Top 5 Cloud Storage Services To Backup Your Data

With the advent of cloud servers and cloud storage, it has become easier than ever before to have a backup of all your significant files online. You can be self-assured about the security of your vital files and the ease of accessing them from anywhere in the world at anytime. Cloud Storage Services such as DropBox, Google Drive, One Drive, and Box provides plenty of storage space to backup your data at absolutely no cost. Listed below are the top 5 cloud storage services as compiled by Tech Advisor

Dropbox

Dropbox is a file hosting service that provides users with file synchronization, client software and cloud storage facilities. This service is offered on client software for Mac OS X, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Blackberry OS, iOs, Android, and window phones.

Dropbox enables the user to create local folders on their computer which can be synchronized with an online version so that the user can access the data even offline. The offline editing feature of Dropbox provides an option of making select files offline and the files appear online as soon as you place it in the Dropbox folder. This free account comes with 2GB of storage, and for those who want more can opt for paid accounts with price ranges of $10 per month for 100GB and $50 per month for 500GB. Dropbox also offers 500MB of additional storage for each person you get to sign up to the account, with a limit of 16GB.

Security features include two-step authentication and an AES 256-bit encryption for all files held on the Dropbox server.

Google Drive

Google Drive is file synchronization and storage service provided by Google enabling file sharing, cloud storage and collaborate editing. Google offers an initial 15 GB of storage space, which is shared across three services such as Google Drive, Gmail and Google Plus. For an additional storage, the 15GB storage can be upgraded using monthly paid subscription plan.

Google Drive works by creating a local folder on your device which is synced with a duplicate cloud version. Files are saved to the user’s computer in the forms of HTML, PDF, Microsoft Office, and Text. In order to avoid losing data, files are saved automatically to Google’s server and a revision history is also set automatically to view previous edits. Files can be archived and tagged for organizational use. This service is supported on the new version of Firefox, Internet explorer, safari and chrome running on Windows, Apple OS X, Linux operating systems.

The stored data on the drive is encrypted in 128-bit AES rather than 256-bit employed by Dropbox, Onedrive and Box. Google states that it won’t interfere into the Drive folder content, until it’s not forced by law enforcement agencies and two- step verification can also be added to the account for adding another layer of security.

BOX

Box is an online data sharing and content management service. Box enables the users to store their data online so that they can access, share and manage them anywhere. This service is accessible for iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows phone. Box provides 10 GB of free storage, but to obtain 50 GB of free storage the users need to download Apple iOS version of their app.

The web portal enable users to create new files in MS Office, Google Docs or web based formats, which can be edited in Box using a free downloadable plug in.

The entire documents can be assigned tasks and comments from the main page, which will be very effective while you start collaborating with others. General security of the Box is standard 256-bit encryption on the servers, with SSL for data in transit.

One Drive

OneDrive functionalities are similar to Dropbox, with apps available for Mac, Android, Windows and iOS. Microsoft also offers 500MB of free storage for each person you get to sign up to the account. An additional 3GB storage is also offered, if OneDrive is linked to the mobile phone camera. Microsoft’s syncing and back up service is flexible and is integrated with Office apps, both installed and on the web.

Anyone who has already signed up for a Hotmail, Live, or Outlook.com can get a free OneDrive account. OneDrive offers online storage accessible from the web, if you need an access to documents or media files. If you need the same files to be replicated on multiple computers, it offers folder syncing. For Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone users, it backs up settings.

OneDrive enables the Windows users to upload images and videos taken with their phone’s camera to OneDrive's camera roll, so that images are quickly available online. OneDrive boasts app for not only Windows 7 and 8, but for iOS, Android and Mac OS X as well. A mobile web interface is available for other mobile platforms such as Blackberry. For desktop access, if you are not at your PC, a full feature web app is available.

Apple iCloud

If you are an iOS user, you can set up this free iCloud account. As Google Drive is integrated with Google features, so is Apple’s iCloud with iOS functions and features. This service provides the user with 5 GB of free storage. Similar to all other cloud storage services, iCloud also enables the user to store and access files, music, photos and more. iCloud offers an integrated email client, address book and calendar that users can keep synced with all their iCloud compatible phones.

The latest Add on to iCloud is iWork, which is now available for free via their website. The three apps such as Keynote, numbers and pages boast clean interface and sync with corresponding apps on your Mac or iOS phone. These apps enable the users to create word docs, presentations and spreadsheets, while iCloud keeps the files updated on the web and device.

10 Top Reasons For the Preference of Android OS Over Apple's iOS 7

In the mobile market a cold war is going on among Android and iOS for outright supremacy. Android’s success is mainly based on the sales as well as its device options. Even though iOS platform is well built and its security is top-notch, Apple’s iOS is not held in such high regard. Apple’s software has high quality that can be compared to Android but it lacks many features that users find on Android. Nowadays a strong reason is required for the user to select an Android device over an iOS one. Here is a list of ten reasons due to which Android beats iOS as compiled by Business Insider:

1. Customization:

  

   Android includes the option to customize your Smartphone according to     your taste. You can change your default home screen with vibrant themes. Jelly Bean 4.3 enables you to make different accounts which containing selected apps. This comes in handy when you have kids who get their hands on your handset. In comparison, iOS doesn’t offer customizing option to their users.

2.Sharing Option:

        In Android sharing option is made easier with its wide range of applications, but in iOS sharing is more limited. While Android users can share things through installed app like Mail, Whats App, and WeChat, iOS user have only some basic options like Text, E-mail, Facebook, Flicker and Twitter. The sharing ability of Android enables the user to try out many sharable Apps that are available in Google Play Store. Android with its endless sharing option is the king in sharing domain.

3.Notification:

     Even if iOS 7 has restored its Notification Centre, Android is still better. If you see any updates on Android notification drawer, you can respond to it without opening the app. In comparision, iOS 7 only display notifications like SMS or mail, and you have to open the app to see the notification.

4.Third-party Software Keyboards:

         

    Android has more options inkeyboard which is not available on iOS. While iOS users depend on default keyboards, Android users can replace the default key board with third party keyboards from Play Store. All Android Jelly Bean versions can have this third party keyboards that are very easy to use and self explanatory.

 

5.Visible File System:

    As soon as you plug Android device to your PC, a file system will appear on the screen as if you have plugged a memory device. This makes the file transfer easier from one folder to another folder. But iOS device does not give this type of access to all your files. Apple has very tedious method of converting files to the compatible form before they are transferred on to iOS.

6.Multimedia Ease:

       Apple device requires iTunes to load songs to its music player, but Android never cares about the source of the music. Android has music players like Play Music and Power Amp, but even with all the features iOS requires iTunes. Similarly iOS needs iPhoto to access your photo and totransfer them. But Android does not require any software for converting photo or downloading songs.

7.Images with Contact List:

       Android will automatically select images for your contacts from email accounts. This helps you to see your friend’s images on your virtual contact list than it is with iOS7.

8.Google Now Trumps Siri:

         Google is the giant search engine that everyone uses for surfing. Google is extremely fast and can parse web sites to find out significant information. On the contrary, Siri will automatically search in Microsoft’s Bing and not in Google. So Siri is better than Google when it comes to ‘assistant’ commands which is mostly used when you want to organize an internal calendar event.

9.Applications:    

Both operating systems include applications that are similar. For instance, signing into Gmail account on iOS gives the same experience as it does on Android. If you are a Gmail user it is better to consider Android, as Google apps work much better on Android than on iOS. As Android boasts a default Gmail account, it is not possible to configure default Gmail account on iOS. Moreover it does not pull in email ID of people you have contacted before. Even though Gmail app is available for download on iOS, it does not run smoothly as on the Android.

10.Unlock Options:

     In Android device, you can unlock the phone to any app you want.,For instance, unlocking can be done from menus likecontacts, messages, camera by using a single unlocking swipe. Even if the finger print scanner on iOS is good enough, it does not have unlock options like Android.

 

The fast booming Information Technology has left open a wide opportunity in the field of software and its related products and services. The software industry is touted to be one of the highest paying industries, making programmers the richest among the lot. Even though you are not a techie, the knowledge of a programming language can certainly be an added merit on your resume. Listed below are the top 10 programming languages one must try to learn in 2014 as compiled by Mashable.

 

#10 Java

 

Developed in 1990 by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems, Java is purely an object-oriented programming language. It is intended to let application developers "write once, run anywhere" (WORA),  making the program to run on other platform without recompilation. Being used as a standard for enterprise software, web-based content, games, mobile apps, and Android operating system, the demand for Java programming language has increased in leaps and bounds.

 

#9 HTML/CSS

 

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is a markup language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web and is the core technology of the Internet. HTML elements form the building blocks of all websites. The programming language allows embedding of images and objects, and can be used to create interactive forms.

               Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML, but the language can also be applied to any kind of XML document, including plain XML, SVG and XUL. With tablets, Smartphones and cloud-hosted services becoming widespread, the importance of the Web grows along with it.

#8 Python

With less complex codes, Python can be easily learned by a beginner. This particular language is used in writing scripts for websites and mobile apps. Stand alone and executable programs can be compiled using python with assistance from third party tools. Some of the web apps and internet platforms that use Python include Instagram, Pinterest Google, Yahoo! and NASA.

  

 

#7 PHP

 

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. PHP is now installed on more than 244 million websites and 2.1 million web servers. High-speed scripting with caching, augmented compiling code plug-ins is what makes the future of the language. High-profile sites including Facebook, Wikipedia and Wordpress run on PHP.

#6 SQL

SQL is the world's most widely used open source relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. The SQL phrase stands for Structured Query Language. The programming language was developed in 1980 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The scope of SQL includes data insert, query, update and delete, modification, and data access control.

#5 Objective-C

Objective-C was created first by Brad Cox and Tom Love at their company Stepstone in the early 1980s. It is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. The language is now mostly used in Apple iOS and Mac OS X and is of great demand.

#4 JavaScript

JavaScript is an object-oriented scripting language that is smaller than Java. Being a client-side language, it runs in the web browser on the client-side with a simplified set of commands, easier code and no need for compilation. It is used in millions of web pages to authenticate forms, detect browsers and improve design. Some of the applications that contain JavaScript embedded codes include chrome extensions, Apple's Safari extensions, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe's Creative Suite.

 

#3 C++

C++ is a general purpose multi-paradigm spanning compiled language that has both high-level and low-level language features. It was started as an enhancement to the C programming language in 1979. With application domains including systems software, application software, server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games The programming language has proved itself really powerful with applications including domains related to software, server and client and entertainment. Firefox, Winamp and most of the Adobe programs are coded on C++.

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#2 Visual Basic

This is an event-driven programming language that is implemented on Microsoft’s .Net framework. Released in 1991, the developers intend Visual Basic to be relatively easy to learn and use. The programming language enables the development of graphical user interface (GUI) applications, access to databases, Remote Data Objects, and creation of ActiveX controls and objects.

 #1 C language

C, a general purpose programming language built in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie when he was a part of Bell Telephone labs, is the bass of C++ and other programming languages. C is one of the most widely used programming languages and the syntax of Java and C# is derived from it. Its efficient design construct use machine instructions, and therefore applications that had formerly been coded in assembly language could be run on C compiler. C has facilities for structured programming and allows lexical variable scope and recursion and C compilers work seamlessly with majority of available computer architectures and operating systems.