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Filed under: Developer, Photo

Flickr collects cool photo apps in its new App Garden

Flickr has an open and very powerful API that's been around since 2004. Five years later, developers have built an enormous number of great apps and cool toys for Flickr. Now you can browse and discover Flickr apps in one central location, the new App Garden. Apps in the garden range from stats to importing/exporting to integration with other sites.

Although Flickr has chosen some featured apps to display prominently on the front page, any developer can submit to the App Garden. The Garden itself isn't the only place apps are being promoted around Flickr. On each photo page, along with the info you regularly see, you'll now see which app the photographer used to upload the image - as long as it's an app has already been submitted and listed by Flickr. If you're a developer, you have plenty of incentive to submit your app, and if you're a Flickr power user, you'll definitely want to check out what's already been posted.

[via Flickr Blog]

Filed under: Utilities, Web services, Web

DropRecord: send one file to multiple hosting providers


Sites like Rapidshare and Megaupload tend to be used heavily by music blogs and other sites that don't have the bandwidth or the storage space to handle a high volume of downloads. Even the biggest mirror services can get bogged down, though. Sometimes one mirror will be slow, your file will be taken down, or you'll reach the limited number of downloads some sites allow. Mirroring your file on several services at once is a possible solution, and DropRecord makes it easy to upload to all of them at once.

Ok, so maybe DropRecord doesn't upload to every single mirror out there, but it hits around a dozen sites, most of which you've probably heard of: the aforementioned Rapidshare and Megaupload, Zshare, Mediafire and Sendspace are all included. You can also search DropRecord for files people have uploaded with it. The only catch is the 500mb upload limit, but a lot of individual mirror sites impose similar caps.

Filed under: Social Software, web 2.0

FriendFeed introduces file sharing


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.

Filed under: Web services, Social Software

Share files via Twitter with FileTwt

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.

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

Upload files to multiple mirrors ine one step with Gazup


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.

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Freeware, P2P

Upload files to 100+ hosts from your Windows desktop

If you're a frequent uploader of files, Zoom's File & Image Uploader is well worth a download.

It supports more than 70 file hosting services, including popular options like Mediafire, Megaupload, Rapidshare, Sendspace and 23 image hosts like Imageshack and Tinypic. Multi-server options like Rapidspread and MassMirror are also included.

When adding files to your queue, you can select image or file hosts. Choose a host, and FUP will display key information about the service like maximum file size, duration of storage, and acceptable file types. Multiple files can be queued during a single add action, as long as they're all headed to the same host.

Parallel uploading is supported up to a maximum of eight at a time. When uploads complete, FUP displays links to your files and embed codes. Want to verify things? Right click and choose "open in IE" to view your upload in your default browser.

File & Image Uploader is a free download for Windows only, and it's a great tool for anyone who uses file hosting services on a regular basis.

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Free Rightload does simple context menu FTP


I wrote before about DropUpload, a simple utility to handle your FTP uploading chores. It's a nice, lightweight alternative for users that don't need a full-blown client like Filezilla.

Rightload is another great choice. Install it, and Rightload integrates into the Windows right-click context menu. Don't fret about clutter, it only adds a single line.

Right click any file or folder, hover on upload, and your list of FTP servers will appear (SFTP is also supported). Choose the folder to send your file to, and off it goes (or you can queue it up for transfer later).

While it's good and quick, simple uploads, Rightload is not so good at downloading the folder structure from your FTP server. On my server (which hosts a few domains, three Wordpress blogs, and a CubeCart install) it took forever, and then finally timed out.

I'd strongly recommend that you skip the directory synchronize function in favor of setting up directories manually. It's not that much harder, and it's faster.

Once you've got it set up, Righload is a great tool for quickly sending files via FTP. It's freeware, Windows only.

Filed under: Audio, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

SoundCloud is live, bringing music sharing to the masses

SoundCloud
There are plenty of ways to share music, but most of them are slow or have clunky interfaces. SoundCloud aims to be the first player in the market to catch on in a big way, by making things easy for its users. Soundcloud works like an inbox, so new songs come in from your friends (or from artists and record labels) and you can handle them all in one convenient place. You can also put a dropbox on any site (including MySpace, Facebook, and your blog) where people can click to send you a track.

I love the idea of being able to play incoming tracks selectively before downloading them, and also the idea of letting them stream as one big playlist. Sending music looks to be just as easy. You can send to an email address or another SoundCloud account, and the result looks a heck of a lot better than MySpace Music. Also, there are no file size limits!

If you're a musician, SoundCloud looks like a good place to post your new tracks. Each song gets its own URL and its own privacy settings, so you can decide who's allowed to listen to or download it. Create Digital Music says SoundCloud could be the Flickr of music, and after testing it out, I'm inclined to agree.

[via Create Digital Music]

Filed under: Photo, Utilities, Macintosh

Get your photos from iPhoto to Flickr with FFXporter


If you use iPhoto, and you have a Flickr account, but you don't have a way of getting your pictures from one to the other, you might want to give FFXporter a look. It's a free iPhoto plugin that -- just as the name would indicate -- exports files from your iPhoto library to Flickr. Although there are other ways of getting this done, I have yet to find another free one that works as well.

FFXporter preserves a lot of the data that iPhoto and Flickr can both use, like keywords (tags on Flickr) and EXIF info. Since it's a plugin, you won't have to open another app to get the job done, you can upload pictures right from iPhoto. Probably the most useful feature is set support, so you can batch upload a bunch of photos at once, and add them all to the same set on Flickr.

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Freeware

DropUpLoad Makes Short Work of FTPing

So you've got a new version of a file that you need to upload to an FTP server. Sure, you could fire up a full-blown client like FileZilla, but why bother? DropUpLoad offers elegantly simply uploads in a tiny, portable package. It's a 114k download and only consumes 9mb of memory, and is very different from other FTP clients.

For example, there's no directory browsing: set up your remote server info (including destination directory) and it will appear in your list of FTP servers. Setting up a new site is child's play, and you can clone settings from an existing server - useful, since you'll have to set up multiple profiles if you upload to more than one folder on your server.

Select your target from the drop down, drag a file or folder from your Windows machine into the "drop box," and you're done.

Need to give a customer upload access to your FTP but don't want to give out passwords? Created a "locked" version of DropUpLoad, which limits connections to a single server and hides and encrypts login information inside the generated executable.

Give it a shot, FTP uploads don't get much easier!

[ via Softpedia ]

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Photo, Blogging, Web services, Freeware, Social Software, BlackBerry

RIM releases mobile Flickr app for Blackberry handsets

flickr blackberryDoes your Blackberry do enough for you? RIM thinks it could do just a little more, so it released an official mobile Flickr uploader for Blackberry handsets. The program allows Flickr-Blackberry hybrid addicts to snap pics, tag/geo-tag pics, place pics in albums, and adjust pic sizes. When you're all set and ready, posting the photo is a matter of a few button presses.

We recommend Flickr users with Blackberry handsets at least try it since it's free, and we can imagine the service being useful in a wide variety of situations including blogging, of course. It's probably more useful as a toy than a tool -- an easy way to share vacation photos on-the-go, great concert moments, fun party events, etc.

This is quite different from RIM's usual behavior, which is centered around productivity and business rather than recreation. The program's existence is likely a response to the recent surge of unique services accompanying successful, fun-based handsets (Sidekick, Helio Ocean, LG Voyager, iPhone, etc). Though it's not the most amazing thing to come from RIM, at least it's better than a useless MySpace app or another YouTube uploader... been there, done that, not impressed.

Filed under: Photo, Web services, Beta

Photie, for your huge photo upload needs


Does the world really need another photo sharing website? Maybe, if that site is Photie.com. Photie's design is strikingly simple. It's easy to navigate, signup is a snap, and there are plenty of interesting photos to check out on the front page. The main attraction here, though, is the ability to upload photos of any size.

Photie doesn't have all the pro features that sites like Flickr and Smugmug offer, but there are plenty of users out there who think of those as frills. A free service with a nice, clean design and no cap on file sizes looks pretty good if you don't want to deal with stuff like social networks, mobile uploads, and signup fees. This is just uploading and tagging, like nature intended it.

The site is still in beta, so we'll keep an eye on it and see how it evolves. Frankly, we're hoping it stays with the friendly "less-complicated-than-Flickr, much-classier-than-ImageShack model". Before you start with the "not another photo site!" comments, give it a look. We think some users will find it's just what they needed.

Warning: Because Photie displays recently-uploaded photos on the front page, you might not want to click through at work. There was nothing controversial up front when we took the screenshot above, but it's best to be careful. Thanks to readers Alex and Todd for catching this.

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, Freeware

Easily upload files with DockDrop

DockDrop is a simple Mac OS X application that lets you easily and quickly upload files to an FTP, WebDAV, or SCP server, with added support for Flickr uploads.

When DockDrop is open, it resides quietly on your dock (hence the name). When you want to upload a file or folder, simply drop the item onto the Dockdrop icon (see again why the name is so apt?). Dockdrop will prompt you for the upload method of your choice, upload the file, and put a URL for your upload on the clipboard, ready for pasting into an email, chat program or website.

Dockdrop offers set-it-and-forget-it functionality: once you enter in your server credentials, Dockdrop will store the settings, so you won't have to enter them again.

One of the added bonuses of DockDrop (besides its simplicity and ease of use) is the Flickr integration. After a simple authentication process, you can drag and drop your images onto DockDrop and they upload seamlessly to your Flickr account.

Dockdrop is free, and requires an Intel Mac with 10.4 or 10.5.

[via AppScout]

Filed under: Business, Design, Developer, Text, Video, Blogging, Web services, Search, web 2.0

DivShare launches web document viewer

DIVSHARE INTEGRATE

DivShare, which we have covered before, is not just another online storage site. It lets users upload and download unlimited files, and also well as offers a Facebook application and a power uploading tool. They have now released a no download web document viewer.

Even though we love downloads at Download Squad, keeping things online sure does have its remotely accessible benefits, and that's just what DivShare is doing with their flash based web document viewer. The new tool allows for viewing all types of documents from videos, photos and audio material anywhere. These documents can either be kept private, or embedded in websites, blogs or social networks.

Also released into the DivShare stables is a new iPhone app that allows for searching, downloading and emailing DivShare files straight from Apple's device. There will also be a few other specialty items getting released this week, including a Facebook collaboration tool, developer API and private label video players. If you haven't checked out what DivShare can offer your unlimited file storage needs, now could be the time.

Filed under: Business, Design, Developer, Fun, Internet, Photo, Video, Web services, Social Software

DivShare expands to offer video and groups

divshare videoDivShare is an online sharing, hosting and storage site. Similar in offerings from YouSendIt, Xdrive, and Box.net, DivShare offers unlimited uploads and downloads through an intuitive dashboard. It's an easy to use service that has been constantly evolving in the past few months since its launch, and quickly carving its own niche in this slowly crowding market space.

A new social feature has been incorporated into DivShare recently called DivShare groups. This new edition allows users to collaborate on projects through sharing photos, videos and music with other users, as well as the ability to connect with others who share the same interests.

Another service that is being tested, and has soft launched into the DivShare environment is streaming flash video. With this integration, users can now host and stream videos on the internet. It supports up to 560x420 resolutions with video sizes up to 200MB. There is no cap on the number of videos that can be uploaded to user's accounts, and videos can be resized to fit on popular social network sites.

With all of these recent new editions, DivShare is one Web 2.0 location to add to your toolbox and bookmark list that you will always have a use for, nomatter what you're purpose is.

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With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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