Safe, fast backup of MJPEG streams via Dropbox!

[Zarkov]

There's some weird stuff going on.

I'm not sure why maxglide is seeing a Unix executable, but while checking my implementation, I found that while the [gigantic hash sequence] address of my folder on the Mac holding iSight images has stayed the same, the one for an external Linksys camera had somehow changed.  I made a new alias and put it in Dropbox.  It didn't work this time (!), though the folder alias and Dropbox pictures sync (even to my iPhone) for my iSight camera continues to work.  (By work, I mean it will transfer pictures successfully to my iPhone and the Dropbox.com website.)  Instead, what I see on my phone and in Dropbox.com is a generic file 507.1 KB in size.

The problem seems to be due to changes in the Extended Attributes and Resource Forks of OSX, as described here http://www.pxc.me.uk/misc/dropbox_mac_use.html.  A possible solution using Symlinks is shown here http://wiki.dropbox.com/TipsAndTricks/SyncOtherFolders, but I have not tried it yet.  Evidently different versions of OSX.n have different alias properties.

I know of another way to accomplish the backups using Hazel http://www.noodlesoft.com/, and will start a new thread on this approach shortly.

[Stefan]

I'm not sure why maxglide is seeing a Unix executable, but while checking my implementation, I found that while the [gigantic hash sequence] address of my folder on the Mac holding iSight images has stayed the same, the one for an external Linksys camera had somehow changed.

Just an FYI, for IP cameras the folder hash is derived from the MJPEG or JPEG URL, so if the URL is different (perhaps your camera's IP address had changed?) then the folder hash would also be different.

[visprar]

works like a charm.

[maxglide]

Thanks

I dropped the "alias" from the file name and still have the same problem. The file type is unreadable in Dropbox??

[insectophile]

Make an alias of that folder by selecting it and control-clicking it and selecting "Make Alias" (if you're using a PC, it'll be a right-click).  Drop that folder in the Dropbox.  You can change the name to something like "iCam files" if you wish, but do not change the name of the original file - the  one with the  long string of apparently random alphanumeric characters.  

When I right click in Windows XP there is no option to "Make Alias". What is "Make Alias" and where can I find it?
Thanks.

*UPDATE* I now realize that "Make Alias" is the Mac equivalent of "Create Shortcut" in Windows. But I don't see why creating a shortcut is necessary. I simply have iCam record to the MyDropbox folder.

[OUAnthony]

Make Alias is similar to, but not exactly the same thing as creating a shortcut in Windows...it seems like the alias is a shortcut for the OS to use as the setting for where to save files or whatever. In Windows, a shortcut is for the user to quickly access a file/folder/program. Other programs do not get directory information from shortcuts. At least that's my understanding of the difference. I'm not a Mac owner, so I could be wrong.