# dropbox Published articles for dropbox. This is one page of public article previews, not the complete archive. Follow Next page to continue. Summaries are not the original full articles. ## Dropbox Evolves Riviera Content Processing Platform to Support AI Workloads DevFeed: [Dropbox Evolves Riviera Content Processing Platform to Support AI Workloads]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Leela Kumili Published: 2026-09-16T14:42:00Z Content type: news Language: en Sources: [InfoQ]() Topics: [dropbox](), [Artificial Intelligence](), [API](), [Orchestration](), [Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)]() Tags: [ai](), [ai-ml-data-engineering](), [apache](), [apis](), [architecture](), [architecture-design](), [asynchronous-architecture](), [backend](), [caching](), [data-pipelines](), [development](), [distributed-systems](), [dropbox](), [dropbox-riviera-ai-platform](), [embeddings](), [enterprise-content-management](), [large-language-models](), [ml-data-engineering](), [model-context-protocol-mcp](), [news](), [orchestration](), [platform-engineering](), [plugins](), [rag](), [tika]() ### AI overview Dropbox has expanded Riviera from an internal file-preview service into a content-processing platform supporting more than 300 file formats and over 100 transformation capabilities. The platform supports Dropbox products including Search, Replay, Sign, and Dash, and provides APIs for asynchronous document conversion, media transcription, and structured metadata extraction for AI and RAG workflows. ### Source excerpt Dropbox has evolved Riviera from a file preview service into a universal content processing platform supporting more than 300 file formats and over 100 transformation capabilities. Processing hundreds of thousands of transformations per second, Riviera now supports Search, Replay, Sign, and Dash, while its APIs enable asynchronous content extraction for AI and RAG workflows. By Leela Kumili ## Dropbox Outlines How Focusing on Existing Infrastructure Efficiency Can Create Headroom for AI DevFeed: [Dropbox Outlines How Focusing on Existing Infrastructure Efficiency Can Create Headroom for AI]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Matt Foster Published: 2026-09-16T07:15:00Z Content type: news Language: en Sources: [InfoQ]() Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](), [cloud-infrastructure](), [Magic Pocket](), [data centers](), [networking]() Tags: [ai](), [ai-architecture](), [ai-ml-data-engineering](), [capacity](), [cloud](), [data-center](), [data-storage](), [devops](), [dropbox](), [dropbox-datacenter](), [efficiency](), [infrastructure](), [infrastructure-optimisation](), [magic-pocket](), [ml-data-engineering](), [networking](), [news](), [optimization](), [storage](), [sustainable-computing]() ### AI overview Dropbox describes how long-running infrastructure optimization helps it accommodate growing AI demand by improving forecasting, fleet utilization, storage density, hardware lifecycles, and rack-level power delivery. Its storage infrastructure has used more than 50% less power per petabyte since 2020. ### Source excerpt Dropbox has outlined how a decade of infrastructure optimization is helping it absorb growing demand from AI without treating new data-center capacity as the only answer. Its work spans forecasting, fleet utilization, storage density, hardware lifecycles, and rack-level power delivery, much of it predating the current AI boom. By Matt Foster ## Security Week 2637: взлом Dropbox через Lenovo ID DevFeed: [Security Week 2637: взлом Dropbox через Lenovo ID]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Kaspersky\_Lab ("Лаборатория Касперского") Published: 2026-09-07T20:01:45Z Content type: news Language: ru Sources: ["Лаборатория Касперского" RU]() Topics: [Security](), [dropbox](), [Google Chrome](), [V8](), [OpenAI](), [WordPress](), [migration]() Tags: [chrome](), [dropbox](), [google-chrome](), [id](), [lenovo](), [news](), [openai](), [security](), [sql](), [tag-9fe8963de219](), [v8](), [wordpress]() ### AI overview A weekly security roundup reports that several thousand Dropbox accounts were compromised through flawed Lenovo ID authorization. It also covers ValleyRAT spyware, a Google Chrome V8 vulnerability, OpenAI agents making changes outside a test environment, Plex updates, and a WordPress plugin SQL injection. ### Source excerpt Как стало известно на прошлой неделе, несколько тысяч учетных записей в сервисе Dropbox были взломаны в период с 4 по 21 августа. Взлом стал возможен из-за некорректной авторизации при использовании стороннего идентификатора Lenovo ID. Как выяснилось позднее, ошибка на стороне Lenovo позволяла зарегистрировать учетную запись на произвольный почтовый адрес, а потом использовать ее для доступа к учетке с тем же электронным адресом в Dropbox. Dropbox отреагировала на инцидент, принудительно разлогинив всех пользователей, использовавших Lenovo ID в качестве метода авторизации. Также было добавлено обязательное требование ввода пароля непосредственно для учетной записи Dropbox. Читать далее ## How Dropbox Uses Figma Weave to Create Higher-Fidelity User Personas DevFeed: [How Dropbox Uses Figma Weave to Create Higher-Fidelity User Personas]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Mallory Dean Published: 2026-06-10T17:23:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Figma Blog]() Topics: [Figma](), [Template](), [Generative AI](), [User Stories]() Tags: [designer](), [dropbox](), [figma](), [generative-ai](), [user-stories]() ### AI overview A Dropbox product designer uses Figma Weave to add realistic, higher-fidelity visuals to Ideal Customer Profiles. The article describes how generated media helped make personas more useful for storytelling and strategy. ### Source excerpt Lead Product Designer at Dropbox Sara Clayton used Figma Weave to add dimension to an Ideal Customer Profile in under two minutes. Steal her template to make your users feel real. ## How Dropbox leverages testing to maintain high level of trust at scale DevFeed: [How Dropbox leverages testing to maintain high level of trust at scale]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Jose Alcérreca Published: 2025-04-23T17:26:09Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Android Developers - Medium]() Topics: [dropbox](), [Testing](), [Android](), [test](), [engineering-culture]() Tags: [android](), [automated](), [case-study](), [dropbox](), [e2e-testing](), [engineering](), [engineering-culture](), [featured](), [quality](), [testing]() ### AI overview This article describes how Dropbox evolved its Android testing strategies to maintain user trust and timely feedback at scale. It discusses the testing pyramid, automated and end-to-end testing, Android integration, and the costs of an early monolithic app structure. ### Source excerpt This is part 2 of the Testing at scale series of articles where we asked industry experts to share their testing strategies. In this article, Ryan Harter, Staff Engineer at Dropbox, shares how the shape of Dropbox's testing pyramid changed over time, and what tools they use to get timely feedback. With more than one billion downloads, the Dropbox app for Android has to maintain a high quality bar for a diverse set of use cases and users. With less than 30 Android engineers, manual testing and #yolo isn't enough to maintain confidence in our codebase, so we employ a variety of different testing strategies to ensure we can continually serve our users needs. Since Dropbox makes it easy to access your files across all of your devices, the Android app has to support viewing as many of those files as possible, including media files, documents, photos, and all of the variations within these categories. Additionally, features like Camera Uploads, which automatically backs up all of your most important photos, require deep integration with the Android OS in ways that have changed significantly over the years and across Android versions. All of this needs to continually work for our users, without them having to worry about the complexity, because the last thing anyone wants is to worry that they might lose their data. While the size and distribution of the Android team at Dropbox has changed throughout the years, it's imperative that we're able to consistently build and refine features within the app while maintaining the level of trust from our users that we've become known for. To help underscore how Dropbox has been able to foster that trust, I'd like to share some ways that our testing strategies have changed over the years. How it started While automated testing has always been an important part of engineering culture at Dropbox, it hasn't always been easy on Android. Years ago Dropbox invested in testing infrastructure that leaned heavily on End-to-End (E2E) testing. B ## Why Dropbox Built the Robinhood Load Balancer DevFeed: [Why Dropbox Built the Robinhood Load Balancer]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Richard Oliver Bray Published: 2024-12-11T14:01:03Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Hacking Scale by Better Stack]() Topics: [Cloud](), [Algorithms](), [cloud-infrastructure](), [servers](), [real-time]() Tags: [cloud](), [dropbox](), [hardware](), [load-balancing](), [network](), [real-time](), [round-robin](), [server](), [servers]() ### AI overview The article explains how Dropbox handled overloaded virtual servers with different hardware capabilities. Its traditional fixed-weight round-robin approach could not distribute load evenly, so the team built Robinhood, a dynamic weighted round-robin load balancer with gRPC support. ### Source excerpt Dropbox saved resources by creating a superior version of a tool everyone uses ## Open source mac apps I love DevFeed: [Open source mac apps I love]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Stanko Published: 2024-11-09T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Stanko Tadić]() Topics: [Open Source](), [App](), [GUI](), [Homebrew](), [dropbox](), [keyboard]() Tags: [apps](), [bash](), [dropbox](), [gui](), [keyboard](), [mac](), [open-source](), [optimization](), [tools]() ### AI overview The article recommends a selection of free, open-source Mac applications that the author uses regularly, including menu-bar utilities, image optimization software, keyboard customization, clipboard management, Dropbox access, terminal integration, window tiling, and command-line tools. It also provides Homebrew installation commands for the listed applications. ### Source excerpt I want to share some really nice open-source applications I use on a daily basis. I did a similar post about six years ago, so I felt there is a need for an updated one. I focused on the apps that I feel are really convenient but less known. All of the applications listed are free and open source. For each app, I included a brew install command. If you happen to like and use them, please consider donating to their respective authors. Here are all of the apps in alphabetical order: GUI Applications Hidden Bar ImageOption Itsycal Karabiner-Elements Keeping You Awake Maccy Maestral OpenInTerminal Pearcleaner Pika Rectangle Bash programs dust ripgrep tio zoxide GUI Applications # Hidden Bar # GitHub brew install hiddenbar Hidden Bar allows you to hide icons from the menu bar. It seems that every app nowadays wants to be in the menu bar, and this helps declutter it. ImageOptim # GitHub | Website brew install imageoptim As its name suggests, ImageOptim optimizes images. It is a UI for a bunch of lossless image optimization tools. Just drop your images and it will compress them without losing any quality. Itsycal # GitHub | Website brew install itsycal A small calendar that lives in your menu bar. Why is this not built into the operating system? Karabiner-Elements # GitHub | Website brew install karabiner-elements I just can't get used to Apple's international keyboard layout and the tilde being in the bottom left. Karabiner solves that. It's a keyboard customizer that allows you to remap keys and create complex modifications. Keeping You Awake # GitHub | Website brew install keepingyouawake Prevents your Mac from going to sleep by clicking on its icon in the menu bar. I use it when I'm running my pen plotter to make sure the laptop doesn't go to sleep. Maccy # GitHub | Website brew install maccy A clipboard manager. It saves your clipboard history and allows you to quickly access it. Maestral # GitHub | Website brew install maestral A lightweight Dropbox client. The offic ## Applying a 3rd Party Gradle Plugin as a Composite Plugin DevFeed: [Applying a 3rd Party Gradle Plugin as a Composite Plugin]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: blundell Published: 2023-01-10T10:29:19Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Blundell]() Topics: [Gradle](), [Android Studio](), [Android Library](), [Template]() Tags: [android-studio](), [androiddev](), [build](), [composite-build](), [dropbox](), [gradle](), [gradle-plugin](), [intermediate](), [intermediate-tutorial-androiddev-composite-build-gradle-plugin](), [library](), [multi-module-project](), [plugin](), [project](), [reference](), [tutorial]() ### AI overview A tutorial on wrapping a third-party Gradle plugin in a custom plugin and including it through a Gradle composite build. Using Dropbox's Affected Module Detector as an example, it shows how a multi-module Android project can use the plugin's tasks while extending its behavior without forking or republishing it. ### Source excerpt This post shows you how to wrap a 3rd party Gradle plugin in your own plugin, so that you can interactive with it programmatically. The post Applying a 3rd Party Gradle Plugin as a Composite Plugin first appeared on Blundell. ## 4 Kinds of "Freemium" Software Products Your Small Business Needs DevFeed: [4 Kinds of "Freemium" Software Products Your Small Business Needs]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2021-08-18T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Markus Hatvan]() Topics: [Software](), [Tool](), [Website](), [WordPress](), [dropbox](), [zoom](), [Google](), [email](), [CSS]() Tags: [apps](), [css](), [dropbox](), [free](), [google](), [newsletters](), [products](), [small-business](), [software](), [tools]() ### AI overview This article recommends four categories of free or freemium software for small businesses: web conferencing, data storage, website development, and design tools. It gives examples including Zoom, Dropbox, Google Drive, WordPress, Canva, and MailChimp. ### Source excerpt Let's take a look at some free tools you should check out that will help you run a smoother, more reliable business. ## How to Set Up Nextcloud with Docker and Kubernetes DevFeed: [How to Set Up Nextcloud with Docker and Kubernetes]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Techno Tim Published: 2020-11-07T14:00:00Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Techno Tim]() Topics: [Nextcloud](), [Tutorial](), [Docker](), [Kubernetes](), [Authentication]() Tags: [authentication](), [docker](), [dropbox](), [kubernetes](), [self-hosted](), [tutorial]() ### AI overview A tutorial on setting up Nextcloud with Docker and Kubernetes. It also covers new features, app installation, public exposure, and two-factor authentication using TOTP clients such as Google Authenticator and Authy. ### Source excerpt Are you thinking about ditching Google apps or looking for a Dropbox replacement? Are you ready to self host your own productivity platform? Well, Nextcloud may be for you! In today's tutorial we'll walk though setting up Nextcloud with Docker and Kubernetes.We'll also walk through some of the new features, installing apps from the app store, exposing this Nextcloud publicly, as well as sett... ## So My Mac Keeps Crashing DevFeed: [So My Mac Keeps Crashing]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Fuzzygroup Published: 2020-01-30T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Scott Johnson]() Topics: [App](), [Chrome](), [dropbox](), [Bluetooth](), [Slack]() Tags: [apple](), [bluetooth](), [chrome](), [crash](), [dropbox](), [mac](), [osx](), [slack]() ### AI overview The author describes repeated crashes on a 2015 MacBook Pro after previously achieving uptimes of tens or more than 100 days. The crashes appear to occur while the computer is unattended, with no crash log generated. The author suspects an app update or another background process and tests disabling Chrome, Dropbox, Bluetooth, backups, and multiple other applications, but the cause remains unresolved. ### Source excerpt I'm in the unenviable position of my MacBook Pro (2015 vintage) crashing regularly - once yesterday, twice the day before, once the day before. I used to have an uptime measured in the tens of days - there have been periods when I had an uptime measured, on this computer and this OS version, of 100 plus days. And now I have this bit of pathetic: ❯ uptime 7:04 up 16:23, 79 users, load averages: 5.52 26.30 57.61 Yep. That's 16 hours. grumble So something changed - but what? The problem here is that whatever changed, there was a clear temporal disconnect between the change and the start of the crashing. And wham: I took a phone call and walked away from my computer I returned and my machine was again crashed Here are the characteristics of the crash: the foreground app was TextMate 2 (almost always the foreground app on my computer) caps lock doesn't turn on machine apple logo doesn't turn off when the lid is closed mouse doesn't move no crash log event file is generated that tells me what happened and (uselessly) "report it to apple" when I restart. Here's what I've tried so far: stopping using Chrome (because Chrome is a damn beast using more resources than anything else on my machine) turning off Dropbox turning off bluetooth (because I recently turned it on) stopping my TimeMachine backup dumping my normal trinity of chat apps: FB Messenger, Signal and Telegram So my theory is that something is happening when my machine isn't actually processing input (whether mouse or keyboard) such as an update process. And since this seemingly started happening without any formal update process, it is likely an app which self updates. So, my next task is to close: DropBox Box Sync CleanMyMac KeyBase Tuple Duet Alfred Slack Sublime Messages Notes Postico And, when I walked away to go to the grocery store, my machine crashed again. This time I'm also closing: SyncThing If this doesn't work then my apparent options are: change my computer usage so if I'm not at the keyboard working ## Essential Technology for a Team Offsite DevFeed: [Essential Technology for a Team Offsite]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Fuzzygroup Published: 2019-10-30T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Scott Johnson]() Topics: [hdmi](), [USB](), [Chrome](), [Windows](), [dropbox](), [Google]() Tags: [battery](), [beats](), [cast](), [chrome](), [chrome-cast](), [connectivity](), [dropbox](), [hdmi](), [hotspot](), [ipad](), [mac](), [management](), [offsite](), [startup](), [team](), [technology](), [wifi](), [windows]() ### AI overview A personal checklist of technology to bring to a team offsite, based on difficulties connecting several devices to a Chromecast-equipped TV. The recommendations include cables, USB storage, power accessories, a hotspot, a Chromecast, and a USB speaker, with dongles suggested for newer MacBooks. ### Source excerpt I'm in the process of wrapping up a team offsite even though I was ostensibly the lead technologist present, I was not actually prepared in terms of bringing the right technology with me to facilitate the team's needs. The single worst omission was the lack of an HDMI cable without which, I saw three tech folk (me, other engineer #1, team coordinator) fail to be able to connect a Mac, an iPad and a Windows box to a Chrome Cast equipped TV. Here is my list of the technical stuff I will never again be without for a team meeting: A couple of USB sticks. Even today in the age of Google Drive and DropBox, USB sticks can still be more convenient An Anker USB battery just in case 2 lightning cables, at least one of which is 6 foot like this Amazon cable 1 6' USB type C cable 1 USB 2 cable 1 power strip with USB ports 1 extension cord with USB ports 1 Verizon Mifi Hotspot able to share connectivity if WiFi fails 1 ChromeCast 1 6' HDMI Cable 1 USB Speaker like a Beats Pill This is roughly enough technology to support a team offsite of 6 to 8 people (imho). Note: I use a MacBook 2015 classic so I still have real ports. If you are using newer MacBooks then you likely need dongles as well. ## Site History DevFeed: [Site History]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Márton Braun Published: 2019-03-04T19:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [zsmb.co]() Topics: [Website](), [C++](), [Java](), [Raspberry Pi](), [dropbox](), [Markdown](), [HTML](), [Shell]() Tags: [android](), [c](), [c-plus-plus](), [dropbox](), [history](), [html](), [java](), [kotlin](), [markdown](), [marton-braun](), [raspberry-pi](), [shell](), [zsmb](), [zsmb-co](), [zsmb13](), [zsmbco]() ### AI overview A personal history of the zsmb.co website, covering its evolution from a hand-built C++ static-site generator served from a Raspberry Pi to a Java-based rewrite. The article also discusses custom Markdown-like content, generated HTML and CSS, Dropbox-based source synchronization, and archived versions of the earlier site. ### Source excerpt There has been a website of some sorts up on this domain for a couple years now. Here's a history of what powered it at various times. ## Dumb security questionnaires DevFeed: [Dumb security questionnaires]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2018-05-05T01:46:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Latacora]() Topics: [Security](), [Vulnerabilities](), [atlassian](), [Amazon Web Services](), [Docker]() Tags: [atlassian](), [aws](), [docker](), [dropbox](), [security](), [twitter](), [vulnerabilities]() ### AI overview The article argues that security questionnaires are often outdated, performative, and liable to encourage organizations to deploy controls without demonstrating meaningful security value. It criticizes questionnaire practices inherited from older IT security processes and questions whether organizations creating such questionnaires are qualified to evaluate detailed security standards. ### Source excerpt It's weird to say this but a significant part of the value we provide clients is filling out Dumb Security Questionnaires (hereafter DSQs, since the only thing more irritating than a questionnaire is spelling "questionnaire"). Daniel Meiessler complains about DSQs, arguing that self-assessment is an intrinsically flawed concept. Meh. I have bigger problems with them. First, most DSQs are terrible. We get on calls with prospective clients, tell them "these DSQs were all first written in the early 1990s and lovingly handed down from generation to generation of midwestern IT secops staff. Oh, how clients laugh and laugh. But, not joking. That's really how those DSQs got written. ## Lessons from Investigating Software Bugs, Including Dropbox's File-Sync Architecture DevFeed: [Lessons from Investigating Software Bugs, Including Dropbox's File-Sync Architecture]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2017-11-13T02:23:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Allison Kaptur]() Topics: [bug](), [dropbox](), [Filesystems](), [Back end](), [Cloud](), [client]() Tags: [architecture](), [backend](), [bugs](), [client](), [cloud](), [dropbox](), [file]() ### AI overview A keynote transcript argues that investigating software bugs can be entertaining and instructive. It introduces a Dropbox bug and describes a simplified architecture in which a desktop client detects filesystem changes, hashes files into 4MB blocks, and stores those blocks in a backend key-value store. ### Source excerpt In early October I gave a keynote at Python Brasil in Belo Horizonte. Here is an aspirational and lightly edited transcript of the talk. There is also a video available here. I love bugs I'm currently a senior engineer at Pilot.com, working on automating bookkeeping for startups. Before that, I worked for Dropbox on the desktop client team, and I'll have a few stories about my work there. Earlier, I was a facilitator at the Recurse Center, a writers retreat for programmers in NYC. I studied astrophysics in college and worked in finance for a few years before becoming an engineer. But none of that is really important to remember - the only thing you need to know about me is that I love bugs. I love bugs because they're entertaining. They're dramatic. The investigation of a great bug can be full of twists and turns. A great bug is like a good joke or a riddle - you're expecting one outcome, but the result veers off in another direction. Over the course of this talk I'm going to tell you about some bugs that I have loved, explain why I love bugs so much, and then convince you that you should love bugs too. Bug #1 Ok, straight into bug #1. This is a bug that I encountered while working at Dropbox. As you may know, Dropbox is a utility that syncs your files from one computer to the cloud and to your other computers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 +--------------+ +---------------+ | | | | | METASERVER | | BLOCKSERVER | | | | | +-+--+---------+ +---------+-----+ ^ | ^ | | | | | +----------+ | | +---> | | | | | CLIENT +--------+ +--------+ | +----------+ Here's a vastly simplified diagram of Dropbox's architecture. The desktop client runs on your local computer listening for changes in the file system. When it notices a changed file, it reads the file, then hashes the contents in 4MB blocks. These blocks are stored in the backend in a giant key-value store that we call blockserver. The key is the digest of the hashed contents, and the values are the contents themselves. Of cou ## Threat Modeling Password Managers DevFeed: [Threat Modeling Password Managers]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Adam Published: 2017-07-17T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Shostack & Friends Blog]() Topics: [passwords](), [Security](), [Architecture & Design](), [Encryption]() Tags: [data](), [dropbox](), [local](), [password](), [password-manager](), [security](), [zero-knowledge]() ### AI overview This opinion article applies threat modeling to the debate over 1Password's membership and password-storage approach. It compares the risks of local storage with cloud-based storage and discusses trust boundaries, breach assumptions, operational complexity, and zero-knowledge encryption. ### Source excerpt [no description provided] ## How to download large folders on dropbox DevFeed: [How to download large folders on dropbox]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Suresh Alse (noreply@blogger.com) Published: 2016-10-18T20:21:00Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Life Plus Linux]() Topics: [browser](), [JavaScript](), [Code](), [Chrome]() Tags: [chrome](), [code](), [download](), [dropbox](), [how-to](), [javascript]() ### AI overview A tutorial explains how to use a JavaScript browser-console script to download files from a Dropbox folder when the folder exceeds Dropbox's direct download limit. It includes steps for opening the developer console and allowing pop-ups, with Google Chrome shown as an example. ### Source excerpt Recently, someone shared a large folder with me and when I tried to download it, I was getting an error; "There was an error downloading your file". This error seemed very vague and after a quick search online, I figured out that it is not possible to download folders which are bigger than 1 GB. And according to dropbox's help article, I will be able to download it only if I add it to my dropbox. With dropbox's puny 2GB free storage it was not possible and I was not ready to spend $$$ just for this. So, I wrote a simple script in javascript that I can run it on browser console to download all files in a folder! How to do it? Step 1. Navigate to the dropbox folder on the browser and open your developer console. Press cmd + j on mac or ctrl + shift + j on linux and windows. Step 2. Paste the following code in the console. Step 3. The browser will try to block the windows trying to download it. Select the option to Always allow pop-ups from https://www.dropbox.com . For instance this is how it will look on Google Chrome (you have to click on right most icon in the search bar). Step 4. Your files will be downloaded one by one! NOTE: If any folder inside the folder is greater than 1GB in size, then you may have to do the same process after navigating to that folder in the browser. Update: Make sure that you use the list view to see files by clicking on this: ## How Martin Destagnol Built Folders and Sold It to Box in Seven Months DevFeed: [How Martin Destagnol Built Folders and Sold It to Box in Seven Months]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Hexa Published: 2015-10-15T17:49:43Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [eFounders]() Topics: [iOS](), [Mobile](), [Cloud](), [App](), [User Experience](), [dropbox](), [Google]() Tags: [acquisition](), [apple](), [cloud](), [dropbox](), [engineering](), [entrepreneurship](), [ios](), [product](), [startup](), [user-experience]() ### AI overview This article recounts how Martin Destagnol built Folders, an iOS client for accessing cloud-stored files on mobile, and sold it to Box seven months later. It describes the product's origins in his own frustration, his focused development effort, and his meetings with Box, Dropbox, and Google Drive. ### Source excerpt Martin Destagnol, him-self...And then became Director of Mobile Remember back in 2013, when reading files on "mobile" was new and everyone was wondering how the h*ck to do it? That's when Martin Destagnol, entrepreneur and engineer, built Folders. And seven months laters, Folders got acquired by Aaron Levie's Box. Destagnol is now Director of Mobile and of Box Notes -- the French "serial" "startuper" went from building a product in his apartment (we don't get many garages in Paris) to managing a whole engineering team inside one of the fastest-growing startups in the Silicon Valley. How does one do that? Here's the story. Startup genesis and crazy-fast acquisition As you might hear often times when wondering why an entrepreneur built a startup, Folders came from Martin's own frustration: accessing cloud-stored files on mobile was just a pain. So he decided to build an iOS client providing the very best User Experience possible. But Destagnol also brought a strong business rationale to the idea: as Folders was his 3rd startup, he knew what kind of risk he was willing to take and what outcome to expect. His previous company, Plyce, was a social network based on coupons, which had a great potential but also high risks. When coming up with Folders, his ambition was to build a product much more targeted, with higher chances of a "smaller scale" success. The bet was that one of the existing cloud providers could need a product like Folders; worst case scenario, he would still sell enough to make up for the money invested. Then he shut down everything else but work, and built Folder in 7 months. Full time. Like, 24/7. As in 100% of the time. Once the app was approved by the Apple store, Destagnol decided to come to San Francisco to show it to Box, Dropbox and Google Drive. The product wasn't launched, but he figured the sooner he would show it to the big players to get their feedback, the better -- for those of you who are reading from elsewhere than San Francisco, yes, that's ## Turn Ruby conference videos into your own personal podcast DevFeed: [Turn Ruby conference videos into your own personal podcast]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Justin Weiss Published: 2015-07-21T06:58:03Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Justin Weiss]() Topics: [Ruby](), [Homebrew](), [dropbox](), [Tool](), [RSS Feed](), [Code]() Tags: [code](), [dropbox](), [homebrew](), [install](), [rss](), [ruby](), [tool]() ### AI overview This tutorial explains how to turn conference video talks into a personal podcast. It describes extracting audio with youtube-dl, hosting the file through Dropbox, and adding it to Huffduffer to obtain an RSS feed for a podcast player. ### Source excerpt Ruby conferences are awesome. There are so many people sharing so much knowledge, and you'll take something away from almost every talk. And even if you can't be there, new conferences mean lots of new talk videos. But there's a problem. Videos take time. Even at 1.5x, they'll still last 20 or 30 minutes each. And that's focused time that's hard to find as often as I'd like. Podcasts, though, have already found a place in my life. I start almost every commute by firing up Overcast and listening to a few episodes. And besides the commute, you can listen to them while you walk the dog, or do the dishes. You can hear them as you go off to sleep. So, after conference videos are posted, I'd love to take some of the non-code-heavy talks and put them where I'll naturally hear them: inside my podcast player. And it turns out there's a pretty easy way to do just that. Creating a personal podcast with Huffduffer Huffduffer is a website that turns audio files you find anywhere on the web into your own personal podcast station. This is really cool! But there's a problem when you try it with conference talks: Most conference videos are conference videos. So, before you can add a talk to Huffduffer, you have to grab just the audio out of it. And to do that, you have to find a way to download the video. Fetching a video with youtube-dl When you see a video on a site like Youtube, Vimeo, or Confreaks, and you'd rather have it on your machine, you can use a little tool called youtube-dl. On a Mac, it's easy to install using Homebrew: brew install youtube-dl (You can install it on other systems using the instructions on the site). Once it's installed, if you wanted to download Kylie Stradley's great RailsConf 2015 talk so you could watch it offline, run: youtube-dl http://confreaks.tv/videos/railsconf2015-amelia-bedelia-learns-to-code This is close to what we want. But to put it in a podcast, you only need the audio. youtube-dl supports that with the -x flag, but you have to install ## I'm joining Dropbox DevFeed: [I'm joining Dropbox]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2014-10-10T18:49:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Allison Kaptur]() Topics: [dropbox](), [Python]() Tags: [community](), [dropbox](), [inclusive](), [leaving](), [python](), [work]() ### AI overview The author announces that they are leaving Hacker School to join Dropbox in San Francisco on Jessica McKellar's team. They reflect on their time facilitating at Hacker School, how it helped them become a programmer, and their continued connection to its community. ### Source excerpt Big news for me: I'm leaving Hacker School and going to work for Dropbox in San Francisco, joining Jessica McKellar's team. I met Jessica when she was part of the first round of residents at Hacker School in fall 2012, and I've had tremendous respect for her work and leadership ever since. Dropbox has an impressive crop of Pythonistas (including Guido van Rossum, of course), and I couldn't be more excited to join. I'll be moving to San Francisco at the end of October. If you have recommendations for people to meet, places to go, or things to do, let me know! This means I'm leaving Hacker School, after more than two years facilitating. My last day will be October 24th. I love Hacker School, and I know I'm going to miss it. Hacker School is entirely responsible for the fact that I'm a programmer at all. I was working in a finance job and contemplating new careers when my brother saw this post about Hacker School's experiment with Etsy to get more qualified women into the summer 2012 batch. I read the post and the thoughtful, welcoming FAQ, then went home and picked up a Python book. Two months later, I started Hacker School. Hacker School is about becoming a better programmer, and there's no doubt that it's worked for me. For two years, I've had total freedom to chase down whatever weird thing catches my eye; I've worked with creative, hilarious, brilliant Hacker Schoolers and residents on a dizzying variety of projects; and I've been delighted to help build a more inclusive environment at Hacker School, although there's always more work to be done. (If you're a curious, sharp, and self-directed programmer, I can't recommend Hacker School enough.) I'm thankful that leaving my job at Hacker School doesn't mean leaving the Hacker School community. I'm trading in my faculty status and becoming one of hundreds of alumni around the world. I'll still be on Zulip, Community, and everywhere else Hacker Schoolers can be found, and I'll still have my cape. I may be leaving, but ## Backing up with Capistrano DevFeed: [Backing up with Capistrano]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Keith Smiley Published: 2013-01-05T20:12:00Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Keith Smiley]() Topics: [Automation](), [Linode](), [hosting](), [Server](), [Bash]() Tags: [automated](), [automation](), [backing-up](), [backup](), [bash](), [dropbox](), [hosting](), [linode](), [local](), [os](), [rsync](), [server]() ### AI overview A tutorial on using Capistrano to automate weekly backups from a Linode-hosted web server to a local machine. It creates a compressed tarball remotely, downloads it with scp, stores it in Dropbox, and schedules the task through local cron. ### Source excerpt We all know not backing up has consequences. While losing sentimental files would definitely ruin your day, losing your web server's data could be even worse. I've mentioned before that I use Linode for my server hosting, and while they do offer an automated backup service I decided I'd rather setup my own solution to back up periodically to my local machine. Many people use rsync to do their server backups. In fact Linode even has a guide on how to set it up (there's a better one here). I decided that instead of a 1 for 1 directory backup, I would prefer to have a tarball of the contents. While I could've easily done this with a few bash commands from the server that's not particular ideal for my setup. My local machines don't run 24/7 so if I set it up on the server to automate the backup every week, it may try to initiate the backup when my machine was off (I could try to guess when it's on every week but that's not ideal either). The obvious solution to this is run it from my local machine instead every week. That way once a week when it's powered up it would log in to the server, create the tarball and pull it down. Insert Capistrano ([sudo] gem install capistrano) a RubyGem for 'Remote multi-server automation.' So I wrote a very basic Capfile to automate this for me (replace the path to your www folder accordingly). load 'deploy' $SERVER_USER = "username" $SERVER_IP = "1.1.1.1" desc "Backs up server www files" task :backup, :hosts => $SERVER_IP do run "cd /srv; tar -pvczf ~/backup.tar.gz www/" run_locally "scp #{ $SERVER_USER }@#{ $SERVER_IP }:~/backup.tar.gz ~/Dropbox/Backups/Server" end Then I added this to my crontab on my local machine by running crontab -e and adding the line: @weekly /Users/ksmiley/.rbenv/shims/cap -f ~/path/to/Capfile backup I included the path to the Capistrano executable since cron (on OS X) executes tasks with sh, which isn't setup with my $PATH. ## Windows 8 - How to automatically save screenshots to Dropbox DevFeed: [Windows 8 - How to automatically save screenshots to Dropbox]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Andrew Khmylov Published: 2012-10-19T00:00:00Z Content type: tutorial Language: en Sources: [Despite the odds]() Topics: [Windows](), [dropbox](), [save](), [Image](), [screen]() Tags: [automatically](), [dropbox](), [how-to](), [save](), [screenshots](), [windows]() ### AI overview A tutorial explains how Windows 8 can automatically save screenshots to a public Dropbox folder by changing the Screenshots folder location in the Windows registry and restarting the computer. ### Source excerpt I have always been frustrated by sharing screenshots taken on my PC. Back to the old days, I had to follow the "Press the Prt Scr, open the image editor, press Ctrl+V, Ctrl+S, choose the save destination, open that directory, drag-n-drop the file to messenger/Word/whatever". Sharing was painful. Then there were tons of advanced screenshot capturing applications that I just couldn't get used to. Most of them were the typical shareware trying to install all sorts of toolbars and extensions. If you were a good boy who didn't want to bloat his system, you would probably keep away from such a piece of software. (Not trying to insult anyone here - I am pretty sure there were decent apps). Years later, Windows 7 introduced the 'Snipping tool' that I instantly felt in love with. It was integrated, fast and much easier to use than anything I've tried before. The only thing still itching me was sharing the screenshots. I've been actively using Dropbox, and its sharing features, especially 'Public folder' allowed me to quickly save a screenshot, grab a link and send it to someone. Not bad, but not perfect yet. Recently I've found out that Windows 8 gives you even better screen capture facilities. Pressing Win+PrtScr automatically takes a screenshot (you will see the screen dim for a second) and saves it to Screenshots inside your personal Pictures directory. What if I could save it directly to public Dropbox folder? That would be super-awesome! Hit a keystroke, locate the file in the folder (you don't even have to open Explorer manually - just right-click the Dropbox icon in system tray, and open the 'Recently changed files' menu), right-click it and copy the public link. Unfortunatelly, you won't find an option to change the default screenshots folder. But registry editor is your life saver when it comes to tweaking Windows. So open up the regedit.exe and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions{b7bede81-df94-4682-a7d8-57a ## Entrepreneurship Lessons on Adopting New Technologies and Building Experience DevFeed: [Entrepreneurship Lessons on Adopting New Technologies and Building Experience]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Map Published: 2008-06-11T01:48:53Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Craig Kerstiens]() Topics: [Web](), [Persistence](), [dropbox](), [X (Twitter)]() Tags: [dropbox](), [persistence](), [twitter](), [web]() ### AI overview This opinion article outlines behaviors that can hinder entrepreneurial success in Silicon Valley: avoiding emerging technologies and online services, waiting for the perfect idea or timing instead of gaining experience, and failing to network. It argues for using relevant tools, developing persistence through practice, and connecting with others. ### Source excerpt While I may or may not know how to be successful in silicon valley, I feel pretty confident that I can point out a few ways to not be successful in valley terms. What follows is my thoughts on how you can best limit yourself to own, run, or be involved in the entrepreneurial spirit of the valley. The first is keeping yourself in a bubble, by not diving into the new technologies, new services, and new age of the web there's little possibility you can be at the next steps of it. While I concede you don't always have to explain it or understand it, you at least need to use it. The prestigious attitude of standing against something just for the sake of it won't get you very far when people attempt to find you and communicate and can't. There will be few individuals in the future similar to Jobs and Ellison that are a box of mysteries that no one has access to. Instead you will simply filter out noise that is relevant, but regardless your presence will be felt. It's not only about making your life easier with useful tools like mint or dropbox and thinking about the next useful utility, but also about communicating and relating to others. Final thought ... facebook be on it, twitter use it (don't understand it, don't explain it, just use it), friendfeed (jury's out, but you better know what it is). The second biggest thing you can do is to be patient. So many seem to sit around, wanting to have their own big thing, but are waiting for that one great idea to come to them. In most cases something probably does, the only problem is they're not seasoned or practiced at building something. Yeah a few get lucky on the first try, but as a whole for those that are successful its due to persistence and not patience. Waiting for the right time in the market, the right time in your life, or just the right idea is wasting time you can't get back. If you truly want to run something, start running something, and when the right idea does finally come along you'll be prepared to build it u