds.feedburner.com/shawnfsuggested

Here is a variation of that feed with some blogs and news specific to Raleigh / Durham,
so if you live in the Triangle area I'd suggest this one:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/shawnflocalsuggested

And of course, if you're a friend of mine and want to stay up to date with the little things I post here, you can subscribe to this blog as well:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/region-soil-clime

My professional blog is doing pretty well, better than I ever thought it would. I'm even getting a steady stream of emails from all over the world about it.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/RtpPhysec

"wouldn't it be cool if there were a service that would track all the online activity from a person and offer it up in a feed of it's own" - yeah it is cool - it's called FriendFeed
Users can plug in their blogs, and all other web social media they feel like sharing and this site pulls it all into one neat package. I've plugged in my blogs - twitter account - online photo sharing - digg - Youtube - LinkedIn - and my shared feed.
Here is my FriendFeed - I have not looked much for friends yet so if you're on it - subscribe to me so I know who you are.
http://friendfeed.com/sflaugher
-From region/soil/clime

Creep

2008-05-16T05:54:00.000-07:00
Not usually one to care much what people think -- but I'm doing a heck-of-a-lot of business type activity online now a days and I've probably got to start making sure to make the right impression.

I've been told that my basic user icon makes me look a little creepy - because it's got a child's face in front of mine.

It's my son, and in a way I've always seen it in terms of the duality of man - id/ego/superego and inner child type view.. but I can see how it may be viewed as something pretty bad.
So - why not ask people?
Honest impressions please!

Thanks

(and if you came from Twitter - damn... I leave out the link AND misspell relative.. not having the best morning)

Forex Poll
-From region/soil/clime

Ironman Tonight

2008-05-02T08:49:00.000-07:00
Going to see Ironman tonight with the wife and 4yo. I know it was probably a no-briner when they made the decision to use the Black Sabbath Iron Man song, but to me it's a little cheesy.

Anyway - here's the trailer:
If I had a workshop / lab like this guy - I'd rule the world!
-From region/soil/clime

Holy friggin' crap this made me laugh like a little kid

2008-04-23T11:21:00.000-07:00
It's slow at first but keep watching - warning - blood and gore

-From region/soil/clime

Cloned Detection Dogs in South Korea

2008-04-21T19:09:00.001-07:00
From Security Management

This didn't quite fit into RTP PhySec but I just had to post it somewhere.
Seems the South Koreans have paid a biotechnology company to clone one of their best dogs. Puppies are already showing promise.

I don't even know where to begin on this one - seems like there would be more money in cloning race horses or something.
-From region/soil/clime

Dear Thomas and Kelly

2008-04-16T12:24:00.001-07:00

Seriously- I feel terrible.
-From region/soil/clime

Nothing new, but good music anyway

2008-04-08T20:10:00.000-07:00
For no reason in-particular I switched up the songs on my Muxtape. Feel free to enjoy the "chillax mix"

Emily Haines - Bottom of the World
Band of Horses - The End's Not Near
Handsome Furs - What We Had
Beirut - Postcards From Italy
The Arcade Fire - Ocean of Noise
Interpol - Wrecking Ball
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
-From region/soil/clime

On the hunt for the perfect network drive

2008-04-07T19:26:00.001-07:00

I should say - perfect FREE network drive.
There is a lot to be said for moving your digital life to the cloud.

I'm even to the point now that when I start to write a new document - 9 out of 10 times I just go to Google Documents to start. The first time I was able to walk up to someone's computer in their office to show them what I was talking about on a document - it was all worth it. The idea your device - your data is shifting to your data - any device and I like it.

At work - we've got an insane amount of space on their servers for personal use. Full on FTP all the way to web hosting, it's all there. I'm spoiled for sure, but what happens if/when I leave there? I don't think they will let me keep my precious space out of the goodness of their hearts.
The beauty of that kind of space is mounting a drive securely though a system like AFS Client, and just saving docs to it or syncing to it. I can't tell you how many times I just threw a link into an email instead of attaching a document. If I decide to change something - I have to resend a document. If' it's stored on a server - I just change it and they have access to the change.

So - Microsoft has 5gb of free space on their Windows Live SkyDrive.
Not too shabby. The only catch is you have to use their lame 5 at a time upload dialog unless you use IE and their ActiveX add-on. I don't use IE (Firefox baby) so I'm stuck browsing for files one at a time....... bah.
To their credit, their web based controls are pretty sweet - and it's pretty easy to make files accessible to anyone but is it really worth it?

Then - there's the little thing called "Turning your gmail account into a virtual drive."
The above link gets you set up on either a windows or linux machine pretty nicely. It's very easy to have the virtual drive mounted - save to it etc... But there's one catch -- no good way to share documents. I've got it set up and am using it for my own stuff but without being able to share from it I don't know how long it will last. There is rumors of Google coming out with GDrive - (a google virtual drive) and if it's as good as their other webapps - hold on to your hats. Until then - I'm still looking for the perfect solution. I know there are lots of services out there that give you free space but I'm worried about reliability.
-From region/soil/clime