Dropload.com

www.dropload.com

this cool little site lets you upload up to 100mb files to their servers, then it emails the person you ask them to email and lets them know you dropped off a file for them. they then have 4 days to pick it up and download it from those servers. It's a great way to send large files if you have a limit on the size of emails you can send. Faster than IM and stuff too.

And you can only download files once, so that's how they avoid the whole Warez issue.

I used it this morning to send a big file to a client that had his email mailbox maxed out.

well its not really avoiding the piracy issue its just containing it to as little as possible. I see this being pretty helpful to some people though

"Faster than IM..."

NO WAY  could it be faster, because it's getting transferred twice.

When I transfer a file via iChat/AIM, it only gets transferred once, and at the D/L speed of the person grabbing the file. It's a direct connection between my system and the other person's system.

Transferring over IM always seems bottlenecked to me. I can upload to that dropload site a lot faster than i've ever transferred anything over IM.

And no it doesn't stop warez completely, but you'd have to upload the file and email to someone each time. So it won't a friend sending something to another friend, but it's not like you can just post a link on a web site for everyone to download.

I haven't inspected Dropload, so I don't know how it works.

From your description of how speedy it is, it sounds like Dropload is actually connecting to your computer directly, and DOWNloading the file you've designated directly from your hard drive. This, of course, will be faster than if you are UPloading it to their server.

For me, I get (optimally) 3Mbps D/L and 256kbps U/L. So, of course, when I transfer files via iChat/AIM, the speed tells me that the recipient is actually DOWNloading the file from my system—I am not UPloading the file to them. If you're getting a similarly quick transferr to Drropload's server, it is because you have allowed it to connect directly to your hard drive and DOWNload the file. If you were pushing the file to the server, it'd be much slower.

Still, moving a file via Dropload requires two transfers.

I almost never have any speed problems when transferring via iChat/AIM. Typically, they move at around 100 MB in 5-6 minutes. I can live with that.

The upside of a system like Dropload, though, is that the file can be retrieved wheneve-ahhh  the recipient feels like it. Hopefully, there are fat pipelines all around.

Kewl, Dek! Thanks!

Cheers for the head sup on the resource

[QUOTE=Utopian23]I haven't inspected Dropload, so I don't know how it works.

From your description of how speedy it is, it sounds like Dropload is actually connecting to your computer directly, and DOWNloading the file you've designated directly from your hard drive. This, of course, will be faster than if you are UPloading it to their server.

For me, I get (optimally) 3Mbps D/L and 256kbps U/L. So, of course, when I transfer files via iChat/AIM, the speed tells me that the recipient is actually DOWNloading the file from my system—I am not UPloading the file to them. If you're getting a similarly quick transferr to Drropload's server, it is because you have allowed it to connect directly to your hard drive and DOWNload the file. If you were pushing the file to the server, it'd be much slower.

Still, moving a file via Dropload requires two transfers.

I almost never have any speed problems when transferring via iChat/AIM. Typically, they move at around 100 MB in 5-6 minutes. I can live with that.

The upside of a system like Dropload, though, is that the file can be retrieved wheneve-ahhh  the recipient feels like it. Hopefully, there are fat pipelines all around. [/QUOTE]

You still are limited to your isp's cap on your upload. This is the internet not LAN. If you are sending something you will be sending at a cap of 256kbps. This is helpful for people who arent always on and can download your file whenever they can get around to it without you needed online.

"You still are limited to your isp's cap on your upload. This is the internet not LAN. If you are sending something you will be sending at a cap of 256kbps."

That's if you are, in fact, UPloading the file.

Again, I haven't really explored Dropload.com, because it requires registering before you can really see how it works.

Forgive me if I'm totally wrong on this but, what about this scenario:

There are server interface pages/control panels where you browse your own hard drive for the file you want to transfer, Right? You navigate to the file on your hard drive, double-click on the file, then you're returned to the server's interface page/control panel. Soon, the name of the file or the path to the file you selected on your hard drive shows up in a text field on the C.P. page.

Then, when you hit the "GO" button, it transfers. If you allow (because of firewall permissions or whatever) this sort of behavior (it may be run under javascript or as a Java applet) on your machine the server then connects directly to the file you have specified, and the server then DOWNloads the file from your hard drive to the server's hard drive. It opens a transfer protocol that isn't HTTP, but either FTP or something else.

This is how file transfers work via iChat/AIM...it HAS to be. If I was sending a file to one of my clients via iChat/AIM—which I do several times a week—it would be slow as hell. So, this tells me that when my client clicks "OK" when they see the little pop-up box generated by their IM client, I am, in fact, giving them permission to DIRECTLY access my hard drive to grab the file I am supposedly sending them, and they DOWNload it at the best speed they can get.

Hence, I don't really "SEND" a file to my client...that's a misnomer. They are actually downloading the file from my hard drive, as I have temporarily given them permission to do so, and have temporarily enabled my computer to behave as though it were a web server of some sort.

Is this making any sense? It does to me, although I'm a bit fuzzy on the technical details.

Again, since I'm not going to register an account at Dropload.com, I'm not really sure how file transfers are done with them.

[QUOTE=Utopian23]That's if you are, in fact, UPloading the file.

Again, I haven't really explored Dropload.com, because it requires registering before you can really see how it works.

Forgive me if I'm totally wrong on this but, what about this scenario:

There are server interface pages/control panels where you browse your own hard drive for the file you want to transfer, Right? You navigate to the file on your hard drive, double-click on the file, then you're returned to the server's interface page/control panel. Soon, the name of the file or the path to the file you selected on your hard drive shows up in a text field on the C.P. page.

Then, when you hit the "GO" button, it transfers. If you allow (because of firewall permissions or whatever) this sort of behavior (it may be run under javascript or as a Java applet) on your machine the server then connects directly to the file you have specified, and the server then DOWNloads the file from your hard drive to the server's hard drive. It opens a transfer protocol that isn't HTTP, but either FTP or something else.

[/QUOTE]

Yes they are downloading the files from you because you are uploading them to them. You download they upload > you upload they download. If it was so easy to send stuff at blazing speeds through "direct connecting" piracy would be so insane. Everything on the internet is limited by your isp. You cant just connect to a computer over the internet and get network speeds, because it still has to go through your isp and pass multiple servers.