SKY DRIVE

[The Reverend 48]

Like quite a few others I am trying to prepare for Armaggedon
I have opened a sky drive account could  users give us the benifit of the pros cons and pitfalls
I don't understand this changing URLs if they do surely it doesn't suit us........

[64Guitars]

Pros: 25 GB of free storage. That's great for collaborations because you can upload large WAV files which others can import to their BR without the loss of quality associated with MP3s.

Cons: You can't link directly to a single file stored at SkyDrive. Well, you can, but the link changes every day, which makes it unsuitable for our MP3 player gadget.

There is a consistent URL you can post for an individual song. For example:

http://cid-52a6148709dc572e.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Dr64.mp3

This looks like a direct link to an MP3 file. However, it's actually a link to a SkyDrive web page rather than a direct link to the MP3 file. So it won't work with the MP3 player. Instead, people have to go to the SkyDrive page and download the song.

[Wiley]

Hey Mike,
Wasn't there a place called box net or something. Where you put all the test results that time. Would that place work?

[SteveB]

Well if it DOES come to having to have an external individual host. Can a link for the, for instance, SkyDrive page, not be put at the bottom of the Poster's page a la SoundClick, MySpace etc? And as songs are uploaded, a thread in the revelant BR section here to announce what the song is, the lyrics etc?

[Geir]

I think my link in this post works:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4838.msg59452#msg59452

[64Guitars]

Well if it DOES come to having to have an external individual host. Can a link for the, for instance, SkyDrive page, not be put at the bottom of the Poster's page a la SoundClick, MySpace etc? And as songs are uploaded, a thread in the revelant BR section here to announce what the song is, the lyrics etc?

Sure. But I think that a lot of people won't bother going to the SkyDrive/SoundClick/MySpace page. The Mp3 player gadget is key to getting your song heard. It's easy. Just click the Play button and the song starts playing without leaving the BossBR.net page or downloading anything.

A couple of potential alternatives to SkyDrive are Dropbox and Ubuntu One. They only give you 2GB of storage for free, but that should be enough for about 400 MP3s (at an average of 5MB per song). They work by creating a special folder on your hard drive. Anything placed in that folder is automatically uploaded to the site by a sync agent that runs in the background and monitors the folder. So they're very convenient to use.

I haven't tried these yet, so I can't say if they'll allow linking to our MP3 player. But, based on what they say on their websites, it looks promising.

The Dropbox website says:

"Dropbox designates a unique internet link to each file in your Dropbox Public folder. You can send these links to anyone by pasting them into your emails, instant messages, web pages... Any method you like.

Put the file you want to share in the Public folder of your Dropbox."

But I'm not sure if it gives you a link to a webpage (like SkyDrive) or a direct link to the file.

And Ubuntu One's website says:

"Will public linking be possible?

We are definitely going to add this functionality in the not too distant future as it's a popular request."

If anyone tries one of these services, please let us know if it works.

[64Guitars]

I think my link in this post works:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4838.msg59452#msg59452

Yes. But try it again in 24 hours and I think you'll find that the MP3 player no longer works because Microsoft has changed the URL of your file.

[SteveB]

A couple of potential alternatives to SkyDrive are...They only give you 2GB of storage for free, but that should be enough for about 400 MP3s (at an average of 5MB per song)...

64 - Does this mean that our esteemed Proggers really will be able to do 20-minute solos on a couple of spoons?

[Bluesberry]

I was thinking the same thing Steve, spoons, what a great idea, how about digital spoons?  I may get my 40 minute prog epic done yet!!!

[SteveB]

I was thinking the same thing Steve, spoons, what a great idea, how about digital spoons?  I may get my 40 minute prog epic done yet!!!

Way to go, BB. But seriously, the thing is, as far as I can see, the individual song isn't limited to 5mb etc on some of these sites. Therefore, no time limit on yer Prog epic!!