node.js ko
Quick Sync
Quick Sync
by Mustardamus
Create a new drive. Connect other devices via the URL and a 5 digits handshake. Upload and download files from any connected device. All instantly and asynchronously… it’s Node K.O. right?!
This app is not fully complete but works basically. You can authenticate devices and share files across them. Please don’t share any private files.
Have fun with this bundled 2 minute demo of my weekend. Votes and comments very much appreciated.
Update
This idea will be adopted and has its new home at vanishdrive.com.
Updates can be received via the @vanishdrive Twitter account. Further informations can be found on the crowd funding page.
Judging Instructions
You can test this app using two or more different browsers. This has been tested with the latest browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari – Mac, Windows).
Let’s say you have two browsers, Chrome and Safari (or test it with different devices).
- Chrome: Visit the root URL of the entry, this will create a new drive
- Safari: Visit the Drive Share URL
- Safari: Will show a 5 digit number
- Chrome: Will show a prompt to enter the 5 digits
- Chrome: Enter the correct 5 digits
- Overlay will disappear
- Both connected devices will be shown
- Upload some files with either Chrome or Safari
- When new files are uploaded they will update in the list
- Download the files by clicking on them (they will open in a new tab, pictures will show, movies be played…)
Who
mustardamus — Germany
How
Server Side
- Base of Quasi
- Coffee Script
- Socket.IO
- Stylus
- Mongoose
- Formidable
Client Side
Visual
Votes
Your Vote
Voting is now closed.
Other Votes
(5)
adinardijudge
AudreyLojudgeVery useful idea. It reminds me a bit like Dropbox for file sharing. I am all about efficiency and the idea of downloading/uploading files asynchronously definitely caught my attention. Also, great job with the screen shots for easier user experience. Great job!
brianarnjudgeWasn’t totally stable, but an interesting concept!
willconantjudgeThis is a cool little project with a great look and feel. I think it would be neat if you could start uploading a big file from one connection and start downloading it from another before the upload completed.
felixgejudgeGreat idea. Unfortunately I hit some bugs causing nothing to happen after selecting a file, only for it to appear a bit later out of the blue. Some long filenames also rendered weirdly.
Nice app overall so!
nathanhammond
contestantI like the feeling of bluetooth-style pairing for a shared hard drive. Just about everything appears to work for me, except that once the file is uploaded I get an “undefined” error that results in the file not being downloadable. I’m giving that a pass (out of space, something, who knows) as I see others have gotten it to work.
I like the application for people who aren’t as technically capable, but for somebody like me I’m much more likely to push something to my own web space or directly onto the other person’s machine.
electronicwhisper
contestantThis is really cool!
I suppose this fills the use case of Dropbox but when you need something less heavy. There is the issue of sending the other person the URL to connect, so you still need to establish the connection through some electronic means (IM/email), which defeats the purpose for the one-off send a file use case.
What do you think about making it so you can have an account, then you can find your friends on the site and easily establish a “file bridge” with them. This is the flavor of Dropbox sharing but different enough that you could carve out your own niche.
Will you be continuing this project? The graphics are very nice. I think you could turn it into a player in the upload/download startup scene if you found and targeted the right use case.
- contestant
Thank you very much for your vote and your feedback! Yes, I will continue this project as vanishdrive.com
aaronheckmannjudgeHandy
- contestant
Wow, thank you for your great vote Aaron.
luisivan
contestantI had a similar idea some weeks ago. It’s cool!
- contestant
Nice! Thank you very much for your great vote!
airportyh
contestant- contestant
Thank you!
phillyqueso
contestant- contestant
Thanks for your vote. One star in ‘Completeness’? Didn’t it work for you?
izsjudge- contestant
Thanks for this great vote!
dan_mangesjudgeUtility: Really easy way to share files between devices without installing a standalone application like Dropbox. I’d definitely use this to move files back and forth with somebody who doesn’t have Dropbox installed.
Design: Looks nice. The instructions on the home page make it really easy to use.
Innovation: I’ve seen lots of file syncing / transferring applications, but I like the drive/sync concept as an alternative that only handles sharing individual files.
Completeness: Ran into a bug with downloading a PDF (content-type was plain text). Would be nice if uploading had a progress bar.
Overall, a cool idea. I hope you had fun building it!
- contestant
Thank you very much for your vote Dan! And indeed, it was pretty fun :).
therazorbladejudgeI am not sure the drive metaphor is right. When I read the description I thought you were actively syncing the files across devices but it is really a shared web file archive you can access from multiple devices with a device-like authorization flow. How is the 5 digit number better than just using more complex unique URIs?
- contestant
Hey, thanks for your vote.
You are right, there is really no syncing at all (but it’s possible to a certain level). I just chosen the name and kept on going :).
5 digit number might be used if devices are in the same location. I planned other authentication methods but time ran out. And you are right again, for remote connections full URI’s might be the best thing.
davidplusplus
contestantI really like the presentation of this app, looks very professional, good work.
- contestant
Thank you!
chrismatthieujudge- contestant
Wow! Thank you Chris!
jerrysievertjudgewas unable to get it to function fully:
Not Found Error: ENOENT, No such file or directory ‘/home/wladimir/vs/mustardamus/app/public/drives/4e617bc5807d369a352b7f8b/Screen%20Shot%202011-07-31%20at%2010.29.03%20AM.png’
- contestant
Thanks for your vote. Yes, there are quite some cases that are not handled right now.
Hm, why is the innovation and completeness vote not shown?
ciaran_jjudgeAn impressive entry, the device pairing was smooth and intuitive, and the concept just ‘worked’ !
However the pairing proved ‘confusing’ when trying to pair with a friend remotely. Would be nice to be able to provide friends/family with ‘pre-paired’ links or some such.
Loved the device icons that detected the Safari, Chrome and iOS devices.
Looking forward to see this concept developed further!
- contestant
Thank you very much for the vote and feedback!
You are right about the remote confusion. I planned to include other authentications that might have been better for connecting (physically) remote devices. The pairing seemed the most interesting to start with :)
Yes, this project will be continued as (Vanish Drive)[http://vanishdrive.com].
This is definitely an interesting take on private sharing. The usage was a bit confusing and I still am unable to authorize a second client (server seems like it just might be incredibly slow).
Seems like there’s a lot of rough edges to work out but the general direction seems like it could work.