Dropbox is a great application I found out about a few months back. You create an account and install a service on a number of computers that you use, and it creates a folder that will stay in sync across all of them. The best part about this is that if any computer isn’t on, when it wakes up, it goes out and checks what it’s missed, and syncs back up, and its FAST.

There is also a sharing section, where you can share a portion of your account with another user, and let them upload and delete files. It combines your usable space for this areas, so on group projects it gets quick first. Ohh and did I mention it has its own built in file versioning system?

There’s also a special folder for Photos that will automatically generate an online picture album of any pictures / folders placed into here. Of all the features, while I like some of the other ones a whole lot more, I use this one the most. Its great when working on web sites with clients and being able to save screen shots directly to this folder and show them what I’m seeing.

When I first found out about Dropbox, I was so excited about it, I went on a big kick about how everyone should be using it, but after time this excitement died down. Well now, Dropbox is giving away an extra 256MB of storage space (up to 3GB) (on top of the 2GB you get just for signing up) for every user you refer to the site, and so I’m back at it. Check it out: https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTM0OTg4Njk!

About 3 weeks ago I filled out a form on New Balance’s Website for their Wear Test program. Shortly there after I received an email back from them stating:

Matthew Farmer, your application has been received and will be reviewed by the New Balance Wear Test Team. It is possible that all positions in the Activity you indicated are currently filled, so we thank you for your patience as we look for testing opportunities that suit you.

Once you have been selected for a test, you will receive an email notification of your acceptance into the program. This email will also confirm your User ID and provide a temporary Password allowing you to log in to the site and manage your account.

Sincerely,
The New Balance Wear Test Team
http://weartest.newbalance.com

And that was that. I kind of forgot that I even applied and hadn’t heard from them since.

Then this morning I found a package on my front doorstep. At first I looked at it expecting to see my room mate’s name on it, but when I saw mine I quickly scanned the return address expecting to see it coming from my family, but was excited to see that it was from New Balance!

This last week I really started to gear up on my training for the LA marathon. I ran a 5 mile run at my goal marathon pace of 7:15 minutes / mile on Saturday and followed that up with a 8 mile run on Sunday, each of which left my knees feeling a little soggy.

I really thought a new pair of shoes might help with that, but didn’t want to drop the $80-100 that entailed on it just yet, and was thinking that maybe I’d ask for a pair for my birthday, though my family already do so much for me I didn’t want to. Last night I even had a dream about it. So these couldn’t have come at a better time. I can’t wait to get out there and put some miles on them!