GSpace add-on for Firefox stores in Gmail

Got a Google GMail account?  Okay, then are you using all the space they give you?  Not yet?

Then consider this Firefox browser add-on called GSpace which lets you FTP through Firefox and store files in there.

“Gspace is the FON friendly site that provides FREE Online Storage to access your files everywhere. Gspace turns the 2GB of your Gmail account into free online storage. With Gspace you can manage unlimited Gmail accounts to store all type of files within its simple, user friendly interface. Listen your favourite stored music directly from your Gspace, view your collections of pictures and manage your Gdrive files as well. Download Gspace now and transfer files between your computer and Gspace at anytime, from everywhere!”

Recommended by PC Magazine, April 2008.

GMX - free email, not a sports car

GMX offers a free email service, which appears comparable to Google’s GMail.

• Unprecedented Spam Protection
• Maximum Virus Protection
• 5 GB E-Mail Storage Space

In addition, GMX Mail supports POP3, IMAP and SMTP protocols, as well as mobile device integration.  GMX respects our customers’ privacy and does not transfer any data to third party companies.

They also offer online file storage.

For an objective opinion, try the About.com review.

PassPack for online password management

PassPack bills itself as a free online password manager.

“Think of it as a password manager, automatic login and personal vault all in one. With PassPack you can quickly login to websites, as well as organize and store logins and private notes. Save up to 100 entries for free!”

Can PassPack read my passwords? Not even if we wanted to. It’s not possible. PassPack stores your locked pack for you without knowing what’s inside. PassPack can not unlock your private data. Only you can, with your Packing Key.

Is PassPack just for passwords? It’s your account, use it for whatever you want: Frequent Flyer miles, registration numbers, travel plans, notes, or even just links that you’d like to keep private (please, no financial data). You can find more examples in our ideas page.

Is PassPack portable? PassPack follows you everywhere. It’s available 24/7 via internet. You can access your passwords from home, from work, at the library, or anywhere else. There is nothing to install, and no USB keychain needed.

As always, use such services at your own risk, but it might be useful to have access to your information from anyplace you can access the Internet.

Safe Deposit Box goes online

Remember “safe deposit boxes”, those little lockers in the bank vault where your parents kept the deed to the house, everyone’s birth certificates, stuff like that?

Now you can keep stuff online.  It might not be considered valid in the eyes of the law, but it will keep your information available.  Keepyousafe.com has free safe deposit boxes online for your files.

Why would I need an Online Safe Deposit Box? What if you were traveling and lost your wallet, itinerary or passport? KeepYouSafe.Com gives you a private place to keep copies of this important information so that your trip isn’t ruined.

What does this cost? Your KeepYouSafe.Com Online Safe Deposit Box is free.

How do you keep the contents of my safe deposit box secure? We use many methods to provide the most secure possible environment for your data. All of the information contained inside each Online Safe Deposit Box is encrypted - that is, encoded so that only the person(s) with a key (password) to that specific box can view its contents. We use the same encryption technology (256 bit AES) that the military employs to protect top secret data.

But couldn’t malicious hackers still somehow manage to access my personal information? Your personal information simply couldn’t be safer than it is in your Online Safe Deposit Box. Our staff of certified security professionals continually monitors public, private and government security alerts to ensure we are aware of all emerging and new security threats before these threats ever have a chance to affect our network or servers. We regularly audit the security of our systems using industry approved manual and automated methods.  Additionally, network security audit firm ScanAlert performs exhaustive tests on our systems every day. The “Hacker Safe” mark that appears on our website means the site is free of all known vulnerabilities that can be remotely scanned for — the vulnerabilities that are exploited in 99.99% of all hacker attacks.

As always, be careful what kind of information you store online with anyone, depending on how much you can trust them and their security.  However, for travel, this could be helpful.

Online storage sites - some pay, some free

[updated 2008/6/23]

It costs to store, but some online storage sites will allow you to keep some files there for free. They hope that you’ll eventually decide to pay for more space. These are only a few of the many places available which have been recommended.

PCWorld has an article on free and low-cost online storage sites.

• MediaMax free 25GB (that’s GIGAbytes), plus a downloadable utility for automatic PC backups and synchronization. Download/share up to 1GB a month, files up to 10MB large. Greater capacities for paid accounts. Recommended Smart Computing.
• znail Free 5MB of storage with registration; more space for small donation. Accessible from any Internet computer. You can also store your web bookmarks here to access them from anywhere online. Recommended by PC Annoyances
• DataDepositBox Buy any amount of storage for 1 cent per megabyte. Recommended by Smart Computing.
• 4shared.com offers 5GB (that’s GIGAbytes) of free storage, maximum file size 25MB, password protected if you like.
• Windows Live Skydrive has 5GB free storage.
• Xdrive has 5GB of free online storage.

Remember: it may not be wise to store confidential information using online storage, whether you pay or not. Check the site’s policy. Also, such sites are subject to court orders or subpoenas for your stored information.