Has dropbox’s reign finally started to decline? We’ve all heard and/or experienced their lack of security, and it seems others have stepped up with their own versions. Some already launched, some still in open beta.
Take a look and see for yourself if any of these options can replace your dependance on dropbox:

Minus
This is an open-sourced application that is almost identical to dropbox however it initially gives you 10 gigs, the source-code is hosted on github, has an iPhone, Android and browser apps and uses encryption up the wazoo. It also allows you to share your files in a global directory or keep them private for only those who you give the url to. Ohh, did i forget to mention you can upload up to 2 gigs per file? It’s definitely a huge condenser in this match.

SugarSync
Once again similar to dropbox, it’s made to sync files across all platforms from a cloud-hosted source. This gives you a free 5 gig account to play with but unlike dropbox, it has a built-in music player for any media files uploaded. It also has apps for just about every phone OS on the market as well as automatic sync apps you can install on your desktop. Sadly it only lets you share files that are no bigger than 25megabytes at a time.

Sparkleshare
This is not just a web-hosted service, but rather an open-source, github hosted platform that allow you to host your own version of the dropbox service. Not only that but there are already builds out for just about every type of software/server/OS. Every interaction with the service is encrypted (unlike dropbox) and you can even use github as a share instead of a server.

ownCloud
This is yet another self-hosted cloud sync service, though it uses WebDAV access, slows for OpenID authentication and also can sync between multiple servers (i.e. you can literally create your own cloud). It also has functionality in place for user and group access, streaming, and is current working on the next version which will include bookmark & calendar syncing as well. Should be interesting once it’s finished.

LIBOX
This is currently already in production, its a web-hosted file sharing site with NO SIZE limitations on the media you upload to share…it also can sync to most platforms and just about every mobile device. Some what cool, check it out. Completely 100% free.

iFolder
Here’s another self-hosted version, though it lets you use multiple servers that sync creating as big of a cloud as you’d like to connect your devices to in order to sync. It also allows for users to have multiple folders, enabling different users access to different material shared, including the ability to give users disk quotas (i.e multi-level administration). It can be installed on any server with openLDAP and viewed from just about anywhere.

There are just a few of many new ways you can achieve the same type of file synchronization that dropbox has enabled us, just some with added bonuses and encryption.

Running your website or app off a small VPS or old computer? Want to speed up load times? Google can help! Today Google released a new apache module called mod_pagespeed that implements over 15 server optimizations that supposedly can reduce page load times by up to 50%! Some important features of mod_pagespeed are an improved optimized cache as well as minimized payload size and a reduced number of client-server round trips. This is ideally aimed at small businesses and those hosting on low/shared resources, perfect for any DIY developer (or even small hosting company) however Google has already been working with huge tech companies to implement the module on an enterprise level.

Big services like GoDaddy.com and the Cotendo CDN have already implemented the module on their own networks of servers.

Here’s a side-by-side video comparison of the Google Adsense blog with and without mod_pagespeed:

It was a piece of cake to install, just follow the instructions on the official Google Code page for mod_pagespeed.

While there are probably a good number of apps that I use on a daily basis, there are only a few dvelopement companies behind these tools that I actually have a strong admiration/nerd-crush for. One of these companies is Panic, creator of my all-time favorite FTP client and Web Development tools Transmit & Coda. On their blog they typically show-off upcoming features, status updates on various projects and just all-around random shit that they find interesting online. Trust me, while it’s definitely a company blog they’ve got a loyal following thanks to the interesting posts that pepper the typical product/marketing dev. updates. This is a prime example. They just posted a pic/feature-list on a new project that they’ve been working on that’s an easy-to-digest project status-board, or as they’ve called it “the panic board.” Primarily using AJAX this status board will give any team member privy to their internal network a one-screen update on where in the development cycles any number of projects might be in. Not only that but according to the blog it also incorporates streaming twitter updates, email announcements, the company calendar and even the local Tri-Met Bus Arrival calendar for employees who rely on the bus to get to and from work (hey, they’ve got an API, why not use it?!). The blog post then goes on to make any data nerd squeal with the admission that they’re using a 46″ Samsung LCD Video Wall Display to keep the team within eyeshot of the status board. Very cool.

Now by no means is this the first or even one of the first examples of global ‘status board’ type pages that have been setup for both internal and external use. One of my favorite examples of a public project status page is the one featured on the right in the header image, found over on the Culture Code company website. These are the guys behind the OSX & iPhone to-do application called “Things.” They’ve created a project status page in the form of an airport arrival/departure screen. What’s cool about this is as the user you’re able to see not only the status on various product updates, but also see who in the company is working on that particular issue and when they last updated the sheet.

Other notable one-page project update tools is one recently put in place by the Boulder office of ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, shown below.

It’s a quick way of seeing how far along any given project is in the office, sorting by account, due date, job-type, Creative Director or Producer assigned to the piece. It’s also got a status bar so if you’re across the room you can see at a glance whether or not something has already started (or is about to be finished). They apparently have this sucker projected on the main wall in the inner-depths of the office. Having been forced to deal with so many archiac ways of managing projects at advertising agencies, this is definitely a step in the right direction (if you’re a project manager/producer/in the traffic dept.). I’m sure the creatives will hate this visual reminder of what work they haven’t done yet….so bonus points are awarded there. What it needs though is some color, maybe even little avatars/graphics to help people find specific types of projects without having to scan the entire board…just a thought.

Now you can track all your twitter movements automatically with the latest FREE research tool just released by FlowingData. Appropriately named your.flowingdata, it’s only a quick 2 minute setup and then the webapp will start collecting all of your twitter data for you to later explore with built-in tools that resemble IBM’s Many Eyes dashboard. As with any behavioral analysis tool, the more data you have the better the results will be so I can easily see this tool being widely used by researchers and interactive planners alike for a seriously long time (I wonder if they have any personal database limitations that would prevent one infinite 365 day data-stream?). Worried about exposing your private twitter habits? Have no fear my friend, all the data collected is automatically set to ‘private.’ If at a later date you’d like to release it to the masses then that’ll be up to you, but for all you tin-foil hat wearing twitter users – you’re secrets are still safe.

Here are some screen shots showing a sampling of the reports that are built-in to the dashboard, they look amazing!

Like Guitar Hero but wish you could play it at work without your boss catching you air-guitaring in the break room? Now you can with the recently opened beta online game JamLegend.com!

Pretty much it’s guitar hero meets the keyboard….even allowing you to change up which keys are assigned to which strings, enable or disable having to strum & it even gives you the option to disable 3+ note chords (for the weaksauce soft-rockers). They’ve come up with a way where you can use your keyboard (this is where a wireless keyboard is strongly suggested) similar to how you’d hold the console-version plastic guitars….though if you’re at work I would recommend you not playing in this fashion as it may draw unneeded attention from coworkers.

You can play against the computer, be auto-matched against another online player or even challenge other users and friends to duels/showdowns (A duel lets you take a high score and challenge a user to match or beat it, a showdown allows for real-time multiplayer matches). In addition to achievements there are levels, XP earned/lost as well as a rapidly growing list of songs. Want to hear the song you and your drunk friends recorded on the site? Not a problem – they’re actively seeking new material, all the artist has to do is fill out a short form agreeing to allow their material to appear on the site.

Already have a guitar controller and want to use it with JamLegend.com? No Problem! They’ve got a wiki with instructions for how to use your Wii, PS2/PS3 and even Xbox260 controllers with your computer….so if nosy bosses aren’t a problem feel free to rock away on your fake plastic guitars against other online players in a fight to top the charts as the JamLegend superstar!

Anyhow, there you go – the latest site to take up all the time I should be spending on writing new posts…Enjoy!