Well, here at MakeUseOf we are more interested in service that are FREE.  Other MakeUseOf writers have written some articles that can help. Let me share with you a free solution that includes file sharing AND storing: GoAruna.  GoAruna has several benefits, two of which are unlimited, free web storage space (the size limit for each file appears to be 100MB) and ease of use.  In this post, I would like to share some of the capabilities of this site and how they may be helpful.

File Storage

As I mentioned earlier, GoAruna sports a handy UNLIMITED total file storage limit!  This is cool because you can save as many files as you like!  There is a downside.  As far as I can tell by searching through the feedback forums is that the size limit for individual files is 100 MB.  I hate limitations!  But it’s a LOT better than the 10 MB limit email puts on us, right?

Personal Drop Box

GoAruna also has this nifty feature that allows you to set up a drop box where others can come by and upload a file to you.  Tight!  Someone else have a file that you need?  Have them send it to your personal space without having to offer them access to everything.  Many possibilities here, right?  Can help in a pinch!

Send Files (even securely)

There are two ways to send files: choose a file you’ve already uploaded…

…OR send a file quickly from the front page without signing up for an account.

When you send a file, you are actually emailing a link to someone to click and download the file.  Here’s an example of the email they will receive:

If I were you, I’d give them a heads up just so they know what you’ve sent them.  People get suspicious when strange links to unknown files end up in their email!

Now that you know a bit about what GoAruna has to offer, let’s take a run through to see just how easy it really is to use!   Once you sign up and sign in, click “upload file”

The next step will become obvious when the “upload file” window pops up — click “browse” to choose your file.

The next step is waiting… with patience.  Depending on the file’s size, this could take time.

And that’s about all it takes!  Very easy to do!  See, you don’t REALLY have to be a geek to send large files!  You can pretend to be and tell the receiver of your files how difficult it was and that you wouldn’t recommend them trying it.  That wouldn’t be honest though, would it?

What do you think of GoAruna?  What other ways do you have for storing and sharing large files on the Internet?  We’d be grateful to learn!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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We have reviewed quite a few online storage services in the past. Microsoft’s offering Skydrive is right up there with others when it comes to storage space, offering a staggering 25 GB of online space. In addition we also showed you how you can edit your Office documents stored in Windows Live Skydrive with Office Webapps.

One of the most annoying aspects of nearly all online storage solutions is that you have to use a web browser to upload and manage files. Some of them offer Java applets to upload but there are a number of other operations that you may want to perform on the files you have in your account. Doing them in a web browser is generally not the best way to do such things. It would be nicer if you could integrate Skydrive into the Windows shell. Wouldn’t it?

Skydrive Explorer is one such application that lets you do just that. With Skydrive Explorer installed you can easily access your Skydrive account just like any other drive from inside My Computer. A meagre 1.23 MB download, Skydrive Explorer installs in a jiffy. Once installed you will see a Skydrive Explorer System folder listed inside My Computer.

Double click on it and you will be prompted to log into your Skydrive account. You can then view the contents of your Skydrive account just like any other folder without having to use the web browser.

You should note that folders may take some time to load since Skydrive Explorer needs to send a request and then process it before it can display the relevant information to you. You should therefore avoid working directly with files stored in your Skydrive folders. The right way would be create a local copy, edit it and then copy it back to Skydrive. That said, the performance is acceptable and a large part of it would be attributed to your connection speed.

Skydrive Explorer lets you perform almost all the file/folder management tasks that you can need:

• You can create, delete, rename multiple folders in a single go.

• Copy files to Skydrive folders from your hard drive which would then be uploaded to your Skydrive account or copy the contents to your hard drive from the account.

• You can also right click on any folder and then copy its URL to the clipboard. Visiting the URL in any web browser would take you to your Skydrive account, right to where the file is located. You can easily use this functionality to share files with others by adding them to the “Public” folder.
• Create shortcuts to a Skydrive folder on your desktop for quick access

With a little effort you can easily use Skydrive to backup your important files. You can use software like the previously mentioned Directorysync pro or Freefilesync to keep two folder synchronized with each other. Let’s say you synchronize the Documents folder on your Skydrive account with the Documents folder for your user account in Windows. Now changes to any file or folder will be automatically communicated to your Skydrive account – just keep in mind the 50MB file limit!

You can also have a look at previously mentioned Gladinet and see which one would you like to use in case you are looking for a way to access your Skydrive. Which is your favorite online storage service and how do you access it?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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• Windows Live Skydrive & 3 Alternative Online Storage Services (42)
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Dropbox for iPhone was finally released at the end of September 2009. How does it fair? Is it as powerful as its desktop sibling?

I installed it on my iPhone and took it on a test drive. Truthfully, I’m a little disappointed. Here’s why.

No Edit Function

Dropbox for the iPhone is nothing more than a glorified file browser. It will only allow you to view the files stored in your Dropbox account. There is no edit function. Sure, the app will allow you to retrieve your documents from wherever you are as long there is an internet connection but then again, isn’t that also possible with Safari?

Without the ability to edit documents, Dropbox for the iPhone is no longer a file synchronization app. It is merely a viewer.

“Previous Versions” Unavailable

One of the many great things I admire about the desktop version of Dropbox is the ability to view previous versions of a file. Dropbox saves past renditions of your documents by recording changes and edits hence, providing you with the chance to retrieve previous versions of the same document. Sadly, that is also not available in the iPhone app.

No Upload Function

Yup, you read correctly. You can’t upload anything besides the odd photo or video from your camera roll. This completely cripples the application because so much potential has just gone to waste. I can easily think of a hundred things that I can do if I’m able to sync files from my iPhone to my MacBook back home.

In all fairness, I have a suspicion that Apple is preventing the developers of Dropbox from implementing this feature. Nevertheless, as the end-user, I’m allowed to have expectations and I want to be able to upload files!

iPhone-Formatted Videos Only

The iPhone can only play h.264 video. Now, here’s a question: if the only accepted media is h.264, wouldn’t it be better to just sync the video over using iTunes? Think about it, in order to have the file appear in Dropbox, I must first have access to my desktop. I may as well have transferred the video file over, rather than to share it online just so that I can retrieve it on my iPhone.

Here’s a tip to the Dropbox developers: why don’t you guys add the ability to automatically convert any video files in a certain folder into h.264? Say, if I were to drop a video encoded in AVI into a dedicated folder in my Dropbox, it would automatically be converted into an iPhone-friendly format. I’m sure many users will enjoy that.

Alright, it seems as though I’m painting a terribly bleak picture here. But like I said earlier, I’m a little disappointed because the wait does not justify the miserable handful of features that Dropbox for iPhone provides. I expected the whole shebang.

If I push the curtain of dissatisfaction aside for a minute, it’s actually a wonderful beginning. Dropbox is still in its very first version and already providing its users with a chance to retrieve their files quickly and easily, not to mention saving them for offline viewing and sharing with friends.

I’d love to see where they’re heading next. I vote for editing functions! What about you? What are your expectations for the next version of Dropbox?

Dropbox runs only on iPhone OS 3.1. As a prerequisite, you must have the desktop version installed. Click here to download it.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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But the iTunes Store is not the only web-based product from Apple that integrates well with Apple’s other popular products. There’s also MobileMe.

This is a service that provides its users with the ability to keep their email, contacts, and calendar up-to-date on all their devices automatically. MobileMe also provides a suite of web applications that let users access their information using a web browser, share photos and movies, host a website, and use an iDisk for online file storage.

The Price Is NOT Right

Considering the great ideas behind it, I can’t help but wonder why MobileMe receives far less attention than it should. Even from Mac users.

Maybe the main reason for this not-so-successful marketing attempt is the fact that MobileMe is not a free service. After the 60 days free trial, users should spare US$ 99 for a yearly subscription fee.

Actually, there’s nothing wrong about offering a paid service. The problem is, with everything that is available today online (and offline), you could assemble your own MobileMe-like features for free. And free is hard to beat.

Here are some options that you could use to have the similar features of MobileMe without having to open your wallet.

Matching the offers

Let’s break down MobileMe’s offers and then look at ways to match them.

1. Sync your contacts and calendars

With the help of GoogleSync, you could sync your Mac’s contacts and calendars to your smartphone.

The first thing you should do is to enable Address Book’s and iCal’s ability to synchronize with Google Mail and Google Calendar. Open Address Book and go to its Preferences (Command + Comma). Click Accounts, and give a checkbox to the “Synchronize with Google” option box and click “Configure”

Fill in your Google Account’s data and click OK.

Do the same with your calendar(s). Open iCal and go to the Preferences. Click Account and click Add.

Choose Google on the Account Type, fill in your Google account data and click “Create“.

Your Google account will appear and you could edit the information if you want to.

The next step would be to configure your smartphone to synchronize to your Google account using Google Sync. The supported devices are iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile.

You can find the complete instructions on how to do this on the Google Sync page. Just choose the type of smartphone you have and click on the respective instructions.

Don’t forget to backup your data before and after the process. You can’t be too careful.

2. Access information online

If you set everything up right in the previous step, your information will automatically be available online through Google Mail and Google Calendar. So, no problem here.

3. Share photos and movies

You could use various online services like Flickr or Picasa Web Albums to share your photos and many other video sharing services like YouTube for movies. Alternatively, you could build your own Wordpress photo gallery for this purpose.

4. Website hosting

This is also something that you could build yourself. We’ve discussed about several places where you could host your site for free, a method to create your own self-hosted Wordpress blog, and create and publish your iWeb sites.

5. Online Storage

MobileMe provide its users with 20GB worth of online storage, but there are already many free online storage providers out there that offer even bigger (or nearly as much) storage space.

Unmatched offers

There are of course features of MobileMe that are irreplaceable, such as the ability to find a lost iPhone and secure it. The integration between all of the features is also a plus point for MobileMe.

After listening to a free audiobook entitled “Free” by Chris Anderson, I think Apple should change its marketing tactics for MobileMe to make the service more successful. Maybe the basic features of MobileMe should be available for free while users are given options to upgrade the services for a fee. But that is just my personal opinion.

Have you tried MobileMe? Do you know other free (and maybe better) alternatives?  Please share using the comments below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Windows Live Mesh: Get your Data on any PC from any Device (16)
• Top Free File Hosts To Store Your Files Online (157)
• Sync Yourself with Syncplicity… With a Gift For MakeUseOf Readers! (8)
• Sync Facebook Profile Pics to Your Phone Address Book [Mac] (10)
• Sugarsync vs Dropbox: The Battle Of The Cloud Storage Titans (60)

Luckily, in this digital age, everybody can turn to their computer for help. There are many applications dedicated to improve your study skills, as well as the overall school experience.

And for those Mac-user students out there, here are five free tools to help you survive, and win.

1. Schoolhouse

The first thing to do to achieve a better academic grades is to organize everything into one easy-to-observe placeholder. Schoolhouse, which dubs itself as “The Homework Manager for The Mac“, is built to do just that. Developed by a student who still lives the life, you can expect this application to be as useful as it should be.

You start the application by creating a new term; give name to it and set the time range of the term.

Then you gradually add your assignments, tasks and notes to it. You could choose to view all the items by list, week or month, iCal style.

Schoolhouse also has the ability to link documents and media to the assignments for quick reference, preview all your grades during the term to help you monitor your performance, and automatically publish the assignments to the web so that anyone can subscribe to them.

If it sounds confusing, don’t worry — to help users getting started, this app come with a short PDF manual.

Schoolhouse is like a GTD tool for students, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be useful for non-student users. I find that this app is very useful to manage my writing projects.

2. Genius

One of the biggest traumas of school that still carved in my memory was studying for tests. I was always a “math kind of guy”, so memorizing too many facts and dates always scared me.

I wish I’ve encountered Genius back then. This small app will help anybody with their study skills, particularly how to memorize things easier.

You start with a new blank window. Then, by clicking the ‘+’ button, you can add a question. Insert the answer next to the question.

After all of the questions and answers have been inserted into the Genius window, you can save the window and start the learning process. Click the green “Study” button, and Genius will pop up a window with a question and the answer while dimming out the other parts of the screen. It will ask you to memorize them.

Genius then will ask the question again and you have to write the answer. It will alternate between new facts and questions. Genius organizes your information and carefully chooses questions using an intelligent “spaced repetition” method that’s based on your past performance.

You can use Genius to study foreign language phrases, vocabulary words, historical events, legal definitions, formal speeches, marketing points, religious texts, or anything else you need to memorize.

3. ProVoc

It’s always nice to learn a new language. But there’s one obstacle that usually stops almost everybody from learning any language: memorizing the vocabularies.

ProVoc is a free vocabulary trainer that makes learning a language easy. Just download the application and the vocabulary pack(s), and you are ready to go. There is a mountain of vocabulary packs available ranging from German to Dutch to Polish to Russian to Arabic.

ProVoc has the ability to export to an iPod, so you can learn while on the road. You can also print flash cards, use the free Dashboard Widget, and listen to the audio pronunciation of the words.

4. Buddi

The word “student” is often being related to “starving”. This might be an indication that most students are not good in managing their finance.

To help with the monetary side, students (and everybody else) can rely on Buddi, a simple and free, open-source money management application. Buddi is Java-based so it can run on any operating system with Java environment installed.

With the financial problem tackled with the help of Buddi, students can focus more on the study.

5. Carbon Copy Cloner

“The dog ate my paper” is a classic excuse for not turning in your assignment. Of course, no teacher will buy it anymore. The modern alternative is “My hard drive crashed and ate everything inside, including my assignment.” But that is also not selling well anymore because we have backup utilities.

Carbon Copy Cloner is one free and powerful alternatives. You can “clone” everything to an external hard drive.

6. Bonus tool: G.ho.st

G.ho.st is one of the online alternatives for backing up your files. You will get 15 Gigabytes of free online storage on the system (and another additional 5GB for every friend who signs up from your invitation).

But G.ho.st is not just about file backup. It is a complete virtual, online operating system. So you will also get an office suite, games, browser and everything that you can expect from an operating system. Why will you need this? Simple — you can access your work and files from any place on earth with just a computer and an internet connection.

One of the new features that I like most is the ability to “side-load” files from web location directly to G.ho.st online storage, and the ability to share them with your friends.

The above link will direct you to the G.ho.st page with me as the referrer. If you don’t feel like donating an additional 5 Gigabytes to me, you can go directly to their site.

7. Everything else

There is still so many more applications that can help students to improve study skills and work better. MakeUseOf Directory profiled over 100 tools, covering everything from online dictionaries, chart makers and flash cards to sites for ordering food from take-aways located near the campus.

Don’t forget to check out articles about online tools for students such as:

- 10 Online Learning Tools
- 10 Web Tools To Save Your Butt In School
- Collaboration Suite For Teachers and Students

We’ve also discussed other free file hosts for free online storage services that can be used by students to keep and share their files.

If you could add more ideas to this short list, be sure to write it down using the comment below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Disclaimer:

1) This is not a full feature comparison between SugarSync and Dropbox as that will take up several pages. I have only listed some of the most commonly used features and users’ concern

2) All the points listed below are factual at this instance when the article is published. Things might change in the future and all the points stated here might not be valid any more.

3) I have tried my best to be unbiased and impartial in making judgement. You may not agree with some of the points below and are encouraged to share your opinions in the comments.

OS Support

At the moment, SugarSync only supports Windows and Mac (I will go into the mobile platform later) whereas Dropbox supports Windows, Mac and Linux.

Clearly the winner for this round: Dropbox.

File Management

SugarSync makes use of a sync client (SugarSync Manager) to manage all your file synchronization.

After you have installed the client, it automatically creates a Magic Briefcase folder in your Documents folder and everything you add to the Magic Briefcase will be synced to the cloud and across all other computers that have SugarSync linked. In addition, you may select any folders outside of the Magic Briefcase folder to be backed up to the cloud. These folders won’t be synced across other computers unless you specificy it in the SugarSync Manager. It gives you a certain degree of control and flexibility in backing up your files and syncing across computers but require much repetitive work.

Dropbox, on the other hand, works very differently from SugarSync. Instead of a file management client, it integrates itself into the file manager (Windows explorer for Windows, Nautilus for linux and Finder in Mac) so that you can handle your files like you have always done.

There is no learning curve at all and you can use it immediately after you have installed it. Everything you place in the Dropbox folder will automatically be synced to the cloud and across all other computers.

You won’t be able to sync any other folders outside of the Dropbox folder unless you move/copy them into the Dropbox folder. Also, you can’t choose which files you want/don’t want to sync across computers. In this aspect, Dropbox gives you lesser flexibility and control but it makes it extremely easy to use. (While you can create symlinks to sync folders outside of the Dropbox folder, this is more of a workaround rather than the core feature in Dropbox, so I will not take it into consideration here.)

Winner: Draw. One gives you the flexibility of managing your files while the other gives you the ease of use. No clear winner here.

Sharing Options

To share files in SugarSync, you have to do it via the Web interface. Even if you click on the Share option in the SugarSync Manager, it will still direct you to your Web account. In your Web account, you can enter the email addresses of the persons you want to share the files with.

In Dropbox, there are two ways you can share a file/folder. You can share your folders with your friends (by sending them an email in the Web interface), or place them in the Public folder (within the Dropbox folder) and have them accessible by everyone. Public sharing can be done within the file manager and you can quickly grab the Public link and broadcast them on your site. This is a great way to share large files without having to worry about the storage space and bandwidth.

Winner: Dropbox, for the additional public sharing feature.

Mobile support

Sugarsync comes with native iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile apps where the users can access their files directly from the handset dashboard. Dropbox users who want access to their files can only do so via the Mobile web interface. Not to complaint about the Dropbox mobile Web interface but somehow, a native app is able to integrate with the handset better and provide better viewing and features.

Winner: Sugarsync

Storage space (and pricing)

Dropbox gives you 2GB after signup and another 3GB after referring a friend. Sugarsync comes with a 2GB of storage space when you sign up a free account with them (see below for the limitations of the free account).

When it comes to premium account, Sugarsync offers more choices than Dropbox. Sugarsync comes with 4 upgrade options, ranging from $4.99 (30GB) to $24.99 (250GB) whereas Dropbox only have a $9.99/month (50GB) upgrade option. Editor’s note: Dropbox has now added a 100GB package for $19.99/month.

In terms of choices, flexibility and value for money (price per GB), SugarSync offers better value and choices.

Winner: Sugarsync

Limitations of Free Account

While SugarSync comes with a 2GB free account, it also comes with certain limitations:

• You can only backup & sync up to two computers.
• You can only maintain up to 2 past versions of each document.
• The upload time on the 2 GB free plan isn’t as speedy as with the paid.

In Dropbox, there are no limitations on the free account and you can use it on multiple computers.

Winner: Needless to say, Dropbox is the clear winner here.

Conclusion

Dropbox 3 – Sugarsync 2, Draw 1

It is quite obvious (at least to me) that Dropbox is the triumphant winner in this clash of the titans. Personally, I prefer Dropbox as it supports Linux, integrates fully into my Nautilus and allows me to host and share large files with all the readers of my blog. Perhaps you have a different reason for choosing Dropbox (or SugarSync)? Do share with us in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Windows Live Mesh: Get your Data on any PC from any Device (16)
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ZumoDrive is an online storage service that everyone can use to store their files in the Cloud and access them from different computers. What makes it different from the rest of its competitors is the way it manages the data on your computer. Most storage services create a folder on your local hard drive and sync all of the data to/from that folder. This might be a good idea in order to keep the data in sync, but what if you are using a 4GB Netbook and you have 10GB of data in the cloud? Your Netbook won’t be able to hold all the data.

What ZumoDrive does is: mount itself as a drive on the computer and “tricks” the computer into thinking that the hosted data are local. When you click to open any file (or music) from ZumoDrive, it will stream those files from the cloud and open them with any local application. This way, even if you are running out of hard disk space, you can still access 10GB (or even 500GB) of data from your computer effortlessly.

What happens if I am not connected to the Web?

There will certainly be times when you are not connected to the Web, so does it mean that you won’t be able to access to your data? This is what I thought when I first used ZumoDrive. Apparently, ZumoDrive is clever enough to prevent this from happening.

When using ZumoDrive, your hosted files are tagged with a specific logo on the icons. This means that the files are currently residing on the cloud server.

When you click to open any file, it will be streamed from the server and cached on your computer. In the event that your computer is not connected to the Web, there is still a cached version on your computer that you can open, view and edit; just like any other file. The next time you are connected to the Web, ZumoDrive will sync the local data changes back to the cloud server.

In the settings page, you may configure the amount of hard disk space available for caching and where to store the cache. You may also set the policy for ZumoDrive to follow, whether or not to always stream file from the server, to always cache it locally or a mixture of both.

ZumoDrive for iPhone/iPod Touch

Who says you can’t playback 10GB of music when you only have a 8GB iPhone? With the Supersize Me (iTunes Store link) free iPhone app (and an Internet connection), you can play your entire music library, open and edit your documents and see view your photos directly from the cloud.

ZumoDrive is currently available for Windows, Mac OS X and iPhone/iPod Touch. Linux users can only access ZumoDrive via the Web interface. According to ZumoDrive, a Linux version is coming soon, so stay tuned to the ZumoDrive developers.

A free account comes with 1GB of storage space. Those who require more storage space may upgrade to a premium account at prices ranging between $2.99 (10GB) to $79.99 (500GB) per month. For me, 1GB of free storage space will suffice. What about you?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Unlike other services tunesBag currently puts no definite limit on how much you can upload. However, they expect fair use, and should you intend to upload more than 5 to 7 GB, you will want to get in touch with them. Supported files are mp3, m4a, wma, and ogg.

There are multiple ways how files can be added to the library. There’s a browser and a desktop uploader. Files can be mailed to the library or uploaded from a source on the web.

Using the desktop uploader, whole iTunes and Winamp libraries or specific playlists can be uploaded automatically.

With the desktop and browser uploader, tunes can be added to your tunesBag playlists right away. The cool thing is that when you cancel an ongoing download, it will complete uploading the current file and pause until you decide to resume the upload process. So when you need some bandwidth, don’t hesitate to “cancel”, you can resume anytime.

In the library you can sort your music by genre, artist or album. There are various options for each song, such as adding it to a playlist, sharing, commenting, lyrics, videos, and through this menu you can edit and download the song.

Next to each track is a rating option from 1 to 6 points. In the sidebar to the left you’ll see that there are some basic playlists based on friends’ stream, recently added, recently played, recommendations or top rated items. Furthermore, your custom playlists, bookmarked playlists from other users and your search history are listed in the sidebar.

Integrated social services include Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, and Last.fm. Furthermore, whenever you listen to a tune, a sidebar opens to the right that features recommendations and comments, based on what you’re currently listening to.

Using tunesBag you’ll see more useful features. For example when you search for music, results you’re interested in will open in tabs. In the meantime you can continue listening to your library or playlists, which run in their own tab while you’re busy finding new material.

At the very bottom of the page you can manipulate the playback, add a track to one of your playlists, rate or share it.

Taken together, tunesBag is a very convenient service, which allows you to store your favorite music online, making it available to yourself and your friends wherever you go.

Should you ever lose the local copies of your collection, you can restore your music, i.e. collectively download playlists or your whole media library, using the desktop uploader.

tunesBag has been in private beta for quite some time. However, it appears that invitations are sent out frequently. I received mine only a few days after signing up. Additionally, I have 15 invitations for MUO users (update: we got another 100 invitations, see below). Leave a comment or request your invitation directly through Tina at MakeUseOf.com and you shall be rewarded. First come, first serve.

UPDATE: Signup up with TunesBag here (100 invites)

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Sadly, that feature is no longer implemented. What’s worse, DivShare finally set an upload limit at 5GB and a 10GB monthly download transfer limit.

Since then, quite a few contenders arose. DropBox, one of my favourites was a viable challenger. Although it isn’t exactly a file-sharing service primarily, it can be used to share files – and quite easily too. It has the one thing missing from DivShare, a file sharing desktop client. Well, things are about to change.

I came to know of ISUploader a few weeks ago. It’s still a very new application with a lot of room for improvement but as of now, it’s more than I can ask for.

At the moment of writing, the application is only capable of displaying a list of your files hosted by DivShare, retrieving some information about the files (uploaded date, size, number of times downloaded etc.) and grabbing the download links. And yes, it does support uploading to DivShare, naturally.

However, there’s a one file maximum limit per upload. Future versions of the application will support multiple-file uploads. Phew. And another thing, file deletion is yet to be possible.

ISUploader works great but as I’ve said: it still has a lot of room for development. And here’s the good news: I’ve been working closely with one of the developers of ISUploader to come up with a more fantastic 2.0 version. I’ve also been given a very early beta version of the new ISUploader to play around with and I can honestly say that it will be mind blowing when it is released.

Here’s a little sneak preview:

Support for multiple DivShare accounts

Easier setup

New Sidebar

ISUploader 2.0 won’t be available until sometime next month. And since I’ll be working alongside the developer, MakeUseOf readers will have the inside scoop before it hits the public. So watch this space!

For the time being, the current version should be capable enough to satisfy your uploading needs. You can find it over at inventiveSoft. ISUploader works on Mac OS X and is free but donations are always appreciated.

What features would you like to see implemented in the next version of ISUploader? Say it out loud in the comments and it might get added into the final product!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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We have covered a number of such services from time to time here on MakeUseOf. However today the focus is on an excellent application that bridges the gap between applications on the desktop and in the cloud. Basically we are going to look at one app that can map website as a drive on your Windows.

Gladinet is a free application that gives you easy access to the cloud from the comfort of your Windows desktop. Gladinet allows you to access all your files from one central location. You may need a file that you stored at your work computer in the office, or your holiday photos on Picasa or perhaps that shared spreadsheet that you were working on with your colleagues.  With Gladinet you can access all of these and more as regular folders on your computer. Not only this, Gladinet also makes it really fast and easy to use commonly used web applications.

Gladinet works by creating a mapped drive that is visible from within My Computer. All your online storage accounts, photos and documents are available as folders within this drive. What’s really amazing is that it is easy to set up all your accounts and you can have a fully functional Gladinet installation with all your accounts set up in a matter of minutes.

Here are some of the cool things that Gladinet allows you to accomplish:

Mounting an online storage account

Every function is accessible through the all powerful systray menu. Suppose you want to mount your Windows Live Skydrive account (don’t forget it now offers 25GB of online storage). To mount it as a folder within your Gladinet Virtual Drive:

Right-click on the tray icon, point to My Virtual Directories > Mount Storage as Virtual Directory > Windows Live Skydrive and enter the details

Gladinet will go through the setup process and if you provided the correct credentials you should see your Skydrive files within the Virtual Gladinet Drive.

Similarly you can mount other services like Google Docs, Picasa, Amazon S3 or a remote storage.

Integrate Web Applications into the Operating System

Gladinet allows you to use web applications as you would use a desktop application. Want to quickly edit a “*.doc” file and don’t have Microsoft Office or OpenOffice installed? Well why not use Google Docs or Zoho Docs or perhaps use the Thinkfree PPT Viewer for quickly viewing presentations?

All you need to do is enable it from the Gladinet Menu, where it will ask you for the account credentials. Henceforth you can access Google Docs from the start menu without opening the web browser. You can even right-click on a doc file and choose to open it with Google Docs, how cool is that?

Maintain Bookmarks

If you work and browse the web on more than one computer, there will come a time when you will want to access a page that you bookmarked at home, but now you need to have access to it. While you could use a solution like Foxmarks, Gladinet also allows you to aggregate all your bookmarks and access them from all the computers that you work on.

Remotely access all your computers

I briefly mentioned above that you can access your remote computer’s contents as a remote drive. However there is more.  All of your computers that have a Gladinet client installed on them automatically form a virtual network. You can access them via remote desktop from within Gladinet, or forward services from one machine to another, thereby acting as a proxy server for other machines.

Manage Everything with ease

Gladinet offers easy management of all resources from a centralized location. You can manage safe cards (which allows you to save login details so that you won’t have to enter them again and again) and all your accounts and devices from dedicated managers within Gladinet.

Webtop

As if all of the above was not enough, Gladinet also offers you a webtop, meaning you can access all of the above from within a web browser using something like a Web OS.

Gladinet is very visual and you have to use it to experience it. Here is a show case of all its capabilities.

Gladinet is one of those applications that I really hoped was available for all operating systems. As far as I know there is no such solution for Linux and to be frank, I found myself missing it when working in Linux. I hope the Linux geeks get Gladinet or a similar solution soon. If you know of a similar program please let me know.

What do you think about Gladinet? Pretty cool eh? Definitely a keeper for me. Pour in your thoughts in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Here’s the problem, though: emailing song files is tough. Some services don’t accept attachments over a couple of megabytes, and even the ones that do take a long time to download, slowing down your email and Internet. Even when emailing is possible, it’s rarely the ideal way to send big files.

Thankfully, there are a few ways to send big files over the internet that have made uploading, sharing, downloading and managing large files possible. I’ve tried a bunch of them, and picked a few favorites.

Ignoring all the other features, many or few, here are my three favorite ways to send big over the net files to my friends- whether they like it or not. There are others like each of these, but I think they’re the best at what they do within their respective categories.

For The Serial Uploader: Drop.io

With Drop.io, a service I’ve raved about before, you can add one file or many to what are known as “drops.” You name the drop, and it gets a permanent URL in the format of http://drop.io/yourdropnamehere.

Adding files is easy, and drop.io does a great job with managing them. If you upload pictures, drop.io figures it out and creates a slideshow for you. If it’s a video, it’s embedded and watchable. If it’s music, you can listen to it right there on the page.

There are viewers as well for a number of different document types, and many things don’t need to be downloaded to be enjoyed.

I like drop.io because I can give people one link to go to for all the BEST SONGS EVER IN HISTORY, and keep them changing. It took any file type I threw at it, and sharing and downloading are as easy as clicking on the file and selecting “Download.”

If all you’re looking to do is share one file, though drop.io can do it, it’s not designed for attachment-like sharing. Also, there’s a 100MB limit in any given drop, though there’s no limit to the number of drops you can have.

For the Uploading Machine: File Dropper

File Dropper’s simple, elegant, and the biggest of the bunch. 5GB! If you’re uploading files bigger than 5GB, you’re unfortunately out of luck. If you’re a rational person, you’ll never touch File Dropper’s size limit.

Uploading a file is as easy as browsing for your file, and clicking “Upload.” Every file gets a permanent link that you’re free to share with your friends. There are no frills, no awesome features to speak of, but it’s dead simple, practically limitless in size, and probably the one I use most.

If you’re a heavy uploader, File Dropper’s giving away free storage space for those who pledge to go green.

For the Email Lover: YouSendIt

I like YouSendIt because it fits the most closely into peoples comfort zones. You upload a file, select an email address you want to send it to, and YouSendIt does the rest. Once your file is ready, YouSendIt will send an email to your recipient saying that you’ve sent them a file, and a link is given to go and download the file.

With YouSendIt, you can also track when your files are downloaded, and by whom- no more “I never got the memo!” excuses. This is the most attachment-like solution I came up with, because it still works mostly in your email inbox. Anyone can click a link in their email, but there are more steps involved with the other ones. It’s only one step, but I digress.

Files can be up to 100MB in size for the free account, which means you can even send movies to your friends. If you need more, there are also paid account options for you.

With these applications, no longer do my friends have to suffer to attain the musical nirvana I offer them on a regular basis. Whether you want to send movies, music, or just any old big file (Powerpoints can get huge), there are a number of options out there that let you upload, download, share and interact with files of almost any size.

What do you do when you’ve got big, unwieldy files to share?

Photo Credit : FredR

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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At its simplest, drop.io is a place to store files on the Internet. You create “drops” filled with files, photos, audio, video and more that you can share with other people. There’s a 100MB limit on a given drop, but you can purchase more space if you want. Typically, though, 100MB is plenty- that’s an awful lot of PDFs and Word documents.

Every drop has a 7+ character name, and can be accessed, shared, and dealt with however you want. You can set the drop to be password protected, and even edit it later from your own account. Drops aren’t searchable, which means you’ll maintain the privacy of your files, and they’ll only be seen by the people who are supposed to see them.

In addition to all that, though, there are a ton more features that make drop.io unique. The feature list is gigantic, and there are a ton of features to make drops work for you. Here are eight ways to use drop.io to do more than just hold files.

1. Phone Drops and Drop Conferencing

For a long time, I used Jott to record all my random whims and thoughts – just call a number, record your message, and it gets saved for you. Then Jott got un-free. With drop.io, you can do the same thing Jott used to do. Every drop has a unique phone number- just call it, leave a message, and it’ll show up in your drop as an MP3 that you can listen to, download, or send to others. There’s also no time limit on your voicemails, like there was with Jott- your only limitation is the file size limit of the MP3.

Drop.io is also a really useful collaboration tool, both for file-sharing and discussing. Every drop, in addition to a voicemail number, has a unique conference number that you can give to people to call. Get everyone on the line, and you can discuss the files in the drop, manipulate them, and use drop.io as your project center. It’s free conferencing, and creates a central point for all of your dealings with a particular file or project.

2. Drop Tweeting

One drawback many people see in Twitter is that there’s no good way to share files with your followers on Twitter. Drop.io makes that process not only possible, but simple. Drop.io calls it Tweet.io, and it works like this: you enter your Twitter credentials into the drop.io page. Then, every time you add or update a file on the drop, a link to it will automatically be posted to your Twitter account. That means, for instance, that if you want to share a song with the Twitter world, just add it to your drop, and Twitter users will be able to listen to it with one click. To get here, select “Twitter Alerts” from the “Share” menu in your drop.

3. Back-up Space

This is possibly the simplest use for drop.io. You can add files to a drop by email (every drop has a unique email address), voicemail, fax, the web interface, a Firefox extension, or an embeddable widget. You’ve got 100MB per drop, with no limit on the number of drops you can have. To make them totally private, make sure to make them password-protected. Then, to keep them limited only to yourself, keep that password private. The number of drops you have could get big, though, so you may not want drop.io to be your only backup solution.

4. Drop Fax Machine

I don’t have a fax machine. I don’t need one very often, but every once in a while it’s a really useful thing to have. With drop.io fax, you can send and receive faxes right from the web. Just right-click on the file you want to send, and choose “fax”. Then, enter the number, and presto – they get a fax. To receive one is a bit more complicated, but totally possible – just follow drop.io’s instructions.

5. Drop Huge Attachments

Even if you use drop.io, odds are it might be too much for someone you know. For them, if they use email, you can still keep them involved. Emailing files out of drop.io is as simple as finding your file, clicking “send,” and then “email recipient.” They’ll get the file as an attachment, plus the link- which makes sure that they’ll get access to files of any size. It’s great for sending music, videos, or other large files you might not be able to send through email- but still dealing with email, which everyone’s comfortable with.

6. Drop to Facebook

Thanks to Facebook Connect, drop.io and Facebook are now totally connected. That means a number of really cool things: you can leave a voicemail to your Facebook feed for your friends to listen to, or fax things to your Facebook friends. With drop.io, Facebook has become a way to socially collaborate on files, and to share things you like with other people. No linking to download sites, making them download software, or other confusion- just fire up Facebook Connect, and your drops can be as involved with Facebook as you want. For more, check out drop.io’s Facebook page.

7. Drop Family Photo Albums

Drop.io’s support for photos is pretty fantastic. The viewer is good, the uploading quick, and the use of the drops easy. It’s as simple as uploading the images you want, and selecting “View” from the options. The view option (blog, media, etc.) you choose is up to you. Then, click on one of the images, and select the arrows to scroll through them. You can also share, embed, or comment on any given image.

8. Drop Insta-podcast

I’ve mentioned all of the things relevant here, but this is worth noting again. Here’s how simple it can be to make a podcast: one phone call. Call your drop’s number, leave a message, and boom- podcast. Or, upload a video, view it like a blog, and it’s a weekly podcast. How you create a podcast is up to you, but sharing it with the world couldn’t be easier- thanks to drop.io.

I’ve barely scratched the surface here of all the things drop.io can do. There are RSS feeds, SMS alerts, Dropcasts, and a huge number of other features that make drop.io a killer sharing application. I’ve learned a lot about it as I’ve been researching and writing this post, and I’m pretty sure I’ve become a life convert to drop.io.

Do you use drop.io, for backup or something else? Do you use a similar application? Tell us about them in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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So enter, 4 great tools for sharing large files over the internet:

Zapr (Windows XP only)

Zapr is, in essence, a small Web-server that sits in your system tray. Instead of leaving your entire machine open, you select what files are to be served, and can password-protect them as you see fit.

For demonstration purposes, I have uploaded a compressed ZIP file of the most-recent Editors’ Picks from open-licensing music site CCMixter. The selection process was as simple as opening a file in any Windows program. Next step was to select the privacy level. Once that’s done, your selected file is instantly available for download, either as a public link from username.zapr.com, or as a private link you can send to select friends and colleagues.

No other uploading is required as the files are served directly from your PC. This means no file-size or bandwidth limits. Of course, this also means that for your friends to get at the files, you must leave your PC on with the Zapr client running. As long as that’s not an issue for you, then Zapr is the fastest and easiest internet file-sharing solution I’ve seen for Windows users.

Moving on now to the Web-based fare.

FileAI

FileAI works much like Zapr, but consists of a Java-based in-browser client. Any platform that supports Java should work with FileAI. There is no size or bandwidth limit, much like with Zapr, because the files are again served directly from your PC.

Downloads can be password-protected and also limited by how many times a file can be downloaded before it expires. FileAI promises “Bit-Torrent-style” distributed file transfers among multiple recipients. Downloading a file is as easy as visiting the site and entering a transfer-ID number or clicking a direct link. The Java client handles all transfers.

File Dropper

File Dropper claims to be the fastest file-sharing site, and it certainly is fast. It can’t be much simpler. Ideal for sharing large video files. Upload a file of up to 5GB in size and receive a download link to pass to your friends. Uploads start immediately upon choosing the file. The site will try and up-sell you on its new premium services, but most of us will find the quick and signup-free basic service to be sufficient.

File Shaker

At first glance, File Shaker looks a lot like File Dropper, just a bit more colorful. File Shaker offers the same quick, login-free, basic upload service, with the maximum file-size bumped-up to a whoppin’ 10GB. Upload time for the same ZIP file was about equal to File Dropper.

For a dead-simple 10GB upload, you can’t beat the price, although given File Dropper’s push for premium accounts, I would not be personally surprised if File Shaker drifted towards the same business-model.

There you have it. The four easiest solutions I could find for sharing large files on the web. I certainly could have missed out on a few gems, so commenters, please let me know what I’ve missed. I won’t take it personally.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Although not covered in this post, Oosah has versions available for the iPhone and Google’s android mobile phone operating system. With this software you’ll be able to access your media files remotely, for example to stream up to 1TB of MP3’s to your iPhone. Sadly, no option is available for Windows Mobile, yet. Anyone?

Now let’s have a look at the details, shall we?

Below is a snapshot of the media platform. It basically resembles the file explorer most of you will know from Windows.  Thankfully, it also works a lot like it, meaning many of the typical shortcuts will work. If a file went into the wrong folder, you can simply drag & drop it into another or mark several files by holding down the [Ctrl] key or batch select by clicking the [Shift] key. Right-click does not work. Using the respective buttons you can create, rename and delete folders, and more about editing single files will follow further down. Let’s do some uploads first.

As mentioned previously, Oosah only permits media files. There is a detailed list of supported file formats here.

Uploading is straight forward. Hit the green Upload button in the top left, choose your files and go. Unfortunately, you cannot upload an entire folder, but you can select a great number of files at once, which will be uploaded one after the other. I tried it with over 400 files from different folders which worked just fine.

Apparently, video and RAW files require some additional post-uploading processing until they are ready to be displayed. You should receive an eMail from Oosah once they are available. This may take some time…hours, days? Nothing had come in when this post was submitted.

When you scroll over a file you’ll see a small green box with a white arrow, as seen on the top left image in the screenshot below. When you click the arrow, a menu appears as shown on the right. The printing option is very well done, although it doesn’t seem to work in Macs, yet.

While you upload files you can decide whether or not you want them to be public. Later you can go back and look at some more share options through the individual file menu. You can change the share status of a file and even set a password for it. Additionally, you can copy the direct link and the HTML code or eMail the file to your friends.

Unfortunately, only individual files can be shared or edited this way. Also, Oosah appears to have difficulties recognizing international keyboards, as the @ sign wasn’t recognized, however, copy & paste worked fine. What can be done though, is select all files and delete them all or filter for certain file types, including photos, sounds, videos and Oosahs.

Oh wait, what are Oosahs?

Oosahs are personal compositions of media files or let’s say slideshow presentations. You probably noticed the orange Widgets button next to the Upload button. Clicking it will bring up a list of options: Slideshow, Playlist and Gallery, while only a slideshow is referred to as Oosah. By the way, the term playlist is misleading, since only photos, videos and slideshows are permitted, no audio files. You can add a background sound to an Oosah slideshow, though. I will not go into details of how you can create these media compositions. Basically just follow the instructions on screen and you’ll be fine!

Here is an example of an Oosah:

What’s the Connect button for?

You may have spotted the YouTube, Facebook and Picasa logos on the previous images. The folders for the respective services don’t become available until you log into those accounts. That’s what the Connect button is for. You can log in and then view or upload media files through Oosah. Very convenient! Oosah also offers a connect option for Flickr, which opens a pop-up window. Logging in didn’t work for me, the window went blank.

And that’s it. Now you’re all set up to share your media files and there is a lot more to discover on Oosah. Just follow the links from the Oosah Homepage.

I should mention that just recently Tim introduced a similar file storage platform called Hordit. That service provides unlimited amount of space for anything you may want to store, backup or share. However, there are no streaming options for your mobile device. For more information, check out Tim’s article Hordit – A Digital Packrat’s Best Friend. Oh, and meanwhile Hordit has entered public beta, so you won’t need an invitation.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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If you are a packrat like myself, you’ll have likely tapped several services in an effort to store, share, and backup all your digital things and information: Flickr, Picasa, Sandy, Mozy, Delicious, Gmail, G-Reader, G-Anything…I could go on all day.

Packrats, meet your new best friend. Hordit, a service that will enter open beta this month, aims to be all those things, and then some, encouraging users to store “virtually anything.”

You’ll start by signing up and creating your profile, used to identify you to other users when you send them files, links or messages. There are social applications here: You can have “friends,” “followers,” or share files within a group based around a topic of interest, such as “Google watchers” or “Web development.”

Once you sign in you’re at your Desktop, which shows your files in a Windows-Explorer-like interface. You may add, rename, delete, and nest folders within each other. You can’t miss the big button on the left that simply says “store something.”

Holding your pointer over that button presents you with your choices: Save or import bookmarks, upload a photo, a video, a contact, a simple text note, or any other file. Browser-exported bookmark files can be uploaded to give you a head start. I have yet to upload any file type that Hordit won’t accept. Stored items can be marked “public” or “private” by default, so you’re not forced to be social with your items. I’ve prepared a screencast here that will illustrate Hordit’s upload process.

File storage is only part of what Hordit offers. Another option on your Desktop is your Daily Read. This is where you can keep track of any sites or feeds that you wish to follow. Feed items can be saved to your Hordit account as a bookmark or to your “look later” list. Everything you store can be tagged for later searching. One of Hordit’s more-advanced features is the Research Assistant, which combs sites of your choosing for any topic you can come up with. This list of sites is separate from your Daily Read list.

I also introduced my wife Heather to the service. At first, she was a bit overwhelmed by the somewhat-busy interface. However once she saw the Firefox toolbar in action, she was sold. According to her, the Hordit toolbar, plus StumbleUpon, “formed Voltron” for her (Look it up, kids). God, I love that nerdy woman.

Hordit’s FAQ promises unlimited storage space. That’s “unlimited” without an asterisk. They really seem to mean it. When considering a free service such as this, one must ask: What’s in it for the guys running this thing? How does Startup X plan to make any money? When I asked Hordit founder Matt Brown this same question, he stated that the service would always be free but may be ad-supported in the future and possibly supplemented with paid-premium features. They are also looking at ways to leverage the Byteswap platform, on which Hordit is built, as a revenue source.

As usual, we at MakeUseOf, when we’re not fighting off domain pirates, have your beta hook-up. The first 100 of you lovely, wonderful, supportive readers who sign up with beta-code “MUO123” get a sneak peek at the service. If the code doesn’t work for you, please feel free to post a comment asking to be invited in.

Please keep in mind that, just with any other beta software, there may be hiccups in the system, so let’s all be good little beta testers and send in bug reports! In my talks with Matt Brown, I’ve noticed that he is very receptive to feature suggestions, so feel free to send those in as well.

There are literally countless file storage and file sharing tools out there (many of them profiled on Make Use Of), and Hordit is but one of them. What are your favorites? What features would you like out of Hordit? Please let us know in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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These desktop clients make uploading and sharing files so much easier without having to leave your browser open for the transfer to finish. Browsers are notoriously unpredictable because they can freeze or hang and then you’ll have to start uploading all over again. You know what I’m talking about, right? You’re uploading a file and you leave that browser window alone and open another one. Then you stumble onto a site that crashes your browser or renders it unresponsive. You have no choice but to press the magical keys Ctrl-Alt-Del to kill the browser. And start all over again.

I’m not saying never to use them, just like everything else – I’d like an alternative method. The clients just go on doing their thing in the background. When it’s done, some even automatically copy the public URL onto your clipboard. Talk about being efficient!

So in a randomized fashion, here they are:

1. Pando

Pando is not a new service, they started back in 2006. Mark wrote an article explaining how to use it so I won’t really venture deeply into it. I do have to mention its main features, though:

• 1GB File Limit (for free account)
• Hosted for 7 days
• Share via email, IM or Web
• Instant start – No need to wait until the upload is complete in order to download it
• Files are uploaded to Pando’s server

Let me elaborate on the third feature: Pando’s desktop client can send an email to your recipient containing the packaged download trigger file (.pando). It can also do the same for your IM clients, doesn’t matter which instant messenger client you’re using because it’s a simple copy and paste of the download link. Although, if you’re using Skype or Yahoo Messenger with Voice there is a little extra for you. Lastly, your file can also be shared via the web. Pando will package the whole download as a web widget for you. All you have to do is copy the code and embed it into your website.

If you’re a geek and would like to find out more about how the Pando client works, check this page out. Pando is one of the clients available for Windows and Mac. Great start wasn’t it?

2. DropBox

We’ve covered DropBox before. This client is so good that Dave took the time to interview its developer and got us 100 free invites!

DropBox is neatly integrated into the operating system. In Mac, we automatically get a DropBox shortcut in the sidebar. Everything that we throw in it gets shared. We also get a menubar icon which shows our usage and when it’s uploading files, it shows the progress.

DropBox syncs the files in my “DropBox” folder with my account in the cloud. So, if I change something within the folder, it is automatically detected and the change is then reflected online. You can also track the changes you made in your DropBox Web Interface once you log in. But because of this syncing feature, you can’t really use DropBox to purely store your files online because once you delete the files from the “DropBox” folder on your computer, the files are also deleted from the server. But then again, the function of DropBox is file-sharing not online backup. Karl did write about a method where you could technically use DropBox to backup your files from one computer to another on a multi-computer setup.

Its main features are:

• Neatly integrated into the OS
• Automatic synchronization of the shared folder
• 5GB storage without any bandwidth limitation
• Automatic photo album creation

Any folder of pictures that you drop into the ‘Photos’ shared folder in DropBox will immediately be created into a beautiful photo album which you can share with your friends. Who needs Flickr and their 200MB limit?

DropBox is available for both Mac and Windows however, they’re still in beta and you’ll need an invite to get started. I have 10 personal invites which I’m more than willing to give away so that you can try and see how great DropBox is. Just let me know in the comments if you want one.

3. Civil Netizen

Civil Netizen doesn’t technically fall into “online” file-sharing because it doesn’t upload to servers online. Remember Podmailing? Civil Netizen is a similar application used to send large files to friends. The only drawback is that you’ll need to be online while the transfer is taking place. But this client has the upper hand when you’re trying to send a file which is larger than 100MB or 1GB which is the file limit for most online file-sharing services.

With Civil Netizen:

• You can send files up to 4GB
• Tracking the file download progress is possible
• No account is necessary

Files which are about to be sent are packaged in a parcel. Like Pando, the recipient will receive a download trigger in their email called a pickup slip. Once the recipient starts to download the file, you can track the status in the client. All very reminiscent of DHL or Fed-Ex.

Civil Netizen is available for both Windows and Mac.

4. DropSend

DropSend is one of those services which gets ignored because of its limitations. It’s only capable of sending 5 files per month, of which they can be up to 1GB in size; and an online storage of 250MB. But with a desktop client, there’s a sparkle of hope for this forgotten service.

Since you only get 5 sends a month, you really should maximize your file limitation. Make sure that the files that you’re sending are packed to the brim. Zip up all the files you want to send and push them out at once.

Features of DropSend include:

• Uploads to server
• 5GB bandwidth limit per month on free account
• 1GB file limit
• 250MB online file-storage

The free account doesn’t sound that attractive but again, with a desktop client to make life easier, why not give it a go? I’m trying to take a slightly negative product and putting a positive spin on it because, let’s face it: life isn’t always a bed of roses.

Again, DropSend can be used on both Windows and Mac.

5. steekR

Bet you haven’t heard of this guy before. SteekR provides an online storage of up to 1GB with no file or bandwidth limitations. The cool part is, steekR is a clone of the popular online backup service Mozy. You can use steekR to select certain folders on your computer and schedule it to backup to the steekR server at any time you find most convenient.

You can then browse through your backup online after logging into their website or if you’re a Windows user, here’s a little treat for you. You can use steekR DriveDrive (don’t ask me why it’s called that) to browse your online backup directly on your computer as though it’s mounted as a physical drive, much like Gmail Drive

SteekR is made by the French (I’m guessing because the installation process was entirely in French) and so you’ll see some funny, nonsensical sentences in the application, which adds to the fun if I may say so. SteekR is available for Mac and Windows, with a little extra lovin’ for Windows users.

6. Dockdrop

Ahh finally, an application just for Mac. Dockdrop supports multiple protocols i.e. Flickr, WebDAV, SCP and FTP so you can easily “drop” your files and send them away. Dockdrop resides on the dock and uploading files is as easy as dragging them and letting go on top of the icon. If you have several protocols subscribed, it will ask you where you’d like to send the files. I suppose just reading about it won’t do it justice, watch this screencast.

So in a nutshell, Dockdrop is a FTP client, Flickr uploader and a desktop client for WebDAV and SCP. Uploading to Flickr has never been easier. Transferring files to an FTP server is as painless as a drag-and-drop.

Which services have you been using? Any other preferred desktop clients? Also, if you want one of the 10 invites to DropBox, holler out in the comments.

(By) Jackson Chung is a full-time medical student attempting to perform a juggling act with relationships, studies and his future.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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While we have previously covered some of the cool AIR applications, most of them are meant for the Windows/Mac platform. For Linux users who are constantly looking for AIR applications, here is a list of 8 useful AIR applications that we have tested and found them to be working in Linux.

1. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is an interesting Twitter client that allows you to organize your tweets into more manageable levels. It enables the user to split their main feed into topics or group specific columns allowing a broader overview of tweets.

There are several useful features in TweetDeck. One of them is the auto-updating of the Twitter status so that you know when Twitter is down. The next feature is that you can continue to send tweets even when you are offline (or when Twitter is down). Tweets and direct messages are queued and then sent automatically when you are back online.

2. WebKut

WebKut allows you to take a screenshot of any Web page easily. It loads the page in its own viewer and you can screen-capture the page the way you like it. This is so far the easiest and simplest screen capture tool that I have come across.

3. Snackr

Snackr is a RSS ticker that pulls random items from your feeds and scrolls them across your desktop in an unobstructive way. It is easy to hide/deactivate it when you find it annoying and when you see a title that looks interesting, you can simply click on it to pop up the item in a window.

4. Xdrive Desktop Lite

Xdrive is an online storage service provided by AOL. It’s free and you get a whopping 5GB of online storage space to backup all your data, video and music. The AIR application Xdrive Desktop Lite is to allow its users to easily transfer and backup their local files to Xdrive online storage.

5. AirTube Video Downloader

Using the AirTube Video downloader, you can easily download YouTube videos to your desktop simply by dragging or pasting the video’s URL. After the downloading is completed, the application will playback the video in its viewer. A useful tool for someone who downloads videos very often.

6. Destroy Flickr

There is already a full review on DestroyFlickr, so I shall not say anymore about it. But it is definitely a good thing that a great app like this works on Linux too.

7. Klok

Klok is a time management application that allows you to monitor the time you have spent on projects, tasks and any other stuff. You can view the timeline in Weekly view, Project view or get it to generate a report and display in pie-chart format. There are some very well-thought features such as setting up a template for new projects, creating sub-projects, drop-down calendar and a zoom in/out function for the timeline. If you are looking for a good time management application, Klok is definitely the one I would recommend.

8. UVLayer

If you have watched the movie ‘Minority Report’, then you will find the interface of UVLayer very similar to that in the movie. When you search for a video via the search bar, UVLayer will instantly fetch a list of videos from YouTube and Truveo and display them in a big window. You can then drag the video onto anywhere in the canvas. It is also integrated with Google Talk, Facebook and AIM so that you can share the videos with your friends easily.

Are there any more Air applications for Linux that you want to add?

(By) Damien Oh is an all-out technology geek who loves to tweak and hack various operating systems to make life easier. Check out his blog at Make Tech Easier where he shares all the tips, tricks and tutorials.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Arkiva is a mix of social networking and storage to make your life that much easier. The focus of the site is most certainly achieved by the incredible array of options and successful accomplishments that are achieved by simply using the site.

Signing up is easy, all you need to do is enter the required information and you are in. Once you are in, the options become incredibly large. You can either begin uploading files, use your personal email address (e.g. username@arkiva.com), search for things to add to your “Arkiva Library,” update your health record, or check out your home page. To upload a file all you need to do is click “upload files” on the left side of your screen (you will need to have Java installed on your computer), select the type of media you would like to upload, select the folder you would like to put your file(s) in, select the file(s), and click “upload files.” Your files should be available in the corresponding section, e.g. “My Photos,” “My Videos,” “My Music,” “My Documents,” “Home Directory,” “My Favs,” “Medical History,” or on your home page.

Once you have uploaded all of your favorite files, customization becomes readily available. For one single text document, you may download it, share by email, move the document, delete it, view the document and edit it, or index the document and add tags. The option to edit the document really goes further then necessary. Many times, even purely online storage backup utilities do not allow users to edit files that are uploaded. This is simply an awesome extra.

Unfortunately though, the search feature is not that great. You seem to be required to enter the exact name of the file. (i.e). the name of my file was “uploadeddocument1.txt” and when I entered “doc” or “1″ the result was nothing. Otherwise such features worked correctly.

One extremely neat feature, that can be widely used by all of you with those old records, tapes, VHS tapes, picture slides, etc. is the option to send Arkiva your old or external media and have them convert it to DVD and archive to share it on Arkiva. You can even have them put all of your media on a 250 GB external hard drive for $149.95. It is just another sweet option given to you by the folks at Arkiva.

Part of the social networking image is an obvious encouragement to invite your friends to Arkiva. You are encouraged to do so and receive $.10 for each person you invite that joins.

When you first start out, pictures, videos, audio and other media are automatically placed on your home page for convenience. You are also given 1GB to start off for free. If you would like to increase your storage space, 6GB=$49.95 a year, 11GB=$89.95 a year, 22GB=$169.95 a year, and 50GB=$369.95 a year.

(By) Will is a computer nerd and geek that is raising money for developing a better internet and runs his blog at Advanced Tech Solutions.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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So the cheers/boos system worked like this: A feature that I liked and/or worked as claimed on the Syncplicity site was given a cheer, a feature on which I saw a potential room for improvement was given a boo. The score at the end of each bullet point represented the cumulative score which means that the total of cheers and boos up till that point. I apologize if you found it hard to comprehend. (damn the cumulative system! From next time I will not be using cumulative scores).

With that clear and out of the way I have some good news for you all:

1. First off Syncplicity now integrates with Scribd, Zoho, and Picnik which means that you can now view and edit documents using Scribd’s iPaper and Zoho’s tools. Picnik on the other hand allows you to quickly edit photos online from any web browser.

2. You can now share your files without requiring the other person (whom you are sharing with) to have a Syncplicity account.

3. The pricing for Syncplicity is out, you can find the details here. This may or may not be good news according to the way you choose to see it.

4. Last but by no means least we have a little giveaway for our readers. The Syncplicity team is offering a little extra gift to our wonderful readers. Here are the details: The first 500 users who sign up with the code MAKEUSE9 will start with 3GB (instead of 2GB) and if you decide to sign up with a subscription, you ’ll start with 45GB instead of 40GB. Alternatively you can use follow this link to skip entering the intro code.

One little mention here that in case you didn’t notice – the points that got a boo in the last article have now all been corrected and/or improved by Syncplicity (Kudos!) so now its “cheers” all the way for Syncplicity!

(By) Varun Kashyap – A programmer, tech enthusiast and a blogger who likes to write about the latest on the web, tips and trick, hacks to make you online and desktop experience richer and simpler. Check out his TechCrazy blog

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Acrobat.com claims to offer the first real online word processor, web based file sharing and storage, ability to create PDF’s, online screen sharing and web conferencing.

Lets take a look at all of these one by one, shall we?

1. Adobe Buzzword

Adobe claims Buzzword to be the only real online word processor. They are justified in their claims as it turns out. For starters Buzzword supports the docx format, but that’s not all as it has a host of cool features that takes it closer to the desktop experience.

It offers options for header – footer, font colors, images, tables, special characters, comments etc. It keeps track of the version history of a file and your work can be shared or exported to various formats. How about performance? It worked well when I gave it a try (although i didn’t do any serious work).

Mark also took a previous look at Buzzword here.

2. Adobe ConnectNow

Adobe ConnectNow is for those of you who want to collaborate with someone over the Internet. It allows you to invite participants to view your webcam or share your computer screen. Not only can you share but you can also remotely control the screen and annotate it. You can also send a file from within ConnectNow if you desire.

In addition it has a white board functionality that lets you draw shapes, lines etc on the screen for on-the-go instant discussions and designs. It however requires you to install a ConnectNow plugin to share your screen with the participants.

Oh, I almost forgot, you can also chat with all the participants in your room. A very useful and productive app for those who want to share their ideas and work online.

3. Create PDF

You might be wondering why it’s called acrobat.com but still no mention of PDF? Well here it is. The Create PDF app. It presents you with an intuitive interface where you can see the files you created or uploaded to acrobat.com. In addition to that it has an option to upload files from your computer as well. You can convert them to PDF here and then download them. You can also view the documents that others are sharing with you.

You can sort the available files by a variety of criteria such as upload time, name etc. One special mention here would be that Adobe imposes a 5 document conversion limit. Not sure what the idea is behind this strategy. Why would they want to limit PDF conversion?

4. Share Files

Share files allows you to upload files from your computer and share them with your colleagues or friends. You can also send them messages notifying them of the fact that you have shared a new file with them. You can control the access level of the documents and keep them open or restricted. In addition, it offers all the file management features I mentioned in number 3 above. All the files you have stored in this organizer can also be embedded in a web page in the form of a flash preview of the document.

5. My Files

This is the central file organizer of acrobat.com. Actually I have already mentioned it twice in 3 and 4 above when I discussed the file management features within Create PDF and Share Files. In addition to that My Files has a lot more to offer. You can filter files according to their name, size, extension, author, share status, and upload date. You can view them as lists or thumbnail.

Finally you can upload files from your computer as well. Worth mentioning here is that as cool as all this seems did you notice I didn’t mention search? After uploading a handful of files, and as forgetful as I am, I went to My Files and noticed that there is no search option. So if you were to use the entire storage limit (which is 5 GB by the way) can you imagine a scenario when you won’t have to search for a file? What makes this even worse is that you can’t tag your files or organize them in folders (at least I didn’t find the option). I really hope they add this in the future.

As you can see, the last three i.e. Create PDF, Share Files and My Files have somewhat similar features. Actually all of them are tightly integrated into each other so that you don’t have to go back to the welcome screen each time you want to convert a Buzzword file to PDF or share a file you uploaded.

All in all the suite ( if I may call it so) promises to be great. It has some minor glitches like 5 document conversion limit, no search and no tags or folders but with the fantastic UI, it’s sure to spice up your web apps experience! Check it out at acrobat.com. It requires a free registration. Let us know what you think and how you like it.

(By) Varun Kashyap – A tech enthusiast, programmer and a blogger who will be sleeping when this gets published. Wish him sweet dreams at TechCrazy Blog

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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I have found numerous different file hosting companies, many of them that supply users with an extremely small amount of space or limited features. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Filedropper – Filedropper is amazing. All you need to do to upload a file is click “Upload” and select a file.

Many free file hosting sites give users the option to upload file of up to 100-150MB, yet Filedropper allows users to upload an amazing 5GB!

When you finish uploading a file, Filedropper gives you the link and the source code to add to a website, if you like.

2. Fileqube – Fileqube is another free file hosting site. It has an awesome site design that definitely shows it’s intentions. It is also extremely fast. When you upload a file, a link is provided to download the file, a link to remove the file, and HTML code to add to a website, etc. Unfortunately, Fileqube only allows for uploads of up to only 150MB, yet most certainly one of the best.

3. MyFreeFileHosting- MyFreeFileHosting has an interface similar to MediaFire’s. It includes the option to send an notification email to someone to tell them of the upload, tags to categorize the file, etc. Of course, after one uploads the file, links are given to allow for download and distribution. The maximum file size allowed is 100MB.

4. Fileden – Fileden is one of the most useful file hosting services. Users are allowed to upload files, without an account, of files up to 100MB, yet you are allowed to register an account for free as well and receive unlimited diskspace, unlimited bandwith, the option to create projects, the ability to replace files, file statistics, project statistics, etc.

5. Easyshare – Easyshare adds even more features to file hosting. Registering and uploading files occur quickly, with accounts allowing for downloading files multiple times. Unlike other free file hosts though, Easyshare pays users for their uploads. If your upload gets downloaded 10,000 times, you’ll apparently receive $20. If you have a personalized toolbar on your website, you can receive money from their uploads through that toolbar and if you refer another person to Easyshare you’ll receive 10% of their earnings.

Another neat thing about this site is the upload options. You can upload on the site from your computer, upload using an FTP server, upload using their free software, or use a remote upload from another server. The maximum file size for a free account is 100MB.

6. FileFactory – Filefactory is similar to all of the previous file hosts, except it supports the option to send a notification email to a person of an uploaded file. Unfortunately, Filefactory contains a large amount of ads if you do not receive the premium service. Yet, unlike the other file hosts, the maximum file size is 300MB which is a large amount per file in comparison. Similar to Easyshare, users are paid for each download they receive from a certain file.

7. Badongo – Badongo is an exceptionally neat file host, and I would most certainly rate it as one of the best. As a unregistered user, you are allowed to upload up to 4.8GB a day and as a free, registered user, 12GB a day. To make it similar to Filedropper, Badongo allows users to upload files of a maximum size of 1GB. When you register with Badongo you even receive an account that stores all of your files of course, but also allows users to create picture albums out of the pictures they store. This brings even more wonderful features to this awesome site.

More features include the option to create an MP3 player on your website by pasting code from your account, the ability to create slideshows from pictures with multiple effects, a file widget tool to place on websites, a desktop application for uploading files quickly, etc.

Now that you have seen some of the top web hosts, tell us what you use to upload and store your files online.

Will is a computer nerd and geek who runs his blog at Advanced Tech Solutions.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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It’s your data!

Think about it. No matter what kind of a user you are, data is always of prime importance. Now the obvious question, do you back up your data?

“oh um.. Actually I.. NO”.

That’s the scenario with most users.

Let’s take a look at Syncplicity – another excellent backup software. Not only it backs up your data, but it also keeps it synchronized across multiple computers and also allows you to share data with your friends.

What it claims to offer:

Unlimited storage: Everybody hates keeping track of cell phone minutes. Why should your files be any different? Syncplicity’s storage is unlimited, so you never need to worry about how many file, gigabytes, or what-have-you of bandwidth you have left. Ever.

Real-Time Backup: Murphy’s Law doesn’t pay attention to the clock. Syncplicity backs up your files not once a month, once a week, or even once an hour, but immediately. Create a masterpiece only to accidentally delete it three seconds later? Skip the sinking feeling. Just go straight to the Syncplicity website and get your precious data back.

Sharing made Simple: Share any folder with anyone with a simple click of the mouse. Since your files are already in Syncplicity, others get access right away. So if they choose to use the Syncplicity client, the files simply show up on their computers.

Access anytime, anywhere: Access your files while away from your computer through the Syncplicity File Explorer. Are you at a friend’s computer, and need to print out a file? Grab it from the File Explorer and print it out. Find a typo along the way? No worries. Just make the change and upload it back. The edited version will be waiting for you on your computer when you return.

Multiple Computers, One View: Keep all of your computers in sync. With Syncplicity, it doesn’t matter which machine you use. Writing a letter at home on your desktop, but need to run? No problem! Just save the file like you normally would, grab your laptop and go. Your letter will be on your laptop, ready and waiting.

An Elegant Experience: Pleasant and powerful. The Syncplicity client is built to be second to none. It intelligently synchronizes your computer and is never intimidating. The client integrates tightly with Windows so you can see the status with just a glance and perform common actions with just a right-click. Want more information or help? The client walks you through common tasks with ease.

Bridges the Online and Offline Worlds: A one-of-a-kind platform breaks free of limitations that restricts you to a single website or set of computers. With Syncplicity, your files follow you to where you want them, including web applications such as Google Docs and Facebook.

Secure: Syncplicity transfers all your data using 128-bit SSL, the same encryption used for online banking. On the backend, your files are stored encrypted using AES, military grade encryption. Only you can access your files.

Those are all listed on the site. Now for the fun part. Let’s take Syncplicity for a ride and see if it measures up to what it promises to accomplish and then quickly list the results.

The Setup Process

Step 1: SignUp
Sign up went smooth and fine. The sign up is free.

Step 2: Download and Install the Desktop Client
The desktop client is Windows only with a Mac client coming up soon. The client itself is small in size but requires .NET framework 3. So if you don’t have it installed, the download size will increase. Except from that everything went smoothly.

Step 3: Login and Sync
Now you can fire up the client and login with the details you provided in step 1. You can choose which folders to synchronize and which ones to skip.

How much does it deliver?

Unlimited Storage? Well for the time being it is but for how long? What will be the cost if it is not free in the future? What will be the free plan like? No clear answers on this yet. [ 0 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]

The whole process is easy and smooth, It surely delivers on the ease of use and effortless criteria. Once you follow the above 3 steps you can forget that you have syncplicity installed. It does everything silently. [ 1 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]

The backup is instantaneous (at least it starts the moment you update a file, although I experienced slow uploads more than once. It’s in beta so we can overlook it for the moment). [ 2 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s)]

Synchronize multiple computers? Works good. [ 3 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]

Access to files online? Works good, nice, clean interface. [ 4 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]

Integration with Google Docs? Mmm.. not quite good, Maybe because the files created on the desktop have more formatting, but whatever, it presents a stripped down version in Google Docs so editing is difficult. [ 4 Cheer(s), 2 Boo(s) ]

Sharing Folders work great (especially if your friend also has the Syncplicity client) and it is a nice feature. You can add, remove and manage the shared folders as well as whom you want to share them with. You can also give a read-only or read-write access to the user. Although the other person has to have a Syncplicity account as well (which sucks!). So this one stays neutral. [ 5 Cheer(s), 3 Boo(s) ]

If you have not tried it, go to syncplicity.com and give it a try while its free! (although they say that it will continue to have a decent free option in the future as well). Let us know if you like Syncplicity or which one backup/sync service you use and think is better (and why?), so that readers trying to make a choice can benefit!

(By) Varun Kashyap – Tech Enthusiast, Programmer and Blogger who likes explaining technology, tweaking software, and Ubuntu. Check out his latest latest tweaks, findings, reviews and much more at Varun Kashyap’s Tech Crazy Blog

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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What is Live Mesh?

Windows Live Mesh is a powerful service which combines cloud computing and online storage with file synchronisation and remote desktop access. Potentially a wide variety of devices will be supported such as Macs and mobile phones. So you can access and synchronize your files between several computers and mobile devices.

In essence this means that any file added to the ‘mesh’ can be accessed by, transferred to and modified by any device on the mesh.

Why would I need it?

Live Mesh is incredibly easy to use and yet is extremely powerful. I’ve only been using it for a few days now but it has already become a must-have application for me. Even if you haven’t really been a big user of online storage or synchronisation in the past you should give it a try.

Live Mesh is currently made up of an online desktop and a downloadable application. This component adds options to your Windows context menus, enables you to have folders on your computer that directly sync to your online desktop. it also puts an icon into the task bar from where you can view data transfers, members, devices and folders.

How can I get it?

This is the difficult part.

The problem is that Live Mesh was released to only 10,000 testers as part of the initial pre-beta tech preview which means most of us missed out. Signing up to the Microsoft website is useless as, who knows when, if ever, you will receive an invitation.

Luckily there is another way.

If you already have an invitation then you are able to invite 2 more people to share folders with you. Once you have been invited to share a folder, you can then create your own Mesh account.

After this news was broken on LiveSide , Long Zheng, istartedsomething blogger, quickly created a website called Share Live Mesh :

As soon as I got my own invite, I started thinking of the original “Gmail invite sharing” website and began to build one for Live Mesh. Thus, www.sharemesh.com was born. If you would like a Live Mesh invite or have one to share, I encourage you to check it out.

In case you were wondering, this only took me roughly seven hours from to design, develop, test and deploy using PHP and MySQL. I owe most of it to Dreamweaver and Uniform Server .

Last night there were about 60 people registered when I signed up. The next morning there where 550 and I already had an invitation. Just make sure once you get an invitation you share the love around by inviting a couple of other people on the list.

For more Live Mesh information go to LiveSide.net , If you have trouble installing Live Mesh on a non-US computer Long Zheng provides a quick guide here .

Also note: You cannot install Live Mesh in an elevated Administrator account or with UAC turned off. Even after Mesh is installed you will need UAC activated to run it.

(By) Laurence John finds himself way over his head on the Internet. Too many places, too much people. But that’s okay, being a Uni student he already has too much time on his hands. He has begun his blog: Not Waving But Drowning …

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Sync Yourself with Syncplicity… With a Gift For MakeUseOf Readers! (8)
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• DropBox : Review, Invites, and 7 Questions with the Founder (82)

Using QuickShareIt is really simple and is a nice tool to have on your computer. First of all download the application then add it to your Applications folder and then drag the QuickShareIt icon into your dock. Once you’ve done that then all you have to do now to upload files from your Mac, is to simply drag and drop the file and it will begin uploading to QuickShareIt’s servers.

Uploading files up to 100MB are allowed so that should be plenty of size for uploading images and videos because I doubt that there’s many images out there that are over 100MB! Once you’ve dragged your file onto the QuickShareIt Dock Icon, the icon will change telling you the upload speed and the progress of the upload.

As well as images and video, QuickShareIt also allows you to instantly upload text clips dragged from any other application. Once your file has been uploaded QuickShareIt state that your file will be on their servers for at least 30 days so this should be plenty of times for your clients and friends to view and save the files that you have sent them.

Once your files have been uploaded a window called Recent Shares will show up and display the recent files that you have uploaded with the name of the file, the size of the file and the date and time that it was uploaded. By clicking the button to the right of the files you can either copy the file’s URL on QuickShareIt’s servers to your clipbooard which you could then paste into an email or instant messaging client, open it in the browser, remove it from the list or delete the file entirely from QuickShareIt’s servers.

Have you used QuickShareIt? What do you think of it? Or perhaps you use an alternative service that you’d like to share with us in the comments?

(By) Wez is a student studying computers, also does programming and video tutorials and writes about technology, software and websites, check out his blog @ www.TheTutorialBlog.com

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Send several GBs of data to Friends using Podmailing (17)
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• Windows Live Skydrive & 3 Alternative Online Storage Services (42)
• Transmission, The Lightweight BitTorrent Client (11)

In a series of articles, I hope to cover Windows Live in a greater amount of detail then you may have seen before. I am aware that Make Use Of has previously covered several services (such as Live Writer and SkyDrive), so I am going to avoid simply giving a run-down of features. You already know it.

No what I hope to do is really give you a great deal more detail on fully integrating Windows Live and maximising your experience. These articles will include tips, hacks, reviews and most importantly the comparisons between Live Services and its competitors.

Windows Live SkyDrive

The first service I thought I would start with is SkyDrive. SkyDrive delivers a satisfactory online file storage and sharing solution in a free and easy to use service. It has a design that is both attractive and functional.

However I can’t help but notice some of the complaints people have expressed so far about the service. These include the 50MB file size limit and that the service is useless due to the fact their particular photo/video/music collection is larger then 5GB. Just remember this is free, and no-one is making you use it.

Moreover instead of just loading up on features, Microsoft is taking the approach used by Apple; aesthetically pleasing products that are designed with ease of use in mind. So yes, there are limitations, but weigh them up against the benefits and see if it’s worth the trade off. I love using it for the easy access, sharing capabilities and rapid sign-up through your Windows ID.

But I know, there are many of you who are not big Microsoft fans, and even more for whom SkyDrive just may not be the service you are looking for. If you’re one of those people, I have found three alternative free storage solutions. Why just three? Well this list is by no means comprehensive, so please forgive me If I have missed a popular one. What I have tried to do instead is to choose services which can be distinguished through their unique focus.

Skydrive Alternatives

(1) FOR THOSE WHO WANT SPACE

ADrive – Yes, ADrive is light years in front of its competitors when it comes to free storage capacity. The closest you’ll anyone else gets to it is MediaMax which offers 25GB.

So what’s the catch?

That was the first thing I thought. Either this just a ploy to attract a large user base before reducing the offer, or it’s just some sort of scam. But surprisingly after I clicked ’signup’ there was no request for billing details.

This really is 50GB free storage, no catches. If you can believe them, they state they will not be reducing the storage amount in the future and are simply aiming to provide the largest storage space available.

However ADrive is simply… a drive. So don’t expect it to much in the way of sharing features, or even features in general. Essentially you upload a file from your computer and store in the directories. You may make files available for public access by moving it into the sharing directory, but that’s about it. It isn’t ‘pretty’, and it doesn’t try to be. It is just a place for you to archive a lot of data and media in case of emergencies, and it is very good for that.

So if you are the type of person who wants to back up their complete photo, video and music library then this might be the service for you. Grab a account and upload away!

(2) FOR SOCIAL NETWORKERS

ESnips is the ‘Myspace’ of online storage, meaning it has been designed as a service to share and network with your files and friends. It is also the most generally feature filled service that I have reviewed here. The focus of ESnips is to share your files with people who have similar interests and hobbies.

Organisation is also a much larger component of ESnips and you will notice this when you begin uploading files. Each file can be given a name, a description and a series of tags. This is how you will locate your own and other associated files uploaded by other users.

You do have private folders, but the incentive here is to share your files with your friends and anyone else. The navigation bar gives you a range of communities to choose from when browsing public files. Not only that, you can create favourite folders, playlists and slideshows of videos, images and music.

This also reminds me, most of the MP3 search engines that are out there use eSnips as a source.

(3) FOR INTEGRATION

Divshare doesn’t stand out as far as storage goes, it provides 5GB like SkyDrive, but it does have a much greater emphasis on integrating your files into your own personal pages and networks for streaming and viewing.

Divshare has a wealth of sharing features and even specific integration for Facebook, WordPress and the iPhone. They also provide the DivShare API for developers to use on their own sites.

There is a 200MB maximum file size upload limit and a 50GB download limit. The service is ad-supported with upgrades to silver, gold and platinum accounts.

When it comes to streaming your music, images and video then DivShare is the way to go. After uploading your files it provides you with a page of codes that you can use to insert your files onto a page, post or website, wherever that may be.

I hope that my first article on MakeUseOf has helped you find a online storage solution. Even if you weren’t looking for a solution, maybe now you have a reason to! Drop me some comments and tell me what you think about SkyDrive or online storage in general.

(By) Laurence John finds himself way over his head on the Internet. Too many places, too much people. But that’s okay, being a Uni student he already has too much time on his hands. He is going to writing on his blog Not Waving But Drowning… as soon as he stops fiddling with WordPress templates and plugins and gets on with it!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Get 5 GB of free Storage with Windows SkyDrive (14)
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• Windows Live Mesh: Get your Data on any PC from any Device (16)

While completing research regarding this topic, I discovered iCUBE from Online Operating System (OOS) and decided to focus my article on this tool. iCUBE is the online desktop solution I found most useful, offering 1GB of free web space in a (once customized) familiar surrounding. Visually it’s a Windows interface, but many design elements also remind me of Mac.

iCUBE

So what can you do with iCUBE?

Actually it’s pretty simple. You can create, store, access and share files such as photos, documents or personal data. On your desktop you will find shortcuts to applications such as an image viewer, a PDF viewer, and an email client. To organize your files there’s a file manager, a photo album, and a folder called “My Files”. At the bottom of the desktop you’ll see a Windows-like taskbar and through the menu you can access programs, the control panel, help and support or you can log yourself out. So it’s much like the Windows Start button.

OOS supports drag & drop within the program. However, drag & drop does not work for moving files from your computer to your virtual desktop. To transfer files from the local machine, open the >File Manager, then click on >File >Upload, select >Browse… to locate the file on your computer, finally click >Upload to transfer it to iCUBE. You may have noticed that there is also an option to >Download files in the >File menu. What you will download is a zip archive of all your files in the currently selected OOS folder, for example the Desktop folder.

Now that you understand the basics, lets do some customization. At this point the options are limited, but nevertheless worth looking into. First of all you might want to change the icons seen on your desktop and in the Quicklaunch bar. Go through >Menu >Control Panel >Application Manager and check the respective boxes for each tool. If there is something you won’t need, you can remove it altogether.

You will see the list is pretty extensive and if you choose to display most of the programs on your virtual desktop, you should re-arrange them into categories or whichever order you prefer. Just drag & drop the icons around your screen. The default background is the standard Mac wallpaper. You can change it through >Menu >Control Panel >Display. I decided to upload a custom image and if you choose Other… you can access your uploaded image files through the file manager. There are not many options to help you format the wallpaper, so don’t expect it to fit perfectly and rather go with something simple in the first place.

Along with signing up for the desktop manager, you will receive a public homepage which can be edited through your iCUBE desktop. To share your files you can either make them generally available through your OOS homepage or share them with specific iCUBE users only. Simply right-click on a file or folder and select >Share from the menu. Then search for OOS users and add them to the list of >Authorized Users. They will now be able to see these files in their >Shared Files directory. This is quite useful when you are collaborating with someone and need to exchange or forward images or text files.

Now to some of the applications. There is a mail client included, which may come in very hand if you use iCUBE while traveling. They support POP3/IMAP/SMTP for your username@oos.cc address. However, you can not set up POP mail accounts for your primary email – you can only use your OOS account to send, receive, sort and store mails. So if you’re routinely using POP mail accounts, this really just makes for a good temporary vacation account.The web browser is redundant and I don’t understand why it’s there. You need a browser to launch iCUBE, so why would you need a browser inside your browser window? In the days before tabbed browsing this may have made sense, but nowadays it has no point in my opinion. Somewhere safety and privacy aspects were mentioned, since whatever sites you visit or terms you search within Google will not be associated with you or your computer. So that’s the only aspect that might be valid but if you’re worried about privacy, you will need to take proper precautions anyhow, and if you’re using a public computer – honestly – why bother?

The Write, Notes, Editor, and PDF Viewer applications do what they promise. OOS has its own file type for text documents, it is termed .odo, but .txt files are supported too. Unfortunately, there is no way to convert files, e.g. from .odo to .doc or .pdf and vice versa. Unsupported files can be uploaded and shared (e.g. Word documents), but to open them they must be downloaded to the local computer. This is a point that needs to be addressed by the developers.

There are however a couple more online desktop tools worth mentioning…

DeskopTwo

DesktopTwo is similar to iCUBE and I hesitated as to which of the two I would introduce in detail. I decided for iCUBE as it more closely resembles the Windows interface and at this point there are no ads.

Just as iCUBE, Desktoptwo offers 1GB online storage, an integrated mail account and pretty much an online version of your operating system. The storage capacity can be increased and I assume that the desktop ads will vanish when customers pay for this update. One of the major differences between iCUBE and Desktoptwo is the user interface. It takes a moment to get used to, but then it’s just as if you changed the skin of your Windows.

The advantage of Desktoptwo is the integrated Open Office. Although it does not open within the online desktop window, but rather in a new window/tab, this theoretically enables you to open Word documents without having to rely on software installed on the local computer. Practically however I had some difficulties. A Word document I uploaded would not load at all and I was not able to open a functional session in order to create a new document. I finally managed once, but after that I was stuck in a waiting line.

Another advantage is the integrated POP mail client. Quite honestly I have to admit I did not try whether it works, but at least it’s there and should work. That’s a big plus compared to iCUBE.In addition to the application found on OOS, there is an RSS reader, a calendar, a WYSIWYG web page editor, a blog publishing platform, and a local search engine. There is no intuitive way of sharing your files with other users. If the feature does exist at all, I did not discover it. I saw a Share option for Open Office, but that one seemed broken just as the rest of the suite. Overall I found Desktoptwo to be laggy and somewhat inflexible, although it does offer a few more features than OOS’s iCUBE.

MyGoya

MyGoya attempts to imitate the Mac theme, but doesn’t go all the way. It is however visually impressive. The welcome window seen in the screen shot below is very helpful for getting started.

Again the features are similar, but much more attention has been given to detail and the interface is very stylish. Unlike the previous two tools, you do not receive a new eMail address with MyGoya. The provided email client purely serves the purpose of handling your existing POP mail accounts. The integrated Office is based on Zoho Writer and simply works, although documents load in a new window. The integrated chat client seems detached from other clients and intended for MyGoya users only. There are neat little details and options all over, for example being able to launch a second desktop within MyGoya. In one word: TRY!

Glide

The free version of Glide comes with 2GB of storage. It’s stylish, it has all the important applications including Office support, and you can even sync your files between multiple computers!

But it’s not perfect. It is a bit laggy, many applications open in a new window, for example Office and email, and the icons and windows are huge, taking up way too much space on this online desktop. It’s really the sync feature that sets this one apart from the other tools. And it has an innovative look – like it or not.

CosmoPOD

Despite being sponsored with ads, CosmoPOD sounded very promising. Over 50 applications to chat, email, surf, write, including Office support and then came the disappointment. It needs to install something on the computer. Only once, but hey, what is the point if I want to use this anywhere on the world, including public computers, where I won’t be allowed to install anything? Hence I decided to not go further into this tool, but it has been mentioned.

Desktop on Demand

Desktop on Demand (DoD) seems more complete than most of the other applications. It looks great, it feels great, but there only is a 29 days free trial, after that it costs a little (packages start at £3.99 per month – $8), but it’s probably worth it if you’re serious about taking your desktop online. Check out the preview below.

YouOS

I first logged in to YouOS as a demo user and what I saw while the user was being created was this:

“It’s supposed to be a challenge, it’s a shortcut! If it were easy it would just be the way.”

A quote from a pretty good movie.

This is Alpha software and as such it naturally comes with flaws. It is not stylish, not as well thought out, but it does have its upsides. For example notes (stickies) can be saved to the desktop, something iCUBE can’t do. It doesn’t seem laggy and the features are those found in the other applications, minus Office support. Overall it’s redundant, since it does not offer anything new or more advanced. But I have to admit that this is a first look impression, I did not sign up with YouOS after seeing the demo.

Pytagor

What makes Pytagor different from the others is being able to add tags to your documents, search the net and save the results, create a group account, import bookmarks, and send the content of a folder with just one click.

It looks more like a file manager than a desktop. It’s straight, easy to use, no fuss, no glitz, and only 100Mb storage capacity. Check it out if you need it simple. That’s it! Are there any tools I missed? Any details that should be mentioned? Please use the comments to add your two cents, we seriously love to hear your opinion!

(By) This post was written by one of our regular authors, Tina from Recommended.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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I recently interviewed the Founder of Dropbox, Drew Houston, to answer some questions I had about the service. You can read the interview below, after my short review of the service.

Dropbox Review

After installing Dropbox, there is a folder placed in your My Documents named “My Dropbox”. To sum the service up in 1 sentence: any files placed into this folder will both be uploaded to the Dropbox servers, and will be synchronized with any other clients in your account.

So, in a single computer situation, this Dropbox folder is effectively a backup solution. If you have more than one PC in the account, any files placed into this folder on one computer will automatically be synchronized onto all others running Dropbox in the same account.

This creates a nice way to send files to and fro – my old method was either a) email to myself or b) put them on my USB keychain. Although those old methods work, Dropbox makes the process of transferring files to and from work absolutely effortless.

Installing Dropbox is easy and after the installation, there is nothing to manage. Files placed into this folder are sent to the Dropbox servers in a secure manner, and once they are there they are encrypted. Dropbox currently uses Amazon S3 storage system “in the cloud” for their data storage.

In addition to this basic use, I have found the following features to be very handy:

Revisioning System

The ‘killer’ feature for me is that Dropbox also includes a versioning system. For those not familar with versioning systems, it allows you to keep multiple versions of a file. This helps in case you need to ‘roll back’ a change if you are coding, or just for general use and tracking of updates. It also helps on the backend because if only changes of a file need to be sent to the server, so much bandwidth can be saved.

Photo Gallery

Another neat feature is a built-in photo gallery. Drag photos to the “photos” folder and they are automatically available for viewing on the web in a simple manner (Hi Grandma!)

In summary, I think Dropbox is the best online storage solution I have seen. It combines online file storage, folder syncing, and versioning control in one simple to use package. They are constantly rolling out new updates, so look for more features soon! If you would like more information before you sign up, please check out the screencast bellow. It’s both entertaining and informative — and there are lots of easter eggs!

Plus since you got this far, read my interview with Drew and get an invite at the bottom of this article!

Interview with Dropbox Founder Drew Houston

1) The first obvious question – what makes Dropbox different from the other online backup / storage solutions?

Drew: Unlike other companies, which tackle only backup (e.g. Mozy), or only sync (e.g. Foldershare), or just putting files online (e.g. box.net), we provide one solution to all of the problems people have managing their files. I was looking for some kind of continuous rsync + subversion + tortoisesvn-style-shell-integration + web access holy grail, found it didn’t exist, and then got to work.. Arash even dropped out of MIT with just a few months left

2) I understand you are using Amazon S3 for storage on the backend; do you have any other sort of data backup plans in case S3 would go down or sustain data loss? Can customers use DropBox for sole storage of their data, or do they need to be concerned with other backups? [An alternative view of this question -- is Dropbox considered a file sharing solution or a backup solution?]

Drew: We’ll be exploring other options (e.g. our own data store), especially for paid customers who want extra redundancy. I will point out though that Amazon does a pretty damn good job of handling large volumes of data and does a great job storing billions of objects and petabytes of data redundantly across multiple data centers. This isn’t easy, and many companies that first built their own data center (e.g. smugmug) found that they could lower costs and drastically increase reliability by using s3. We may not be on s3 forever, and will build our own store in addition, but for now this lets us focus on both the client software and the performance of the layer we’ve developed on top of s3.

The other major point that people might not realize is Dropbox is replicating copies of your data both across all your computers in addition to the online copy. So copies your data are always stored on your own computers, unlike other services which are online-only, Where the one and only copy of your data rests on their servers. This also means you aren’t locked into using Dropbox; if you decide you don’t want to use the service anymore, you’re in complete control of your data.

3) Security is a big concern for many people — how is data secured in transit and on the data store? The more geeky the explanation the better!

Drew: We have our own protocol that runs over “https” that combines binary diffing and compression, so no file data or metadata is *ever* sent over the wire in plaintext form. On the back end, we encrypt all file data using AES-256 before storing it on S3 (this is in addition to the security that Amazon provides.) We are working on a way for people to provide their own private keys or passphrases for people who choose to do so as long as we can preserve the simplicity of the user experience. What some people might find unusual about our team is all of us have been using Linux since the 90’s and so the usual server-side security precautions, etc. are second nature to us.

4) Do you have an ETA on a Linux client? A lot of Ubuntu users would love to get on the boat with this.

Drew: No eta right now. (Though we will tease you and say we’ve had a working client in-house for months, and nearly all of the client code is written in Python.) We want to make sure we can provide at least a decent experience on Linux, even though many Linux users would be comfortable with a CLI version or don’t care about having icon overlays/tray icons.

5) What are the details on the paid accounts? Do you have any specs on online storage, transfer limits, and prices?

Drew: Still finalizing this, but we’re planning to have a free account with some amount of storage and paid accounts for people who want richer sharing options and more storage.

6) Do you plan on targeting home users, business consumers, or both? Why?

Drew: Initially, consumers/professionals, with businesses/teams/enterprise coming later. As you go up the spectrum, you need more bells and whistles/collaboration options, management/configuration options, and things like direct sales teams and/or resellers and other channels — which we’ll definitely tackle later on, but right now we think Dropbox seems to resonates with individual users and small groups in its current form.

6) As a company, what are your goals?

Drew: We want to change the way people think about files and storage. It’s 2008, and despite all the hype around services/storage “in the cloud”, the most common way people manage their files is by carrying around USB drives, emailing themselves attachments, and manually uploading files to websites.

We’ve always thought that in “the future”, you sit down at any computer and your stuff is always there, always backed up, always version controlled, etc, but for some reason no one had made it practical. Plus it’s a hell of a lot of fun designing a distributed filesystem to support tens of millions of people.

7) Finally – Your screen cast was reminiscent of the “You suck at Photoshop” screen casts. Coincidence?

Drew: I’ve seen a few of them and they’re hilarious, though there is no deliberate connection. Trying to sneak surprises under the radar made making the screencast a lot more fun and hopefully more entertaining than the usual pragmatic, slow-paced, corporate demos we’re all used to.

Invites to Dropbox Beta!

Dropbox kindly offered us 100 invites to hand out. Click the link below to sign up, or use the invite code “makeuseof” to sign up!

http://getdropbox.com/beta/makeuseof

(By) Dave is an IT Manager by day and technology consultant by night. He is interested in all things internet but is specifically interested in system administration, network security, history, and backpacking. He lives near Philadelphia with his family. See his blog @ www.systembash.com.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Sync Yourself with Syncplicity… With a Gift For MakeUseOf Readers! (8)
• File Sharing Round-up: The Only Ones You Need (13)
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• 4 Services to Backup Important Data Online (44)

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics has to be one of the most popular AIR tools out there. Google Analytics is one of the most used traffic analysis tools and this desktop AIR version allows you to do everything as if it were on the web, but a little quicker. You can learn more about it from Mark O’Neill’s article here.

2. Ebay Desktop

eBay Desktop – With all the amazing features already found on eBay, this desktop version will blow you away. It has a much slicker and simplified search tool and design. Download it here.

For other eBay goodies see Shop Like a PRO: 7 Tools to Crack eBay

3. Finetune

Finetune – Finetune has to be one of the most impressive music tools in the marketplace at present. It lies somewhere between highly customizable radio and music discovery service. By using Finetune you can build music playlists based on your artist preferences, listen to your playlists from the desktop and share playlists with others. You can also browse and tune-in to any 500.000 + playlists created by other users.

If you’re an iTunes user, the AIR application can instantly lookup the artists in your music library and create Finetune playlist for each of them. Download it here.

4. AOL – Top 100 Music Videos

AOL Top 100 is the desktop widget featuring the top 100 most watched music videos across many genres including Pop, Rock & Alternative, Hip Hop, Country and Latin. Watch music videos in full screen or standard mode. Found video you like? You can easily bookmark and watch them whenever you want. Although there is one major problem with this widget, about 15-20% of videos don’t work.

5. WebKut

Webkut is a simple AIR application that lets you capture web pages, or parts of them in a matter of seconds. There are 3 capture options: the entire page, the current view, or custom selection. If you take web screenshots on a regular basis then this app is for you.

6. Xdrive @ Desktop Lite

Xdrive is an online storage service from AOL. Now available from your desktop. This lightweight desktop tool allows you to drag’n drop (upload/download) files and folders between your Xdrive web storage and desktop. Backup important files online, share photos with friends, share documents with colleagues, etc.

7. Pownce

Pownce offers a simple way to communicate with friends. Send mid-sized files, share interesting links, post messages, and announce upcoming events. Can be accessed both from the web or via this simple desktop client.

8. TWhirl (Twitter App)

Twhirl – Twhirl brings Twitter to your desktop. It delivers new Tweets directly to your dektop. No more refreshing of your Twitter home page, Twhirl is the way to go. See also Mark’s previous coverage of TWhirl @ Tools and Apps to Improve Twitter Experience. Interested in TWhirl? Download it here.

Other Interesting Adobe AIR Apps

• DiggTop – Simple Digg client.
• Color Browser – This tool is great for designers. Pick the colors, save them, go back to reference what you’ve one in the past and what you’re currently working on.
• NASDAQ – Get insight into extremely detailed trading activity in the market at any time during the day.
• StockQ – Stream latest stock quotes to your desktop. No brokerage account login or authentication required. You can set it to auto refresh every 1sec – 5mins.
• NetBook – Desktop client for Project Gutenberg Library. Lets you search, read and listen to PGL books.
• Klok – Slim task manager and project time tracker.

Got another useful Adobep Air application ? Let us know in comments.

(By) Steven and Aibek. Steven is the CEO of Insomnia Ltd, which is a media company based in the UK. Steven is also the editor over at Crenk, a tech news, opinions and analysis site.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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That’s just one of the myriad of problems I face with conventional online file-sharing. I don’t like having to wait for the file to be uploaded, especially if it’s a large one. I also can’t find my way around the file-size upload limits that most file-sharing services restricts us to. Driveway was the most decent service I found, their upload limit is 500MB per file with a standard 2GB free account.

I stumbled onto Podmailing a while ago. At first, I felt a little weary and had my doubts about it, but for the sake of exploration, I decided to give it a try.

For me, it was a totally new concept, which I find hard to explain, but I’ll try anyway. Sending a file through Podmailing is as easy as dropping a file into its application window. It will then ask you for your email address, so that the recipient knows who the podmail is from. Subsequently, you’ll have to enter the recipient’s email address, add a subject and type a little message- which should probably say “Don’t worry, this is not spam. It’s the video you wanted.” Click SEND.

After that, the magic begins. The file is uploaded to Podmailing’s relay servers where it will be stored temporarily (up to 30 days). An email containing the download link is sent to your recipient. Clicking on it will open a web page, where your recipient will have 3 options to fetch the file:

1. From the browser.

Simple. Click and Save. However, this is not the best method because Podmailing will send the download link to your recipient even before the file has finished uploading! Why? Find out later.

2. Directly via Podmailing software.

Click on ‘Download it with Podmailing’ and be rewarded with a ‘.zed’ file. Double click on it and start downloading the file instantly. Your recipient will have to install the application first. The beauty about this is that we don’t need to wait for the file to be completely uploaded. Podmailing will download the part which has been uploaded, and at the same time, sets up a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) connection between the sender and recipient, so that the transfer will be even faster.

3. Download with BitTorrent.

Also on the download page is a link to get your file with BitTorrent. The genius about this is: imagine that you’re sending a 700mb video file to several friends. If they download it simultaneously, they will act as a swarm and they’ll grab parts of the file from each other. When one of your friends completely downloads the file, he will act as a seeder. This means that you’re not the only one sending the file and it quickens the process by a huge factor. This method also removes the issue of the upload speed to Podmailing’s servers.

So sending large files need not be a hassle. There are a couple of things that irk me about Podmailing, though.

Firstly, I didn’t have to create an account to use it, which means that there was no agreement about the privacy of my files which I send through Podmailing. So, I have to refrain from sending sensitive material with it.

Secondly, they store my files on their servers for 30 days. Good and bad in some ways. I guess it’s good because then my recipient can download it whenever he/she wants, even when if I’m not online to participate in the P2P transfer. On the other hand, I don’t like it because I don’t have the option to remove it from their servers after the transfer is complete.

But other than that, if you don’t really care about the privacy of what you’re sending and would just like a solution that will send very large files quickly and easily, Podmailing is it. Have a go and let me know your experiences in the comments.

Podmailing is available here as a free beta for Windows and Mac.

(By) Jackson Chung is a full-time med student attempting to perform a juggling act with relationship, studies and his future.

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Getting Started

To get started, point your browser to SkyDrive and sign in. You’ll have to have a Windows Live (Passport) account to use their services. Once you sign in and accept the EULA, you’ll be able to get started uploading some of your important backup files.

SkyDrive Dropbox

The SkyDrive dropbox is easy to navigate and look at with all the shortcuts at a simple glance. Listed below are the folders I have.

The personal folders have a default setting of not sharing their contents. This is of course the security level that most users are going to want to stick with. One nice feature is the “Public Folders” section whereby you can upload anything and make it visible to the world or just a select few of your contacts. The default for the “Public Folders” is obviously, viewable to all.

As a matter of fact, each folder gives you that explicit ability….to add/remove anyone from your contact list or just by email as a reader or viewer of your documents.

Uploads

Uploading content to SkyDrive is as easy as uploading a picture to Flickr or any other upload site.

Just point your “Browse” button to any file on your hard drive or network drive and SkyDrive will take care of the rest.

The only drawback to this service is that you’re locked into only 50MB uploads per file. This should not be a problem for most users, but worth mentioning anyway.

Coming up soon on MakeUseOf.com, we’ll be reviewing lots of online storage web applications and their respected features. Stay tuned.

(By) Travis is a husband, engineer, entrepreneur, technology swami, visual communicator, and writer in his spare time. You can check out his personal blog at TQuizzle.com.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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