file-sharing posts

Filed under: Commercial, Open Source, P2P

Limewire gets improved torrent support in new beta thanks to LibTorrent

by Lee Mathews Jul 6th 2009

While most of you probably prefer using a standalone torrent application, Limewire is actually the most widely-installed client in the world. In the most recent beta version, the Limewire team have greatly improved the program's torrent handling chops.

By adding LibTorrent to the mix, Limewire now includes the engine powering such apps as Halite, Deluge, Miro, Free Download Manager, and more. As a result, the new version gains support for IPv6, Mainline DHT, UDP tracking and HTTP seeding, local peer discovery, and peer exchange (PEX).

Interestingly, being the most widely-installed app doesn't translate into actual use. As TorrentFreak points out, in a survey of nearly 200,000 bittorrent peers only 43 were using Limewire.

Why so few? Limewire users are generally only after the its Gnutella downloading abilities, though as torrenting become more mainstream the program will no doubt be an attractive option for the average user.

Tags: file-sharing, filesharing, limewire, peer-to-peer, torrent

Filed under: Internet, P2P

Did OpenBitTorrent just become The Pirate Bay 2.0?

by Lee Mathews Jul 5th 2009

When the news came down a few days ago about The Pirate Bay being sold, the community reacted strongly. Despite pleas on the official blog for users to not abandon the site, it was inevitable that the 'betrayal' many users felt would lead to a flood of account deletions.

To a number of P2P users, TPB is dead. After all, once GGF goes to work the site will likely be a hollow shell of its former self. So what will become of the massive number of torrents in their tracker?

TorrentFreak has discovered and interesting development with OpenBitTorrent, a clever open tracker project. Haven't heard of it? Here's how the site summarizes itself:

OpenBitTorrent is a bittorrent tracker free for anyone to use. You don't need to register, upload or index a torrent anywhere, all you have to do is to include the OpenBitTorrent tracker URL in your torrent.

Tags: file-sharing, open-bit-torrent, peer-to-peer, piracy, the-pirate-bay, torrents

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity

Jake keeps collaborative file-sharing in sync

by Jay Hathaway Jun 26th 2009

Jake is a cross-platform collaborative file-sharing client that lets you create a folder and keep it synced for everyone you invite. It's built on open-source tools like Jabber, and seems to have a lot of features going for it. You can't really beat it for ease of use: setup is just adding a folder and inviting people, with no server-side fiddling to do. Even better, you can set Jake up on your intranet if you want to use it for work-related purposes.

The main difference between Jake and similar solutions like Dropbox is that Jake doesn't store files on a central server in the cloud. It just uses Jabber, XMPP and other open-source tools to sync the folder for users when they're online. Although Jake saves a log of the changes users make to the folder, it doesn't back up old versions of the data - again, no central server. This makes it slightly less powerful than some other, similar file-sharing services, but it makes setup a lot easier.

Tags: collaboration, cross-platform, file-sharing, jake, opensource, sync, XMPP

Filed under: Social Software, web 2.0

FriendFeed introduces file sharing

by Jay Hathaway Jun 24th 2009

Sharing pictures on FriendFeed is nothing new, but now it's just as easy to share other file types on the popular social network. You can either upload a file on the FriendFeed website, or email it as an attachment to share@friendfeed.com. The feature is intended for stuff like PDFs and spreadsheets, but you can also upload music files like mp3s and m4as.

Mp3s are playable and downloadable on the site, but there's a 3-a-day limit on the number of audio files each user can share. You can't upload movies, and limit on mp3s suggests that media files aren't the main focus here. Based on their blog post, FriendFeed mostly intends this feature for groups who use FriendFeed to collaborate and need to pass files around, and that's how the FriendFeed team has been using it internally.

Tags: file-sharing, friendfeed, share, social-networking, upload

Filed under: Internet, P2P, Browsers

Files Over Miles does simple, direct transfers in your browser

by Lee Mathews May 28th 2009

Looking for a good, simple way to send files using only your web browser? As long as you and your recipient have the Flash plugin installed, it doesn't get much easier than Files Over Miles.

Choose a file to share, and FOM creates a hash-like URL for the transfer. Nothing starts moving until the receiver visits the URL and the client kicks in. Once that happens, your data is sent directly to the person at the other end. Nothing is stored on a server and transfers are fully encrypted.

FOM is free to use and will likely stay that way. Since you use your own bandwidth, their expenses should be fairly minimal.

The service works well, though I'd like to see integrated support for short URLs. For now, you can always use one of the options on Jay's big list to trim your link manually.

Thanks, Bartek!

Tags: file-sharing, file-transfer, p2p

Filed under: Web services, Social Software

Share files via Twitter with FileTwt

by Jay Hathaway May 26th 2009

If you've used a file-sharing service that lets you upload files and send the link to a friend via email, you might appreciate FileTwt. It's the same idea, but you pass the link along via a tweet or a direct message on Twitter.

In keeping with Twitter's spirit of brevity -- or maybe with FileTwt's inevitable bandwidth costs -- the max file upload is currently only 20mb. FileTwt is a brilliant idea for a couple of reasons, though.

Twitter can be a good broadcast and promotion mechanism, and sometimes you want to share a new design or a demo of some music you recorded with everyone who follows you on Twitter. Or maybe you have a friend who needs a file, and Twitter is the only way you two are connected. Tweeting can definitely be faster than sending email.

Tags: file-sharing, filetwt, sharing, storage, twitter, upload

Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0, Web

Upload files to multiple mirrors ine one step with Gazup

by Lee Mathews Feb 25th 2009

Like previously mentioned Rapidspread, Gazup is a web service that allows you to upload a file and mirror it on several hosts with ease.

Gazup's interface is decidedly more Web 2.0 (it's up to you to decide whether that's a good or bad thing). Apart from uploading a file directly from your machine, Gazup also supports mirroring files from a URL. It's a handy way to provide alternative downloads for files on your own FTP or web server.

Uploaded files are currently mirrored on up to nine hosts: RapidShare, MegaUpload, FileFactory, HideMyAss, Badongo, Mediafire, Uploadbox, zShare, and NetLoad.in. Files can be managed from your control panel, and Gazup will even notify you if your mirrors are unavailable.

Features are still being worked on, including automatic thumbnail creation for video files. I tested with several different video formats but didn't have any luck. Hopefully developers will sort this out, as it would be a great feature to help Gazup stand out from the crowd.

Tags: file-sharing, megaupload, mirror, rapidshare, share, upload

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Web services, Search, web 2.0

Rapidstack searches working Rapidshare downloads in realtime

by Lee Mathews Feb 17th 2009

Rapidstack is an excellent search engine for users who download frequently from - where else - Rapidshare. They claim to filter dead links and return only working downloads, and it worked well in my testing.

Submit your query, and results load below the text box as Rapidstack finds them. Queries can take a little while to execute depending on what you search for, but you're trading a few seconds of waiting patiently for download links that actually work. That's a trade most of us are probably willing to make.

Each filename links to the original URL, and links are also displayed beneath the file name. If you'd rather just head straight for the files, clicking on extract links will open a new tab and produce a plain-text listing of Rapidshare URLs ready to paste into your favorite download manager - like JDownloader.

Tags: download, file-sharing, rapid-share, rapidshare

Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Web services, Browsers, Web

Share1t provides simple, free file hosting up to 100mb

by Lee Mathews Dec 22nd 2008

Some things are best kept simple, and that's exactly the way Share1t.com approaches its file sharing service.

The Share1t home page is totally uncluttered, with nothing but a thin information header at the top, banner ad in the footer, and a nice, big browse-and-upload form right in the middle.

After uploading your file, you'll be given a truncated URL, HTML and BBCode for embedding your file, and an option to email the link to the file. It only handles one address at a time, but the Ajax form provides the option to enter another recipient once your message has been sent.

Files of up to 100mb can be uploaded and will remain on the site for 15 days. The TOS does declare, however, that a file may be downloaded a "reasonable number of times" after which point it may automatically be deleted, though the specific number isn't mentioned.

With that in mind, Share1t is probably best suited to small(ish) uploads that you'd like to share with a few select people. Still, it's an uncomplicated, fast service and handy enough to bookmark just in case.

Thanks, William!

Tags: attachments, file-sharing, files, hosting, sending

Filed under: Audio, P2P

RIAA promises to sue fewer file sharers

by Brad Linder Dec 19th 2008

For the last few years the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has taken a rather aggressive stance on copyright protection by suing individuals who shared songs over the internet using file sharing software.

The Wall Street Journal reports that's all about to change. Well, somewhat anyway. After filing suits against 35,000 individuals the RIAA plans to give up on mass lawsuits. That doesn't mean it won't file any lawsuits against people who illegally upload and share music. But for the most part the group now plans to work with internet service providers instead. The goal is to hunt down customers who are violating copyright. Under the agreements, the ISP will give users a few warnings and then may terminate their accounts.

On the bright side, this means that ISPs don't have to fork over any personal data on customers. The RIAA can submit a list of IP addresses and the ISP can decide whether to go after the users based on that information.

It's not entirely clear whether the RIAA's efforts over the past 5 years have done more to alert people that file-sharing is against the law or to let them know that file sharing software exists and is a cool way to find free music. Now it's time to see if warning letters from ISPs do the trick. Considering how many people say they find internet access to be more valuable than sex, it just might.

Tags: copyright, file-sharing, lawsuit, riaa

Filed under: Internet, Commercial, Freeware, Open Source, P2P, Social Software, Beta

Limewire 5 Alpha screenshot tour

by Lee Mathews Dec 13th 2008

Limewire is one of the oldest filesharing programs around, and it's by far the most popular. The Limewire development team continues to work hard on version 5, which promises to bring some very big changes to the application. After taking a look at Wired's write up of the Alpha version, I decided to download it and see what all the fuss was about.

Remember, the gallery images and download I'm linking to are pre-beta. If you're not an early adopter or interested in testing potentially buggy software, don't download this version.

Let's take a look, shall we?

Tags: download, file-sharing, gnutella, limewire, mp3, open-source, p2p, peer-to-peer

Filed under: Internet, P2P, Web

file ai turns your web browser into a file server

by Brad Linder Dec 10th 2008

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]

Tags: file-ai, file-sharing, file-transfer

Filed under: E-mail, Web

DilbertFiles - Like YouSendIt, but funnier, more expensive

by Brad Linder Nov 14th 2008

Need to send a file to a friend or colleague, but it's too large for your email system to handle? No problem, just upload it to a web server and send the recipient a download link. If you don't have your own server, there are plenty of services that offer the ability to send large files for free, or even larger files for a fee. Here are a few of my favorites:

And then there's DilbertFiles. Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip has decided to dabble in the file sending business. Essentially DilbertFiles is just a rebranded version of SendYourFiles. And I'm sure it works well enough. But it's pretty expensive compared to most similar services. You have to shell out $9.95 a month to send just 250MB in a month. $13.95 will allow you to send up to 2GB in a month. But FileMail lets you send as many files up to 2GB at a time for free.

I'm not saying it's not worth paying for a reliable file sending service. I'm just saying that when there are plenty of companies offering freemium access, you'd think the creator of a cartoon that highlights bad business decisions on a regular basis would have chosen a better business model.

[via Digital Inspiration]

Tags: dilbert, dilbertfiles, driveway, file-sending, file-sharing, filemail, mailbigfile, scott-adams, yousendit

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Productivity

Send files out fast with uSend.io

by Jay Hathaway Nov 10th 2008

There are a lot of sites for quickly sharing files, but some of them are painfully slow or require registration. If you want to send a file with a minimum of fuss, and the file happens to be 100mb or smaller, give uSend.io a look. It's powered by drop.io, and the upload speeds when I tested it were excellent compared to similar sites. This is now my go-to site for sending any medium-sized file to a friend.

Besides being fast, uSend.io also has some nice extra touches. The test file I used was an AAC from my iTunes library, and usend.io converted it to mp3 to generate an in-browser preview. Of course, when I went to download the file, it was still in the original AAC form. Beautiful. The download pages for uSend.io files are hosted on drop.io, so you can also link, embed, or share you file with additional contacts via email. It's an all-around smooth experience.

Tags: file-sharing, filesharing, usend.io

Filed under: Internet, Web services

MediaMax is dead, The Linkup is dead, Streamload is dead

by Brad Linder Jul 11th 2008

Once upon a time there was a company called Streamload that let users upload huge media files to a web site fo sharing with their friends. Eventually Streamload changed its name to MediaMax and offered pretty much the same service. This year the company changed its name again, this time to The Linkup and launched a new business model: a social network based around online file storage and sharing.

Apparently the whole social network thing didn't really pan out, as The Linkup has announced plans to kill the service on August 8th. The company has posted a message on its homepage stating that it will no longer accept new uploads or new accounts. It will also no longer charge current customers. If you've got any media stored at The Linkup, you'll probably want to make sure you've got a backup before August 8th, because at that point the company will delete your files.

According to the note, The Linkup had problems transfering user files from MediaMax. That's kind of an understatement. What actually happened was that the company deleted nearly half of its user files. Many were recoverable, but some were not.

Did you use The Linkup, MediaMax or Streamload? What was your experience like? Will you miss this service or just move on to other online storage sites?

[via GigaOm]

Tags: file-sharing, file-storage, mediamax, online-storage, storage, streamload, the-linkup

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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