Where are the Sex Offenders? Just stumbled across this, and for anyone with kids, I know it will be appreciated. This Free US Sex Offender Registry Mapping System will show you any and all registered Sex offenders that may be in your city, neighborhood or street.
  ¶ 11/28/2005 02:53:00 PM 0 comments

  YouSendIt - I receive it... the bigger the better! So a client was asking what is the best way for sending LARGE files... Naturally email is the first tool that comes to mind. Though we all have some sort of limitations on file size, whether it is in sending, receiving or storage... so once you get above, lets say, 20MBs, your probably going to have a problem.

Sure there are a host of other ways to send large files these days, FTP, P2P, FedEx to name a few. But for the cost-conscious and tech newbies, there has to be a better way. GOOD NEWS, there is.

I recalled a site (YouSendIt.com) I had played with once or twice, which allows you to send large (up to 1GB) files rather easily, at no cost.

How does it work? Simple. Go to the site, fill out 3 or 4 fields, point to the file on your PC and off it goes.... Your files are uploaded to their server and your recipient is simply send an email with a link for downloading. Bare in mind that depending on the size of the file, you may need to wait a while, but this is just the way things go.

In terms of security, the site is also relatively good as it provides (also for free) a "secure transfer" option, which while a bit slower, does encrypt the files on their way up and down. A nice feature, though not quite enough for extremely sensitive material, but good enough for general use.

The site itself is simple and to the point. A "get straight to the point website", my kind of site.

So now you know, for sending large files in a simple way, check out YouSendIt.com.  ¶ 11/04/2005 09:53:00 AM 0 comments

  MS sneaks ahead of Google (or at least they say they are going to).

So… it seems that the boys at MS are not just reorganizing to APPEAR better suited to tackle the ever growing threat from the G-Men, but that they are actually TAKING ACTION by (quasi) announcing a move to make MS Office a web-based app. One big point for Microsoft as they take a gigantic leap into uncharted waters in their (quasi) promise to make Office an Online App – should they fulfill their word this will be something quite remarkable indeed.

Now the billion dollar question is not IF they will implement this, but rather HOW WELL they will pull it off. Unlike Google, Microsoft has a poor track record with their final products, which typically begin to work well after the a few dozen patches and critical updates have been thrown at them.

But lets take an optimistic (or fictional if you prefer) approach here and say that they are able to pull it off AND lets say that it even works really well – then what? By then there will surely be the argument of pay – vs. – free, and all things being equal, who wants to pay? But will this really be the big questions? My two cents? – Probably not. Why? Read on…

My fear about Microsoft’s web based initiatives (aside from being expensive) are really more on HOW and WHERE I will be able to use them, as I would be pleasantly surprised if this ended up being something that could be used on any operating system, with any browser and most importantly – on any device. Not that they couldn’t do it, but in their own self interest (and historically) they will most likely lock this down to be a Windows (or flavor thereof) + Internet Explorer, type deal.

Googles + SUN on the other hand, are playing the long game, and will probably 1) beat MS to the punch (on quality rather than speed, if not both), and 2) give users far more options.

But enough of the MS bashing (at least for this post), kudos to them for taking a bold step into the future! I simply hope this is more than the hype machine at work.

  ¶ 11/01/2005 01:46:00 PM 0 comments