There are plenty of services out there that will let you send files to someone even if they're too large to fit in an email attachment. But YouSendIt, FileMail and similar services typically require you to upload the file before the recipient can begin downloading it. You can save time by allowing someone to copy the file straight from your computer using file ai.

Here's how it works. You visit the file ai site and click the send files button. A Java applet opens up allowing you to drag and drop files to a folder on the web page. When you're done adding files and folders just send the unique URL to your receipient and they can begin downloading the files using any Java enabled browser.

The service uses a BitTorrent-like file transfer protocol so that if you send the files to multiple recipients, they can download data from multiple sources simultaneously which speeds up the download process.

In case you're worried about the security issues of opening up files on your computer to remote downloaders, file ai uses 128 bit AES encryption on the files before sending them. But to be honest, there's still a gaping security hole - the unique URLs file ai generates aren't really all that unique. I'm pretty certain that if you plug enough numbers into the end of the URL eventually you'll be able to download files from a stranger's computer. it really seems like file ai should allow you to password protect your file transfers so that recipients need to have the correct URL and a password.

Update: If I'd poked around a little longer, I'd have noticed that you can choose to password protect a file transfer before adding files to the folder. Once you've added files or folders there's no way to password protect them.

[via MakeUseOf]