Friday, April 16, 2010

File sharing instaed of file attaching

Computer Care: File sharing now made easier thanks to free upload sites

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com
UPDATED April 17, 2010 1 a.m.

Have you ever tried to send someone an e-mail with an attachment that you wanted to share, something you were passionate about, only to discover it has been rejected by the server?

Even if you don't know what a server is or why it rejects attachments, it happens.

Servers are the computers that filter, store and forward communications at both your ISP and the recipients'. Some will reject files larger than 5 MB, while others allow up to 20 MB. Even if yours will allow a large file to be sent, it may be blocked at the other end. There is though, a way around this obstacle.

Short of attaching your video, song or string of images to an e-mail, you can upload it to a file-sharing Web site. Each works somewhat differently, but is basically the same. Most have free plans that allow you to share your files with your buddies. File size may be limited, but is still 10 times or more than what your ISP would allow.

Your files are viewed by invitation, encrypted for security and optionally password protected should you want a heightened defense.

Some allow only one file at a time, some have time limits; how long the file could stay at the site. Others limit the amount of times the file may be accessed, still usually at least 100 times though.

Let's begin with dropbox.com. After you download and install a small applet, you have a program that will sync the files on all of your computers and will also let you share files with others.

At sendthisfile.com, it's all done from their site. After registration, you can send any size file, but it will only remain available for three days and with the free plan, you can send to only three recipients.

With ofile.com, you have 3GB of free storage space with their provisional plan. It's good for two months.

Wetransfer.com offers 2GB of free storage and there is no registration required, making it extremely easy to use. From their site, enter the files to share, your e-mail address and those of your recipients along with an optional message. Hit transfer and that's it. Your files can be shared with up to 20 others and will be there for two weeks.

Filedropper.com, also easy to use, allows 5 GB of free storage and as long as the file is being downloaded, it is kept on their servers. After you upload a file, you copy a link and send to your friends to download it.
At yousendit.com, their Lite account is free for a gigabyte of storage and transfer. You can only send one file at a time, but it can be up to 100 MB.

None of these file-sharing sites slam you with ads or banners promoting some other cause. At wetransfer, the background is an ad, but more like a screensaver and is more pleasant than annoying.

These sites offer free plans with the hopes you'll want you to buy into one of their pay plans. There is no waiting while you watch an advertisement. You get a link to a file and that's it.

Obviously, the paid plans on all of the sites are enhanced. They have faster speeds; allow larger files, more recipients and options such as tracking, express delivery and resumable uploads or downloads should a connection be interrupted.

You'll also have the option of keeping a file private, so only you can see it (for backup purposes).

Yousendit for example, installs a plug-in that becomes integrated to Outlook. When you attempt to send a file, it asks if you want to attach it to an e-mail or use their service instead.

Keep in mind there is more to these services than simple file sharing with others. It is also a good way use the cloud to back up your important files. Duplicate the ones you don't want to chance losing. Send up copies of best photos, your tax documents and your resume.

The primary purpose of these sites and of this column though, is to stress the ease at which one can share files with others. To give you an idea how easy this can be, I'll share a file with you. Go to this link: http://www.filedropper.com/arthur-image and get my byline photo. It may not be a keepsake, but you'll get an idea how easy the process is.

It took 20 seconds to upload it and should take just as long to download. Normally, someone would have e-mailed the link to you.

Go to the Web sites listed above and give them a try. You'll see the differences between them, and with all, how easy file-sharing can be. Perhaps initially, send yourself a file to test the process. Use the file I sent you if you want.

Forget about worrying whether your file is too large an attachment for you to e-mail. Try sharing instead of attaching.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Free Alternative Operating Systems

Linux offers a free Windows alternative

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com
POSTED April 2, 2010 6:56 p.m.

Free is good, especially when it refers to computing. I think just about everyone would agree to that statement.

In computing there is trialware, which is software that is free to try; freeware, which is no-cost software to keep, and open source software, which is somewhat different still.

The open source programs follow the rules of FOSS, Free Open Source Software, and the GNU Project, a free software, mass collaboration project that began in 1983 at MIT. They state the programs are to be free of cost but also free to implement change.

The source code that was used to write the software is to be included with the program.

The philosophy leans more toward the concept of free speech, rather than free beer.

If you download Program 2.0 from the Internet and know of a way to improve on it, you do. Then you send it back from where you got it, making note of the changes and rename it version 2.1.

We’ll get to software in a minute, but on a grander scale, there are free operating systems. Early in the last decade of the last century, Linus Torvalds, a then 21-year-old University of Helsinki computer programmer, wrote some Unix-like code that was to be a free operating system, one he didn’t think would catch on.

Today, Linux, as it has come to be known, is available in dozens of languages as well as in dozens of “distros,” or distributions, in both 32- and 64-bit. The most well known is perhaps Red Hat, but there is also Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Knoppix, Xandros, Mandriva and many more.

Linux began in the DOS age as a command prompt operating system, eventually morphing into a GUI, or Graphical User Interface, as Windows is now. It still helps if you know some of the old commands, but you don’t have to.

Some distros you don’t even have to install. These are called “live” versions and are generally a bit smaller in content than their big brothers.

Look at zenwalk.org for a good one. They run at boot from the system memory. You put the CD in, boot your computer and in three minutes you are running a version of Linux, a turn-key, free operating system. When you reboot, you’re back in Windows. It is that easy. I’m not making this up.

If you have a large enough hard drive, you can install Linux next to Windows. Have a dual-boot computer. When you turn it on, you’ll have the option of booting into the OS of your choice.

All versions come loaded with applications, utilities and games. You can write a document or scan one, use a calculator, send e-mail, connect to the Internet, chat online, edit photos, listen to music, watch videos or create one, create a Web site, burn CDs, play solitaire or Sudoku and more — all for free.

The equivalent of Office, Visio, Ghost, Paint, Roxio and Movie Maker are respectively: Open Office, Dia, Cineluna, Clonezilla, Gimp and Infra Recorder.

Go to www.openoffice.org for the free version of that nice Office-like suite.

Just as with the distros, there are many more free apps available for download. A couple of good places to start are at www.linux.org and www.linuxfreedom.com/distros. You’ll find links to the distros, applications from anti-spam programs to MP3 players and fun things like Alien Arena and Astro Menace.

You may find fees at some of the sites. That is only if you want an actual CD with Linux on it. It also covers support. But if you find the download button, there will be no charge. Download the iso file, burn it to a CD or DVD and you’re good to go. There are also many good tutorials on the sites if you need help. Linux users also have lots of online forums you can join or browse for answers.

It needs saying that Linux computers don’t catch viruses or get infected with malware. Not like Windows PCs do, anyway. I don’t believe it’s because the system is immune though. I think it’s more due to the fact there are simply not enough Linux users that warrant the writing of nuisance viruses by the netcompoops that do. As Linux systems become more mainstream, they, too, will most likely also succumb to viruses.

Even though you are a Windows user, whether XP, Vista or Win 7, you should still consider trying Linux. Install it to a large hard drive or just run it from RAM. Either way, you’ll be impressed with its versatility and stability.

Not only will you have a new OS to explore with new apps and games to try, but Linux proves to be a valuable tool as well. Should you experience trouble with your Windows installation as many of us do, Linux gives you a back door to your files.

From the Linux file manager you can access Windows files and either invoke a repair or save them to an alternative destination.

So although there may be no such thing as free beer, an investment in Linux is worthwhile and won’t cost a dime.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

Email Alternatives


Computer Care: Many options for e-mail are often free, too

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com
POSTED March 19, 2010 7:58 p.m.

Not everyone checks their e-mail the same way. There are basically two types of e-mail: Web or cloud-based and client-based. Web mail includes Yahoo, MSN, Gmail and Hotmail. Client e-mail uses programs like Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Thunderbird and Eudora.

Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Most Web mails are free, as are some of the client-based programs. Some are sponsored with banners or taglines. With many of the Web mail offerings, you are limited to the amount of storage space and attachment size. Fast Mail, for example, has an ad-laden free version that limits you to 10 MB of mail storage. Once you start with a pay plan, the ads disappear and the storage space increases.

Gmail from Google is a free Web-based program; you access it from your Web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox). It gives you 7 GB of storage and also has ads. It incorporates a good spam blocker and will check your other accounts as well.

Thunderbird from Mozilla is a free client that has tabs like its cousin Firefox. It is highly customizable and has many skins and other add-ons free to download.

The main difference between the two types is that programs like Outlook (client mail) create folders on your computer where the mail is stored. You can download it and read it later offline, but the program needs to be installed on the computer.

With Gmail and other Web-based programs, your mail is stored on their servers and you need to be online to access it. But the upside is that you can read it via a browser on any computer with Internet access.

Web mail controls the storage capacity since it is on their computers; client mail storage is dictated only by the size of your hard drive.

Web e-mail is left on mail servers until you delete it. If you don’t, eventually your senders will get a message saying your mailbox is full. The same could happen with client-based mail, but by default, its mail is usually only kept on servers for two to three months.

These options are usually dealt with by the protocols assigned to different types of e-mail programs. There is POP (3) mail, Post Office Protocol, which receives most client-based mail. Web mail uses IMAP, Internet Message Access Protocol, to receive. They both use SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send the mail.

Many Windows 7 users have noticed that Microsoft failed to put an e-mail client in their latest operating system. XP users had Outlook Express, Vista had Windows Mail. (Outlook, by the way, is part of Office and is not free.) The folks in Redmond were only trying to cut down on the clutter. They made it an a-la-carte offering.

If you want an e-mail client, you can download it for free from their Web site. Navigate to Windows Live Mail here.

Not to go on a rant here, but I need to mention some things concerning e-mail etiquette.

Just because your buddy suggests a certain e-mail needs to be forwarded 10 times to ensure good luck doesn’t mean you have to do it. A “must read” from Aunt Tilly may be of no interest to the rest of your contacts. Please consider that.

When a supposed expert sends something, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is so. I can sign an e-mail with NASA after my name, claiming Mars will explode in May. Check out anything suspicious at www.snopes.com before you forward it. They debunk many online urban myths.

One last piece of advice about e-mail accounts: Get yourself a free one. No matter what type of account you have, a free one can’t hurt. It can actually help. Use it as a throw-away account just to sign up for things. You’ll never even check it.

When you sign up for newsletters, online forums or contests, that’s where much of the spam comes from. You just gave out your e-mail address and it could have been sold to solicitors. So why use your real address?

Get a free one from Hotmail or Yahoo. When they tell you the box is full, toss it and get another.

Tell 10 of your friends about this column or your computer will get a virus tomorrow.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.