.Mac :: Public iDisk Folder
Posted: March 29, 2005

Nothing beats the feeling of being able to send files easily and quickly to someone when you need to get it there, well... easily and quickly. If you and the recipient(s) is/are using a Mac, not only is a quick and easy, but it's actually kind of fun!

The Problem with E-mail
If you are sending small files to someone, e-mail is fine. As soon as you try to send something over 5 MB in size, you quickly learn the inefficiencies of e-mail. By nature, e-mail protocols (POP, SMTP, etc) are not that stable. It works well most of the time because we usually send small amounts of data... usually text only.

When sending something larger than 5 MB, it's a good idea to either post it to a web site, or post it on an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server. Usually, though, that's easier said than done. FTP sites are very handy, but unless you KNOW that you have and maintain one, you probably don't.

If you are fortunate to have a .Mac acocunt (if not, seriously consider it), then you have something called iDisk. iDisk is essentially your FTP site, only much more convenient because it's built-in to your Finder. To access your iDisk, simply open the Finder, and then click on iDisk. You will notice many directories in there, most are for building your .Mac homepage. There is also a folder called "Public". This folder is appropriately named, since whatever you put in there is publicly accessible from other users' Finders/iDisk link. Here is a sample:



Notice that I have a file in my Public folder called "Secret to Life". As you can imagine, this DOES contain the secret to life. If you want to find out what that secret is, go get it.

Here is how to get files from others' Public folders:

1) Open Finder
2) Click on Go | iDisk | Other User's Public Folder...
3) At this point, it will ask for a user's name. Mine is "kallg"
4) Bingo! You know have access to see what is in that public folder.

* When done accessing someone else's Public .Mac folder, remember to un-mount it (by dragging the new icon to your Trash Can).