Drop•Obliterate

Drop•Obliterate uses Finder Events to immediately get rid of any item dragged on top of it. Whereas the Trash (Wastebasket) remains full of items until the user chooses the Empty Trash... command, items dragged on top of Drop•Obliterate are removed immediately, after the item is dropped. (Hence the name!)

Drop•Obliterate offers three options:


 * Delete locked items: Items which are locked can also be removed by activating this option.


 * Show alert before deleting files: If this option is not checked, items will be trashed as soon as the icon is dragged and released on top of Drop•Obliterate!


 * Shred files: This option not only removes the file's existance from the file catalogue system in the Finder, but destroys the document to such an extent that no file undeletion utility can ever recover the deleted document. (In Mac OS X 10.3, this option was finally made mainstream: see Secure Empty Trash.)

If the user chooses to activate the "Shred files" option and to deactivate the "Show alert before deleting files" option, he or she is faced with a case where any file, once dragged to Drop•Obliterate, is not only gone in an instant, but gone forever. This is a great way to get rid of classified, personal or highly sensitive data -- quickly -- but is totally unsafe and is a serious danger for the user otherwise.